Cartoonist Charles Schulz and the Peanuts Gang

 

The Peanuts comic strip has been beloved by millions of people for decades. It was drawn solely by one man, Charles Schulz, from 1950-2000. That is very rare for one person to draw 100% of the strips, especially for that duration. Many prominent cartoonists say that Schulz was an influence, such as Bill Watterson (Calvin and Hobbes), Matt Groening (Life in Hell, The Simpsons) and Jim Davis (Garfield). Schulz was born in Minneapolis in 1922. He served in the Army during World War II. From 1947-1950 he drew a one panel strip called Li’l Folks that featured a young boy named Charlie Brown. A four-panel comic strip was developed but United Feature Syndicate said they name had to be changed due to legal reasons. Schulz said that he was never a fan of the name Peanuts. Some of the Sunday strips were titled as “Peanuts, featuring good ol’ Charlie Brown.” At its peak, Peanuts was published daily in 2,600 newspapers, in 75 countries, in 21 languages. Over the 50-year period of the strip, Schulz drew nearly 18,000 strips. The merchandising for the characters was prominent and lucrative, earning more than $1 billion per year. Schulz earned $30-$40 million per year. The Peanuts TV specials proved to be very popular, and they became holiday traditions, airing around Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Schulz was writer or co-writer of these and closely monitored the production. One of the specials was called “Snoopy’s Reunion.” It was very enjoyable since it revealed a lot of things about the life of Snoopy that many would not know about. Snoopy and his siblings were separated when they got adopted by different people from the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm. The TV show has them reuniting and reveals that all of them are musical. They come together and bond with each other in a musical jam session.

Various aspects of the strip are based on the life of Schulz and people that he knew. Themes of sports, art, the military and religion were prominent in the strip since those topics were important to Schulz.

  My dad was just 18 years old when the strip first appeared in newspapers, and he was always a fan. He was a fan of other strips too, such as Blondie and Beetle Bailey. I have always admired the talent of cartoonists since they need to be able to draw, plus come up with funny ideas. I have been a fan of Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the Peanuts gang for as long as I can remember.

Schulz died on February 12, 2000. His final strip was in papers the following day. His strips were drawn weeks in advance. His final strip was a goodbye message with Snoopy sitting on his doghouse writing on a typewriter. The strip has Schulz expressing his thankfulness for being about to draw the strip for 50 years. It says that he was unable to continue doing the strip, and it would not be drawn by anyone else. His final line was “Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, Lucy, how can I ever forget them…” On May 27,2000 Schulz was honored by over 100 comic strips, where the Peanuts characters were incorporated into various strips.

The Charles M. Schulz Museum was opened in 2002, in Santa Rosa, California. This is just two blocks from the studio where Schulz drew Peanuts.

The thing that made Peanuts special was the character development. We knew them and loved them. Here are a few profiles of the prominent characters.

Charlie Brown…first appeared in 1950…a boy who struggles to get through life due to his confidence issues. He loves sports, and even though he is not a great athlete, he never gives up. He has a crush on the little red-haired girl but is too afraid to approach her.

Snoopy… first appeared in 1950…Charlie Brown’s dog who is a beagle that everyone loves. His imagination is second to none, seeing himself as a World War I flying ace, a star athlete, a best selling author and “Joe Cool.”

Linus…first appeared in 1952…a philosophical, intelligent, religious boy who never lets go of his beloved security blanket. He is often the voice of reason for Charlie Brown.

Lucy…first appeared in 1952…the fussbudget with a short fuse. She has a crush on Schroeder but it’s an unrequited love. She is the sister of Linus. She is notorious for holding the football for Charlie Brown and pulls it away at the last minute.

Sally… first appeared in 1959…The sister of Charlie Brown who has a crush on Linus. She hates school.

Schroeder… first appeared in 1951…the child prodigy who can play anything on his piano. The toy piano sounds like a real piano when he plays it. He idolizes Beethoven and has a bust of him on his piano. Lucy has a crush on him and leans on his piano as he plays.

Peppermint Patty… first appeared in 1966…she is the best athlete in town and the worst student. She is best buddies with Marcie, (first appearance was 1971) who calls her “Sir.”

A bit of trivia, some Peanuts characters had very unusual names. One young boy was named 5 (first name) 95472 (last name). He had younger twin sisters named 3 and 4.

Molly Volley was a mixed doubles tennis partner for Snoopy who has a hair trigger temper.

Tapioca Pudding is a character whose unique name comes from the fact that her father works in licensing.

Joe Richkid is from a family of wealth and is not liked by others due to his arrogance.  

The legacy of Charles Schulz and Peanuts will live on forever. He will always be remembered as one of the great artistic visionaries of the 20^th Century, along with Walt Disney and Jim Henson.

*Some information from Wikipedia and peanuts.fandom.com.