I noticed a striking similarity between a math problem scene in the movie Taare Zameen Par and Bill Watterson’s Spaceman Spiff strips. I found that Ishaan’s imaginative space collision to solve arithmetic mirrors Calvin’s iconic daydreaming style.
I share Len's journey to track down Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson. He visits Watterson's hometown, interviews his mother, and discovers that Bill's father is the model for the comic strip's dad character.
I spent years hand-transcribing every Calvin and Hobbes strip to build a searchable text index. After a massive traffic spike from Reddit and MetaFilter, I received a copyright takedown notice and had to remove the archive.
I shared a collection of moving lyrics and songs from the film Taare Zameen Par. Tracks like Maa and Kholo Kholo highlight the beauty of the Hindi language through their deep emotional and poetic quality.
I've rounded up my favorite Calvin and Hobbes strips where Dad trolls Calvin with fake science. These classic comics explain why the world was once black and white and how bridge weight limits are "really" determined.
I shared a YouTube video of a fan-made Calvin and Hobbes animation produced by Dadomani. This short clip brings Bill Watterson’s iconic comic strip characters to life, experimenting with how the classic artwork translates into a moving format.
Comments
Saurabh30 Dec 2007 12:00 pm:
Interesting! So we know who is the copy cat here :) BTW, I didn’t know that you can just post a segment using Google Video..Is this something that can be done for Youtube videos as well.
Chittaranjan30 Dec 2007 12:00 pm:
Yeah! That whole “Math Problem” and the Cartoonic representation of it Immediately reminded me of ‘Spaceman Spiff’…. I did look within my C&H archives for this strip but couldn’t find it. Thanks for this now…
Tarun6 Apr 2009 12:27 pm:
yeah…. i realised it the moment the maths problem came in front of that fellow.
JK3 Dec 2009 5:00 am:
God when will our people come up with our own ideas? Every movie and songs and albums have been a copy from some of the best in the Western countries. Sad on our education system that does not make us think out of box leading to such pathetic situation :(
Transmogrifier4 Aug 2010 8:00 pm(pingback):
[…] Just found that the C & H ‘inspirations’ have been covered here and […]
BabyGodfather15 Jan 2012 8:06 am:
Maybe a little too late to respond here, but yup I did observe this too while watching the movie !
I just choose to say God Bless Bill, not Aamir for stealing / approving the stealing and making money out of it. Did the so called perfect and creative guy credit Bill Watterson there ? I highly doubt that. It’s a direct theft.
P.S. : Big fan of your site.
Paul H5 Sep 2012 9:36 pm:
I remember a Looney Tunes cartoon about a boy that daydreams in class and has spaceman adventures during lessons. That must out date Calvin and Hobbes by at least a decade if not more.
Paul H5 Sep 2012 9:43 pm:
The Looney Tunes cartoons are A to Z-Z-Z-Z (1953) and Boyhood Daze (1957). The daydreams of Calvin are very similar to those of the Ralph Phillips character. I was off by a few decades. No doubt Bill Watterson saw these cartoons as a child.
Comments