WhileCalvin & Hobbesranks among the all - sentence greatcomicstrips ever bring out , creator Bill Watterson once reveal he was inspired by another famous cartoonist , Peanuts’Charles Schulz . Watterson has made it no secret that he reckon Schulz and his work on his own iconic serial as one of his primary inspirations . However , thanks to a letter from Schulz himself to a young Watterson , the cartoonist was motivated to start a career in the comical manufacture .

InThe Calvin & Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Bookby Bill Watterson , the cartoonist went over what inspired him to start draw . Watterson said that Charles Schulz’Peanutswas among the first things he ’d ever show , and once he saw the adventures starring Charlie Brown and Snoopy , he knew he want to be a cartoonist . As a fourth - grader , Watterson would write a letter to Schulz , as the fabled cartoonist responded to the youngster , serving as a significant motivator for his later life history .

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In 1968 , Charles Schulz responded to a youngBill Watterson , who told thePeanuts’creatorabout his dream to become a cartoonist like him . Schulz write a missive in an gasbag with Snoopy and Charlie Brown on it and addressed it to Watterson . In the response , he thank Watterson for taking the time to write him a alphabetic character . He wrote he was " pleased to love that you love the laughable strip so much " and hop he would keep to read it for many year . Schulz signed the letter , which resurfaced decade after it was initially send to theCalvin & Hobbescreator .

While Schulz was the main divine guidance forBill Watterson , the legendaryCalvin & Hobbescreatorrevealed two other flight strip that were " tremendously inspirational " for him . He listedKrazy Katby George Herriman and Pogo byWalt Kellyas two other strip that taught him about how to write and draw comic strip . However , Charles Schulz’sPeanutswas the cartoon strip that made him need to start his own comic and become a cartoonist .

While the banker’s bill from Charles Schulz might have featured a pre - indite remark , as thePeanuts’cartoonist likely got yard of letter of the alphabet every year and founder the same general reception to all of them , the message was clearly important to a youngBill Watterson and helped cheer his career as a cartoonist . However , It ’s unlikely Schulz sleep together at the time he was writing back to a youngster who would one twenty-four hour period create something just as influential as his own comical flight strip withCalvin & Hobbes .

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