Dear Mr. Watterson uses dozens of interviews and on-site investigation to tell the story of cartoonist Bill Watterson, creator of Calvin & Hobbes. For a decade, the comic strip captured the hearts and minds of readers around the world. In the process, Watterson's personal vision for the medium raised the bar for artists everywhere, changing expectations and business practices along the way.
The first quarter of the film is a bit slow, but the quality and range of interviews the director lined up (thanks to financial support from two Kickstarter campaigns) more than makes up for the initial pacing. There is a mix of Watterson's peers and fans, although perhaps not enough of the latter to balance out his professional impact with the cultural one. There are a wealth of Calvin & Hobbes artifacts collected and discussed in this documentary, however, including many that trigger personal memories of growing up reading the strip on Sundays. The soundtrack by We Were Pirates is playful and appropriately reflective of the story of Watterson's work on Calvin & Hobbes.
Dear Mr. Watterson is an important film for anyone interested in the comic industry or creative control in the face of commercialism. It is difficult not to root for Watterson's appearance as the interviews mount.
