Peanuts

Peanuts(briefly subtitledfeaturing Good ol' Charlie Brown) is asyndicateddailyandSundayAmericancomic stripwritten and illustrated byCharles M. Schulz. The strip's original run extended from 1950 to 2000, continuing in reruns afterward.Peanutsis among the most popular and influential in the history of comic strips, with 17,897 strips published in all,making it "arguably the longest story ever told by one human being".At the time of Schulz's death in 2000,Peanutsran in over 2,600 newspapers, with a readership of roughly 355 million across 75 countries, and had been translated into 21 languages.It helped to cement thefour-panel gag stripas the standard in the United States,and together with its merchandise earned Schulz more than $1 billion.In 2015, amovie adaptationwas released byBlue Sky Studios.
Peanutsfocuses on a social circle of young children, where adultsexist but are rarely seen or heard. The main character,Charlie Brown, is meek, nervous, and lacks self-confidence. He is unable to fly a kite, win a baseball game, or kick a football held by his irascible friendLucy, who always pulls it away at the last instant.Peanutsis a literate strip with philosophical, psychological, and sociological overtones, which was innovative in the 1950s.Its humor is psychologically complex and driven by the characters' interactions and relationships. The comic strip has been adapted in animation and theater.
Schulz drew the strip for nearly 50 years, with no assistants, including the lettering and coloring process.
Peanutshad its origin inLi'l Folks, a weekly panel cartoon that appeared in Schulz's hometown newspaper, theSt. Paul Pioneer Press, from 1947 to 1950. Elementary details of the cartoon shared similarities toPeanuts. The name "Charlie Brown" was first used there. The series also had a dog that looked much like the early 1950s version of Snoopy.
Schulz submitted hisLi'l Folkscartoons toUnited Features Syndicate(UFS), who responded with interest. He visited the syndicate inNew York Cityand presented a package of new comic strips he had worked on, rather than the panel cartoons he submitted. UFS found they preferred the comic strip.When UFS was preparing to syndicate the comic strip asLi'l Folk, Tack Knight, who authored the retired 1930s comic stripLittle Folks, sought to claim exclusive rights to the title being used. Schulz argued in a letter to Knight that the contraction ofLittletoLi'lwas intended to avoid this conflict, but conceded that the final decision would be for the syndicate. A different name for the comic strip became necessary after legal advice confirmed thatLittle Folkswas a registered trademark.Meanwhile, the production manager of UFS noted the popularity of the children's programHowdy Doody. The show featured an audience of children who were seated in the "Peanut Gallery", and were referred to as "Peanuts". This inspired the decided title that was forced upon Schulz, to his consternation.
Schulz hated the titlePeanuts, which remained a source of irritation to him throughout his life. He accused the production manager at UFS of not having seen the comic strip before giving it a title, and he said that the title would only make sense if there was a character named "Peanuts".On the day it was syndicated, Schulz's friend visited a news stand in uptown Minneapolis and asked if there were any newspapers that carriedPeanuts, to which the newsdealer replied, "No, and we don't have any with popcorn either", which confirmed Schulz's fears concerning the title.Whenever Schulz was asked what he did for a living, he would evade mentioning the title and say, "I draw that comic strip with Snoopy in it, Charlie Brown and his dog".In 1997 Schulz said that he had discussed changing the title toCharlie Brownon multiple occasions in the past but found that it would ultimately cause problems with licensees who already incorporated the existing title into their products, with unnecessary expenses involved for all downstream licensees to change it.
The strip began as adaily stripon October 2, 1950, in seven newspapers: theMinneapolis Star, a hometown newspaper of Schulz (page 37, along with a short article);The Washington Post;Chicago Tribune;The Denver Post;The Seattle Times; and two newspapers inPennsylvania,Evening Chronicle(Allentown) andGlobe-Times(Bethlehem).The first strip was four panels long and showedCharlie Brownwalking by two other young children,ShermyandPatty. Shermy lauds Charlie Brown as he walks by, but then tells Patty how he hates him in the final panel.Snoopywas also an early character in the strip, first appearing in the third strip, which ran on October 4.Its firstSunday stripappeared January 6, 1952, in the half-page format, which was the only complete format for the entire life of the Sunday strip. Most of the other characters that eventually became regulars of the strip did not appear until later:Violet(February 1951),Schroeder(May 1951),Lucy(March 1952),Linus(September 1952),Pig-Pen(July 1954),Sally(August 1959),Frieda(March 1961),"Peppermint" Patty(August 1966),Franklin(July 1968),Woodstock(introduced March 1966, officially named June 1970),Marcie(July 1971), andRerun(March 1973).
Schulz decided to produce all aspects of the strip himself from the script to the finished art and lettering. Schulz did, however, hire help to produce the comic book adaptations ofPeanuts.Thus, the strip was able to be presented with a unified tone, and Schulz was able to employ a minimalistic style. Backgrounds were generally not used, and when they were, Schulz's frazzled lines imbued them with a fraught, psychological appearance. This style has been described by art critic John Carlin as forcing "its readers to focus on subtle nuances rather than broad actions or sharp transitions."Schulz held this belief all his life, reaffirming in 1994 the importance of crafting the strip himself: "This is not a crazy business about slinging ink. This is a deadly serious business."
While the strip in its early years resembles its later form, there are significant differences. The art was cleaner, sleeker, and simpler, with thicker lines and short, squat characters. For example, in these early strips, Charlie Brown's famous round head is closer to the shape of an American football orrugby football. Most of the kids were initially fairly round-headed. As another example, all the characters (except Charlie Brown) had their mouths longer and had smaller eyes when they looked sideways.
The 1960s is generally considered to be the "golden age" forPeanuts.During this period, some of the strip's best-known themes and characters appeared, including Peppermint Patty,Snoopy as the "World War One Flying Ace",Frieda and her "naturally curly hair",and Franklin.Peanutsis remarkable for its deftsocial commentary, especially compared with other strips appearing in the 1950s and early 1960s. Schulz did not explicitly address racial and gender equality issues so much as assume them to be self-evident. Peppermint Patty's athletic skill and self-confidence are simply taken for granted, for example, as is Franklin's presence in a racially integrated school and neighborhood. (Franklin's creation occurred at least in part as a result of Schulz's 1968 correspondence with a socially progressive fan.) The fact that Charlie Brown's baseball team had three girls on it was also at least ten years ahead of its time. The 1966 prime time television specialCharlie Brown's All Stars!dealt with Charlie Brown refusing sponsorship of his team on the condition he fire the girls and Snoopy, because the league does not allow girls or dogs to play.
Schulz threw satirical barbs at any number of topics when he chose. His child and animal characters satirized the adult world.Over the years he tackled everything from theVietnam Warto school dress codes to "New Math". The May 20, 1962 strip featured an icon that stated "Defend Freedom, BuyU.S. Savings Bonds."In 1963 he added a little boy named "5" to the cast,whose sisters were named "3" and "4,"and whose father had changed theirfamily nameto theirZIP Code, giving in to the way numbers were taking over people's identities. Also in 1963, one strip showed Sally being secretive about school prayer, in reference to the Supreme Court decisions on it that year.In 1958, a strip in which Snoopy tossed Linus into the air and boasted that he was the first dog ever to launch a human parodied the hype associated with Sputnik 2's launch ofLaikathe dog into space earlier that year. Another sequence lampoonedLittle Leaguesand "organized" play when all the neighborhood kids joinsnowman-building leagues and criticize Charlie Brown when he insists on building his own snowmen without leagues or coaches.
Peanutstouched on religious themes on many occasions, especially during the 1960s. The classic television specialA Charlie Brown Christmasfrom 1965, features the characterLinus van Peltquoting theKing James Versionof the Bible (Luke 2:8–14) to explain to Charlie Brown what Christmas is all about (in personal interviews, Schulz mentioned that Linus represented his spiritual side). Because of the explicit religious material inA Charlie Brown Christmas, many have interpreted Schulz's work as having a distinct Christian theme, though the popular perspective has been to view the franchise through a secular lens.
During the week of July 29, 1968, Schulz debuted the African American character Franklin to the strip, at the urging of white Jewish Los Angeles schoolteacher Harriet Glickman. Though Schulz feared that adding a black character would be seen as patronizing to the African American community, Glickman convinced him that the addition of Black characters could help normalize the idea of friendships between children of different ethnicities. Franklin appeared in a trio of strips set at a beach, in which he first gets Charlie Brown's beach ball from the water and subsequently helps him build a sand castle, during which he mentions that his father is in Vietnam.
In 1975, the panel format was shortened slightly horizontally, and shortly thereafter the lettering became larger to compensate. Previously, the dailyPeanutsstrips were formatted in a four-panel "space saving" format beginning in the 1950s, with a few very rare eight-panel strips, that still fit into the four-panel mold. Beginning onLeap Dayin 1988, Schulz abandoned the four-panel format in favor of three-panel dailies and occasionally used the entire length of the strip as one panel, partly for experimentation, but also to combat the dwindling size of the comics page.
In the late 1970s, during Schulz's negotiations withUnited Feature Syndicateover a new contract, syndicate president William C. Payette hired superhero comic artistAl Plastinoto draw a backlog ofPeanutsstrips to hold in reserve in case Schulz left the strip. When Schulz and the syndicate reached a successful agreement, United Media stored these unpublished strips, the existence of which eventually became public.Plastino himself also claimed to have ghostwritten for Schulz while Schulz underwent heart surgery in 1983.
In the 1980s and the 1990s, the strip remained the most popular comic in history,though other comics, such asGarfieldandCalvin and Hobbes, rivaledPeanutsin popularity. Schulz continued to write the strip until announcing his retirement on December 14, 1999, due to his failing health.
The last threePeanutsstrips were run from Saturday, January 1, 2000, through Monday, January 3, 2000. The Saturday strip showed a snowball fight between Peppermint Patty and Marcie and Charlie Brown and Linus, with Snoopy sitting behind the fight trying to figure out how to throw a snowball. The strip was notable because, in addition to it being the last daily strip with a story, Schulz's health had deteriorated to the point where the lettering in the strip had to be done by computer.
The Sunday strip featured the last appearances of Peppermint Patty and Marcie, with Peppermint Patty playing a game of football in the rain by herself. Marcie comes up, carrying an umbrella and remarking that everyone has gone home. Peppermint Patty laments that they never shook hands and said "good game".
The January 3 strip consisted of a drawing of Snoopy sitting atop his doghouse with his typewriter, as he had done many times over the course of the strip's lifespan. The drawing was accompanied by a printed note from Schulz which officially announced his retirement from drawing and thanking his readers for their support.
Although a series of reruns of older strips would begin on January 4, 2000, there were still six unpublished Sunday strips that Schulz had completed. The first of these ran on January 9, featuring Rerun and Snoopy playing in the snow.The second featured the last appearance of Woodstock, as he and Snoopy in one last fantasy sequence are called upon by George Washington to chop firewood.Rerun makes his final appearance in the fourth, trying to paint something other than flowers in art class, and Sally makes her last appearance in the fifth conversing with Charlie Brown about love letters.
The finalPeanutsstrip, as shown here, ran on February 13, 2000, the night after Schulz died from a heart attack. It consisted of two small panels across the top and a large panel at the bottom. The title panel shows Charlie Brown talking to someone on the telephone, who is apparently asking to speak to Snoopy. Charlie Brown responds by telling the caller "No, I think he's writing". The second panel shows Snoopy sitting atop his doghouse typing on his typewriter as he had many times before, while the words "Dear Friends…" appeared above his head.
The larger panel at the bottom consisted of a larger scale drawing of the final daily strip, with Snoopy against a blue sky background. Above his head, several panels from past strips were overlaid. Underneath these panels, the full note that Schulz had written to his fans was printed (part of it had been omitted in the final daily strip). It read as follows:
Many other cartoonists paid tribute toPeanutsand Schulz by homages in their own strips, appearing on February 13, 2000, or in the week beforehand.The comic was reprinted the day after that, but only had the farewell letter. AfterPeanutsended, United Feature Syndicate began offering the newspapers that ran it a package of reprinted strips under the titleClassic Peanuts. The syndicate limited the choices to either strips from the 1960s or from the 1990s, although a newspaper was also given the option to carry both reprint packages if it desired. All Sunday strips in the package, however, come from the 1960s.
Peanutscontinues to be prevalent in multiple media through widespread syndication, the publication ofThe Complete Peanuts, the release of several new television specials (all of which Schulz had worked on, but had not finished, before his death), andPeanuts Motion Comics. Additionally,BOOM! Studioshas published a series of comic books that feature new material by new writers and artists, although some of it is based on classic Schulz stories from decades past, as well as including some classic strips by Schulz, mostly Sunday color strips.
In early 2011,United Media(the parent of United Feature Syndicate) struck a distribution deal with Universal Uclick (now known asAndrews McMeel Syndication) for syndication of the company's 150 comic strip and news features, includingPeanuts.On January 5, 2015, Universal Uclick's website,GoComics, announced on that it would be launching "Peanuts Begins", a feature rerunning the entire history of the strip from the beginning in colorized form. This was done to honor the 65th anniversary of the strip's debut.
Charlie Brown is a young boy. He is the main character, acting as the center of the strip's world and serving as aneveryman.While seen as decent, considerate, and reflective, he is also awkward, deeply sensitive, and said to suffer from aninferiority complex. Charlie Brown is a constant failure: he can never win a ballgame; he can never successfully fly a kite.His sense of determination regardless of the certainty of failure can be interpreted as either self-defeating stubbornness or admirable persistence. When he fails, however, he experiences pain and anguish through self-pity.The journalistChristopher Caldwellobserved this tension between Charlie Brown's negative and positive attitudes, stating: "What makes Charlie Brown such a rich character is that he's not purely a loser. The self-loathing that causes him so much anguish is decidedly not self-effacement. Charlie Brown is optimistic enough to think he can earn a sense of self-worth."Schulz named Charlie Brown after a colleague of his while working atArt Instruction, whose full name was Charlie Francis Brown.
Readers and critics have explored the question as to whether Schulz based Charlie Brown on himself. This question often carried the suggestion that the emotionally sensitive and depressed behavior of Charlie Brown drew from Schulz's own life or childhood experiences.Commenting on the tendency of these conclusions being drawn, Schulz said in a 1968 interview, "I think of myself as Charles Schulz. But if someone wants to believe I'm really Charlie Brown, well, it makes a good story."He explained in another interview that the comic strip as a whole is a personal expression, and so it is impossible to avoid all the characters presenting aspects of his personality.BiographerDavid Michaelismade a similar conclusion, describing Charlie Brown as simply representing Schulz's "wishy-washiness and determination".Regardless, some profiles of Schulz confidently held that Charlie Brown was based on him. All in all, Charlie Brown is a purely wholesome character.
Snoopy is a dog, who later in the development of the strip would be described as abeagle.While generally behaving like a real dog and having a non-speaking role, he connects to readers through having human thoughts.Despite acting like a real dog some of the time, Snoopy possesses many different anthropomorphic traits. He frequently walks on his hind legs and is able to use tools, including his typewriter. He introduces fantasy elements to the strip by extending his identity through various alter egos. Many of these alter egos, such as a "world-famous" attorney, surgeon or secret agent were seen only once or twice.His character is a mixture of innocence and egotism; he possesses childlike joy, while on occasion being somewhat selfish.He has an arrogant commitment to his independence but is often shown to be dependent on humans.Schulz was careful in balancing Snoopy's life between that of a real dog and that of a fantastical character.While the interior of Snoopy's small doghouse is described in the strip as having such things as a library and a pool table and being adorned with paintings ofWyethandVan Gogh, it was never shown: it would have demanded an inappropriate kind ofsuspension of disbelieffrom readers.
Linus and Lucy are siblings; Linus is the younger brother, and Lucy is the older sister.
Lucy is bossy, selfish and opinionated, and she often delivers commentary in an honest albeit offensive and sarcastic way.Schulz described Lucy as full of misdirected confidence, but having the virtue of being capable of cutting right down to the truth.He said that Lucy is mean because it is funny, particularly because she is a girl: he posited that a boy being mean to girls would not be funny at all, describing a pattern in comic strip writing where it is comical when supposedly weak characters dominate supposedly strong characters.Lucy at times acts as a psychiatrist and charges five cents for psychiatric advice to other characters (usually Charlie Brown) from her "psychiatric booth", a booth parodying the setup of alemonade stand.Lucy's role as a psychiatrist has attracted attention from real-life individuals in the field of psychology; the psychiatrist Athar Yawar playfully identified various moments in the strip where her activities could be characterized as pursuing medical and scientific interests, commenting that "Lucy is very much the modern doctor".
Linus is Charlie Brown's most loyal and uplifting friend and introduces intellectual, spiritual and reflective elements to the strip. He offers opinions on topics such as literature, art, science, politics andtheology. He possesses a sense of morality and ethical judgment that enables him to navigate topics such as faith, intolerance, and depression. Schulz enjoyed the adaptability of his character, remarking he can be "very smart" as well as "dumb".He has a tendency of expressing lofty or pompous ideas that are quickly rebuked.He finds psychological security fromthumb suckingandholding a blanket for comfort. The idea of his "security blanket" originated from Schulz's own observation of his first three children, who carried around blankets. Schulz described Linus's blanket as "probably the single best thing that I ever thought of". He was proud of its versatility for visual humor in the strip, and with how the phrase "security blanket" entered the dictionary.
Peppermint Patty and Marcie are two girls who are friends. They attend a different school than Charlie Brown, on the other side of town, and so represent a slightly different social circle from the other characters.
Peppermint Patty is atomboywho is forthright and loyal and has what Schulz described as a "devastating singleness of purpose".She frequently misunderstands things, to the extent that her confusion serves as the premise of many individual strips and stories; in one story she prepares for a "skating" competition, only to learn with disastrous results that it is forroller skatingand notice skating.She struggles at school and with her homework and often falls asleep in school. The wife of Charles Schulz, Jean Schulz, suggested that this is the consequence of how Peppermint Patty's single father works late; she stays awake at night waiting for him. In general, Charles Schulz imagined that some of her problems were from having an absent mother.
Marcie is bookish and a good student.Schulz described her as relatively perceptive compared to other characters, stating that "she sees the truth in things"(although she perpetually addresses Peppermint Patty as "sir"). The writer Laura Bradley identified her role as "the unassuming one with sage-like insights".
In addition to the core cast, other characters appeared regularly for a majority of the strip's duration:
Several early characters faded out of prominence during the strip's run. For exampleShermy,PattyandVioletwere core characters during the initial years of the strip.By 1956, Patty and Violet's roles were described only as an extension to Lucy's, and Shermy, who was initially Charlie Brown's closest friend, was then described merely as "an extra little boy".In 1954, Schulz attempted to introduce Charlotte Braun, who was essentially a female version of Charlie Brown but with an excessively loud voice; poor reaction to her humorless personality led to Schulz "killing her off" in a tongue-in-cheek letter to a fan in 1955.SimilarlyFrieda, a girl with "naturally curly hair", was introduced in 1962, but was already being phased out by the late 1960s after her comic value had seemed to have rapidly run its course; and after 1975, she made only background appearances.Conversely,Rerun, the youngest brother of Linus and Lucy, had only limited visibility after his introduction in 1973, but became a foreground character by the middle of the 1990s.
Schulz received theNational Cartoonists SocietyHumor Comic Strip Award forPeanutsin 1962, theReuben Awardin 1955 and 1964 (the first cartoonist to receive the honor twice), theElzie SegarAward in 1980, and theMilton CaniffLifetime Achievement Award in 1999.A Charlie Brown Christmaswon aPeabody Awardand anEmmy;Peanutscartoon specials have received a total of twoPeabody Awardsand fourEmmys. For his work on the strip, Schulz has a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame(as does Snoopy) and a place in theWilliam Randolph HearstCartoon Hall of Fame.Peanutswas featured on the cover ofTimeon April 9, 1965, with the accompanying article calling it "the leader of a refreshing new breed that takes an unprecedented interest in the basics of life."
The strip was declared second in a list of the "greatest comics of the 20th century" commissioned byThe Comics Journalin 1999.The top-ranked comic wasGeorge Herriman'sKrazy Kat, a strip Schulz admired (and in fact was among his biggest inspirations), and he accepted the ranking in good grace, to the point of agreeing with it.In 2002TV Guidedeclared Snoopy and Charlie Brown tied for 8thin its list of the "Top 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters of All Time",published to commemorate its 50th anniversary.
Schulz was included in the touring exhibition "Masters of American Comics". His work was described as "psychologically complex", and his style as "perfectly in keeping with the style of its times."
Despite the widespread acclaimPeanutshas received, some critics have alleged a decline in quality in the later years of its run, as Schulz frequently digressed from the more cerebral socio-psychological themes that characterized his earlier work in favor of lighter, more whimsical fare. For example, in an essay published in theNew York Pressat the time of the final daily strip in January 2000, "Against Snoopy",Christopher Caldwellargued that Snoopy, and the strip's increased focus on him in the 1970s, "went from being the strip's besetting artistic weakness to ruining it altogether".
Many cartoonists who came after Schulz have cited his work as an influence, includingLynn Johnston,Patrick McDonnell, andCathy Guisewite,the latter of whom stated, "A comic strip likeminewould never have existed if Charles Schulz hadn't paved the way".
The December 1997 issue ofThe Comics Journalfeatured an extensive collection of testimonials toPeanuts.Over 40 cartoonists, from mainstream newspaper cartoonists to underground, independent comic artists, shared reflections on the power and influence of Schulz's art.Gilbert Hernandezwrote, "Peanutswas and still is for me a revelation. It's mostly fromPeanutswhere I was inspired to create the village of Palomar inLove and Rockets. Schulz's characters, the humor, the insight ... gush, gush, gush, bow, bow, bow, grovel, grovel, grovel ..."Tom Batiukwrote: "The influence of Charles Schulz on the craft of cartooning is so pervasive it is almost taken for granted." Batiuk also described the depth of emotion inPeanuts: "Just beneath the cheerful surface were vulnerabilities and anxieties that we all experienced, but were reluctant to acknowledge. By sharing those feelings with us, Schulz showed us a vital aspect of our common humanity, which is, it seems to me, the ultimate goal of great art."
Cartoon tributes have appeared in other comic strips since Schulz's death in 2000 and are now displayed at theCharles Schulz Museum.On May 27, 2000, many cartoonists collaborated to include references toPeanutsin their strips. Originally planned as a tribute to Schulz's retirement, after his death that February it became a tribute to his life and career. Similarly, on October 30, 2005, several comic strips again included references toPeanutsand specifically theIt's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Browntelevision special. On November 26, 2022, several cartoonists included references to Peanuts and Charles Schulz in their strips to celebrate his 100th birthday.
Robert L. Shortinterpreted certain themes and conversations inPeanutsas consistent with parts ofChristian theologyand used them as illustrations in his lectures on the gospel, as explained in his bookThe Gospel According to Peanuts, the first of several he wrote on religion,Peanuts, and popular culture.
Giant helium balloons of Snoopy, Charlie Brown, and Woodstock have been featured in the annualMacy's Thanksgiving Day Paradein New York City since 1968. This was referenced in a 2008Super Bowl XLIIcommercialfor Coca-Cola, in which the Charlie Brown balloon snags a Coca-Cola bottle from two battling balloons (UnderdogandStewie Griffin). The Snoopy balloon appeared outside the window of Leonard Bernstein's Central Park West apartment in a scene in the movie Maestro, released in 2023.
Snoopy has been the personal safety mascot for NASA astronauts since 1968,and NASA issues aSilver Snoopy awardto its employees or contractors' employees who promote flight safety. The black-and-white communications cap carrying anaudio headsetworn since 1968 by theApollo,Skylab, andSpace Shuttleastronauts was commonly referred to as aSnoopy cap.
TheApollo 10lunar module'scall signwasSnoopy, and thecommand module's call sign wasCharlie Brown.While not included in the mission logo, Charlie Brown and Snoopy became semi-official mascots for the mission.Charles Schulz drew an original picture of Charlie Brown in a spacesuit that was hidden aboard the craft to be found by the astronauts once they were in orbit. This drawing is now on display at theKennedy Space Center.
The name of the Brazilian rock bandCharlie Brown Jr., formed in 1992, is named after the character Charlie Brown. The idea came about whenChorão, the band's lead singer, ran over a coconut water stand where there was an image of the character printed on the facade of the establishment.
Peanuts on ParadeisSt. Paul, Minnesota's tribute toPeanuts.It began in 2000, with the placing of 101 five-foot-tall (1.5 m) statues of Snoopy throughout the city of Saint Paul. The statues were later auctioned at theMall of AmericainBloomington, Minnesota. In 2001, there was "Charlie Brown Around Town", 2002 brought "Looking for Lucy", and in 2003, "Linus Blankets Saint Paul".Permanent bronze statues of the Peanuts characters are found in Landmark Plaza in downtown St. Paul.
Peanuts characters, and Charles Schulz have been recognized several times in U.S. commemorative postage stamps. A Peanuts World War I Flying Ace U.S. stamp was released on May 17, 2001. The value was 34 cents, first class.A Charlie Brown Christmas forever stamp was issued on Oct. 2, 2015.In 2022, the U.S. Postal Service commemorated the 100th anniversary of Schulz's birth with postage stamps honoring him "alongside his beloved characters".
In 2001, theSonoma CountyBoard of Supervisors renamed the Sonoma County Airport, located a few miles northwest ofSanta Rosa, California, theCharles M. Schulz Airportin his honor. The airport's logo features Snoopy as the World War I Flying Ace (goggles/scarf), taking to the skies on top of his red doghouse (theSopwith Camel). A bronze statue of Charlie Brown and Snoopy stands in Depot Park in downtown Santa Rosa.
ThePeanutscharacters have been featured in many books over the years.Some represented chronologicalreprintsof the newspaper strip, while others were thematic collections such asSnoopy's Tennis Book, or collections of inspirational adages such asHappiness Is a Warm Puppy. Some single-story books were produced, such asSnoopy and the Red Baron.In addition, many of the animated television specials and feature films were adapted into book form.
The primary series of reprints was published byRinehart & Company(laterHolt, Rinehart and Winston) beginning in 1952, with the release of a collection simply titledPeanuts. This series, which presented the strips in rough chronological order (albeit with many strips omitted from each year) continued through the 1980s, after which reprint rights were handed off to various other publishers.Ballantine Bookspublished the last original series ofPeanutsreprints, includingPeanuts 2000, which collected the final year of the strip's run.
Coinciding with these reprints were smaller paperback collections published byFawcett Publications. Drawing material from the main reprints, this paperback series began withThe Wonderful World of Peanutsin 1962 and continued throughLead On, Snoopyin 1992.
Charles Schulz had always resisted republication of the earliestPeanutsstrips, as they did not reflect the characters as he eventually developed them. However, in 1997 he began talks withFantagraphics Booksto have the entire run of the strip, which would end up with 17,897 strips in total, published chronologically in book form.In addition to the post-millenniumPeanutspublications are BOOM! Studios restyling of the comics and activity books, and "First Appearances" series. Its content is produced by Peanuts Studio, subsequently an arm of Peanuts Worldwide LLC.
The entire run ofPeanuts, covering nearly 50 years of comic strips, was reprinted inFantagraphics'The Complete Peanuts, a 26-volume set published over a 12-year period, consisting of two years per volume published every May and October. The first volume (collecting strips from 1950 to 1952) was published in May 2004; the volume containing the final newspaper strips (including all the strips from 1999 and seven strips from 2000, along with the complete run ofLi'l Folks) was published in May 2016,with a twenty-sixth volume containing outside-the-daily-stripPeanutsmaterial by Schulz appeared in the fall of that year. A companion series, titledPeanuts Every Sundayand presenting the complete Sunday strips in color (as the mainComplete Peanutsbooks reproduce them in black and white only), was launched in December 2013; this series will run ten volumes, with the last expected to be published in 2022.
In addition, almost allPeanutsstrips are now also authoritatively available online atGoComics.com(there are some strips missing from the digital archive).Peanutsstrips were previously featured onComics.com.
Several books have been released to commemorate key anniversaries ofPeanuts:
The strip was first adapted into animation inThe Tennessee Ernie Ford Show. A TV documentary,A Boy Named Charlie Brown(1963), featured newly animated segments, but it did not air due to not being able to find a channel willing to broadcast it.It did, however, shape the team forA Charlie Brown Christmas(1965), a half-hour Christmas special broadcast onCBS. It was met with extensive critical success.It was the first of aset ofPeanutstelevision specials(second counting the 1963 documentary), and forms a selection of holiday-themed specials which are aired annually in the US to the present day,includingIt's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown(1966), andA Charlie Brown Thanksgiving(1973). The animated specials were significant to the cultural impact ofPeanuts; by 1972, they were remarked as being "among the most consistently popular television specials" and "regularly have been in the top 10 in the ratings".Many of the specials were acquired byApple TV+in 2020.The first feature-length film,A Boy Named Charlie Brown, came in 1969,and was one of four which were produced before the comic strip ended.A Saturday morning television seriesaired in 1983, each episode consisting of three or four segments dealing with plot lines from the strip.An additional spin-off miniseries,This Is America, Charlie Brown, aired in 1988, exploring thehistory of the United States.
The characters continue to be adapted into animation after the comic strip ended in 2000, with the latest television specialWelcome Home, Franklinmade in 2024.A series of cartoon shorts premiered oniTunesin 2008,Peanuts Motion Comics, which directly lifted themes and plot lines from the strip.In 2014, the French networkFrance 3debutedPeanuts by Schulz, a series of episodes each consisting of several roughly one-minute shorts bundled together.The latest feature-length film,The Peanuts Movie, was released in 2015 by20th Century FoxandBlue Sky Studios.TwoPeanutsApple TV+ series,Snoopy in SpaceandThe Snoopy Show, both premiered in 2019 and 2021, respectively.The characters also make a guest appearance inMariah Carey's Magical Christmas Specialin 2020.On November 6, 2023, a new feature film fromWildBrain(the company behind the Snoopy Webseries 2018-19) and Peanuts Worldwide was announced by Apple TV+. Production started in 2024.
Series
Film
The albumA Charlie Brown Christmaswas recorded in 1965, the original soundtrack from the animated television special of the same name.It was performed by thejazz trioled by pianistVince Guaraldi.It enjoys enduring critical, commercial, and cultural success; employing a sombre and whimsical style, songs such asChristmas Time Is Hereevoke a muted and quiet melody,and arrangements such as the traditional carolO Tannenbaumimprovised in a light, off-center pace.The album has continued popularity to the present day; writer Chris Barton for theLos Angeles Timespraised it in 2013 as "one of the most beloved holiday albums recorded",andAl Jazeeradescribed it as "one of the most popular Christmas albums of all time".The album was added to the national recording registry of theLibrary of Congressin 2012, being regarded as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important".
The American rock bandThe Royal Guardsmenrecorded four novelty songs from 1966 to 1968 as tributes to Snoopy. The first song was released as the singleSnoopy Vs. The Red Baron(1966), based on the storyline of Snoopy sitting atop his dog house imagining himself as a World War I pilot, battling the German flying aceThe Red Baron. The band would later release two more similar songs in 1967,Return of The Red BaronandSnoopy's Christmas. In 1968 they recordedSnoopy for President.
The characters first appeared in live stage production in 1967 with the musicalYou're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, scored byClark Gesner. It is a collection of musical sketches, where the characters explore their identities and discover the feelings they have for each other.The play was performedoff-broadway, as well as later being performed as a live telecast onNBC.The play continued to have other professional performances, in the LondonWest End, and later aBroadwayrevival, while also being a popular choice of musical by amateur theater groups such as schools.
A second musical premiered in 1975,Snoopy! The Musical, scored byLarry Grossmanwith lyrics byHal Hackady. A sequel toYou're a Good Man, Charlie Brown,Snoopy!is also a collection of musical sketches, though focused on Snoopy.It was first performed in San Francisco,and eventuallyoff-Broadwayfor 152 performances.
You're a Good Man, Charlie BrownandSnoopy!!! The Musicalwere both further adapted as animated television specials, respectively,in 1985andin 1988.Going in the opposite direction from animation to live production, is the 2016A Charlie Brown Christmas, based on the animatedtelevision special of the same name. It is considered a generally faithful readaptation, although it features the additional characters Woodstock and Peppermint Patty who did not exist in the strip when the original was made.
The characters from the comic have long beenlicensedfor use onmerchandise, the success of the comic strip helping to create a market for such items. In 1958, the Hungerford Plastics Corporation created a set of fivevinyldolls of the most famous characters (Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus, and Schroeder); they expanded this line in 1961 to make the dolls slightly larger and included Sally and Pig-Pen.An early example of the characters appearing in promotional material was strips and illustrations drawn by Schulz for the 1955 instructional booklet for theKodak Browniecamera,The Brownie Book of Picture Taking.Another early campaign was on behalf ofFord Motor Company; magazine illustrations, brochure illustrations, and animated television spots featuring the characters were used to promote theFord Falconfrom January 1960 into 1964.Schulz credited the Ford campaign as the first time where licensing the characters earned "a lot of money". However, he expressed a dislike of illustrating the adverts, describing it as "hard work" and would have preferred to dedicate equivalent effort to drawing theSunday formatstrips.
Some licensing relationships were maintained long-term. Hallmark began printing greetings cards and party goods featuring the characters in 1960.In the late 1960s,Sanrioheld the licensing rights in Japan for Snoopy. Sanrio is best known forHello Kittyand its focus on thekawaiisegment of the Japanese market.Beginning in 1985, the characters were made mascots and served as spokespeople for theMetLifeinsurance company, with the intention to make the business "more friendly and approachable".Schulz justified the licensing relationship with MetLife as necessary to financially support his philanthropic work, although refused to openly describe the exact details of the work he was financing.In 2016, the 31-year licensing relationship with MetLife ended.The relationship resumed in 2023 with Snoopy returning as a mascot for pet insurance.
In 1999, it was estimated that there were 20,000 different new products each year adorning a variety of licensed items, such as: clothing, plush toys of Snoopy,Thermos bottles, lunch boxes, picture frames, and music boxes.The familiarity of the characters also proved lucrative for advertising material in both print and television,appearing on products such asDolly Madisonsnack cakes,Chex Mixsnacks,Bountypaper towels,Kraftmacaroni cheese andA&W Root Beer.
The sheer extent to which the characters are used in licensed material is a subject of criticism against Schulz.Los Angeles Timespointed out that "some critics [say] Schulz was distracted by marketing demands, and his characters had become caricatures of themselves by shilling for Metropolitan Life Insurance, Dolly Madison cupcakes and others."Schulz reasoned that his approach to licensing was in fact modest, stating "our [licensing] program is built upon characters who are figuratively alive" and "we're not simply stamping these characters out on the sides of products just to sell products" while also adding "Snoopy is so versatile he just seems to be able to fit into any role and it just works. It's not that we're out to clutter the market with products. In fact anyone saying we're overdoing it is way off base because actually we are underdoing it".
The Peanuts characters have appeared in several video games, such asSnoopyin 1984 byRadarsoft,Snoopy: The Cool Computer GamebyThe Edge,Snoopy and the Red Baronfor theAtari 2600,Snoopy's Silly Sports Spectacular(1989,Nintendo Entertainment System),Snoopy's Magic Show(1990,Game Boy),Snoopy Tennis(2001,Game Boy Color),Snoopy Concertwhich was released in 1995 and sold to the Japanese market for theSuper NES, and in October 2006, a second game titledSnoopy vs. The Red BaronbyNamco Bandaifor the PlayStation 2. In July 2007, the Peanuts characters appeared in theSnoopy the Flying Acemobile phone game by Namco Networks. In November 2015,Snoopy's Town Talewas launched for mobile byPixowl, featuring the entire Peanuts gang along with Snoopy and Charlie Brown.
In 1980 (with a new edition published in 1990), theFunk & Wagnallspublishing house also produced a children's encyclopedia called theCharlie Brown's 'Cyclopedia. The 15-volume set features many of the Peanuts characters.
In April 2002,The Peanuts Collectors Edition Monopolyboard game was released by USAopoly. The game was created by Justin Gage, a friend of Charles and Jeannie Schulz. Gage dedicated the game to Schulz in memory of his passing.
In 1983,Knott's Berry Farm, in Southern California, was the first theme park to license thePeanutscharacters, creating the firstCamp Snoopyarea and making Snoopy the park's mascot. Knott's expanded its operation in 1992 by building an indoor amusement park in theMall of America, calledKnott's Camp Snoopy. The Knott's theme parks were acquired by the national amusement park chainSix Flagsin 2024, which continued to operateKnott's Camp Snoopypark until the mall took over its operation in March 2005.Six Flags had already licensed thePeanutscharacters for use in 1992 as an atmosphere,so its acquisition of Knott's Berry Farm did not alter the use of those characters.
Snoopy is currently the official mascot of all the Six Flags parks. It was previously used in all of the park logos but it has since been removed. Six Flags also operated a Camp Snoopy area atDorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom,Worlds of Fun, andValleyfairfeaturing variousPeanuts-themed attractions until 2011. There is still a Camp Snoopy area atCedar Pointand Knott's Berry Farm.
In 2008,Cedar PointintroducedPlanet Snoopy, a children's area where Peanuts Playground used to be. This area consists of family and children's rides relocated from Cedar Point's sister parkGeauga Lakeafter its closing. The rides are inspired by Peanuts characters. The area also consists of a "Kids Only" restaurant called Joe Cool Cafe (there is a small menu for adults). In 2010, theNickelodeon CentralandNickelodeon Universeareas in the formerParamount Parks(California's Great America,Canada's Wonderland,Carowinds,Kings Dominion, andKings Island) were replaced byPlanet Snoopy. In 2011, Cedar Fair announced it would also add Planet Snoopy toValleyfair,Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom, andWorlds of Fun, replacing the Camp Snoopy areas. ″Carowinds″ Planet Snoopy was rethemed to Camp Snoopy. Planet Snoopy is now at every Six Flags parks beside Knott's Berry Farm,Carowinds,Michigan's Adventure.
Also, thePeanutscharacters can be found atUniversal Studios Japanin the Universal Wonderland section along with the characters fromSesame StreetandHello Kitty,and in the Snoopy's World in Hong Kong.
An exhibition titledGood Grief, Charlie Brown! Celebrating Snoopy and the Enduring Power of Peanutsopened atSomerset Housein London on 25 October 2018, running until 3 March 2019. The exhibition brought togetherCharles M. Schulz's original Peanuts cartoons with work from a wide range of acclaimed contemporary artists and designers who have been inspired by the cartoon.
There is a trail called A Dog's Trail AcrossCardiff,CaerphillyandPorthcawl. The trail featuresSnoopyfrom Peanuts.
On June 3, 2010, United Media sold all its Peanuts-related assets, including its strips and branding, to a new company,Peanuts Worldwide LLC, a joint venture of theIconix Brand Group(which owned 80 percent) and Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates (20 percent). In addition, United Media sold its United Media Licensing arm, which represents licensing for its other properties, to Peanuts Worldwide.United Feature Syndicate continued to syndicate the strip, until February 27, 2011, whenUniversal Uclicktook over syndication, ending United Media's 60-plus-year stewardship of Peanuts.
In May 2017, Canada-based DHX Media (nowWildBrain) announced that it would acquire Iconix's entertainment brands, including the 80% stake of Peanuts Worldwide and full rights to theStrawberry Shortcakebrand, for $345 million.DHX officially took control of the properties on June 30, 2017.
On May 13, 2018, DHX announced it had reached a strategic agreement in whichSony Music Entertainment Japan(whose consumer products division has been a licensing agent for the Peanuts brand since 2010) would acquire 49% of its 80% stake in Peanuts Worldwide for $185 million, with DHX holding a 41% stake and SMEJ owning 39%.The transaction was completed on July 23.Two months after the sale's completion, DHX eliminated the rest of its debt by signing a five-year, multi-million-dollar agency agreement withCAA-GBGGlobal Brand Management Group (a brand management joint venture betweenCreative Artists Agencyand Hong Kong-basedGlobal Brands Group) to represent the Peanuts brand in China and the rest of Asia excluding Japan.