and His Family

篇名： Snoopy and His Peanuts Family

作者： 郭珈均。私立興華高中。應一 2 班

指導老師： 鄭世杰老師

1 Snoopy and His Peanuts Family

I. Introduction

Peanuts is the creation of Charles M. Schulz, who was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on November 26, 1922. Peanuts is a strip that looks at life through the eyes of children and it ran from October 2, 1950 to February 13, 2000 (the day after Schulz's death). The strip is considered to be one of the most popular and influential strips in the strips history. , an average kid who is meek, nervous and lacks self-confidence. He is not able to fly a kite or to win a baseball game or even to kick a football; Lucy, his constant adversary; Linus, her brother, whose philosophical outlook on life perhaps explains his need for a security blanket; Sally, Charlie Brown’s sister; Peppermint and , her sidekick; and, of course, the animals, Snoopy and . Snoopy is in many ways as important a character as Charlie Brown--perhaps he is the most human character--and Woodstock is his closest companion. Schulz uses this format and completely devoid of adult characters in order to examine many of the social and psychological tensions of modern and adult society. Charlie Brown is a little bit of everybody, and through him we are able to see the humor in our own failings. Indeed, comics can soften the impact of reality which may be full of dangers, disasters and tragedies, and enable us to laugh at ourselves. These pretty much sum up why Peanuts has so much resonance for so many people around the world.

II. Thesis

1. Origin and History of Peanuts

Peanuts is a daily syndicated comic strips written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz, which ran from October 2, 1950, to February 13, 2000. It origined in Li'l Folks, a weekly panel comic that appeared in Schulz's hometown paper, the St. Paul Pioneer Press, from 1947 to 1950. He first used the name “Charlie Brown” for a character there. Schulz decided to produce all aspects of the strip, from the script to the finished art and lettering by himself. Peanuts is remarkable for its deft social 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 he assumed them to be self- evident. Peanuts also did not shy away from cartoon violence and delicately touched on religious themes. With nearly 17,897 strips published in all, making it arguably the longest story ever told by one human being. At its peak, Peanuts ran in over 2,600 newspapers, with a readership of 355 million in 75 countries, and was translated into 21 languages. In addition, Peanuts achieved wonderful success for its television specials, including A Charlie Brown Christmas and It's the . Peanuts has been considered as the most shining example of the American success story in the comic strip field.

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2. The Author of Peanuts - Charles M. Schulz

Charles Monroe Schulz (November 26, 1922 – February 12, 2000), born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was an American cartoonist best known worldwide for his Peanuts comic strip. Schulz was the only child of Dena Halverson, who was Norwegian and Carl Schulz, who was German. His uncle nicknamed him "Sparky" after the horse Spark Plug in the Barney Google comic strip. From birth, comics played an important role in his life. Throughout his youth he and his father shared a Sunday morning ritual reading the funnies. Schulz always knew he wanted to be a cartoonist and was very proud when Ripley’s newspaper feature, Believe it or Not, published his drawing of the family dog in 1937. Schulz put his artistic ambitions on hold during World War II while serving as a machine-gun squad leader, though he regularly sketched episodes of daily army life in his sketchbook. In 1945, Schulz returned to St. Paul to pursue a cartooning career. Between 1947 and 1950, he drew a weekly comic panel, Li'l Folks, for the St. Paul Pioneer Press. He first used the name Charlie Brown for a character there, although he applied the name in four gags to three different boys and one buried in sand. The series also had a dog that looked much like Snoopy. . In 1948, Schulz sold a cartoon to the Saturday Evening Post, the first of seventeen single-panel cartoons by Schulz that would be published there. After many rejection slips, Schulz finally realized his dream of creating a nationally-syndicated daily comic strip when Peanuts debuted in seven newspapers on October 2, 1950. The strip became one of the most popular comic strips of all time. By 1965, Schulz was twice honored with the Reuben Award by the National Cartoonists Society for his talents, and Peanuts was an international success. When Schulz announced his retirement for health reasons in December 1999, Peanuts was in more than 2,600 newspapers worldwide; he died shortly thereafter. The Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center in Santa Rosa, California, opened in his honor in August 2002, with the mission of preserving, displaying, and interpreting the art of this legendary cartoonist.

3. Main Characters in Peanuts

3-1. Snoopy

The pet dog of the Peanuts character Charlie Brown and also the main comic-strip character who is a spotted white beagle with a rich fantasy life. His fictional birthday has been established as October 2, made his first appearance on the strip October 4, 1950, two

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days after the Peanuts strip premiered. He was first identified by name on November 10. The author Charles M. Schulz was originally going to call him "Sniffy." Snoopy enjoys flying on top of his kennel as a Flying Ace. One specific characteristic of him is that he likes to portray different characters such as tennis player, lawyer, and many others. He also enjoys his supper very much. Untill now, Snoopy has become one of the most iconic and beloved characters in the history of comics.

3-2. Woodstock

He is Snoopy's best friend and partner. They spend happy times telling each other jokes and scary stories. Snoopy and Woodstock met when a mother bird built a nest on Snoopy's stomach. There were two birds in it; the mom never came back. One day, Snoopy got fed up with the two birds, and threw them away. Snoopy's first thought was that he was glad to get rid of this responsibility; however, later he happened to find Woodstock, who was flying in his usual topsy-turvy way. Woodstock quickly became Snoopy's best friend. Snoopy also became a non-avian character who could understand Woodstock's language. This is because Woodstock's speech is rendered entirely in "chicken scratch" marks; Snoopy usually ends up translating them for the benefit of the reader.

3-3. Charlie Brown

He is the master of Snoopy. Charlie Brown is known to be bald, though he has a little bit of hair at the front. He is a responsible boy and brings supper for Snoopy every night. Even at times he is not able to guess what Snoopy is thinking, he loves Snoopy very much. He leads a baseball team which never seems to win and make it big but he is contented. Being a loveable loser, a child possessed of endless determination and hope, who is ultimately dominated by his insecurities and a “permanent case of bad luck," and he has often been taken advantage of by his peers. He commonly wears a collared shirt with a black zigzag across the middle. The shirt originally tended to be red in the Sunday comics, blue on Peanuts merchandise items, and yellow on the animated television specials.

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3-4.

He is often seen carrying his blue blanket and sucking his thumb. This is sometimes interrupted by Snoopy who drags him along using the blanket. He tried to kick that habit once but failed to do so. He felt sick without it. Linus is the best friend of Charlie Brown. Linus is also the younger brother of and older brother of Rerun van Pelt. Although Linus is young, he is unusually smart and he acts as the strip's philosopher.

3-5.

Sally Brown has blond hair with bangs. She always wears pink or blue dresses, and she also wears white shoes. She is the younger sister of Charlie Brown and she doesn't like going to school. She is in love with Charlie Brown's best friend Linus. She has a "take it easy" approach to life, preferring to slide by while doing as little work as possible. Her favorite pastime is sitting in her beanbag chair watching TV. Charlie Brown usually goes to Lucy in her psychiatric booth when he's feeling depressed.

3-6. Lucy Van Pelt

She is the one big sister who takes care of her brother Linus. Lucy is a cynical eight-year old girl, and she is often bossy toward the other characters in the strip, particularly to Linus and Charlie Brown. She is often referred to as the world's greatest fuss-budget. You can find her at her psychatric counter giving advice for 5 cents each. Charlie Brown is one of her faithful customers but he hardly gets anything out of it. She falls for a boy whose name is and tries hard to get him interested.

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3-7.

A freckle-faced brunette girl, she is one of a small group in the strip who lives across town from Charlie Brown and his school friends. She is an optimist and likes to sleep in class. Generally displaying the characteristics of a tomboy, she was the first female Peanuts character to wear pants. She is noted for her persistent habit of profoundly misunderstanding basic concepts and ideas that most people would consider obvious, leading to embarrassing situations. She often turns to her best pal Marcie for help getting through the school day. Both of them have a crush on Charlie Brown and she will always make the 1st move. She is an optimist and likes to sleep in class. Though she can be tough on "Chuck," as she calls Charlie Brown, she has made it clear she really has a soft spot in her heart for him. Both of them have a crush on Charlie Brown and she will always make the first move.

3-8. Marcie

Book-smart and loyal but a bit naïve, Marcie serves as comedic foil and best friend to tomboy Peppermint Patty, plays a supporting role in some of Snoopy's heroic fantasies, and displays a romantic interest in Charlie Brown. Marcie has dark brown chin-length hair and she usually wears a t-shirt and shorts. She and Peppermint Patty are generally the only girls in the strip to do so. She is mainly distinguishable for always wearing glasses. Knowledgeable and intelligent, she is shy when dealing with Charlie Brown and keeps that little secret to herself. In addition, Peppermint Patty protects Marcie, and Marcie lets Peppermint Patty copy her homework. Her overachieving nature has made her Schulz's poster kid for childhood stress.

III. Conlusion

Peanuts is often regarded as one of the most influential and well-written comic strips of all time. Considered amongst the greatest comic strips of all time, Peanuts was declared second in a list of the greatest comics of the 20th century commissioned by The Comics Journal in 1999. Cartoon tributes have appeared in other comic strips since Schulz's death in 2000, and are now displayed at the Charles Schulz Museum. In May 2000, many cartoonists included a reference to Peanuts in their own strips. In my opinion, I feel that Peanuts described the depth of emotion of human beings. Beneath the cheerful surface, we see vulnerabilities and anxieties that we all experienced, but we are reluctant to

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acknowledge. By sharing those feelings with us, Schulz showed us a vital aspect of our common humanity. To me, peanuts shows the ultimate goal of great art. Schulz was included in the touring exhibition "Masters of American Comics" based on his achievements in the art form while producing the strip. His gag work is hailed as being "psychologically complex", and his style on the strip is noted as being perfectly in keeping with the style of all times. If you haven’t acquainted with this cute and naughty beagle, try to know him and his family！You will definitely enjoy this well-known strips！

IV. Reference Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snoopy (Date 2009/3/10)

Wikipedia.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Peanuts_characters (Date 2009/3/12)

http://www.schulzmuseum.org/ (Date 2009/3/12)

http://www.snoopy.com/ (Date 2009/3/14)

http://www.peanutscollectorclub.com/books.html (Date 2009/3/16)

Schulz, Charles M. (1999) Peanuts: A Golden Celebration: The Art and the Story of the World's Best-Loved Comic Strip. New York: HarperCollins.

Schulz, Charles M. (2003) Peanuts: The Art of Charles M. Schulz. New York: Pantheon Books.

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