Can You Imagine That?(garfieldodie)

Can You Imagine That? is a live-action/CGI film directed by Kevin Smith and written by Smith, Jackson Kelley and Bill Watterson. It is the first entry in the Calvinverse. It follows Calvin and Hobbes as they stumble upon an underground tunnel that will change the course of their entire lives.

Cast(in order of appearance)

 * Jackson Kelley as Calvin
 * Nathan Fillion as Spaceman Spiff/Stupendous Man/Tracer Bullet
 * Taika Waititi as Hobbes
 * Elizabeth Banks as Calvin's mother/Mom-Lady
 * Bill Hader as Calvin's father/Character-Man
 * Simon Pegg as Galaxoid
 * Nick Frost as Nebular
 * Ozzy Osbourne as Retro Griffin
 * Sophia Lillis as Susie Derkins
 * Katherine McNamara as Rosalyn/Babysitter Girl
 * Thomas Barbusca as Moe

Plot
A young boy and his best friend, a tiger, go up to the top of a mountain to go sledding. The boy says, "It's a magical world, Hobbes, ol' buddy. Let's go exploring!", and they take off. The pair is none other than Calvin and Hobbes. They discuss New Year's resolutions and then realize they're in an unfamiliar location. As they try to get home, Calvin discovers a cave, which he and Hobbes decide to explore. However, the cave is actually a tunnel to a secret facility, which counts Calvin and Hobbes as intruders. They are able to escape, but they are pursued by a mysterious man in a deadly claw car. Calvin and Hobbes jump a cliff, but the claw car cannot make it. As Calvin and Hobbes set out for home, the man in the car climbs out of the chasm and begins stalking them.

Calvin tries to tell his parents about the situation they were in, but they seem to be uninterested. As Dad leaves to help Mom in the kitchen, two aliens named Galaxoid and Nebular show up and ask Calvin for information about snow. Calvin is able to hide Galaxoid and Nebular from Mom, and Hobbes tells the aliens about Mexico, which Galaxoid and Nebular gladly go to. Meanwhile, the man has located Calvin's house.

During a Spaceman Spiff fantasy, Calvin is interrupted by Dad while shoveling the walk. When the chore is finished, Calvin begins making a snowman as Hobbes reminds Calvin of a G.R.O.S.S. meeting they need to have. Their objective: nail Susie Derkins with snowballs. They succeed, and then as Calvin and Hobbes make their escape, the man questions Susie about Calvin. Calvin and Hobbes hide in a tree, but no sign of Susie makes them go in the house, where Calvin is immediately grounded for throwing snowballs at Susie. Mom and Dad have a discussion about it, and Mom says that she thinks Calvin is being stalked.

Calvin sits in his room, bored as Mom and Dad prepare for date night. Meanwhile, unsuccessful hero Stupendous Man stops an art thief, but it's just Calvin, imagining again. Dad tells Calvin that Rosalyn is coming to babysit, to his dismay. Mom and Dad discuss Calvin's flaws in the car. Back at the house, Calvin is distracted by a light from the same cave. They decide to sneak out and investigate.

Calvin and Hobbes make their way to the cave. Meanwhile, Rosalyn makes frozen dinners and finds out Calvin snuck out. She decides to find him. Once inside the cave, Calvin and Hobbes notice there's a key under the welcome mat, and they sneak in. Inside the facility, it is revealed to be a lab with several mutant creatures working inside. Calvin and Hobbes accidentally get their attention and have to escape. They are met by the man from earlier, who is able to knock out Hobbes. The man reveals himself to be Dr. Retro Griffin, a mad scientist trying to tap into the human mind. Retro tells Calvin his imagination will be useful for his purposes.

Retro chains a thrashing Calvin to a device called The Imaginator. Retro digs deep into Calvin's memories, which bring out the snow goons. Calvin thinks that the snow goons will be useless, but Retro has them under his control. Retro keeps digging, bringing out things from Calvin's mind to take over the world. Rosalyn is still searching for Calvin, but then is hit by a blinding light. Susie is getting ready for bed, when she is hit by a light. Calvin's parents are coming home, hit by the light. Calvin is slowly becoming unconscious when Hobbes wakes up. Retro orders Hobbes to join the others, but he refuses. Retro is unfazed as he begins to take over the world.

Galaxoid and Nebular return from Mexico to see Earth in a twisted state. In another fantasy, private eye Tracer Bullet is attacked by muscular men to unconsciousness, and then Calvin wakes up due to medication from Galaxoid and Nebular. The two aliens inform Calvin about what Retro did to the world, and Calvin becomes depressed, saying it's all his fault. Hobbes decides to talk some sense into him, which inspires Calvin to save the world. They ask Galaxoid and Nebular to be a part of the team, and Calvin says he has three friends who can help them.

They journey to a disfigured Africa and find Spaceman Spiff, picking him up. They help Stupendous Man in a jiffy when he is fighting Evil Mom-Lady and Character-Man, and as Babysitter Girl shows up, the gang pick up Stupendous Man. In a monochrome city, Tracer Bullet visits one of his clients, Susie. She brings out her bodyguard, Moe. Stupendous Man shows up as Tracer is turned to full color. Nebular heals Tracer as Calvin informs his alter egos about the mission.

The spaceship flies towards a snow fort Calvin had imagined a few days prior, which is Retro's hideout. Spiff distracts the cannons while the rest of the gang flies into a secret entrance. They journey through the snow fort until they find Retro, armed with previous enemies of the alter egos. Retro sends the monsters to attack, and the heroes defeat them. Retro makes a getaway to his lab and then the heroes pursue him. As he is backing up, he is shocked by static electricity and presumed dead.

Galaxoid and Nebular revive Retro. They put him in the Imaginator and reverse the damage done, but not before Calvin says goodbye to Spiff, Stupendous Man, and Tracer. Everything turns to normal as Retro wakes up and curses Calvin for ruining everything. Galaxoid and Nebular's ship arrives to take Calvin home.

Calvin says goodbye to Galaxoid and Nebular right as Rosalyn is making the frozen dinners. Calvin and Hobbes climb back into their bedroom right as Rosalyn brings the dinners up. Calvin's parents arrive home, and Calvin and Hobbes discuss the next day's events, with Calvin saying that he needs to make a multi-purpose device. As they drift off to sleep, Calvin says, "Like I said before, Hobbes, ol' buddy. It's a magical world."

Production
When Bill Watterson caved to make a Calvin and Hobbes Movie, he pitched an idea to Warner Bros., but the script was rejected. Giving it another try, he sent the script to Paramount (who would later make the Calvin and Hobbes Movie Saga) but that was rejected. Sony found the script, and then offered Watterson to make the movie. Watterson accepted as long as it wasn't animated. When casting Calvin, ten year old Jackson Kelley won the producers over, beating the talents of Finn Wolfhard and Noah Schnapp. Actors in the running for Hobbes included Jason Segel, Owen Wilson (who got the role of Hobbes in The Calvin and Hobbes Show), Jesse Eisenberg, Ed Helms, Edward Norton, and Ray Romano, before Taika Waititi got the part. The next month, Ozzy Osbourne was cast as the main villain of the movie, and Simon Pegg and Nick Frost were cast as Galaxoid and Nebular. To prepare for the roles, everyone except Osbourne read every single Calvin and Hobbes strip mentioned in the script to understand it better. After reading the first draft of the script, Kelley insisted that it be rewritten, and he and Watterson teamed up, making him the youngest screenwriter ever. Robert Zemeckis and ImageMovers Entertainment helped with the motion capture of the characters.