I like that Watterson never licensed Calvin and Hobbes out. We'd currently be suffering through season 7 of Teen Calvin on Amazon, with a prequel movie coming out this summer covering The Spaghetti Incident
Bill Watterson, the creator of Calvin and Hobbes is an interesting figure in my life.
On the one hand, Calvin and Hobbes is, for my money, the greatest newspaper strip of all time. I wish I had one tenth of this man's talent. I still think back on how the stories he told got me through some of the rough patches in my childhood by giving me this example of another kid with a vivid imagination who was a bit of a loner (depending on what your views on Hobbes are) who I could identify with.
On the other hand, I'm on the complete opposite side of the scale from him when it comes to our views on licensing and comics as a business. He had in his mind the notion that seeing a comic book character made into a toy and put on a store shelf cheapens it somehow. I think that's idiotic. Seeing a character in different contexts is what makes it into an enduring part of the culture. Watterson was inspired greatly in his work by Peanuts, which was extensively licensed out. I, as someone born decades later than Watterson, wouldn't have any connection to Peanuts at all if not for the holiday specials. Licensing keeps characters alive. Meanwhile, I'm worried that Calvin and Hobbes is starting to fade away as a new generation grows up without it.
But maybe I'm also just salty that my childhood wish to see a Calvin and Hobbes movie about "the noodle incident" never came true.