Artist Combines ‘Star Wars’ With ‘Calvin And Hobbes,’ And It’s Delightful
The most adorable thing just hit the internet a few days ago. Brian Kesinger, a story artist for Walt Disney animation studios and an artist at Marvel Comics, just made a Calvin and Hobbes version of the new Star Wars universe. Among the drawings are one of Rey and BB-8 sliding down a desert hill, Poe and Finn ejecting out of a tie fighter, and Kylo Ren and Darth Vader walking along the trunk of a fallen tree.
The Mary Sue had the inside scoop on the inspiration behind the drawings.
When asked about where he got the inspiration for these drawings, Brian said, “It struck me that she probably did that as a child,” referring to a scene in the new Star Wars film when Rey slides down a desert hill. “That’s when the Calvin and Hobbes image flashed in my head.”
The newly drawn image is a throwback to the “final strip” drawn by Bill Watterson.
Kesinger told Buzzfeed that Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson was one of his biggest influences and said “it was a fun opportunity to combine two of my favorite things.”
The Force Awakens meets Calvin and Hobbes in this adorable mashup by Brian Kesinger! RT!@TheOsteoCorps pic.twitter.com/jt1747UyUb
— The OsteoCorps (@TheOsteoCorps) January 8, 2016
Brian has a pretty long history with the Walt Disney Company, starting nearly 16 years ago. His first film was Atlantis: The Lost Empire, and during this time, he became captivated by drawing gears and gadgets, which led to him becoming involved with the film Treasure Planet.
In an interview with Comic Mix, he reminisced, “It was on that film that a grew fond of drawing submarines, gears and gadgets. After that I moved on to the film Treasure Planet where I continued my alternate history aesthetics that time with the mixture of tall ships and sci-fi. It wasn’t until recently that I started doing my own steampunk art and I think my passion for the subject matter stems from the education I had on those films.”
The Force Awakens meets Calvin and Hobbes, hearts melt https://t.co/B0dOLzKwFk pic.twitter.com/LfcMEbeWdx
— The Verge (@verge) January 8, 2016
When Brian isn’t drawing adorable Star Wars versions of Calvin and Hobbes, he’s working on movies.
“Well my first love is movies. It’s why I have wanted to work in animation. So I have been developing several short film ideas and in addition to that I am in the very early stages of developing a full length feature of Otto and Victoria’s adventures. I would love to see a beautifully rendered steampunk animated film and I can’t think of any characters better suited for that than Otto and Victoria. Stay tuned for more details!”
Otto and Victoria are two characters in his recent book, Walking Your Octopus: A Guidebook To The Domesticated Cephalopod.
The books are “based on two of my more popular original characters, Otto and Victoria,” said Brian. “It’s not your typical storybook. It reads more like an owner’s guide to pet octopuses.”
“It’s sort of a satirical look at how we all can get a little carried away with how we raise our pets. It’s certainly inspired by my own dog Scout but also inspired by the ups and downs of raising two young children with my wife. My hope is that the book speaks to not only steampunk fans but pet owners and parents as well.”
Brian Kesinger’s Star Wars throwback to Calvin and Hobbes is a welcome one, and we can only hope that more will come in the future.
[Image via Brian Kesinger/Instagram]
