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.

 

 

Good Grief! Charles M. Schulz and the Philosophy of Peanuts

Above photos, from top:

This is an example of how Peanuts dealt with issues such as the quest for happiness.

The first Peanuts strip from 1950. Notice the absence of Charlie Brown's stripe on his shirt.

Peanuts kids dancing in the TV special, A Charlie Brown Christmas, music by Vince Guaraldi. The boy in the orange shirt is a minor character named 5. The twin girls on either side of him are his sisters, 3 and 4.

The Peanuts gang, main characters.

Cartoonist Charles M. "Sparky" Schulz.


I recently listened to a book on CD called "Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography". It was a highly detailed account of the life of Charles M. Schulz. It is amazing to see the similarities between Schulz and the star of his comic strip, Charlie Brown. Schulz was a private, humble man from Minnesota who struggled with issues of insecurity just like Charlie Brown. He drew every strip himself, with no assistants, for half a century, from 1950 to 2000. Many cartoonists have assistance meeting their deadlines but Schulz insisted on doing it all himself. Once he was asked why he did not helpers, and he said, would Arnold Palmer have someone else hit the ball for him?

As a kid I had many Peanuts books and always enjoyed the strip. I think that it has remained popular, even for many years after the death of its creator in 2000, for many reasons. I see Peanuts as a cerebral strip, a thinking person's comic. It deals with issues that other comics do not, such as theology, philosophy, art and music appreciation, and psychology. Schulz realized that kids are much smarter than people think. Charlie Brown dealt with feelings of isolation, depression, insecurity, wanting to be liked. The comic is funny, but it also makes us think too. The characters enjoy being kids, but they also wonder about the meaning of life and the quest for happiness.

The characters were complex. Linus was the intellectual philosopher, who often would quote Bible verses, with his security blanket and his yearning to meet The Great Pumpkin. Schroeder idolized Beethoven and was oblivious to Lucy's admiration of him. Charlie Brown battled feelings of insecurity and tried to find joy in baseball and sought out advice from Lucy's psychiatry booth. Snoopy pretended he was a World War I flying ace. Schulz said this about Snoopy:

"Snoopy’s whole personality is a little bittersweet. But he’s a very strong character. He can win or lose, be a disaster, a hero, or anything, and yet it all works out. I like the fact that when he’s in real trouble, he can retreat into a fantasy and thereby escape."

Charles Schulz ("Sparky" to his friends and family), had regrets about not being there for his kids. His characters from the strip were more like his kids than his real life family. I admire anyone who is able to do the same job for a long period of time. The thing that is ironic is that Schulz had stopped drawing the strip due to battling cancer, and he died the day that the last strip was published in newspapers.

Here are some Peanuts trivia facts:

There was a character named 5. His full name was 555 95472. He has twin sisters named 3 and 4. I recall a Seinfeld episode where George said that 7 would be a good name. Maybe this was an homage to the Peanuts strip?

Some of the other minor characters included; Molly Volley, Tapioca Pudding, Truffles, Thibault, Lila, Eudora, and Peggy Jean.

Snoopy has seven siblings, from his early days at the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm. Their names are Spike, Olaf, Molly, Rover, Belle, Marbles, Andy. They were all featured in the Peanuts TV special, Snoopy's Reunion.

From 1950-1957, Snoopy walked like a regular dog, on all 4 legs.

Linus and Lucy are brother and sister. They have a little brother named Rerun. Charlie Brown and Sally are brother and sister.

Charlie Brown's dad is a barber, same as Charles Schulz's dad.

Schulz had his own ice arena, near his California home.

Charlotte Braun was a short-lived character, appearing in the strip from 1954-1955. She was bossy and loud, like Lucy.

Both Peppermint Patty and Marcie have a crush on Charlie Brown. He seems oblivious.

* Some information from Schulz and Peanuts, A Biography, by David Michaelis, and peanuts.wikia.com.