Calvin and Hobbes Documentary Deserves a Failing Grade

   

     My favorite comic (by an extremely large margin) has always been Calvin and Hobbes created by Bill Waterson. So naturally I was extremely excited when I saw the documentary Dear Mr. Waterson available on Netflix. I really wanted to enjoy this documentary but as much as I tried I kept hoping for excuses to attempt beat level 451 on Candy Crush instead.
     This post will be necessarily short as there is so little to say about this documentary. I had expected a documentary discussing the legacy of Calvin and Hobbes possibly interviewing Mr. Waterson himself. Perhaps discussing his childhood or other possible inspiration. I would have liked to know what he thinks about modern comics, the deaths of the newspaper, and the birth of digital media. At the very least, the title of the film led me to believe that there would be an exchange of letters between the filmmakers and the author. I was almost fully disappointed.
   This documentary is essentially an hour and a half collection of interviews by fans and other comic authors talking about how much they like Calvin and Hobbes and wish they could meet/collaborate with Mr. Waterson. These interviews are interspersed with extremely boring footage of the director of the film Joel Schroeder as he explores libraries and fingers through his personal Calvin and Hobbes collection. They don't even show a picture of Mr. Waterson (Apparently only one has ever been taken.)

The only interesting information given in this film is the discussion as to why there has never been any licensing of the Calvin and Hobbes characters into toys or a television show.
   No doubt the director of this film, when he started the Kickstarter campaign to make the documentary, had hoped to explore some of the same things that I was hoping to see. He must have underestimated the privacy of Mr. Waterson who has been described as the Bigfoot of comic authors. There is only one known photograph of him afterall.