This is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page. |
Archive 1 | Archive 2 | Archive 3 | Archive 4 | Archive 5 |
This archive page covers approximately the dates between July 2004 and November 2005.
Post replies to the main talk page, copying or summarizing the section you are replying to if necessary. Please add new archivals to Talk:Calvin and Hobbes/Archive3. (See Wikipedia:How to archive a talk page.) Thank you. Anville 20:37, 20 December 2005 (UTC)
Under the Alter Ego section, there's a section "Animals" where it's mentioned that sometimes Calvin appears as various animals after being transmogrified. However, transmogrification is very different from the "Alter Ego" strips, in which the entire reality is changed: not only is Calvin Spaceman Spiff, but he's walking around on an alien planet; or not only is he a T-Rex, but he's in the Jurassic. Even when the world stays as Calvin's accepted reality (as when he plays Stupendous Man and burns up his school with a magnifying glass) there's still a difference in tone and perspective. Many times, even the drawing style is different. When Calvin transmogrifies into a tiger, however, the perspective of the strip doesn't change -- he's still Calvin, it's just that he's a tiger. He's even a cartoony, Hobbes-like tiger, not a realistically-drawn tiger (which would move it over into the alter-ego realm). I think that this is an important distinction because the "feel" of the alter-ego strips is always very different from the normal strips.
I'm Malaysian and I've NEVER seen Calvin & Hobbes translated as such in any Malaysian paper that carried it. Where would the source of this be? -- Mydemand
Am I completely wrong in my assumption that Calvin's dad was named "Conan"? I remember when the family went on the canoe trip (the one that Calvin dropped the camera in the water) and that the next morning, when Dad returned from fishing, Calvin's Mom called him "Conan the Barbarian".
Can anyone can verify this? Or is "Conan the Barbarian" not specifically calling him "Conan", but a reference to the book series Conan The Barbarian? -- cheater 19:56, 22 Sep 2004 (UTC)
The mention of 'not containing overt sexual themes' made me wonder if there's any other kind. Could someone perhaps quote a strip? -- Kizor 20:39, 23 Jul 2004 (UTC)
Isn't Stupendous Man a parody of Superman ? Or do we see traces of other superheroes too ? -- Jay 04:18, 4 Aug 2004 (UTC)
What indications are there that Calvin, Hobbes and Calvin's parents live in Suburbia? There are some indications that it is more rural (the extensive woods in which they sled and wagon, for instance). -- Daniel C. Boyer 16:38, 7 Aug 2004 (UTC)
The description of the setting is rather lengthy - maybe we could move it and make a section called Setting? -- Andre 06:54, 8 Aug 2004 (UTC)
The article states this:
Did Watterson actually make a statement that both of these scenarios are false? If so, where did he state that? Judging from the edit history, I believe that the author of this sentence actually meant to say something more like this:
I'll go ahead and make this change because I'm pretty sure this is the intended meaning. If it is not, it would be good if someone would clarify where Watterson made the alluded-to statement. — Wayned 20:52, 10 Aug 2004 (UTC)
The part on Susie Derkins implies that Susie sees Hobbes in his "alive" form by saying that her fantasy world includes him and that he's seen in life-like form unlike Mr. Bun. However, Susie sees Hobbes as a stuffed tigger, as a panel during their water balloon fight (page 38 of The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes if you have it) shows Susie and Hobbes alone in a panel and he is in his "stuffed toy" form. Also note that when Susie arrives at the bus stop, Hobbes is shown in his "stuffed toy" form even if there's no one else, though this could be because Calvin thinks she sees Hobbes this way.
To the point, I think that that part of the article needs to be rephrased to make it clear that in Susie's
POV, Hobbes is still just another stuffed toy.
--
Fern 09:52, 11 Aug 2004 (UTC)
PS:There is one opportunity where Mr. Bun is seen like a live animal which is the sunday strip where Calvin and Susie are playing "House", which shows them as grown ups.
OK, so one of my edits got reverted. I think the current statement is flat as all heck:
Saying that he lacks Hobbes's companionship isn't as meaningful as telling how he tries to solve this problem. In the earliest strips (reprinted in the first collection) he takes Hobbes to school, using him as a "show-and-tell" exhibit. It is implied that he does this more than once, enough that Mom worries the other children will mock him: "Don't the other children make fun of you?" To which Calvin replies, "Tommy Chesnutt did once, and now nobody does."
"Why, what happened to Tommy Chesnutt?"
"Hobbes ate him."
In one strip, Hobbes scrunches up under Calvin's chair and provides math help (7 + 3 = 73). I believe this strip is one of Mrs. Wormwood's first appearances—her debut or soon after. Several years later, Calvin uses a walkie-talkie to receive similar assistance: "Boy Genius to Fanged Terror, come in! Kkrgh! . . . Ixsay inusmay ourfay! Urryhay!"
I also recall at least two occasions when Calvin slips out of class to use the hall telephone. Once, he calls his father for arithmetic help; the other time, he calls his house and asks his mother to put Hobbes on the line. When she declines, he says, "I gotta get my own secretary."
Watterson selected a Sunday page for the Ohio State retrospective which told a day in Calvin's life, beginning with his donning the rocket-ship underpants and following him through a dozen disasters at school. The commentary caption indicated that this strip, like many others, had a strong Krazy Kat influence: the heavy black rectangle enclosed the school-day vignettes, visually separating them from his time with Hobbes. -- Anville 19:33, 11 Aug 2004 (UTC)
I'm wondering about the influence of Calvin and Hobbes on future comic works; I think it is something the article should include. In particular, the webcomic Count Your Sheep is heavily influenced by Calvin and Hobbes. Ship, the sheep, is roughly equivilent to Hobbes, although he does not appear to be based in any physical object (both Katie, the daughter, and Laurie, the mother, can see him, but they both understand he is an imaginary friend ( one strip reveals that Laurie's parents could not see Ship)). Katie, is sort of like a female version of Calvin, and Laurie is sort of like an adult, female version of Calvin (this is perticuraly noticable in the strips about her childhood; ironically, in many ways she seems more like Calvin than Katie). There are many examples of imagination-based play (Katie uses a box as a time machine in direct tribute to Calvin and Hobbes), dramatic irony based on confusion between the generations (made even more funny by the fact that Ship understands both Katie and Laurie), and imaginary friends being figures of wisdom. However, this alone is not enough for an article section. Anyone else have knowledge on the influence of Calvin and Hobbes on comics in general? -- L33tminion 04:40, Oct 20, 2004 (UTC)
A big complaint I have with the image is that it overly simplifies the influences, both moving backwards and forwards. I think the text of the article does a good job highlighting some of the influences, but presenting it in graphic form like this rules out the possibility of other influences. The this leads the viewer to believe that C&H only was influenced by three comics, and only had an influence on one. -- Norvy (talk) 07:37, 22 September 2005 (UTC)
The page currently mentions " The series does not mention specific political figures or issues.". I don't think that's true: Several strips deal with environmental issues, how man destroys the planet etc. This is very much a political issue. One could even go as far as calling any issue a political issue: Calvin believes strongly in personal freedom but it is shown how freedom is a two-edged sword when others express their freedom to the fullest (right vs. left party lines). Anyway, I don't think the political sentence makes a lot of sense.
I removed the following statement from the paragraph on Calvin's classmates.
Most of Calvin's classmates are drawn with much the same appearance. (The two key exceptions are Susie, whose head is rounder than several others, and Moe, who is just a hulking brute.) Because the background classmates are so visually similar, and since we have practically no biographical information on any of them, the only solid indication we have that two children are distinct is that their names are different.
I recall a fan site, which may since have been discontinued, which offered a trivia section. One question asked the reader to name as many of Calvin's classmates as possible. I got through Tommy Chesnutt, "Filthy" Rich, Candace and Roger before I gave up—but, all in all, there aren't that many of them. As Watterson said about the early strips where Calvin was a Boy Scout, surrounding him and Hobbes with other children doesn't generate much material. In fact, I'd say that other than Susie and Hobbes, Calvin's classmates are mostly there to exemplify mob behavior. "Filthy" Rich exists to uphold a pun, and Tommy Chesnutt is a one-strip gag who never even appears (probably because he got eaten). Roger and Candace are only named because they react individually to Calvin's weirdness, which isn't normal behavior. More often, the class reacts as a whole: think of the roomful of children all screaming "Bats aren't bugs!", or the collective stare Calvin receives after acting out his dinosaur fantasy, which he fobs off as "a little sinus congestion". -- Anville 20:33, 10 Mar 2005 (UTC)
I just noticed that this article is 58 Kb long, while my web browser reports that William Shakespeare is only 17.14 Kb in length. Even if I'm comparing measurements of two different things, the relative sizes of the slider bars on the sides of my browser tabs is enough to tell me something.
More and more, this article appears to be moving toward a collection of all users' pet favourite strips. While we certainly do need to illustrate the points we make with specific items culled from Watterson's work, suffocating under a mass of single-strip gags doesn't do us any good. At the moment, I just have a vague feeling of dissatisfaction, but if I make any "drastic" changes in the future, now you'll know why.
The "Recurring themes" section may be the best example of this phenomenon. Strictly speaking, the way it is written now would better be termed a "recurring motif" section. (I hate to sound like my twelfth-grade English teacher, but I think here the distinction is useful.) Listing every use Calvin finds for his cardboard box is "encyclopedic" in the worst sense of the word; I'd be happier seeing a general thesis about his imagination followed—bam, bam, bam—with a strong set of supporting examples.
An encyclopedia is one thing; an episode compendium is something else.
While I think this article is still plenty good enough for Featured status, it may well be time to start farming out the details to subsidiary pages.
Me again, Anville 22:53, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC)
Hi, I am working to encourage implementation of the goals of the Wikipedia:Verifiability policy. Part of that is to make sure articles cite their sources. This is particularly important for featured articles, since they are a prominent part of Wikipedia. The Fact and Reference Check Project has more information. Thank you, and please leave me a message when you have added a few references to the article. -- Taxman 16:30, Apr 22, 2005 (UTC)
I removed the link to the Metaphilm article and my change was reverted by User:JosephBarillari. His edit summary asked that I explain my reasons for wanting to remove the link, so here I am.
Essentially, the Metaphilm article attempts to draw a parallel between Hobbes and Fight Club's Tyler Durden, as well as parallels between other C&H and Fight Club characters. The article provides no real evidence (such as quotes from the screenwriters or directors) that the Fight Club characters are actually based on C&H characters; rather, it seems simply to be an indulgence in noting certain similarities and then imagining how the C&H characters could have grown to become the Fight Club characters. As such, it is no different than an article that attempts to show how Star Trek and Star Wars could have taken place in the same universe: amusing perhaps, but not informative and certainly not encyclopedic. If there were a Wikipedia article that discussed the phenomenon of how some fans of different fictional worlds try to reconcile them, this Metaphilm article might be an appropriate citation. But it doesn't seem to add anything useful to the C&H article. -- Alanyst 16:11, 3 Jun 2005 (UTC)
I removed the following statement from the "Hamster Huey" discussion:
We know that the way the story is normally read, it does not end with the townsfolk trying to find Hamster Huey's head. From this, I infer that it is plausible Hamster Huey does not die. Watterson may likely have chosen the title for its phonetic silliness, to spoof the typical characteristics of "children's literature". The fact that the book turns out to be written by "Mabel Syrup", who then goes on to write a sequel entitled Commander Coriander Salamander and 'Er Singlehander Bellylander, lends point to this view. Is there a Robin Williams sketch about spicy amphibians with aviation training? Without more indication that Williams actually influenced Watterson, this statement doesn't have a leg to stand on.
It's a pity we missed our chance to find out, too. Up until last week, Universal Press Syndicate was taking reader questions to which Watterson would write answers, as a promotional gig for the Complete Calvin and Hobbes hardcover set (which I am like totally buying, dude). -- Anville 23:02, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)
How about a concerted effort to fix this article up to avoid FA removal? I think we need to reduce the length, and give it more of a clear focus with fewer details and digressions. But I don't want to lose any good info, so how do we do that? If we create subarticles, how should we divide up the content? -- Everyking 07:13, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)
The references seem to be broken... they're all listed as "[http:// ARTICLE TITLE]" which is weird. I checked the template use though, and it seems to be according to paramaters... url=http:// without anything else should just show that there is no weblink, not break the template. Anyone know what's going on, or how to fix it? -- Fieari 05:45, July 11, 2005 (UTC)
Can anyone find a citation to the number of strips that were produced or ran? I haven't been able to find any in articles about the strip's finale, and I think it would make a great addition. -- Norvy (talk) 15:20, 11 July 2005 (UTC)
I think it should be mentioned in the article that when Calvin makes a duplicate of himself, it's not revealed to the reader the true nature of the duplication. For instance, it's not known whether the duplicate is merely Calvin pretending or an actual duplicate. -- Scorpionman 20:48, 20 July 2005 (UTC)
There were 3150 comics.
This is a beautifully written article; I can see why it is a FA. Grateful thanks to the folks who worked on it. I do have one question: why does the article employ the Harvard reference style? [for example, "Calvin and Hobbes blah blah blah (Archeson 1988)."] The Harvard style is used in scholarly journals and texts, but not, I believe, in encyclopedias. Is there a guide as to the preferable reference styles for various Wikipedia articles? Do scientific articles employ Vancouver, and arts/humanities Harvard? Or is there simply an external link at the end of a sentence and internal links within sentences (ie. a text link)? Thanks. → Encephalon | T | C 11:22, August 6, 2005 (UTC)
The images recently added to illustrate the characters require fair use rationales. -- Anville 15:50, 27 August 2005 (UTC)
I removed this line: "a mentality the character Hobbes shares" (referring to the famous quotation of Hobbes the philosopher). I don't agree at all, but moreover it's not a substantiated fact -- if it can be substantiated authoritatively, then it should be put back in.
I've removed the following edit, which sounded fishy to me:
Can anyone confirm/refute this? -- Norvy (talk) 02:16, 2 September 2005 (UTC)
Calvin and hobbes tv show episode list (Note; This is not rarley known, but I found this at a top-secret website.)
G.R.O.S.S. club punishment Calvin forever Oh gross Susie / The replacement Hobbes's playmate
This seems to go against everything Bill Watterson ever said about marketing. I highly doubt that this was ever a possibility. Can anyone reference this "top-secret" website? -- Eric 03:26, 5 October 2005 (UTC)
I kind of understand why Bill Watterson wouldn't allow his strip to be merchandized. That would really destroy the integrity of the strip, as Watterson himself said. I mean, look at Jim Davis and Garfield! It says in the Garfield article that Jim Davis mostly deals with the business and merchandizing, while a bunch of other jerks who cared nothing about the strip's integrity take care of the comic strips and characters, which is what Davis should be doing! Just think what would have happened if Bill Watterson had merchandized his comic strip! He would have spent all his time taking care of merchandise, while his staff took care of the characters of Calvin and Hobbes! People would be saying about Calvin and Hobbes: "The merchandising terds that creator Bill Watterson pinches out ever Sunday in newspapers around the world, traumatizing millions with his bland humor week after tragic week.", just like they said about Garfield! Calvin and Hobbes would be just another bland, tasteless comic strip without any personality at all! Of course, many of you have already figured this out, I'm sure. I'm just saying this for all those people out there who would criticize Watterson for his refusal to merchandise his strip. Scorpionman 02:23, 7 October 2005 (UTC)
I wasn't slamming Davis at all. I don't know whether or not Garfield was originally intended to be non-offensive; the Garfield article says that Garfield now doesn't offend anyone because Davis' company does all the strips now. Scorpionman 19:33, 1 November 2005 (UTC)
This is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page. |
Archive 1 | Archive 2 | Archive 3 | Archive 4 | Archive 5 |
This archive page covers approximately the dates between July 2004 and November 2005.
Post replies to the main talk page, copying or summarizing the section you are replying to if necessary. Please add new archivals to Talk:Calvin and Hobbes/Archive3. (See Wikipedia:How to archive a talk page.) Thank you. Anville 20:37, 20 December 2005 (UTC)
Under the Alter Ego section, there's a section "Animals" where it's mentioned that sometimes Calvin appears as various animals after being transmogrified. However, transmogrification is very different from the "Alter Ego" strips, in which the entire reality is changed: not only is Calvin Spaceman Spiff, but he's walking around on an alien planet; or not only is he a T-Rex, but he's in the Jurassic. Even when the world stays as Calvin's accepted reality (as when he plays Stupendous Man and burns up his school with a magnifying glass) there's still a difference in tone and perspective. Many times, even the drawing style is different. When Calvin transmogrifies into a tiger, however, the perspective of the strip doesn't change -- he's still Calvin, it's just that he's a tiger. He's even a cartoony, Hobbes-like tiger, not a realistically-drawn tiger (which would move it over into the alter-ego realm). I think that this is an important distinction because the "feel" of the alter-ego strips is always very different from the normal strips.
I'm Malaysian and I've NEVER seen Calvin & Hobbes translated as such in any Malaysian paper that carried it. Where would the source of this be? -- Mydemand
Am I completely wrong in my assumption that Calvin's dad was named "Conan"? I remember when the family went on the canoe trip (the one that Calvin dropped the camera in the water) and that the next morning, when Dad returned from fishing, Calvin's Mom called him "Conan the Barbarian".
Can anyone can verify this? Or is "Conan the Barbarian" not specifically calling him "Conan", but a reference to the book series Conan The Barbarian? -- cheater 19:56, 22 Sep 2004 (UTC)
The mention of 'not containing overt sexual themes' made me wonder if there's any other kind. Could someone perhaps quote a strip? -- Kizor 20:39, 23 Jul 2004 (UTC)
Isn't Stupendous Man a parody of Superman ? Or do we see traces of other superheroes too ? -- Jay 04:18, 4 Aug 2004 (UTC)
What indications are there that Calvin, Hobbes and Calvin's parents live in Suburbia? There are some indications that it is more rural (the extensive woods in which they sled and wagon, for instance). -- Daniel C. Boyer 16:38, 7 Aug 2004 (UTC)
The description of the setting is rather lengthy - maybe we could move it and make a section called Setting? -- Andre 06:54, 8 Aug 2004 (UTC)
The article states this:
Did Watterson actually make a statement that both of these scenarios are false? If so, where did he state that? Judging from the edit history, I believe that the author of this sentence actually meant to say something more like this:
I'll go ahead and make this change because I'm pretty sure this is the intended meaning. If it is not, it would be good if someone would clarify where Watterson made the alluded-to statement. — Wayned 20:52, 10 Aug 2004 (UTC)
The part on Susie Derkins implies that Susie sees Hobbes in his "alive" form by saying that her fantasy world includes him and that he's seen in life-like form unlike Mr. Bun. However, Susie sees Hobbes as a stuffed tigger, as a panel during their water balloon fight (page 38 of The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes if you have it) shows Susie and Hobbes alone in a panel and he is in his "stuffed toy" form. Also note that when Susie arrives at the bus stop, Hobbes is shown in his "stuffed toy" form even if there's no one else, though this could be because Calvin thinks she sees Hobbes this way.
To the point, I think that that part of the article needs to be rephrased to make it clear that in Susie's
POV, Hobbes is still just another stuffed toy.
--
Fern 09:52, 11 Aug 2004 (UTC)
PS:There is one opportunity where Mr. Bun is seen like a live animal which is the sunday strip where Calvin and Susie are playing "House", which shows them as grown ups.
OK, so one of my edits got reverted. I think the current statement is flat as all heck:
Saying that he lacks Hobbes's companionship isn't as meaningful as telling how he tries to solve this problem. In the earliest strips (reprinted in the first collection) he takes Hobbes to school, using him as a "show-and-tell" exhibit. It is implied that he does this more than once, enough that Mom worries the other children will mock him: "Don't the other children make fun of you?" To which Calvin replies, "Tommy Chesnutt did once, and now nobody does."
"Why, what happened to Tommy Chesnutt?"
"Hobbes ate him."
In one strip, Hobbes scrunches up under Calvin's chair and provides math help (7 + 3 = 73). I believe this strip is one of Mrs. Wormwood's first appearances—her debut or soon after. Several years later, Calvin uses a walkie-talkie to receive similar assistance: "Boy Genius to Fanged Terror, come in! Kkrgh! . . . Ixsay inusmay ourfay! Urryhay!"
I also recall at least two occasions when Calvin slips out of class to use the hall telephone. Once, he calls his father for arithmetic help; the other time, he calls his house and asks his mother to put Hobbes on the line. When she declines, he says, "I gotta get my own secretary."
Watterson selected a Sunday page for the Ohio State retrospective which told a day in Calvin's life, beginning with his donning the rocket-ship underpants and following him through a dozen disasters at school. The commentary caption indicated that this strip, like many others, had a strong Krazy Kat influence: the heavy black rectangle enclosed the school-day vignettes, visually separating them from his time with Hobbes. -- Anville 19:33, 11 Aug 2004 (UTC)
I'm wondering about the influence of Calvin and Hobbes on future comic works; I think it is something the article should include. In particular, the webcomic Count Your Sheep is heavily influenced by Calvin and Hobbes. Ship, the sheep, is roughly equivilent to Hobbes, although he does not appear to be based in any physical object (both Katie, the daughter, and Laurie, the mother, can see him, but they both understand he is an imaginary friend ( one strip reveals that Laurie's parents could not see Ship)). Katie, is sort of like a female version of Calvin, and Laurie is sort of like an adult, female version of Calvin (this is perticuraly noticable in the strips about her childhood; ironically, in many ways she seems more like Calvin than Katie). There are many examples of imagination-based play (Katie uses a box as a time machine in direct tribute to Calvin and Hobbes), dramatic irony based on confusion between the generations (made even more funny by the fact that Ship understands both Katie and Laurie), and imaginary friends being figures of wisdom. However, this alone is not enough for an article section. Anyone else have knowledge on the influence of Calvin and Hobbes on comics in general? -- L33tminion 04:40, Oct 20, 2004 (UTC)
A big complaint I have with the image is that it overly simplifies the influences, both moving backwards and forwards. I think the text of the article does a good job highlighting some of the influences, but presenting it in graphic form like this rules out the possibility of other influences. The this leads the viewer to believe that C&H only was influenced by three comics, and only had an influence on one. -- Norvy (talk) 07:37, 22 September 2005 (UTC)
The page currently mentions " The series does not mention specific political figures or issues.". I don't think that's true: Several strips deal with environmental issues, how man destroys the planet etc. This is very much a political issue. One could even go as far as calling any issue a political issue: Calvin believes strongly in personal freedom but it is shown how freedom is a two-edged sword when others express their freedom to the fullest (right vs. left party lines). Anyway, I don't think the political sentence makes a lot of sense.
I removed the following statement from the paragraph on Calvin's classmates.
Most of Calvin's classmates are drawn with much the same appearance. (The two key exceptions are Susie, whose head is rounder than several others, and Moe, who is just a hulking brute.) Because the background classmates are so visually similar, and since we have practically no biographical information on any of them, the only solid indication we have that two children are distinct is that their names are different.
I recall a fan site, which may since have been discontinued, which offered a trivia section. One question asked the reader to name as many of Calvin's classmates as possible. I got through Tommy Chesnutt, "Filthy" Rich, Candace and Roger before I gave up—but, all in all, there aren't that many of them. As Watterson said about the early strips where Calvin was a Boy Scout, surrounding him and Hobbes with other children doesn't generate much material. In fact, I'd say that other than Susie and Hobbes, Calvin's classmates are mostly there to exemplify mob behavior. "Filthy" Rich exists to uphold a pun, and Tommy Chesnutt is a one-strip gag who never even appears (probably because he got eaten). Roger and Candace are only named because they react individually to Calvin's weirdness, which isn't normal behavior. More often, the class reacts as a whole: think of the roomful of children all screaming "Bats aren't bugs!", or the collective stare Calvin receives after acting out his dinosaur fantasy, which he fobs off as "a little sinus congestion". -- Anville 20:33, 10 Mar 2005 (UTC)
I just noticed that this article is 58 Kb long, while my web browser reports that William Shakespeare is only 17.14 Kb in length. Even if I'm comparing measurements of two different things, the relative sizes of the slider bars on the sides of my browser tabs is enough to tell me something.
More and more, this article appears to be moving toward a collection of all users' pet favourite strips. While we certainly do need to illustrate the points we make with specific items culled from Watterson's work, suffocating under a mass of single-strip gags doesn't do us any good. At the moment, I just have a vague feeling of dissatisfaction, but if I make any "drastic" changes in the future, now you'll know why.
The "Recurring themes" section may be the best example of this phenomenon. Strictly speaking, the way it is written now would better be termed a "recurring motif" section. (I hate to sound like my twelfth-grade English teacher, but I think here the distinction is useful.) Listing every use Calvin finds for his cardboard box is "encyclopedic" in the worst sense of the word; I'd be happier seeing a general thesis about his imagination followed—bam, bam, bam—with a strong set of supporting examples.
An encyclopedia is one thing; an episode compendium is something else.
While I think this article is still plenty good enough for Featured status, it may well be time to start farming out the details to subsidiary pages.
Me again, Anville 22:53, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC)
Hi, I am working to encourage implementation of the goals of the Wikipedia:Verifiability policy. Part of that is to make sure articles cite their sources. This is particularly important for featured articles, since they are a prominent part of Wikipedia. The Fact and Reference Check Project has more information. Thank you, and please leave me a message when you have added a few references to the article. -- Taxman 16:30, Apr 22, 2005 (UTC)
I removed the link to the Metaphilm article and my change was reverted by User:JosephBarillari. His edit summary asked that I explain my reasons for wanting to remove the link, so here I am.
Essentially, the Metaphilm article attempts to draw a parallel between Hobbes and Fight Club's Tyler Durden, as well as parallels between other C&H and Fight Club characters. The article provides no real evidence (such as quotes from the screenwriters or directors) that the Fight Club characters are actually based on C&H characters; rather, it seems simply to be an indulgence in noting certain similarities and then imagining how the C&H characters could have grown to become the Fight Club characters. As such, it is no different than an article that attempts to show how Star Trek and Star Wars could have taken place in the same universe: amusing perhaps, but not informative and certainly not encyclopedic. If there were a Wikipedia article that discussed the phenomenon of how some fans of different fictional worlds try to reconcile them, this Metaphilm article might be an appropriate citation. But it doesn't seem to add anything useful to the C&H article. -- Alanyst 16:11, 3 Jun 2005 (UTC)
I removed the following statement from the "Hamster Huey" discussion:
We know that the way the story is normally read, it does not end with the townsfolk trying to find Hamster Huey's head. From this, I infer that it is plausible Hamster Huey does not die. Watterson may likely have chosen the title for its phonetic silliness, to spoof the typical characteristics of "children's literature". The fact that the book turns out to be written by "Mabel Syrup", who then goes on to write a sequel entitled Commander Coriander Salamander and 'Er Singlehander Bellylander, lends point to this view. Is there a Robin Williams sketch about spicy amphibians with aviation training? Without more indication that Williams actually influenced Watterson, this statement doesn't have a leg to stand on.
It's a pity we missed our chance to find out, too. Up until last week, Universal Press Syndicate was taking reader questions to which Watterson would write answers, as a promotional gig for the Complete Calvin and Hobbes hardcover set (which I am like totally buying, dude). -- Anville 23:02, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)
How about a concerted effort to fix this article up to avoid FA removal? I think we need to reduce the length, and give it more of a clear focus with fewer details and digressions. But I don't want to lose any good info, so how do we do that? If we create subarticles, how should we divide up the content? -- Everyking 07:13, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)
The references seem to be broken... they're all listed as "[http:// ARTICLE TITLE]" which is weird. I checked the template use though, and it seems to be according to paramaters... url=http:// without anything else should just show that there is no weblink, not break the template. Anyone know what's going on, or how to fix it? -- Fieari 05:45, July 11, 2005 (UTC)
Can anyone find a citation to the number of strips that were produced or ran? I haven't been able to find any in articles about the strip's finale, and I think it would make a great addition. -- Norvy (talk) 15:20, 11 July 2005 (UTC)
I think it should be mentioned in the article that when Calvin makes a duplicate of himself, it's not revealed to the reader the true nature of the duplication. For instance, it's not known whether the duplicate is merely Calvin pretending or an actual duplicate. -- Scorpionman 20:48, 20 July 2005 (UTC)
There were 3150 comics.
This is a beautifully written article; I can see why it is a FA. Grateful thanks to the folks who worked on it. I do have one question: why does the article employ the Harvard reference style? [for example, "Calvin and Hobbes blah blah blah (Archeson 1988)."] The Harvard style is used in scholarly journals and texts, but not, I believe, in encyclopedias. Is there a guide as to the preferable reference styles for various Wikipedia articles? Do scientific articles employ Vancouver, and arts/humanities Harvard? Or is there simply an external link at the end of a sentence and internal links within sentences (ie. a text link)? Thanks. → Encephalon | T | C 11:22, August 6, 2005 (UTC)
The images recently added to illustrate the characters require fair use rationales. -- Anville 15:50, 27 August 2005 (UTC)
I removed this line: "a mentality the character Hobbes shares" (referring to the famous quotation of Hobbes the philosopher). I don't agree at all, but moreover it's not a substantiated fact -- if it can be substantiated authoritatively, then it should be put back in.
I've removed the following edit, which sounded fishy to me:
Can anyone confirm/refute this? -- Norvy (talk) 02:16, 2 September 2005 (UTC)
Calvin and hobbes tv show episode list (Note; This is not rarley known, but I found this at a top-secret website.)
G.R.O.S.S. club punishment Calvin forever Oh gross Susie / The replacement Hobbes's playmate
This seems to go against everything Bill Watterson ever said about marketing. I highly doubt that this was ever a possibility. Can anyone reference this "top-secret" website? -- Eric 03:26, 5 October 2005 (UTC)
I kind of understand why Bill Watterson wouldn't allow his strip to be merchandized. That would really destroy the integrity of the strip, as Watterson himself said. I mean, look at Jim Davis and Garfield! It says in the Garfield article that Jim Davis mostly deals with the business and merchandizing, while a bunch of other jerks who cared nothing about the strip's integrity take care of the comic strips and characters, which is what Davis should be doing! Just think what would have happened if Bill Watterson had merchandized his comic strip! He would have spent all his time taking care of merchandise, while his staff took care of the characters of Calvin and Hobbes! People would be saying about Calvin and Hobbes: "The merchandising terds that creator Bill Watterson pinches out ever Sunday in newspapers around the world, traumatizing millions with his bland humor week after tragic week.", just like they said about Garfield! Calvin and Hobbes would be just another bland, tasteless comic strip without any personality at all! Of course, many of you have already figured this out, I'm sure. I'm just saying this for all those people out there who would criticize Watterson for his refusal to merchandise his strip. Scorpionman 02:23, 7 October 2005 (UTC)
I wasn't slamming Davis at all. I don't know whether or not Garfield was originally intended to be non-offensive; the Garfield article says that Garfield now doesn't offend anyone because Davis' company does all the strips now. Scorpionman 19:33, 1 November 2005 (UTC)