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Bill Watterson, the creator of Calvin And Hobbes, was never shy about how indebted he was to Charles Schulz, the revolutionary cartoonist behind Peanuts - something a biography of Schulz almost reduces down to two key lessons Watterson acquired from the older artist. Examining both will help readers understand why Peanuts and its producer were hegemonic in the comic business for so long.
Bill Watterson is extensively discussed in author David Michaelis' Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography addressing Peanuts impact on his work, particularly the most insightful lessons he learned from his early reading of Charles Schulz's strip. Though the book acknowledged that there was one main area on which he deviated from Schulz, the author of Calvin And Hobbes spoke clearly about his affection for Peanuts.
While Calvin and Hobbes stylistically differed from Peanuts during its run, Watterson credited Schulz's strip with his basic sense of humor.
Beginning publication in 1950, Peanuts rose during several decades in Comics. Regarding both form and content, writer and artist Charles Schulz was ahead of his time. Peanuts was already a mainstay in American popular culture by the 1960s when the adored animated adaptations started to air; it would remain so for the rest of the 20th century. Though the first generation of comic artists raised on Peanuts started to create work with the imprint of Charles Schulz's influence in the 1970s and 1980s. Bill Watterson was one of these artists; his strip Calvin and Hobbes first ran in 1985. Along with comics like Jim Davis' Garfield and Gary Larson's The Far Side, Watterson's comic managed to build a readership and attain a degree of popularity that put it in the same creative stratosphere as Schulz and Peanuts during just a decade in publication. As Watterson clarified, he and all of his creative colleagues were operating under the shadow of Charles Schulz. Schulz and Peanut Ground: A Biography notes him as stating:
Creatively, Bill Watterson was a devoted follower of Charles Schulz, particularly early in the run of Calvin and Hobbes.
Early reading of Peanuts helped Bill Watterson's idea of what a comic strip could be and what its comedy could accomplish to be developed. As the book notes:
Even although Bill Watterson picked up the principles of success from Charles Schulz, once Calvin and Hobbes attained their own legendary reputation, their author defined his approach to the business in sharp contrast to what Schulz oversaw with Peanuts.
Bill Watterson refused to sell the merchandise rights to Calvin and Hobbes, whereas Charles Schulz and several contemporaries – notably Garfield creator Jim Davis – became enormously rich as a result of licencing their works in the 1980s and 1990s. Speaking candidly against the practice, he suggested that it went against the guiding principle of creating Comics, which he thought would make people laugh rather than sell them something. based on Schulz & Peanuts:
Written, drawn, and colored by Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes was a satirical comic strip series running from 1985–1995. Six-year-old Hobbes and his stuffed Tiger, Calvin, are followed throughout the series via a whimsical perspective that addresses real-world problems and daily humorous concerns.
Designed by Charles M. Schulz, Peanuts is a multimedia property starting as a comic strip in the 1950s and finally encompassing movies and a television series. Following the daily exploits of the Peanuts gang—with Charlie Brown and his dog Snoopy in the center—peanuts depicts Apart from the 2015 movie, the series runs regular Holiday specials on U.S. Television in line with their suitable seasons.