Calvin and Hobbes/Trivia

• Beam Me Up, Scotty: In no strip did Calvin ever say "God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right now I am so far behind that I will never die."
  • There is also a fake strip ^{[dead link]} going around that has fooled a lot of people despite the font looking nothing like Watterson's handwriting, involving Calvin going on meds and Hobbes becoming just a stuffed tiger as a result.
• Defictionalization: There actually is a band called Le Scrambled Debutante. They're kinda... out there.
• Doing It for the Art: Watterson was notorious for resisting every attempt to have his creations merchandised as noted above. This has unfortunately deprived his fans of many bits of memorabilia that they'd love to have, but at the same time, it's also kept Hollywood from doing the inevitable, horrible movie adaptation featuring a rapping, computer-generated Hobbes - which you just know they'd do.
• Homage: Martine Leavitt's Young Adult novel Calvin (which won the 2016 Governor General's Literary Award in Canada) is about a boy named Calvin and a girl named Susie setting off on an adventure with a talking tiger named Hobbes. (Word of God confirms the homage.) In part, the novel deconstructs the "Hobbes is a product of Calvin's imagination" theory.
• Shrug of God: Watterson has stated that he's really not sure whether Hobbes is a product of Calvin's imagination or a magic stuffed tiger that only comes alive when Calvin's around. There's evidence in the strips that could validate either viewpoint, so you're pretty much in your own in deciding which is true. To be fair, the ambiguity is vital.
• Tribute to Fido: Hobbes was inspired by one of Bill Watterson's cats. He explains in the 10th Anniversary Book:

Hobbes was very much inspired by one of our cats, a gray tabby named Sprite. Sprite not only provided the long body and facial characteristics for Hobbes, she was also the model for his personality. She was good-natured, intelligent, friendly, and enthusiastic in a sneaking-up-and-pouncing sort of way.

• The Wiki Rule: You betcha.