Plot
A documentary film about the impact of the newspaper comic strip Calvin & Hobbes, created by Bill Watterson.
Release Year: 2013
Rating: 5.6/10 (151 voted)
Critic's Score: 56/100
Director: Joel Allen Schroeder
Stars: Berkeley Breathed, Jef Mallett, Stephan Pastis
Storyline
A documentary film about the impact of the newspaper comic strip Calvin & Hobbes, created by Bill Watterson.
Cast: Berkeley Breathed -
Himself
Seth Green -
Himself
Stephan Pastis -
Himself
Bill Amend -
Himself
Jef Mallett -
Himself
Dave Kellett -
Himself
Jan Eliot -
Herself
Lee Salem -
Himself
Wiley Miller -
Himself
Nevin Martell -
Himself
Jean Schulz -
Herself
Dan Piraro -
Himself
Keith Knight -
Himself
Lucas Turnbloom -
Himself
Andrew Farago -
Himself
Whilst this is an original and informative investigation of a
much-beloved funny papers classic, in my view it's not really a very
good film. I have two reasons for this. Firstly, a lot of what is said
ranges from the pointless (inking errors vs deliberate mistakes) to
foolish conjecture (the whole Snoopy rip-off angle), instead of
focusing on the more conventional interpretations. Bill Watterson's
creation is about imagination and coming of age, and his strip is the
psychic receptiveness Calvin has which allows him to tune into his
plushie tiger toy (and to a lesser extent his parents), with the
central metaphor of the boiler blowing representing joy and life.
Watterson's creation is the same idea, but in a more metaphysical
context, with the boiler replaced by a maze (the actual one and the
hotel's corridors) reflecting the layers of Calvin's psychosis. Nobody
in this documentary mentions any of this; they're all convinced it's an
allegory for something else, some cosmic key involving the number forty
or whatever. There is nothing wrong with these ideas but they say a lot
more about the people talking than they do about C&H. The second
problem I have is the sound, which is pretty feeble. There are many
good ideas here, like the Impossible Window, or the daydream theatre,
and there are some great visual touches too, especially the interviews
with random contempoary cartoonists.
Watterson's creations are rich in the sense that plot-wise they are
loose (to the point of exasperation sometimes) but visually they are
packed with stuff going on - each frame is filled with interesting
things that he carefully considered in a way other cartoonists either
didn't care about or simply didn't have time for. This is why they are
all so open to such a huge variety of interpretation. He pushed the
medium to artistic limits, but he also understood its raison d'etre and
key strengths - storytelling, drama, action and suspense - something
all these folks have overlooked.
0