Editing Calvin and Hobbes (section)

==Merchandising==
''Calvin and Hobbes'' had almost no official product merchandising. Watterson held that comic strips should stand on their own as an art form and although he did not start out completely opposed to merchandising in all forms (or even for all comic strips), he did reject an early syndication deal that involved incorporating a more marketable, licensed character into his strip.<ref name="christie1987" /> In spite of being an unproven cartoonist, and having been flown all the way to New York to discuss the proposal, Watterson reflexively resented the idea of "cartooning by committee" and turned it down.

When ''Calvin and Hobbes'' was accepted by Universal Syndicate, and began to grow in popularity, Watterson found himself at odds with the syndicate, which urged him to begin merchandising the characters and touring the country to promote the first collections of comic strips. Watterson refused, believing that the integrity of the strip and its artist would be undermined by [[commercialization]], which he saw as a major negative influence in the world of cartoon art,<ref name="west1989" /> and that licensing his character would only violate the spirit of his work.{{sfnp|Watterson|1995|pages=10–11}} He gave an example of this in discussing his opposition to a Hobbes plush toy: that if the essence of Hobbes' nature in the strip is that it remain unresolved whether he is a real tiger or a stuffed toy, then creating a real stuffed toy would only destroy the magic. However, having initially signed away control over merchandising in his initial contract with the syndicate,<ref name=":1" /> Watterson commenced a lengthy and emotionally draining battle with Universal to gain control over his work. Ultimately Universal did not approve any products against Watterson's wishes, understanding that, unlike other comic strips, it would be nearly impossible to separate the creator from the strip if Watterson chose to walk away.

One estimate places the value of licensing revenue forgone by Watterson at $300–$400 million.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://bigthink.com/Picture-This/what-is-the-legacy-of-calvin-and-hobbes|title=What is the legacy of Calvin and Hobbes?|last=Bob|first=Duggan|work=Big Think}}</ref> Almost no legitimate ''Calvin and Hobbes'' merchandise exists.<ref name="items">{{cite web | url=http://ignatz.brinkster.net/citems.html | title=A Concise Guide to All Legal Calvin and Hobbes Items | last=Hulsizer | first=Tim | publisher=Calvin and Hobbes: Magic on Paper (fan site)| access-date=December 24, 2011|archive-date=July 19, 2011|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110719004818/http://ignatz.brinkster.net/citems.html | url-status=live}}</ref> Exceptions produced during the strip's original run include two 16-month calendars (1988–89 and 1989–90), a t-shirt for the Smithsonian Exhibit, ''Great American Comics: 100 Years of Cartoon Art'' (1990) and the textbook ''[[Teaching with Calvin and Hobbes]]'',<ref name="twch">{{cite book |last1=Holmen |first1=Linda |last2=Santella-Johnson |first2=Mary |last3=Watterson |first3=Bill |author-link3=Bill Watterson |others=Cover and supplementary art by Jan Roebken |title=Teaching with Calvin and Hobbes |year=1993 |publisher=Playground Publishing |location=Fargo, North Dakota |isbn=1-878849-15-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Radigan Neuhalfen |date=2004 |title=Teaching With Calvin and Hobbes |website=ignatz.brinkster.net |url=http://ignatz.brinkster.net/cteaching.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110426032853/http://ignatz.brinkster.net/cteaching.html |archive-date=April 26, 2011}}</ref> which has been described as "perhaps the most difficult piece of official ''Calvin and Hobbes'' memorabilia to find."<ref name="Martell 2010 p. 236">{{harvp|Martell|2010|p=236}}</ref> In 2010, Watterson did allow his characters to be included in a series of [[United States Postal Service]] stamps honoring five classic American comics.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/2010/pr10_068.htm |title=Sunday Funnies Comic Strips Debut on Stamps |date=July 16, 2010 |publisher=[[United States Postal Service]] [[press release]] |location=Columbus, Ohio |access-date=January 10, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101027144142/http://www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/2010/pr10_068.htm |archive-date=October 27, 2010 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> Licensed prints of ''Calvin and Hobbes'' were made available and have also been included in various academic works.

The strip's immense popularity has led to the appearance of various [[counterfeit]] items such as window decals and T-shirts that often feature [[Off-color humor|crude humor]], [[binge drinking]] and other themes that are not found in Watterson's work.<ref>[[#CITEREFWatterson1995|Watterson (1995)]], p. 12.</ref> Images from one strip in which Calvin and Hobbes dance to loud music at night were commonly used for copyright violations.<ref>[[#CITEREFWatterson1995|Watterson (1995)]], p. 36.</ref> After threat of a lawsuit alleging infringement of copyright and trademark, some sticker makers replaced Calvin with a different boy, while other makers made no changes.<ref>{{cite news |first=Adam |last=Bernstein |title=Calvin's Unauthorized Leak: Stock Car Fans Misuse Comics Character |work=[[The Virginian-Pilot]] ([[Norfolk, Virginia]]) via [[The Washington Post]] via Calvin and Hobbes: Magic on Paper (fan site) |page=B9 |date=July 17, 1997 |url=http://ignatz.brinkster.net/cstockcars.html |access-date=April 18, 2011 |archive-date=July 22, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722001516/http://ignatz.brinkster.net/cstockcars.html |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Watterson wryly commented, "I clearly miscalculated how popular it would be to show Calvin urinating on a [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]] logo,"<ref name="amiv" /> but later added, "long after the strip is forgotten, [they] are my ticket to immortality".<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=http://mentalfloss.com/article/53216/mental-floss-exclusive-our-interview-bill-watterson|title=Our Interview with Calvin and Hobbes Creator Bill Watterson!|last=Rossen|first=Jake|date=17 October 2013|work=Mental Floss}}</ref>

===Animation===
Watterson has expressed admiration for animation as an artform. In a 1989 interview in ''[[The Comics Journal]]'' he described the appeal of being able to do things with a moving image that cannot be done by a simple drawing: the distortion, the exaggeration and the control over the length of time an event is viewed.<ref>{{Cite web|last=The Comics Journal|date=2013-12-06|title=The Bill Watterson Interview|url=https://www.tcj.com/the-bill-watterson-interview/|url-status=live|access-date=2022-01-18|website=The Comics Journal|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131208121422/http://www.tcj.com:80/the-bill-watterson-interview/ |archive-date=December 8, 2013 }}</ref> However, although the visual possibilities of animation appealed to Watterson, the idea of finding a voice for Calvin made him uncomfortable, as did the idea of working with a team of animators.<ref name="west1989" /> Ultimately, ''Calvin and Hobbes'' was never made into an [[animated cartoon|animated series]]. Watterson later stated in ''The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book'' that he liked the fact that his strip was a "low-tech, one-man operation," and that he took great pride in the fact that he drew every line and wrote every word on his own.<ref>[[#CITEREFWatterson1995|Watterson (1995)]], p. 11.</ref> Calls from major Hollywood figures interested in an adaptation of his work, including [[Jim Henson]], [[George Lucas]] and [[Steven Spielberg]], were never returned<ref name=":1" /> and in a 2013 interview Watterson stated that he had "zero interest" in an animated adaptation as there was really no upside for him in doing so.<ref name=":2" />