Dear Mr. Watterson

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Dear Mr. Watterson

2013

1h 29m

Documentary

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Popcornmeter

64%

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33 Reviews

51%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

A look at "Calvin & Hobbes" comic strip creator Bill Watterson, the origins of the work, its meaning and the influence it has had on his colleagues.

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Peter Debruge

Variety

Everything you'd expect from a crowd-sourced documentary, designed to celebrate its subject, while mostly just validating the aesthetic taste of its backers.

Dec 5, 2013

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Bill Goodykoontz

Arizona Republic

An hour and a half of hero worship, basically. Fine by me.

Rated: 3/5

Nov 21, 2013

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Sara Stewart

New York Post

It was one of the greats of the now-nearly-defunct Sunday funnies, no doubt. Unfortunately, there's not much cinematic magic in watching the director reading the strip, or hearing various other enthusiasts talk about how much they loved it.

Rated: 2/4

Nov 15, 2013

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Pat Padua

Spectrum Culture

Made by fans and about fans ... it still suffers from a doe-eyed bias.

Rated: 2.5/5

Aug 31, 2018

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Sonny Bunch

Washington Free Beacon

This is an appreciation steeped in nostalgia, something for fans of the strip to sit back and simply enjoy.

Rated: 3/4

Jul 14, 2016

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Christopher Campbell

Nonfics (Substack)

A very worthwhile address of the art and industry of comic strips as a whole. Schroeder has a great appreciation for what his expert interviewees have to say.

Rated: 3/5

May 30, 2014

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Audience Member

For a film that documented probably the greatest comic strip ever constructed, Dear Mr. Watterson is a true disappointment. It is pure, stylish, and completely unrelenting hero worship, which will certainly be able to induce nostalgia in many Calvin and Hobbes fans (perhaps the film's only appeal) but fails to do anything for those who are not previously acquainted with the series. Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes' creator, actually discussed his struggles with publishers wanting to merchandise his work despite conflicting with his artistic vision, but of course this is far too interesting for the film to include. It's ending is also undoubtedly forced, and tries to be feel-good but forgets to contain anything of substance, much like the rest of the film. What a sub-par documentary.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

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Audience Member

Where to start. The film definitely shows what the strip means and represents to millions of people while still making it clear that there is no confirmed meaning that Bill Watterson has told us. Even with all of those good qualities the film does get kind of boring after a while and eventually just turns into people talking about random things about the strip

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/09/23

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Audience Member

This film was almost good.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

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Audience Member

A nice, decent little documentary that I highly recommend if you love the classic Calvin And Hobbes comic strip like I do.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

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Audience Member

I love, love, love the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes! This movie, I just liked. It's much too long for the little "new" material/information it provides. However, I really liked the computer graphics that are in it, and it revived the love of C&H in my cellular structure! So much so, that after this, I'm gathering up all of my book collections, and reading them with my 9 year old girl! :-) Then, I'm off to go play an inning? round? quarter?, of Calvin Ball!! "... let's go exploring!"

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/04/23

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Audience Member

Will have to dig out the books and escape again

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/13/23

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Joel Allen Schroeder

Director

Seth Green

Actor

Stephan Pastis

Actor

Jennipher Foster

Actor

Tommy Avallone

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Synopsis

A look at "Calvin & Hobbes" comic strip creator Bill Watterson, the origins of the work, its meaning and the influence it has had on his colleagues.

Director: Joel Allen Schroeder
Producer: Chris Browne, Jennifer Clymer, Joel Allen Schroeder, Matt McUsic
Distributor: Gravitas Ventures
Production Co: Gravitas Ventures
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 15, 2013, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 5, 2017
Runtime: 1h 29m

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