The truth about Peeing Calvin

Peeing Calvin is a travesty. But it's also a choice.
More info and sources at bottom.
Find me elsewhere:
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Where I get my music (Free trial affiliate link):
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My camera, as of February 2022 (affiliate link):
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Calvin and Hobbes box set (yes it's an affiliate link, listen, I left out the Patreon plug in the video but I'm no Bill Watterson).
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Main book I read - Looking for Calvin and Hobbes by Nevin Martell
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To be honest, I think you have to be a superfan to really dig this book. At points, I was like, OK, I understand why Bill thought cartoonists were too boring to merit obsession. But I don't mean that as a dig on the book - it is well-researched by a clear fan and if you love C+H you'll love it.
My article:
triviahappy.co...
Crypto Calvins (barf): opensea.io/Cry...
Amazing Kenyon speech: web.mit.edu/jmo...
I left out so many great parts of this.
A Watterson speech on the syndication issue:
www.heinzinsufe...
Interview at The Comics Journal:
www.tcj.com/th...
Later, highly coveted, Mental Floss interview:
www.mentalflos...
Lots of Creative Commons photos in this one:
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[@jsjsfilms]

I love how he says "Calvin is too sweet to even throw the water balloon on Hobbes" when really Calvin just doesn't want to get mauled.

[@cjitaya]

Yes, but Hobbes was really a function of Calvin's imagination. So in the end, it was Calvin who chose not to water balloon his imaginary friend. In many ways, Hobbes was Calvin's internal moral compass.

[@krewgarr]

@@cjitaya You nailed it.

[@henrycagigas8437]

Internal self preservation compass

[@CyberSonic72]

"Too sweet" while in the next panel he looks big mad about choosing not to do it😂 That face tho lol as if he's thinking "How did I ever get to become such a softie?"

[@localscissors4036]

Agreed. “Too sweet” my foot. Calvin would’ve 100% thrown that if Hobbes didn’t have claws

[@fredtaylor9792]

There was a 4 year period in my young life where Calvin and Hobbes were my only friends. My parents divorced and my world fell apart. I stayed up late at night reading them. I just wish I could tell Bill Watterson thank you.

[@larrybird6860]

I remember when I was little I collected the comics, but on the last day of Elementary I wasn’t able to go to school, so the teacher gave away all my comics.

[@JCTBomb]

😭💙

[@swisswildpicsswp3095]

I feel you, man. These comics also helped me a lot in my childhood. Now I can't read them without crying, which is a shame.

[@kalisederoche]

even as a kid i was like “thats not really calvin. he wouldnt do that” lmao

[@Attmay]

It was out of character, but the stuff the creator actually turned down would not have crossed that li… Oh, who am I kidding… say it with me: *The Simpsons* already did it!

[@felixftw4702]

he might not have done it but i can easily imagine him doing it. he was so full of hatred and anger

[@marcussmith4913]

lol what? he wouldnt do that? he totally would have you not read the comic?

[@dejus_e]

@@marcussmith4913he wouldn’t pee on stuff like that with an angry face

[@MaydupNem]

Bill Watterson casually dropping one of the greatest comic strips of all time, refusing to compromise his art for any amount of money, going out on his own terms after just ten years, and never being seen again is one of the coolest character arcs I've ever seen

[@Scanch12]

He’s finally got a new book coming out actually!

[@wet-read]

I have MASSIVE respect for Watterson!

[@fishdude666ify]

Word.

[@ChrisIndellicati]

FUCKING LEGEND

[@nonow1353]

​@@Scanch12 when what where?!?!

[@Mewted]

Watterson is as legit as an artist can be. He gave his soul and said... whatever, do what you want... I'll have no part in it. In the face of commercialism and profit, he just did what he wanted to express, then moved on. Mad respect and one of the greatest strips that has ever existed. Imagination is the true heart of life.

[@100gecsrbetterthangod5]

We badly need more people like him.

[@laurendoe168]

It's not that Calvin was too sweet to throw the water balloon... it's the fact that Hobbes made him realize the consequences of throwing it were too dire (despite the fact that Hobbes was also a figment of his imagination).

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

he says life's too short!

[@laurendoe168]

@@PhilEdwardsInc Yes... to die so young :D

[@joelpartee594]

@@PhilEdwardsInc No, he says "As if life's not short enough already," The clear threat is that Calvin's life could be made even shorter by an angry wet tiger.

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

@@joelpartee594 See I read it as, life's too short to waste on such pointless violence.

[@Thalatash]

@@PhilEdwardsInc I really like your interpretation, but it's a bit of a running gag where Calvin would think he's sneaking up on Hobbes with a water balloon until Hobbes reveals that he knows exactly what Calvin is doing. Hobbes then threatens Calvin in some way, implying that if he did throw the water balloon it would be his, "last day on Earth" or something like that. Also, "pointless violence" for a water balloon is a bit much, no? Maybe your neighborhood played different than we did, but water balloons were probably the least violent thing we did. The point was, they cooled you off on hot summer days. Great video, though!

[@mdhindley]

Peeing Calvin has bothered me for decades. I always related to Calvin, and always felt that he wouldn't behave in that was. Calvin was never a mean kid, he wasn't a troublemaker. He was scatterbrained and aloof, but nothing mean. I've always hated that the character has been associated with it. Thanks for making this video.

[@sceptre1067]

agree. this and other Calvin rip off stickers bother me too… both from a the “ripping off the art” p.o.v. and yeah Calvin wasn’t that sort of kid.

[@keesvdb]

agreed, I dont like it but i feel its better then licenced merch so whenever I see him on anything you can gauntee that its a knock off.

[@bananawitchcraft]

I remember being constantly perplexed by these decals when I was a very young kid. I was familiar with the comics and I thought "that looks like Calvin, but it doesn't make sense that he would pee on stuff, so maybe it's not him?"

[@douglaspantz]

“he wasn’t a troublemaker” Well, I wouldn’t exactly say Calvin was a harbinger of stability, but yeah, the people that made this definitely made it without respect for the character/watterson

[@Scav-Goblin]

Do you cry yourself to sleep over it if you see it while driving? lol

[@VoIcanoman]

I think the best thing about Calvin & Hobbes by far was the complexity of Calvin's mind. He could be evil, or thoughtful. Chaos incarnate or incredibly methodical. His worldview ranged from simplistic to complex (like with all of the philosophical discussions he had with Hobbes, paying homage to the minds after which the two characters were named). He was about as real a child as you could get from a pen and paper, and that's what made him relatable. That's why we all loved the strip so much. Because he reminded us of our childhoods.

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

I definitely understand him more now that I have an (equally volatile) kid.

[@johndemeritt3460]

My wife and I were Corgi Companions for sixteen years. Looking at this retrospective, I now realize that Calvin was as close to a human Corgi as we may ever see. And that one HECK of a compliment!

[@bikecaptain8015]

Or, if you were a neurodivergent child of the time, he didn't remind you of anything but you. And he made you know that no matter how many called you lazy or crazy or weird over things about yourself that felt innate or very difficult to control, somewhere out there somebody got it. And they were helping others get it too by putting this wonderful, almost insidious thing in the paper.

[@dr.a006]

Definitely an expansive, profound vocabulary for a kid!😅

[@rcschmidt668]

One Calvin & Hobbes that I remember as a fitting end was a grown up Calvin watching his kid find Hobbes and start playing.

[@MNMNMNMNMNMNMNMNMNMNMNMNMNMN]

I named my son Calvin (he's six months now) because of Calvin and Hobbes. Watterson's ethics coincidentally seemed to line with my own as a person. I never studied in school, but I'll be damned if I pass off another's work as my own, and vice versa. If I did a great essay and a friend asked me to write theirs, I'd tell them to go to hell. At the same time I've spent most of my 23 years alive trying to write, to cartoon, to do anything artistically fulfilling, and despite being occasionally alright, it's never been worth anything. But still, I don't care to be worth more. I'm just proud of the few smiles I've been able to give, and I would hope for nothing less for anyone else.

[@nuclearduck13]

My dad raised us on Calvin and Hobbes. He bought every collection he could find, and was elated when we got him more. Our bedtime stories were almost always Calvin and Hobbes, and when we reached the end of the collection, we'd start again. There are few panels I haven't seen dozens of times, so the first time we saw a decal of Calvin peeing on something, we knew it was a knock-off.

[@toywazoo]

Knock off or not, it's everywhere!

[@ktburger659]

One of the things I like about nerd culture is that we can wear t-shirts to identify each other’s interests to start a conversation. But if someone is bearing a Calvin and Hobbes item, you know it is unlicensed and therefore against the wishes their creator and the spirit of the comic. So it’s hard to identify the fans (although it’s easy to identify non-fans from the peeing sticker.) Because of this, Calvin and Hobbes remains an introverted experience that happens to us individually when we read the comic - at least for me. In that way, it keeps a bit of special magic because so many other intellectual properties are not consumed this way and are widely picked apart and discussed ad nauseam.

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

this is true!

[@bradarmstrong3952]

Perhaps this is part of what is behind the creator's decision here ...

[@ObsessiveGeek]

You could always wear a red shirt with thin black stripes to signify your allegiance to C&H, though I guess the best way to find other fans is to simply talk about your love of the comic strip. Luckily the internet makes it easier to discuss subjects and find those mutual interests for those of us who live mostly in our imaginations.

[@clonegeek3317]

Its fine to wear a bootleg Calvin and Hobbes shirt.

[@jenniferw7928]

I think bootleg shirts and Hobbes plushies are fine, but the peeing stickers are so mean spirited it's antithetical to the Calvin and Hobbs spirit. When I see them, I've always thought to myself 'There goes someone who'd hate Calvin and Hobbes if they ever actually read it.' Maybe I'm wrong, but that's how I see it.

[@jonothanthrace1530]

Bill Watterson deserves more credit than I think he gets for choosing to draw a comic that let him not only draw a kid having a philosophical discussion with essentially himself, but also extremely detailed dinosaurs and alien landscapes.

[@JourneyTraveler]

“I didn’t like the idea of using this hard-won precious job to peddle a bunch of trinkets” Really succinct Watterson quote from the complete collection that could not sum it up any better.

[@JaykPuten]

And in making this video, Phil cemented his transmogrifier setting to the "peeing Calvin historian" forever But you'll always be the KZbin explorer of random stuff I was unaware of, of the mundane, of the overlooked little things in life You go Phil!

[@mfultimate]

to me he'll always be the guy who talked about the architecture of the midwest furfest hotel

[@FoxMacLeod2501]

_Hell_ yes!

[@oofy404]

I have always loved Calvin and Hobbes. I would always get sucked in, read for hours, and loose all sight of our world. I wished I was Calvin, having a pet tiger, tree house, and infinite time to explore. Looking back, I kinda was in a way. I skipped preschool. My parents brought me to playgrounds and museums instead. This even continued into kindergarten, where we would go exploring on the weekends or after school. I was also an oddball, like Calvin. I saw things other people would never dream of, and I was always weird. Hell, my favorite tv show at that age was Futurama. Calvin helped me realize these things, and has helped with so much more. He was my childhood, and a cartoon idol I could and still can relate to on a personal level.

[@Kholdstare52]

I've known Bill hated those decals since I was a kid reading the comic collections in the 90's. Any real C&H fan knows peeing "Calvin" is not the real Calvin, and whoever has those stickers likely never read the strip.

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

it's kinda crazy though - you talk to more casual fans and they really don't know about it. pretty awful!

[@Attmay]

@@PhilEdwardsInc maybe they didn’t grow up where it was common to see them.

[@RoxyLegs]

You got me in tears, thank you. I adore Calvin and Hobbs. I remember fighting with my brother weekly to be the first to the pull out comic section from the Sunday paper. I can't bear to get rid of my tattered books because the comics have been lovingly read by my siblings and kids. I never thought the peeing Calvin was ever associated with his creator; to know that Bill Watterson did see this "homage" and knew it would cheapen the entire brand to take on that fight- I adore him even more!!

[@MortisVivas]

As someone that grew up on Calvin and Hobbes it's sweet to see so many other people interested in it and actively interacting

[@Itgetsbetterofficial]

3:15 I don't think that the comic is showing calvin being "too sweet to throw the balloon" Hobbes says "as if life isn't short enough", showing calvin that he's both onto the trick, and implying that going through with it would make calvin's life even shorter than it already is. Calvin, upon being discovered, puts on a grumpy face and pockets his hands in the last panel.

[@MerrimanDevonshire]

What Bill brought to Calvin & Hobbies through his actions is a level of reputation/integrity/mystique that more than a few prominent cartoonists, or their estates, would kill for. ❤

[@chrisblake4198]

I consider myself blessed to be in middle school, high school, and in my first real job at a newspaper after flunking out of college, during the run of Calvin and Hobbes. I didn't see every strip the day it came out, but I saw about 80% of them and it changed my outlook on the world. I got to cherish it, and be there for the end, and see the next day how our paper chose to leave his spot blank to honor it. Sure, Watterson could have made a deal and every kid in America would have had or wanted a Hobbes plushie, perfect in every detail. But he didn't, and that meant the entire run of the strip somehow remained fresh and new like untracked snow, yet to be turned into mutant snowmen or used in snowball fights against *gasp* girls. It didn't just stand out from Peanuts and Garfield and every other strip on the page in terms of art or humor, it felt more real. But the fact that not every kid got a Hobbes maintained the real lesson I think he wanted them to learn- kids could find their own friend and imagine them and name them and go off on their own adventures, instead of just copying Calvin's. Everyone got their own patch of new snow.

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

well said

[@ellenmarch3095]

This. Poetic. ❤️

[@chesschicken1698]

wow I never thought of it that way, I like what you mean by not copying Calvin's imagination. Watterson has a great quote: "leave the party early" and that means to me that he said what he wanted to say and he wasn't trying to milk it until it was dry. When you read the strip and you haven't been bombarded with merchandise, you are seeing it with less noise.

[@ChristianBehnke]

Calvin & Hobbes made me laugh and love adventure as a child. Reading it again as an adult (and parent) gave me a different view of their world and our own, and it was no less amazing. ❤

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

i definitely read it differently now too

[@snidelywhiplash]

I never expected to be in tears by the end of a video about Peeing Calvin, but here I am.

[@peterk7931]

I shouldn't have been surprised that a video about a crude, pirated bumper sticker became a meditation on integrity and purity of art.

[@christianevangelista]

Began reading Calvin and Hobbes when I was in 2nd grade. Our teacher had a class library with one of the compilation books. It was probably the most fundamental books of my childhood. It made me realize how fast my childhood was going by at the time and how I should just enjoy the small moments. It changed the way I saw the world. Even with peeing Calvin, my love and perception of the comics never changed.

[@bamboolaceway]

I loved this and it reminds me a bit of Dr. Seuss. I heard years ago that while Dr. Seuss was alive, he refused to license any of his characters because he didn't want any children to end up having classmates who had Cat in the Hat, while they couldn't afford one, etc. Very classy of the man.

[@Attmay]

The executors of his estate are the exact opposite.

[@bamboolaceway]

@@Attmay I know. It's so sad. Anything for a buck, right?

[@desmond1751]

I can’t believe a video with the words “peeing Calvin” in the title got me so emotional at the end Any video that can do that is undoubtedly a work of art

[@Pretermit_Sound]

I was obsessed with Calvin and Hobbes during grade-school, when the strip was still active, and it had such a huge impact on my development as a person. As I got older, I discovered punk rock, and the whole underground/independent music scene. The whole “artistic integrity” thing really stuck with me, and I always thought Bill Watterson had similar principles when it came to his art. Still a big fan of both the Punk ethos, and Calvin and Hobbes to this day….25+ years later. This was a sweet video 😊 *8:40 bought that book when it came out, and it’s still on my bookshelf. Great read. The author did his homework.

[@nirellediamond]

I'm one of those die hard fans that you're talking about. I have that MASSIVELY heavy complete collection and no matter how much it weighs, I have moved it with me year after year and it has survived many belonging purges because it brings me so much joy. And I still have every single one that I bought as a kid at the Scholastic Book Fairs, though they definitely look their age haha. Thank you for this, from the bottom of my tiger-loving heart 💜

[@jeff702]

Seeing peeing Calvin decals on cars played a big role in sparking my interest in reading the comic once I came across it in my school library back in the 4th grade.

[@michmash7888]

Thank you for solving a 35+ year mystery! My college roommate and I were big C&H fans back in the late 80s-I wanted to get her a birthday gift with Hobbes on it, and I went to several shops looking for him (no internet!) No luck, and now I know why! (I think I got her a Far Side mug instead.) Also, of course, thank you for confirming my long-held suspicion that those decals weren’t legit…Calvin could be naughty sometimes, but he was never nasty!

[@Attmay]

Gary Larson managed to quit while he was ahead while still allowing licensed merchandise he was comfortable with. There was even an animated *Far Side* special, but that was a one-off. Bill Watterson turned down offers from some people who might have done something interesting with it, and certainly less crass than this. He even said no to Jim Henson!

[@mfbobyle6771]

I loved Calvin and Hobbes as a kid. My mom collected the comics so I could read them. He made me want to become an artist. Calvin playing with monster snowmen or being a detective with a squirt gun or fighting T-Rex’s with a f-22, I love the imagination Watterson had for that character and I appreciate him being so morally steadfast. He didn’t sell out, and that matters. I hope Calvin and Hobbes stays that way

[@JustWhyFFS]

I forgot as a kid, I owned the giant paperback omnibus of all the strips.... I used to think "peeing Calvin" was funny. Gave me a giggle seeing it. After watching this though I remembered, as the creator said, that's not how Calvin would have acted. Mid-way between Charlie Brown and Bart Simpson was a perfect description. An imaginary kid with a heart of gold, that got up to a little mischief.... "Peeing Calvin" kinda pisses me off now (pun intended)

[@clonegeek3317]

Looking for the peeing Calvin decal would be a fun road trip game

[@asmrtpop2676]

Read your article forever ago so I’m glad the algorithm found this video’s way to me! Really amazingly done. I got a little lost at the very end though.

[@murdockscott]

Wow, you had me all choked up with this video! I have known most of this story for a long time and I adore Bill Waterson for not only his art, but also his ethnics. I wish more of us thought about things the way he does. Your presentation was touching and on point. Building the transmogrifer to illustrate our choices was brilliant. Thank you, I will be sure to share this with my son. I hope a lot of young people see it.

[@burgrrcat]

seeing a little boy peeing on someones car has to be one of the most disgusting things to put on your car. if i knew anyone who did this i would cut them out of my life

[@jonathan198627]

I'm not crying your crying! Oh the childhood memories flooded in with this one. my children now read my copies and its nice to see Calvin and Hodes getting recognition for impacting so may in a positive manner. thank you for this.

[@osco4311]

UPS made millions off acting as a third party between artists and papers. But they decided not to ise any of that money to protect the artists work, unless the artists agreed to licensing deals, and pretended it was the artist's fault.

[@darreljones8645]

For those of you too young to remember when new Calvin & Hobbes strips were being made, I think Gumball's family from "The Amazing World of Gumball" was named Watterson as a tribute to the strip's creator.

[@Curiouscrazy]

Not from America, from Singapore actually, but they used to run Calvin and Hobbes in the newspaper here. I remember someone gifting me a book of their comics as a kid. This was fascinating as I didn't know or hear about this Calvin peeing thing before. Thanks for the great content as always.

[@rticle15]

I love the peeing Calvin stickers. They help me weed out potential acquaintances. The neck tattoo of vehicles.

[@DanielMartinez-bf2xg]

Wow amazing video! Never knew this image had such an interesting backstory. Peeing Calvin stickers are actually very common in my country, specially on buses where the Calvin is peeing on whatever soccer team the bus driver hates,but there also peeing calvin graffitis on different places around town. Growing up I only read the comic strip a few times since I was never interested on reading the newspaper. Thank you for such an in depth video telling the story of this iconic albeit disrespectful image.

[@mrblack5145]

I dont know if it's innocence or naiviete, but I've seen the 'peeing Calvin' meme my whole life and I also remember the comic strips; but I never once equated the peeing character with the comic character. Perhaps I internally knew that Calvin, for all his reckless enthusiasm, would never intentionally urinate on something so I never noticed the similarities between the two images. That being said, I had no idea that Bill was such a trendsetter behind the scenes and I applaud his personal drive to create art he loved instead of dollars in his account. The algorithm rarely brings me anything decent, but today it found something interesting and you've earned a sub!

[@gustavohernandeza.890]

Excellent video, Phil. I saw some Peeing Calvin stickers in cars back in the day in my home country Venezuela and I think there was even a local counterpart. So, there is the biggest local beer brand Polar, which has a polar bear as its logo. I swear that I saw a cartoon version of the bear (which they used in the 90s) peeing just like Calvin in cars and even buses. Then, they faded as Polar decided to change the mascot to a realistic polar bear named Pedroso. Enough Venezuelan lore. I can recall those stickers existing, hoping that it's not my own case of Mandela Effect.

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

ha wow - love hearing the venezuelan version!

[@skaldlouiscyphre2453]

I'm picturing Polar peeing on the Coke polar bear. This might just make me a pervert though.

[@LisaBeta-42]

We have the peeing Calvin in Germany too - pissing on footballrivals (or is it soccer?) - Gelsenkirchen Schalke (S 04) - just declassified into the 2nd league used him on Borussia Dortmund (BVB) - who just missed being Germany's champions. For quite some years now - a spiky haired boy in a striped t-shirt... A copyright infringement is eighter "a hommage" or "a rip off" depending on the lawyers you are able to pay! In 1992 there were street sellers in New York offering lots of C&H t-shirts. Even at that time I knew that Bill Watterson had never licened them and only made a foto of the "shop" not buying any of those motives. We got a blue jumper with an owl on it (years before all that Harry Potter merch)

[@jessquinn6106]

I am so glad I saw this. Not only does this video explain a lot but it also helps me understand myself and the route I took with my own art.

[@aaronandkirsten74]

On the topic of licencing, I remember Bill once said that his strips are a story, having a clear beginning and progress to the end (hence why there are very few single panel cartons) ... as such, trying to restrict a C&H story into a single panel for a mug or a tee-shirt would lose the essence of the story that was being told. I totally respect his decision.

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

yes - that is exactly his rationale!

[@kevindolgin]

Thank you. I always knew that peeing Calvin had nothing to do with Bill Watterson, but was curious about the story behind it. I have enormous respect for Watterson for his decision not to license his characters and I agree with many of the comments here about how that has allowed the characters to remain somehow more alive in our minds. My own C&H story... Years ago when my two sons were young we often went skiing, just the three of us, in the alps. One year, upon leaving the ski area we got stuck in the snow on the treacherous mountain road. We called for help and were told we would have to wait at least four hours. There I was with an eleven year old and a nine year old, in the dark, no heating, on a mountain road where even 4x4 vehicles with chains were struggling to navigate. My sons (who were wonderful children... and are now wonderful men) suggested we make Calvinesque snowmen to pass the time. Our first creation was impaled on a stop sign, the next was carrying his head in his hand. We had to stop after the third, though, since we had made him as if he had been run over by our car: we dressed it in a jacket and a baseball cap, set its stick arms splayed out in agony, with our rear wheel cleanly cutting him in half. A truck almost had an accident as it slid to a stop in the snow while it's driver jumped out to help deal with the horrid scene. When he saw it was a snowman we had to explain Calvin and Hobbes (he was French, had never heard of them). He said that we were being entirely irresponsible and stormed off, furious, leaving us to wait for the tow truck. Thank you Mister Watterson!!

[@srky4346]

Back in the 90s we cared about not becoming posers or sellouts. Now everyone in every profession has become a sellout and it’s all about $$$. Good for Bill Watterson.

[@Attmay]

It was easier to do that when the rent was cheaper and the American dollar was still worth something.

[@DS-oopa]

I have always hated the image of Calvin urinating on things. I read Calvin and Hobbes as a kid through my early adulthood. The bastardized image is so crass, especially since the original comic series is so wholesome.

[@eze13mc]

There's a famous group of Cumbia from Argentina called "Yerba Brava" in which one of his first album covers has this same exact image but modified a little bit, I would have never guessed this was the origin.

[@LandonCahow]

What a fantastic video! Long-time fan of Calvin & Hobbes and while I knew from very early on seeing "peeing Calvin" stickers around here in Florida, that they weren't officially art from Bill Waterson, I never actually knew the origin. Thanks for clearing it up and making it a great message as well.

[@goldenagenut]

Calvin and Hobbs was one of the truly great syndicated comic strips, I was so pissed when I first began seeing that stupid sticker. I can only imagine Watterson being furious about it. His creation had heart, it was special, I compare it, and it only to Krazy Kat. I always had a lot of respect for Watterson refusing to allow his characters to be splattered everywhere. I wrote him a letter of appreciation many years ago, he actually replied - I'll always keep those 2 letters. " Let's go explore! " that says it all. Once again a big thanks to Bill Watterson for a truly wonderful and enormous volume of adventures. 👏

[@claudiahurtado4253]

This video ended up so inspirational I shed a few tears, I've always been curious of the comic strips. But this vid completely won me over on Calvin and Hobbs.

[@HunterHogan]

Phil! I love you, man! I read the article when it first came out but I didn't realize you were the author. I clearly remember the article, and I greatly enjoyed it. This video is absolutely fantastic. You created a new work with a new story and expertly applied the tools of this medium. To me, an object is perfect if you can't identify a specific change that would materially improve the object. My first impression is that this video is perfect. I don't need a _Calvin and Hobbes_ tattoo because it is imprinted on my character. I started reading it by age 13, and its ending when I was 21 was an inflection point in my life. Many of the strips were starting points in my search for Truth. I despised the peeing Calvin from the moment I saw it. On the continuum of sacred-profane, peeing Calvin is profane because, as you very well described, it's a perversion of _Calvin and Hobbes._ Your original article helped me to sort through my thoughts and feelings about peeing Calvin. Over the years, I have often reflected on the topic and on your article. In this video, you have given me new and deep perspectives to consider. I've spent decades pondering, for example, how can a person behave ethically if they are stuck in a profoundly unethical system? As I continue to try to answer that question, I'm sure I will think about this video for at least the next ten years. Even though you have produced an excellent body of work, with this video, you have created a wonderful piece that stands out from the rest: it's outstanding.

[@phillise1]

That's what I've always thought. That if Waterson had licensed Calvin, there would be none of these obscene pictures on cars.

[@Attmay]

Never underestimate the greed of the greedy.

[@jojost4r]

my old history teacher was a huge fan, he let me read one of his big book collection worth of comic strips once. but now it's cool to know where fall out boy got inspiration from when making their little mascot from :D

[@reedhannon1984]

Thank you. I as a kid was Calvin. And Hobbs was a stuffed tiger my Aunt Kaygave me to chase the scary dreams away. I had a ruff childhood. Thank you for this video. My Aunt Kat who I lost would of loved it. Calvin too

[@Sombistur]

This was a nostalgic treat, thank you. Subscribed

[@santoast24]

Calvin and Hobbes was most of my childhood. Its still a lot of who I am. Im not "get a tattoo" crazy. I am many ways, have grown up to be both Calvin and Hobbes. I've always hated peeing Calvin Deeply

[@RoxStar1968]

I think the strangest part about "Peeing Calvin" is that anyone who has spent any time reading Calvin and Hobbes would know that Calvin could not possibly care at all about cars, sports, "in groups" etc. So why use his image at all? Bart Simpson would be a more apt character but, even then, doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

[@thompsonnoel]

Calvin and hobbes is the best ❤️ I also have the complete collection. By not licensing his creation Bill Watterson gave us a gift. Calvin and Hobbes belong to all of us collectively more than any other comic characters. Any C&H related objects I've seen are labors of love made on etsy. He's basically a 19th century artist trapped in a 20th/21st century world. Snoopy, on the other hand, is the face of a huge insurance company. The deal being the company has a friendly face and Snoopy stays relevant and known to all essentially forever. Bill sacrificed ubiquity and fame for him and his characters for integrity and meaning. When Calvin and Hobbes finally goes into the public domain it will be something special, when fans do something new with the characters it will be beautiful because the bedrock will always be there. Just like Frankenstein or Sherlock, they won't end up in a company's vault.

[@thompsonnoel]

Calvin peeing is a meme created by people. Crass, macabre, maybe. I'll always prefer that anarchic energy than capitalist corruption.

[@NitwitsWorld]

Too be fair? We might see copyrighted works in the public domain much sooner in an upcoming WW3 soon. Get your calendars ready kid.

[@thompsonnoel]

@@NitwitsWorld See? That's the problem with a copyrighted world. All these holding companies and studios care about is keeping their brands and intellectual property relevant so they only invest in franchises that could help them keep old "content" in the public eye and sell merch. I think the first two world wars were enough, we don't need a third. Although, Toy Story 3 was the best one so there's still a chance it could be a blast.

[@NitwitsWorld]

@@thompsonnoel yeah I’m surprised he hasn’t put his IP in the public domain he could piss on these companies and help people with the rights for the public domain but I’m not him so I don’t know

[@thompsonnoel]

@@NitwitsWorld Well, I can understand why he hasn't done it yet. He'd probably donate it at his death. It's tricky in a society like this where any kind of artist is in such an unstable position to give up a steady source of income. If I ever created something like that (fat chance) I would want to enter it into the public domain before my death to see what people do with it.

[@TheChrisHype]

“A Ford urinating in a Chevy.” “Don’t you usually laugh at this sort of thing?” “Yes. Yes I do.”

[@Attmay]

That was the episode where Maude Flanders met her maker.

[@arthurdurham]

You have to realize just how excellent while mass appealing Calvin and Hobbes is as a piece of art that Bill could refuse any licensing or brand deals and it still is one of the most famous comic strips of all time. Even to this day new kids are reading it bc it's still something that parents and adults want to share and is timeless. Because imagine if Garfield was never turned into a mass marketing machine. Would we really have kept it it in the zeitgeist all this time? Most of these things need to constantly remind you of their existence to not be forgotten. If they let up then other things take their place. But Calvin and Hobbes may be one of the few pieces of illustrated entertainment art that stays pure and remembered purely due to what it is foundationally. Even with rip off merchandise, the image was never tarnished. I find that wonderful. It's one of my favorite pieces of work ans Bill may be one of the few true artists of our lifetime.

[@Attmay]

Garfield just followed in the footsteps of every other comic strip creator who made money off their characters in ancillary media. Do you really think Harold Gray would’ve gotten upset about *Annie* the Broadway musical and its screen adaptations basically turning it to “Springtime for Roosevelt“ if he could see the royalty checks he would’ve gotten if he had lived to see it? Peanuts in particular had already became a marketing machine even before 1978. Just like Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny, they were shills for the carbohydrate industry thanks to the Dolly Madison endorsement deal. Snoopy had already seemed to become the strip’s primary focus by the time the 1960s became the 1970s. If a dog could capture a nation’s attention this way, it was just a matter of time before a cat tried to hog the spotlight. Even Bil Keane could manage to make a deal for a handful of *Family Circus* TV cartoons and Cathy Guisewite could do the same for *Cathy.* This is what Bill Watterson turned down for the sake of artistic integrity and the respect of fans. Although, frankly, based on those in the comments section attempting to defend the stickers, even if he had given into temptation, there still might’ve been bootlegs anyway. He may think that the people who made those stickers are thieves and vandals, but he handed them a fortune on a silver platter.

[@coastalb1]

Watterson is a true artist, he drew with love and it showed in his content. was very sad when he stopped the series. The existing work is timeless, regardless. Also not surprised Florida was the origin of this gross 🤮 mis-use of Calvin.

[@link4universe]

i wasn't ready to cry today >.< but here i am

[@wexsetter]

I was living in Florida right when those sticker’s exploded everywhere. Lots of the booths at the huge flea market in Daytona had them.

[@Invalid-user13k]

Calvin has his own unique character and became his own thing and meme

[@AtheAetheling]

Weirdly, Calvin and Hobbes achieved some great popularity here in the UK; but exclusively from the collected books of the strips, because if memory serves they weren't in any of our newspapers.

[@GOLDplus2-yu5jp]

I am from another country. I am a fan of Calvin comic. My profile pic hasn't changed for 15 years plus

[@dbitgood1]

Pretty sure I read Watterson saying that if he will be remembered for anything after he is gone it will be for "Peeing Calvin ".

[@Frey123]

It'll be another century or two, but I can't wait for this to enter the public domain. Man, I hate living in the ancient past and having to deal with copyright. I need to stop reading about media that's not in the public domain, it just gets me depressed.

[@jrosas2560]

Peeing Calvin can be found all over taxis and buses back home in Honduras. I would say it's pretty common throughout Central America.

[@charliepea]

I remembered back in the 2000s, lots of cars of every street has that peeing kid on their gas hatch. It's either unleaded gasoline or diesel fuel labelled along with it. I thought it was inappropriate because I was quite a kiddo back then and I was concerned about the looks of it.

[@rschiwal]

When I read Bill Watterson's biography, I learned that even though I loved the cartoon, I really didn't like the artist. That being said, I've wanted for years to have a drawing of Calvin peeing on Copyright Law. It would be ironic.

[@Attmay]

What made you dislike him?

[@rschiwal]

@@Attmay He came across as a pretentious, unlikable "Artiste" whose work was the ultimate expression of intellect as he looked down his nose on us inferior plebes. He would never allow bumper stickers or even animation because his artistic integrity would not stoop to that low level.

[@randomperson-gy5ee]

Affirmative! I stopped the video and Googled “peeing calvin” and the first result was indeed your article at trivia happy.

[@zzzz7217]

3:18 Calvin decides not to throw water balloon not because he's nice, but because Tiger threatens to shorten up his life)) correct me if my childhood memory fails me

[@knuckl6972]

Calvin and Hobbes is genuinely amazing

[@mickey2ky]

Woooowwww I forgot all about this. Dude I’m glad I found your content! Lol

[@jt5678]

I have that same collection of books. I got it when I was in third grade; the box has seen better days, but yes it is like a precious stone to me.

[@dannyharvey5702]

If he did sell out Calvin and Hobbes would have gone to shit by probably somewhere in the early to late 2010s like every other franchise/tv show/consumer thing. The fact that he said no and stopped everything before 2000 hit is why it’s so great. Unchanged. No shows. No spinoffs. No toys. I’m so glad it was never corrupted.

[@ZERO_O7X]

You gotta respect the way Watterson has handled this disgrace of his beautiful artwork. He's such an elusive figure and never wanted to cash in on the amazing amount of profit corporations wanted to make off of him. He just created beautiful and poignant art and gave it to us. I've seen a lot of his original hand drawn peices in person at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum in Columbus Ohio. If you're a big fan like me, it's worth the trip honestly. The man is a legend and the first tattoo I got was when I was 35, and it was of Calvin and Hobbes in his watercolor style walking into the woods after I got deathly ill (sill alive another ten years later 💪). I've been hoping for over 4 decades since i found his comics I could just shake his hand. I wouldn't even want an autograph, just the memory of meeting my idol. Him, Fred Rogers, and Jim Henson made me the sweet, kind, explorative and accepting man I am today and I want to thank at least one of them for it before I leave this world. In my heart, I know Bill Watterson is in it for pure reasons...point the Transmog-Rifier to Explorer! ❤

[@TyPhenirW0LF]

If you look at Disney with Marvel and Star Wars... You see everything you need to for Bill Watterson to be Vindicated. Calvin Peeing may be tasteless to you... But Disney Merchandise is tasteless throughout time and space.

[@brantjustilian3791]

Those Garfield suction cup plushy’s look very terrifying.

[@OMundoSubliminar]

I'm from Brasil, and i remember as a kid my dad buying a peeing calvin sticker (circa 2004), he never used anywhere, i wonder why.

[@AustriaColorised]

the analogy at 2:07 is even better considering that calvin looks exactly like what you would get if you were to mix the other 2

[@safegourd]

What a lovely, well made video. I’ve been thinking a lot about intellectual property lately. I’m an artist, although not as a career, and it’s disquieting to know that anything you post online is out of your hands. And many people respond to that discomfort by trying to get ahead of copyright infringement somehow - whether by turning their art into a brand, or quitting social media altogether. At the end of the day, different artists have to do whatever keeps them sane. But isn’t the point of art to let your audience make something of it? Can art mean anything without a viewer? Maybe it can, but that’s not art I’m personally interested in.

[@WalkingJellyfish]

In my country, they don't even know that Kelvin pees on something, so he just pees on nothing.

[@carlsoll]

10:00 That’s what I was wondering the whole time. By Licensing it yourself, you kinda ‘Sell Out’ but to *Protect* your work.

[@AI-3279]

Watterson is the pinnacle of "Professionals have standards" he was an artist, not a manager, and he proved it.

[@timpage9424]

Watterson just released a new book called The Mysteries. He partnered with artist John Kascht and It's a big departure from C&H but thought the Calvin and Hobbes fans would like to know!

[@invisi-bullexploration2374]

I remember seeing a particularly unpleasant variation of this in the wild. For a time there were like Peeing Calvins peeing on a '3' as some kind of redneck NASCAR diss. But this particular sticker was like a pushback for that. Calvin was screaming and bleeding profusely because the '3' he was peeing on had grown jaws and bitten off his business. Because nothing says 'I'm not a red flag at all' like driving around with a sticker depicting the sexual mutilation of a child.

[@kenny13a]

I'm from Argentina, and the first encounter I had with "Calvin and Hobbes" was peeing Calvin in a linux webpage in the early days of internet. I always assume that was kind of the first internet meme.

[@chandlerredhead27]

Its like Disney forcing people to remove children's gravestones if they have licensed Disney characters on them - it doesnt actually affect their brand or image at all for the vast majority of people consuming the content. The illicit Calvin stickers don't affect the original intentions and meaning if the comic strips.

[@kmichael9787]

3:15 lol I don't think Calvin is too sweet to throw the waterballoon, I think he's too doesn't-want-to-get-mauled-by-a-tiger to throw his water balloon, Hobbs saying 'As if life isn't short enough' is a polite death threat - or at least that's how I always read the strip

[@karood-dog3584]

It's funny, I was a soldier for many years A combat veteran I'm not easily shocked or offended and have quite the vocabulary for certain situations. Yet I have always found "peeing Calvin" to be offensive and without class.

[@jessemessi27]

Great video. You really honored the heart of the strip and made the history engaging and informative. Loved it dude!

[@zombie_snax]

You made an orginal and interesting video. That's hard to do these days. Bravo.

[@maloneymaloney5204]

Why did you bring up the final strip? I didn't want to cry today!

[@travisjustinwhite]

Sorry if someone already said this, but in the strip the artwork is pulled from, Calvin isn't "too sweet" to throw the water balloon: he backs down because Hobbes threatens to kill him!!

[@francissobotka8725]

The syndicate was behind alot of the early peeing Calvin merch,And they did nothing to stop it because Bill wouldn't sign away his rights.