Calvin & Hobbes ran for just 10 years, from 1985 to 1995, but it inspired an intense adoration among legions of fans that loved the adventures of the boy and his tiger. The strip’s charming mystique was further compounded by the noted reclusiveness of the strip’s creator, Bill Watterson, who chose to pull the plug on the strip long before it ran its course, refused to license his characters, and hardly ever gives interviews.


Dear Mr. Watterson, a new Kickstarter-funded documentary playing at the Cleveland International and Wisconsin Film Festivals this April, attempts to pay homage to the strip and its creator—all while, of course, never actually talking to him. The filmmakers instead asked fans like Seth Green and associates like Fox Trot creator Bill Amend about Watterson’s work and legacy. It may not be the in-depth feature about the J.D. Salinger of the Sunday funnies the world has been waiting for, but it’ll do for now.