Dear Mr. Watterson

Streaming video - 2015

Calvin and Hobbes dominated the Sunday comics in thousands of newspapers for over 10 years, having a profound effect on millions of readers across the globe.  When the strip's creator, Bill Watterson, retired the strip on New Year's Eve in 1995, devoted readers everywhere felt the void left by the departure of Calvin, Hobbes, and Watterson's other cast of characters, and many fans would never find a satisfactory replacement. It has now been more than a decade since the end of the Calvin and Hobbes era.  Bill Watterson has kept an extremely low profile during this time, living a very private life outside of Cleveland, Ohio.  Despite his quiet lifestyle, Mr. Watterson is remembered and appreciated daily by fans who still enj...oy his amazing collection of work. Mr. Watterson has inspired and influenced millions of people through Calvin and Hobbes.  Newspaper readership and book sales can be tracked and recorded, but the human impact he has had and the value of his art are perhaps impossible to measure. This film is not a quest to find Bill Watterson, or to invade his privacy.  It is an exploration to discover why his 'simple' comic strip made such an impact on so many readers in the 80s and 90s, and why it still means so much to us today. "Offers not only an in-depth look at the comic strip's unique influence but also a concise snapshot of the dwindling state of newspapers and their "funny pages." - Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times "A pleasant reminder that if you haven't taken those Calvin and Hobbes anthologies off the shelf in a while, maybe it's time to go exploring again." - Ian Buckwalter, NPR "If you're a fan of Calvin and Hobbes, director Joel Allen Schroeder's documentary Dear Mr. Watterson is more of less pure joy." - Dave McGinn, Daily Globe and Mail Awards Official Selection - Cleveland International Film Festival Golden Badger Winner - Wisconsin Film Festival 2013 Official Selection - Dead Center Film Festival 2013 Official Selection - Cinetopia International Film Festival 2013 Invitation - Southside Film Festival 2013 Official Selection - Cinefest Sudbury 2013 Best Feature - Chagrin Documentary Film Fest 2013 Official Selection - New Orleans Film Festival 2013 Official Selection - Buffalo International Film Festival 2013 Official Selection - Frederick Film Festival 2013 Official Selection - Savannah Film Festival 2013   more