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Which cat do you like better," I asked my friend, "Aslan or Hobbes?" He hemmed and hawed for a bit, then replied, "Probably Hobbes." He explained that Aslan inspires his faith, but Hobbes—he paused, finding it hard to articulate his appreciation—"I mean, I love who he is to Calvin. He's just, you know; he's just awesome."

If you're a fan of Narnia, comparing Aslan to Hobbes may seem incongruous, if not sacrilegious. After all, Aslan is the Creator and ruler of Narnia, an obvious Christ-figure who sacrifices his life to save the undeserving Edmund. Hobbes is a stuffed tiger with a weakness for tummy rubs. As feline characters go, Aslan is far more serious than Hobbes.

Or so you would think.

With the film release of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, The Chronicles of Narnia has become a blockbuster franchise with numerous products and corporate tie-ins (McDonald's, General Mills, Virgin Atlantic, Oral-B, and Kodak, to name a few). On NarniaResources.com, a PR site intended to mobilize the church to consume and market the movie (à la The Passion of the Christ), you will encounter on the Frequently Asked Questions page the comforting logic of commercialism:

Q: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is a beloved property with millions of fans around the world. How will Disney marketing bring it to life without over commoditizing it?

A: The Walt Disney Company has many treasures within their vaults and is excited to add The Chronicles of Narnia to their legacy. Because of the devoted fan base and the popularity of the property, it makes sense to develop products and merchandise that allow fans to connect with the film on different levels for an immersive experience.

Of course, this is not really an answer. It is a refutation. Don't be irrational, says the pr site. It only "makes sense" to commodify the property for the good of the fans. Indeed, not to develop products and merchandise would be foolish and selfish. God forbid.

The new release of The Complete Calvin and Hobbes (Andrews McMeel Publishing), a three-volume set collecting the comic strip's ten-year run, is a reminder that it is possible to resist the logic of commercialism. Bill Watterson, the reclusive creator of the strip, was dismayed by the ongoing pressure from his syndicate to license his characters. Such a license would place Calvin and Hobbes on calendars, greeting cards, coffee mugs, T-shirts, TV specials, movies, and so on. But Watterson adamantly and steadfastly refused, forfeiting millions of dollars. (Jim Davis's Garfield generates around $750 million in annual sales of Garfield-related products. Existing Calvin items, like car decals, are unauthorized.)

For Watterson's syndicate, it just made sense to capitalize on the enormous popularity of the comic strip. Licensing Calvin and Hobbes would expand the audience by offering more ways to mediate and consume the characters. For Watterson, however, this logic was both shortsighted and offensive, because it failed to take into consideration what would be lost in the process. In the introduction to The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book (1995), he wrote, "I don't want some animation studio giving Hobbes an actor's voice, and I don't want some greeting card company using Calvin to wish people a happy anniversary, and I don't want the issue of Hobbes's reality settled by a doll manufacturer. When everything fun and magical is turned into something for sale, the strip's world is diminished."

Watterson, who retired his still-popular strip on January 1, 1996, believes that forms matter. He argued that the content of Calvin and Hobbes would be cheapened if it took on a commercial form beyond the multi-dimensional strip. The daily form of comic strips offers a distinct view of the boy and tiger that would be undermined if their images suddenly appeared on key chains and bumper stickers. Watterson explained, "My strip is about private realities, the magic of imagination, and the specialness of certain friendships. Who would believe in the innocence of a little kid and his tiger if they cashed in on their popularity to sell overpriced knickknacks that nobody needs? Who would trust the honesty of the strip's observations when the characters are hired out as advertising hucksters?"

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February 2006, Vol. 50, No. 2