Revised August 12, 2022
Posted August 12, 2022
This article is intended to address some (most?) of
the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about
Charles Schulz and his Peanuts cartoon strip.
The newest information (although not necessarily new
to the most recent date shown above) can be quickly
located by checking outline headings marked with an asterisk (*).
Please do NOT capriciously amend or "correct" this FAQ.
If you have comments, revisions, or suggestions for
additional topics, e-mail them to me at bang@dcn.davis.ca.us,
and I'll happily incorporate the pertinent changes
(and provide credit where appropriate).
If you have received an older copy of this document,
the most recent version always can be found on the World Wide Web at:
http://www.FiveCentsPlease.org/dpb/peantfaq.txt
A Japanese translation can be found here:
http://harriet2000.sakura.ne.jp/peanutsforum/faq/index.html
Remember, this FAQ is not intended to answer every possible
question which might be asked about Charles Schulz and
Peanuts...merely the ones mostly likely to be posed by
folks seeking to verify information floating around on the
Web, or merely rattle around in their heads. Some questions are answered here
in their entirety; some provide a partial answer and information
on how to reach other Web-sites where more detailed information
(such as book lists) is meticulously maintained.
The following topics are addressed:
1) GENERAL QUESTIONS
1.1) Is there a club devoted to Peanuts fans?
1.1a) Are there regional meetings?
* 1.1b) When is the next Beaglefest?
1.2) Are there many World Wide Web pages devoted to Peanuts?
1.3) Is there, or will there ever be, a publication that reprints ALL the Peanuts strips?
1.4) Are there other relevant WWW sites?
* 1.5) When was the first Snoopy U.S. Postage stamp released? Was it followed by others??
1.6) Do banks have Peanuts checks available?
* 1.7) Is there any great Peanuts software "out there"?
1.8) Collecting
1.8a) Is there a standard Reference/Price Guide for Peanuts collectibles?
1.8b) Are there definitive lists of ink stampers, Christmas ornaments, plush toys, magnets, etc.?
1.9) Has anybody compiled a definitive list of
newspaper/magazine articles and interviews with Schulz, and about his strip?
1.10) Do FTP sites exist where I can download Peanuts artwork?
2) CHARLES M. SCHULZ
2.1) When (and where) was Charles Monroe Schulz born? When did he die?
2.2) Where did Schulz live? Did he answer fan mail?
2.3) When did Schulz begin Li'l Folks, the strip which preceded Peanuts?
2.4) Did Schulz do other early work that preceded Peanuts?
2.5) Did Schulz do yet another panel cartoon feature, after his Peanuts
empire had begun to blossom?
2.6) I've occasionally seen panel cartoons that involve teenagers,
usually with a religious theme. Did Schulz do those, as well?
2.7) Good grief! Did Charles Schulz ever sleep?
2.8) Can I get a copy of the BIOGRAPHY episode about Schulz, which debuted
12/25/95?
What about the American Masters episode, "Good ol' Charles Schulz," which debuted 10/29/07?
2.9) Who is Amy, and why did her name appear in the strip every August 5?
2.10) Did Schulz draw and write Peanuts to the very end? I heard
somebody else took his place years earlier!
2.11) Just how wealthy was Schulz?
2.12) How can I learn more about Charles Schulz?
2.13) Did Charles Schulz ever design a quiz to demonstrate
the importance of having people who care about you?
3) THE DAILY COMIC STRIP
3.1) When did Peanuts begin?
3.2) How did the strip get its name?
3.3) How many Peanuts strips did Charles Schulz produce?
3.4) Vacation? Charles Schulz took a vacation?
3.5) Into which languages has Peanuts been translated?
3.6) Have all the newspaper strips been reprinted in books?
3.7) Which newspaper strips participated in the May 27, 2000,
tribute to Charles Schulz and Peanuts?
3.8) Did some strips and artists produce tributes on other days?
3.9) Can you help me find a strip I remember seeing
[some time ago], which concerned [fill in the blank]?
3.10) Haven't I seen that punchline before?
3.11) Where can I find that great IRS Peanuts strip?
3.12) Books about Peanuts
3.12a) The chronological reprint books
3.12b) Anthologies
3.12c) Special books
3.12d) Foreign titles
3.12e) Non-Series or Non-Peanuts books by Charles Schulz
4) THE CHARACTERS
4.1) When did [your favorite character] first appear? And has anybody compiled
a list of all the characters ever to appear in the strip?
4.2) I don't see certain characters anymore. Where did they go?
4.3) What is the origin of Charlie Brown's name?
4.4) Is Charlie Brown bald?
4.5) What is the origin of the little red-haired girl?
Did she ever actually appear in the strip?
4.6) Do any of the other characters have "real" roots?
4.7) Which characters have last names?
4.8) When is Snoopy's birthday?
4.9) How many different roles has Snoopy played?
4.10) What are the names of Snoopy's siblings?
4.11) What are the titles of the "Bunny-Wunnies" books which Snoopy loves so much?
4.12) What's the complete text of Snoopy's novel?
4.13) How old are Charlie Brown and his friends (as "real" characters)?
4.14) Have adults ever appeared in the strip?
4.15) What is the name of Charlie Brown's schoolteacher?
4.16) Who plays which position on Charlie Brown's baseball team?
4.17) Has Charlie Brown's baseball team ever won a game?
4.18) What is the name of Charlie Brown's baseball team?
4.19) Sally's School Malapropisms
4.20) What is the name of the infamous "cat next door" which slashes at Snoopy's doghouse?
4.21) What is the name of the town where Charlie Brown and his friends live?
4.22) Where do the kids go to school?
4.23) Are Marcie and Clara one and the same?
4.24) The football gags
4.25) My class/church/drama group is putting on a production of
"You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown," and one of the characters
is named Patty. Is this the same person as Peppermint Patty?
And, if not, who is this Patty person?
4.26) What can be found inside Snoopy's doghouse?
4.27) How are natural laws violated in the world of Peanuts?
4.28) To what uses has Linus' blanket been put over the years?
4.29) At what point did Snoopy quite definitely become Charlie Brown's dog?
4.30) What type of bird is Woodstock?
4.31) Which squadron does the WWI Flying Ace belong to?
5) THE TV SPECIALS
5.1) What was the first special, and when did it debut?
5.2) Who voiced the characters in that first special?
5.3) Has anybody compiled a list of TV specials, and
commented on their availability on video?
5.4) Are any of the TV specials still airing?
5.5) Will there be more new specials? What are they, and when will they air?
5.6) Were soundtracks released?
5.7) TV commercials -- general information
6) THE MOVIES
6.1) How many movies featured the Peanuts gang?
6.2) Are they available on video?
6.3) Were soundtracks released?
7) THE PLAYS
7.1) "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown"
7.2) "Snoopy!"
8) THE MUSIC
* 8.1) What Vince Guaraldi CDs exist?
* 8.2) Have other artists recorded Guaraldi's Peanuts music?
* 8.3) How many folks have recorded their own versions of "Christmas Time Is Here"?
8.4) What about the other two Guaraldi compositions on the "Charlie Brown Christmas" soundtrack?
8.5) Does sheet music exist for any of these tunes?
8.6) Speaking of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich's "The Peanuts Gallery," has it been
released on CD?
8.7) What are the lyrics to "Joe Cool"?
8.8) Can any of these songs be downloaded in some
format, so I can hear them on my computer?
8.9) Where can I find a copy of "Snoopy vs. The Red Baron"?
8.10) Have musicians recorded songs that mention the
Peanuts characters, or serve as a tribute to them?
9) THEME PARKS/MERCHANTS
9.1) What can you tell me about the Charles M. Schulz Museum?
9.2) Are there any Peanuts theme parks?
9.3) Are there any stores or dealers devoted exclusively to Peanuts merchandise?
9.4) What happened to Santa Rosa's annual Snoopy ice show?
10) TRADING CARDS/POGS
10.1) How many sets of trading cards have been released? Will there be more?
10.2) How many sets of POGs were released?
11) ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND DISCLAIMER
*******************************************************
1) GENERAL QUESTIONS
1.1) Is there a club devoted to Peanuts fans?
Yes, the Peanuts Collector Club is the officially-recognized (by
United Media, the distribution syndicate which handles the
Peanuts strip and all related merchandising) fraternity of
record. The Club was founded in 1983 by Andrea Podley, who until summer 2008
managed the ever-increasing duties with the sole assistance of
her husband, Phil. She published quarterly newsletters, each of
which seems to be larger than its predecessor, every one filled
with articles about various aspects of Peanuts-dom, from bios of
individual members and descriptions of their collections to news
on just-released merchandise, from collectibles to definitive
lists of particular items (refrigerator magnets, for instance),
not to mention the all-important Buy/Sell/Swap pages in the back
(which gradually shrank, as the Internet became more important, and
eBay consumed everybody's attention!). At its peak, the Club had
close to 2,500 international members; as interest waned a bit,
following Charles Schulz's death, the membership stabilized at
just over 1,000.
As of summer 2008, Kathy Magrane took over the position of Club
president. Bowing to the digital age, the printed newsletters
ceased shortly thereafter, and since then most business and news
has been conducted via the club's Facebook page, at
https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Community/Peanuts-Collector-Club-127941365473/
1.1a) Are there regional meetings?
Yes, and they always were announced in the quarterly Club
newsletter...although smaller groups of collectors in a
particular geographic area often call each other and arrange more
intimate gatherings for, say, a Saturday afternoon.
The B*I*G O*N*E, however, is the (usually) bi-annual or annual
Beaglefest. (See next answer.)
1.1b) What is Beaglefest? When is the next one?
Beaglefest is the big club event, which always gathers members from
all over the world, for (traditionally) three days of room sales,
games and puzzles, rapid-fire auctions for (often rare or unusual)
Peanuts merchandise, presentations by special guests, and more fun
than you can imagine.
Beaglefest I took place July 5-7, 1985, at the Los Robles Lodge in
Santa Rosa, California; it was chaired by Andrea Podley. This was a
modest affair, and attendance was small ... but the club grew considerably
during the next four years, and so...
Beaglefest II took place June 30-July 3, 1989, again at Santa Rosa's
Los Robles Lodge; attendance was much larger. Bruce Carlson chaired
the event; Charles and Jeannie Schulz were guests of honor.
Beaglefest III brought roughly 300 people to the Los Robles Lodge
from July 2-5, 1993; Bruce Carlson once again chaired the event, and
Charles and Jeannie Schulz once again were guests of honor. The club
completely filled the hotel, which was convenient; the often late-night
room sales didn't bother any other guests!
Beaglefest IV traveled across the country and gathered upwards of 700 folks in the
Minneapolis/St. Paul Holiday Inn International, for four equally
fabulous days: July 13-16, 1995. The location was selected due to the
nearby Mall of America, with its Camp Snoopy theme area. Bruce Carlson
once again chaired the event.
Beaglefest V returned to Northern California, but by this point the
club had outgrown the Los Robles Lodge; the event took place July 10-12, 1997,
at the Double Tree Inn in Rohnert Park (adjacent to Santa Rosa). Chuck Macy
served as chair, for roughly 700 members. Charles and Jeannie Schulz once
again were guests of honor, and the events featured a "mini-musical" version
of "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown."
Beaglefest VI -- July 6-9, 2000 -- took place under a cloud, as Charles
Schulz had died just a few months earlier. Members once again returned
to the Rohnert Park Double Tree Inn, for an event chaired by Kelly Tarigo.
Aside from occasionally somber moments, everybody understood the importance
of keeping Schulz's memory alive, by cherishing the ideals that will shine
forever in his characters, and in his work. (With the actual 50th
anniversary so close, there also was plenty of time for serious partying!)
This gathering was highlighted by a professional presentation of
"You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown," with a cast that included 16-year-old
Greta Gerwig, destined for Hollywood fame and fortune as an actress, director
and writer. This was the club's largest gathering ever, with close to 800 attendees.
Next up was a smaller "in-between" event -- not an official Beaglefest -- which
took place July 26-29, 2001, at the Holiday Inn at King of Prussia, Valley Forge,
Pennsylvania. Kelly Tarigo also chaired this event, which gave East Coast folks
an opportunity to travel a much smaller distance.
Beaglefest VII -- July 4-7, 2002 -- scaled back to roughly 300 people,
at Santa Rosa's Fountaingrove Inn in Santa Rosa. The date was selected to coincide with the
opening of the new Charles M. Schulz Museum (which, at that point, was scheduled
for a spring 2002 debut). Alas, construction delays kept the Museum from being able to
officially receive visitors, but Beaglefesters nonetheless got a "sneak peak." Kelly Tarigo
chaired this event, and -- from this point, and moving forward -- Jeannie Schulz became
a permanent guest of honor. Club members once again filled this smaller venue.
Beaglefest VIII -- July 1-4, 2004 -- returned to Santa Rosa's Fountaingrove Inn.
Kathy Briski chaired the event, which again drew roughly 300 members.
This time everybody was able to view the Charles M. Schulz
Museum in all its glory; Beaglefesters received both a nice entry admission
and gift shop discount. Special guests included Jeannie Schulz, Judy Sladky,
Craig Schulz, Stan Pawlowski, Don Fraser ... and, of course, Snoopy!
In between events, Santa Rosa held the first of its four Peanuts statue
hunts during the summer of 2005: Charlie Brown Around Town.
Beaglefest IX -- June 1-4, 2006 -- again filled Santa Rosa's
Fountaingrove Inn, with Kathy Briski chairing. The Club's attempt to hold
the event at Mall of America hit a snag because of
uncertainties regarding the Mall's relationship with
Camp Snoopy; we didn't want to be there with no Peanuts
presence! That proved a wise decision, given what
finally happened. Special guests included Jeannie Schulz,
Judy Sladky, Craig Schulz, Don Frasier, Deb Canham,
Tom Bednarek and Francis Toldi ... and, once again, Snoopy!
The event also coincided with Santa Rosa's second Peanuts statue
hunt: The Summer of Woodstock.
Santa Rosa's third Peanuts statue hunt, featuring Joe Cool, took
place during the summer of 2007. Various issues prompted an unusual
gap between Beaglefest events; members had to wait four years for...
Beaglefest X -- July 1-4, 2010 -- returned to Rohnert Park's
Doubletree Inn. Kathy Magrane had taken the reins as club president,
and Chris Carveth began his long reign as event chair. This gathering
of Peanuts fans coincided with Santa Rosa's fourth and final Peanuts
statue hunt: Looking for Lucy. The event concluded with a concert
by George Winston.
Beaglefest XI -- July 7-10, 2011 -- moved to a different
part of the United States: in Mason, Ohio, to take advantage of the
Planet Snoopy portion of the Kings Island Resort. Chris Carveth chaired
the festivities.
Beaglefest XII -- June 28-July 1, 2012 -- returned to Northern California,
and drew a small but dedicated crowd to Rohnert Park's Double Tree Hotel.
Chris Carveth chaired the event, which climaxed with a jazz concert
that reunited three of Vince Guaraldi's former sidemen -- guitarist
Eddie Duran, bassist Dean Reilly and drummer Colin Bailey -- accompanied
by pianist Jim Martinez.
With events now being mounted on an annual basis, the decision was made
to give a different name to those taking place outside of California.
That led to the debut of...
Beaglestock I -- October 4-6, 2013 -- which took place at the
Hilton Hasbrouck Heights, in Meadowlands, New Jersey: in close proximity
to MetLife Stadium, where members received an exclusive tour. Chris Carveth chaired.
Beaglefest XIII -- June 26-29, 2014 -- again drew a small but
dedicated crowd to Rohnert Park's Double Tree Hotel. At this point,
attendance settled into a pattern of 100-125 members, most of them
long-timers, but always with a handful of newcomers. Chris Carveth chaired,
and the event concluded with a concert by the Jim Martinez Trio.
Beaglefest XIV -- July 21-24, 2016 -- took a different approach, with a
gathering at Southern California's Knott's Berry Farm, home of Camp Snoopy.
Chris Carveth chaired, and special events included a visit to Snoopy's
recently unveiled star at Hollywood's Walk of Fame, and a concert by
famed jazz pianist David Benoit.
Beaglestock II -- August 11-13, 2017 -- took place at the Wyndham Ramada Hotel
in Rhinebeck, New York: in close proximity to the Rhinebeck Aerodrome,
where members received an exclusive tour. Chris Carveth chaired.
Beaglefest XV -- July 22-25, 2018 -- moved to Santa Rosa's Flamingo Hotel.
Chris Carveth chaired, and the event concluded with a Peanuts-themed jazz
concert by the Jim Martinez Trio. Special guests included Grammy Award
winners Cheryl Pawelski and Michael Graves, discussing their newly
released anthology CD set, "Vince Guaraldi: The Complete Warner Bros.-
Seven Arts Recordings."
Beaglestock III -- August 25-28, 2019 -- too place at the Hilton Houston
NASA Clear Lake in Houston, Texas. The event took place in tandem with
the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 10 mission, during which the command
module was nicknamed Charlie Brown, and the lunar module was nicknamed
Snoopy. The many space-themed events included a lengthy tour of the Houston
Space Center, presentations by former astronauts, and much more. Chris Carveth chair.
Beaglefest XVI -- August 4-7, 2022 -- took place at Santa Rosa's
Hyatt Regency Sonoma Wine Country Hotel. No doubt because of the lengthy gap
between events, due to Covid, attendance climbed to just over 200 enthusiastic
members. Chris Carveth chaired the event, which acknowledged both the 20th
anniversary of the Charles M. Schulz Museum's opening, and the 100-year
anniversary of Schulz's birth. The event concluded with a performance by
the Jim Martiniz Trio. Special guests included Glenn and Sean Mendelson, and
Lynda Johnston, three of Lee Mendelson's children; and four members of the
former St. Paul's Church Choir, who -- as children -- sang in "A Charlie
Brown Christmas": David Willat, Dan Bernhard, Mark Jordan and Cary Cedarblade.
Plans already are afoot for Beaglefest XVII ... stay tuned.
1.2) Are there many World Wide Web pages devoted to Peanuts?
Absolutely!
Peanuts Worldwide has its own Peanuts web pages, filled with
all sorts of nifty illustrations and information. There are
many, many other features to keep folks amused.
The site is beautifully maintained, and can be seen at:
www.peanuts.com
The Peanuts Collectors Club also has its own web page.
It can be reached at this Internet address:
www.peanutscollectorclub.com
Aside from providing information about the Club, and a brief
history of its origins, it also includes links to other folks in
cyberspace who have assembled nifty Peanuts-themed Web
pages.
These days, up-to-the-minute information generally turns up
on the club's Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/pages/category/Community/Peanuts-Collector-Club-127941365473/
You'll also find scores (hundreds?) of often well-meaning but
absolutely unapproved sites, set up by folks who share their
interest by ... ah ... "borrowing" licensed Peanuts artwork
without approval. We do not advertise, mention or call
attention to such sights in any way; at the risk of starting
a flame war, we believe VERY strongly in artistic property
rights, and do not condone the unlicensed use of Charles
Schulz's artwork. Further information on this subject can be
found at the Club's Web site, in the LEGAL MATTERS section.
1.3) Is there, or will there ever be, a publication that
reprints ALL the Peanuts strips?
Drumroll, please ... YES!
With the publication of the final volume (25) on May 10, 2016
Fantagraphics now has published every single strip that
Charles M. Schulz drew, in uniform volumes.
Three cheers!
I'll let Fantagraphics speak for itself, via this original press release:
50 years of art. 25 books. Two books per year, for 12-1/2 years.
Fantagraphics Books is proud to announce the most eagerly-awaited
and ambitious publishing project in the history of the American
comic strip: the complete reprinting of Charles M. Schulz's
classic, Peanuts. Considered to be one of the most popular
comic strips in the history of the world, Peanuts will be,
for the first time, collected in its entirety and published,
beginning in April 1, 2004. Fantagraphics has launched
"The Complete Peanuts" in a series designed by the cartoonist Seth
(Palookaville, It's A Good Life If You Don't Weaken) and
produced in full cooperation with United Media, Charles M. Schulz
Creative Associates, and Mr. Schulz's widow, Jean Schulz.
Fantagraphics Books co-publisher Gary Groth said that publishing
"The Complete Peanuts" represented the apex of the company's
27-year commitment to publishing the best cartooning in the world.
"Peanuts is a towering achievement in the history of comics,"
said Groth. "I can't think of a better way to honor Schulz's
artistic legacy than to make his oeuvre available to the public
in a beautifully designed format that reflects the integrity
of the work itself."
The genesis of the project began in 1997, when Fantagraphics
publisher Gary Groth approached Charles Schulz with the
proposition of publishing Peanuts in its entirety. After
Schulz's death on February 12, 2000, Groth continued discussing
the project with Schulz's widow, Jean Schulz.
"It's safe to say that this project wouldn't have
happened if Jean Schulz weren't as enthusiastic and supportive
as she's been," said Groth. Added Jean Schulz "This seemed
like an impossible project, considering all the 'lost' strips,
but Gary's determination never flagged, and we are so happy
with the aesthetic sensibility of the Fantagraphics team."
"It's a genuine honor to be designing these Schulz collections,"
said Seth, who went on to describe the premise underlying his
design for the series "I want to emphasize the sophistication
of Schulz's work by creating a package that is both austere
and direct. I would like to try to reflect the quiet and
melancholy of the strip in a package that hopefully, shows
the proper amount of respect for Mr. Schulz. Undoubtedly,
Peanuts is a great newspaper strip and I am humbled and
gratified to help steward this complete strip compilation into the world."
Each volume in the series will run approximately 320
pages in a 8-1/2" x 7" hardcover format, presenting two
years of strips along with supplementary material.
The series will present the entire run in chronological order,
dailies and Sundays. Since the strip began in late 1950,
the first volume includes all the strips from 1950, 1951
and 1952, but subsequent volumes will each comprise exactly
two years. Dailies will run three to a page, while Sunday
strips will each take up a full page and be printed in black-and-white.
This first volume, covering the first two and a quarter years
of the strip, is of particular fascination to Peanuts
aficionados worldwide. Although literally hundreds of Peanuts
books have been published, many of the strips from the series'
first two or three years never were collected
before -- in large part because they showed a young Schulz
working out the kinks in his new strip and include some
characterizations and designs that are quite different from
the cast we're all familiar with. (Among other things, three
major cast members -- Schroeder, Lucy, and Linus - initially
show up as infants and only "grow" into their final "mature"
selves as the months go by. Even Snoopy debuts as a puppy!)
Thus "The Complete Peanuts" offers a unique chance to see
a master of the artform refine his skills and solidify his
universe, day by day, week by week, month by month.
"The Complete Peanuts" was supported with an ambitious
advertising and promotional campaign, including public appearances
by Jean Schulz.
Volumes 1-26 now are available.
Visit the Fantagraphics Website at www.fantagraphics.com
1.4) Are there other relevant WWW sites?
See the answer to 1.2 above.
1.5) When was the first Snoopy U.S. Postage stamp released?
Was it followed by others?
The 34-cent, First Class WWI Flying Ace Stamp first
was released during a special ceremony in Santa Rosa,
California, on Thursday, May 17, 2001. It was quite a party,
and folks lined up all day to be first to purchase the
stamps and special first-day cover "cachets."
The stamp was released to the general public the following
day, on Friday, May 18. Interest was high throughout the
United States, and some post office stations clearly didn't
order enough the first time, as many folks complained about
not being able to get any (no doubt because collectors
snapped up literally thousands!).
The stamp's first printing was 125 million.
In 2015, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of "A Charlie Brown Christmas,"
a booklet of 20 stamps -- featuring 10 still frames from the TV special --
debuted during a similar ceremony on October 1, at Santa Rosa's Charles M. Schulz Museum.
Once again, fans lined up to be the first to purchase these stamps, along
with first-day cover "cachets" and other special items.
This will be followed, on September 30, 2022, with the release of a 20-stamp
sheet that features 11 iconic characters (Snoopy and Woodstock share a stamp),
during a debut ceremony also taking place at Santa Rosa's Charles M. Schulz Museum.
1.6) Do banks have Peanuts checks available?
Sadly, no longer.
As of mid-September 1995, Peanuts checks became available
from any banking institution which dealt
with Deluxe Check Printers (which was pretty much
all of them, in the United States).
Fans of the original 10-design set were unhappy when this series
was discontinued; the 50th anniversary design that replaced them
did not allow use of the 12 "woodcuts" that formerly appeared
in the upper left corner of each check; we were limited
to the "50th anniversary" logo that appears on each one.
Each set did offer two checkbook covers: a plastic and a fancier leather one.
Another new series was added in 1999, with Tom Everhart designs.
As of roughly mid-2001, both the Everhart and 50th anniversary
designs were discontinued, and replaced by yet another new line.
Four different check designs appeared in the set,
and - good news! - the woodcuts were back. As before, there
were two different checkbook covers, plastic and leather.
Unfortunately, as of 2007, all Peanuts checks ceased to be available
via your local bank. (This is in the United States, mind you.)
Fortunately, Checks Unlimited still has its
Peanuts pattern, and they can be ordered on-line
by anybody. Check our their site at www.Checksunlimited.com.
And if you have a particularly good relationship with somebody
at your bank, they may be able to help place the order.
1.7) Is there any great Peanuts software "out there"?
Screen savers have become a thing of the past, but they were
quite the rage for awhile.
Individual Software, Inc. produced a marvelous product
called the Peanuts Family Organizer. It kept track of
daily/weekly/monthly/yearly appointments, activities,
and so forth. Each person tracked was represented by a
different character icon, and every day the user was
greeted by a new Peanuts comic strip.
Image Smith had quite a few different products,
including several clever childrens' educational
activities. They were:
The Snoopy Screen Saver (8 savers, plus sound)
Yearn to Learn Peanuts
Yearn to Learn Snoopy
Snoopy's Geography Games
Master Snoopy's Math
Master Snoopy's Spelling
Master Snoopy's Coloring Book
All these programs were available for Mac and PC-Windows.
Image Smith also had a cute Peanuts Mouse Pad and
Wrist Pad ("Please excuse my typping.")
Various Asian companies have been producing all sorts of
fun Peanuts titles, many of them designed to help folks
learn how to speak English ... a particularly worthy "job"
for the Peanuts gang!
These days, Peanuts-themed wallpapers are readily available
via quick Google searches (although many are from sites that
aren't licensed by Peanuts Worldwide).
1.8) Collecting
1.8a) Is there a standard Reference/Price Guide for Peanuts collectibles?
The most recent thorough books are two price guides that arrived in 1999.
PEANUTS COLLECTIBLES IDENTIFICATION & VALUE GUIDE, by Andrea
Podley and your humble FAQ-meister Derrick Bang, is available from
Collector Books at $24.95.
PEANUTS: THE HOME COLLECTION, by Freddi Karin Margolin, is
available from Antique Trader Books at $26.95.
Both books are laden with pictures, information and all sorts
of goodies. If you can't decide between them, do we what did,
and buy 'em both!
Jan Lindenberger turned Peanuts-themed handbooks
and price guides into something of a cottage industry, and released
four titles between 1997 and 1999: "Snoopy Collectibles," "More
Snoopy Collectibles," "Peanuts Gang Collectibles" and "More Peanuts
Gang Collectibles." All were published by Schiffer.
The only other reatively exhaustive book is long out-of-print.
(NOTHING stays in print long enough these days!) It's THE OFFICIAL PRICE GUIDE
TO PEANUTS COLLECTIBLES, by Margolin and Podley, published by
the House of Collectibles Press, New York, in 1990. At that time,
it sold for $9.95. If you can find it at an out-of-print
bookstore at that price, you're doing well. The prices inside
really haven't changed that much, so it's still a pretty good
indication of what you can expect. It, too, has lots of pictures,
although not nearly as many as will be found in the new books.
Pauline C. Graeber's 2003 book, "The Wonderful World of Peanuts
Musicals," concentrates exclusively on that sub-collectionn ... and
still fills 203 pages!
Thomas Bednarek's 2006 book, "Peanuts Collectible Ornaments" is even more
definitive on its topic, clocking in at any impressive 432 pages.
Even if you'll never own most of what you'll see pictured in both
these books, they're valuable to drool over.
1.8b) Are there definitive lists of ink stampers,
Christmas ornaments, plush toys, magnets, etc.?
Well, the key word here is "definitive," because the available
merchandise expands all the time. The best lists -- to a given date --
appeared in the Club newsletter, and also in the books above.
Various members have devoted hours/days/weeks/months to
comprehensive lists of their favorite collectibles, so back
issues of the newsletter have become historical records in their
own right.
Phil Parks, for example, maintains a sensational list of Peanuts
PVCs at http://havanafolks.com/phil/snoopy
The bittersweet truth, of course, is that such lists
go out of date almost the moment they're printed; the world of
Peanuts merchandising is still so active, that new stuff appears
all the time. (Not that we mind, right?)
1.9) Has anybody compiled a definitive list of newspaper/magazine
articles and interviews with Schulz, and about his strip?
Not that I'm aware of, although several folks are working on such
a compilation. It's a massive task, because Charles Schulz was
quite the popular interview subject from 1960 on.
Those able to visit the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Archive for
legitimate research purposes may be able to gain access to their
impressive archives; I imagine they have the best resource database.
1.10) Do FTP sites exist where I can download Peanuts artwork?
Well ... undoubtedly, yes. But for legal reasons involving
copyright issues, we're not really in a position to share such
information. Sorry 'bout that...
2) CHARLES M. SCHULZ
2.1) When (and where) was Charles Monroe Schulz born? When did he die?
Schulz was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, on November 26, 1922. Two
days later, an uncle gave him the nickname which has stuck to
this day: "Sparky," taken from Sparkplug, the name of Barney
Google's horse (a popular newspaper comic strip of the day).
He died in his sleep Saturday evening, February 12, 2000,
from a heart attack. Although he had been hospitalized in
December 1999 and was undergoing treatment for colon cancer,
his sudden passing came as an unhappy surprise.
2.2) Where did Schulz live? Did he answer fan mail?
During most of the last half of the 20th century, Schulz
and his family lived in Santa Rosa, California, an ever-expanding
city in Northern California that cherished its somewhat
shy but extremely generous local celebrity.
While his home address remained a carefully guarded secret,
fans were able to send him mail in care of his office,
at this address:
Charles Schulz/Creative Associates
Number One Snoopy Place
Santa Rosa
California 95403 USA
Over the years, he generously replied to quite a few fans.
When news of his hospitilization hit, the office was deluged
by cards and letters from concerned people.
This outpouring of support and devotion continued during
December 1999 and January and February 2000. The day after
he died, on February 13, 2000, Santa Rosa's Redwood Empire
Ice Arena -- the arena that Schulz had given his community,
and the adjacent Snoopy's Gift Shop and Gallery -- remained
closed. By early afternoon, fans and local citizens already
had left an impressive assortment of flowers, cards, notes
and other items of tribute -- perhaps, most touching, a
hockey stick -- all carefully piled against the doors of
the gift shop and ice arena.
2.3) When did Schulz begin Li'l Folks, the strip which preceded Peanuts?
Like most so-called "overnight successes," Schulz had been
working hard for years, before he found fame and fortune
with Peanuts.
Although he experimented with a variety of concepts, the
strip "Li'l Folks" deserves special mention.
The feature first appeared as a Sunday panel in the Minneapolis
Tribune on June 8, 1947, and ran twice, for all of two weeks;
the final appearance was on June 15, 1947. Apparently there was
some sort of falling-out between Schulz and his Tribune
editor; details are lost to time. But Schulz rebounded
immediately and signed on to do "Li'l Folks" in in the
St. Paul Pioneer Press (his home-town paper), and the strip
began on June 22. It appeared as a Sunday feature in the
women's section, at the very back of each paper, a few pages
after the classified ads. "Li'l Folks" was a collection of three
to four single-panel cartoons, all featuring children.
The cast of characters included a girl named Patty,
a boy named Charlie Brown, a dog which looked very much
like Snoopy, and a young piano student who adored Beethoven.
Li'l Folks ran in the St. Paul Pioneer Press for more than two
years. In late 1949, wanting a raise and better exposure for
his work, Schulz approached his editor and requested daily
status, better placement in the paper, or -- failing to secure
those quite reasonable requests -- a bit more money. In
true Charlie Brown fashion, the editor declined, and Schulz
felt obliged to resign. The final Li'l Folks appearance was
January 22, 1950.
These panels were the subject of a book that was
released on February 21st, 2004, by The Charles M. Schulz Museum.
"Charles M. Schulz: Li'l Beginnings," with a foreword by Jean Schulz and
annotations, editorial commentary and an introduction by PCC Web-meister
Derrick Bang, includes all 135 of the strips that Schulz wrote and drew for the St.
Paul Pioneer Press, his hometown paper, between June 22, 1947, and
January 22, 1950. The vast majority of these strips have been published
in book form for the very first time.
Aside from shedding light on a formative early period of Schulz's
creative output, these Li'l Folks strips also are noteworthy for their
use of characters and themes that later reappeared in Peanuts a
well-dressed young man with a fondness for Beethoven, a dog with a
striking resemblence to Snoopy, and a boy named Charlie Brown, among
others.
The 298-page book also includes Just Keep Laughing.., the two very early
cartoon panels that Schulz produced for the Catholic comic book Topix;
the two Sparky's Li'l Folks panels that ran in the Minneapolis Tribune
and anticipated his series in the St. Paul Pioneer Press; and examples
of his single-panel cartoons that were published in The Saturday Evening
Post in the late 1940s. (See next question.)
"Charles M. Schulz: Li'l Beginnings" is available only through the
Museum's Gift Shop and Web site (http://www.schulzmuseum.org).
2.4) Did Schulz do other early work that preceded Peanuts?
During the time he worked on Li'l Folks, Schulz also published a series of 17
one-panel cartoons in the Saturday Evening Post. Although not formally named, most of
these cartoons bore a strong resemblance to the work in Li'l Folks -- and may,
in some cases, have been cartoons rejected for that newspaper panel feature,
and they appeared in the following issues:
May 29, 1948 -- page 116
July 17, 1948 -- page 42
September 25, 1948 -- page 152
November 6, 1948 -- page 91
November 13, 1948 -- page 179
January 1, 1949 -- page 60
February 19, 1949 -- page 119
May 21, 1949 -- pages 72 and 166
July 16, 1949 -- page 114
November 19, 1949 -- page 132
February 11, 1950 -- page 45
February 18, 1950 -- page 129
April 29, 1950 -- pages 87 and 140
May 6, 1950 -- page 79
July 8, 1950 -- page 54
It shouldn't be hard to track down bound volumes of the Saturday Evening Post
at your local library. The research is its own reward; these vintage strips
give ample evidence of the emerging genius just months from greater renown.
2.5) Did Schulz do yet another panel cartoon feature, after his Peanuts
empire had begun to blossom?
Indeed yes. For a brief period in the late 1950s, Schulz actually had two
comic features running simultaneously in newspapers. Aside from Peanuts,
he also produced "It's Only a Game." It was a panel feature about all sorts
of games, from tennis and golf to bridge and everything in between,
offered to newspapers in either of two formats: as a single daily panel to
run on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, or as a collected layout that ran on
Sundays in full color, with an "extra" little cartoon in the header. All
the cartoons were collected in 2004's "It's Only a Game," edited by
Web-Meister Derrick Bang and with commentary by Schulz associate Jim
Sasseville, who -- believe it or not -- ghosted the artwork shortly after
the feature debuted, because Schulz didn't have the time to do it himself.
The feature debuted November 3, 1957, in roughly 30 client newspapers.
Schulz wrote and drew all the cartoons until January 1958, at which point
he wrote the captions and roughed up sketches, from which Sasseville
produced the finished cartoons in a style that looked remarkably like
Schulz's work.
Unfortunately, the feature didn't sell; after a little more than a year,
it still had the same 30 client newspapers. Although he had been promised
a five-year contract, Schulz pulled the plug and the final cartoons
appeared on January 11, 1959.
2.6) I've occasionally seen panel cartoons that involve teenagers,
usually with a religious theme. Did Schulz do those, as well?
In the late 1950s and early '60s, Schulz was an incredibly busy artist.
Aside from everything mentioned above, he also contributed spot panel
cartoons for Youth magazine, a publication aimed at teens in the
Church of God, a religious movement headquartered in in Anderson,
Indiana. The bi-weekly feature debuted January 1, 1956, and continued
until 1965, although not consistently; some issues were skipped, and
some strips were repeated. Toward the end, the feature acquired the
name "Young Pillars."
These cartoons were issued (and rather haphazardly) in several paperback
collections in the 1960s, but -- happily -- a definitive collection was
published by About Comics in 2007: "Schulz's Youth." This book also
reprints the spot cartoons that appeared in the 1965 book "Two-by-Fours,"
which dealt with pre-school kids in a church setting. These very small
children would have been right at home in Charlie Brown's world.
2.7) Good grief! Did Charles Schulz ever sleep?
Not much, apparently. He also supplied spot cartoons for books by other
authors, most notably Art Linkletter's "Kids Say the Darndest Things"
and its sequel, "Kids STILL Say the Darndest Things," and a charming 1964
collection of letters written by children to then-President L.B. Johnson,
"Dear President Johnson."
2.8) Can I get a copy of the BIOGRAPHY episode about Schulz, which debuted 12/25/95?
What about the American Masters episode, "Good ol' Charles Schulz," which debuted 10/29/07?
With respect to the Biography episodes, alas, no. Not any more.
The 60-minute program (less commercials) debuted on
Christmas Day, 1995, on cable's Arts & Entertainment Network,
and was an instant hit with fans. The tape was available for purchase during
the next few years, but sadly now has been off the market for years.
If there are plans to release the more recent American Masters episode, we've
not yet learned of them.
2.9) Who is Amy, and why did her name appear in the strip every August 5?
Well, maybe not EVERY August 5...but quite a few!
Amy, one of Charles Schulz's daughters -- along with Jill
and Meredith (the other two children being sons Monte and
Craig) -- is married to John Johnson and now lives in Alpine,
Utah, with a large and happy family, where she rides horses
and runs an LDS bookstore.
Sharp-eyed readers have noticed, over the years, that on
August 5 Schulz often penned the words "Happy Birthday Amy"
somewhere into the strip, usually along one of the margins.
For many years, even Schulz's syndicate editors didn't
know the message was meant for his daughter, but they
found out one year when some poor soul removed the greeting,
and subsequently learned that Schulz does nothing accidentally.
The message never was erased again.
Amy has several original strips, including those that mention her,
tucked away safely in a vault.
The question, then, is how long did this go on?
The greeting did not appear in 1999, although it did in
1998, 1997, 1996, 1995, 1991 (this one can be seen at the
base of Snoopy's doghouse in NOW, THAT'S PROFOUND, CHARLIE BROWN),
1986 (at the bottom of the final panel, in TALK IS CHEEP, CHARLIE BROWN),
1984 (on Charlie Brown's chair in the third panel of a Sunday strip,
in THE WAY OF THE FUSSBUDGET IS NOT EASY), 1979 (the final panel
of a Sunday strip, thus far reprinted only in the Series 1 trading cards),
One wonders, of course, whether we should worry if the various
publishers were as faithful about reproducing the message
as the syndicate...particularly since British fan Julian
points out that the 1973 strip does including the greeting
on Snoopy's dog house, although there's absolutely no evidence
of this in YOU'RE THE GUEST OF HONOR, CHARLIE BROWN.
(Apparently it survived its reprint in a British collection.)
I'm afraid, therefore, that nailing this with certainty will
involve checking every August 5 strip since Amy's birth at
a newspaper archive, and I'll let somebody else tackle that job!
(I can say with certainly, however, that it didn't happen in
1958, 1965 or 1968.)
(One hopes, as the Fantagraphics reprint series continues, that
we'll finally get absolute proof of precisely when all these
greetings appeared!)
Further evidence of this inconsistency with previous book collections
was caught by faithful archivist Tim Chow, who noticed that when the 8/5/74 strips
was reprinted in newspapers in 2000, Amy's birthday greeting
was intact...although it definitely had vanished when that
strip was collected in SPEAK SOFTLY, AND CARRY A BEAGLE.
Shame on Holt, Rinehart and Winston...
By the way, in the December 17, 1972 Sunday strip (reprinted
in THOMPSON IS IN TROUBLE, CHARLIE BROWN), Amy becomes the
recipient of a Christmas card from Snoopy, when he has only
one stamp; and on September 5, 1971 (unreprinted in the
United States), Lucy boasts of knowing all the people in
the entire world, and mentions Amy, Jill and Meredith by name.
2.10) Did Schulz draw and write Peanuts to the very end?
I heard somebody else took his place years earlier!
Of all the thoughtless and silly questions that sometimes pop
up, this has to be the worst. How can you examine any single
Peanuts strip and not KNOW, without question, that they
always were rendered by the same hand?
For the record, Charles Schulz was -- and ALWAYS was - the
only person to draw, write, and letter his beloved newspaper
comic strip. While it is true that some other daily strips are drawn
and/or written by "consortiums" overseen by the strip's
creator, this has never been the case with Peanuts.
It is true, on the other hand, that other unsung
individuals handled the writing and artwork chores
when the Peanuts gang appeared in Dell and Gold Key comic books
during the late 1950s and early 1960s. For full details,
visit http://www.peanutscollectorclub.com/comicboo.html.
Schulz always made it plain that the strip would retire with him.
Now that he is no longer with us, nobody else will take over.
That is absolutely as it should be.
2.11) Just how wealthy was Schulz?
As my grandmother would have said, upon hearing such an
impertinent question, that was nobody's business but his. Let's
just say he probably could afford to eat more than jelly-bread
sandwiches.
2.12) How can I learn more about Charles Schulz?
Aside from scouring your local library for old magazines
with interviews in them, the best place to start would be
David Michaelis' biography, "Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography,"
which was published on October 16, 2007. It's a large and thoroughly
detailed book, with plenty of pictures and newspaper strips that
reveal precisely to what degree Schulz's comment about "knowing
him through his work" was true!
You also can look for these older books:
"Good Grief: The Story of Charles M. Schulz," by Rheta Grimsley Johnson
"Charles M. Schulz," by Michael A Schuman, in the young readers "People to Know" series
"Peanuts: The Art of Charles M. Schulz," designed by Chip Kidd
"Charles M. Schulz: Conversations," edited by M. Thomas Inge, an excellent series
of interviews with Schulz ranging from 1956 through 1997.
2.13) Did Charles Schulz ever design a quiz to demonstrate
the importance of having people who care about you?
No, no, a thousand times no!
This is an Internet legend, folks, and it's spreading
faster than it can be contained ... more's the pity.
Well-meaning friends often send these to each other,
and Peanuts fans are particularly vulnerable, because their
friends think they'll find it especially sweet.
It's often headed "Charles Schultz [sic] Philosophy,"
and usually arrives with an introduction that reads something like this:
"You don't actually have to take the quiz.
Just read this straight through and you'll get the point.
It is trying to make an awesome point!
"Here's the first quiz:
"1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
"2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners, etc."
...
Having punted that portion, you're then asked to list
a few teachers who "aided your journey through school,"
three friends who "helped you through a difficult time,"
and so forth. Eventually, you reach the end, and this final note:
"The lesson: The people who make a difference in
your life are not the ones with the most credentials,
the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care.
"Don't worry about the world coming to an end today ... It's
already tomorrow in Australia."
And the whole thing is credited to Charles Schulz.
Only one problem. He never wrote it or said it,
and certainly never used it in a Peanuts comic strip.
But don't take my word for it: You can read
the entire debunking entry at the Internet's best source for
exposing such urban legends: http://www.snopes.com/glurge/schulz.asp
The folks at the Charles M. Schulz Museum have said,
"We [hear about] this about once a month. Though this saying/quiz
is often attributed to Charles Schulz, he in fact made no such statement."
The "Don't worry about the world coming to an end today ... It's
already tomorrow in Australia" quotation that often appears
at the end of the quiz DID come from Schulz's pen, in the
Peanuts strip originally published on June 13, 1980.
Nobody knows who the real creator of this quiz is,
but it has been circulating on the Internet since at least 2000.
At some point, someone appended Schulz's "tomorrow in Australia"
line to it, an addition that evidently misled a subsequent reader
into believing that Schulz had authored the quiz itself.
But he didn't.
So even if you like the soggy sentimentality -- and I admit,
it's a warm and fuzzy thought -- please don't make the situation
worse by telling anybody else that Schulz had anything to do with it.
3) THE DAILY COMIC STRIP
3.1) When did Peanuts begin?
The first daily strip appeared on October 2, 1950, in seven
newspapers: The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune,
The Minneapolis Star/Tribune, The Allentown Call-Chronicle, The
Bethlehem Globe-Times, The Denver Post, and The Seattle Times.
No matter where you live (in the United States), your nearest
public or university library should have at least one of those
newspapers in its microfilm department. Zoom back to 1950, and
you'll be able to see that first strip in all its glory.
Alternatively, visit your local bookstore and purchase volume
1 of Fantagraphics' "The Complete Peanuts." (Needless to say,
we're certain you won't be able to stop with volumne 1!)
For an online peek at that first strip, check out
http://comics.com/peanuts/1950-10-02
The Sunday strip did not begin until January 1952; until then,
Peanuts was a six-day effort. Some newspapers also treated it
rather cruelly during the first several years; the uniform, four-
panel format made it possible to run the strip horizontally or
vertically, or in a squarish box. Frequently, those papers
running the strip vertically would squash the panels on top of
each other, to cram the whole thing into a space much too small.
By the mid-50s, once the strip had really caught on, this
practice (thankfully) stopped.
3.2) How did the strip get its name?
By the late 1940s, Schulz had achieved modest local success
in the St. Paul Pioneer Press with his "two tier," strip,
Li'l Folks (See question 2.3.) He naturally brought this
along to New York when he attempted to broaden his appeal via
a syndicate. The folks at United Feature eventually took on
the strip but then, in their infinite wisdom, played around
with the concept a bit; at one point, according to an interview
Schulz granted Gary Groth in the January 1992 issue of Nemo,
the syndicate folks even toyed with the idea of combining
"little kid humor" and "teen humor" in the top and bottom
halves, respectively, of the original two-tier format. But
eventually the decision was made to go just with "the little
kid thing," and in a more traditionally four-panel format
(marketed as a "space-saving strip," because it could be used
horizontally or vertically, according to a newspaper editor's whim).
Schulz wanted to retain the title Li'l Folks, but the syndicate
worried that this was too close to a previously copyrighted
feature, Tack Knight's Little Folks. UFS production manager
Bill Anderson is credited with coming up with Peanuts, although
he later insisted that he'd been asked to suggest a kid strip
title without actually having seen the strip. He delivered a
list of 10 names, of which Peanuts was one. He later justified
this selection on the basis of the popular TV children's show
of the time, "The Howdy Doody Show," where the young studio
audience would sit in a "peanut gallery."
"It was the worst title ever thought up for a comic strip,"
Schulz would insist, every time he was asked. He thought
the title "confusing," with "no dignity."
"I don't even like the word," he'd say. The worst part,
he feared, was that people confuse Charlie Brown with the
name "Peanuts," and in the early days that was true: Schulz
received letters from fans that read along the lines of,
"I love this new strip with Peanuts and his dog."
Fortunately, such confusion didn't linger long.
3.3) How many Peanuts strips did Charles Schulz produce?
From Monday, October 2, 1950, until the final strip appeared on
Sunday, February 13, 2000 -- ironically, the morning after he
died -- Schulz gave the world a total of 17,897 strips: 15,391
daily strips, and 2,506 Sundays.
This takes into account leap years, the fact that Sunday strips
did not begin until January 1952, and the single vacation that
Schulz took, from November 27 through December 31, 1997 (inclusive).
(For more information on that vacation, see next entry.)
Quite an accomplishment.
And let me be more emphatic: Since Schulz's death, and on
important anniversaries -- such as the 40th anniversary of
the first broadcast of "A Charlie Brown Christmas," celebrated
in December 2005 -- countless media outlets have repeated the
claim that Schulz produced "more than 18,000 Peanuts strips."
This is wrong, wrong, WRONG, as is the even worse statement
that the total number of strips is 18,250. The latter number
seems to have been started by the obituary on Schulz that ran
in The New York Times; it's simply 50 years multiplied by 365
days per year ... which overlooks nagging little details like
leap years and the other issues cited in the second paragraph
above. (Frankly, I'd have thought better of The New York Times.)
Unfortunately, the Times generally is regarded as an
unimpeachable source, so anybody writing a new article, by using
the NYT obit as a reference, further propogates that incorrect total.
Even Lee Mendelson's "A Charlie Brown Christmas: The Making
of a Tradition" fluffs this fact; that book cites the even
more unusual (but equally incorrect) number 18,170 as the
total number of strips.
Fortunately, the tide of misinformation is starting to turn.
United Media's official snoopy.com Web site, the Schulz Museum
Web site, the Fantagraphics "Complete Peanuts" books and
David Michaelis' 2007 biography of Charles Schulz all cite
the correct total of 17,897. As time moves along, we hope that
these sources will be used more frequently, thus (eventually)
burying the other incorrect figures.
With luck, anyway!
Lisa Monhoff, archivist at the Schulz Museum, even took the time
and trouble to document how to arrive at the correct total in
two different ways. With her permission, that information is
reproduced here:
17,991 days between October 2, 1950, and January 3, 2000
-65 (no Sunday strips in 1950 or 1951)
-35 (Schulz's vacation in 1997)
+6 (Sunday strips in 2000, after January 3)
equals
17,897 total strips.
Now, of those 17,897 strips, the number of Sunday strips can
be determined as follows:
1,560 = 30 non-leap years x 52 Sundays
468 = 9 leap years x 52 Sundays (1952, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1976, 1980, 1988, 1992, 1996)
265 = 5 non-leap years x 53 Sundays (1961, 1967, 1978, 1989, 1995)
159 = 3 leap years x 53 Sundays (1956, 1972, 1984)
47 = 1997's Sundays (because of Schulz's vacation)
7 = 2000's Sundays
equals
2,506
Subtract the 2,506 Sundays from 17,897, and we have 15,391 dailies.
The 17,897 also can be broken down and determined thusly:
1950: October 2 through December 31 = 26 dailies each in those three months, for 78 strips
1951: January 1 through December 31 = 365 days - 52 Sundays, for 313 strips
Leap years, excepting 2000 [see below] = 366 days x 12 years, for 4,392 strips
(1952, 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996)
Non-leap years, excepting 1950 and 1951 [see above] and 1997 [see below] = 365 days x 35 years,
for 12,775 strips
(1953, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1969,
1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986,
1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999)
1997: 365 - 35 vacation days, for 330 strips
2000: January 1 and 3, for 2 dailies
January 2 through February 13, for 7 Sundays, for a total of 9 strips
[After January 3, all dailies were reprints; after February 13, all Sundays were reprints]
Total = 17,897 strips
(It's important to note, by the way, that Fantagraphics fails to
mention Schulz's five-week vacation in the 1997-98 volume of their
"Complete Peanuts" series, or that the strips that appeared during
the final five weeks of 1997 were reprints. See next entry for
additional details.)
3.4) Vacation? Charles Schulz took a vacation?
Yes, indeed ... but only one, during his almost 50-year run
on the strip. Schulz took five weeks off in 1997, from November 27
through December 31, 1997 (inclusive). During that time, the syndicate
re-ran old strips. And yes, we can tell you which ones:
11/27 -- 11/25/92
11/28 -- 11/26/92
11/29 -- 12/28/88
11/30 -- 11/27/88
12/1 -- 12/3/87
12/2 -- 12/8/89
12/3 -- 11/29/90
12/4 -- 12/1/90
12/5 -- 12/4/90
12/6 -- 12/5/90
12/7 -- 12/18/88
12/8 -- 12/6/90
12/9 -- 12/8/90
12/10 -- 12/10/90
12/11 -- 12/11/90
12/12 -- 12/12/90
12/13 -- 12/13/90
12/14 -- 12/3/89
12/15 -- 12/10/91
12/16 -- 12/8/92
12/17 -- 12/21/89
12/18 -- 12/22/89
12/19 -- 12/23/89
12/20 -- 12/29/87
12/21 -- 12/20/87
12/22 -- 12/13/89
12/23 -- 12/9/89
12/24 -- 12/24/87
12/25 -- 12/25/91
12/26 -- 12/13/88
12/27 -- 12/14/88
12/28 -- 12/2/90
12/29 -- 12/15/88
12/30 -- 12/17/88
12/31 -- 12/31/92
Rather surprising, Fantagraphics fails to mention any of
this in the 1997-98 volume of their "Complete Peanuts" set.
A casual reader thus would conclude, incorrectly, that the
strips during 1997's final five weeks were new at the time,
just like all the others that year. Sharp-eyed fans will
note, however, that each of these repeated strips bears a
three-digit date (i.e. 12/25/97) as opposed to the two-digit
dates (12/25) usually placed each day.
3.5) Into which languages has Peanuts been translated?
At its peak, Peanuts was published in 2,600 newspapers around
the world, and of course many of these countries collected strips
in books just as in the United States. Going both by information
from United Media and what we've learned from curious and
enthusiastic fans such as Jennifer Prystasz, here's a list
of languages that we know have been used. (If you have evidence
of any others, please let me know!)
Bulgarian
Catalan
Chinese
Czech
Danish
Dutch
English
Finnish
French
German
Greek
Hebrew
Hungarian
Icelandic
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Latin
Norwegian
Polish
Portuguese
Russian
Spanish
Swedish
Thai
Turkish
Welsh
3.6) Have all the newspaper strips been reprinted in
books?
YES! (See 1.3 above.) Thanks to Fantagraphics, it's now possible
to purchase a uniform set of books that grants you an absolutely
complete collection of Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts strips.
It remains fascinating to consider how many strips had remained
unseen prior to Fantagraphics' entry. In spite of all the books of
reprinted strips that had been published since 1952, there still
were roughly 2,500 strips which hadn't ever seen the light of day,
since their original newspaper appearance. And yes, that's quite a few!
To get an idea of how many that is, consider that 2,500 is roughly
14 percent of the 17,897 strips Schulz produced!
3.7) Which newspaper strips participated in the May 27, 2000,
tribute to Charles Schulz and Peanuts?
Quite a few!
I'm hoping that the following list is exhaustive, but if I've left
any out, by all means let me know.
Many of these strips have their own Web sites, and therefore
can be viewed at leisure; at one time, many were posted at snoopy.com.
For others, though, you'll eventually be forced to visit a
library microfilm archive (a process with which I am well acquainted!).
Those with an asterisk (*) are included in the Charles M. Schulz Museum
catalog publication, "Tribute to Sparky: Cartoon Artists Honor
Charles M. Schulz."
Here, then, is the list:
Adam @ Home
* Agnes
* Alley Oop
* Annie
Archie
Arlo & Janis
* Ask Shagg
Baby Blues
Baldo
* Ballard Street
* B.C.
Beetle Bailey
* Berry's World
Betty
* Between Friends
Big Nate
The Big Picture
* Bizarro
Blondie
The Boondocks
* The Born Loser
Bottom Liners
Bound & Gagged
Brenda Starr
Broomhilda
The Buckets
Buckles
* Cathy
Cats with Hands
Citizen Dog
Claire
Clan of the Cats
Close to Home
Committed
Cornered
Crabby Road
Crankshaft
* Crock
Curtis
Dennis the Menace
Dick Tracy
Dilbert
Dinette Set
Drabble
Dunagin's People
Duplex
Fair Game
* The Family Circus
Fast Track
Ferd'nand
Flight Deck
* For Better or For Worse
Footrot Flats
Fox Trot
Frank & Ernest
Funky Winkerbean
The Fusco Brothers
Garfield
* Gasoline Alley
Get Fuzzy
Gil Thorp
Grand Avenue
* Grandfather Clause
Grin and Bear It
* Hagar the Horrible
Hamster Alley
* Heart of the City
Heathcliff
Herb 'n' Jamaal
Herman
Hi 'n' Lois
Horrorscope
Hound's Home
I Need Help
* In the Bleachers
* Jane's World
Jumpstart
Kidspot
Kit 'n' Carlyle
The Lockhorns
Lola
* Luann
Mallard Filmore
Marmaduke
Marvin
Meehan Streak
Meg
The Middletons
Mr. Boffo
Mixed Media
* Momma
Mother Goose and Grimm
* Mudpie
Mutts
* Nancy
Nest Heads
9 Chickweed Lane
* Non-Sequitur
* The Norm (the entire week, May 22-27)
Off the Mark
On the Fastrack
* One Big Happy
Overboard
Over the Hedge
PC and Pixel
* Pickles
Pluggers
Pooch Café
Pop's Place
* Raising Hector
Randolph Itch, 2 a.m.
Raw Material
* Real Life Adventures
Reality Check
Red 'n' Rover
Rhymes with Orange
Ripley's Believe-It-Or-Not
Robotman
Rose Is Rose
Rubes
Safe Havens
Sally Forth
Scrambled Pancakes
Sherman's Lagoon
Shoe
Six Chix
* Soup to Nutz
* SpaceAge Comics
* Speed Bump
* Stone Soup
Strange Brew
Superosity
* Superzeros
Tank McNamara
That's Life
They'll Do It Every Time
Tiger
* Toby
Tom, the Dancing Bug
User Friendly
Warped (the entire week, May 22-27)
Wee Do Puzzles (Sunday, May 28)
Wee Pals
Where I'm Coming From
Willy 'n' Ethel
* The Wizard of Id
You Can, with Beakman & Jax (Sunday, May 28)
Ziggy
Zippy the Pinhead
Zits
Zorro
3.8) Did some strips and artists produce tributes on other days?
Absolutely, going as far back as November 1999, when Schulz
was unexpectedly admitted to the hospital. Some artists delivered
tributes right away, while others waited until mid-February,
when the final Peanuts Sunday strip was scheduled to
appear...which led to something of a sad irony, since these
gentle farewells took on an additional poignance with Schulz's death.
The following list includes only regular daily or weekly strips;
editorial cartoons follow, in their own list. This is getting
close to definitive, thanks to folks such as Tim Chow and Marcie
Lee, but if you know of any others, by all means leap in...
As before, those with an asterisk (*) are included in the
Charles M. Schulz Museum catalog publication, "Tribute to Sparky:
Cartoon Artists Honor Charles M. Schulz."
DAILY AND WEEKLY STRIPS:
Alice (August 11, 1999; and January 4, 2000)
* B.C. (January 1, 2000, in People Magazine)
* Berry's World (May 28, 2000)
Boondocks (January 7, February 10, April 6, April 23 and July 2, all 2000; December 24, 2001)
Cathy (January 3* and 4, and February 13*, all 2000)
Dilbert (December 24, 1999)
Doonesbury (January 3, 2000)
* Drabble (January 1, 2000)
* Farley (January 3* and February 14*, both 2000)
* Ferd'nand (February 2000)
* Flash Gordon (December 23, 1999)
* For Better or For Worse (December 22, 1999; February 14*, 2000)
Fox Trot (January 3, 2000)
* Garfield (January 1, 2000, in People Magazine)
Heart of the City (March 19, 2000)
Hi and Lois (July 27, 2000)
* The Humble Stumble (February 2000)
* Jugular Vein (January 16, 2000; India)
Jump Start (January 3-8, 2000)
* Luann (April 20, 1999; February 13 and 21, 22, 23*, 24, 25 and 26*, all 2000)
* Matt & Maynerd (January 3, 2000, in The Toledo [Ohio] Blade)
* Maus (February 6, 2000, in The New Yorker)
* Momma (January 1, 2000, in People Magazine)
* Mutts (January 1, 2000, in People Magazine)
Non Sequitor (February 11 and May 28, both 2000)
* The Norm (January 3* and 4* and April 25, all 2000)
Off the Mark (February 7, 2002)
Over the Hedge (December 22, 1999)
* Pickles (February 1, 2000)
* The Potts (May 2000; Australia)
Real Life Adventures (January 3, 2000)
Reality Check (July 30, 2000)
* Speed Bump (January 4, 2000)
Spex and Wally (February 14, 2000)
* Spiderman (January 1, 2000, in People Magazine)
* Tank McNamara (December 23, 1999)
This Modern World (February 21, 2000; January 16 and March 12, 2001)
Warped (February 14, 2001)
* Wee Pals (February 13, 2000)
Ziggy (February 16, 2000; July 16, 2001)
Zits (August 5, 1999)
EDITORIAL CARTOONS:
* Don Addis, The St. Petersberg [Florida] Times (December 16, 1999)
* Kirk Anderson, The St. Paul Pioneer Press (December 17, 1999)
* Nick Anderson, The [Louisville, Kentucky] Courier-Journal (December 16, 1999)
* Robert Ariail, The [Columbia, South Carolina] State (January 4* and February 15*, both 2000)
* Chuck Asay, The Colorado Springs Gazette (December 1999)
* Randy Bish, The [Greensburg, Pennsylvania] Tribune/Review (December 16* and 19*, 1999; and February 14*, 2000)
* Jim Borgman, The Cincinnati Enquirer (December 1, 1999)
* Steve Breen, The San Diego Union Tribune (December 16, 1999)
* Matthew Craig, The South Florida Business Journal (February 2000)
* Joe Engesser, The Prescott [Wisconsin] Journal (February 17, 2000)
* Joe Glisson, The Syracuse New Times (December 29*, 1999; and February 16*, 2000)
* Walt Handelsman, The [New Orleans] Times-Picayune (December 1999)
* Joe Heller, The Green Bay Press-Gazette (1999, no date known)
* Etta Hume, The Fort Worth Star-Telegram (February 15, 2000)
* Cliff Johnson (2000, no date known)
* Floyd Johnson (May 27, 2000, no source known)
* Kevin Kallaugher, The Baltimore Sun (December 16, 1999)
* Bill Lignante (May 5, 2000, no source known)
* Mike Luckovich, The Atlanta Constitution (December 18*, 1999; and February 16*, 2000)
* Jim McCloskey, The [Staunton, Virginia] Daily News Leader (December 29*, 1999; and February 14*, 2000)
* Tim Menees, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (2000, no date known)
* Pat Oliphant, The Washington Post (December 27, 1999)
* Michael Osbun, The Sumter County [Florida] Times (February 17, 2000)
* Mike Peters, The Dayton [Ohio] Daily News (December 22, 1999)
* Roy Peterson, The Vancouver Sun (January 4, 2000)
* Dennis Renault, The Sacramento Bee (February 14, 2000)
* Vance Rodewalt, The Calgary Herald (December 16, 1999)
* John Sherffius, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (February 14, 2000)
* Jeff Stahler, The Cincinnati Post (1999*, no date known; and February 2000*)
* Dana Summers, The Orlando Sentinel (December 16*, 1999; and January 4* and May 27*, 2000, along with another undated one in 2000*)
* Mike Thompson, The Detroit Free Press (December 15, 1999)
* William Valladares, The [New Jersey] Montclair Times (December 23, 1999)
* Peter Waldner (May 27, 2000, no source known)
* Jim Willoughby, The [Prescott, Arisona] Daily Courier (December 1999)
3.9) Can you help me find a strip I remember seeing
[some time ago], which concerned [fill in the blank]?
Depending on how accurately you can describe the strip, and how
small a window of time you can present -- such as "sometime in
1964" -- I probably can supply an answer. But PLEASE try to be as
specific as possible; don't just describe something as "the
1960s strip where Snoopy tried to get Linus' blanket"...there
must have been hundreds of those!
3.10) Haven't I seen that punchline before?
Charles Schulz drew thousands and thousands of individual
strips since Peanuts debuted in 1950, and that's a lot
of gags and storylines. It's therefore inevitable that
individual ideas might have occurred to him more than once over
the years, and nobody's memory is good enough to remember
that much work with perfect clarity. So yes, some
duplications have appeared over the years, and they're
cited below. (Thanks to Tim Chow and Marcie Lee, for a lot of these.)
*** The close shave
Are all little boys in a hurry to shave? They must not realize that,
once they've started, there's no turning back...
At any rate, in the February 23, 1951, strip, Charlie Brown looks at
his face closely in a mirror, and then reports to Violet that
"It turned out only to be dirt ... but for one brief, exciting
moment I thought I needed a shave!"
Many years later, on July 15, 1959, the players have changed,
but the gag remains the same. Linus looks at himself in a hand mirror,
decides that he's only seeing a little dirt, and reports to older
sister Lucy that "For one brief, exciting moment I thought I needed a shave!"
*** Unkind cuts
Kudos to Alan Rat, for calling our attention to this one: not merely
a repeated punchline, but essentially duplicate strips ... only half a
year apart! In both cases -- first on May 26, 1952, and then again on
January 5, 1953 -- Lucy asks Charlie Brown to make her a "bread an' budder"
sandwich. She panics when he starts to cut the sandwich in half, insisting
that he merely "fold it over" ... because they taste better that way!
*** Predatory sprinklers
Eagle-eyed Marcie Lee spotted this one. Back in the days when
he still was a curious puppy, Snoopy was startled when Charlie Brown
turned on a yard sprinkler, in the June 18, 1952, daily strip.
You'd think Snoopy would have learned from that lesson,
but apparently not; he was nailed the same way in the May 19, 1953,
daily strip. The final panels are
remarkably similar in both strips.
*** Matrimonial musings
Jim Dankiewicz deserves the handshake for this one. In the
January 26, 1953, strip, Violet contemplates a possible
future life as Mrs. Charlie Brown, and finally gives up by
saying "Nope, I just can't see it."
Many years later, on October 2, 1963,
Sally plays the same theoretical game after meeting 5,
by picturing herself as "Mrs. Sally 95472." She comes to
the same conclusion: "I can't see it."
*** Hanging one's head in shame
Marcie Lee also gets credit for these two. In the early days, Charlie Brown
was able to chew Snoopy out a bit ... but the world's most famous beagle
still didn't put up with much. In the March 31, 1954, strip,
Snoopy responds to Chuck's admonition that he "hold his head in shame"
by falling asleep.
Many, many years later, on May 23, 1986 (in a strip reprinted in
"By Supper Possessed"), Peppermint Patty wound up doing the same in school.
*** So many years!
Australia's David Heslin gets credit for this one.
In the March 23, 1956, daily strip, Linus bemoans the fact that he'll be an
"old man" by the time he finally gets out of school.
Many, many years later, in the July 2, 1996, daily strip
(reprinted in "The World According to Lucy"), Rerun is
the one who wails that he'll be an "old man" by the time
he's released from school.
*** Snoopy's deft touch.
No doubt about it; Snoopy is one talented beagle.
In the May 23, 1956, daily strip, he reveals one of his many skills
by retrieving a soap bubble in his mouth and transporting
it -- intact -- back to Charlie Brown.
While not absolutely identical, a pretty close variation
on this particular notion reappeared in the June 22, 1998,
daily strip. In this case, Snoopy retrieves a soap bubble
for Rerun. It's nice to see that the world's greatest
beagle hasn't lost his touch!
*** Legal matters
Usagi, an avid Japanese Peanuts fan, got this one:
In the October 30, 1956 strip,
Linus discusses the upcoming Halloween activities with Lucy, who explains
the nature of trick-or-treating. Wanting to be sure that he's on
safe ground, Linus questions the legality of this practice, and
concludes by saying, "I wouldn't want to do anything that might
arouse the FBI."
Apparently Linus has a short memory. A few years later, on
October 30, 1959, he has a quite similar conversation with Lucy, and concludes
by saying, "I wouldn't want to be accused of taking part in a rumble."
*** Blanket woes
Lucy has been pestering Linus to get rid of his blanket
pretty much since he began carrying it around. Most often
he can shrug off her snide remarks, but every so often he
bristles in response. On June 23, 1958, she complains that
he'll probably drag "that thing" around for the rest of his life. "Well,
what's it to you?" he replies. "Maybe I WON'T drag it around
for the rest of my life." He simmers silently in the third panel,
and then adds, "Maybe I'll have it made into a sport coat!"
Just a few months later, on September 17, 1958, Charlie Brown
approaches the same subject, but much
more compassionately. "What are you going to do when you get
too old to drag it around?" he asks. "Who knows?" Linus replies.
"I've been thinking seriously of having it made over into a sport coat."
In fairness, this could be a running gag rather than a lapse
on Schulz's part ... and it's also a foreshadowing of things to
come, since Snoopy eventually WILL have it turned into a sports coat!
*** Hot blanket woes
Then, too, Lucy sometimes tortures her little brother ... although
perhaps not intentionally. In the February 16, 1959, strip,
she politely tosses him the blanket while
he's looking for it ... but then he reacts in pain and shouts,
"I'm scalded!" "I forgot to tell you," Lucy answers (yeah, right!).
"I just took it out of the clothese dryer!"
Decades later, on January 13, 1984 (in a strip reprinted in
"The Way of the Fussbudget is not Easy"), Lucy pulls the same
mean trick. "Don't say I never do anything for you," she starts
off, and then continues with, "I just took your blanket out of
the dryer." In the third panel, she gets as far as, "Be careful,
it's still a little..." before Linus flies head over heels in
the final panel, much as he had done in 1959.
"...warm," Lucy concludes, rather unnecessarily.
*** Snoopy's consistency
"So here I am starting a new year," Snoopy muses to himself,
in the January 2, 1960 daily strip. After a few panels of
reflection on the lack of change in his life, he concludes
by saying, "Sometimes I marvel at my consistency."
Schulz must have gotten a kick out of that gag, because
he essentially repeated it just a few years later,
in the December 31, 1962 daily strip. "So this is the last
day of the year," Snoopy reflects, and then considers
his lack of accomplishments during the past year,
as with other years. "How consistent can you get?" he finally asks.
*** "My life has become a bore"
Marcie gets credit for this one:
Snoopy apparently needs action and stimulation, and
who could blame him? It seems like the world-famous beagle
spends a lot of time on top of his dog house.
"My life has become a bore," he muses, in the January 25, 1961,
strip. "Everything is the same day in and day out. What I need is a
change." And, in the final panel, he's lying with his head
facing the other direction.
Just a little more than a year later, on March 10, 1962, he once again
ponders that "My life has become a bore. Everything I see
I've seen before. I need to set my face toward new horizons."
And so he does ... by facing the other direction.
*** The cone of silence
We all know that Lucy's quite the fussbudget, but sometimes
she gets out of hand by even her own standards. In the
May 28, 1961, Sunday strip, she objects when Linus wanders through their house,
obviously enjoying life to the fullest: by singing at the top
of his lungs and then watching television at too high a volume.
Toward the end of the strip, he retreats into the kitchen and
prepares himself a bread and butter sandwich. Seeing his
crabby sister's glare, he snidely asks, "Am I buttering too
loud for you?"
More recently, poor Rerun has been Lucy's primary
target ... but it's nice to know that little brothers concoct
the same line of defense. In the August 5, 1998, daily strip
(reprinted in "It's a Dog's Life, Snoopy"), Lucy and Rerun are eating breakfast,
while the little guy attempts to share some of his
experiences. Lucy's not having any, so she asks, "Do you
always have to be so noisy?" After taking a panel to
contemplate a suitable rejoinder, Rerun returns to his toast
and replies, "Am I buttering too loud for you?"
It should be noted, however, that this particular repeat
is most certainly deliberate...because the punchline is
reported to have been said by Schulz's daughter, Amy,
years and years ago when she was 3. By way of confirming this,
the last panel of the latter strip bears this message, reading
sideways: "Happy birthday, Amy."
*** Familiarty breeds contempt
Hey, we all get tired of stuff. In the
August 17, 1962, strip, Linus pauses during his thumb-sucking
to wonder, with an expression of faint dissatisfaction,
whether "...it's possible for a thumb to spoil."
Nearly four years later, on March 1, 1966, Linus again
grimaces at his thumb, and -- as Lucy walks past -- asks,
"Do thumbs ever spoil?"
*** The "rather small congregation."
Back when Charlie Brown's younger sister Sally still
was pretty new to the world, she proved quite the
impressionable audience for odd facts and amusements.
On February 8, 1963, she watches while her big brother
uses his hands to illustrate that old rhyme: "Here's the
church...here's the steeple...open the door...and see all
the people!" After carefully examining his closed fingers,
she announces, "It looks like a rather small congregation!"
Four years later, on April 8, 1967, Sally watches
as Linus delivers the same rhyme...and then she provides
an almost exact response: "Sort of a small congregation."
*** The pledge of allegiance.
After entering school, Sally finds herself obliged to begin
each day with a pledge to the American flag. On September 11, 1963, she
stands at her desk and recites the entire pledge. She then
sits down in the third panel, but rises again in the fourth
to conclude with a heartfelt "Amen!"
Almost a quarter-century later, on September 16, 1987
(in a strip reprinted in "If Beagles Could Fly"), Peppermint
Patty stands behind her desk and recites the same pledge.
She then sits down in panel three, looking quite satisfied,
but bounces up again in panel four, for a hearty "Amen!"
*** Dull tootsies
In the January 24, 1966, daily strip, as Snoopy smoothly glides
along the winter ice, his warm cap trailing behind, he suddenly
slips and flips to a spectacular crash. "Whew," he thinks to
himself, recovering, and then looks suspiciously at his hind
legs: "I think my feet need sharpening."
This one came back the very same year, but the following winter.
In the December 20, 1966, daily strip, Snoopy once again is
skating on a frozen pond, with what looks like the same
fuzzy cap (although a scarf has been added to his ensemble).
He once again slips, this time landing on his back, and once
again we read, "I think my feet need sharpening."
*** The great snowflake shortage
This one's as close to a complete duplicate as you're likely
to see, which only goes to prove that a classic punchline
bears repeating. As Linus and Lucy walk in a gentle snowfall
in the December 27, 1968, daily strip, the flakes eventually cease.
"Just what I thought," Lucy says, wearing one of her
Instructive Misinformation faces, "I knew it would happen
sooner or later...they've run out of snowflakes!" Linus,
in the final panel, clearly doesn't know what to make of it.
But he apparently came around to his sister's way of thinking.
In the December 5, 1998, daily strip (reprinted in
"It's a Dog's Life, Snoopy) -- almost
30 years later to the day -- Linus is standing in a snow-laden
field as the flakes slowly subside. "Rats!" he says, "I knew this
was going to happen." His sister, coming up from behind and
obviously having forgotten the wisdom she imparted lo those many
years ago, asks, "What's wrong?" Linus, returning his gaze to
the heavens, responds, "We just ran out of snowflakes."
*** Snoopy at the piano.
In the December 30, 1968 daily strip, Snoopy approaches Schroeder's
piano, plinks a few notes with one paw, and gets a rather curious result.
This gag resurfaced a years later, again in a daily strip,
on January 12, 1974 (and reprinted in "Win a Few, Lose a Few,
Charlie Brown"). Aside from a slightly suspicious glance from
ol' Snoopy to ensure that nobody is watching, the strips
are pretty much identical!
Better yet, both these strips are a variation on yet
an older daily strip: March 10, 1960. In this case, Snoopy
starts off sitting on top of the piano while Schroeder
is playing, and then tries the keyboard himself after
the Beethoven lover leaves the scene. Although the
resulting "notes" are a bit more free-form, the basic
idea remains the same...making this one a triple!
*** Fashion statement
Usagi, an avid Japanese Peanuts fan, also got this one:
"Sometimes you do dumb things," Snoopy muses, to himself,
in the July 13, 1971 strip (reprinted in "The Snoopy Festival"),
"and you never forget them. Other times you do smart things."
"I'll never forget one of the smartest things I ever do,"
he eventually concludes. "I never bought a nehru jacket."
Many years later, on December 15, 1979 (in a strip reprinted
in "Here Comes the April Fool"), Linus and Charlie Brown have
a similar conversation about smart things and dumb things.
Charlie Brown eventually reports that the smartest thing
his grandfather did was that he "never bought a nehru jacket."
*** Woozy snowmen
Linus always has been talented. In the January 6, 1975,
daily strip (reprinted in "Speak Softly and Carry a Beagle"),
he has just built a snowman upside-down. While showing this
accomplishment to Charlie Brown, however, Linus notes that
the snowman can't stay in this position very long, because
"All the snow rushes to his head."
And it would seem that Lucy is pretty adept herself. Nearly
a decade later, on January 7, 1984 (in a strip reprinted in
"The Way of the Fussbudget Is Not Easy"), she builds the snowman,
and shows it to Charlie Brown...and the word balloons in the
final two panels are virtually identical!
*** Necessity is the mother of invention
Bad weather brings out the best in us. During a heavy rainstorm
in the April 4, 1976, Sunday strip (reprinted in "Summers Fly,
Winters Walk"), Snoopy hurries over and flips Woodstock's nest
upside-down (with Woodstock in it), so that our little bird
friend can stay dry. (Apparently, gravity isn't an issue.)
And you can say this for Woodstock: He learns from experience.
On October 27, 1979 (in a strip reprinted in "Here Comes the
April Fool"), another rainstorm once again threatens to drench
Snoopy's bird buddy...who, this time, flips his nest over himself!
(Frankly, I would've liked to have seen him do that...)
*** Theological terrorism
Our buddy Julian gets credit for this one:
Charles Schulz had little patience, over the years, for those who
claimed an inside track to "the one true way" during religious
discussions. This prompted him to take a cautious approach to
religious matters, and led to a query that he turned into a repeated punchline.
In the August 9, 1976, daily strip, Snoopy decides to title his
new book on theology, "Has It Ever Occurred to You That You Might Be Wrong?"
A few years later, in the June 20, 1980, daily strip, following an
incident during which Sally is humiliated by a discussion leader for
her choice of opening prayer, Linus challenges the individual in
charge by asking, "Has it ever occurred to you that you might be wrong?"
Although not quite the same context, the meaning is precisely the same.
Along with other places, both cartoons are included in the collection
"And the Beagles and the Bunnies Shall Lie Down Together."
*** Mailbox as editor
Over the years, Snoopy has made no secret of his desire to
write The Great American Novel, but the many hapless editors
and publishers do little but get in his way. (And, based on
the snatches that Lucy occasionally reads aloud, this may
be a good thing.) Perhaps the supreme indignity comes in the
April 18, 1980, daily strip (reprinted in "Dr. Beagle and Mr. Hyde"),
when the "world-famous author" delivers his latest novel to the
local public mailbox...which spits the manuscript back out,
scarcely before the hatch has closed. "I have a hard time
believing they read it very carefully," Snoopy thinks to himself.
This gag resurfaces on April 23, 1997 (reprinted in "It's
a Big World, Charlie Brown"), as Snoopy completes his latest opus.
Adding a cover letter that reads, "Gentlemen, enclosed
please find my latest short story," he takes it to the
mailbox and pops it into the slot...only to have it pop right back out again!
(See below for another one involving Snoopy as The Great Writer.)
*** Ground crew.
Nobody needs to be reminded of the suffering Charlie Brown
has endured while playing baseball, but it seemed needlessly
cruel to subject him to this particular torment more than once.
In the April 8, 1981 daily strip (reprinted in "You're Weird, Sir"),
ol' Chuck notices that it has started to rain. He hollers for
the unseen ground crew, and orders them to "get out the tarp,
and cover the infield." In the final panel, speaking from
beneath a tarp which has turned him into a bump on the landscape,
he comments, "They did that pretty fast."
This gag resurfaced in a Sunday strip published September 20, 1987
(and reprinted in "If Beagles Could Fly"). Charlie Brown calls
for two volunteers -- Lucy and Sally - and shows them a tarp,
explaining that if it starts to rain, they're to rush out and
cover the infield and pitcher's mound with it. "Remember," he
concludes, "you have to be quick." Raindrops start falling on
his head, so he calls for the tarp. In the final panel, once
again hidden from sight, he laments, "That was a little too quick."
*** Lots of luck!
Peppermint Patty and school don't get along all that well,
and she probably approaches the annual end-of-summer ritual -- the
purchase of school supplies -- with mixed feelings at best.
In the September 4, 1981, strip (reprinted in "You're Weird, Sir"),
she buys the usual things and then, when asked if she needs anything
else, replies, "A lot of luck."
This one pops up again on September 2, 1988 (reprinted in
"Could You Be More Pacific?"), in practically identical fashion:
Peppermint Patty visits the store with a list in hand,
and the final item is "...a lot of luck."
*** Acrophobia
Poor Charlie Brown. In the May 30, 1983 daily strip (reprinted
in "I'm Not Your Sweet Babboo!"), he's forced to return a kite
to the store because it's "afraid of heights."
One hopes that he's in a different store when, on March 4, 1999
(in a strip reprinted in "Peanuts 2000"), he checks out what's
available and requests a kite that "...isn't afraid of heights."
*** Fair-weather music
Woodstock just can't catch a break. In the June 11, 1983, daily strip
(reprinted in "I'm Not Your Sweet Babboo! "), his pleasant birdsong
comes to naught when the notes wash away in a sudden rainstorm.
(One wonders if he therefore lost his voice...)
In a similar turn of events, on November 27, 1984 (in a strip
reprinted in "The Way of the Fussbudget Is Not Easy"), a sudden
rainstorm s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-s the notes like taffy. While not an
absolutely identical punchline, it's close enough to warrant including here.
*** Water on demand
Those who own dogs know that they're thirsty all the time,
and Snoopy is no different. Apparently our favorite beagle has
quite a kick when he wants some water, as can be seen in this
May 9, 1985, daily strip (reprinted in "Dogs Don't Eat Dessert"),
when he kicks a hose bib to rather comical results.
A variation on this gag - almost like a sequel - appeared on
April 16, 1990 (reprinted in "Make Way for the King of the Jungle"),
when Snoopy once again kicks the hose bib, and gets a slightly
different result.
And, as eagle-eyed Tim Chow pointed out, both these strips sort
of "morphed" from the delightful May 19, 1963, Sunday strip
(reprinted in "We're Right Behind You, Charlie Brown").
Apparently Snoopy has been getting his own water for quite awhile...
*** Make them beg
Poor Snoopy. He just can't catch a break!
On June 11, 1987 (in a strip reprinted in
"It Doesn't Take Much to Attract a Crowd"), one of Snoopy's manuscripts
is returned, along with a letter that he not send any more
submissions ... "please, please, please!"
"I love to hear an editor beg," Snoopy thinks to himself, in the final panel.
This one pops up again, practically word for word and scene for scene,
on January 20, 1996 (in a strip reprinted in "The World According to Lucy").
It's a three-panel format rather than four, and Snoopy winds up on top of
his doghouse, rather than leaning against the mailbox post ... but otherwise, it's the same!
*** The stuck Bible
In the December 15, 1990, strip (not yet reprinted), Lucy asks if Linus
will go to Sunday School the next day, and mentions that he didn't attend
the previous week, and that the teacher wanted to know why. "The zipper
on my Bible was stuck," Linus replies.
Not quite a decade later, the gag resurfaces with Lucy and Rerun, in the
April 5, 1998, Sunday strip (reprinted in "It's a Dog's Life, Snoopy").
After arriving at Sunday School, Rerun laments that he wasn't able to
study his lesson, because "the zipper on my Bible is stuck."
3.11) Where can I find that great IRS Peanuts strip?
You can't ... because it doesn't exist.
At least, not in the sense that you think.
Despite our best efforts, we have here the beginnings of yet another Peanuts
Internet "urban legend," and -- given how quickly such things
propogate -- it may be impossible to stop the silly thing.
But I shall try.
No less a journalist than financial columnist Stephen Moore, writing
for National Review Online, began an April 15, 2003, column with
the following paragraph:
"Many years ago I framed a classic Peanuts cartoon on the wall
of my office. It shows Snoopy sitting on top of his dog house
pecking away at his typewriter. The message he writes is,
"Dear IRS: Please take me off your mailing list!" "
Only one problem, Steve: There is no such "classic" Peanuts strip!
The "strip" in question began life as Charles Schulz's June 19, 1997,
Peanuts cartoon, with Snoopy typing out the latest exploits of
Andy and Olaf. Somebody -- possibly even a legitimate editorial
cartoonist -- re-lettered the strip so that Snoopy is typing,
"Dear IRS, I am writing to you to cancel my subscription.
Please remove my name from your mailing list."
At the time, and in whatever original source produced this item
(if it was, indeed, a legitimate source), Schulz may have been
thanked and credited, as is standard with editorial cartoons.
But that important little detail is long behind us, at this point.
The new words aren't even a close approximation of Schulz's
distinctive lettering style. Despite this, the legend
has become famous enough that I and other Internet Peanuts
gurus frequently take requests to tell people in which book
this strip can be found.
It can't, because it isn't. And if anybody argues with you,
just send 'em to this FAQ.
3.12) Books about Peanuts
3.12a) The chronological reprint books
Although the books have gone through several publishers, the
"series of record" begins with 1952's "Peanuts" and (currently)
concludes with "Peanuts 2000." There have been many different versions
of some titles, and those desiring a complete roster are strongly encouraged
to check out the lists compiled by Scott McGuire, Jym Dyer and Nat Gertler, which can be
accessed through the Peanuts Collectors Club WWW page, which also has its own list
(see answer to question 1.2)
3.12b) Anthologies
Aside from the "series of record," we've also seen many other
books with strips grouped by theme: PEANUTS CLASSICS, CLASSROOM
PEANUTS, SANDLOT PEANUTS, THE SNOOPY FESTIVAL, and so forth.
More recently, Ballantine Books has issued titles such as
IT'S BACK TO SCHOOL CHARLIE BROWN, WHO'S ON FIRST CHARLIE
BROWN, IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING and many others. Most
people assume that these books merely re-collect strips already
reprinted elsewhere, but that's not entirely true. THE SNOOPY
FESTIVAL, for example, had roughly 200 strips not collected
in earlier books (something that is no longer an issue,
thanks to the Fantagraphics collections).
There are also several hardcover "Sparkler"
collections, with strips assembled by character: Charlie Brown,
Snoopy, Schroeder, etc. As above, you can get pretty
comprehensive lists of these titles from Jim Dyer, Nat Gertler
and others. If you're a completest, it's best to follow
the general rule: if ya ain't got it yet, buy it!
3.12c) Special books
The list is endless, although a lot of folks have fond memories
of the little hardbacks published in the 60s and 70s by
Determined and Hallmark. The former included titles such as
HAPPINESS IS A WARM PUPPY and SECURITY IS A THUMB AND A BLANKET,
and the latter has titles such as LINUS ON LIFE and THE WIT AND
WISDOM OF SNOOPY. There are numerous SNOOPY FUN AND FACT books,
adaptations of the movies and television specials, and even an
eight-volume dictionary. Once again, check Jim Dyer, etc.
The classic Determined titles were re-issued in 2007 and '08,
and available individually or in a darling "Snoopy's doghouse"
holder.
3.12d) Foreign titles
Out of my field, except to mention that Peanuts books are
published all over the world, and it's fun to round out a library
with one or two German, Spanish, or French titles. English-
speaking readers should look for England's Ravette paperbacks;
the presentation is excellent, and the books of Sunday strips are
in full color.
Tom Barrett initiated, and I've supplemented, a list of French titles
published by Dargaud, although Tom notes that the colors are
not necessarily "true" (for example, Linus' shirt being an
unexpected red and yellow). Tom has found the books can be
obtained from La Librairie Champlain, in Toronto, as well
as other French bookstores in Montreal, Canada.
16/22 Softcover black-and-white collections:
(The series reprints numerous cartoons other than
Peanuts, hence the odd numbering)
#60 SNOOPY SUPER CHAMPION
#69 BONNE ANNEE SNOOPY
#76 SNOOPY, TOUJOURS PRET!
#81 SNOOPY ET LE BARON ROUGE
#96 SNOOPY ET LES FEMMES
#115 SNOOPY ECRIVAIN
#122 LA MAISON DE SNOOPY
#129 SNOOPY ET LES CHATS
#136 SNOOPY, LA VIE EST BELLE!
#143 SNOOPY ET LE SPORT
#152 SNOOPY ET LE GRAND BRAQUE
#159 SNOOPY ET SES AMIS
Hardcover color albums:
REVIENS SNOOPY
INCROYABLE SNOOPY
INTREPIDE SNOOPY
IMBATTABLE SNOOPY
INEGALABLE SNOOPY
L'INFAILLIBLE SNOOPY
IRRESISTIBLE SNOOPY
INEFFABLE SNOOPY
INVINCIBLE SNOOPY
INATTAQUABLE SNOOPY
INEPUISABLE SNOOPY
INENARRABLE SNOOPY
ELEMENTAIRE MON CHER SNOOPY
FANTASTIQUE SNOOPY
SNOOPY, VIVE LES VACANCES
SNOOPY, FEU D'ARTIFICE!
SNOOPY, NOEL BLANC
SNOOPY, POISSON D'AVRIL
SNOOPY, CHIENNE DE VIE
SNOOPY, CHAUD DEVANT
BONS BAISERS DE SNOOPY
SNOOPY GARDE LE CAP
SNOOPY RESTE DANS LA NOTE
SNOOPY EST UN DROLE D'OISEAU
3.12e) Non-Series or Non-Peanuts books by Charles Schulz
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO PEANUTS and THE PARABLES OF PEANUTS, both
by Robert Short (with Peanuts cartoons reprinted), are delightful
little titles which ponder the greater philosophical and
theological implications of the strip.
The 35th anniversary edition of THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO PEANUTS
was published in early 2000, shortly after Schulz died. It
includes a new foreword by Martin E. Marty
Earlier in his career, Schulz published several books of kid-
themed cartoons not involving the Peanuts gang: YOUNG PILLARS,
TEENAGERS UNITE, "TEENAGER" IS NOT A DISEASE, WHAT WAS BUGGING
OL' PHAROAH? and TWO-BY-FOURS. (See Question 2.6.)
Schulz also illustrated both of Art Linkletter's KIDS SAY THE
DARNEDEST THINGS books, Bill Adler's DEAR PRESIDENT JOHNSON,
Billie Jean King's TENNIS LOVE -- A PARENT'S GUIDE TO THE SPORT,
and a few others. While all of these are long out of print, it should
be noted that THE NEW KIDS SAY THE DARNEDEST THINGS (with
illustrations by Schulz) was released in a new paperback edition.
4) THE CHARACTERS
4.1) When did [your favorite character] first appear?
Charlie Brown, Shermy and Patty debuted in the very
first strip, on October 2, 1950. Snoopy followed two days later,
on October 4. Thanks to Fantagraphics' ongoing campaign to
reprint all the Peanuts strips, it has become much easier to
spot where subsequent characters debuted, from Lucy and Linus
to Schroeder and all the rest.
What follows is a list of every major and minor named
character, along with the date s/he first appeared. It's
important to distinguish between named and anonymous
kids, because quite a few of the latter have appeared
during summer camp sequences, school sequences,
and assorted baseball or football games...not to mention
the many poor souls who've answered their front door
and found Linus bringing word of the Great Pumpkin.
One oddity, though, before we proceed any further: In
the May 10, 1951, daily strip, the
kids mention a girl in the neighborhood who is named
June, and whose birthday is in June. We never meet this
girl, and this is one of the few times that another child is
identified without ever being introduced. (Tennis player
Molly Volley mentions Crybaby Boobie's brother, Bobby Boobie,
although we never meet him, either).
A few of the anonymous folks described above deserve
mention, so here are some individuals of interest:
Miscellaneous kids in a sandbox -- 7/5/53
(The first time unnamed kids appear in the strip)
An unknown girl -- 11/12/70
(She tries to dog-nap Snoopy)
An oddball kid from summer camp -- 7/21/71
(We never see his face, and he always tells
Charlie Brown to "Shut up and leave me alone!")
A bully -- 7/10/75
(He tries to take Charlie Brown's autographed
Joe Shlabotnik baseball)
A golf caddymaster -- 6/17/77
(Peppermint Patty and Marcie work for him...once)
A neighborhood boy -- 12/19/86
(A tree in his front yard falls down, and Sally takes
it home to become her Christmas tree)
A neighborhood girl -- 7/28/89
(She thinks Snoopy is Charlie Brown)
The "cute little girl" who sits next to Rerun
in kindergarten -- 9/11/96
(Although she appears fairly frequently,
she hasn't yet been given a name)
One final point, before moving to the named characters:
It's occasionally necessary to distinguish when a
character is first mentioned, as opposed to actually
appearing. (Sally is a good example of this.)
So...onward!
Charlie Brown -- 10/2/50
Patty -- 10/2/50
Shermy -- 10/2/50
Snoopy -- 10/4/50 (but not named until 11/10/50)
Violet -- 2/7/51
Schroeder -- 5/30/51
Lucy -- 3/3/52
Linus -- 9/19/52 (but not named until 9/22/52 ... and he's
also mentioned once before we meet him, when on 7/14/52
Lucy tries to trade him to Charlie Brown for a tricycle)
Pig-Pen -- 7/13/54
Charlotte Braun -- 11/30/54 (the great "lost" character,
whose booming voice quickly became Lucy's primary characteristic)
Sally -- 8/23/59 (but first mentioned 5/25/59, and named 6/2/59)
Frieda -- 3/6/61
Faron -- 5/23/61 (Frieda's cat)
"5" -- 9/30/63
"3" and "4" -- 10/17/63 (5's younger twin sisters)
Roy -- 6/11/65
Peppermint Patty -- 8/22/66 (actual name Patricia Reichardt)
Jose Peterson -- 3/20/67 (Star player on Peppermint Patty's baseball team)
Woodstock -- 4/4/67 (Birds had been appearing in the
strip for years, but that date marks the first bird
with a strong resemblance to Woodstock. He was not
named until 6/22/70)
Marcie -- 6/18/68 (?) (possibly named Clara at this
early moment; definitely introduced as Marcie
10/11/71...see subsequent question)
Sophie and Shirley -- 6/18/68 (Clara/Marcie's camp friends)
Franklin -- 7/31/68
Lila -- 8/24/68 (Snoopy's original owner, although she's
mentioned by name much earlier)
Thibault -- 6/4/70 (a bully on Peppermint Patty's baseball team)
Poochie -- 1/7/73 (a girl who played with Snoopy
as a pup, and was the first to call Charlie Brown by his full name)
Rerun -- 3/26/73 (but first mentioned 5/23/72, and named 5/31/72)
Loretta -- 5/22/74 (seller of Girl Scout cookies)
The Beagle Scouts -- 6/9/74 (They remained anonymous
until 3/27/78, at which point they were named Conrad,
Olivier, Bill, and -- of course -- Woodstock. Harriet
joined 5/12/80. Wilson was mentioned on 12/2/84; the group
became racially diverse with the arrival of Raymond on
10/13/88, and Fred was introduced 4/2/90. Roy joined the
group 4/18/98.)
The School Building -- 8/31/74 (The date it first manifested thought-balloons)
Truffles -- 3/31/75 (One of Linus' quasi-sweethearts)
Spike -- 8/13/75 (but first mentioned 8/4/75)
Belle -- 6/28/76 (but first mentioned 6/22/76)
Belle's unnamed teenaged son -- 6/29/76
Floyd -- 7/26/76 (a camp kid with a crush on Marcie)
Ruby, Austin, Leland, and Milo -- 3/11/77 (a very diminutive baseball team)
Molly Volley -- 5/6/77
Eudora -- 6/13/78
Crybaby Boobie -- 7/5/78 (One of Snoopy's tennis opponents)
Joe Richkid (and his caddy) -- 6/22/81 (plays a golf
tourny against Peppermint Patty)
"Bad Call" Benny -- 4/16/82 (another of Snoopy's tennis opponents)
Marbles -- 9/28/82 (but first mentioned 9/23/82)
Harold Angel -- 12/24/83 (a brief appearance, mainly
as a punchline for one of Sally's malapropisms)
Lydia -- 6/9/86 (Linus has a serious crush on
this girl...who has also called herself many other names:
Rachel, Rebecca, Jezebel, Susan, Sarah, Samantha, Anna,
Ophelia, Polly, and Snowflake)
Maynard -- 7/21/86 (Peppermint Patty's school tutor, also
revealed to be Marcie's cousin)
Tapioca Pudding -- 9/4/86 (Her father is determined to
license everything about her, on lunch boxes, etc.)
Olaf -- 1/24/89 (but first mentioned 1/16/89)
Snoopy's Father -- 6/18/89 (He mentions eight offspring,
but -- alas! -- we never got a final word on the others...)
Peggy Jean -- 7/23/90 (Charlie Brown's summer camp sweetheart,
who calls him "Brownie Charles" ... and, as of the last time we
see her, seems to have a new boyfriend, which crushes poor ol' Chuck)
Larry -- 5/28/91 (the minister's son, who Sally kicks out of her Bible class)
Cormac -- 7/17/92 (Charlie Brown's short and rather klutzy camp friend)
Royanne -- 4/1/93 (Roy Hobbs' great-granddaughter)
Ethan -- 7/14/93 (a summer camp kid)
Woodstock's grandfather -- 1/6/94 (brought to life via a diary)
Andy -- 2/14/94 (and named 2/19/94)
Emily -- 2/11/95 (Charlie Brown's occasional dance partner)
Joe Agate -- 4/7/95 (a game hustler who takes all of Rerun's
marbles, until Charlie Brown wins them back)
Snoopy's mother (!) -- 7/26/96
Justin -- 11/3/96 (a boy in Peppermint Patty's class)
The Little Red-Haired Girl (!) -- 5/25/98 (well...sort of,
anyway...she appears in silhouette)
Naomi -- 10/1/98 (a girl who "rescues" Spike after he is
"snatched" into an animal clinic and cured of "everything")
"Joe Cactus" -- 12/8/98 (Spike's name for his favorite cactus,
when it comes time to write some Christmas cards)
4.2) I don't see certain characters anymore. Where did they go?
As you might expect from the extensive list above, it would
be impossible to feature all those characters on a regular,
ongoing basis. The primary superstars are well known at this
point, but over time the "regular" roster changed...and as
certain new characters were introduced, others slowly
moved aside to make room for them.
When most folks ask this question, they're not thinking about
one-shot or single-gag characters such as Poochie, Lila, Ethan or
Molly Volley. Such characters often appear only for a few days
or weeks, to flesh out a particular storyline; others will turn up
only under certain circumstances, such as when Snoopy
encounters Molly Volley on a tennis court.
No, we usually hear from people who want to know what
happened to Shermy, Patty, Violet and Frieda, and occasionally
5 and Eudora.
Patty and Shermy, of course, go all the way back to the very
first cartoon published. Violet joined the gang soon thereafter,
and Frieda (with the naturally curly hair) was a frequent
neighborhood fixture in the 1960s.
But following the arrival of Franklin, Peppermint Patty, Marcie
and Woodstock, the "group dynamic" changed. Shermy,
usually little more than a straight man, saw his role gradually
assumed by Franklin, who proved more interesting in the long
run. Patty and Violet, really never known for more than picking
on poor Charlie Brown, weren't doing anything that Lucy
couldn't take care of by herself...and so they gradually faded
into the background. And while Frieda lasted a long time
for somebody with just a few distinguishing characteristics -- her
naturally curly hair, her constant badgering of Snoopy to
chase rabbits, and her cat -- she, too, eventually vanished
without so much as a by-your-leave. (Staunch Frieda fan Kirk German
also points out that Frieda is one of not that many characters
to have a Vince Guaraldi jazz cut named after her, and that's
absolutely correct ... and it's a pretty cool tune, too.)
But the actual question has two answers. In a sense, these "missing
faces" never really left completely; we can assume that they're
still hanging around, and we just don't see them anymore. Kids
who resemble Patty and Violet occasionally turn up at schoolbus
stops, or at the door of a house, but we can't be sure it's really
them because they're never named. As a result, the dates given
below must be taken with a grain of salt, and perhaps regarded
(depending on the individual) only as the last time each was seen
in a significant sense.
Shermy: Last seen June 15, 1969, and in his case that really is
his final bow. He was, however, mentioned by name in the
March 13, 1977, Sunday strip, when Lucy, making out the
Baseball team line-up, includes him as "designated
Hitter." We haven't even had any possible "near misses"
since then.
Patty: She vanished from "regular sight" on April 11, 1976,
but has popped up a few times since...or at least we think
she has, since the sightings come without attribution.
She could be the little girl whose front walk Charlie Brown
offers to clear of snow, on January 23, 1980 ... although
it's difficult to be sure, as we see so little of her.
She's definitely standing in the outfield next to Lucy,
in the Sunday baseball strip on August 21, 1983.
She seems to be one of the kids to whom Charlie Brown tries
to sell a Christmas wreath (November 20, 1985); she and
Violet heckle Pig-Pen in class, during his bid for class
president, from their desks on September 28, 1990; she
and Violet walk past "Snoopy Claus" on November 25,
1992; and Patty certainly seems to be standing in a
schoolbus line -- with Violet -- on April 17, 1995.
We also have to take Charles Schulz's word for an
appearance on March 2, 1994, as the girl who tries to
persuade Snoopy to chase rabbits (although it would
appear that she did a radical overhaul on her hair!).
(Credit to Tom Kalina, for that last one.)
5: The neighborhood kid who got his name from his father's
streak of rebellion over the way numbers had invaded
society (poor fellow; it was only going to get worse!)
actually hung in there for a good long time. His final
appearance as his easily recognized self came on
August 16, 1981, although he might have popped up one
more time: In the May 22, 1983, strip, a kid is shown
wearing a shirt with "5" on it. His head is pointing
toward the sky, so we can't really see what he looks
like...but we'll call it a definite maybe (and I'm
indebted to Eamon Gilligan, for pointing this one out).
Violet: Like Patty, she dropped from the regular roster (on
November 16, 1984) but may have popped up in a few
cameo appearances since then. She -- or somebody who
looks just like her -- stands next to The Girl Who Might
Be Patty in the aforementioned 11/25/92 and 4/17/95 strips,
and Violet also seems to be standing toward the front of
a movie line on 2/8/96, and another schoolbus line on 11/12/96.
Frieda: Last seen for sure on March 20, 1975, and also pretty much out
of the picture at this point. She does appear to be one of
the kids asked when Charlie Brown tries to find a home for
Spike (July 26, 1978), and she also appears to be one of
the kids to whom Charlie Brown attempts to sell a Christmas
wreath (November 22, 1985), but she's not named in either case.
(Tom Kalina gets the credit for those last two.)
Eudora: For a relatively late entry to the strip, this little
girl actually hung in there for quite awhile. Introduced
in 1978, her distinctive features remained quite visible
for just under a decade. She last appeared on June 13, 1987.
4.3) What is the origin of Charlie Brown's name?
Charles Schulz met the original Charlie Brown at an art class at
the Bureau of Engraving in Minneapolis. They remained friends
over the years, and it was only natural that Schulz would tell
Brown of his fledgling plan to market a comic strip with a
central character who struggled with life, and tried to do well.
Schulz named the central character after the round-faced Brown,
who had a remarkable resemblance to his namesake.
The name Charlie Brown also was used by Schulz earlier, in four
of his Li'l Folks panel cartoons ... but it's important to
realize that the name was attached to an entirely different-
looking kid each time. So while Schulz clearly liked the name,
he hadn't decided on Charlie Brown's final appearance until
Peanuts began.
The actual Charlie Brown eventually served as program director at the Hennepin
County Juvenile Detention Center, where he was credited with
helping troubled young people, and going out of his way to show
he cared about them.
Brown died of cancer on December 5, 1983. He had never married,
and lived alone in the Minneapolis suburb of Minnetonka.
4.4) Is Charlie Brown bald?
Of course not. He's just very, very, very, VERY blond, what my
parents would have called a "tow-head" (a phrase, come to
think of it, that I don't hear much any more). Anyway, Charlie
Brown's hair is so fine that it simply doesn't show up that
clearly, hence we see only the occasional strand.
Confirmation for this information was given by no less than
Charles Schulz himself, during a December 18, 1990, interview
with Terry Gross on National Public Radio's "Fresh Air":
"I don't think of it as not having hair. I think of it as
being hair that is so blond that...it's not seen very clearly,
that's all."
He repeated this information a few years later, during an
interview on NPR's "Morning edition":
"Well he's got hair, its just so light you don't notice it.
I always resent it when people say he's bald. He's not bald.
The old character Henry was bald. But Charlie Brown has a
little hair. His dad is a barber as my dad was. He must have
had hair someplace up there."
The issue became a bit confused in the wake of the 1975 TV special,
"You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown," when upon winning
the motocross competition ol' Chuck received a prize
of ... five free haircuts. "But my dad's a barber,"
Charlie Brown protested, "and besides, I don't have much hair to cut!"
We can take this either of two ways: 1) Charlie Brown's
hair is mostly short, crew-cut fashion, except for a few
stray long hairs, and we always see the latter; or 2) this
TV special presented information that conflicted with what
Charles Schulz regarded as "canon" in his newspaper strip
(not the first time this happened, since a different special
both showed and gave a name to the Little Red-Haired Girl,
which we all know is a major No-No).
It's worth noting, however, that this decision may have
arrived later in the strip's run. In the July 17, 1955,
Sunday strip, Charlie Brown and Schroeder are arguing
about something, and talking trash at each other
(which was rare between the boys in Peanuts). In one panel,
Charlie Brown says, "Well, at least, Schroeder, I don't have yellow hair!"
So if in 1955 Charlie Brown didn't have yellow (which is to say, blond)
hair ... then what color WAS it?
4.5) What is the origin of the little red-haired girl?
Did she ever actually appear in the strip?
Donna Wold, who still lives in Minneapolis, is one of Charles
Schulz' former loves. To quote Rheta Grimsley Johnson's biography
of Schulz, "Good Grief," he (Schulz) was working as an art
instructor at the correspondence art school where Wold began
working in the accounting department, after her 1947 high school
graduation. Things didn't work out, but Schulz obviously thought
quite highly of her, and immortalized her with particular style.
The complete story is rather charming, and occupies an entire
chapter of Johnson's book.
As for whether Charlie Brown's love-from-afar has ever
actually appeared in the Peanuts comic strip, the answer is -- in
a word -- no.
This response must, however, be accompanied by an explanation.
It is important to recognize the distinction between what occurs
in the "real" world of Peanuts (in other words, the newspaper
strip written and drawn by Charles Schulz), and what occurs
elsewhere (specifically, television).
Schulz never had full control over what happened in the TV
specials, and he made it very clear that events therein should
not be regarded as "gospel" for his newspaper strip. Thus, while
it's true the little red-haired girl popped up in the TV special "It's
Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown" (and therefore in the picture-book
adapted from that show), Schulz did not regard her as
the actual little red-haired girl...just as Charlie Brown's having
successfully place-kicked a football in another TV special
should not be regarded as a comparative truth in the strip.
No, the "actual" little red-haired girl, like the Head Beagle, or
Linus' Miss Othmar, is a character who never was drawn.
This way, we can all imagine her to be whatever we'd like...safe
in the knowledge that there is no visualization of the character
which is better, or different, than any other.
4.6) Do any other characters have "real" roots?
In 1975's "Peanuts Jubilee," Charles Schulz mentioned that during his
high school years, he was a Sherlock Holmes fanatic and used to fill
scrapbooks with his own illustrations of Holmes stories, in comic
book form (and oh, what we'd give to see those now!). A friend of
his named Sherman Plepler was one of his faithful readers, and thus Schulz
honored him by using that name -- Shermy -- as one of Peanuts' original characters.
Also In "Peanuts Jubilee," we learned that Linus gets his name from
a friend Schulz had during his days at the Art Instruction School.
Schulz was experimenting with "wild hair" on a character, and he
showed the resulting sketch to Linus Maurer, who sat near him.
Maurer liked the sketch, and Schulz subsequently felt it appropriate
to name the character Linus.
Finally, "Peanuts Jubilee" also reveals that Schroeder was named
after a young boy with whom Schulz used to caddy at Highland Park
Golf Course in St. Paul. Schulz doesn't recall ever knowing his
first name (Schroeder being his last name), but the name itself
"seemed right for the character in the strip." (This origin fuels
the ongoing debate that Schroeder actually is our favorite
Beethoven-lover's LAST name, rather than first name, but I don't
buy it. It would be inconsistent for the Peanuts gang to call only
one of their friends by last name, rather than first name, and ample
evidence exists, over the years, that Schroeder is our Schroeder's
first name.)
Lila, Snoopy's original owner, was based on a real girl - Lyala
pronounced Lila) Mae Bischoff -- with whom Charles Schulz went
to Central High School, in St. Paul. Thanks to a fan who works
with her son (Jake Wood), I've learned a bit about this charming
saga. Lyala apparently was ill during most of her high school
years. She and Schulz rode the streetcar to and from school
together. They were in the same grade and apparently he was smitten
by her, but a little shy as she was a couple of years older than he
was, because she had missed quite a bit of school due to the fact
that she had been so ill. Jake has an old copy of a Peanuts paperback,
which was autographed by Sparky to Lyala, letting her know that he
had used her in his comic strip as Lila (although he spelled her name differently
than she did). The book was accompanied by a letter,
telling her how sorry he was to hear that she was ill again, and
sending his good wishes to her and her husband. Golly -- doesn't that
sound just like the Sparky we know and love?
Frieda Rich, another long-time friend of Charles Schulz, was the
inspiration for the character of the same name. (One wonders if
the actual Frieda had the same motor-mouth as her inked
counterpart!) She died in 1994, and, to quote Andrea Podley's
brief eulogy in the Peanuts Collector newsletter: "She was a
wonderful artist with a loving personality, and we, along with
Sparky, will miss her."
Rheta Grimsley Johnson's biography of Schulz, "Good Grief,"
reveals some additional real-world origins, most of which
can be found on Page 145 of the first-edition Pharos Books hardcover:
Molly Volley, Snoopy's tennis partner, was named after Molly Ackley,
Schulz's real-life tennis buddy.
Linus' favorite teacher, Miss Othmar, was named after Schulz's
good friend, Othmar Jarisch, who ran the local humane society
and died in 1988. When Miss Othmar married and became Mrs. Hagemayer,
this name derived from Margaret Hagemeyer of St. Louis, who was
married to Elmer Hagemayer, one of Schulz's Army buddies.
Marcie got her name from a family friend, Marcie Carlin.
Linus, Lucy and Rerun got their last name -- Van Pelt -- from
friends who lived in Colorado Springs.
Woodstock's bird-friend Harriet, famous for her seven-minute
frosting, was named for Harriet Crossland, a woman in Santa Rosa
who made Schulz angel food cakes with seven-minute frosting.
Miss Halverson, the teacher Linus got after Miss Othmar left
to get married, was named for Schulz's maternal grandmother,
Sophia Halverson, who lived with him off and on during most of
his childhood. She doted on her grandson and would help him
practice hockey by playing goalie in the basement of their house.
Schulz immortalized her early, albeit without a name, as the
sports-loving grandmother of the children in his St. Paul Pioneer
Press Li'l Folks newspaper strip, which pre-dated Peanuts. ("Wow,
that's the third penalty they've given Grandma for unnecessary
roughness.")
A sharp-eyed reader in England, Julian, suggests this trio: Again according
to "Good Grief," we note that Schulz had an aunt named Clara and a
cousin named Shirley; if we take a slight leap and turn Sophia
into "Sophie," we get Clara, Sophie and Shirley, the three little
girls for whom Peppermint Patty served as tent monitor at summer camp.
4.7) Which characters have last names?
Well, Charlie and Sally Brown, of course; and Lucy, Linus and
Rerun Van Pelt. Peppermint Patty's actual name is Patricia
Reichardt.
When 5 and his twin sisters, 3 and 4, were introduced, their
last name was given as 95472 (the family's Zip code).
With respect to more obscure characters, we know of Charlotte
Braun, baseball player Jose Peterson, tennis players Molly Volley
and Crybaby Boobie, Harold Angel, Tapioca Pudding, Royanne Hobbs
and Joe Agate.
And here's a clever one (and the reason I added this question):
In the April 4, 1953, daily strip, Patty calls Violet by her
full name of Violet Gray (which, when you stop and think
about it, is a pretty funny combination).
Now, just to stop some questions, there are two others that
do NOT count, because they're mentioned only in the animated
"You're in the Superbowl, Charlie Brown." Marcie and Franklin
are given the last names of Johnson and Armstrong, respectively,
but since Schulz never used those in his newspaper strip, we
shall go along with his preference and pretend they don't exist!
4.8) When is Snoopy's birthday?
There are two answers to this question: the official, and the
unofficial.
Officially, Snoopy's birthday is one of those never-revealed
mysteries, like the cat next door or the little red-haired girl
(television, Schulz always reminded us, didn't count). That way,
these characters can look like whatever we imagine them to be,
and Snoopy's birthday can be whenever we desire.
Unofficially, the matter has been dealt with twice in the comic
strip. The first time was in the strip dated August 28, 1951.
Charlie Brown has just given Snoopy a birthday cake, with a
wiener sticking up in the middle, rather than a candle.
Now, since the world of Peanuts takes place in "real time" --
which is to say, the gang celebrates Halloween on Halloween,
Christmas on Christmas, and so forth -- it could be argued, with
a certain degree of conviction, that August 28 must be Snoopy's
birthday.
Unfortunately, contradictory evidence arrived in 1968.
After a multi-strip sequence involving Snoopy and
a "secret mission," he's eventually ambushed by a surprise
birthday party...which takes place in the strip printed on
August 10, 1968. (This strip also reveals the color of his eyes,
for his final thought balloon finds him smiling in delight
and thinking, "Well, I'll be a brown-eyed beagle...")
So...August 10, or August 28? It's probably better to treat both
these strips as lapses, and leave the matter of Snoopy's birthday
as a mystery for the ages.
After all, he can't really be having any birthdays, because he's
clearly not getting any older...right?
4.9) How many different roles has Snoopy played?
Dozens. Scores. More than 150.
Snoopy became a "Walter Mitty beagle" very early
in the strip's lengthy run, and he's adopted various
guises, and pretended to be all sorts of
different animals...and occasionally people.
Some of these changes of identity occured only once,
while others -- such as the WWI Flying Ace, Joe Cool,
and the Beagle Scout -- became established personas.
For the most part, Snoopy began by imitating other
animals. Perhaps not content with the emotional
range found within such portrayals, he eventually
switched to imitations of people involved in
different occupations...and his true talent emerged.
An very early example can be found on August 9, 1951,
when Violet orders Snoopy out of her bird bath by telling him that
only things "with wings" are allowed. In the final panel, Snoopy has
lifted his ears as if to imitate wings, while once
again sitting in the bird bath. I'm not sure
if that one counts, but, if so, it's the first.
The following list identifies the first time Snoopy
took each of these many roles.
A baseball umpire (of sorts) -- 8/24/51 (and again on 6/22/54)
A go-cart motor -- 1/12/52
Beethoven -- 9/3/52 (and again on 11/25/55)
A shark (in a wading pool) -- 7/21/54
A wolf -- 1/26/55
A rhinoceros -- 2/22/55
A snake -- 8/29/55
Violet -- 11/17/55
A pelican -- 11/21/55
Lucy -- 11/22/55
A moose -- 11/24/55
Mickey Mouse -- 11/26/55
A giraffe -- 2/7/56
A kangaroo -- 2/8/56
An alligator -- 2/28/56
A lion -- 5/3/56
An elephant -- 9/17/56
A polar bear -- 2/7/57
A bird -- 4/14/57
A mule -- 7/14/57
A circus dog -- 7/24/57
A sea-monster -- 8/23/57
A penguin -- 12/31/57
An anteater -- 3/1/58
A bald eagle -- 5/12/58
A vulture -- 5/13/58
A tiger -- 6/15/58
A goat -- 6/18/58
A gopher -- 1/7/59
Big Man on Campus (an early Joe Cool) -- 1/29/59
A bloodhound -- 3/26/59
A vampire bat -- 5/15/59 (and, on 11/10/72, a "regular" bat)
A cow -- 6/14/59 (and again on 4/18/63)
A (human) baby -- 6/23/59
A cricket -- 9/12/59
A mountain lion -- 11/29/59
A TV antenna -- 1/7/60
A "whirlydog" (early form of his helicopter) -- 3/14/60
A dinosaur -- 7/7/60
The "Mad Punter" -- 12/12/60
A ship's captain -- 1/29/61
A rabbit -- 3/16/61
A gorilla -- 3/21/61
A lost calf -- 3/26/61
A salmon -- 10/17/61
A hood ornament -- 11/24/61
A jungle ape -- 5/3/62
A shepherd -- 7/1/62
A gargoyle -- 9/27/62
A teddy bear -- 12/28/62
A weather vane -- 6/1/63
An ice-skating champion -- 2/23/64
A sheep -- 12/24/64
A partridge in a pear tree -- 12/25/64
A trapeze artist -- 3/2/65
A skateboard champion -- 3/29/65
A bowling ace -- 4/14/65
An assistant psychiatrist (for Lucy) -- 6/25/65
An author -- 7/12/65
A surfer -- 8/5/65
The WWI Flying Ace -- 10/10/65
A soldier of the French Foreign Legion -- 3/21/66
The WWI Army Surgeon -- 11/24/66
The "Masked Marvel" -- 2/9/67
A piranha -- 3/25/67
A "cheshire beagle" -- 4/18/67
A secret agent -- 9/7/67
The World-Famous Hockey Player -- 10/8/67
A monster movie-style "creature from the sea" -- 1/13/68
A school principal -- 1/30/68
A baseball manager -- 3/13/68
The World-Famous Golf Pro -- 4/8/68
The Easter Beagle -- 4/14/68
The World-Famous Wrist Wrestler -- 4/24/68
Captain of the Rescue Squad -- 1/27/69
A prairie dog -- 2/12/69
The World-Famous Astronaut -- 3/8/69
The tether-ball champion -- 5/28/69
The World-Famous Roller Derby Star -- 7/4/69
The World-Famous Baseball Superstar -- 7/31/69
The World-Famous Football Star -- 9/16/69
The WWII Veteran -- 11/11/69
The World-Famous Skier -- 12/15/69
The "Head Beagle" -- 2/16/70
The World-Famous Tennis Star -- 6/11/70
The World-Famous Grocery Clerk -- 8/25/70
A sheep dog -- 4/25/71
Joe Cool -- 5/27/71
The World-Famous Football Coach -- 9/2/71
The World-Famous Swimmer -- 10/2/71
The World-Famous Attorney -- 1/12/72
Captain of the Starship Enterprise -- 2/7/72
A fierce pirate -- 8/14/72
The Pawpet Theater Host -- 3/17/74
A streaker -- 5/6/74
The Beagle Scout (initially a "tenderpaw") -- 5/13/74
The World-Famous Crabby Skating Pro -- 11/7/74
Joe Motocross -- 2/18/75
An airplane mechanic -- 6/24/75
A "man from the Chamber of Commerce" -- 7/2/75
The World-Famous Jogger -- 5/17/76
A helicopter -- 2/1/77
A crop-duster -- 7/10/77
An owl -- 10/27/77
Peppermint Patty (a disguise) -- 12/5/77
A traffic copter -- 10/8/78
The World-Famous Disco Dancer -- 10/16/78
The April Fool -- 4/1/79
Blackjack Snoopy, World-Famous Riverboat Gambler -- 5/30/79
The World-Famous County Surveyor -- 6/18/79
A scarecrow -- 6/22/79
A fierce python -- 10/9/79
A bow & arrow hunter -- 1/15/80
Dr. Beagle and Mr. Hyde -- 3/19/80
A fierce rattlesnake -- 3/28/80
The World-Famous Census Taker -- 3/31/80
John McEnroe -- 5/6/80
Tracy Austin -- 5/7/80
John Newcombe -- 5/8/80
A Zamboni driver -- 12/5/80
A portrait painter -- 6/12/81
Joe Preppy -- 7/30/81
The World-Famous Hired Hand -- 2/27/82
The World-Famous Surgeon -- 7/12/82
Joe Sandbagger (while bowling) -- 10/21/82
An Olympic chariot racer -- 11/27/83
Flashbeagle -- 11/29/83
The Little Red-Haired Girl -- 2/10/85
"Punk" Beagle -- 8/7/85
The World-Famous Agent -- 9/15/86
Joe Aerobics -- 7/11/87
Alistair Beagle -- 6/27/89
"Shoeless" Joe Beagle -- 8/27/89
Santa Claus -- 12/18/89
Joe Bungie -- 8/5/90
A tennis ball-beagle -- 8/12/90
A fierce "October beast" -- 10/2/90
The World-Famous Highway Flagman -- 1/9/91
A beaver -- 6/17/91
A school honor student -- 9/19/91
A trained service technician -- 10/10/91
A wounded soldier -- 2/23/92
A ventriloquist -- 4/13/92
The pilot for Ace Airlines -- 6/8/92
Joe Grunge -- 4/26/93
Joe Blackjack, the World-Famous Riverboat Gambler -- 8/30/95
A Revolutionary War Patriot -- 1/5/97
Blackbeagle, the World Famous Pirate -- 7/31/97
The World-Famous Big-Rig Operator -- 3/28/98
The (F.) Scott Fitzgerald Hero -- 5/21/98
A diving expert -- 7/1/99
The World-Famous Orthopedic Surgeon -- 8/26/99
4.10) What are the names of Snoopy's siblings?
In the order that they were introduced in the strip,
they are: Spike, Belle, Marbles, "Ugly" Olaf, and Andy.
While the 1991 TV special "Snoopy's Reunion" also
mentions Molly and Rover, they are not to be confused
with those found in the "real world" of the newspaper
strip. It is significant, though, that Charles Schulz once
drew a Sunday strip with Snoopy's father receiving a
card signed by "all eight" of his offspring...but we
never officially met them.
4.11) What are the titles of the "Bunny-Wunnies"
books which Snoopy loves so much?
Scott McGuire deserves the primary credit for this one,
having conducted the essential research. In the order
they were introduced, the "sensitive" tomes credited to
Miss Helen Sweetstory are:
The Six Bunny-Wunnies and Their Pony Cart
(first mentioned July 26, 1970)
The Six Bunny-Wunnies Go to Long Beach
The Six Bunny-Wunnies Make Cookies
The Six Bunny-Wunnies Join an Encounter Group
(all mentioned on April 8, 1971)
The Six Bunny-Wunnies and Their XK-E
(April 10, 1971)
The Six Bunny-Wunnies and Their Water Bed
(April 12, 1971)
The Six Bunny-Wunnies and Their Layover in
Anderson, Indiana (April 13, 1971)
The Six Bunny-Wunnies and the Female Veterinarian
(February 10, 1972)
The Six Bunny-Wunnies Freak Out
(October 23, 1972)
The Six Bunny-Wunnies Visit Plains, Georgia
(September 26, 1977)
The penultimate one is somewhat notorious because it
was banned from the local library, which prompted
Charlie Brown to investigate the situation.
Snoopy is known to have a complete set -- which
undoubtedly includes far more titles than shown
here -- assembled through the always reliable Beagle
Book Club. And although Snoopy's devotion to
Miss Sweetstory wavered a bit after learning she
lived with 24 cats, he has remained a faithful reader.
Scott further suggests -- rather perceptively -- that
Schulz may have intended these titles as a parody
of the juvenile series "The Happy Hollisters," based
on two coincidences: 1) there were six Hollister
children, just as there are six Bunny-Wunnies; and
2) one of the characters in each series is named Pam.
Hey, it sounds good...until we hear otherwise!
4.12) What's the complete text of Snoopy's novel?
As firmly established in the Holt, Rinehart & Winston
book, "Snoopy and It Was A Dark And Stormy Night"
(published in 1971), this is Snoopy's novel...in all its glory:
It Was A Dark And Stormy Night
by Snoopy
Part I
It was a dark and stormy night. Suddenly, a shot rang out!
A door slammed. The maid screamed.
Suddenly, a pirate ship appeared on the horizon!
While millions of people were starving, the king lived in
luxury. Meanwhile, on a small farm in Kansas, a boy was
growing up.
Part II
A light snow was falling, and the little girl with the
tattered shawl had not sold a violet all day.
At that very moment, a young intern at City Hospital
was making an important discovery. The mysterious patient
in Room 213 had finally awakened. She moaned softly.
Could it be that she was the sister of the boy in Kansas
who loved the girl with the tattered shawl who was the
daughter of the maid who had escaped from the pirates?
The intern frowned.
"Stampede!" the foreman shouted, and forty thousand
head of cattle thundered down on the tiny camp. The two
men rolled on the ground grappling beneath the murderous
hooves. A left and a right. A left. Another left and right.
An uppercut to the jaw. The fight was over. And so the
ranch was saved.
The young intern sat by himself in one corner of the
coffee shop. he had learned about medicine, but more
importantly, he had learned something about life.
THE END
(At which point, Linus asked, "But what about the
king?" He got clonked on the head for his impertinence.)
Longtime readers and literature fans will recognize that
Charles Schulz is spoofing Victorian novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton,
whose 1830 novel "Paul Clifford" actually begins with the
phrase, "It was a dark and stormy night." The infamy of that
phrase, over the years, led to an annual competition -- the
Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest -- that encourages writers to
compose the worst possible opening line for a fictitious book.
The phrase has been a pop-culture beacon of hilarity and
gentle ribbing for many, many years. Perhaps the most famous
riff for our purposes, though, is a direct nod to Snoopy's
appropriation of the phrase -- and a bit of what follows --
for his novel.
Comic book writer Len Wein came up with a brilliant (and hilarious)
Batman short story tribute to Snoopy?s novel in 1981's Detective
Comics #500. Aside from its lead story, the issue has a series of
short stories by different writers; Wein wrote a two-pager
with art by Walt Simonson.
The story has no dialogue. It only has captions.
The captions? All lines from the aforementioned Snoopy novel.
You can read all about it, and see the two pages of artwork,
midway down through an article titled "Comic Book Legends
Revealed," at this Comic Book Resources Web site:
http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2010/08/12/comic-book-legends-revealed-273/
4.13) How old are Charlie Brown and his friends (as "real" characters)?
This is a fascinating question, mostly because Charles Schulz
wisely resisted the urge to time-stamp his characters...although he
made a few slips over the years.
First of all, it should be pointed out that some characters have
been "rapidly aged" far faster than others. When first introduced,
Charlie Brown was definitely younger than Shermy and Patty,
although this didn't last much more than a few months. Similarly,
Schroeder was introduced as an infant, although he's now quite
clearly the same age as Charlie Brown. Linus, too, was once much
older than Sally, but once he became her "sweet babboo" that gap
narrowed. More recently, Rerun seems to have aged without
any of the other kids growing similarly older.
On to specifics:
In a very early strip -- October 30, 1950 -- Patty
and Shermy present Charlie Brown with an empty plate that should
have contained a birthday cake (they "weren't...sure it was his
birthday") and wish him a happy birthday. Although no age is
mentioned, we could reasonably guess that perhaps October 30
is Charlie Brown's birthday.
A few days later, in the November 3, 1950 strip,
the punchline concludes with Charlie Brown's
announcement that he is "only 4 years old."
(While we're on the subject of birthdays, the 1/18/54
strip shows Schroeder telling Charlie Brown that "today" is his -- Schroeder's --
birthday. While no age is mentioned, we can therefore
reasonably guess that January 18 belongs to Schroeder.
Charlie Brown and Pig Pen attend Violet's birthday
Party in the June 17, 1962, Sunday strip; Lucy gives Linus a
chair for his birthday in the November 22, 1964, Sunday strip.
Finally, Peppermint Patty's father gives her roses on her
Birthday, in the October 4, 1970, Sunday strip. Remember,
the strip acknowledges major holidays in real time, so
in theory these could be actual birthdays.)
Schroeder's age was given as 3 on May 1, 1953. On
January 25, 1955, Lucy claimed to be 4 years old,
with Patty halfway between 5 and 6. Clearly Lucy got
older quickly, because Linus was said to be 5 on
May 5, 1956 (and again on September 2, 1958, and
June 10, 1959). In an intriguing twist of logic, Linus
was said to be only 4 on March 27, 1957...now there's
a neat trick!
But time marches on.
The November 17, 1957 Sunday strip concluded with Charlie
Brown saying, "A person shouldn't have to lose all his pride
when he's only 6 years old!" At that point, therefore, we can
assume he and his contemporaries -- all the other kids except
for Linus -- were the same age. But in the August 29, 1960
daily strip, we heard Linus claim that he was "almost five years
older" than Sally. Since she was then walking, she'd be at least
1 year old, which would make Linus at least 6, which would now
make Charlie Brown at least 7. (See how hard this is?)
On September 30, 1960, Lucy proudly stated that she was
one year older than Linus; that much, at least, seems to
have remained consistent ever since. In the Jan. 25, 1962,
daily strip, Lucy complains about world problems and bellows
that she'll "give them just 12 years to get things straightened
out...I want everything settled by the time I'm 18!" This
indicates that her age was 6 at this particular moment, which
seems odd, since she must be Charlie Brown's age, who in the
previous paragraph was shown to be 7 two years earlier!
Linus is definitely said to be 6 on September 23, 1964.
In the April 3, 1971, strip, Charlie Brown tells Linus,
"Only 13 more years and I'll be 21." As of that moment,
therefore, Charlie Brown was 8.
Peppermint Patty told us that she was 7 on January 6, 1972.
Many years later, when Charlie Brown checked himself
into a hospital on July 11, 1979, he gave his age as
"eight-and-a-half years old."
This is supported, more or less, by Charlie Brown's
statement on October 3, 1991, that he "won't be leaving
(for college) for another ten years." If we assume that
most people are 18 (and some change) when they enter
college, then Chuck once again is giving his age as 8
(and possibly some change).
This unfortunately conflicts with the age of choice for the
"older" kids, since on February 19, 1997,
Lucy quite definitely claimed to be 7. ("Don't forget,
I'll be twenty-one in another...fourteen years!")
Or perhaps Charlie Brown is supposed to be older
than Lucy???
Moving onto Rerun, he was definitely one year old on
March 28, 1973, when a strip concluded with this
thought: "Only a year old, and already I'm living
in the past!" He became about four during the
early 90s...not yet old enough for "regular" school, but
apparently very close.
Lucy officially "catches up" to Charlie Brown on
April 2, 1985, when she's shown to be 8 years old.
Alas, even this information proves temporary, because
(as mentioned a few paragraphs above), on February 19,
1997, she quite clearly states that she is, once again, 7.
As of the October 15, 1995, Sunday strip, we know Rerun
is 5 years old...because he says so! What this does to
everybody else's age, is anybody's guess.
Although it doesn't indicate his age, we do learn on
June 9, 1986, that Linus was born in October, as compared
to Lydia, who was born in December. (She thus is able to
insist that he's "too old" for her.)
These examples notwithstanding, it's probably better
to talk about age as relative, rather than specific.
Using that guideline, we can group the major
characters into three sets (from oldest to youngest),
and assume that the members of each set are
roughly the same age:
Charlie Brown, Lucy, Peppermint Patty, Marcie,
Schroeder, Franklin, Shermy, Patty, Violet, Pig-Pen
Linus, Sally, Frieda and Eudora
Rerun
As you can see, providing an absolute answer to this
question is about as hard as nailing jello to a wall. Charles
Schulz kept his universe a fluid organism, one with
occasional changes. (Remember, on June 6, 1959, Snoopy identified
himself as "an only dog"!) That means gradual shifts
over time, not necessarily consistent with each other.
4.14) Have adults ever appeared in the strip?
Generally, no...with some striking and interesting exceptions.
Charlie Brown's mother makes an "off-camera"
appearance in the 11/7/50 strip,
when she calls him by name. Similarly, Charlie Brown's
father makes an off-camera appearance in the 6/20/93
Sunday strip (reprinted in AROUND THE WORLD IN
45 YEARS), when he plays with Snoopy and talks to
him in no fewer than eight word-balloons. So we do
have irrefutable proof that ol' Chuck is growing up in
a happy two-parent household.
Another "near-miss" turned up in the 10/17/54 Sunday
strip. Charlie Brown, attempting to attain the same level of
security as Linus, hustles into a store to purchase one
yard of outing flannel ("And DON'T LAUGH!!", he
tells the clerk). Look closely, and you'll see the clerk's
left hand...complete with wedding band!
Adults also occasionally chat within the Van Pelt household,
although -- once again -- they always remain unseen.
Lucy, in her toddler phase, is told by her mother to finish
drinking her milk, in the 1/8/53 daily strip. Much later,
in the 9/18/66 Sunday strip, Linus correctly predicts that
their grandmother will not play favorites when shown
pictures drawn by both siblings; in the penultimate panel,
Grandma indeed responds, "Why, I think they're both very nice."
The best early use of almost-wholly-there adults, however,
comes in four consecutive Sunday strips involving
Lucy's participation in a golf tournament, with Charlie
Brown at her side as sort of a one-man cheering
squad. Numerous adults appeared in close-up, from the
waist down, in a few panels. In other panels, you can
see groups of adults in the "cheering gallery," although
their faces remain obscured. This bit of oddness
never happened again. If you're content with seeing just
one of the strips in this series, you'll find it (only
in black-and-white, alas) roughly halfway through Chip
Kidd's "Peanuts: The Art of Charles M. Schulz." You can see
all of them in Fantagraphics' "The Complete Peanuts Volume 2."
Schulz also used Snoopy in his "infantry beagle" mode to commemorate
Memorial Day and Veterans Day. The 5/31/98 Sunday strip, a
huge single panel, placed the comic strip beagle against
a background photograph of soldiers designed to honor the
anniversary of D-Day. Later the same year, Schulz went
one better than his usual acknowledgement of war-era
cartoonist Bill Mauldin, in whose honor Snoopy usually
"quaffs a root beer" each November 11. In the 11/11/98
daily strip, Snoopy actually meets Mauldin's Willie and
Joe, the comic strip soldiers who conveyed the weary
loneliness of WWII life for an entire generation. They're
even drawn in Mauldin's style!
But that's not the whole answer. Although never again seen,
adults have certainly been referenced in the strip, and
made frequent "off-camera" appearances, to borrow a
cinematic phrase. Most are "fictitious" characters within
the Peanuts universe, but occasional appearances are
made by actual celebrities. In rare cases, some adults have
even been given a sentence or two in a word balloon.
In order to better define the question, we will restrict
the subsequent list to fictitious adults with whom the kids have
actually interacted...as opposed to real people, or those merely
mentioned by name (Rachel Carlson, for example).
The following list, while not intended to be definitive,
gives ample evidence that adults are very much involved
with Charlie Brown and the rest of the gang...even if we
don't actually see them.
***) Various parents -- most kids have both a mother and
father, some of whom are mentioned quite frequently
(Charlie Brown's father, for example). Peppermint Patty
is the only character who seems to be growing up in a
single-parent household; although she often speaks
fondly of her father -- who calls her his "rare gem" --
she has only mentioned her mother in terms of "not
having one" (during a conversation with Marcie).
***) Various school officials -- Peppermint Patty, Roy,
Marcie and Franklin attend one school; Charlie Brown and
His friends are at another. We've spent time with both
school principals (and their secretaries), a school nurse
and unspecified teachers. Some of these teachers have
also been named:
***) Miss Othmar, later Mrs. Hagemeyer -- Linus'
favorite teacher.
***) Miss Halverson -- Linus' new teacher, after
Miss Othmar is fired during a strike. (She later
reappears, sending poor Miss Halverson into
comic-strip limbo.)
***) Mrs. Donovan -- mentioned as Charlie Brown's
teacher, on 2/17/66.
***) Miss Swanson -- mentioned as Peppermint
Patty's teacher, on 12/8/69.
***) Miss Tenure -- another of Peppermint Patty's
teachers (different class? different year?), mentioned
on 12/2/77.
***) Aunt Marian -- Either "Marian" was an extremely
common name, or all the members of the Peanuts gang
are more inter-related than we suspected. Violet mentions
having an Aunt Marian on November 12, 1958. The
following year, on June 16, 1959, Charlie Brown mentions
that he, too, has an Aunt Marian. (Younger sister Sally
supports this notion on March 12, 1991, when she refers
to her Aunt Marian.) Not to be outdone, on January 25, 1963,
Lucy also claims an Aunt Marian. Decades then went by,
but the name's popularity didn't diminish a jot; as of
September 18, 1999, we also learned that Snoopy has an
Aunt Marian. The truth, of course, is that Charles Schulz
continued to honor his own Aunt Marian, who, he told us
(in "You Don't Look 35, Charlie Brown"), had a motto:
"Never marry a trumpet player." As it turns out,
she did marry one...
***) Linus' blanket-hating grandmother -- star of
many sequences, during which she alternately tries
to trick or bargain Linus into abandoning his
blanket (and always fails, of course!) This could
be the same grandmother who has some dialog
in a Sunday strip, when she "chooses" between
pictures drawn by Linus and Lucy, by saying that
both are equally good. On the other hand, since
this grandmother seems so benign, she could be
their other grandmother.
***) The little red-haired girl's grandmother, who also has red hair.
***) Various doctors, their nurses and receptionists.
***) Charlie Brown's pediatrician -- also head of the
School Board, and the man who tries to get the
Bunny-Wunny books banned from the school library.
***) Snoopy's vet and receptionist.
***) A call-in radio talk-show host, once subject to
a verbal duel with Linus.
***) Several movie-theater ticket-sellers, one of
whom had dialog, on 11/19/67.
***) Newspaper classified ad reps, who've spoken
to the kids over the telephone.
***) Three airline stewardesses, who met Snoopy for lunch.
***) The people next door, owner of the cat next door.
***) The Little League president.
***) Miss Helen Sweetstory -- author of the Bunny-Wunny books.
***) Joe Shlabotnik -- Charlie Brown's favorite baseball player.
***) Peggy Fleming -- who once spoke to Snoopy
during a Sports Hero banquet.
***) Bill Mauldin -- an actual cartoonist, famous for
his WWII-era panels, with whom Snoopy quaffs a
few root-beers every Veterans Day.
And many others...but you get the idea.
4.15) What is the name of Charlie Brown's schoolteacher?
I'm astonished, given the wealth of trivia that could be asked
about the Peanuts gang, that this particular question pops up
so often (notably on TV game shows, radio contests, and the like).
What's even more disturbing is that, in many cases, the answer
given is incorrect!
"Miss Othmar" teaches LINUS, not Charlie Brown (although the
latter has visited Linus' class a few times). Charlie Brown's
teacher is Mrs. Donovan. (Take THAT, TV quiz shows!)
She's mentioned twice, toward the end of a sequence
when Charlie Brown volunteers to participate in a school
spelling bee (and yes, this inspired the first big-screen
Peanuts film). Mrs. Donovan is mentioned in the
February 17 and 18, 1966, daily strips.
4.16) Who plays which position on Charlie Brown's baseball team?
This is a fascinating question, if only because the
information changed over the years.
Back in the strip's early days, the characters didn't
really have "set" positions; it was not at all unusual
to find Charlie Brown in the outfield, or acting as
catcher (with Shermy as pitcher). During that point
in time, we never saw the kids playing other teams;
they just split up and played a game among themselves.
This changed in the late 1950s and early 60s, once a
more-or-less-official roster was established. Certain
characters became pretty firmly established in
specific positions, such as Charlie Brown's ongoing
duties on the pitcher's mound. But occasional
changes still crept in; Linus has pitched a few
times (generally winning the game in the process)
and has taken the occasional outfield position;
Lucy tried her hand at pitching, as well ... but only once (4/28/63).
Lucy also attempted first base (5/19/57) and second
base (4/15/58). Charlie Brown has played center field
(5/18/55). Pig Pen served as catcher once (5/4/55).
Linus apparently is a talented all-rounder: He has been
in center field (4/13/57), right field (3/30/58) and short
stop (4/16/58). And even Snoopy has been seen in the
outfield (4/12/57), and once tried out as catcher (6/5/63), but
it was clear that he was too small for the equipment
that he was supposed to wear.
Speaking of catcher, Lucy also tried out for this
position and even suited up ("I feel like I'm in
a bird cage ... tweet tweet chirp chirp"), but in the next
strip she gave up (6/6-7/63), saying "I refuse to get hit by a flying
bat and deprive the world of Miss Universe of 1975."
When Peppermint Patty first visited the neighborhood and
tried to "help" Chuck's team, she pitched and bumped
him into left field. Other infrequent changes have
found Linus in the outfield (prior to his established
position at second base), and Lucy at shortstop (but,
again, only once: 5/3/59)
Occasional Sunday strips were good for "establishing
shots" of the entire team, albeit usually crowded
around the pitcher's mound. This seems to be
the team in most cases:
Charlie Brown
Linus
Schroeder
Lucy
Shermy
Snoopy
Violet
Patty
Frieda
Pig Pen has stepped in for Frieda on occasion,
and "5" has replaced either Frieda or Linus (!).
With the more-or-less disappearance of Shermy,
Violet, Patty, and Frieda, it would seem difficult
for Charlie Brown to field an entire team...which
may explain why we currently tend to see only
Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Snoopy, and Schroeder.
(It has been established that Peppermint Patty and
Franklin have their own teams, although we've also
been told that Franklin has played Center on her
team...which, by the way, is called the Pelicans.)
But I digress. Allowing for occasional changes,
the "official" roster of the team is as follows:
Pitcher (and Manager): Charlie Brown
Catcher: Schroeder
1st Base: Shermy
2nd Base: Linus (and Pig Pen, at least once)
3rd Base: Pig-Pen (and Violet, at least once)
Shortstop: Snoopy
Left Field: Patty (and Rerun, during his one attempt)
Center Field: Frieda (and Violet, on occasion)
Right Field: Lucy
Actually, the fielders change constantly. Lucy can
be found at either Left, Right or Center, with the other
positions made up by Frieda, Patty, and Violet.
After Eudora's debut in 1978, she occasionally turned
up in Center Field, next to Lucy (in Right Field).
4.17) Has Charlie Brown's baseball team ever won a game?
Folks take for granted -- mainly because Charlie Brown himself reinforces the notion -- that
his baseball team has remained "win-less" all these years. While ample evidence exists that
things go pretty badly ("We always seem to lose the first game of the season and the last
game of the season ... and all the stupid games in between!"), in point of fact ol'
Chuck's team HAS won a few.
In sequence, they are:
4/26/58: Just prior to the first game of the season, Charlie Brown winds up home in bed,
feeling sick. Lucy leads the gang into his bedroom later that day, and triumphantly
proclaims, "We didn't do anything you told us! In fact, we didn't even miss you!"
And, as a result, the team won the game.
6/10/65: Having (as usual) been shipped off to camp for the summer, Charlie Brown
receives a letter from Linus, which says, among other things, "I suppose you are worried
about your baseball team. Well, don't worry ... we're doing fine ... in fact,
yesterday we won the first game we've won all season!"
8/5/66: After getting hit on the head with a line drive (a few days earlier, on 8/2)
and being forced to spend the rest of the game on the bench, ol' Chuck's team triumphs
again. "We won, Charlie Brown!" Lucy shouts. "We won the game!"
8/1/67: After once again getting discouraged by the "meanininglessness" of his team's performance,
Charlie Brown goes home and retreats to his darkened bedroom. On this day, after a series of
strips that began on July 24, Linus pokes his head in the door and tells Chuck that they won
that day's game ... without him.
8/16/68: Thrown into a tizzy when he notices the Little Red-Haired Girl watching the
game from the stands, Charlie Brown gets the shakes so badly that he cannot pitch
the game. Relief pitcher Linus takes over, and the team wins!
4/22-23/69: When Peppermint Patty and Franklin both finds themselves unable to
field an entire team, they reluctantly tell Charlie Brown that his team has won
by forfeit ... both times. Alas, the two-game winning streak ends the next
day, when "the other team" (we don't know whose) shows up.
4/9/73: When the opposing team has trouble pitching to Rerun because of his small
size, the little guy walks in the winning run, and Linus triumphantly shouts,
"We won! We won, Charlie Brown!" Alas, the Little League president eventually
takes the game away because of gambling: Rerun, ever the loyal player, bet
Snoopy a nickel that his team would win. (This sequence reprinted in
"You're the Guest of Honor, Charlie Brown.")
3/30/93: With Royanne Hobbs pitching against him, Charlie Brown hits his
first-ever home run (in the ninth inning) and brings his team to victory.
(This sequence reprinted in "Dogs Are Worth It.")
6/29/93: Once again facing Royanne Hobbs, Charlie Brown hits ANOTHER home run,
and brings his team to victory again! (This sequence also reprinted in "Dogs Are Worth It.")
Of course, both these home runs prove to be bittersweet victories ... but ol' Chuck
really doesn't care!
Eagle-eyed detail-spotter Tim Chow also came up with some likely, albeit non-specific, instances:
6/9/58: On the verge of pitching to "this last man," Charlie Brown is told by Schroeder
that if he gets the guy out, "the championship will be ours!" It therefore would seem
that ol' Chuck's team must've won some games along the way, in order for this to be
possible. Alas, the pitch is returned as a high fly ball, which Charlie Brown himself
drops.
7/29/63: "If we can hold 'em this inning," Lucy says, "We'll win the championship!"
The argument above can be repeated here, but the results are even worse: Charlie Brown
loads the bases and then balks in the tying and winning runs.
3/19/64: During an extended sequence that begins on 3/2, Charlie Brown's arm begins
to hurt during a game; subsequent X-rays reveal that he has "little leaguer's elbow,"
and his arm winds up in a sling for an unspecified number of games. Linus takes over
the pitching duties, and on this particular day, Lucy comments to Charlie Brown,
"Do you realize we haven't lost a game since you had to stop pitching?" It's also
interesting to note that when ol' Chuck does return to the field, he plays third
base!
8/1/69: Bob Diethrich spotted this, and it's a
wonderfully subtle one: In the first panel, Snoopy's playing
shortstop (it appears), and thinks, "That's the third out,
the game is over." Well, if he was in the field in the ninth inning,
then that means that the opposing team was at bat, and if it's the third out,
then the team failed to make a run ... which means that Snoopy's
team -- that is to say, Charlie Brown's team -- must have won the
game. Cool, eh?
4.18) What is the name of Charlie Brown's baseball team?
We don't know. Surprisingly, Charles Schulz never told us.
That holds true of both the newspaper strip and the various animated TV specials. Ol'
Chuck's team simply never gets named.
We do know that Peppermint Patty's team is called the Pelicans, as mentioned above.
And, during one delightful story sequence, Charlie Brown briefly runs away from home
and winds up coaching the very small members of a team called the Goose Eggs.
But as for Charlie Brown's own team ... that remains a mystery!
4.19) Sally's School Malapropisms
Of the many running gags Schulz employed over the years,
Sally's fractured use of English remains one of the funniest.
It's possible, having raised five children, that Schulz was
able to draw some or all of this material from personal
observation...or, perhaps, he's just quick with a verbal quip.
Whatever the source, many of these strips have found their
way onto bulletin boards, where they have remained for
years ... or even decades.
Although Lucy actually delivered the first of these gags --
"My favorite piece is Bach's Toccata and Fugue in Asia
Minor" (3/15/56) and "Did you know there are sixteen
ozzes in a lib?" (3/10/66) -- the concept really caught fire
when Sally entered school (probably first grade, as her
kindergarten year apparently passed without incident).
The subsequent list is as definitive as I've been able
to make it (let me know if I've missed any!):
"The stockings were hung by the chimney with
care...in hope that Jack Nicklaus soon would be there.'
(12/11/68)
"Abraham Lincoln was our sixteenth king, and the
father of Lot's wife." (2/12/70)
"What made you decide to buy an aquarium?" (asked
by Charlie Brown)
"It's timely...haven't you heard? This is the age of
Aquariums." (5/11/70)
[For a report on Columbus Day]
"Columbus Day was a very brave man. He wanted
to sail around the world. `I can give you three ships,
Mr. Day,' said the Queen." (10/12/70)
"Two times two is tooty-two; three times three is
threety-three; four times four is four-forty-four." (11/2/70)
"I have to do a paper on Ken and Abel. I've been looking
all through the Old Testament, and I've found Abel, but I
can't find Ken. Do you think maybe I'm using the wrong
translation?" (4/24/71)
[While on a school field trip at an art museum]
"Maybe we'll get to see Ramona Lisa" (5/7/71)
"I'm writing a story about some cave men. They're sitting
around a campfire, see, when all of a sudden they're
attacked by a huge thesaurus!" (6/22/71)
[For a history report on the Egyptians]
"Family life among the Egyptians was easier than it is
today...they were all facing the same way." (1/3/72)
"The Incas were people who lived a long time ago in
Incaland. They had a highly developed civilization. They
would still be here today, but they lacked motel
facilities." (3/12/72)
"Sheepherders raise lambs, from which we get lambchops.
They also raise sheep, from which we get sheepchops." (4/19/72)
"This report is on melons. Melons have to be planted
between May 15th and June 5th. I don't know what you
do if you happen to be out of town." (5/3/72)
"Our wild life and our trees are protected by brave and
dedicated men. These men live by themselves in towers,
and are called Forest Strangers." (9/29/72)
"I could write about how exciting it is when the grape
boats come sailing into the arbor." (10/26/72)
"The largest dinosaur that ever lived was the Bronchitis.
It soon became extinct...it coughed a lot." (12/11/72)
"Ten milligrams equals one centigram...ten decigrams equals
one gram...ten grams equals one grampa." (12/13/72)
"He was a very rich cowboy. He had a car and a horse. He
kept his car in the carport, and he kept his horse in the
horseport." (3/21/73)
"Butterflies are free. What does this mean? It means you
can have all of them you want." (5/4/73)
"English theme: Vandalism as a Problem Today.
Who is the leader of these vandals?
I will tell you: they are encouraged by Evandalists." (5/7/73)
"This is my report on rain. Rain is water which does not
come out of faucets...after a storm, the rain goes down the
drain, which is where I sometimes feel my education is
also going." (11/7/73)
[A history report on Ancient Greece]
"Ancient Greece was ahead of its time, and before our
time. They had no TV, but they had lots of philosophers.
I, personally, would not want to sit all evening watching
a philosopher." (5/1/74)
"History of France: A Report on Cardinal Rishhalleouoooo."
(2/6/75)
"Today is the observance of Washington's birthday.
Actually, his real birthday is not until this Saturday.
There is a reason for this. He could not wait to open
his presents." (2/17/75)
"When writing about church history, we have to go back
to the very beginning. Our pastor was born in 1930."
(9/4/75)
"I'm going to try to sign up for a course in theology...I
want to learn all about religion. I want to learn about Moses,
and St. Paul, and Minneapolis." (9/3/75)
"I don't care anything about past participles; they don't
interest me. How about present-day participles?" (2/17/76)
"This is my report on Dick Moby."
[Charlie Brown informs her that this is wrong. She considers, then says...]
"How about Richard Moby?" (5/24/76)
"Light travels at a speed of 186,000 miles per second...so
why are afternoons so long?" (6/1/76)
"Some people are right-handed...some people are
left-handed...some people are able to use both hands with
equal ease. Such people are called handbidextrous." (10/17/76)
"Literature quiz: When did Mark Twain write 'Tom
Sawyer'? If I know him, probably in the evenings."
(4/6/78)
"You know where King David wrote his psalms?
Under a psalm tree!" (4/13/78)
"Sir Walter Scott's most famous novel was Ivanhohoho."
(4/19/78)
"King Tiglath-Pileser of Assyria conquered many
nations, and carried off their booty...this meant that
none of the little babies had any booties." (9/8/78)
"I'm writing a story for school. It's all about
Santa Claus and his rain gear." (12/18/78)
"This is the classic story of Peter Rabbit and his
coat of many colors." [to begin a book report] ... and,
later in that same strip, "Wait until tomorrow, when I
recite another classic, The Owl and the Fussy Cat." (9/23/79)
"I'm drawing a cow, but I'm having trouble with
the hoofseses." (9/10/80)
"The sea is a body of water that would like to
be an ocean." (1/21/81)
"This is my report on Halley's Comma. It's a very famous
comma -- he probably wrote home a lot." (3/6/81)
"There are seven continents: Africa, Asia, Australia,
Europe, North America, South America, and
Aunt Arctica." (5/25/81)
"Britain was invaded in the year 43 by Roman Numerals."
(10/6/84)
"The farmer had a large house and a big red barn. Behind
the barn the farmer had a pastor." (3/20/85)
"He was a very arrogant cowboy -- he would only ride
on pompous grass." (7/12/85)
"The recreation room had a huge brick fireplace.
The walls were covered with naughty pine." (8/20/86)
"`Tess of the d'Urbervilles,' by Laural N. Hardy"
[to begin a book report] (9/4/88)
[For a report on volcanos] "Life in the village was peaceful,
until the volcano interrupted." (5/15/90)
[About a memorized Bible verse] "Maybe it was something Moses said,
or something from the Book of Reevaluation." (6/18/99)
4.20) What is the name of the infamous "cat next door"
which slashes at Snoopy's doghouse?
World War II
4.21) What is the name of the town where Charlie Brown
and his friends live?
As far as "gospel" is concerned -- in other words, according
to the newspaper strip -- their exact geographic location is
intentionally left unknown, for the same reason that we never
see the little red-haired girl, or Linus' favorite schoolteacher.
This way each of us can imagine that Chuck, Snoopy, and the
rest live in our own community.
But...
Schulz slipped a few clues in, here and there. The first
came in the February 15, 1957, daily strip,
when Lucy shows Charlie Brown a trophy she has just won.
It identifies her as the "Outstanding Fussbudget of Hennepin
County." Well, sports fans, Hennepin County actually exists:
It's in Minnsota, specifically the county that includes
Minneapolis. (St. Paul is in neighboring Ramsey County.)
This should come as no surprise, since at the
time Schulz and his family still were living in Minnesota.
Uber-fan Don Weatherwax caught the next clue. The
1963 Determined book, SECURITY IS A THUMB AND
A BLANKET, has an intriguing cartoon (eighth from
the end, to be precise). The caption reads "Security is
having a home town," and the picture shows Linus
hugging a sign which states the following:
Pinetree Corners
Population 3,260
The illustration is clearly drawn by Charles Schulz,
so we're left to wonder whether "Pinetree Corners"
holds some special meaning, or the name was merely
supplied in response to the publisher's demands...
Perhaps even more interesting is an item called to my
attention by Nick Straguzzi. When the character of 5
is introduced, on Sept. 30, 1963, he explains that
his father has given everybody in his family numbers
instead of names. In the following day's strip (Oct. 1),
5 identifies the "family name" (last name) as 95472, and
even mentions that it's "...actually...our Zip Code number."
Well, 5 lives -- or lived, anyway, for a time -- in Charlie
Brown's neighborhood, and a reverse Zip Code directory
reveals that 95472 belongs to Sebastopol, California.
So...does that mean that Charlie Brown and his friends
live in Sebastopol?
Probably not. For one thing, it rarely snows, and the kids
clearly spend a lot of time in the white stuff every winter.
But it does seem that Schulz had a fondness for Northern
California in general, what with this oblique reference to
Sebastopol, and Snoopy's wrist-wrestling obsessions
with Petaluma, to name just one other. As a Northern
Californian myself, I have to admit that there are far
worse ways of being recognized...
And yet, the ties to Minnesota don't vanish completely.
As Tim Chow pointed out, the March 23 1984, strip
(reprinted in "The Way of the Fussbudget Is Not Easy")
finds Peppermint Patty losing her homework to a severe
windstorm. Among other things, she notes that "...my English
theme was last seen on Selby Avenue, and my history paper
is now flying over Highland Park." St. Paul, Minnesota, turns
out to have a Selby Avenue and Highland Park...and while it's
undoubtedly not the only American town with that distinction,
Schulz's link to St. Paul is well known. In fact, Schulz was
born at the corner of Selby and Snelling in St. Paul, above
what is now O'Gara's Bar and Grill.
As fan Tony Hill pointed out, Schulz rode the Selby Avenue
streetcar to Central High School.
The November 12, 1991, daily strip shows
Linus in bed, with a pennant hanging on his wall that honors
the "Sharks." As pointed out by Chris Lee, this probably was
Charles Schulz's subtle way of honoring the San Jose Sharks,
a National Hockey League team whose exploits the artist most
certainly would have followed, as a Northern California resident.
So does this point to the kids living in Northern California?
Again, not necessarily...after all, Linus could have picked
up such a pennant while attending a game, and brought it back
to wherever he really lives!
4.22) Where do the kids go to school?
Like many other "facts" in the Peanuts universe, this
deceptively simple question triggers a multiplicity of
answers.
The first official acknowledgement of a school name
came in the April 16, 1981, strip (reprinted in "You're
Weird, Sir"); it quite clearly shows Linus entering the
James Street Elementary School. If we therefore assume
that Linus, Charlie Brown, Sally, Lucy, Schroeder and
a few others attend classes in the same place, then this
would seem to be their school. This information is
consistent with a strip from all the
way back in 1952 - August 14 - in which Schroeder tells
Charlie Brown that his address is 1770 James Street (and
he can remember the number because that's the year Beethoven
was born).
(It has been established that Peppermint Patty, Marcie,
Roy and Franklin attend a different school together,
but we don't yet know its name.)
Unfortunately...it's not that simple.
The January 22, 1986, daily strip (reprinted in "By
Supper Possessed) shows Charlie Brown and Sally riding
a schoolbus with the upper portion of the letters PINEC
visible on the side of the bus. A few years later, in the
January 8, 1990, strip (reprinted in "Make Way for the
King of the Jungle"), this apparently new school name
was verified, as Linus told Sally that they were (as usual)
riding the school bus to Pinecrest Elementary School.
So what happened? We do know, from her days of
talking to her school building, that a horrified Sally
once confronted the brick-strewn rubble that had been
her school, after it quietly tumbled down. (It had "had all
it could take.") For awhile, during the transition, Sally
and everybody else apparently attended Peppermint
Patty's school (where Charlie Brown wound up sharing
a desk with the "rare gem," with limited success).
Could it be that, rather than returning to James Street
Elementary, they all went "back" to a different school,
specifically Pinecrest?
Nice thought...except that the tired school building
"committed suicide" on January 9, 1976...which means
that, five years later, the kids were already in James
Street Elementary.
Just to further muddy the waters, the June 1, 1986, Sunday
strip shows Charlie Brown walking into ... Ace Elementary
School.
And, so, the mystery remains: Where DO they attend school?
Beats me...
(To make matters even worse, in the television
specials the kids attend Birchwood Elementary School.
While the TV specials are not "canonical," this seems
a needless bit of additional confusion...)
4.23) Are Marcie and Clara one and the same?
Tim Chow and I have argued amiably over this question
for a long time, so it seems only fair to open the discussion.
The facts: In the summer of 1968, Peppermint Patty
becomes tent monitor for a trio of little girls, during a
summer camp session. The girls are introduced on
June 18, 1968: Sophie, Clara and Shirley. Clara bears
a strong resemblance to the character we would later
know as Marcie, with two key distinctions: she's
shorter (and therefore younger), and her eyes show
through the lenses of her glasses.
Peppermint Patty returns to summer camp in 1971,
and in the strip dated July 20, 1971, she meets
a still smaller -- and therefore younger -- girl who now
looks even more like Marcie, because her eyes no longer
show through her glasses. She also displays the quite
Marcie-like trait of addressing Peppermint Patty as
"Sir." She remains unnamed in this sequence,
however, and does not reveal her name until an
adventure later that year, when she visits Peppermint
Patty at home for a spirited round of Ha-Ha Herman.
Peppermint Patty refers to her as "that weird little
kid from camp" -- once again suggesting a difference
in ages -- and Marcie finally gives her name a few strips
later, when she identifies herself to Sally in the strip
dated October 11, 1971.
Okay, now the speculation: we all know that Marcie
and Peppermint Patty have "become" the same age,
since they're in the same class in school. This is not
unusual in Schulz's world; characters "rapidly age"
all the time, so as to better fit in with the other kids.
(This issue is even addressed in another question.)
So, on the subject of age, it's certainly possible that
"Clara" could have become "Marcie."
More to the point, if Marcie is "that weird little kid
from camp," there's a strong suggestion that she
may, indeed, be a slightly different Clara. We cannot
escape the fact that Clara and Marcie look so much
alike, and this has never really happened before...except
with Linus and Rerun, who as brothers SHOULD look
similar. Schulz could have changed his mind about
Clara/Marcie's name, and why not? It wouldn't be
the most unusual thing he'd ever done.
But Tim, bless him, can point to evidence which
strongly suggests that Clara and Marcie ARE two
different characters: the fact that they appear at the
same time -- although never together in the same
panel -- in a much later storyline. Peppermint Patty
and Marcie both become summer camp swimming
instructors in 1987, and in the strip dated July 16, 1987,
Peppermint Patty shows the camp lake to her students...
one of whom is identified as Clara a few strips later.
(These strips can be found in "If Beagles Could Fly.")
But I remain unconvinced. This newer Clara looks
NOTHING like the original Clara; she no longer has
glasses at all, and now she has a bow on her head.
Yes, the hairstyle is similar to Marcie's, but still...
So, in effect, we have a choice: either Marcie's name
was changed, or Clara's entire appearance was changed.
Or both.
And there the matter stands: a mystery, pure and simple.
What do you think?
4.24) The football gags
Of all the running jokes with which poor ol' Charlie Brown
has been associated, none has a richer history -- nor a longer
one -- that his attempts to kick the football.
The fourth quarter of each year brought Halloween,
Thanksgiving, Christmas and Lucy's latest clever little
ruse to persuade Charlie Brown to try one more time ... and
her equally creative excuse for yet another failure.
With just a few exceptions, these Sunday strips
appeared every September or October after the strip
hit its stride in the late 1950s. That's a lot of decades, and
a lot of excuses ... which probably explains why Schulz
skipped a few years, here and there. Can we blame him
for not having come up with a new scheme every year???
But how did it all begin?
Believe it or not, with Violet, rather than Lucy.
Yep, Charlie Brown's very first failed kick took place when
Violet held the ball for him, in the 11/14/51 daily
strip. Clearly worried that he might accidentally kick her
hand, she pulls away at the last second while saying,
"I can't go through with it!"
Lucy's involvement began with the 11/16/52 Sunday strip. This was
shortly after Lucy had been introduced, when she still looked
(and was) several years younger than Charlie Brown. Aside from
that, all the classic elements were in place ... and, as she
pulled the football away at the last second, she explained,
"I was afraid your shoes might be dirty."
But this concept did not become a regular, annual feature
until 12/16/56, by which time Lucy had "grown" and
become Charlie Brown's peer. Beginning with this strip, and
nearly every year since, we've been treated to yet another
wonderful reason for Charlie Brown's failure.
What follows is a dated list of these strips, along with the
reason for Chuck's flat-on-his-back disgrace. Unless
otherwise indicated, the speaker is always Lucy.
"I'll give you a million dollars (to try again)."
(12/16/56 -- Needless to say, she didn't)
"I'm a changed person ... isn't this a face you can trust?" (9/22/57)
"I give you my bonded word." (9/21/58)
"You have to learn to be trusting..." (10/4/59)
"The odds now are really in your favor!!" (10/16/60)
This time, Chuck himself pulls back at the last moment,
expecting to catch Lucy in the act. This prompts her to
say, "Don't you trust anyone any more?" He then tries
for real, with predictable results. (9/10/61)
Charlie Brown works himself into this old loop: "This time
she knows I know she knows..." (9/30/62)
"A woman's handshake is not legally binding." (9/1/63)
"Peculiar thing about this document ... it was never notarized." (10/4/64)
(Lucy seems to be dozing.) "We fanatics are light sleepers,
Charlie Brown." (10/17/65)
The ball is jerked away by a chance muscle spasm ...
a "ten-billion-to-one" muscle spasm. (9/25/66)
Lucy promises a surprise: The results are the same, but then she says,
"Would you like to see how that looked on instant replay?" (10/1/67)
"Look at the innocence in my eyes." (9/29/68)
(Lucy cries over his lack of faith.) "Never listen to a woman's tears,
Charlie Brown." (9/28/69)
"How long, O Lord?" Charlie Brown wails, flat on his back.
"How long? All your life, Charlie Brown ... all your life." (10/11/70)
"This year's football was pulled away from you through the
courtesy of women's lib." (9/26/71)
He tries to hedge his bets by seeking advice at Lucy's psychiatric
booth, but... "Unfortunately, Charlie Brown, your average psychiatrist
knows very little about kicking footballs." (10/8/72)
Lucy beguiles him with a riddle: "What are the three things in life that
are certain?" "Death and taxes," he muses, running, "and..." (11/11/73)
She shows him a theater-style program that guarantees success, but...
"In every program, Charlie Brown, there are always a few last-minute
changes." (10/13/74)
She accuses him of mistrusting all women, including his mother.
"I'm not your mother, Charlie Brown." (10/19/75)
She tells him she's going to pull it away, but he seems not to hear her.
"Men never really listen to what women are saying, do they?" (9/12/76)
"Just watch my eyes." (But she wears sunglasses.) (10/9/77)
She gives him a banana before he begins his run, which initially puzzles him.
"Bananas are high in potassium, Charlie Brown, which promotes healing
of muscles." (10/1/78)
In 1979, Charlie Brown winds up in the hospital for surgery. In a fit of
desperation, Lucy promises not to pull the football away the next time,
if only he'll get better. Well, he obviously gets better, and all the
neighborhood kids await the results. This multi-week "novelette"
climaxes in the 8/2/79 daily strip, when she doesn't pull the ball away ...
but Charlie Brown misses and kicks her arm instead!
By the following year, though, Lucy is up to her usual tricks:
"To every thing there is a season ... and a time to pull away the football." (11/16/80)
"Again, Charlie Brown ... and again, and again and again." (11/29/81)
She mutters vaguely about symbolism, but still pulls the ball away.
"Somehow, I've missed the symbolism," he says.
"You also missed the ball, Charlie Brown," she replies. (10/10/82)
What seems something of a climax: Charlie Brown rebels and walks
away, emphatically saying, "I'm just glad you're the only person in
the world who thinks I'm dumb enough to fall for that trick again."
But, in the last panel, he sees more footballs held by Snoopy,
Woodstock, Sally, Peppermint Patty and Marcie. This strip appears
on the back cover of I'M NOT YOUR SWEET BABBOO (but not
inside, oddly enough) and also in
YOU DON'T LOOK 35, CHARLIE BROWN. (10/16/83)
A rare stand-alone daily strip: During a phone call in which
Peppermint Patty complains about Marcie's lack of sports ability,
she (Peppermint Patty) concludes by saying, "She'll never be
a football player ... some people never learn, do they?"
Hearing Lucy calling him from outside, where she's holding
the football yet again, Charlie Brown truthfully answers,
"No, we don't." (10/13/84)
And, for a few years, it seemed as though that would be it. 1984 and
1985 passed without our annual Sunday treat. But the gimmick returned in
1986, although the pattern had become a bit different. Henceforth,
rather than being tricked into trying to kick the ball, Charlie Brown
simply approaches this annual rite of humiliation as though it were
an obligation ... along the lines of attending church each Sunday.
The excuses, and Lucy's remarks, became more introspective and
philosophical.
"You look forward all year to a special moment, and before you
know it, it's over." (10/19/86)
(She checks a pocket calendar.) "This is the only time I can
really fit you in." (10/4/87)
"It's so sad ... eventually everything in life just becomes routine." (10/23/88)
"Think how the years go by, Charlie Brown ... think of the regrets
you'll have if you never risk anything..." (10/1/89)
"I've been reading this book about holding the ball," she insists,
in an early panel. But, then... "I wrote the book, Charlie Brown." (9/29/91)
"I've discovered," Sally comments, as she watches this annual ritual,
"that love makes us do strange things."
"So does stupidity," her brother explains, wanting her to
understand the distinction. (10/11/92)
Lucy proudly displays a new ball, but... "It suddenly occurred to me that
if I let you kick it, it wouldn't be new anymore..." (10/3/93)
"How often do you think you can fool someone with the same
trick?" Sally demands, watching her brother walk outside.
"Pretty often, huh?" she says, a few panels later. (10/16/94)
"If she pulls the ball away," Charlie Brown promises, "I'll sue."
He's followed in the final panel by Snoopy in his Joe Attorney
outfit ... and, in an unexpected development, we don't see him miss!
(Neither do we see him succeed.) (10/29/95)
"Symbolism, Charlie Brown! The ball! The desire! The triumph!
It's all there!" (10/20/96)
"People change ... times change ... you can feel it in the air." (9/21/97)
"I have a new positive attitude," Charlie Brown announces.
"I can't believe it," Lucy replies. "...you talk the talk and you walk the walk."
And then, after the inevitable...
"But you don't kick the kick." (11/15/98)
Forced to retire from the field to eat lunch, Lucy leaves the
football in Rerun's capable hands. When he walks into the house
a few minutes later, she demands to know what happened.
"You'll never know," the little fellow answers,
at which point she wails with frustration.
(And we don't know, either!) (10/24/99)
And that, of course, is where it stopped. We're left to wonder if,
during that final attempt, ol' Chuck actually WAS successful...
4.25) My class/church/drama group is putting on a
production of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown,"
and one of the characters is named Patty. Is this the
same person as Peppermint Patty? And, if not, who
is this Patty person?
No, Patty is not the same as Peppermint Patty.
As the only neighborhood girl when the strip debuted
in 1950, Patty had her hands full for awhile. She was
Charlie Brown's sole tormentor in the early days, until
Violet (another character you don't see currently) showed
up a few months later. Separately, the two were unremarkable:
Patty had many of the bossy tendencies that Lucy would
eventually inherit, while Violet was initially quite the little
Suzy Homemaker (her specialty: mud pies). But once teamed
during the mid-1950s, they became a terrible force to behold.
Poor Charlie Brown rarely stood a chance when both ganged
up on him simultaneously, and their collective cruelty often
transcended even Lucy's verbal abuse.
Ultimately, this one-note personification meant doom for
both girls; absent little brothers or psychiatrist's booths,
neither Patty nor Violet would depart the 1960s with any
delightful quirks or positive traits. Banishment to the
Home for Retired Characters quickly followed, although
not until after "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" had
made its debut ... which is why Patty is included among
the cast members.
Along with Shermy and Frieda ("with the naturally curly
hair"), Patty and Violet remain the most "important"
early characters who no longer surface very often. But the
two girls aren't completely gone; both make occasional
cameo appearances.
4.26) What can be found inside Snoopy's doghouse?
Trust me: This question was a blast to research.
Snoopy's doghouse, like the fourth-dimensional
tesseract dwelling in Robert A. Heinlein's classic 1940
short story, "And He Built a Crooked House" -- or like
Doctor Who's wonderfully spacious and cluttered TARDIS,
if your taste runs more toward the visual than the
printed medium -- seems to have a whole lot more space
inside than can be justified by its small exterior appearance.
Sharp-eyed Anthony Rupert deserves a shout-out here, for catching
a few that I missed.
Over the years, all sorts of unusual items and rooms have
been cited as being part of this fascinating structure, which
also was destroyed and rebuilt several times, apparently
without altering any of these wonderful properties. It
probably all started with the 11/19/51 daily strip, in which
Charlie Brown mentions that "everybody is buying television
sets these days, and in the last panel we see a TV antenna
perched on the roof of Snoopy's doghouse. About a year later,
in the 10/19/52 Sunday strip, we actually see Snoopy watching
TV. The doghouse's ingenious interior design hadn't yet kicked in,
though, because Snoopy's tail and hind end can be seen
poking out of the doghouse, as if the TV set were occupying
all the remaining space.
Things got interesting again with the 5/12/53 daily strip, where
Snoopy is shown to occupy a "duplex": His dog house
has a secondary structure fastened to the roof that looks
very much like a birdhouse (and this was years before
Woodstock appeared).
By the 1/31/54 Sunday strip, the house had achieved its
mysterious spaciousness: It is revealed to have a "recreation
room," and five of the neighborhood kids pile in without
too much trouble.
From this point forward, we learn of (or see) the following:
*) An air-conditioning unit...and a door, to keep in the cold
air! (8/10/56)
*) A phonograph (i.e. LP record player) (10/11/58)
*) Sufficient space to allow SEVEN kids to pile in, much
the way telephone booths were stuffed (5/18/59)
This house was destroyed after hitting a tree, the results of
a furious blanket chase between Linus and Snoopy, in the
7/26/59 Sunday strip.
Before we learned of any other special features, Snoopy's
home was destroyed again, this time by a huge icicle, in
the 2/13/60 daily strip. From this point forward, however,
things really got interesting, and we discovered that the house
contained...
*) A guest room (10/21/61)
*) A pipe and deerstalker hat (1/28/62)
*) A basement, which "gets flooded when it rains." (11/9/62)
*) A den (1/5/63)
*) A closet with a faulty latch that spills everything onto
the ground, as with Fibber McGee's closet. (2/16/63)
*) The aforementioned television and a clock radio, both
hooked up to an in-built electrical outlet. (12/22/63 Sunday)
*) Carpeting. (2/25/64)
*) The beloved Van Gogh. (2/29/64, and mentioned several more times)
*) A pool table (6/22/64)
*) A stairway, and boxes of empty soda bottles. (6/24/64)
*) Closets, as in more than one. (6/26/64)
*) Floors (which need polish), closets and counter tops. (6/29/64)
*) Fluorescent lights in the library (8/24/64)
*) A mural on the ceiling, painted by Linus (9/21/64)
*) A ping pong table (11/20/64)
*) A potted philodendron. (11/23/64)
*) A basketball hoop and net, mounted on the outside. (3/21/65 Sunday)
*) A shower, which bespeaks indoor plumbing. (4/21/65)
*) A mural, a pool table, a library and fluorescent lighting. (6/26/65)
*) Silver candlesticks. (1/27/66)
*) A grandfather clock. (3/6/66 Sunday)
*) A cedar closet. (9/10/66)
Disaster struck when a fire burned Snoopy's house to the
ground on 9/19/66. Among the many items he lost, we also
learned of numerous books and records (those things people used
before CDs) and, on 9/28/66, a pair of pinking shears. This
series of strips generated considerable reader interest, and
countless fans wrote in to express their condolences.
The new house wasn't long in coming, and Snoopy eagerly
examined plans that included ceramic tile and a stairway (9/30/66).
And while the Van Gogh went up in flames, it soon was
replaced by an Andrew Wyeth painting (11/4/66). And, in no
time at all, the new living quarters soon came to be just as
equipped as the preceding house:
*) A set of dominoes. (4/29/67)
*) A photo album of every supper dish that Snoopy has owned. (8/25/67)
*) A postage meter. (1/5/68)
*) A servant's entrance. (2/24/68)
*) A teakettle (implying a stove). (5/14/68)
*) A picture of Tiny Tim. (9/10/68)
*) A stereo. (11/3/68)
*) A stained-glass window. (12/20/68)
*) A carpeted front hall. (2/23/69)
*) A bottle of cologne. (1/21/70)
*) A color TV set. (6/20/70)
*) A waffle iron. (10/17/70)
*) A supply of TV dinners. (10/24/70)
*) Electric socks. (11/19/70)
*) A formal suit for a turn-about dance. (12/1/70)
*) A whirlpool bath. (10/10/71)
It's worth mentioning that the's doghouse is destroyed again
during a sequence that climaxes on March 21, 1974, when Peppermint
Patty finally learns that Snoopy is a beagle, rather than a "funny-
looking kid with a big nose." We can assume that the doghouse is rebuilt
to all prior specifications, but -- for the most part -- the notion
of this dwelling's huge interior, and all its contents, quietly faded into the
background by the end of the 1970s. Subsequent references were fewer
and further between.
*) A downstairs refrigerator. (8/9/75)
*) A CB radio. (4/25/76)
*) An automatic door. (8/26/78)
*) A fishing pole, a hat and one wading boot. (8/28/79)
*) An electric train set (12/11/81)
*) Bunk beds. (6/7/98)
Although not canonical, I should mention that this concept
was included when the interior of Snoopy's house is shown
in the television special "It's Magic, Charlie Brown." Here we
learn that Snoopy's digs include a room with exercise
equipment, sports equipment, lockers, awards and trophies;
and a lab with a bunsen burner, flasks and distillation equipment.
You gotta hand it to him...Snoopy obviously knows where to
look for the best architects and interior designers!
4.27) How are natural laws violated in the world of Peanuts?
Folks who grew up with Warner Brothers cartoons - specifically
those involving the Coyote and the Roadrunner -- will recognize
this scene (and its many variations): Scrambling to follow his
prey around a tight curve, the Coyote misjudges his momentum
and winds up standing in empty space ... but he doesn't plunge
into the canyon below until AFTER he looks down and realizes
that he's "floating on air."
This common example of "cartoon physics" -- behavior that
breaks known natural laws, invariably in pursuit of a good
sight gag -- recently prompted a group of folks in
the alt.comics.peanuts Internet newsgroup to cite examples
of "Peanuts physics." We can't take credit for any of these,
but the best certainly are worth repeating. Their authors are acknowledged.
Can you think of others? I welcome readers to submit suggestions
for additional examples of "Peanuts physics," and I'll add the
good ones to the list.
*) An arm raised above the head is longer than an arm at rest. ("Buzz Haircut")
*) A body put into motion by impact with a small spherical
object shall not come to rest until all outer clothing has
become separated from it. ("Alley Assassin")
*) Beagles can transport themselves fast enough, with uneven weight
distribution concentrated in the cranial area while holding a tennis
ball, over weeds that normally would not withstand the most minute
stress from a human finger. (Katrina Constantino, referencing Snoopy's
ability to walk on the tippy-tips of weeds.)
*) Bodies in motion (human or canine) bearing a blanket become
smaller, and by extension more flexible, when passing through
an opening whose size is less than their combined area. ("Buzz Haircut")
*) A body, when slugged, rotates 360 degrees or more about
a horizontal axis. (Tim Chow)
*) The act of performing music generates physical objects
in the shape of musical notes. (Tim Chow) Similarly, beagles
and unidentified yellow birds may perch, sleep and even dance
upon these notes. (Alison Morrison)
*) Beagles can "climb" air as though using an unseen diving board,
thus to dive into a wading pool from a great height. (Chris Lee)
*) Beagles also can fly ... at least, those with airfoil-shaped
ears and the mutated musculature to rotate them at supernormal
velocity. ("Buzz Haircut")
*) Birds retain characteristics of their prehistoric ancestors,
including teeth and awkward flight patterns. (Dave Hardenbrook)
*) All bodies shall balance stably on a peaked doghouse roof. (Tim Chow)
*) Cactus needles decrease in sharpness and strength, in
direct proportion to the proximity of beagle skin ... or maybe
beagle skin becomes tougher. ("Buzz Haircut")
*) At a certain height above ground level, air pressure increases
to the point where a kite easily can lift a child. ("Buzz Haircut")
*) A helium balloon will, upon release, fly around of its own
accord and return to the holder, if asked nicely. (John Merullo)
*) Characters age according to whatever rules of space-time
are most convenient. (Jeff Sharman)
*) A child attempting to kick a football that has been pulled
away shall describe a parabolic trajectory in the air. (Dave Hardenbrook)
*) The forward velocity of a beagle creates a force
that is equal to the gravitational pull exerted on and by
a child holding a flannel blanket, such that the child can be
suspended at a constant height above the ground. The time
required to achieve said velocity is variable, with the minimum
being a nose-length away from the seated child and blanket.
Finally, the deceleration from said velocity is such that the
child shall return to earth unharmed. (Julian McCarthy)
*) All human beings above the age of 9 are invisible. (Dave Hardenbrook)
*) Kites will not remain aloft unless given the additional
incentive of a threatening shout from Lucy Van Pelt. (Fred Zicard)
*) A kite will become attracted to, and become tangled within,
the nearest tree. (James H. Vipond) Said trees are not only
sentient beings, but also are capable of digesting aerodynamic
objects composed of thin plastic with a wooden framework. (Dave Hardenbrook)
*) Neural impulses can both pass through and originate from
solid brick, if said brick is part of the exterior wall of
an elementary school building. ("Buzz Haircut")
*) Producing music not in the key of C Major -- or its related minor, A, which
also has no sharps or flats -- is possible on
a toy piano whose black keys are nothing but paint. (Dave Hardenbrook)
*) A sheet of paper slapped on someone's face shall impale
itself neatly on the nose. (Tim Chow)
*) Upon reaching a critical size, a blown bubble of chewing
gum will exhibit an upward force equal to the weight of
the bubble-blower. ("davnkira")
*) Vicious felines may sculpt doghouses into arbitrarily
complex shapes with a single slash. (Tim Chow)
*) Volume, or perception of volume, increases within the
boundaries of a doghouse, water dish, bird's nest or
bird bath. ("Buzz Haircut")
*) When a beagle adopts the character of a vulture, his
weight can be carried harmlessly on the tiny branches of
bushes and small trees. (Alison Morrison)
*) When a beagle walks on two feet instead of four, its
front paws become hands and it can sit upright as human
beings do. (James H. Vipond)
*) Yelling -- particularly the words, "You blockhead!" - can
produce sufficient wind energy to cause a child to tumble
head-over-heels. (Dave Hardenbrook)
*) Gravity can be suspended by fear of Lucy Van Pelt.
(Katrina Constantino, referencing Snoopy's ability to stop
his dive into a wading pool, when Lucy tells him to keep out.)
4.28) To what uses has Linus' blanket been put over the years?
Both as a result of his own ingenuity, and as a frequent means
of self-defense -- from big sister Lucy or his blanket-hating
grandmother -- Linus has been very creative with his blanket,
pretty much from the beginning.
The blanket first adopted its signature use "for security" on
October 17, 1954, and of course that remained its primary
function from that point forward. But not quite two years later,
ordered to be a bit more stylish while walking with Violet,
the little guy executed a few deft flips and twirls, and
suddenly the blanket transformed into a neck scarf (much
like that Snoopy eventually would wear, when adopting his
guise as the WWI Flying Ace).
Schulz had found a new running gag, and he made the most of it
over the years. Before proceeding with the list, though, I'll
segregate a few cases that were the result of Lucy's unwanted
interference (and therefore cannot really be attributed to
Linus' creativity):
*) a quilt for Lucy's doll's bed (she cut a square out from
the middle of the blanket; 11/5/59)
*) various representational shapes for a "flannelgraph"
(Lucy at work with her scissors again; 3/19/61)
*) flannel squares to clean Linus' glasses, during the short
period he wore them (Lucy and her scissors, yet again; 2/21/62)
*) Lucy's kite (which began the blanket's odyssey around the
world; 6/12/62)
*) an origami-style penguin (3/7/63)
Additionally, Snoopy and Woodstock were responsible for ... ah ...
imaginatively recreating the blanket a few times:
*) a parachute, used by Snoopy (9/17/61)
*) two sports coats, one for Snoopy and one for Woodstock (11/9/71)
*) a hospital robe for Spike (8/16/75)
The remaining transformations, however, can be credited solely to Linus:
*) a cowboy's neckerchief (4/23/56)
*) a stylish neck scarf (5/18/56)
*) a bullfighter's cape (12/23/56)
*) a whip or insect swatter ("fastest blanket in the West") (9/18/58)
*) a pool table felt (3/19/59)
*) a hammock (12/6/59)
*) a big bow tie (3/23/60)
*) a slingshot (1/22/61)
*) second base, during a baseball game (3/31/61)
*) Dracula's cape (7/18/61)
*) an origami-style bunny (7/19/61)
*) a monster that hisses at Lucy and attacks her (the blanket's
own transformation, and the only time it becomes a sentient
creature) (3/12/65)
*) a "paper" airplane (6/23/68)
*) a cummerbund (1/22/87)
In the world of the television specials, Linus most famously
turned his blanket into a shepherd's headdress, in
"A Charlie Brown Christmas."
4.29) At what point did Snoopy quite definitely become Charlie Brown's dog?
Casual fans generally assume that Snoopy always has belonged
to Charlie Brown, at least since the beagle was returned to
the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm after briefly being taken home
by his first owner, a little girl named Lila (this story lending
itself to the second big-screen Peanuts film, "Snoopy Come Home").
But it didn't start out that way. When Peanuts first began
in late 1950, with its small roster of characters, Snoopy
was more a "neighborhood dog" who might pop up with any of
the newspaper strip's first stars: Charlie Brown, Patty or Shermy.
On October 25, 1950, for example, Snoopy can be seen eavesdropping
as Patty makes a call from her toy telephone ... which definitely
seems to be inside her house. In the November 7 strip that year,
Snoopy is in Charlie Brown's house; and on several
occasions Snoopy is shown keeping company with Shermy.
On February 2, 1951, Patty quite clearly tells Charlie Brown
that Snoopy lives in "that direction" ... which does NOT
point to Charlie Brown's house.
The first suggestion that Snoopy might have a specific connection
to Charlie Brown comes on April 11, 1951, when the beagle
shows up dressed in a zig-zag shirt just like Charlie Brown.
But even here, it's hard to be sure; Snoopy might simply be
making fun of poor ol' Chuck.
Stronger evidence comes September 12, 1951, when we see that
Charlie Brown has a picture of Snoopy in his room ... which
seems to suggest that the beagle is, at last, specifically
bonded with Chuck. (Or maybe not. A few weeks later,
Snoopy goes "home" ... to Shermy's house!)
On December 15, 1951, Charlie Brown repairs Snoopy's
doghouse ... which certainly suggests that our beagle's home
is in Chuck's yard. Unfortunately, on April 3, 1953, Patty
and Schroeder ask a passing Charlie Brown what color he thinks
THEY should paint Snoopy's house!
That latter incident notwithstanding, by 1953 Snoopy still is
visiting other kids in their homes, but there are no strong
indications that he lives with anybody except Charlie Brown.
On November 28, 1953, for example, Charlie Brown tells Snoopy
to go to bed, and both definitely are in Chuck's house.
But ambiguity creeps in once more. On December 5, 1954,
after slipping Snoopy a piece of candy that came from Pig Pen's
pocket, Charlie Brown says, "Psst ... Snoopy, ol' pal ... you'd
better come home with me, and have a drink of water." Take note
of the words "with me" ... one would think, if Snoopy lives with
Charlie Brown, that Chuck would simply say, "You'd better come home."
Finally, on October 15, 1955, Charlie Brown gives Snoopy some
food from the dinner table, while saying, "There you are,
old friend" ... a phrase that strongly suggests ownership.
A few weeks later, on November 1, Charlie Brown gives Snoopy
his dinner in front of the family TV set ... definitely in
Chuck's house. On November 3, Charlie Brown tells Violet that
"All the dogs in the city [now] have to be kept tied up." Violet
asks if he has tied up Snoopy, and Charlie Brown says
"Of course ... what else could I do?" Clearly, at this point,
Violet is identifying Snoopy as Charlie Brown's dog. And a few
weeks later, on November 18, Charlie Brown tells Patty that he
has Snoopy (who's no longer roped to a tree) "tied up with a
sense of obligation" ... another strong indication of ownership.
Feeding Snoopy becomes more of a habit; on December 8,
Charlie Brown tells Shermy that he'll be out in a minute,
after he "attends to the hound." On March 10, 1956, Charlie Brown
tells Lucy that Snoopy always brings his supper dish to him
when he (Snoopy) is hungry.
On December 14, 1956, Charlie Brown buys Snoopy a new collar
("...something more masculine"). On November 14, 1957, Charlie Brown
refers to Snoopy as "My pal" and says that "Everyone should have
a dog to greet him when he comes home."
And finally -- FINALLY -- we get the smoking gun on
September 1, 1958, as Charlie Brown is writing a letter
to his pencil-pal. As his faithful friend peers onto the
table to see what's going on, Charlie Brown adds,
"Oh, yes, I also have a dog named Snoopy. He's kind of crazy."
As of that moment, Snoopy is -- without question -- Charlie Brown's dog!
4.30) What type of bird is Woodstock?
Short answer: We've no idea. Schulz never told us.
But he did play around with the concept in several strips
that ran over an extended period of time, in which Snoopy
wondered if his little friend might be a variety of
different birds, and Woodstock attempted to imitate each.
It started with a crow (May 11, 1979), and then, more than
a year later, Snoopy gets serious on September 13, 1980,
by checking his "Guide to Birds." He first suggests that
Woodstock might be an American bittern, and several strips
follow during which dog and bird buddy imitate the noises of
various species: a Caroline wren (September 22, 1980),
a rufous-sided towhee (September 24, 1980),
a yellow-billed cuckoo (September 29, 1980),
a Canada goose (October 1, 1980), a warbler (October 3, 1980) and a
mourning warbler (October 9, 1980). Snoopy finally gives up
trying to figure it out, and hurts Woodstock's feelings
by saying, "For all I know, you're a duck" (October 11, 1980).
Snoopy takes it back with a quick hug, at which point it
becomes clear that it doesn't matter what type of bird
Woodstock is; the only important fact is that he's Snoopy's best friend.
Many of the strips cited above can be seen in the collections
HERE COMES THE APRIL FOOL and DR. BEAGLE AND MR. HYDE. Sadly, many
others remain unreprinted, including the one that mentions
the "Guide to Birds."
It's also worth noting, as my buddy Tim Chow pointed out,
that Schulz toyed with the concept that this was an acquirable
rather than an innate characteristic; that is, Woodstock could
grow up to be an eagle (!) if he did well enough at eagle camp.
(Apparently, that never happened...)
4.31) Which squadron does the WWI Flying Ace belong to?
Military personnel hit us with this question fairly frequently,
and I can appreciate it being near and dear to their hearts.
For the most part, Snoopy -- in his guise as the WWI Flying
Ace -- only refers to "my squadron" in the dozen or so strips
that discuss the issue. But once -- on April 16, 1968 -- he
specifically mentioned flying over Pont-a-Mousson as part
of the Eighth U.S. Aero Squadron. Stand tall!
5) THE TV SPECIALS
5.1) What was the first special, and when did it debut?
"A Charlie Brown Christmas" first aired on December 9, 1965. It won
the hearts and minds of everybody who watched it -- not to
mention several awards -- and has remained an annual staple ever
since.
5.2) Who voiced the characters in that first special?
Although the cast has -- out of necessity -- changed over
the years, as various children become too old for the
roles, many of us still have a soft spot for those first
pioneers. Thanks to Ray Hamel (by way of Scott McGuire), they are:
Charlie Brown -- Peter Robbins
Lucy Van Pelt -- Tracy Stratford
Linus Van Pelt -- Christopher Shea
Schroeder/Pigpen/Shermy -- Chris Doran
Patty -- Karen Mendelson
Sally Brown -- Cathy Steinberg
Frieda -- Ann Altieri
Violet -- Sally Dryer-Barker
Snoopy -- Bill Melendez
Yes, it's the same Bill Melendez who supervises the
actual animation...and he STILL voices Snoopy!
5.3) Has anybody compiled a list of TV specials, and
commented on their availability on video?
Scott McGuire maintains an outstanding list of animated specials,
with synopses and trivia, their original air-dates, and their
availability on video and DVD. His list can be reached at the
following web address:
http://web.mit.edu/smcguire/www/peanuts.html
or from the links on the Peanuts Collectors Club WWW page (see
answer to 1.2 above).
5.4) Are any of the TV specials still airing?
Cable's Nickelodeon now has the sole rights to most of the
animated specials -- including the 1980s Saturday morning series,
and lesser-known efforts such as THE BIG STUFFED DOG and THE GIRL
IN THE RED TRUCK -- and they can be seen infrequently during
the week, although the schedule changes periodically. (At the
moment, "infrequently" means not very often, alas.) Check
our Club website for up-to-the-moment information.
Nickelodeon does NOT, however, own broadcast rights to what
might be considered the "classic" holiday episodes, such as
A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS, A CHARLIE BROWN
THANKSGIVING, and IT'S THE GREAT PUMPKIN,
CHARLIE BROWN. After decades on the venerable CBS network,
these shows now "belong" to ABC, which (for now, anyway) has
promised to treat them with a bit more respect than CBS did
during the latter years of its contract. They'll still be
rolled out at the appropriate time of year.
5.5) Will there be more new specials? What are they,
and when will they air?
To further herald its acquisition of the classic Peanuts TV specials, ABC-TV commissioned A CHARLIE BROWN VALENTINE, the first new half-hour special to be televised in eight years. It aired on February 14, 2002, and delivered respectable ratings. It was followed by LUCY MUST BE TRADED, CHARLIE BROWN,
which debuted August 29, 2003.
The next one, I WANT A DOG FOR CHRISTMAS, CHARLIE BROWN -- which concerns
Rerun's efforts to get his own dog -- debuted in December 2003,
also on ABC-TV. It ran an hour, rather than just 30 minutes.
HE'S A BULLY, CHARLIE BROWN has been scheduled for
"the first half of 2006," which thus far is rather vague.
As soon as we get further details, we'll let you know!
5.6) Were soundtracks released?
Walt Disney's Buena Vista Records handled soundtracks for many of the early
Peanuts TV specials, and fans of Vince Guaraldi's music will find the albums
a delight; they're pretty much the entire show, minus the visual.
Soundtracks were issued in several different formats, although always on
vinyl; none of these has been re-issued on CD. Original release dates are
given, when known. Unless otherwise indicated, Guaraldi performed the music.
The information in this section comes from "The Golden Age of Walt Disney Records,
1933-1988," by R. Michael Murray; published by Antiques Trader Books, 1997.
*** Buena Vista 3700 LP series (Charlie Brown Records), issued with gatefold
covers containing booklets:
3701: A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS (10/78), red cover with Christmas bulbs and
the kids around a christmas tree.
3702: CHARLIE BROWN'S ALL-STARS (3/79), a white cover that features the kids on a pitcher's mound.
3703: HE'S YOUR DOG, CHARLIE BROWN (3/79), the cover shows Snoopy on his doghouse.
3704: IT'S THE GREAT PUMPKIN, CHARLIE BROWN (10/78), the cover shows Snoopy jumping over a pumpkin.
3705: YOU'RE IN LOVE, CHARLIE BROWN (6/79), the cover shows Charlie spraying a hose on Snoopy
*** Buena Vista 2600 LP series (Charlie Brown Records), a cheaper pressing release
of the 3700 series, with different covers. This series did not have gatefold covers or booklets:
2602: CHARLIE BROWN'S ALL-STARS (3/79), a yellow cover with team photo snapshots.
2603: HE'S YOUR DOG, CHARLIE BROWN (3/79), a cover that shows Charlie bringing a bowl
to a dancing Snoopy.
2604: IT'S THE GREAT PUMPKIN, CHARLIE BROWN (10/78), the cover shows Linus and Sally
in the pumpkin patch.
2605: YOU'RE IN LOVE, CHARLIE BROWN (6/79).
*** Buena Vista 400 series EPs
Charlie Brown Eps: These 33&1/3 EPs are 7 inches in diameter and continued the
LLP concept (which could refer to the phrase "little long play" records), with 24-page booklets.
401: A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS (10/77)
402: CHARLIE BROWN'S ALL-STARS (7/78)
403: HE'S YOUR DOG, CHARLIE BROWN (7/78)
404: IT'S THE GREAT PUMPKIN, CHARLIE BROWN (10/78)
405: YOU'RE IN LOVE, CHARLIE BROWN (10/78)
406: SNOOPY, COME HOME (1/80, big-screen film soundtrack;
music by Guaraldi, even though he didn't do the movie!)
407: IT'S YOUR FIRST KISS, CHARLIE BROWN (7/80, not Guaraldi)
408: YOU'RE A GOOD SPORT, CHARLIE BROWN (7/80)
409: IT'S A MYSTERY, CHARLIE BROWN (7/80)
410: IT WAS A SHORT SUMMER, CHARLIE BROWN (7/80)
411: YOU'RE THE GREATEST, CHARLIE BROWN (7/80, not Guaraldi)
*** The FLASHBEAGLE LPs
Disneyland 2500 series: 2518, FLASHBEAGLE (3/84, not Guaraldi)
Buena Vista 62500 series: 62518, FLASHBEAGLE (3/84)
45RPM single: 574, "Snoopy"/"Flashbeagle," by Desiree Goyette
5.7) TV commercials -- general information
Animator Bill Melendez, after working with Walt Disney, Leon
Schlesinger Cartoons (eventually Warner Brothers), and UPA (where
Mr. Magoo stumbled into things), joined Playhouse Pictures in
1955. This studio made mostly commercials, including the still
fondly remembered "It's a F-o-o-o-o-o-o-rd" dog.
When the granddaughter of a Ford advertising executive suggested
that the Peanuts characters promote Ford's new Falcon, Melendez
found himself introduced to Charles Schulz. An animated Charlie
Brown became an official Ford spokesman in late 1960 (in black-and-
white), and the rest of the gang followed almost immediately.
This was the Falcon's 1961 model year (the second year of the
Falcon's production).
Further information on this campaign comes from the April 2002
issue of Collectible Automobile (and I'm deeply indebted to
Howard White for sending this information along). Quoting from
page 55 of an article devoted to the 1960-65 Falcon, and
specifically in reference to the 1961 model:
"Falcon began one of the most successful automobile marketing
campaigns ever with its tie to the characters from Charles
Schulz's Peanuts comic strip. Just that name alone would
signify thrift. One of this writer's favorites from the
campaign had Charlie Brown asking piano prodigy Schroeder
if he knew that the Futura was the baby cousin of the
Thunderbird. Sitting at his keyboard, the young maestro
replied, 'No, but if you whistle a few bars, I'll fake it.'"
In late 1963, although the looks of the new 1964 Falcon were
considerably changed, Charlie Brown and his Peanuts friends
continued to appear in print and TV ads, and also in the folders
and deluxe print catalogs published for the car (and these
are a lot of fun to read through, with the Peanuts gang popping
up on every page or so, with very clever publicity slogans).
The kids continued to pitch Ford ads through at least 1964, when
they also "starred" in animated introductions to the Tennessee
Ernie Ford television variety hour (sponsored, of course, by
Ford).
Meanwhile...
San Francisco producer Lee Mendelson was putting together a
documentary titled A DAY IN THE LIFE OF CHARLES SCHULZ, and
decided he wanted an animated sequence. Naturally, Melendez got
involved; naturally, the two men became partners when the chance
came to make A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS.
Since those early Ford spots, the Peanuts gang have lent their
services (and reputations) to Dolly Madison, Weber's Bread,
Knott's Berry Farm, Friendly's Family Restaurants (for their
25th anniversary), and -- more recently and most successfully --
MET-Life Insurance. MET-Life, in particular, has done quite well
by the relationship, with literally dozens of different
commercials (and newspaper and magazine ads) produced. Nor
should we overlook Pig-Pen's stylish campaign for Regina
Vacuum Cleaners...definitely a case of getting the right man
for the job!
6) THE MOVIES
6.1) How many movies featured the Peanuts gang?
Four.
The first, A BOY NAMED CHARLIE BROWN, was released in 1969. Its
central story concerned Charlie Brown's initial success in a
local spelling bee, and his attempt to parlay that into national
fame. Although it has the benefit of being the only film to use
Vince Guaraldi's jazz themes, it also has the (questionable)
benefit of Rod McKuen's lyrics to the title song.
The second, 1972's SNOOPY COME HOME, featured Woodstock's big-
screen debut. The story is a lengthier take on the HE'S YOUR DOG,
CHARLIE BROWN television special: Snoopy decides life at home
could do with some improvements, so he and Woodstock take off to
find America.
The third, 1977's RACE FOR YOUR LIFE, CHARLIE BROWN, is the
weakest of the quartet. The story, involving a river-rafting race
between rival camp factions, would have been better served by a
(shorter) television special.
Happily, 1980's BON VOYAGE, CHARLIE BROWN concluded the series on
a happier note. Charlie Brown and some friends -- with Lucy
blissfully absent -- fly to France and make some new
acquaintances, and have an adventure in a spooky old manor. (It's
interesting to note that the TV special WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED,
CHARLIE BROWN is an unofficial epilogue to this film; both should
be viewed together.)
6.2) Are they available on video?
Absolutely, and you shouldn't have any trouble finding them. All
four films also turn up quite frequently on various pay-cable
channels.
6.3) Were soundtracks released?
Two of them, not that you're ever going to see one. Soundtrack
LPs were pressed for both A BOY NAMED CHARLIE BROWN
(Columbia Records, OS-3500) and SNOOPY COME HOME
(Columbia Records, S-31541), but neither has been re-issued on CD.
The albums are both quite scarce, command high secondary-market
prices, and are rarely in very good condition.
7) THE PLAYS
7.1) "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown"
Think you know your Peanuts plays?
Really?
Don't be so sure...
Singer/comedienne Kaye Ballard (perhaps best known, these days,
for starring in television's "The Mothers-in-Law" for two years
in the late 1960s) included some Peanuts-themed humor in her
nightclub acts of the early 60s, but even though Columbia issued
an LP with this material, it never really caught on.
In December of 1966, MGM's "King Leo" record label released
what may have been one of the first-known "concept albums,"
as we now understand the term. Called "You're a Good Man,
Charlie Brown," it was identified as "an original MGM Album
Musical based on Charles Schulz's Peanuts." Its 10 songs were
professionally arranged and orchestrated by Jay Blackton,
and the cast prominently featured "Orson Bean as Charlie
Brown." At the time, Bean was well known for stage work
and quite recognized as a panelist on game shows
such as "I've Got a Secret," "Keep Talking," and
"To Tell the Truth." Barbara Minkus (one of the repertory
players in television's "Love, American Style") played Lucy.
Bill Hinnant played Snoopy, and a relative unknown by
the name of Clark Gesner played Linus.
Minkus knew Arthur Whitelaw and saw to it that he
heard the album. Whitelaw contacted a friend, Gene
Person, and after securing permission from Charles
Schulz to expand upon this concept, the two encouraged
Gesner to write the outline for a musical play. The combination
of talent, luck and serendipity that eventually transformed
this "concept album" into the off-Broadway hit we know and
love so well is a fascinating tale, and we can only hope
that those involved eventually put the facts on paper, so that
we one day may read all about it.
But, in the meanwhile, we're left with a bit of Peanuts trivia
that you probably didn't know: This MGM album predates
the play! In other words, Gesner's music and lyrics existed
prior to their being "married" to the skits and dialogue that
eventually filled the spaces between the songs.
This MGM album contains only 10 songs, with their order
of performance completely different from that of the
play that followed. Not yet part of the package were
"The Book Report," "The Red Baron," "Queen Lucy"
and the "Glee Club Rehearsal."
YOU'RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN began what was to
become a truly phenomenal Off-Broadway run on March 7, 1967,
at New York City's Theater 80, St. Marks. The cast had gone into
rehearsal not even a month earlier -- February 10 -- without a
finished script. The show itself, as finally published, didn't
really "gel" until after it opened. Gary Burghoff -- later
to achieve fame as Radar O'Reilly in both the film and TV versions
of ``M.A.S.H.'' -- starred as Charlie Brown. The rest of the cast
included Bill Hinnant (again) as Snoopy, Reva Rose as Lucy,
Bob Balaban (an actor/director who appeared in "Absence of Malice"
and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," among others) as Linus,
Skip Hinnant as Schroeder, and Karen Johnson as Patty.
The show ran four years and 1,597 performances in New York,
fielded nine touring companies in cities such as Chicago,
Los Angeles, Washington D.C., London, and San Francisco,
and has become the most performed musical in the history
of American theater. (Not bad for a blockhead, hmm?) In
San Francisco, the cast was accompanied by a two-man band:
Don Sheffey (keyboards) and Earl Zindars (drums and percussion).
Whitelaw and Person produced 15 "sit down" productions in
the United States during the first two years, and six or seven
abroad.
The play was published in book form by Random House in
1967, in the small hardcover format similar to Holt, Rinehart
& Winston titles such as "Snoopy and the Red Baron,"
"I Never Promised You an Apple Orchard," and a few others.
Musician and lyricist Clark Gesner, in his foreword, introduced
this as the document resulting from "...ten songs, a few long
scenes, two producers, one small theater, six medium-sized
actors, one each of director, assistant director, writer, musical
supervisor, lighting designer, and scenic designer, and
ten years' worth of Charles Schulz's drawings."
Despite Gesner's carefully itemized list, the book actually
cites 13 songs, 12 of which wound up on the 1967 Original
Cast Soundtrack LP (MGM 1E-9 and S1E-9, mono and
stereo). The show's 13th song, "Glee Club Rehearsal," is
replaced on the album by "Queen Lucy," which is really
only a few exchanges of Act 1 dialog between Linus and
Lucy, set to a background theme.
Although "Glee Club Rehearsal" remains part of the
show as published and licensed by the Tams-Witmark
Music Library (to which professional and amateur
theater groups write when desiring to produce the play),
it was never issued on a soundtrack LP (at least, not until
the 1999 Broadway revival, about which more below).
That's a shame, since it remains of one the play's funniest
bits, as the kids squabble amongst themselves -- initially over
a pencil -- while singing a heartfelt rendition of "Home
on the Range."
Pickwick Records issued a Studio Cast LP (PC-3069
and SPC-3069, mono and stereo), with music conducted
by "Bugs" Bower and a cast which included Ron Marshall
(known at the time for his recordings on children's albums)
and Connie Zimet (with show credits in, among others,
"Guys & Dolls" and "South Pacific").
The album cover is rather droll, as it pictures -- rather
than any characters or performers -- the objects of primary
importance to Charlie Brown and his friends: the blanket,
the supperdish, the piano, the kite, the dog house, some
baseball equipment, and a lollipop (!). The liner notes are
pretty cute; here, for example, is what we learn about the kite:
The kite belongs to Charlie Brown. He has been
flying it for years. That is, he has been trying to
fly it for years. The kite doesn't seem to want to
leave the ground. Charlie Brown wants desperately
to get the kite into the air. To find out who wins in
this long, hard struggle, listen to band 5, side 1.
This recording presents the same 10 songs featured on
the original MGM Album Musical, and while the performances
aren't quite up to the previous two recordings, the LP is
certainly worth seeking in a used record store.
Zimet, one of the performers who worked on this album, happened
across this document in July 1999 and supplied the following
information, as One Who Was There:
"All of us on that album were basically studio/jingle singers.
Bill Dean (Linus) was a former Metropolitan Opera singer who
found monetary independence in the lucrative jingle field as all
of us did. Jim Campbell (Snoopy) became one of the main jingle
contractors by the end of the '60s and throughout the '70s and
early '80s. I, too, was a jingle singer/actress who'd been doing
theater professionally since age 8 but found my happiest milieu
to be studio work. Ron Marshall was a children's album mainstay.
We all were a kind of troupe (augmented by other studio singers)
that worked together on film sound tracks and did backup for
almost every major label as well as the kids' stuff -- most of that
for Pickwick and its subsidiaries, like Peter Pan -- besides singing
on almost every major jingle produced in New York in the
'60s, '70s and into the '80s.
"What you don't know is that all the performances on that album
were sight-read. We literally had 10 minutes or so to run each
song down and then record it. We literally worked off publisher
galleys, since the sheet music was just about to be released and
Pickwick would never have spent the money to have 10 songs
professionally copied just for the session. Those were the
smallest damn notes on a page I'd ever seen.
"On top of that, none of us had seen the show, nor had we
heard the other albums, although I knew Barbara Minkus and
knew she'd been on what I thought was the first studio album
of the show, with Orson and Skip.
"Clark Gesner was there for the entire recording which, if I
recall, we did on two consecutive afternoons in a studio
on W. 42nd Street down the street from a theater that was
playing ( I will never forget this title) a movie called "Kiss
My Whip." Clark produced, along with "Bugs" Bower.
"We had a good time on that session. Jim Campbell was a
hoot to watch doing Snoopy. We may not have been as polished
as the previous recordings, but we sure as hell were spontaneous
(and damn good sight readers.)
"I have no idea where my fellow studio compatriots are now,
or what they're doing. I'm still in "the biz," but more concentrated
in the field of voice-overs and based out of South Florida."
(Many thanks also to Ken Lieck, for giving me the
opportunity to hear this album.)
The version that genuinely made the play a household
name appeared as a Hallmark "Hall of Fame" special on
television, also produced by Whitelaw and Person. This
performance starred Wendell Burton as Charlie Brown;
the rest of the cast included Ruby Perrson as Lucy, Barry
Livingston (Ernie on TV's "My Three Sons") as Linus,
Mark Montgomery as Schroeder, Noelle Matlovsky as Patty,
and Bill Hinnant, once again, as Snoopy. (Obviously, he had
the part down cold.) This album has 15 cuts: the original 10
from the MGM Album Musical, plus "The Book Report" and
"The Red Baron," plus a reprise of the title song, an
Overture and some "Quick Changes" music. It was issued
by Atlantic Records (SD-7252) in 1973.
Kid Stuff Records released an album of "Songs from
YOUR [sic] A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN," about which
the less said, the better. Suffice it to mention that the vocal
talent of the Kid Stuff Repertory Company was roughly
on par with the company's spelling.
Whitelaw also cites Danish and French recordings of
the show, but no information is known about these albums.
Although Tams-Witmark owns the rights to the play itself,
a sheet music folio of vocal selections is available from MPL
Communications, distributed by the Hal Leonard Corporation.
This 48-page music book contains the words and music to the
most common 10 songs (as noted above for MGM's Studio
Cast album), along with three pages of black-and-white photos.
The most frustrating aspect of all this, though, is that only one
of these albums is currently available on CD. The original
off-Broadway cast recording was briefly released on CD --
Polydor 820 262-2 Y-1 -- but quickly went out-of-print...and stayed out of print for decades.
Finally, in late 2000, Decca Broadway released a re-mastered CD of the original 1967 off-Broadway cast album (Decca Broadway 012 159 851-2). In addition to all 14 tracks from the original LP, this release includes four bonus tracks taken from the never-before-heard 1966 demo record composer Clark Gesner sent to Charles Schulz in order to obtain permission to create the musical. The CD is accompanied by a 12-page booklet containing production photos, a show synopsis and an overview of the show's history.
This CD sounds great and the bonus demo tracks are really quite nice, sounding similar but simpler (since they were done with just a piano and two voices) than their final versions...and you're hearing the very music that Schulz heard when making a decision to give the musical the go-ahead!
How does this release differ from the RCA CD of the 1999 version of the Broadway revival? Many of the musical's songs were re-orchestrated for the 1999 version, whereas this CD contains the original versions. Plus, the Decca CD contains three tracks -- "The Red Baron", "Queen Lucy" and "Peanuts Potpourri" -- that aren't on the 1999 album. These three tracks aren't songs per se; they're spoken skits from the play. Both CDs are worth owning.
In spite of being "the most performed musical in the history of American
theater," for years and years the show couldn't catch a break with modern technology!
But all that changed, thanks to the 1999 Broadway revival and its CD score (RCA 09026-63384-2). This album includes the 10 original songs, plus "The Book Report" and the elusive "Glee Club Rehearsal," along with two new songs by musical supervisor Andrew Lippa: "Beethoven Day" (a showpiece for
Schroeder) and "My New Philosophy" (a bring-the-house-down
number for Sally, who in this production replaces Patty). As mentioned above, "Red Baron" is gone, along with a bit more of Gesner's original material; the rest has been re-orchestrated ... but it's still the show we've all grown
to love.
Sadly, Gesner never had another theatrical hit. His sole shot
at Broadway itself -- "The Utter Glory of Morris E. Hall" --
closed after exactly one performance, in May of 1979.
7.2) "Snoopy!"
In December 1975 -- not quite a decade after Charlie Brown
made his first stage appearance -- SNOOPY! debuted at San
Francisco's Little Fox Theater (which had housed San Francisco's
run of YOU'RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN).
It followed the same song-and-sketch format of its predecessor,
with simple sets and punchlines derived directly from the comic strip.
Larry Grossman wrote the music, Hal Hackady handled the lyrics,
and the book was credited to Warren Lockhart, Arthur Whitelaw
(who also directed), and Michael L. Grace.
There were character changes: Sally (Roxann Pyle) appeared instead
of Patty, and Peppermint Patty (Pamela Myers) replaced Schroeder.
Don Potter starred as Snoopy, with James Gleason as Charlie Brown,
Carla Manning as Lucy, and Jimmy Dodge as Linus. Woodstock
also made his (her?) stage debut, played in mime first by
Alfred Mazza, and later by elfin Cathy Cahn.
DRG Records released the Original Cast Soundtrack (DRG S-6103)
of this San Francisco production in 1975, which was later re-issued
on CD (and remains in print today). Aside from the orchestral
"Overture" and "Woodstock's Theme," the album contains 13 songs...
...one of which -- "Friend" -- is no longer part of the play!
Tams-Witmark also controls the rights to SNOOPY!
Nowhere in their 68-page script will you find any trace of "Friend,"
although -- as a quick listen to the soundtrack reveals -- it's
a perfectly delightful little tune. In point of fact, it originally
was the Act 1 finale, a role now filled by Snoopy's solo on
"Daisy Hill." This change was made when the play moved to
New York, as Charles Schulz did not believe that "Friend"
was quite up to the quality of the other numbers.
To make matters even more confusing, Chappell Music
Company's 64-page sheet music folio (with eight pages of
black-and-white photos) DOES include this song...while
deleting "Edgar Allan Poe," "The Vigil," "The Great Writer,"
and "The Big Bow-Wow."
But wait...it gets better!
After circulating through the United States like its predecessor,
SNOOPY! finally made it to New York six years later.
Another new song, "Hurry Up Face," was added to the
New York production when Lorna Luft took over the
role of Peppermint Patty. Another new number, "When
Do the Good Times Start," was written by Larry Grossman
and Hal Hackady for this New York run, but it remained
unused until Whitelaw was commissioned to direct a
London production, which opened at Newbury's Watermill
Theatre on August 2, 1983. The show opened to rave
reviews and ran at the Duchess Theatre for two years,
and then went on the road in England for another year.
Polydor Records issued an Original Cast Soundtrack of
this London production (S-820247-1). Teddy Kempner
starred as Snoopy, Robert Locke played Charlie Brown,
Zoe Bright played Lucy, Susie Blake played Sally,
Nicky Croydon played Peppermint Patty, Mark Hadfield
played Linus, and Anthony Best played Woodstock.
So, by the time the dust had settled, the play had "blossomed"
from its San Francisco origins with four new numbers: the
aforementioned Peppermint Patty solo, "Hurry Up, Face," and
a solo by Snoopy on "Mother's Day"; Lucy, Snoopy, Sally,
and Peppermint Patty with "Dime a Dozen"; and the entire
ensemble Act 1 closer, "When Do the Good Things Start?"
All came from Grossman and Hackady, and the play's
overture also was reworked slightly, to incorporate themes
from the new songs.
The new songs are delightful: every bit as charming and clever
as those which "survived" the San Francisco run. Consider the
lyrics to "Hurry Up Face," an ode in which Peppermint Patty
laments the tomboyish looks which (she believes) prevent her
from finding True Love:
Hurry up, face...make it snappy...come on, come on.
Fall into place...make me happy...come on, come on.
How long can I wait, face? I'm feeling the strain...
That you're running late, face...is as plain...as...
...the nose on my face...can you doubt it? Come on, come on.
Get on my case...how's about it? Come on, come on!
Show me your heart...is in the right place...
Come on, come on, come on...hurry up, face!
Won't you please try...try to hurry...how time has flown!
Years flying by...and I worry...I'll be alone!
You're falling behind, face...don't do this to me...
My mirror's not blind, face...it can see...that...
...you're losing the race...by a nose, so...get out the lead.
Hurry up, face...on your toes, go...full speed ahead!
Show me your heart...is in the right place...
One of these days, I'll bet...
You're gonna catch up yet...
So, on your mark, get set...hurry up, face!
(Gimme a break!)
The London cast CD was re-issued in 1998 and now is
readily available, so you can purchase both and check
out the differences for yourself! Many shows go through
modifications and flat-out changes during their early stages
(this happened constantly with the shows on which George
and Ira Gershwin worked), but we don't often get such an
opportunity to hear the results before and after.
For those desiring to "put on a show," Tams-Witmark also
includes a British version of the show and score, which
includes the sheet music to these additional songs.
8) THE MUSIC
8.1) What Vince Guaraldi CDs exist?
The late Vince Guaraldi, who scored the first 15 TV specials and
co-scored the first film, released three albums of his Peanuts
themes. Happily, all have remained quite popular, and were
quickly re-released as CDs ... and, just shy of the millennium,
were joined by a fourth.
The most popular is A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS, on the Fantasy
label (#8431). It includes all eleven songs from the album, plus
a previously unissued "bonus track" of "Greensleeves" (actually a
longer version of cut #2, "What Child is This"). This is what my
father always called "tasty jazz": a trio, with Guaraldi on
piano, Fred Marshall on bass, and Jerry Granelli on drums.
This album has been re-mastered and re-released a few times over
the years, notably in 2006 and 2012, both times with additional bonus tracks.
Next up is A BOY NAMED CHARLIE BROWN (not to be confused with the
soundtrack to the film of the same title), also on the Fantasy
label (#8430). This is Guaraldi's soundtrack to a television
"documentary" (available on DVD from the Charles Schulz Museum) which profiled
Charlie Brown and Charles Schulz. The CD includes all nine songs
from the album, plus a previously unissued "bonus track" of "Fly
Me to the Moon" (which has nothing to do with Peanuts, but is
certainly performed in the same style). This is once again
Guaraldi's trio, with Marshall and Granelli.
Guaraldi switched labels and styles for his third and final
Peanuts recording (during his lifetie). OH GOOD GRIEF! is
A short album on the Warner Brothers label, and is a much
richer sound, and more a product of the late "swinging '60s":
Guaraldi on piano/electric harpsichord, Carl Burnett on drums,
Stanley Gilbert on bass, and Eddie Duran on electric guitar.
Thirty years after that album, Fantasy released a "new," posthumous
collection of Guaraldi's Peanuts television themes. CHARLIE BROWN'S
HOLIDAY HITS also is a short album, and it repeats five cuts from
"A Boy Named Charlie Brown" and "A Charlie Brown Christmas."
But it includes no fewer than nine previously unreleased tracks:
"Joe Cool," "Surfin' Snoopy," "Heartburn Waltz," "Track Meet,"
"Charlie's Blues," "Great Pumpkin Waltz," the main theme to
"A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving," Guaraldi's cover of "Camptown
Races" and a vocal rendition of "Oh, Good Grief" by producer
Lee Mendelson's son, Glenn, and his sixth-grade class. (Who even
knew that song had lyrics???) Some of these "new" tracks are monaural
and sound a bit "raw," with the jump starts and quick fades of
unrefinished television cues, but who cares? Larry Kelp's extensive
liner notes include all sorts of great information, and the credits --
which appear to be accurate -- reflect a Who's Who of the personnel
with whom Guaraldi played all this wonderful music.
Summer 2003 saw the release of THE CHARLIE BROWN SUITE,
a new collection from Bluebird Jazz, thanks to the efforts of
Dave Guaraldi, Vince's son. The album's centerpiece is its
title track: a lengthy (40 minutes!) orchestration of six
familiar Peanuts themes, performed live as a multi-movement
suite. The album also includes a smashing version of
"Linus and Lucy" and a live rendition of "Cast Your Fate to the Wind."
In 2006 and 2007, Dave Guaraldi released two more CDs of his
father's Peanuts music, "The Lost Cues from the Charlie Brown
Specials," volumne 1 and 2. Both contain random tracks from
"A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving," "There's No Time for Love,
Charlie Brown," "You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown," "You're
Not Elected, Charlie Brown," "It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie
Brown," "Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown" and "It's a Mystery,
Charlie Brown." Some of the tracks are little more than background
music that doesn't "read" well on its own, but both albums have a
bunch of full-length compositions that will delight Peanuts music fans.
The spring of 2010 saw the Concord release of "Peanuts Portraits," a
collection of tracks themed to specific members of the Peanuts gang.
The blend of old and new tracks includes two prizes: alternate versions
of "Frieda (With the Naturally Curly Hair)" and "Schroeder," both running
quite a bit longer than their original appearances on the 1964 album
"A Boy Named Charlie Brown."
Stray tracks of Peanuts music also appear on these Guaraldi albums:
"Peppermint Patty," on the CD re-issue of VINCE GUARALDI WITH
THE SAN FRANCISCO BOYS CHORUS;
"The Masked Marvel," on ALMA-VILLE;
"Charlie Brown Blues" and the title theme to "You're a Good Sport,
Charlie Brown," both on OAXACA;
"The Masked Marvel" (a different, slightly longer take) and yet
another different version of "Linus and Lucy," on NORTH BEACH.
Yet another version of "Linus and Lucy," the title theme to
"There's No Time for Love, Charlie Brown" and a bit of underscore
from "It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown," titled "Woodstock's
Pad," all on the double-CD ON THE AIR.
A previously unissued track titled "Blues for Peanuts," on the
compilation double-CD THE DEFINITIVE VINCE GUARALDI.
8.2) Have other artists recorded Guaraldi's Peanuts
music?
Oh, yes.
One of the most unusual is Cyrus Chestnut's 2000
cover of the complete album of "A Charlie Brown Christmas"
(Atlantic 2A-83366). Along with guests such as Vanessa Williams,
Brian McKnight and the Manhattan Transfer, Chestnut delivers
his own interpretations of every one of the Guaraldi album's
original cuts, and adds a few original numbers of his own
("Me and Charlie Brown" and "Baby Dance").
Chestnut isn't the only artist to cover much of that famous
TV special. Jazz pianist Jim Martinez's 2005 album, "A Jim
Martinez Jazzy Christmas," features his renditions of Guaraldi's
"Christmas Time Is Here," "Skating" and "Christmas Is Coming,"
along with Martinez's arrangements of "O Christmas Tree,"
"The Christmas Song" and "Greensleeves," all of which Guaraldi
covered in that holiday special.
The Eric Byrd Trio did the same thing, with its 2009 album,
also called "A Charlie Brown Christmas." It includes "O Christmas
Tree," "Skating," "My Little Drum," "Christmas Time Is Here,"
"Linus and Lucy," "Greensleeves" and "Christmas Is Coming."
2009 also saw the release of the Lenny Marcus Trio's "Comfort
and Joy," which includes several of the same Guaraldi songs
and arrangements: "Christmas Is Coming," "O Christmas Tree,"
"Christmas Time Is Here," "Greensleeves" and "My Little Drum."
The jazz piano trio The Ornaments got into the act next, with their
2011 release, "A Vince Guaraldi Christmas: Live at Middletree." They
cover the entire album, including a nod to Beethoven's "Fur Elise."
Jazz pianist Lori Mechem issued her own cover the same year:
"Christmas Is Coming: A Tribute to A Charlie Brown Christmas."
Mechem and her combo cover the entire album (absent "Fur Elise"),
while also adding arrangements of a few more Christmas standards
and one more Peanuts track ("The Charlie Brown Theme").
Backing up again, 2000 saw the release of David Benoit's HERE'S TO YOU,
CHARLIE BROWN: 50 GREAT YEARS, on the GRP label (314 543 637-2).
This lovely album features 10 cuts, of which seven are by Guaraldi.
(One of the others is Clark Gesner's "Happiness," from
YOU'RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN; the other two are Benoit
originals, most definitely in the Guaraldi Peanuts mold.)
Perhaps most intriguing is that the lead-off rendition
of "Linus and Lucy," thanks to the magic of mixing, teams
the David Benoit Trio with Guaraldi himself! Aside from
Benoit and Christian McBride (bass) and Peter Erskine
(drums, percussion), the special guests are Marc Antoine,
Russell Malone, Chris Botti, Michael Brecker and Al Jarreau.
It's a very pleasant and "tasty" album.
The most popular album by other folks probably is HAPPY ANNIVERSARY CHARLIE BROWN,
also on the GRP label (GRD-9596), released to coincide with the strip's
40th birthday. The music first was heard on a TV special
called "You Don't Look 40, Charlie Brown." It's a grand
mix of classic Guaraldi tunes and a few new instrumentals
from Dave Grusin and Dave Brubeck, interpreted by jazz
talents such as B.B. King, Chick Corea, Joe Williams,
Gerry Mulligan, Lee Ritenour and Kenny G.
David Benoit has his rendition of "Linus and Lucy" on his
THIS SIDE UP CD (En Pointe, ENP 0001), but the same version
can be found on the HAPPY ANNIVERSARY CD mentioned above.
"Linus and Lucy" also appears on several others CDs. Solo
fingerstyle acoustic guitarist Steven King includes his
rendition on LET IT RING, which he self-publishes; write
or call him at P.O. Box 1557, Renton, Washington, 98057-1557;
(206) 226-4515. The price is roughly $17.
There's a nice little trio jazz version of "Linus and Lucy" on
the primarily classical RCA CD, SCHROEDER'S GREATEST HITS.
Mixed in with the likes of Beethoven and Mozart are Ken Bichel
on piano, John Miller on bass, and Ronnie Zito on drums.
Jazz versions also come from Andrew York, on his PERFECT SKY
release (Artifax, #789); Rick Eldridge, on his SOLO FLIGHTS
album (Pentagram Records, #001); and a wonderful up-tempo
version by Norman Brown (improperly titled "Charlie Brown
Christmas," which is rather odd), on A MOJAZZ CHRISTMAS
VOLUME 2 (MoJazz 314530695-2). Erich Kunzel and the
Cincinnati Pops include a jazz trio version by by
John Coliani (piano), John Leitham (bass) and Donny Osborne
(drums) on YOUNG AT HEART (Telarc Records, #80245), and
Gary Hoey contributes a rock-guitar version as part of his
soundtrack (Reprise, #45615) to the film ENDLESS SUMMER II.
The aforementioned Jim Martinez includes it on his album
"Good Grief! It's Jim Martinez."
Portland, Oregon's Tall Jazz (Mike Horsfall on keyboards,
Kurt Deutscher on drums, and Dan Presley on bass) have a superb
rendition of "The Red Baron" on their 1993 HOW 'BOUT NOW release
(PHD 1002-CD). The CD may be hard to find outside the West Coast,
but you can contact Tall Jazz at (503) 232-5346.
Additionally, three jazz greats have released unofficial
soundtracks of their compositions for specific episodes of
the THIS IS AMERICA, CHARLIE BROWN television miniseries.
The first is Dave Brubeck's QUIET AS THE MOON (on the
Musicmasters label), which has the themes employed in the
"NASA/Space Station" episode. Aside from his interpretations
of Guaraldi's "Linus and Lucy" and "Cast Your Fate to the
Wind" (the tune which, while not exactly a Peanuts theme,
was the mega-hit which launched Guaraldi's fame), Brubeck
has eight original compositions, plus new covers of the
standards "Bicycle Built for Two" and "When You Wish Upon
a Star." Aside from the entertaining music, the 13-page CD
booklet also has numerous animated cel sketches from the TV
episode, and boasts a delightful color cover with the entire gang.
JOE COOL'S BLUES (on the Columbia label) is actually two
CDs in one. Eight cuts, all played by the Wynton Marsalis Septet,
are drawn from the "Wright Brothers" miniseries episode:
seven original compositions, plus Marsalis' take on Guaraldi's
ubiquitous "Linus and Lucy." The other five cuts -- all new
renditions of other Guaraldi themes -- are performed by
Wynton's father, Ellis, and his trio; Germaine Bazzle
contributes a spirited vocal on the last one, "Little Birdie."
These are particularly nice, since they reflect Guaraldi's
original trio sound, while bearing completely different interpretations.
Windham Hill pianist George Winston frequently performed
"Linus and Lucy" in live concerts back in the day, and tantalized us for
years by promising to record it (and other) Guaraldi
compositions on CD. He finally did it with LINUS & LUCY:
THE MUSIC OF VINCE GUARALDI; it's a perfectly marvelous solo
piano collection of sixteen Guaraldi tunes, eleven of them
directly related to various Peanuts television specials.
He also has recorded a lovely solo piano version of
"Christmas Time Is Here," but that appears on a different CD:
Windham Hill's THE CAROLS OF CHRISTMAS.
David Benoit's 2008 album, JAZZ FOR PEANUTS, features some of his
TV themes from later Peanuts specials he scored, along with a few tracks
lifted from above-mentioned albums by Wynton Marsalis and Dave Brubeck.
One of the more unusual Guaraldi tribute albums is Aaron Brask's
2008 release, THE GUARALDI SESSIONS. This intriguing CD features
20 Guaraldi compositions, most of them from various Peanuts TV
specials, and all arranged for the instrument Brask plays ... the
French horn!
In early 2010, Winston has revisited his musical hero a second time with
LOVE WILL COME: THE MUSIC OF VINCE GUARALDI, VOLUME 2, a new collection of
Guaraldi interpretations. Many of the songs from Winston's new album are
from Peanuts TV episodes. These include "Time For Love," from "There's No
Time For Love, Charlie Brown"; "Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown," "Love Will Come,"
"Woodstock," "Little Birdie," "It Was a Short Summer Charlie Brown,"
"Rain, Rain, Go Away," "Air Music" and "You're Elected Charlie Brown."
The album also features other Guaraldi compositions from his jazz albums.
While Peanuts fans might argue in favor of "Linus and Lucy,"
it would appear that "Christmas Time Is Here" will likely become
the Peanuts standard for which Guaraldi will be remembered best.
It is covered by new artists every year, and has become a very
popular holiday jazz standard. David Benoit actually has recorded
the cut twice; the rendition appears on his 1996 holiday CD,
REMEMBERING CHRISTMAS, features a vocal by Michael "Popsicle Toes"
Franks. This CD actually pays special tribute to "A Charlie Brown
Christmas," since Benoit also includes spirited covers of "Skating"
and "Christmas Is Coming."
(See next question for a lengthy listing of "Christmas Time Is Here"
covers.)
Ken Lieck brought my attention to an intriguing oddity: an
LP-sized (12") dance single from Pow Wow Records (1619 Broadway,
New York, NY 10019...if they still exist). The sleeve is plain
cardboard, with no artwork on either side. The disk, item #pw429
and released in 1988, contains three different mixes of "Linus
and Lucy," all credited to a performer going by the name of
"Schroeder" (probably an alias...wouldn't you think???). Side 1
contains one version of the song, while Side 2 has the other
two mixes. Each features the central "Linus and Lucy" piano riff,
augmented with differing levels of a generic dance beat. Ken
compares the "sound" to that employed by the "Hooked on Classics"
recordings: very electronic, and very monotonous.
Colin Birge weighs in with another find: Bassist Stu Hamm,
who has done considerable session work and toured with rock
guitarists such as Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, and Eric Johnson,
has for years thrown a fairly long musical quote from "Linus
and Lucy" into his solos. You can hear this on his 1991 album
"The Urge," in a song called "Quahogs Anyone?" The song is
actually a live recording of a long bass solo he performed
at a show in Santa Barbara, California, in 1980. Hamm's
particular take on it is that he plays it as a bass guitar solo,
both rhythm and melody lines together, no overdubbing
8.3) How many folks have recorded their own versions
of "Christmas Time Is Here"?
"I don't think I'm a great piano player," Vince Guaraldi
once said, "but I would like to have people like me, to
play pretty tunes and reach the audience. And I hope some
of those tunes will become standards. I want to write standards,
not just hits."
He certainly got his wish with "Christmas Time Is Here."
Songwriters and musicians produce new holiday and Christmas
songs every year, no doubt attempting to hit the lightning
in a bottle that will, over the course of time, transfer
what might be a pleasant -- but mostly unfamiliar - little
tune into a seasonal perennial along the lines of "Jingle Bells"
or "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer." Many try; few succeed;
the Windham Hill label has turned the process into a cottage
industry with all its "Winter Solstice" CDs. But the process
can -- and will -- take decades, before the public fully
embraces a song and elevates it into that holiday pantheon.
"Christmas Time Is Here" has become such a song.
The best part (and I hope Guaraldi is in a position to
take note of this) is that the song has been treated with
so much respect. By virtue of its having been covered by
jazz greats and near-greats, Guaraldi's simple little
song -- introduced in "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and still
heard, every year, by folks who've turned that experience
into an essential part of the holidays - has entered the
lexicon of Christmas...and of Christmas jazz.
The list below is by no means definitive; it grows every year.
(I've also tried to ignore inferior versions; while the
Christmas Jug Band's version might be ... intriguing ... once or
twice, it's hardly something you'd want to share.) But it
provides ample evidence of the song's popularity, and -- if
you're like I am -- it'll point the way toward assembling
a first-rate collection of holiday jazz, highlighted by
some truly splendid versions of our favorite holiday song.
And while I've concentrated below on jazz, plenty of other
artists have recorded or performed the song. The Silent League
has a version, and in 2005 a folksinging trio -- Meaghan Smith,
Jill Barber and Rose Cousins -- did a particularly lovely live
version on Canadian TV. So the song's fame continues to spread.
All these versions exist on CD, although some of them have (alas!)
gone out of print. I used to distinguish between those that were
and were not readily available, but with the rise of eBay, Amazon's
third-party vendors and so many other Web outlets, you should be able to find
just about anything on this list. Bear in mind that some will be found only
at Web outlets such as cdbaby.com and ejazzlines.com.
Happy listening!
Beegie Adair, "Quiet Christmas" and a second version on
"Bossa Nova Christmas"
Bill Augustine and Malcolm Cecil, "A Jazzy Christmas #2"
Patti Austin, "A GRP Christmas, volume 2"
(also on "Happy Anniversary, Charlie Brown")
Anita Baker, "Christmas Fantasy"
Jon Ballantyne, "Justin Time for Christmas"
Dan Baraszu and Joseph Patrick Moore, "Christmas Time Is Here"
The James Bazen Big Band, "Merry Christmas Take One"
Tony Bennett, "A Swingin' Christmas"
David Benoit, "Christmas Time"
David Benoit and Michael Franks, "Remembering Christmas"
The Charlie Bertini Quintet, "Christmas Cookies"
Nate Birkey, "Christmas"
Terence Blanchard, "Swing Into Christmas"
George Blondheim, "A Little Christmas Jazz"
The Boston Pops Orchestra, "Holiday Pops"
Buselli Wallarab Jazz Orchestra, "Carol of the Bells"
Eric Byrd Trio, "A Charlie Brown Christmas"
Cartoon Christmas Trio, "Cartoon Christmas Trio"
Laura Caviani Trio, "Relaxing Holiday Jazz"
Michael Chertock, "Christmas at the Movies"
Cyrus Chestnut, "A Charlie Brown Christmas"
Chicago (yes, the rock group), "Chicago XXV: What's It Gonna Be, Santa?"
Cincinatti Pops Orchestra, "Christmas Time Is Here"
The Stanley Clarke Trio, "A Mellow Jazz Christmas"
Dawn Clement, "Christmas with Dawn"
Rosemary Clooney, "A Concord Jazz Christmas, volume 1"
(also on her own "White Christmas" collection)
Shawn Colvin, "Holiday Songs and Lullabies"
Mark Douthit, "December Morning"
Nathan Eklund, "Crafty Christmas"
Equanimous Jones Quartet, "Calm Down, It's Christmas"
Ron Eschete, "Christmas Impressions"
Etowah Jazz Society, "What Jazz Is This"
Stephen Mark Fennell, "Christmas Wish"
Simon, Stephen and Tim Fisk, "Calm Abide"
Bobby Floyd, "Floyd's Finest Gift"
Fourplay, "Snowbound"
Brian Gorell & Shane Conaway, "In the Swing of Christmas"
Tom Grant and Rebecca Kilgore, "Winter Warm"
Vince Guaraldi, "A Charlie Brown Christmas" (original release in 1965, re-mastered in 2006)
Sean Harkness, "A Windham Hill Christmas: I'll Be Home for Christmas"
(also on "Windham Hill Holiday Guitar Collection")
Michael Allen Harrison Quartet, "Holiday Jazz"
Charlie Hunter, "Yule Be Boppin'"
David Huntsinger, "Sentimental Season"
Mark J., "Christmas Keys" (regional to Oregon; hard to find)
Boney James, "Boney's Funky Christmas"
Plas Johnson, "Christmas in Hollywood"
Matt King Trio, "Welcome, Christmas"
Knoxville Jazz Orchestra, "Christmas Time is Here"
Diana Krall, "Christmas Songs"
The Stephen Kummer Trio, "Christmas in the City"
Julian Lage and Gary Mazzaroppi, "An NPR Jazz Christmas with
Marian McPartland and Friends, Volume 3"
Vincent Lars, "A MoJazz Christmas, Volume 2"
Charles Lazarus, "Merry & Bright"
Richard Leach, "My Favorite Christmas Things"
Sam Levine, "Christmas by the Fire"
Kenny Loggins, "December"
Chris McDonald Orchestra, "Big Band Christmas Swing"
Brian McKnight, "40 Years: A Charlie Brown Christmas"
Sarah McLachlan (with Diana Krall on piano), "Wintersong"
Mainstream Jazz Ensemble, "Jazz Christmas Songs"
Melissa Manchester, "Joy"
The Manhattan Transfer, "An Acapella Christmas"
Martan Mann & Mannkind, "Christmastime"
Lenny Marcus Trio, "Comfort and Joy"
Eric Marienthal, "40 Years: A Charlie Brown Christmas"
Thomas Marriott/Bill Anschell Quartet, "The Cool Season"
Ellis Marsalis, "A Jazz Piano Christmas" and a second version
on "A New Orleans Christmas Carol"
Jim Martinez, "A Jim Martinez Christmas"
Lori Mechem, "Brazilian Christmas" and also a different version
on "Christmas Is Coming"
Brad Mehldau Trio, "A Warner Bros. Jazz Christmas Party"
Monday Off (that's the name of a group), "Christmas Time Is Here"
Doug Munro and La Pompe Attack, "A Very Gypsy Christmas"
Nate Najar Trio, "Christmas with the Nate Najar Trio"
Joe Negri, "Guitars for Christmas"
The New England Jazz Ensemble, "Wishes You a Cookin' Christmas"
New World Jazz Project, "Christmas Time Is Here"
The Now and Then Trio, "Christmas Time Is Here"
Octobop, "West Coast Christmas"
The Ornaments, "A Vince Guaraldi Christmas: Live at Middletree"
Grant Osborne Trio, "Little Town: Carols for Christmas"
Rob Parton Big Band, "Christmas Time Is Here"
Rik Pfenninger, "A Simple Christmas 1"
John Pizzarelli, "Let's Share Christmas"
Dianne Reeves, "Christmas Time Is Here"
Rochford Jazz Ensemble, "Christmas With the Rochford Jazz Ensemble"
Patrice Rushen, Stanley Clarke and Ndugu Chancler, "Jazzy Christmas"
Rich Severson Jazz Quartet, "Blue Christmas"
Bob Shaw, "A Christmas Celebration"
Spyro Gyra, "A Night Before Christmas"
John Stetch, "Justin Time for Christmas, Volume 3"
Mike Strickland, "Have Yourself a Jazzy Little Christmas"
Style Is Back in Style, "Christmas Is for Us Kids"
Take 6, "Here's to You, Charlie Brown: 50 Great Years"
Tall Jazz, "Winter Jazz II" (regional to Oregon; hard to find)
Trio West "Trio West Plays Holiday Songs"
Greg Vail, "Is It Christmas Yet?"
Curt Warren, "A Little Bit of Christmas Jazz"
Grover Washington Jr., "Breath of Heaven: A Holiday Collection"
Stan Whitmire, "A Piano Christmas"
Nancy Wilson, "A Nancy Wilson Christmas"
George Winston, "The Carols of Christmas"
Warren Wolf, "It's Christmas on Mack Avenue"
8.4) What about the other two Guaraldi compositions
on the "Charlie Brown Christmas" soundtrack?
"Christmas Time Is Here" has completed its transition from "mere"
Peanuts TV special adornment to fully fledged holiday standard,
as proven by all the artists above who've covered the song.
But what about the other two original Guaraldi compositions from
that first Peanuts TV special, "Christmas Is Coming" and "Skating"?
They, too, have been gaining momentum over the years, although
certainly not to the same degree. But if you're a die-hard completist,
you'll find quite entertaining covers in the following lists.
As with the albums that have covered "Christmas Time Is Here," above,
these are known to be in print and available unless otherwise specified.
Let's begin with "Christmas Is Coming":
David Benoit, "Remember Christmas"
David Benoit (second version), "40 Years: A Charlie Brown Christmas"
Eric Byrd Trio, "A Charlie Brown Christmas"
Cyrus Chestnut, "A Charlie Brown Christmas"
Lenny Marcus Trio, "Comfort and Joy"
Jim Martinez, "A Jim Martinez Jazzy Christmas"
Lori Mechem, "Brazilian Christmas" and also a different version
on "Christmas Is Coming"
The Ornaments, "A Vince Guaraldi Christmas: Live at Middletree"
George Winston, "A Windham Hill Christmas"
Tyler Yarema Jazz Quartet, "Tis the Season to Be Jazzy"
And, finally, "Skating":
(Be advised, by the way, that the track titled "Skating" on the
Thomas Marriott/Bill Anschell Quartet holiday album,
"The Cool Season," is not the familiar Guaraldi tune, but an
original by quartet bassist Jeff Johnson.
You'd think he could have called it something else!)
David Benoit, "Remember Christmas"
Norman Brown, "40 Years: A Charlie Brown Christmas"
Eric Byrd Trio, "A Charlie Brown Christmas"
Cyrus Chestnut, "A Charlie Brown Christmas"
Boney James, "Christmas Present"
Jim Martinez, "A Jim Martinez Jazzy Christmas"
Lori Mechem, "Christmas Is Coming"
The Ornaments, "A Vince Guaraldi Christmas: Live at Middletree"
George Winston, "Winter Solstice on Ice"
8.5) Does sheet music exist for any of these tunes?
Yes, but until recently most of it could be hard to find.
Because of its popularity, "Linus and Lucy" has always been fairly common as a sheet
music single. It can be found in the current Warners catalog, from which any
good-sized music store should be able to order. By the same token,
"Christmas Time is Here" is always easy to find, particularly around the holidays.
At the moment, would-be Peanuts music performers are in luck, because Hal
Leonard released a raft of new music books in late 2001, for a variety of
ages and skills. For the most part, the song selections mirror those Hal
Leonard published in 1984, in "Charlie Brown's Greatest Hits" (see below).
The formats and titles available are:
* "The Charlie Brown Collection" (#00313177, medium-level piano solo),
18 songs and 8 pages of full-color Peanuts art, for $14.95;
* "The Charlie Brown Collection" (#00316070, easy piano), 18 songs and 8 pages
of full-color Peanuts art, for $14.95;
* "The Charlie Brown Collection" (#00100149, E-Z Play Today), 11 songs, for $6.95;
* "The Charlie Brown Collection" (#00316071, Big-Note piano), 12 songs, for $10.95;
* "The Charlie Brown Collection" (#00316072, Five-Finger piano), 8 songs, for $7.95;
* "A Charlie Brown Christmas," a collection of 10 songs from the TV special,
arranged in each of the five levels indicated above.
Hal Leonard also re-issued the singles "Linus and Lucy," "Christmas Time Is Here"
and "The Charlie Brown Theme," in a style that matches the new books.
The best one, however, is "The Peanuts Illustrated Songbook" (#00313178, $19.95),
an absolutely gorgeous 120-page book that'll appeal both to budding pianists and
plain ol' fans of Vince Guaraldi, who have no intention of setting finger to keyboard.
It contains a whopping 30 songs, including several -- among them "Frieda," "Surfin' Snoopy"
and the main theme to the Thanksgiving special -- that haven't been released prior to
this point. The arrangements are medium-level, and certainly "dense" enough to sound
reasonably true to the recorded originals. Better yet, the front of the book has an
impressive 20-page introduction, by Hank Bordowitz, that talks about Guaraldi and
his career, both in terms of his Peanuts work and also his mainstream jazz efforts.
George Winston and Vince's son, Dave, are quoted in this introduction, which also
includes quite a few old photos of Vince at work and play ... along with plenty of
full-color Peanuts line art. Information about Guaraldi is even more scarce than
his sheet music (and I should know, since I've contributed a great deal of what
little exists), and so this volume is very welcome.
Finally, Hal Leonard also has released "The Vince Guaraldi Collection" (#00672486, $19.95),
which is a true conversation-stopper for those folks who absolutely want to play PRECISELY
like Guaraldi. The book contains note-for-note transcriptions of four Guaraldi
originals -- "Cast Your Fate to the Wind," "Christmas Time Is Here," "Linus and Lucy"
and "Star Song" -- along with his arrangements of five other cuts from early albums:
"Greensleeves" and "O Tannenbaum," from "A Charlie Brown Christmas"; and
"Manha de Carnaval," "Outra Vez" and "Samba de Orfeu." This is the real deal,
boys and girls; these nine songs take up 85 full pages, and -- unless you're a
prodigy -- these aren't pieces that you'll master during the last few hours before
you want to impress folks at a dinner party. Your humble FAQ-meister has waited his
entire life for a book like this, and we're talking ... well, a long time!
The book also includes a short (one page) biography that apparently wrote itself,
as nobody is credited. There's also no transcription credit, which perhaps makes
sense from the standpoint that this is, after all, Vince's own music ... but
somebody put a helluva lot of time into this book, and I'm saddened that we'll
never know who that was. BE ADVISED, HOWEVER: Musician David Welch points out
that while the piano transcriptions are excellent, the same cannot be said of
the chord transcriptions that appear above the notes. They're quite wrong in
many cases, and the book apparently would be next to useless for guitar players
and anybody else relying on those chords. Tsk, tsk, tsk!
Historically, the quest is more difficult. In the late '60s and early '70s, Pointer
Publications, a division of what then was Hal Leonard/Pointer Publications,
put out a series of easy piano books -- the Peanuts Keyboard Fun series -- most of
which were adapted from the early TV specials. The books typically contained 32
pages, and the two center pages featured full-color
illustrations from the show in question. The musical contents tended to
cross over from book to book; in other words, if you had two books, they'd
have some of the same songs, and some unique to each book.
For example, the book for "He's Your Dog, Charlie Brown" includes 12 songs,
all by Vince Guaraldi: "Baseball Theme," "Blue Charlie Brown," "Bon Voyage,"
"Happiness Theme," "He's Your Dog, Charlie Brown" (title theme), "Housewife Theme,"
"Linus and Lucy" (of course!), "Oh, Good Grief," "Peppermint Patty," "Red Baron,"
"Schroeder" and "Schroeder's Wolfgang."
These TV score books were $2.95 each, and included the following volumes:
* "A Charlie Brown Christmas"
* "Charlie Brown's All Stars"
* "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown"
* "You're in Love, Charlie Brown"
* "He's Your Dog, Charlie Brown"
* "It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown"
Pointer also published a score book for the first Peanuts feature film, "A Boy Named
Charlie Brown." Aside from some of the familiar Guaraldi tunes, this also includes
incidental music by John Scott Trotter (such as "Bus Wheel Blues") and Rod McKuen's
title song, along with the other vocals ("Champion Charlie Brown," etc.). The good news
is that this book, believe it or not, is still available from a Web site that handles
Rod McKuen's music: http://www.stanyanhouse.com.
Additionally, Pointer produced two Organ Fun Books, with the same songs arranged
for this instrument. The first book, at $2.95, included a "Peanuts Keyboard Guide
and Guide for Parents and Teachers," while the second book, at $1.95, featured
a "Peanuts Pointers chart which offers special creative styling techniques."
(Probably not the same as a master class from Mr. Guaraldi himself, however...)
Finally, the Peanuts Music Fun Notebook, also at $2.95, "allows children to
learn music through doing -- reading, drawing and coloring exercises. The book
features Snoopy Snip-Outs, small flash cards which teach basic fundamentals
such as names of notes, note values, rests and rhythm patterns."
These are all long out of print and absolutely impossible to find (although
if anybody reading these words owns one or more, I'd sure like to hear about it!).
Thanks to a fan named Marcie (yes, it's really her name!), I learned that a
songbook had been published with the music from the second big-screen Peanuts
feature, "Snoopy Come Home." This 56-page folio book -- spiral-bound, as all
sheet music should be! -- was put out by Charles Hansen Music and Books,
1860 Broadway, New York NY 10023. Based on the copyright dates, it seems to
have been released in 1972; its item number is K540. In addition to separate
lyrics pages and piano/vocal versions of songs such as "The Best of Buddies"
and "Fundamental-Friend-Dependability," the book includes an introduction by
Charles Schulz and a brief synopsis of the film, with illustrations.
The music itself isn't nearly as complicated as Vince Guaraldi's jazz arrangements,
making it possible to become a "Peanuts music wizard" in a few weeks.
In 1984, the Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation, now freed of Pointer Publications,
brought out "Charlie Brown's Greatest Hits" (#HL00240155), originally published at
$5.95. This 56-page volume has reasonably complete transcriptions of 18 different
songs, all by Vince Guaraldi and arranged by Lee Evans. Hal Leonard has a website,
at http://www.halleonard.com, where you'll find that it's still possible to order
the collection, for $10.95. (There's also a beginner version -- #00240154 -- for $8.95.)
You also can order them by calling Music Dispatch, at (800) 637-2852.
(It should be noted that sheet music is one aspect of the Peanuts merchandising
phenomenon which hasn't yet been seized upon by maniacal fans.)
CPP/Belwin Inc.'s "Happy Anniversary, Charlie Brown" (#P0868SMX) is much easier
to find...but don't wait too long. These books don't seem to linger in print.
This particular 36-page volume has the music for all 11 of the songs found on
the CD of the same name, and eight are Guaraldi compositions (including, of
course, "Linus and Lucy"). The level of difficulty is higher; these are rich
piano transcriptions that sound fabulous when played by somebody who takes
the time to learn them well.
Another book, definitely still available, is an earlier songbook to
"A Charlie Brown Christmas." It contains all the music from the same-titled CD,
and -- better yet -- arranged in Guaraldi's unique style, transcribed for piano
by Bill Galliford and David Pugh. So, you not only get Guaraldi Peanuts originals
such as "Linus and Lucy" and "Christmas is Coming," you get his jazzy interpretations
of "What Child Is This" and "O, Christmas Tree." As with "The Vince Guaraldi
Collection," described above, the transcriptions are dead-on accurate; if your
piano is in tune, you can play along with the CD and sound just like the master
himself...or, better yet, surprise your friends during the holiday season by
launching into a swinging rendition of "The Christmas Song." The book exists
in both easy piano and "regular" versions -- the latter, when first published, was
$13.95 for 32 pages -- and can be ordered from
CPP Belwin Inc.
15800 NW 48th Avenue
Miami, Florida 33014
(305) 620-1500
If you have a credit card, they'll take an order over the phone.
CPP Belwin also produced the folio book that goes with Dave Brubeck's "Quiet as
the Moon" CD, which features music used in the "NASA Space Station" episode
of "This Is America, Charlie Brown." Published in 1992 at a cost of $12.95,
the 32-page volume includes transcriptions of eight original Brubeck tunes,
two by Guaraldi ("Linus and Lucy" and "Cast Your Fate to the Wind"), and
an up-tempo arrangement of Harry Dacre's "Bicycle Built for Two." The front
of the book also includes three pages of text and storyboard illustrations
that describe the making of that particular animated episode, as recalled by Brubeck himself.
Thanks to the enduring popularity of both Peanuts plays, songbooks are
readily available for them. The latest edition of "You're a Good Man,
Charlie Brown" is published by MPL Communications and distributed by Hal Leonard;
the 48-page book, which currently runs $8.95, includes the music for 10 songs
and has three pages of black-and-white photographs of scenes from the play.
The book does not have music from these four songs: "The Book Report,"
"The Red Baron," "Queen Lucy" or "Glee Club Rehearsal."
On the other hand, if you'd like those songs and all the instrumental passages
between them, then definitely look for Hal Leonard's 117-page version
of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown." This is a commercially produced
version of the complete orchestral score that one obtains from Tams Witmark
when actually putting on a production of the play, and it has everything:
piano reductions of the various instrumental passages, multi-part harmony
where necessary, and even occasional dialogue cues that preface or
conclude a particular cut. (And the piano accompaniment isn't trivial,
on several of the songs.) Short of somehow obtaining individual scores for
all the different instruments, the average civilian can't do better than this book.
Chappell/Intersong Music Group, also distributed by Hal Leonard, has the rights
to "Snoopy!!!" The 64-page book, currently $8.95, has 10 songs and eight pages
of black-and-white pictures from the play. The contents can be a bit mysterious
and frustrating for a true fan, since one song -- "Friend" -- is no longer part
of the play as usually performed, and four others -- "Edgar Allan Poe,"
"The Vigil," "The Great Writer" and "The Big Bow-Wow" -- are not included.
(Needless to say, this book also does not include the four additional songs
present only in the British version of this play. To my knowledge, a British
folio songbook has not been produced.)
Finally, we come to "The Peanuts Gallery," a concerto by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich.
Sheet music is available for it, as well. The Theodore Presser Company released
three versions of the music from this concerto. "Lullaby for Linus" is a two-minute
movement, which Zwilich herself has arranged for solo piano. "Snoopy Does the Samba,"
another movement, is also available, along with the entire solo piano part
with a piano reduction of the orchestra.
"Peanuts Gallery" salutes the comic strip characters we know and love,
and was premiered at Carnegie Hall, March 22, 1997. Zwilich was the first
woman to receive a Pulitzer Prize in music, and has written many pieces for
piano, chamber ensembles, orchestra, and band.
"Lullaby for Linus" (140-40075) and "Snoopy Does the Samba" (140-40076) are
sold through music dealers, as is the complete "Peanuts Gallery" (440-40021).
More information and a brochure about Ellen Taaffe Zwilich are available
from Presser's Sales Department at (610) 525-3636, ext. 41; fax (610) 527-7841;
e-mail sales@presser.com.
8.6) Speaking of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich's "The Peanuts Gallery," has it been
released on CD?
Yes ... but it sure took awhile! A live performance of the concerto was
broadcast by National Public Radio stations in February 2000, but that wasn't
issued on CD. Similarly, a PBS special that traced the origins of this work,
and which included a complete performance, originally was broadcast in October
2006 on PBS stations, but also hasn't been released. This television
special turns up on various PBS stations from time to time, particularly
during pledge breaks, so be on the lookout.
Happily, the work finally was released on CD in 2010, under the Naxos label's
"American Classics" banner. Three of Zwilich's works are assembled on this album,
which is titled for the longest work, "Millennium Fantasy" (Naxos 8.559656).
It's joined by "Peanuts Gallery" and "Images." The music is performed by the
Florida State University Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Alexander Jim?nez;
the pianist (on "Peanuts Gallery") is Jeffrey Biegel.
8.7) What are the lyrics to "Joe Cool"?
One of Snoopy's favorite alter-egos gained his own theme
song, thanks to the animated TV specials. The song first was used
in the 1972 TV special "You're Not
Elected, Charlie Brown," with these verses:
Joe Cool...back in school.
Hangin' round the water fountain,
Playin' the fool.
Joe Cool...take it light.
If the principal catches you,
You're out of sight.
(Take those shades off...walkin' round the halls.)
Joe Cool...makin' the rounds.
Checkin' all the kiddies,
Up and down.
Joe Cool...play it straight.
If the principal catches you,
It's gon-na...be...too late.
(Yeaaaahhh...better learn to add now.)
The following year, in the TV special "There's No Time for
Love, Charlie Brown," the song collected a few more verses.
To reflect Snoopy's temporary responsibilities as a
supermarket check-out clerk, these lines were added:
Joe Cool...after school.
Workin' in the supermarket,
Just like a mule.
Joe Cool...do it right.
And be careful of the manager,
He's dy-na-mite.
(Check each item...get those prices right!)
Joe Cool...straighten things out.
Take it easy, buddy...
You don't have to shout.
Joe Cool...just relax.
If you bug the poor ol' manager,
You get the ax.
(Pay attention...don't you mess things up!)
Joe Cool...after school.
Working in the supermarket,
Breaking the rules.
Joe Cool...playin' the clown.
Just be careful of the shopping carts,
They're goin'...to bring...you down.
(Yeah...goin' for a ride now...)
Many years later, when B.B. King was selected to sing this song
for the 1989 GRP album "Happy Anniversary, Charlie Brown," the
decision was made to go with an entirely new set of lyrics that
were not specific to any particular Peanuts TV special. These
new lyrics, credited to Desiree Goyette, go as follows:
Joe Cool...startin' today.
Hey, it looks a little cloudy,
But that's okay...'cause he's Joe Cool
Joe Cool...dressin' up right,
Going out to catch a lady to take out tonight.
Put the shades on...precious pearly white;
Lookin' casual, feelin' dynomite.
Joe Cool...struttin' the streets,
Trying to impress each little darling he meets.
He says, "Hey baby...how 'bout a midnight snack?"
She says, "Got a date already; I'll catch you later, Jack."
He says, "Take it easy baby.
Don't come on too strong.
What's your hurry? You got all day long."
Joe Cool...he heads home.
But he's not sure.
Yeah, he's thumbing his finger
Through his little black book.
Now here's one you ain't seen for a while.
You know, the little French cutie
With the little pretty smile.
Dial that number; flash all of your charms
If you want that babe, that baby in your arms.
I said, Joe Cool, well, he got that date.
He showed up not a minute early, not a minute too late.
He sais, "Hey baby...here's a flower for you."
She said, "Come a little closer.
I've got something for you, too."
Keep it light now...playin' by the rules.
Then she slaps him; he feels like a fool.
he says "Hey baby...what did you do that for?"
She says, "You ain't called me
In at least a year or more."
He heads home...but he's no fool.
He may not have a girlfriend but,
At least he's cool...Joe Cool.
Joe Cool...he'll be okay.
Just remember tomorrow is another day.
Oh yes...Joe Cool.
8.8) Can any of these songs be downloaded in some
format, so I can hear them on my computer?
Libraries of MIDI, WAV and other formats are now all over the Web.
The easiest way to find some is simply to search through Yahoo or
some other Internet search engine. Start with the key words
VINCE GUARALDI or LINUS AND LUCY or PEANUTS; that should get
you started pretty well.
8.9) Where can I find a copy of "Snoopy vs. The Red Baron"?
A darn good question!
A minor rock group calling itself The Royal Guardsmen had
a breakout hit in the mid-60s, with the aforementioned song:
"Snoopy vs. The Red Baron." Considering how ubiquitous it
was for quite a few years, its scarcity now is a mystery.
The song, which ran 2 minutes and 43 seconds, was released
on a 45 RPM single from Laurie Records Inc. in New York.
The item number was 3366, and the "B"-side single was
"I Needed You," clocking in at 2:07.
The Royal Guardsmen even produced a lively video for
this hit single, and you can see it on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oxzg_iM-T4E
Not long after, that hit was followed by two more songs by
the same group, and on the same label:
"The Return of The Red Baron," running 2:10, appeared on a
45 RPM single numbered 3379. Its "B"-side companion was
"Sweetmeats Slide," also running 2:10.
Finally, "Snoopy's Christmas," running 3:10, completed the
trilogy. It was released on a 45 RPM numbered 3416, with
"It Kinda Looks Like Christmas" (running 2:12) on side B.
All three were later gathered together onto an LP titled
MERRY SNOOPY'S CHRISTMAS, item # HDY-1913
from Holiday Records, a division of Phoenix Entertainment
and Talent, located at 200 W. 57th Street, New York NY 10019.
Needless to say, this LP -- and the 8-track cartridge and
audiocassette onto which it also was released -- are
out of print, although you should always investigate
"remainder" bins.
Both front and back covers have illustrations by Charles
Schulz. The front cover is a lovely shot of Snoopy, wearing
red pajamas and a nightcap, and carrying a candle,
surrounded by a Christmas wreath. The back cover is
dominated by a shot of the WWI Flying Ace leaning
against his Sopwith Camel (doghouse). On the far side,
the Royal Guardsmen -- Bill, John, Chris, Barry, Tom, and
Billy -- are pictured in similar, comic-art style.
Side 1 has all three of the aforementioned musical bouts
between Snoopy and the Red Baron, strung together by
a sort of newscast-style "storyline." Side 2 contains the
following cuts:
I Say Love
Down behind the Lines
It's Sopwith Camel Time
It's So Right to Be in Love
Airplane Song
It Kinda Looks Like Christmas
While cute as novelty tunes, the obscurity of these
B-side songs is probably well-deserved...
More importantly, however, most (all?) of these
cuts are available on a CD titled THE ROYAL
GUARDSMEN ANTHOLOGY, which also
includes the more obscure "Snoopy for President."
If you have trouble ordering this CD at your local
music store, try calling The Collector's Choice
Music Catalog, at (800) 923-1122.
Laura's Warm Puppy Page -- a web site which can be
accessed from The Peanuts Collector's Club web pages
(see above) -- reprints the lyrics to "Snoopy vs. The Red
Baron." Go wild!
8.10) Have musicians recorded songs that mention the
Peanuts characters, or serve as a tribute to them?
The most famous examples, of course, are those by the Royal
Guardsmen noted above.
The next most famous artist (actually, in terms of
historical impact, that's underselling this gentleman
something fierce) would be Rod McKuen, who released a
1970 album of his film music titled "A Boy Named Charlie
Brown." It includes two different vocal versions of
"Champion Charlie Brown," a vocal of "A Boy Named
Charlie Brown," and instrumental versions of
"Failure Face" and -- wait for it -- "Something for Snoopy,"
one of the songs McKuen wrote that wasn't used in the film!
All these versions are different than what we hear in the movie.
The album also includes McKuen's work from "Natalie," "Joanna"
and "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie." The LP never has been
re-issued on CD, but (big "but") the LP still is available
and on sale from McKuen's Web site, http://www.stanyanhouse.com.
(And yes, I mean it's STILL available; this isn't an outdated
FAQ entry that I forgot about. Visit the site and find out
for yourself!) See, I knew there was a reason to hang onto
those turntables...
Other tributes to the Peanuts gang have cropped up over the
years (and feel free to call my attention to them!), but I'm
particularly delighted by the following passage from the 1998
song "Dreamtime," by a great Northern California-based
folk/rock group dubbed Natalie Cortez & the Ultra Violets:
It's gettin' close to Halloween,
I can smell it in the air, and I feel it in the trees:
Jumping, crunching through the leaves
Like Charlie Brown, Linus and Peppermint Patty,
Waiting in the pumpkin patch for you-know-who...
The song can be found on their CD, "Ten Who Dared:
Live at The Palms," which can be ordered by writing them
at P.O. Box 595, Davis, CA 95617-0595. If you're in a
hurry, visit their Web site: http://www.jps.net/april2/ultraviolets
If you enjoy pleasant folk/rock, I can't recommend them
highly enough; the CD is really a treat.
With respect to folks you're more likely to know,
Tori Amos, on her Album "Boys for Pele," has a song called
"Not the Red Baron, " which contains the lines...
"Not the Red Baron, not Charlie Brown..." and
"Not the Red Baron, no, not Charlie's wonderful dog..."
Dishwalla recorded a song titled "Charlie Brown's Parents,"
Which includes the lyrics "because it feels like I'm talking
to Charlie Brown's parents/feels like I'm talkin' to a lonely
man without a vision/stuffed his mouth with indecision..."
Chinese fan Yeo Keng Leong cited this example from a 2000 Chinese
pop song titled "If You're Not Real," performed by East Asian
singer Faye Wong:
"I ask myself
"if your looks change to resemble that of Snoopy's,
"will they leave behind the same memories?"
9) THEME PARKS/MERCHANTS
9.1) What can you tell me about the Charles M. Schulz Museum?
The Charles M. Schulz Museum, which opened August 16, 2002, is
at 2301 Hardies Lane, Santa Rosa, California 95403. The phone
number is (707) 579-4452.
Hours are noon to 5:30 p.m. weekdays (closed Tuesdays), and
10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
Visit the Museum Web site at http://www.schulzmuseum.org.
The mission of the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center is to preserve,
display, and interpret the art of Charles M. Schulz. The Museum will carry out
this mission through exhibits and programming which:
*) Illustrate the scope of Schulz's multi-faceted career;
*) Communicate the stories, inspirations and influences of Charles M. Schulz;
*) Celebrate the life of Charles M. Schulz and the Peanuts characters;
*) Build understanding of cartoonists and cartoon art.
The Museum's goals:
*) To educate visitors to the unique place of Charles M. Schulz in the history
of cartooning, and to increase awareness and appreciation of his work;
*) To provide access to primary materials relating to the life and work of Charles
M. Schulz for scholars and other serious students through the Research Center;
*) To acquire selected materials, which enhance and support the Museum's missions and goals;
*) To lend works of art and related materials from the collection to other institutions
when appropriate and feasible, considering budgetary constraints;
*) To achieve the Museum's mission in an atmosphere that remains true to the
character of Charles M. Schulz and the Peanuts characters.
Aside from all that high-falutin' prose, let us assure you that
the Museum is a grand way to spend an afternoon. Exhibits are scheduled
to rotate three or four times per year, and Museum members receive
(among other things) a newsletter published three or four times
per year.
9.2) Are there any Peanuts theme parks?
Certainly! Read on...
(Special thanks to See-yan Wong, for bringing this section of
the FAQ up to date, particularly with respect to international sites.)
UNITED STATES
The United States has several locations for Knott's Camp Snoopy.
The first and oldest is located within Knott's Berry Farm, in the
greater Los Angeles area of Southern California. (Their address is
8039 Beach Blvd., Buena Park, CA 90620.) It's a self-
contained, child-oriented theme park -- e.g. gentler rides --
hidden within the larger Knott's park. (As I recall, it's not
possible to just gain access to Camp Snoopy and bypass the
Knott's admission fees...although it IS possible to get what's
known as a "shopper's pass," which will get you into the
Peanuts gift shops for as long as you wish.) The official
Web site is www.knotts.com/
The second location once was right in the heart of the enclosed
Mall of America, in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota. Alas, that
one closed in early 2006.
Subsequent to those two, which can be said to have started
the franchise, other Camp Snoopy locations have followed:
Michigan's Adventure -- just north of Muskegon is Michigan's largest amusement and water park
4750 Whitehall Road, Muskegon, Michigan 49445
(231) 766-3377
www.miadventure.com
info@miadventure.com
Cedar Point
One Cedar Point Dr., Sandusky, Ohio 44870-5259
(419) 627-2350
www.cedarpoint.com/campsnoopy/
Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom
3830 Dorney Park Road, Allentown, Pennsylvania 18104
(610) 395-3724
www.dorneypark.com
info@dorneypark.com
Worlds of Fun
4545 Worlds of Fun Avenue, Kansas City, Missouri 64161
(816) 454-4545
www.worldsoffun.com
And you also should check out...
Lilly's Cafe (Snoopy Cafe)
1031 Abbot Kinney Blvd.
Venice, California 90291
(310) 314-0004
http://www.lillysfrenchcafe.com/
JAPAN
We must thank our Japanese friends for keeping Charles
Schulz and Peanuts so popular, with so many Snoopy Town locations!
The first, in Osaka, opened on March 16, 1995; the others
followed during the subsequent years. The addresses
and phone numbers below actually are for the Snoopy Town
shops at the various parks, but of course if you can find
the shops, you'll also find the parks themselves.
We must report unhappy news, however ...
United Feature Syndicate discontinued its 40-year franchise with
the Lalaport Corporation in March 2008. Therefore, the existing 11 Snoopy
Town Shops gradually closed from January 2008 to March 2008.
Details (on the order of the closing of the shops) were published
on the website http://townshop.snoopy.co.jp
Meanwhile, United Feature Syndicate signed a new franchise contract
with the Kiddy Land Corporation (http://www.kiddyland.co.jp) in Tokyo
December 2007. Kiddy Land announced that it is going to continue the
"tradition" of the Snoopy Town shop; the first Snoopy shops run
by the Kiddy Land Corp opened in Tokyo in spring 2008.
Additional details will be announced on the Kiddy Land website
and at http://town.snoopy.co.jp/.
The first "Snoopy Town Mini" opened on March 8th:
Snoopy Town Mini Tokyo-eki Ichibangai-ten
("eki" means "station", and "ten" means "shop")
B1 Level of Tokyo-eki Ichibangai,
1-9-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Tel:03-3215-7030
Osaka Umeda-ten and Minatomirai-ten Opened on April 29th.
Osaka Umeda-ten is located in Kiddy Land Osaka Umeda-ten.
Snoopy Town Shop Osaka Umeda-ten
Kiddy Land Osaka Umeda-ten,
Hankyu Sanbangai,
1-1-3 Shibata, Kita-ku, Osaka
Tel:06-6372-7751
The new Minatomirai-ten is located at the same place
as the former Minatomirai-ten, which closed.
Snoopy Town Yokohama Minatomirai-ten
2F 3rd Queen's Square
2-3-4 Minatomirai, Nishi-ku, Yokohama
Tel: 045-640-1032
The Harajuku-ten will open on May 24th.
The first Snoopy Cafe, managed by TV Tokyo Broadband Entertainment, Inc.,
opened on March 27th.
http://cafe.snoopy.co.jp/
Snoopy Cafe
Tressa Yokohama South Building,
700 Morooka-cho, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama
The URL of Tressa Yokohama: http://www.tressa-yokohama.jp/
Osaka's Universal Studios Japan features a
"Snoopy Studios" section of the park, which boasts
Snoopy's Sound Stage Adventure and Snoopy's Playland.
Visit www.usj.co.jp/studioguide/attraction/e_index.htm
for more details.
Finally, Japanese fans also might want to visit these two sites:
Official Online Shop:
http://eshop.snoopy.co.jp/webshop/index.html
Dinos Online Shop: "My Snoopy Goods"
http://www.dinos.co.jp/snoopygoods/index.html
Peanuts cellphone games and images (only in Japanese):
http://mobile.snoopy.co.jp/
HONG KONG
Snoopy World
3/F, New Town Plaza
Sha Tin
Hong Kong
http://www.rmlicensing.com/ENG/snoopy/snoopyworld.htm
This park is adjacent to KCR Shatin Station, at the
intersection of Tai Po Road and Sha Tin Rural Committe
Road, with the Shing Mun River Channel bordering it on the south.
And a growing series of Charlie Brown Cafes:
The Charlie Brown Cafe (1)
2/F Dundas Square, 43H Dundas Street
Mong Kok, Kowloon
Hong Kong (opposite the Ka Lok Shopping Center)
Hours: 11 a.m. to midnight Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday
Telephone: 852-23888202
Fax: 852-23888310
Website: www.rmlicensing.com/ENG/snoopy/charlie_brown_cafe/html/shop.htm
www.charliebrowncafe.com
The Charlie Brown Cafe (2)
G/F, Block II, Tsui Yuen Mansion
8 Kwong Wa Street, Mong Kok
Kowloon, Hong Kong
Telephone: 852-23888203
Fax: 852-23888103
The Charlie Brown Cafe (3)
Shop Nos. G34, G47B-G48, Ground Floor
Empire Centre, 68 Mody Road
Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Telephone: 852-23666302
Fax: 852-23666310
The Charlie Brown Cafe (4)
G/F-1/F, Kok Pah Mansion
58-60 Cameron Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
Kowloon, Hong Kong
Telephone: 852-23666315 / 23666325
Fax: 852-23666755
The Charlie Brown Cafe (5)
Shop Nos. 350-351, Level 3 Tsuen Wan Plaza, 4-30 Tai Pai Street,
Tsuen Wan,
N.T., Hong Kong
Telephone: 852-24999612
Fax: 852-24999613
CHINA
Snoopy Fun Fun Garden
JiaXin Citiplaza, Shunde, China
Ma Lok-shan (Snoopy) Cartoon Dream Workshop
[Temporarily closed; expected to re-open in 2008]
Address: North Village 105 Federal Highways, Zhong Shan City South, Zhong Shan, China.
Telephone: +86 0760 3338383
Opening Hours: 0830 - 1800
Admission: RMB $15
MACAU
Snoopy Aji Ono Bakery
No. 32 Avenida de Horta e Costa, Macau
9.3) Are there any stores or dealers devoted exclusively to Peanuts merchandise?
You bet! The most important, in terms of its popularity as a fan
pilgrimage site, is The Snoopy Gallery and Gift Shop at 1665 W.
Steele Lane, in Santa Rosa, California 95401 (about an hour north
of San Francisco). Their phone number is (707) 546-3385, and they
have a website at http://www.snoopygift.com
Located next to the Redwood Empire Ice Arena -- where the annual
Snoopy ice show is a must-see event -- this two-story complex is
both store and museum rolled into one. The first floor is devoted
entirely to Peanuts merchandise, except for a small corner filled
with skating and hockey supplies. You name it, and you'll find
it: books, clothes, jigsaw puzzles, posters, stickers, Christmas
ornaments, greeting cards, computer software, a very nice
selection of infant clothes and toys, and anything else
the friendly manager can dig up. The second floor is filled with
Charles Schulz's many awards and magazine covers, along with
several displays of original sketches and newspaper strips, all
displayed attractively in glass showcases. The building is
surrounded on two sides by a huge wrap-around carpet (on the walls!),
and two large moving displays of the characters keep patrons amused.
Snoopy (a large, human-sized version) has even been known to make
the occasional appearance.
Not too far away from the ice arena, just outside Santa Rosa,
you'll find Charlie Brown's Cafe at Sonoma State University.
This Charlie Brown's Cafe is an inviting, warm eatery offering full-scale
espresso service, Artisan's Bakery pastry and quiche, bagels and hot cereal
every morning, European influenced lunch and dinner items, as well as
two soups each day, (one vegetarian and one non-vegetarian), beautiful
and delicious salads, and a wide variety of cold beverages including
frappes and smoothies.
Hours are 7 1.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday,
and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.
The phone number is (707) 664-3370.
And while you're at Sonoma State, don't forget to visit the
Schulz Information Center, on the first floor of the library side of the campus:
1801 East Cotati Avenue, Rohnert Park; the phone number is (707) 664-2993.
United Media has its own on-line Snoopy shop: http://www.snoopy.com
(The Mall of America, in Minnesota, terminated its relationship with
he Peanuts gang and no longer has its Peanuts stores. More's the pity!)
Knott's Berry Farm in Southern California sells Peanuts
merchandise at two shops: the Snoopy Boutique and
Snoopy's Camp Store. The latter can be reached at
(714) 220-5302, and the park's general access number is
(714) 827-1776. Snoopy's Boutique can be reached at
extension 4131 or 4132. See above for full address.
Each of the U.S. and international Camp Snoopy, Snoopy Town
and other Peanuts-themed parks mentioned above also has its
own specialty shops, where you'll find plenty of goodies
featuring Charlie Brown and the gang.
Finally, I should mention some superb mail-order outfits devoted
exclusively (or at least extensively) to Peanuts merchandise:
The Crazy Collector LLC (Leslie Kaelin)
5703 Spring Bluff Drive
Crestwood, Kentucky 40014
(502) 241-2035 FAX: (502) 241-2396
e-mail: crazycollector@earthlink.net
http://www.crazycollector.net
Snodgrass Sales, Inc. (Marsha Snodgrass)
8091 Wabash Ave.
Terre Haute, Indiana 47803-3971
(812) 877-1897, (800) 373-9871
FAX: (812) 877-6971
e-mail: Marsha@SnodgrassSales.com
http://www.SnodgrassSales.com
Joe Collector (Carla and Steve Olson)
673 Sheridan Court
Lake Zurich, Illinois 60047-2774
Phone: (847) 726-1130
Fax: (847) 726-8618
e-mail Carla@JoeCollector.com
http://www.JoeCollector.com
Snoop to Nuts Ltd. (Sandra Cramer)
P.O. Box 253
Edison, New Jersey 08818
Phone and FAX: (732) 985-8029
s2n@pipeline.com
http://www.snoop2nuts.com
Turka-llectables (Thomas Turka)
109 Maiden Lane
Natrona Heights, Pennsylvania 15065-2827
(724) 295-0163
snpyplus@comcast.net
Play House
Harajuku Omotesando
1-13-18, Jinumae
Tokyo, Japan
3470-6107
Nuts Design (Hedwig Keek)
Etalage vertoging, Aslsmeerweg 27
1059 AB Amsterdam, Holland
(020) 669-82-20
9.4) What happened to Santa Rosa's annual Snoopy ice show?
Sadly, the news here is bad.
As reported January 28, 2004, in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat,
the annual Peanuts-themed Christmas ice show has been cancelled.
After an 18-year run, Snoopy and company have skated their last holiday
show at Santa Rosa's ice arena.
The family of "Peanuts" cartoonist Charles M. Schulz announced
that they decided to end the show, which had become a tradition for
thousands of fans.
Although it was never a money-maker, the decision wasn't based on
finances, said Jean Schulz, the cartoonist's widow.
The production had become a huge effort, closed the arena to
recreational skaters and came on top of other arena events throughout
the year. It seemed time to let it go, she said.
"It's only made easier by the philosophical knowledge that nothing goes
on forever," she said. "But saying goodbye to anything or anyone is
difficult."
Until a few years ago, there were as many as 37 performances annually,
drawing more than 40,000 people. In recent years, the schedule was cut
to 27 performances and in 2003 the whole run was sold out, bringing in
more than 27,000 people, said Jim Doe, vice president of arena
operations.
Sigh.
What a grand tradition this was. Every year, Santa Rosa,
California's Redwood Empire Ice Arena transformed into a different
Christmas ice fantasyland. Seating was half the fun: the rink
had bleachers mostly in the front; the other two sides were
dominated by small tables and chairs, and patrons purchasing
those tickets received complimentary cakes and cookies, and all
the coffee/hot apple cider/hot chocolate they could consume.
The shows, which easily lasted two hours or more, featured Olympic
skating champions in solo performances, alternating with opulent
production numbers starring the Peanuts characters. (Snoopy on skates
was quite the sight.) Charles Schulz frequently was known to quietly
peek at a show now and then, just to check on how things were going.
(Remember, he built the Redwood Empire Ice Arena.)
10) TRADING CARDS/POGS
10.1) How many sets of trading cards have been
released? Will there be more?
Collecting these can be a challenge.
We must start with the six-card set released as premiums by Dolly
Madison in 1983. The baseball-themed cards featured Charlie Brown,
Linus, Lucy, Pepperming Patty, Schroeder and Snoopy.
Ziploc got into the act a decade later, with a nine-card set, also
baseball themed, which featured Charlie Brown, Franklin, Linus, Lucy,
Peppermint Patty, Sally, Schroeder, Snoopy and Woodstock.
Both these sets are tremendously difficult to find, particularly in
good condtion.
The next set was a small, 33-card "demo set." The cards are full
color, most devoted to one character with "stats" (facts) about
that character on the back. There are a few special cards, with
reproductions of play or film posters, and stills from some of
the television specials. And, of course, one has a nice shot of
Charles Schulz. Aside from existing as separate cards, you also
can find these uncut as a single huge "poster."
The first full-sized set of cards is the Peanuts Classics Series
I. The set contains 200 cards, numbered 1-200, plus two special
hologram cards. Each card reproduces a full daily or Sunday comic
strip (on the back, identified by date), with one panel blown up
for the card's front. Rather oddly, the strips are only from
1959, 1969, 1979, and 1989!
The second full-sized set is known as the Gold & Silver Baseball
Edition. It also has 200 cards, numbered 201-400. As the title
suggests, these are all baseball-themed comic strips. Aside from
the gold and silver borders, the presentation is the
same...although the date of each strip is absent. These strips
are uniformly drawn from 1969-1993.
And that's it ... for now, anyway.
10.2) How many sets of POGs were released?
It's a bit tough to distinguish between all the POGs -- a VERY
short-lived collector's phenomenon of the early 1990s -- but I'll
give it a whack.
Knotts Berry Farm first released a card with five punch-out POGs,
for visitors to their Camp Snoopy. 1993 saw a similar approach
taken for the six-POG "Series 1" card. Since then, I've seen at
least half a dozen more Knotts POG sets, although each has
been fairly small.
Other POGs currently available form a larger set, numbered 1-60.
This series has 12 different plastic "slammers," and two more hologram
slammers. The same company has also issued two heavy bronze
slammers, and I've more recently seen at least 10 more POGs (with
slightly metallic colors), although these don't seem to be
numbered.
No doubt there are more.
11) ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND DISCLAIMER
I would like to thank the following individuals, who have helped
and contributed to this document:
Charles Schulz, for The Word...for starting everything in
the first place, and keeping us all laughing and crying for so
many wonderful years.
Andrea Podley, founder and ongoing "Head Beagle" of the
Peanuts Collectors Club, whose patience with -- and affection for
-- all Peanuts fans is a gift beyond value.
Gayna, whose shared devotion for this most wonderful hobby
persuaded me that it was, indeed, "cool" for a guy to admit his
fondness for a round-headed kid and his smart-alecky beagle.
___________________________________________
Please do NOT capriciously amend or "correct" this FAQ. If you
have comments, revisions, or suggestions for additional topics,
e-mail them to me at bang@dcn.davis.ca.us, and I'll happily
incorporate the pertinent changes myself (and provide credit
where appropriate).
___________________________________________
This article is provided AS IS without any express or implied
warranties. While every effort has been taken to ensure the
accuracy of the information contained herein, the author assumes
no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages
resulting from the use of the information contained herein.
Copyright (c) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003,
2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014,
2015, 2016 and 2017 by Derrick Bang, all rights reserved.
This FAQ may NOT be distributed for financial gain.
This FAQ may not be reproduced or included in part or
in full, in any print or electronic collections, compilations
or publications, without express permission from the author.
The sole exception is that permission is granted for
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To refer to this FAQ from your Web site, please link to this address:
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