Whether delivering a tree house harangue as Dictator-for-Life of G.R.O.S.S. or getting sneak-jumped by his tiger sidekick, Calvin was our kid id. Operating on a combination of misunderstood genius and pranky mischief, he and Hobbes conquered the world, time travel, art, dumb girls and physics -- one perfectly drawn frame at a time. Bill Watterson, the hand behind the ink, became our collective cool uncle.
He just got us. More importantly: he got Calvin.
No cartoonist since has captured children's imaginative capacity the way Watterson did. He knew bottle caps are really medals of honor. That dinosaurs sometimes materialize out of nowhere. And that a cardboard box serves at least 3,000 important purposes.
The new film Dear Mr. Watterson is look at all of that, told by those who Watterson influenced. The movie's a sorta Calvin and Hobbes tribute, colored-in with visits to Watterson's hometown, discussions with comic historians and even talks with a few folks you've heard of, like Seth Green, who -- surprise -- is, like, a really big fan too.
Texas Theatre is the only screen in the entire state that's showing the thing -- and we believe a few Dallas Observer readers might cherish Calvin and Hobbes -- so we're holding a day of nerddum. We'll crash Sunday's 5 p.m. screening with our Street Team, do little giveaways and celebrate child/tiger friendship with you.
I have three pairs of tickets to the screening, and winning them is a snap. Leave a Calvin and Hobbes-related comment below. It can be anything: a favorite strip, a memory, what you'd transmogrify if you had the technology or just "I love Calvin and Hobbes."
I'll randomly pick three of you at noon on Wednesday. Winners will be alerted via email. Just make sure you can go to the 5 p.m. Sunday screening with us. And if you don't win, show up anyway and hang with fellow Watterson fans.
