So, y’all remember “Calvin and Hobbes“? I hope so. A boy and his stuffed tiger have all sorts of adventures and mischief. The tiger (Hobbes) is alive and can talk to Calvin when they are together and nobody else is around…and stuffed and immobile when other people are present.

Yeah yeah…a metaphor for imagination. Or take it literally and believe in magic, either one works.

Calvin and Hobbes was touching, funny, exhilarating, and life-affirming. It ws nothing short of brilliant. I hated that the artist ended the strip even whilst I understood why. I wished it could go on and on, even knowing that it simply couldn’t be.

I ran across some things today that brought all those feelings back with a vengence…

First, there’s this Lilo cartoon, poking fun at the (rather uplifting) ending of Calvin and Hobbes:

Initially, I got a chuckle out of it, but then started pondering the level of cynicism, the death of innocence, and the sheer disbelief in the magic found in our world that this drawing represented…all to get a chuckle.

For those of you that don’t remember, here is the last REAL strip from Calvin and Hobbes:

So…while I was pondering all those deep thoughts, I ran across this next image…an alternate ending for Calvin and Hobbes done by somebody cutting/pasting from the real strips and adding their own dialog.

It is probably very close to the reality of the world today…and given the spirit of the entire Calvin and Hobbes saga…it is quite possibly the saddest and most poignant thing I’ve ever come across:

What will the world be like…with no imagination. I’d weep for the lost dreams of a generation…but they have a pill for that too.

Daniel Meyer

From the always entertaining blog of a fellow Valkyrie rider. Here.