He should be the richest artist ever. He's not.
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- Опубліковано 7 лип 2024
- Bill Watterson, creator of Calvin and Hobbes, should be the richest artist ever, but he's not. And he did it on purpose. In this video, we explore how much money he lost out on, and why.
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BOOKS MENTIONED/USED:
(These are Amazon Affiliate links, If you buy anything through these it will support the channel):
Calvin & Hobbes 10th Anniversary Book
amzn.to/3RDpyD0
The Complete Calvin and Hobbes (Paperback Box Set)
amzn.to/3ty2pK6
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FURTHER READING:
I edited this video down to it's essence, but there is so much more fascinating stuff to learn about Watterson and his legacy. If you want to find some things I didn't cover in the video (but now kinda wish I did), check out some of these links!
🎞️ Dear Mr. Watterson Documentary (2013) - Documentary of Watterson's career and legacy.
• Dear Mr. Watterson - A...
🎞️ The Truth About Peeing Calvin - About the effects of not merchandising, and the rise of unauthorized merch with no way to combat it.
• The truth about Peeing...
📚 The price for Watterson original art
www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...
www.cbr.com/bill-watterson-ca...
www.finebooksmagazine.com/new...
comics.ha.com/itm/original-co...
📚 Obituary for Lee Salem, the beloved editor who took on Calvin and Hobbes and many other famous strips
www.latimes.com/obituaries/st...
🔥 Burnout for comic artists
www.deseret.com/1991/4/27/189...
📚 Schulz obituary, a good overview of his life and work
archive.nytimes.com/www.nytim...
OTHER SOURCES:
Watterson Inteviews
www.mentalfloss.com/article/5...
bob.bigw.org/ch/interview.html
/ protocalvin_as_seen_in...
www.mentalfloss.com/article/5...
www.businessinsider.com/calvi...
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CHAPTERS:
00:00 Intro
00:46 Popularity
02:40 Peanuts and Garfield Comparison
03:31 The cost of artistry over business
03:46 Why did he do it?
04:45 Legacy
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Music from Epidemic Sound
Stock Footage from Pexels
Old commercials found in various places on UA-cam
calvin and hobbes was my childhood and to me there is no other way to rightfully portray them, theyre perfectly immortalized
Agreed, it’s so perfect. I have seen some cool fan animations done though, but totally get why he didn’t want to deal with that.
@@DrawntoBooksdoes anyone think the movie Ted is a dirter version of , Calvin and Hobbs
A rare example of ethics and integrity.
Hard for most people to say no to that much money! But yeah, he’s awesome.
This is what doing art for arts sake looks like 💖 obviously I think artists deserve cushy lives when they make an absolute classic like Calvin and Hobbes, but the fact that the integrity of his art meant that much to him is a special quality
He def deserves a cushy life (and he got one). But even more importantly, he gets to live it exactly how he wants now, which is honestly priceless.
This dude is the biggest chad of all time. He created one of the most influential comic strips, and I would say the most influential for me and many others. He was literally prepared to throw away his entire career just to stand by what he thought was right. He didn’t want to be a dumb sellout making Calvin toaster ovens or something. He threw away millions of dollars because he stood by what he believed in. If that isn’t respectable I don’t know what is. Great video by the way. This is very underrated.
Thank you! Yeah, Watterson is awesome. It's cool to see someone stick to their guns the way he has.
The production quality on this video is so high it's insane to me you don't have thousands of subs! I haven't seen anyone cover this topic so succinctly, but still in depther and entertaining! Hold this sub!
Ahhh, thank you so much!! That’s so nice 😭 I’m just getting started so maybe someday ☺️
@@DrawntoBooks Admit it! You're not doing it for the subs. 🙂
Lol of course not, only for the art! Always for the art. 😆
Bill Watterson was, is, and will always be someone who inspires me and a great role model. He taught me about integrity and the importance of having respect for your characters and world. A lot of lessons that I've learned from his comic strips and his career goes beyond how I approach my own art and comics. He truly is an amazing person. ☺☺
He is a great role model. Such a good example of trying to remain an artist in a corporate world.
Meh, he has his own life
Calvin and Hobbes are perfect as comics. If Bill doesn't want to have them in TV/movies,then that's his right. It's his art
Yeah, I agree, he made it exactly the way he wanted and that’s pretty cool.
I live in the city where he currently lives...hope to bump into him one day!
Ahhh that would be so cool! I probably wouldn’t have the courage to even say hi if that happened to me 😅
WATTERSTON WAS A GENIUS!!
It's so nice to see some artistic integrity. We don't really think about it much these days, since newspapers are basically gone at this point, but they were the second biggest cultural touchstone to television. The fact that everybody knew who they were (and still do, 27 years later) in spite of the complete lack of marketing and merchandising really speaks to just how good of a series Calvin and Hobbes really was.
Great video, I'm excited to see where this channel goes.
It is crazy! I got super nostalgic making this video remembering tearing through the paper on Sundays for the comics page. It was like waiting for the next episode of a tv show. And thank you :)
Its nice to just see a comic artist be modest for once, the polar opposite of nearly everyone else
Though he still is worth over 100 million dollars, but I won't be surprised if he hasn't used 95% of it
He definitely still did ok for himself 😂
i wish that there was a animated Calvin and Hobbes Series or Movie
I think animation is the one medium that could have enhanced the characters and not cheapened him! Would’ve been so cool to see.
I remember seeing somewhere that Bill doesn't have the means to create an animated Calvin and Hobbes himself, therefore it he doesn't want it to exist.
Bill wasn’t entirely against animating Calvin and Hobbes at first, but then changed his mind because hearing Calvin’s voice would have been scary to him
Yeah, he never wanted to have to manage a whole team, he felt he would lose creative control, which I'm sure is correct.
@DrawntoBooks He actually touched on this in one of the books. Stating that everyone who reads Calvin & Hobbes has those voices in their head. Animation putting voices to them from actors supersedes the voices his readers imagined and diminishes them. Which I think is quite beautiful.
Only recently saw a video on Gary Larson's journey. These guys can make a bundle.
I was shocked when I saw Charles Shulz among music superstars in wealth! I never fathomed comic artists could make that kind of money.
Is this that "integrity" thing I've heard about?
He took stance against capitalism and didn't sell out to mega corporations. Respect
I recall a four part series by Pants are Overrated (RIP) called *_Hobbes and Bacon_* that expands on the original series a bit and jumps ahead in time to when Calvin has his own kid, Bacon, with Susie. It's highly presumptuous, but the expansion ends about the same way, has the same vibes, and I say it's pretty good. If anyone can find it, preserve it; it's worth keeping around.
I had never heard of this, I looked it up, what a great piece of fan art! Thank you for telling me about it.
@@DrawntoBooks
Aye. Dé rìen, mon cher.
It's easy to turn down millions when you don't ascribe any value to the dollar.
This is how artists should be
Thank you.
This was a lovely little video to stumble on to. The production value was fantastic and I was left feeling hopeful about the future of my art and creativity. Works like this make me feel more confident in putting time and effort into the things I care about. Thank you.
Thank you! Good luck on your art journey, it’s a lifelong pursuit, but hopefully a joyful one 💙
Excellent video! Calvin and Hobbes has always been one of my very favorite comics, and I am grateful to Bill Watterson for not diluting/polluting his characters through overexposure and merchandizing.
Thank you! It is my favorite comic too, I'm so happy he at least did books so we can continue to read them and pass them down to the next generations.
To be honest, I am glad that he didn't sell out to merchandising or even make a movie and tv shows. I'm a writer and lately, in 2023 last year, I have noticed how many authors and writers sold their work to the big Hollywood filmmakers and video game companies and how they have destroyed their source material. Like Stan Lee and the Phase 4 and 5 Marvel Movies and how they made their stories terrible. Or Andrzej Sapkowski author of the Witcher and how he didn't get his money from the Witcher game creators and Netflix disrespecting his work. This made me respect Bill Watterson more and how it's great that he did not sell his work to these big butchering corporations.
I respect him not cashing out on C&H, but it won't stop me from making a Smash moveset for them.
Hats off to Mr. Watterson. That's a rare example of an artist deeply invested in his work, not merely as a "job", but as a creation in the fullest sense of the word. (Although I _would,_ of course, preferred if he gave my favorite strip characters a few more years of life.)
I know, in a way I'm glad he quit before it got bad/stale, but in another, I wish he'd kept going a little longer. I'm hoping he's secretly been still writing them and we'll get some more someday.
I just randomly found your channel this morning (thanks, YT algorithm!) , and I've just subscribed! I read C&H daily to this day, and I own *most* of the compilations (I really need to finish that collection off). I'm lucky enough to have watched C&H unfold during its original run, and I remember Watterson's battles with the syndicate that nearly led to him canceling the strip on his own right then and there. To this day the strip's final installment is one of the finest "endings" to any long-running property I know. Some of the strip's content hits differently as I get older...I find myself frustrated with the parents often and wish their love and internal memories of childhood would have manifested more, and I really wish Miss Wormwood could have figured out a way to engage Calvin's interests...but those aren't flaws, really, just things that hit differently when your vantage point on the strip changes.
If I might offer a recommendation? For me, the best successor to C&H in terms of entering a child's world and its strange internal logic is a strip called CUL DE SAC by Richard Thompson. The strip is sadly over, as Thompson had to retire due to Parkinsons (he has since sadly passed away), but the art and invention and the gentle humor in that strip always make me think of it as a descendant of Bill Watterson's great work. Anyway, great video, and I look forward to more!
I revisited C&H for the first time in a very long time while making this, and as a parent now, it hits so much differently! And I realized how little of the philosophy of the strip I understood as a kid. I've never read Cul De Sac before, it looks great, I'm definitely going to check it out! Thank you :)
thanks mr watterson and thank you for your respectful video
It’s not like he’s poor. Bill’s net worth is 100 million dollars. And did it without diminishing his legacy.
Yeah, he still did ok 😉
Hi! I found your channel yesterday, I like your approach in your videos (production values, animations, etc). Great work! The final C&H comic always brings a tear to my eye.
Thank you so much!
Your videos are so well made! I enjoyed this video :-) keep up the good work
Thank you so much, I appreciate the kind words! 💙
He didn't throw away a millions of dollars he just never had them - and the terms of getting them were unacceptable. There is a huge difference between losing money you had and not accepting promises of money which involves accepting the terms of a contract you would find insufferable and soul destroying.
I was lucky enough to go to the same high school as bill and had a teacher who would always show off his drawings he made when he was in high school. He even drew the cover for the yearbooks the year he graduated.
whaaat?! That is so cool!
This was a wonderful video! Great job!
Thank you so much!
they are perfect as it is.
Agree!
I own every Calvin & Hobbes strip that Bill Watterson ever drew,and read them all many,many times! I have always regretted that I’ve never been able to see these beloved characters in other forms. I’ve never understood how that would have diluted the work! I LOVE these characters,and would have bought anything with them on it! Ol Watterson was a different cat.
I feel the same, even an animation I would’ve devoured! And Hobbes was MADE to be a plush toy. 😭
Right, but when you think Snoopy and Garfield stuff, what do you associate it with? It's on everything, it's obnoxious, there's no humor left.
Calvin and Hobbes preserved its spirit, and Bill Watterson preserved his integrity. I respect that completely, even if I didn't have original characters/projects of my own too.
💯 Snoopy and Garfield are so generic now, most people know nothing of the character behind the merch. Calvin and Hobbes are still fully fleshed out characters with personalities in everyone's minds, it's really special.
Had Watterson merchandised his work he would have to deal with lawyers, paperwork, phone calls, etc. constantly. He just wanted a simple, quiet life.
Less time on paperwork = more time for art!
I’m surprised that you didn’t mention the infamous Calvin peeing bumper sticker.
Yes! That terrible bumper sticker, the only merch in existence lol. I did have it in one version, but it got cut. 🙃
@@DrawntoBooks That was not licensed.
I RESCUED AN ORANGE & WHITE FLUFFY STREET CAT IN THE 1980's. I NAMED HIM "HOBBES". I LOVED HIM TO DEATH. HE WAS SO FILTHY, CUTE AND ADORABLE. I LOVED, LOVED CALVIN & HOBBES....CALVIN WAS CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZY! I ADORED HIM! SO WONDERFUL! I LOVED THEM SO MUCH.
Awwww that is so cute 😸 also, your enthusiasm is unmatched, I love it! 😁
As an aspiring writer one of my biggest fears is losing my characters to a company that would publish my work and not getting the rights back if I were to quit.
I love my OCs as much as Waterson does so I know how this feels.
I agree, that’s a nightmare! And so unfortunate that many of these companies are predatory and “help” rising artists at the cost of giving up their IP. It’s a tough world for artists.
The video quality is amazing! You deserve way more views, subbed! :))
Thank you so much, that means a lot to me :)
Great video
Thank you!
Nice vid!
Thank you!
@@DrawntoBooks
No prob 🫶
Best Daily Comic Strip artist indeed
Integrity schmegrity, I would have taken the money
hahaha, I'd like to say I wouldn't but...probably same.
Not gonna lie while I respect the hell out of denying such big names wanting movies I will say a Jim Henson Kevin and Hobbes movie would’ve been so charming
Agreed! Jim Henson could’ve done it justice I think!
Awesome video! Good job!!!
Thank you!!
Bill Watterson had his own idea of success. It wasn't "$u¢¢e$$!" It was making something new, something that hadn't been before.
He didn't need T-shirts and coffee mugs. He made art. And we're in a better world because he did
Brilliant video! Very well-paced and entertaining. Calvin and Hobbes is my favorite comic of all time, and knowing that Bill Watterson understood the importance of maintaining the artistic integrity of his creation despite how lucrative it would've otherwise been to merchandize it goes to show how uniquely passionate Watterson is of his work compared to other artists. Truly in a league of his own.
Bill Watterson probably shaped my sarcastic sense of humor as a child, and made me remember to never lose joy and wonder at the world as an adult. I can't say that about most great novelists or writers, let alone newspaper cartoonists whose work tapered off before I was born.
It’s incredible, the comic medium was just the perfect way to create his world, and it really does stick with you for your whole life!
Thank you
You're welcome :)
I read Gravity's Rainbow when it first came out and really liked it, but I had been a Pynchon fan since reading V. The Sound and the Fury is a little hard to follow in places, but understandable as soon as you notice the reference, "a tale told by an idiot."
When I was a senior in high school (1970-71), I wrote my senior honors thesis on language as the protagonist in Joyce's work. I loved Ulysses for its merging of different styles of written and spoken language. I did (and still do) find Finnegan's Wake hard going, but it is interesting to think about. It helps to have some familiarity with the work of Giambattista Vico. Maybe the Wake is more interesting to think about after you read it than it is to actually read it (that might also be true of The Sound and the Fury).
I never made it past the first few pages of Infinite Jest. Sometime maybe I'll go back to it and see if my opinion has changed.
Woah! This is a weird one, how come you have such good video quality yet so little view count?
Also kinda cute and rare how he didnt choose money at all, and just kept his little characters in their own little world.
Thank you so much! Definitely rare to say no to that kind of money, it’s always cool to see artists who are just in it to make art.
I have a lot of respect for Watterson, and much affection for Calvin and Hobbes. I'm an aspiring writer/cartoonist myself, and I have no interest in selling merch (well, maybe a t-shirt or two), assuming my stuff gets noticed. It's the stories and characters that count.
Yeah it’s tough because most artists just want to make the art, but then still have to make money somehow! I’d love to say I’d never sell out, but man that’s a lot of money 😅
Will you be showing some of your art on this channel?
Hmmm...good question, I started this channel because of burnout. I come from animation/motion graphics and the industry is out of sorts right now and I just needed a break. I am starting to feel antsy to get back into it, so I may try to integrate art into my videos more, but the videos will likely still focus on books in some way.
Well, whatever you do, I look forward to it.
Lifelong comics fan and studier here: I never got around to reading the strip (mainly because I was so enthralled by Schulz whom Watterson took mass amounts of inspiration) but I may have to give it a look to check the validity of the “greatest of all time” claim. To me, nothing on earth can top George Herriman’s Krazy Kat to which both Peanuts and Calvin and Hobbes owe their existence. If you haven’t read Herriman, I’d suggest checking him out.
Also, I resent the idea that Schultz and Peanuts were corporate sellouts. Maybe that’s how it seemed in the later years, but it was clear from the beginning that Schulz didn’t want that to happen, even if it did occur eventually just as a result of the strip having been around for so long. I’d suggest you to read Mike Barrier’s interview with Schulz in which his disdain for the corporate mindset was laid out in comparison to Jim Davis’. (On a related note, I have no problem with your dismissing Garfield as just an empire to sell suction cups - most of what Davis did/does is hack work.)
Oh my gosh, as a comics fan I'm surprised you haven't read it, it's honestly a really great strip. Watterson was also heavily influenced by Krazy Kat, though I haven't read that one, from the way he talks about it, I think it may have influenced him even more than Peanuts.
I'm not sure Schulz was a corporate sellout, but he definitely had no problem with merchandising. I think he said something about not being able to commercialize a strip bc it's already commercial since it's just put in the newspaper to sell newspapers. He had a different relationship to his strip, a more business-minded one I guess you could say. That said, I still have so much respect for him and you cannot deny he loved the strip/characters, and he made those comics with his own hand until he died. The same cannot be said for Davis...
It's hard not to have respect for that man when, down to his dying day, he didn't let anyone draw those characters or write their material in the comics. Herriman was the same (as far as I know) but his strip "only" lasted barely 3 decades compared to Schulz' 5...
Of course, no one cares how long Garfield runs for because some new hack will just take over when Davis passes.
Not me getting excited at your mention of Taylor Swift because I love both Calvin and Hobbes and her 😏
Haha who doesn’t love Taylor Swift?! 😁
Wait...I think I read all of the comments, but no one has mentioned the strange, but wonderful, new book by Watterson "The Mysteries"? Even reviewed by Leaf by Leaf.
Yessss! I learned about that while making this, and I am waiting to get it from my library right now. It looks so interesting, and the first thing he's put out in decades, thanks for mentioning it!
WOAH this is a fantastic video! Love stumbling onto a brilliant, up and coming channel! From one editor to another, well fucking done 😂
Also more to the point, thank you for giving love to Watterson and the best comic strip of all time. I love C&H so much
Thank you so much! 😭 It’s not easy, the unseen labors of editing videos lol.
hes worth a few hundred million bucks
You just earned a sub
Thank you so much!
It was very refreshing to hear an artist that drew things, because he WANTED to, he knew when to stop. This is linda Clichè but it really is true that less is mofe
Yeah, he was really good at knowing when to stop before running it into the ground.
I'll always love bill, for comics, and for his pure soul :)
Agreed, he is so cool, the epitome of an artist.
One downside of Mr. Watterson's decision is that Calvin and Hobbes is far less well known today than its contemporaries. I think he probably still made the right decision, but it's a shame that while Peanuts and Garfield enjoy legend status pretty universally, Calvin and Hobbes has become more of a hidden gem. I know I'll be introducing my kids to the strip when I have them, since it is my favorite of all time, though, and I hope other fans will do the same. Keep circulating the tapes (or books, in this case)!
I agree. Part of what made those strips well known was merchandising, cartoons, and movies. Kids who saw Garfield and Snoopy on TV can read the comics but that’s not the case with Calvin and Hobbes. I of course respect Watterson’s wishes but look at other obscure and forgotten comic strips like Pogo and Barney Google. Calvin and Hobbes could end up like those someday when the generation of Calvin and Hobbes dies off because Calvin and Hobbes remained just a comic strip. Don’t you agree with me?
I agree that it can end up like that if we don't try hard to pass it on. I think it will sadly fade eventually, but that happens with everything. The best we can do is keep it alive as long as possible@@huntercoleman460
My kid will be reading the strip as soon as he's able to understand it 😄 I agree more people recognize the characters of Peanuts and Garfield, but I'm curious if many of them even know it was a comic strip at all. I think Watterson really wanted people to keep reading comics, so yes, keep circulating the books!
@@DrawntoBooks I just hope they don’t end up forgotten like Pogo and Barney Google.
Considering I don't know Barney Google, I understand what you're saying!
Dayum. What a man. I would have gave in to the capitalist demands, and use the extra money for giving trainings and jobs for people, mostly buying lands, farming, water filtration, tree planting to make homes, art, sculpture and animation. Give jobs, home, food and hope to people.
Yeah, a lot of good could be done with that money!
There is nothing more respectable than keeping your artistic integrity bill embodies this mind set an inspiration for millions of artists out there
It's hard to do, but inspiring when you see someone do it as well as him!
@@DrawntoBooks Yeah it’s easy to sell out but to stay by your word takes courage
Bill Waterson did some of the best works during those years. I loved his work, then. I still collect the compendiums now. Even when I see 'em at half-priced book stores, I scoop 'em up to give away to friends. (Bill should have taken the money.)
I agree, he was so great. Even if he didn't keep doing Calvin and Hobbes, I wish we could've seen what his next work would've been!
I always wondered why he never chose to allow Calvin and Hobbes to be merchandised, but I can't say I disagree with what he did either. Seriously, my respect for him has gone way up.
He's one of the good ones.
I don't know. Peanuts never got old. Neither did Garfield. I think he made the right decision, though. He probably got paid a fair penny for his work, which is all that matters in the end. You don't need to be a billionaire, to be an accomplished, and affluent artist.
I gotta read 22/11/63, that seems to be a fan favorite!
Right .
I don't know how many billionaires I'd trade for
Calvin & Hobbs.
There's not enough,
C&H is worth more to me.
@@FoursWithin Yeah. But Peanuts was great, too.
It's OK his kids will cash that check.
hahaha, ouch. I hope not!
To my knowledge, he doesn’t have kids.
I have mixed feelings about this.
On one hand i admire his integrity in sticking to what really mattered most to him.
In the other, i can see the fun and enjoyment of his unique creations memory so greatly that it seems sad to have not allowed this.
Maybe if he would choose carefully and donate the proceeds.
But it seems a shame to have no Hobbes plushy and no animated specials of their adventures.
That said I'm eternally grateful that he kept it away from George freaking Lucas!
And as much as I like Disney, they would have had Calvin and Hobbes 90 percent singing and 1 percent talking
A singing Calvin and Hobbes sounds like a nightmare!
I think C&H would work as an animation without voice acting, almost like a silent film but only the characters are silent.
@@headphonesaxolotl Yeah, that'd be great!
Sellout hack Jim Davis will never be as great as an artist as Bill. Bill Watterson understood how shallow capitalism is, he will always be based, the comics will be among of the best works of Anarchism along Peter Kropotkin's Conquest of Bread
nice video more people should subscribe to your channel
Thank you!
Bill Watterson definitely is a unique cartoonist. I of course respect his wishes about wanting Calvin and Hobbes to remain a comic strip but unfortunately the cost would be that once the generation that grew up with Calvin and Hobbes dies off, they’ll be forgotten about like other forgotten comic strips like Pogo and Barney Google. Don’t you agree?
I have mixed feelings on this. One side of me understands not wanting Calvin and Hobbes to become cheap movie sequels or products you can’t escape from. Then the other side of me really thinks a Calvin and Hobbes movie is what we all need. Especially now. But I still respect his choice, in the end it’s his choice. Not mine
I would love a movie! And I know Watterson didn't want to give Calvin a voice, but I feel like a silent animated movie would even be magical.
@@DrawntoBooks Or where everyone speaks but only in text boxes, and maybe with some sort of sound based on the character (think undertale textbox sounds)
He was very angery about this subject, I respect it but it sucks if your a fan of his work.
Yeah, he’s been very stubborn about it, but you gotta respect him for not being bought.
@@DrawntoBooks Very true. A lot of artsist really lower themselves to things they wouldn't do to make money. Not saying posters t-shirts or mugs are bad, in fact they can be a lot of fun. But that wasn't Calvin and Hobbes style.
I actually never liked the idea of a commercial hobbes plush, it looks way too say hand made to exist irl as say a store bought toy and making it real would ruin the charm, at least to me.🎉
I can totally see that! I don’t think there would be a way to make him without cheapening him somehow.