Showing posts with label Peanuts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Peanuts. Show all posts

Monday, August 6, 2012

4087. Pig-Pen




Pig-Pen is a character in the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. He is a young boy who is, except on very rare occasions, very dirty. "Pig-Pen" is a nickname, invariably written in quotation marks in the strip. In the character's first appearance on July 13, 1954, in a strip directly parodying the first chapter of Lord of the Flies, he declares, "I haven't got a name . . . People just call me things . . . Real insulting things." If he does have a real name, it is never mentioned. In a 2000 Gallup Poll "Pig-Pen" was found to be the fifth most popular Peanuts character. "Pig-Pen" is known for his perpetually filthy overalls and the cloud of dirt and dust that follows him wherever he goes. When he takes a deep breath (to sing, for example), the dust rises briefly around him. He sometimes refers to the cloud that surrounds him with pride as the dust of ancient civilizations. He cannot seem to rid himself of the dust for more than the briefest of periods--indeed, in spite of his best efforts, it appears that he cannot stay clean. He is referred to in an early strip as the only person who can get dirty while walking in a snowstorm. Nevertheless, on rare occasions he has very briefly appeared clean, and hence unrecognizable. Once this was in order to impress Violet, of whom he was a bit fond. On another occasion (September 6, 1954), he managed to keep one side of his body clean and presented this clean side to Patty, causing her to believe that he was completely clean. Once, after bathing and dressing in clean clothes, "Pig-Pen" stepped outside his house, and instantaneously became dirty and disheveled, whereupon he declared to Charlie Brown, "You know what I am? I'm a dust magnet!" On another occasion, "Pig-Pen" decided it was important to have clean hands, but after failing to wash them, realized that he had "reached a point of no return." One notable exception is an earlier strip where he gets caught in a brief but heavy rainfall, and while trying to seek shelter, the storm ends, revealing him to be clean. He responds with disdain, stating that "in one minute the rain has washed away what took me all day to accomplish". Charlie Brown is the sole Peanuts character to unconditionally accept "Pig-Pen" for who he is, even defending "Pig-Pen's" uncleanliness in one strip (which was re-used in A Charlie Brown Christmas): “ Don't think of it as dust. Just think of it as the dirt and dust of far-off lands blowing over here and settling on "Pig-Pen!" It staggers the imagination! He may be carrying the soil that was trod upon by Solomon or Nebuchadnezzar or Genghis Khan!” Charles Schulz admitted that he came to regret "Pig-Pen's" popularity, given the character's essentially one-joke nature; he utilized the character very rarely in the later years of the strip's run. Like most of Schulz's characters, "Pig-Pen" appeared in several of the animated Peanuts television specials beginning in the 1960s. One time his clean self was shown in a miniseries titled "This Is America, Charlie Brown", where he is an astronaut aboard a futuristic space station, demonstrating how personal hygiene would apply in zero gravity. True to form, the clean "Pig-Pen" is immediately dirtied again when dirt is attracted to him magnetically. In the 1990s, he appeared (in an animated overlay against a live-action backdrop) in a series of television commercials for Regina vacuum cleaners where all the dirt is sucked off his body and filthy trousers by one of the company's products, arguably one of the few times where "Pig-Pen" remains clean. Geoffrey Ornstein first voiced "Pig-Pen" in the 1965 movie A Charlie Brown Christmas. Although he also later played the role in A Boy Named Charlie Brown, other various actors have voiced him ever since. "Pig-Pen" last appeared in the Peanuts comic strip on September 8, 1999. That strip was very uncharacteristic of him in that it showed him embarrassed to the point of shame in his dirtiness, with none of the pride or sense of destiny that he expressed in earlier strips. "Pig-Pen" is very good at playing the drums, as shown in the special Play It Again, Charlie Brown. He is also shown playing the double bass, notably in "A Charlie Brown Christmas".

Monday, July 30, 2012

4046-4047. Linus and Snowman


Linus van Pelt is a character in Charles M. Schulz's comic strip Peanuts. The best friend of Charlie Brown, Linus is also the younger brother of Lucy van Pelt and older brother of Rerun van Pelt. He first appeared on September 19, 1952; however, he was not mentioned by name until three days later. He was first referenced two months earlier, on July 14. Linus spoke his first words in 1954, the same year he was shown with his security blanket. On the various specials, Christopher Shea first voiced Linus van Pelt in 1965. His younger brother, Stephen, voiced Linus from 1971 until 1975. Various actors (among them Jeremy Miller of Growing Pains fame) have played Linus since then. Also, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star B.D. Wong portrayed Linus in the Broadway revival of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Though young, Linus is unusually smart, and he acts as the strip's philosopher and theologian, often quoting the Gospels. He invented his own legendary being, the Great Pumpkin, who, Linus claims, appears every Halloween at the most "sincere" pumpkin patch, bearing gifts. Linus is the only one who believes in the Great Pumpkin, although he occasionally temporarily convinces other characters the Great Pumpkin is real, only to stubbornly maintain his faith when they lose theirs. On one occasion, Linus had a commanding lead in the polls for school president—until he brought out his favorite subject of the "Great Pumpkin," at which point he was nearly laughed out of the election. (He ended up winning anyway by one vote, cast by his opponent, who decided that Linus would make a better school president.) A similar occurrence was featured in a strip with the same storyline, except Charlie Brown asks him why he had to bring up the Great Pumpkin and Linus gave his reasons. After saying that Charlie Brown was looking at him as if he was crazy, Charlie Brown responded, "I'm looking at you like I could've been vice president!" Appearance Linus has brown hair and he normally wears a red shirt with stripes on it, black shorts, and tennis shoes. On February 5, 1962, Linus began wearing eyeglasses after being diagnosed with myopia. However, after September 9, 1962, his glasses inexplicably disappeared from the strip. In the cartoon specials, Linus is usually portrayed as having a slight lisp. Security blanket Linus is almost never without his blue blanket, which debuted in the June 1, 1954, strip. He holds the blanket over his shoulder while sucking his thumb. Ridicule of the habit is not a major concern for him as shown when one friend, Roy, warned him at summer camp that he would be viciously teased for it. In response, Linus uses his blanket like a whip and shears off a tree branch with intimidating power and notes: "They never tease me more than once." The blanket, it turns out, is an autonomous (although non-verbal) entity. In a 1965 strip, it engaged in a campaign of clandestine attacks on Lucy, even routing her from the house, due to her constant, albeit failed, attempts to get rid of it by throwing it in the trash burner. In the special A Boy Named Charlie Brown, it also performed a complex dance routine with Linus upon being reunited with its owner. In the earlier strips, Linus's relationship to his blanket was one of intense emotional attachment to the point of manifesting physical symptoms if deprived of it even for a short while. He suffered weakness and dizziness, for example, when Lucy took it from him only long enough to have it laundered, spontaneously recovering when it was restored to him. In the aforementioned "A Boy Named Charlie Brown," Linus manifested similar symptoms when he had given his blanket to Charlie Brown. On another occasion, Lucy snatched his blanket away and buried it in an effort to break Linus of his habit. Linus literally dug up the neighborhood for days trying to find it-until Snoopy dug it up. Lucy won a first prize in a school science contest when she took Linus' blanket away and recorded his "withdrawal symptoms"-and as proof entered Linus and his blanket as an exhibit! Possession of the blanket is often sought by Snoopy, who has used many tricks and subterfuges to relieve Linus of it, even at one point having the blanket delivered to his doghouse. A common thing for Snoopy is to run up and quickly grab the blanket in his mouth and drag Linus along with it, then swing him and the blanket around many times before letting go and sending them both soaring off to who-knows-where. In another instance, Linus was so angry at Snoopy for snatching his blanket again and again that he retaliated by threatening Snoopy's supper dish. Upon hearing that Linus had possession of his most prized possession, Snoopy gave Linus back the blanket fairly quickly, thinking, "I never dreamed he would fight so dirty!". When Lucy buried the blanket, Snoopy took the time to dig for it himself; and when he found it, Linus thanked him, upon which Snoopy thought "Every now and then I feel that my existence is justified!" In the special Snoopy Come Home, Snoopy and Linus engaged in an exchange of increasingly violent assaults upon one another to gain possession of the blanket. Furthermore, there are many stories where Lucy and Linus's grandmother attempts to force him to give up the blanket, only to eventually concede in the face of his steadfast resistance. Two attempts were when the grandmother in question gave up smoking, and when she offered that if he gave up the blanket she would donate ten dollars to his favorite charity. The deal wasn't made because it wasn't a fair proposition. The April 11, 1983, strip shows Linus saying that he had given up his blanket[6], and later going from door to door, telling people how he gave up his blanket. Once, this resulted in the girl at the door lashing him with her blanket, in her anger. Twice before Linus actually vows to give up his blanket-once he threw it away but grabbed it back; another time he was about to tell Charlie Brown about his new resolution when Charlie Brown ruined everything by tossing a blanket onto Linus. In one particularly angry confrontation over the issue (the aforementioned blanket-for-smoking episode) Linus admitted that if his mother ordered him to stop, he would comply; but no one else, especially Lucy or the "blanket-hating" grandmother, would have that authority. In fact, in that confrontation, when Lucy decided that he'd gone without the blanket for two weeks and that he no longer needed it, she decided to throw it into the trash burner; Linus, however, was able to intervene at the last second and retrieve his blanket. Never objecting, the mother was evidently content to let her unusually intelligent son grow out of the habit on his own. In later strips, Linus is shown with it less and less, and Charles Schulz admitted in 1989 that Linus had finally outgrown the blanket, and it was only in the strip when required for the humor. In one comic, Linus suddenly stops sucking his thumb and says "It's a good thumb, but not a great thumb." The special Why, Charlie Brown, Why?, released the following year, is the only one where Linus is never seen with his blanket, nor is even mentioned, arguably to make Linus appear more mature given the serious subject of the special.eventually, however, he is reunited with it it, and was seen with it, although not every time, many times, and a cofrontation with Snoopy was included mostly in each strip.

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

3997. Snoopy in Taiwan


FIRST APPEARANCE: October 4, 1950 The wildly imaginative, supremely confident, world-famous beagle is a canine master of disguise. As Joe Cool, he’s aloof, unflappable, above the fray, the hip dog we’d all like to be. As the World War I Flying Ace, he engages in aerial combat with the notorious Red Baron. While pondering life from the top of his doghouse, he writes the great American novel, travels to the moon, and plots revenge on the cat next door. DID YOU KNOW: Snoopy reads "War and Peace" at the rate of one word a day.

3988. Snoopy in Japan


Snoopy is a fictional character in the long-running comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. He is Charlie Brown's pet dog. Snoopy began his life in the strip as a fairly conventional dog, but eventually evolved into perhaps the strip's most dynamic character—and among the most recognizable comic characters in the world. The original drawings of Snoopy were "greatly patterned" after Spike, one of Schulz's childhood dogs.

3987. Snoopy in Thailand


Snoopy, whose fictional birthday has been established as October 2, made his first appearance in the strip of October 4, 1950, two days after the strip premiered. He was first identified by name on November 10. Schulz was originally going to call him "Sniffy" (as described in the 25th anniversary book), until he discovered that name was used in a different comic strip. He changed it to "Snoopy" after remembering that his late mother Dena Schulz had commented that if their family were ever to acquire a third dog, it should be called Snoopy, an affectionate term in Norwegian (the actual term is "Snuppa"). In earlier strips it is not clear to whom Snoopy belongs. For instance, in the February 2, 1951 strip, Charlie Brown accuses Snoopy of following him, only to be told by Patty that Snoopy isn't following Charlie Brown, but merely lives in the same direction. Indeed many early strips show Snoopy interacting with Shermy (who is shown in one early strip running with Snoopy on his leash) and Patty without Charlie Brown, making Snoopy appear to belong to all of the neighborhood kids, similar to the dog Pete in the Our Gang comedies, who is everyone's dog. (Note: in this era, it was common for dogs to roam their local area and congregate with local children, and then return to their respective homes). Later, Charlie Brown states that his parents bought Snoopy for him at the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm, after another boy had dumped sand on him while playing in a sandbox. Snoopy was a silent character for the first two years of his existence, but on May 27, 1952 he verbalized his thoughts to readers for the first time in a thought balloon; Schulz would utilize this device for nearly all of the character's appearances in the strip thereafter. At first, Snoopy acted as a normal dog, and would only think in simple one-word phrases (such as "FOOD!"), but then became more articulate.

3986. Snoopy in New Zealand


In addition to Snoopy's ability to "speak" his thoughts to the reader, many of the human characters in Peanuts have the uncanny knack of reading his thoughts and responding to them. In the animated Peanuts films and television specials, Snoopy's thoughts are not verbalized; his moods are instead conveyed through growls, sobs, laughter, monosyllabic utterances such as "bleah," "hey," etc., as well as through pantomime. The only exceptions are in the animated adaptations of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown and Snoopy!!! The Musical, in which Snoopy's thoughts are verbalized through voice overs (by Robert Towers and Cam Clarke, respectively). Animation producer Bill Meléndez voiced both Snoopy and (eventually) Woodstock in numerous television specials from 1965 to 2006. In Peanuts Motion Comics, Snoopy's thoughts appear onscreen as text in thought bubbles, without voice. Oddly enough, the first time a beagle was mentioned in the strip (December 5, 1960), Snoopy denied being one. As Snoopy dozed, Charlie Brown paraphrased Gertrude Stein: "Beagles on the grass, alas." To this, Snoopy replied, "I ain't no stupid beagle!" (Years later, Snoopy would paraphrase the Stein expression himself: "Pigeons on the grass, alas; Dogs on the ground, abound." (June 25, 1982) As the series progressed, Snoopy became a more human-like dog. His character is that of a dog who pretends to be a person (or who sometimes forgets he is a dog). In one Peanuts strip, Sally had to do a report on animals for school, and requested Snoopy's help. But Snoopy was reluctant. "How can I help?" he thought. "I don't know any animals." Many of Peanuts' memorable moments come in Snoopy's efforts as a novelist: his eternal opener on the typewriter "It was a dark and stormy night..." is taken from Edward George Bulwer-Lytton's 1830 novel Paul Clifford. Almost all his submissions are rejected by potential publishers, who eventually resort to rude dismissals and cruel jokes to attempt to prevent being bothered by Snoopy. The contrast between Snoopy's existence in a dream world and Charlie Brown's in the real world is central to the humour and philosophy of Peanuts (e.g., the Peanuts book title Life's a Dream, Charlie Brown). "It Was A Dark And Stormy Night" remains his most successful work. Schulz summed up Snoopy's character in a 1997 interview: "He has to retreat into his fanciful world in order to survive. Otherwise, he leads kind of a dull, miserable life. I don't envy dogs the lives they have to live."

3981. Snoopy in Singapore


Schulz once said that the best idea he ever had in the strip was to move Snoopy from inside his doghouse to the rooftop[citation needed]. Preceding that, there was a gradual evolution of the character, from something like an actual dog to an anthropomorphic character, more like typical cartoon animals. He also thought that this would give a better image to children to use more of their imagination and characterized it as the Mary Poppins syndrome, by letting people believe that his doghouse could be anything he wanted it to be. His earliest impersonation was of a bird on August 9, 1951. Later (starting November 17, 1955), Snoopy engaged in dead-on imitations of Violet, a pelican, Lucy, a moose, Beethoven and Mickey Mouse (to which Charlie Brown responded, "Frightening, isn't it?"). He would also pretend to be other animals, including a snake, rhinoceros, lion, and vulture. But his eccentricities did not stop there. On June 28, 1957, Snoopy walked on his two hind legs, like a human, for the first time. This soon became so commonplace as to be almost unnoticeable, as Snoopy developed a variety of Walter Mitty-esque alter egos (often beginning "Here's the world-famous [name of occupation]"). Snoopy's transformation to walking to two feet also was accompanied by his larger snout and great body length. Furthermore, Snoopy takes his fantasies so seriously that he plays out even unpleasant elements of them such as taking lengthy penalties in hockey games or facing humiliating disciplinary actions for incompetence. One of Snoopy's most famous alter-egos is as the World War I Flying Ace (first appearance, October 10, 1965), often seen battling his arch-enemy, Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron). When assuming this personality, Snoopy would don goggles, a flying helmet and a scarf and climb on top of his doghouse, which he claimed was a Sopwith Camel. The Red Baron, like other adult figures in Peanuts, was never drawn in a strip; his presence was indicated through the bullet holes that would riddle the doghouse, and Snoopy's fist-shaking and cries of "Curse you, Red Baron!" while his "Sopwith Camel" doghouse plummeted to earth trailing smoke. In I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown Charlie Brown's sister Sally Brown jumps on the doghouse and flies with Snoopy. Snoopy also became "Joe Cool" as he put on sunglasses and leaned against the wall doing nothing. Snoopy has also been a famous writer (who was actually published once, in an October 1995 storyline, in which one copy of his unnamed novel was printed, but it failed to sell); a bow-tie wearing attorney (who once defended Peter Rabbit), a hockey player, an Olympic figure skater (who used to skate with Peggy Fleming before he became "big time"); a world famous grocery checkout clerk who operated from the top of his dog house in an apron; the "Lone Beagle" (the first dog to fly solo across the Atlantic – a play on Charles Lindbergh, "The Lone Eagle"); and even the first astronaut to land on the moon. In "It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown", Snoopy becomes a Flash dancer named "Flashbeagle". Outside of his fantasy life, he plays shortstop on Charlie Brown's Little League team; he is the best player, nearly passing Babe Ruth on the career home run list, and an excellent fielder due to his ability to catch fly balls in his mouth. Snoopy is also a "Beagle Scout", the Peanuts version of Eagle Scout and is the Scout leader for a troop composed of Woodstock and his other bird friends, such as Bill, Harriet, and Conrad. This Scouting theme reappears throughout the comic strip.

3980. Snoopy in Malaysia


Snoopy is also a tennis player. He does tend to double-fault frequently, which sends him into rage-filled temper tantrums during which he screams and destroys his racket, a la John McEnroe. He has also played in mixed-doubles, usually pairing with the garage door (whose best quality as a player, according to Snoopy, is that "he never foot faults") and later teaming up with the short-tempered, cantankerous Molly Volley. Snoopy loves root beer and pizza, hates coconut candy, gets claustrophobia in tall weeds, and is deathly afraid of icicles dangling over his doghouse. One of his hobbies is reading Leo Tolstoy's epic novel War and Peace at the rate of "a word a day". Snoopy also has the uncanny ability to play fetch with soap bubbles, and can hear someone eating marshmallows or cookies at a distance, or even peeling a banana. Snoopy is also capable of disappearing, like the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland, as shown in an extended strip, whenever Charlie Brown reads the book to him. ("Grins are easy. Noses are hard. Ears are almost impossible."). Two things Snoopy dislikes are listening to balloons being squeezed and cats. He can also use his ears to fly about as a "whirlydog". Snoopy even became a canine helicopter, with Woodstock piloting. This gag appeared in the strip several times, most famously rescuing Linus from the top of a barn after being commissioned by Sally. When asked by Linus where he learned to pilot, Woodstock replied in his usual apostrophes, which Linus interpreted as meaning "'Nam". The gag also appeared in It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown. Snoopy "understands a little French and Serbo-Croatian." His dog food brand is called "For Dogs who flew in World War I and understand a little French". He later was also depicted as a sergeant in the French Foreign Legion (inspired by the film Beau Geste from 1966), with Woodstock and his avian friends as members of his patrol. He failed his high school geometry course, which was his excuse for not being able to follow a golf course's 90 degree golf cart driving rule.

3977. Snoopy in the Philippines


Snoopy has his own little dance, variously known as The Beagle, the Suppertime Dance, or simply the Happy Snoopy Dance. Most often he dances at suppertime and has broken his foot from being too excited. One strip includes a joke that he has forgotten the steps and another includes the joke that he needs new steps. One time, Charlie Brown gleefully revealed that Snoopy missed his suppertime and did his own song and dance gloating at his dog's mistake while Snoopy looked on in astonishment. Snoopy is also adept at the accordion, although his repertoire is limited to "polkas, waltzes, and schottisches", the names of which billow from the instrument as he plays. Snoopy climbed trees at least five times—once to rescue Schroeder's piano, once to rescue Linus's blanket, once to see a "strange creature" in Woodstock's nest which turned out to be an egg, once after Frieda's cat Faron, and once with Charlie Brown, Schroeder, and an unnamed Peanuts kid. He fell out of the tree almost every time. (Note: In his "vulture" persona and when visiting Woodstock's nest, Snoopy was depicted in trees many times.) Every Veterans Day, Snoopy dresses as an army veteran and goes to army cartoonist Bill Mauldin's house to "quaff root beer and tell war stories."

3971. Snoopy


Snoopy has been as much a failure at love with female dogs as his owner Charlie Brown has been at baseball and kite flying. In early 1965, he met a girl beagle at an ice skating rink and fell in love. However, his girlfriend's father forbade marriage between the two; "he could never allow his daughter to marry an obedience school dropout", as Snoopy put it, and so turned to eating to attempt to forget her. It didn't work: "I'll always have a few memories and a fat stomach", he griped. Later that same year he met her again on the beach and tried surfing to impress her, only to wipe out. Charlie Brown told Snoopy he'd been making a fool of himself for nothing; the girl beagle in question had been seen walking on the beach with a golden retriever, which broke his heart all over again. In 1977, he met a female while serving as guard dog for Peppermint Patty, fell in love with her, and gave her a proposal of marriage. But he was crushed on his wedding day when she ran off with the "best beagle", Spike, although when they arrived in Needles, she left Spike for a coyote. (Snoopy's Getting Married, Charlie Brown follows this same storyline, except Snoopy's bride-to-be ran off with a golden retriever.) In 1970, he went to the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm (where he'd allegedly taught Sunday school at one point) to give a 4th of July speech. However, as he was about to begin, he was beaned with a supper dish by anti-Vietnam War protesters, and a full scale riot broke out, during which police used tear gas to control the crowd. In all the confusion, Snoopy ran off the podium and was lost in the crowd. While blinded by tear gas, he felt a girl beagle's paws, but the tear gas prevented him from seeing her. By the time Charlie Brown had tracked her down, the farm informed them that she'd been sold, thus breaking Snoopy's heart again. By this time, Snoopy had regained his vision. "What do you do?" Snoopy woefully asks, and then immediately answers: "Back to eating!" And in the TV special Life Is a Circus, Charlie Brown, Snoopy met a circus-performing female French poodle named Fifi and fell so hopelessly in love with her, he left Charlie Brown to join the circus as "Hugo the Great". But eventually, he tried to take Fifi with him when he ran away from the circus. Fifi, after considering a while, would have no part of it, feeling that her proper place was the circus. They parted ways, again leaving Snoopy brokenhearted. It is said that Snoopy's only regret was that he was not a Golden Retriever, as his loves usually fall for one. Snoopy frequently falls for Lucy van Pelt, and when he kisses Lucy, she yells in disgust about having been "kissed by a dog" and having "dog germs". However, he has also been seen kissing the other female characters, who are far more accepting of his gestures than Lucy is. Snoopy also served a short term as the "Head Beagle," the dog apparently in charge of all other dogs in the world. The pressures and responsibilities of the job became too much for him, and he was replaced.

3969. Snoopy in Switzerland


Over the course of the strip's run, it was revealed that Snoopy had been born and raised at the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm. His father used to run with hunting dogs, but would secretly run ahead and warn the rabbits. His mother is famous for her tapioca pudding, and in a 1990s Peanuts strip, came over on a World War I-era troopship to visit Snoopy and Spike, who had been ill with the flu. Out of all his siblings, Snoopy's brother Olaf was sold last. Before they were sold, Snoopy and his brothers and sisters made a band and one by one each was sold. Snoopy's original owner was a little girl named Lila, who had to return him to Daisy Hill after her family moved to an apartment where dogs were forbidden. Shortly after his return to the farm, Snoopy was selected by Charlie Brown's parents as a companion for him. In the strip for January 30, 1972, Charlie Brown says that his parents bought Snoopy for him to cheer him up after another child threw sand in his face while they were playing in a sandbox. In the strips for November, 1972, while accompanying Woodstock on his winter migration, Snoopy realizes he is near the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm. He decides to show Woodstock where he was born, only to find that the puppy farm has been replaced by a six-story parking garage, causing Snoopy to wail, "You stupid people! You're parking on my memories!" (November 24, 1972). This is also reflected in the 1991 animated special Snoopy's Reunion, where Snoopy and his siblings get together at the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm for a picnic, but sadly find out that it was demolished for a parking garage. Snoopy is usually depicted as having seven siblings, five of whom appear at some point in the strip: Andy, Belle, Marbles, Olaf, and Spike. Most often seen is Spike, who lives in the desert (near the real-life locale of Needles, California). Sharing Snoopy's penchant for a fantasy life, he is friends with saguaro cacti. Spike is very thin, wears a fedora and has long whiskers. (Spike was the name of one of Schulz's childhood pet dogs.) Andy looks like a disheveled version of Snoopy. Olaf, who wears a fur cap, is round in both body and face. Marbles is the smartest in the group. He has spots on his fur (making him look somewhat like a Dalmatian), wears shoes, and considers some of Snoopy's behavior very odd. Belle, who looks like Snoopy with long eyelashes, is most notable in that there was a Belle stuffed animal available for many years. Although Snoopy often mentions that he was one of eight puppies, the two other siblings never appeared in the comic strip. According to the animated special Snoopy's Reunion, they are named Molly and Rover. They all play in a country band in that special, with Snoopy on the acoustic guitar. In a 1965 strip, Snoopy set up a "family reunion" and it was stated that he had two brothers (one lived in Washington and the other in Texas) and three sisters (one in St.Louis, one in Hollywood and the last one in Kansas). After the reunion, Snoopy was apparently disappointed, for immediately after arriving home he stated, "The anticipation far exceeded the actual event." Many years before his siblings appeared, Snoopy referred to himself as an "only dog" who had no brothers or sisters. Like Snoopy, his siblings' thoughts are communicated via thought balloon.

3967. Snoopy in Canada


Lila was first mentioned in the strip in the 1960s. It was revealed that she had taken Snoopy home from the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm (where he was born and raised), but was forced to return him after her family moved to an apartment building where dogs were forbidden. While she was initially an unseen character who was only recollected by Snoopy in the third person, she eventually made an appearance in the strip in 1968. In 1972 Lila appeared in the animated film Snoopy, Come Home, voiced by Johanna Baer. Seriously ill, she is unexpectedly reunited with Snoopy when he comes to visit her at a hospital in Nebraska, and now that she is recovering and will be released very soon, asks him to return to her (forcing him to choose between his "old" life with Lila or his "new" one with Charlie Brown). Snoopy initially leaves the hospital, but finally, out of love for Lila, Snoopy chooses to return to her. She tells him that he should go back and sell his belongings and say goodbye to his old friends, before going back to her. He ends up writing a will instead and goes back to Lila. At the same time, he also is heartbroken over leaving Charlie Brown. However, in an ironic twist when Snoopy arrives at Lila's new apartment, Snoopy finds out (to his surprise) that not only does Lila happen to have a pet cat, dogs aren't permitted in her apartment building either (which explains why her family had to return him). Snoopy bids Lila farewell and returns to Charlie Brown. Lila later appeared again in Snoopy's Reunion. Despite his history of conflicted loyalties and his occasionally disdainful attitude toward Charlie Brown, Snoopy has shown himself steadfastly loyal to his current owner. He joined Charlie Brown in walking out of a game of Ha-Ha Herman when Peppermint Patty crudely insulted Charlie Brown (though she was unaware that Charlie Brown was within earshot). He also helped Charlie Brown recover his autographed baseball when a bully had taken it and was challenging Charlie Brown to fight him for it. In He's a Bully, Charlie Brown, he teaches Charlie Brown to play marbles so Charlie Brown can win back the marbles Rerun lost to a bully at camp, Joe Agate, who cheated him. When Charlie Brown has to stop dedicating himself to making Snoopy happy, Snoopy replies, "Don't worry about it. I was already happy."

3960. Snoopy in Texas


In the early years of the strip, Snoopy's doghouse was typically seen from the front or front plus one side, with the standard arched doorway of a doghouse, and Snoopy's name arched over the door. Snoopy would sleep in the doorway. On December 12, 1958, Snoopy slept on top of his doghouse, rather than inside it, for the first time. Thereafter, Snoopy was seldom seen to venture inside the doghouse, except to retrieve something, instead spending the bulk of his time sitting or lying on its gable roof. One strip ascribed Snoopy's ability to sleep there to his ears, which—like the feet of a perching bird – "lock" him to the top so that he doesn't fall. How his typewriter balances there (let alone other neighbourhood kids) is never explained. At this point, the side view of the doghouse became standard in the strip, which allowed the imagination of Schulz (and Snoopy) to expand this dwelling beyond the limits of a normal doghouse. Despite Snoopy's tendency to stay outside in all weather (in some cases even allowing snow to accumulate on his supine body, or wearing a snorkel when it rains), a running gag established that the interior of Snoopy's doghouse was something extraordinary. It defied physics, being dramatically larger on the inside than the outside, much like the TARDIS on Doctor Who. Snoopy's doghouse had a carpeted foyer, a den, a library, a guest room, a stairway, a basement, a television, a bed (although he sleeps on the roof), a pool table, and an original Van Gogh. The first indication of the doghouse's unique layout occurred on January 31, 1954 when Charlie Brown was puzzled to see all his neighborhood friends crawling into it for a visit. The doghouse was destroyed several times over the years, being hit by a tree due to a chase over Linus' blanket (July 26, 1959), crushed by a large icicle (February 13, 1960), and finally burned to the ground (September 19, 1966; At the beginning of that year a fire damaged Schulz's studio). The doghouse also suffered damage from the particularly violent cat next door, World War II, who would swipe off a large portion of the doghouse, leaving a frightened Snoopy standing on the remaining strip on one foot (The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show). In each case the doghouse was soon rebuilt. Although individual items were lost in the fire, each replacement doghouse appears to have retained the spaciousness and opulence of its predecessor. The interior was decorated with several pricey acquisitions including a painting by Van Gogh, first mentioned on February 29, 1964. After the fire destroyed the Van Gogh, it was replaced by an Andrew Wyeth. At various times the interior of Snoopy's doghouse also held a table tennis table, a mural (painted by Linus), a shower, a cedar closet, a grandfather clock, and a whirlpool bath. Features established in the television specials include a fine kitchen (A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving), and sound equipment (A Boy Named Charlie Brown). In It's Magic, Charlie Brown, Snoopy enters his dog house and the underground interior is depicted as spacious and well equipped for anything he needs. The doghouse also serves as a prop for Snoopy, often imagined as a World War I "Sopwith Camel" fighter plane in Snoopy's battles with the Red Baron. During these aerial fights, Snoopy's house often suffers from bullet holes and occasionally crashes. However, this seems to take place solely in Snoopy's imagination, as the house is in perfect shape later. Once, the doghouse serves as a commercial airline, with Snoopy as the pilot. Marcie serves as a stewardess when Schroeder goes to piano camp.

3959. Snoopy in Mongolia



Following the Apollo I fire, Snoopy became the official mascot of aerospace safety, testing and the rebuilding of the Apollo Program, due to his refusal to accept defeat and his "'outside the doghouse' way of looking at things." A series of Snoopy-in-Space ("Astrobeagle") products arrived with this campaign, and originals are still prized. The Apollo 10 lunar module was named Snoopy and the command module Charlie Brown. While not included in the official mission logo, Charlie Brown and Snoopy became semi-official mascots for the mission, as seen here and here. Schulz also drew some special mission-related artwork for NASA , and several regular strips related to the mission; one showing Snoopy en route to the moon atop his doghouse with a fishbowl on his head for a space helmet; one where Snoopy is on the moon beating everyone else there, including "that stupid cat that lives next door"; one where Snoopy is returning to Earth, and explains to the audience, "You can tell I'm headed back because I'm pointed the other way"; and one where Charlie Brown consoles Snoopy about how the spacecraft named after him was left in lunar orbit. The strip that ran on July 21, 1969 – one day after the Apollo 11 lunar module Eagle landed on the moon – included a full moon in the background, with a black mark on it representing the module. Insignia for 21st Tactical Air Support Squadron (TASS) – Vietnam Era The Silver Snoopy award is a special NASA honor, in the form of a sterling silver pin with an engraving of Snoopy in a spacesuit helmet. It is given by an astronaut to someone who works in the space program that has gone above and beyond in pursuit of quality and safety. A series of postage stamps featuring Snoopy as a World War I flying ace was released on May 17, 2001 in Santa Rosa, California. Snoopy, piloting his "Sopwith Camel" (i.e., his doghouse), is featured in the logo of Charles M. Schulz - Sonoma County Airport. Snoopy is the US Air Force Communications - Computer Systems Control mascot. He can be seen on the Tech Control emblem holding an old analog patch cord above his head as he walks on water.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

3840. Snoopy Baseball McDonalds Happy Meal


Snoopy, whose fictional birthday has been established as October 2, made his first appearance in the strip of October 4, 1950, two days after the strip premiered. He was first identified by name on November 10. Schulz was originally going to call him "Sniffy" (as described in the 25th anniversary book), until he discovered that name was used in a different comic strip. He changed it to "Snoopy" after remembering that his late mother Dena Schulz had commented that if their family were ever to acquire a third dog, it should be called Snoopy, an affectionate term in Norwegian (the actual term is "Snuppa"). In earlier strips it is not clear to whom Snoopy belongs. For instance, in the February 2, 1951 strip, Charlie Brown accuses Snoopy of following him, only to be told by Patty that Snoopy isn't following Charlie Brown, but merely lives in the same direction. Indeed many early strips show Snoopy interacting with Shermy (who is shown in one early strip running with Snoopy on his leash) and Patty without Charlie Brown, making Snoopy appear to belong to all of the neighborhood kids, similar to the dog Pete in the Our Gang comedies, who is everyone's dog. (Note: in this era, it was common for dogs to roam their local area and congregate with local children, and then return to their respective homes). Later, Charlie Brown states that his parents bought Snoopy for him at the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm, after another boy had dumped sand on him while playing in a sandbox. Snoopy was a silent character for the first two years of his existence, but on May 27, 1952 he verbalized his thoughts to readers for the first time in a thought balloon; Schulz would utilize this device for nearly all of the character's appearances in the strip thereafter. At first, Snoopy acted as a normal dog, and would only think in simple one-word phrases (such as "FOOD!"), but then became more articulate. In addition to Snoopy's ability to "speak" his thoughts to the reader, many of the human characters in Peanuts have the uncanny knack of reading his thoughts and responding to them. In the animated Peanuts films and television specials, Snoopy's thoughts are not verbalized; his moods are instead conveyed through growls, sobs, laughter, monosyllabic utterances such as "bleah," "hey," etc., as well as through pantomime. The only exceptions are in the animated adaptations of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown and Snoopy!!! The Musical, in which Snoopy's thoughts are verbalized through voice overs (by Robert Towers and Cam Clarke, respectively). Animation producer Bill Meléndez voiced both Snoopy and (eventually) Woodstock in numerous television specials from 1965 to 2006. In Peanuts Motion Comics, Snoopy's thoughts appear onscreen as text in thought bubbles, without voice. Oddly enough, the first time a beagle was mentioned in the strip (December 5, 1960), Snoopy denied being one. As Snoopy dozed, Charlie Brown paraphrased Gertrude Stein: "Beagles on the grass, alas." To this, Snoopy replied, "I ain't no stupid beagle!" (Years later, Snoopy would paraphrase the Stein expression himself: "Pigeons on the grass, alas; Dogs on the ground, abound." (June 25, 1982) As the series progressed, Snoopy became a more human-like dog. His character is that of a dog who pretends to be a person (or who sometimes forgets he is a dog). In one Peanuts strip, Sally had to do a report on animals for school, and requested Snoopy's help. But Snoopy was reluctant. "How can I help?" he thought. "I don't know any animals." Many of Peanuts' memorable moments come in Snoopy's efforts as a novelist: his eternal opener on the typewriter "It was a dark and stormy night..." is taken from Edward George Bulwer-Lytton's 1830 novel Paul Clifford. Almost all his submissions are rejected by potential publishers, who eventually resort to rude dismissals and cruel jokes to attempt to prevent being bothered by Snoopy. The contrast between Snoopy's existence in a dream world and Charlie Brown's in the real world is central to the humour and philosophy of Peanuts (e.g., the Peanuts book title Life's a Dream, Charlie Brown). "It Was A Dark And Stormy Night" remains his most successful work. Schulz summed up Snoopy's character in a 1997 interview: "He has to retreat into his fanciful world in order to survive. Otherwise, he leads kind of a dull, miserable life. I don't envy dogs the lives they have to live."

Monday, June 25, 2012

3819. Snoopy Ice Hockey


Snoopy, whose fictional birthday has been established as October 2, made his first appearance in the strip of October 4, 1950, two days after the strip premiered. He was first identified by name on November 10. Schulz was originally going to call him "Sniffy" (as described in the 25th anniversary book), until he discovered that name was used in a different comic strip. He changed it to "Snoopy" after remembering that his late mother Dena Schulz had commented that if their family were ever to acquire a third dog, it should be called Snoopy, an affectionate term in Norwegian (the actual term is "Snuppa"). In earlier strips it is not clear to whom Snoopy belongs. For instance, in the February 2, 1951 strip, Charlie Brown accuses Snoopy of following him, only to be told by Patty that Snoopy isn't following Charlie Brown, but merely lives in the same direction. Indeed many early strips show Snoopy interacting with Shermy (who is shown in one early strip running with Snoopy on his leash) and Patty without Charlie Brown, making Snoopy appear to belong to all of the neighborhood kids, similar to the dog Pete in the Our Gang comedies, who is everyone's dog. (Note: in this era, it was common for dogs to roam their local area and congregate with local children, and then return to their respective homes). Later, Charlie Brown states that his parents bought Snoopy for him at the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm, after another boy had dumped sand on him while playing in a sandbox. Snoopy was a silent character for the first two years of his existence, but on May 27, 1952 he verbalized his thoughts to readers for the first time in a thought balloon; Schulz would utilize this device for nearly all of the character's appearances in the strip thereafter. At first, Snoopy acted as a normal dog, and would only think in simple one-word phrases (such as "FOOD!"), but then became more articulate. In addition to Snoopy's ability to "speak" his thoughts to the reader, many of the human characters in Peanuts have the uncanny knack of reading his thoughts and responding to them. In the animated Peanuts films and television specials, Snoopy's thoughts are not verbalized; his moods are instead conveyed through growls, sobs, laughter, monosyllabic utterances such as "bleah," "hey," etc., as well as through pantomime. The only exceptions are in the animated adaptations of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown and Snoopy!!! The Musical, in which Snoopy's thoughts are verbalized through voice overs (by Robert Towers and Cam Clarke, respectively). Animation producer Bill Meléndez voiced both Snoopy and (eventually) Woodstock in numerous television specials from 1965 to 2006. In Peanuts Motion Comics, Snoopy's thoughts appear onscreen as text in thought bubbles, without voice. Oddly enough, the first time a beagle was mentioned in the strip (December 5, 1960), Snoopy denied being one. As Snoopy dozed, Charlie Brown paraphrased Gertrude Stein: "Beagles on the grass, alas." To this, Snoopy replied, "I ain't no stupid beagle!" (Years later, Snoopy would paraphrase the Stein expression himself: "Pigeons on the grass, alas; Dogs on the ground, abound." (June 25, 1982) As the series progressed, Snoopy became a more human-like dog. His character is that of a dog who pretends to be a person (or who sometimes forgets he is a dog). In one Peanuts strip, Sally had to do a report on animals for school, and requested Snoopy's help. But Snoopy was reluctant. "How can I help?" he thought. "I don't know any animals." Many of Peanuts' memorable moments come in Snoopy's efforts as a novelist: his eternal opener on the typewriter "It was a dark and stormy night..." is taken from Edward George Bulwer-Lytton's 1830 novel Paul Clifford. Almost all his submissions are rejected by potential publishers, who eventually resort to rude dismissals and cruel jokes to attempt to prevent being bothered by Snoopy. The contrast between Snoopy's existence in a dream world and Charlie Brown's in the real world is central to the humour and philosophy of Peanuts (e.g., the Peanuts book title Life's a Dream, Charlie Brown). "It Was A Dark And Stormy Night" remains his most successful work. Schulz summed up Snoopy's character in a 1997 interview: "He has to retreat into his fanciful world in order to survive. Otherwise, he leads kind of a dull, miserable life. I don't envy dogs the lives they have to live."

Friday, June 22, 2012

3785. Snoopy Baseball


Snoopy is a fictional character in the long-running comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. He is Charlie Brown's pet dog. Snoopy began his life in the strip as a fairly conventional dog, but eventually evolved into perhaps the strip's most dynamic character—and among the most recognizable comic characters in the world. The original drawings of Snoopy were "greatly patterned" after Spike, one of Schulz's childhood dogs. Snoopy, whose fictional birthday has been established as October 2, made his first appearance in the strip of October 4, 1950, two days after the strip premiered. He was first identified by name on November 10. Schulz was originally going to call him "Sniffy" (as described in the 25th anniversary book), until he discovered that name was used in a different comic strip. He changed it to "Snoopy" after remembering that his late mother Dena Schulz had commented that if their family were ever to acquire a third dog, it should be called Snoopy, an affectionate term in Norwegian (the actual term is "Snuppa"). In earlier strips it is not clear to whom Snoopy belongs. For instance, in the February 2, 1951 strip, Charlie Brown accuses Snoopy of following him, only to be told by Patty that Snoopy isn't following Charlie Brown, but merely lives in the same direction.[4] Indeed many early strips show Snoopy interacting with Shermy (who is shown in one early strip running with Snoopy on his leash) and Patty without Charlie Brown, making Snoopy appear to belong to all of the neighborhood kids, similar to the dog Pete in the Our Gang comedies, who is everyone's dog. (Note: in this era, it was common for dogs to roam their local area and congregate with local children, and then return to their respective homes). Later, Charlie Brown states that his parents bought Snoopy for him at the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm, after another boy had dumped sand on him while playing in a sandbox. Snoopy was a silent character for the first two years of his existence, but on May 27, 1952 he verbalized his thoughts to readers for the first time in a thought balloon; Schulz would utilize this device for nearly all of the character's appearances in the strip thereafter. At first, Snoopy acted as a normal dog, and would only think in simple one-word phrases (such as "FOOD!"), but then became more articulate. In addition to Snoopy's ability to "speak" his thoughts to the reader, many of the human characters in Peanuts have the uncanny knack of reading his thoughts and responding to them. In the animated Peanuts films and television specials, Snoopy's thoughts are not verbalized; his moods are instead conveyed through growls, sobs, laughter, monosyllabic utterances such as "bleah," "hey," etc., as well as through pantomime. The only exceptions are in the animated adaptations of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown and Snoopy!!! The Musical, in which Snoopy's thoughts are verbalized through voice overs (by Robert Towers and Cam Clarke, respectively). Animation producer Bill Meléndez voiced both Snoopy and (eventually) Woodstock in numerous television specials from 1965 to 2006. In Peanuts Motion Comics, Snoopy's thoughts appear onscreen as text in thought bubbles, without voice. Oddly enough, the first time a beagle was mentioned in the strip (December 5, 1960), Snoopy denied being one. As Snoopy dozed, Charlie Brown paraphrased Gertrude Stein: "Beagles on the grass, alas." To this, Snoopy replied, "I ain't no stupid beagle!" (Years later, Snoopy would paraphrase the Stein expression himself: "Pigeons on the grass, alas; Dogs on the ground, abound." (June 25, 1982) As the series progressed, Snoopy became a more human-like dog. His character is that of a dog who pretends to be a person (or who sometimes forgets he is a dog). In one Peanuts strip, Sally had to do a report on animals for school, and requested Snoopy's help. But Snoopy was reluctant. "How can I help?" he thought. "I don't know any animals." Many of Peanuts' memorable moments come in Snoopy's efforts as a novelist: his eternal opener on the typewriter "It was a dark and stormy night..." is taken from Edward George Bulwer-Lytton's 1830 novel Paul Clifford. Almost all his submissions are rejected by potential publishers, who eventually resort to rude dismissals and cruel jokes to attempt to prevent being bothered by Snoopy. The contrast between Snoopy's existence in a dream world and Charlie Brown's in the real world is central to the humour and philosophy of Peanuts (e.g., the Peanuts book title Life's a Dream, Charlie Brown). "It Was A Dark And Stormy Night" remains his most successful work. Schulz summed up Snoopy's character in a 1997 interview: "He has to retreat into his fanciful world in order to survive. Otherwise, he leads kind of a dull, miserable life. I don't envy dogs the lives they have to live."

3781. Linus and his Security Blanket


Linus van Pelt is a character in Charles M. Schulz's comic strip Peanuts. The best friend of Charlie Brown, Linus is also the younger brother of Lucy van Pelt and older brother of Rerun van Pelt. He first appeared on September 19, 1952; however, he was not mentioned by name until three days later. He was first referenced two months earlier, on July 14. Linus spoke his first words in 1954, the same year he was shown with his security blanket. On the various specials, Christopher Shea first voiced Linus van Pelt in 1965. His younger brother, Stephen, voiced Linus from 1971 until 1975. Various actors (among them Jeremy Miller of Growing Pains fame) have played Linus since then. Also, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star B.D. Wong portrayed Linus in the Broadway revival of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Though young, Linus is unusually smart, and he acts as the strip's philosopher and theologian, often quoting the Gospels. He invented his own legendary being, the Great Pumpkin, who, Linus claims, appears every Halloween at the most "sincere" pumpkin patch, bearing gifts. Linus is the only one who believes in the Great Pumpkin, although he occasionally temporarily convinces other characters the Great Pumpkin is real, only to stubbornly maintain his faith when they lose theirs. On one occasion, Linus had a commanding lead in the polls for school president—until he brought out his favorite subject of the "Great Pumpkin," at which point he was nearly laughed out of the election. (He ended up winning anyway by one vote, cast by his opponent, who decided that Linus would make a better school president.) A similar occurrence was featured in a strip with the same storyline, except Charlie Brown asks him why he had to bring up the Great Pumpkin and Linus gave his reasons. After saying that Charlie Brown was looking at him as if he was crazy, Charlie Brown responded, "I'm looking at you like I could've been vice president!" Linus is almost never without his blue blanket, which debuted in the June 1, 1954, strip. He holds the blanket over his shoulder while sucking his thumb. It was in fact he who coined the term "security blanket." Ridicule of the habit is not a major concern for him as shown when one friend, Roy, warned him at summer camp that he would be viciously teased for it. In response, Linus uses his blanket like a whip and shears off a tree branch with intimidating power and notes: "They never tease me more than once." The blanket, it turns out, is an autonomous (although non-verbal) entity. In a 1965 strip, it engaged in a campaign of clandestine attacks on Lucy, even routing her from the house, due to her constant, albeit failed, attempts to get rid of it by throwing it in the trash burner. In the special A Boy Named Charlie Brown, it also performed a complex dance routine with Linus upon being reunited with its owner. In the earlier strips, Linus's relationship to his blanket was one of intense emotional attachment to the point of manifesting physical symptoms if deprived of it even for a short while. He suffered weakness and dizziness, for example, when Lucy took it from him only long enough to have it laundered, spontaneously recovering when it was restored to him. In the aforementioned "A Boy Named Charlie Brown," Linus manifested similar symptoms when he had given his blanket to Charlie Brown. On another occasion, Lucy snatched his blanket away and buried it in an effort to break Linus of his habit. Linus literally dug up the neighborhood for days trying to find it-until Snoopy dug it up. Lucy won a first prize in a school science contest when she took Linus' blanket away and recorded his "withdrawal symptoms"-and as proof entered Linus and his blanket as an exhibit! Possession of the blanket is often sought by Snoopy, who has used many tricks and subterfuges to relieve Linus of it, even at one point having the blanket delivered to his doghouse. A common thing for Snoopy is to run up and quickly grab the blanket in his mouth and drag Linus along with it, then swing him and the blanket around many times before letting go and sending them both soaring off to who-knows-where. In another instance, Linus was so angry at Snoopy for snatching his blanket again and again that he retaliated by threatening Snoopy's supper dish. Upon hearing that Linus had possession of his most prized possession, Snoopy gave Linus back the blanket fairly quickly, thinking, "I never dreamed he would fight so dirty!". When Lucy buried the blanket, Snoopy took the time to dig for it himself; and when he found it, Linus thanked him, upon which Snoopy thought "Every now and then I feel that my existence is justified!" In the special Snoopy Come Home, Snoopy and Linus engaged in an exchange of increasingly violent assaults upon one another to gain possession of the blanket. Furthermore, there are many stories where Lucy and Linus's grandmother attempts to force him to give up the blanket, only to eventually concede in the face of his steadfast resistance. Two attempts were when the grandmother in question gave up smoking, and when she offered that if he gave up the blanket she would donate ten dollars to his favorite charity. The deal wasn't made because it wasn't a fair proposition. The April 11, 1983, strip shows Linus saying that he had given up his blanket[8], and later going from door to door, telling people how he gave up his blanket. Once, this resulted in the girl at the door lashing him with her blanket, in her anger. Twice before Linus actually vows to give up his blanket-once he threw it away but grabbed it back; another time he was about to tell Charlie Brown about his new resolution when Charlie Brown ruined everything by tossing a blanket onto Linus. In one particularly angry confrontation over the issue (the aforementioned blanket-for-smoking episode) Linus admitted that if his mother ordered him to stop, he would comply; but no one else, especially Lucy or the "blanket-hating" grandmother, would have that authority. In fact, in that confrontation, when Lucy decided that he'd gone without the blanket for two weeks and that he no longer needed it, she decided to throw it into the trash burner; Linus, however, was able to intervene at the last second and retrieve his blanket. Never objecting, the mother was evidently content to let her unusually intelligent son grow out of the habit on his own. In later strips, Linus is shown with it less and less, and Charles Schulz admitted in 1989 that Linus had finally outgrown the blanket, and it was only in the strip when required for the humor. In one comic, Linus suddenly stops sucking his thumb and says "It's a good thumb, but not a great thumb." The special Why, Charlie Brown, Why?, released the following year, is the only one where Linus is never seen with his blanket, nor is even mentioned, arguably to make Linus appear more mature given the serious subject of the special.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

3741. Andy



Andy is distinguished by his shaggy dog appearance, but otherwise looks like Snoopy. Olaf and Andy are shown four times in 1994. They are sitting against a barn, contemplating what direction their lives should go in. They appear sporadically after that. Andy and Olaf live together on a farm. Olaf usually plays the jug, and Andy has a full drum set, but is rather clumsy when carrying it and drops it from time to time. Andy and Olaf spent some time traveling to Needles to live with Spike. However, after "two right turns and twenty-three wrong ones" they eventually ended up back at Snoopy's doghouse. After a brief stay and failure to become Rerun's dogs, they continued to wander around and were considering buying banjos in their last appearance on September 27, 1999. Notably, Andy is perhaps the only Peanuts character to have originated in animation before appearing in the strip (with the exception of Missy, Snoopy and his siblings' mother) -- his animated debut was the 1991 TV special Snoopy's Reunion. Andy is based on a wire-haired fox terrier (also named Andy) that Schulz owned from October 1988 to March 1994.

Saturday, April 21, 2012

3212. Detective Snoopy



With a science project looming, Sally is desperate for something to use for a subject, while at the same time, Woodstock's nest disappears. It's up to Snoopy to play detective to find it and lawyer to defend from the thief in Lucy's court.

When Woodstock's fancy new nest disappears one afternoon, he turns to Snoopy for help. Adopting the guise of Sherlock Holmes (complete with cloak, deerstalker cap and bubble pipe), Snoopy and Woodstock go on the hunt for the missing nest.

Most of the places they check include:

* Charlie Brown's house, where they wake him up and give him the third degree. He naturally denies anything about taking the nest.
 * Lucy and Linus' house, using an excessive amount of dust to check for fingerprints. Snoopy eventually finds a broom straw, and believes this is enough evidence to make Lucy a suspect. He tries to handcuff her, but she ends up throwing him out of the house.
* Next up is Marcie's house where Snoopy pulls out his notepad and questions her on the whereabouts of the nest. She is unable to understand Snoopy in his foreign language so she slams the door in his face.
* At Pig-Pen's house, Snoopy immediately dismisses him as a suspect once he answers the door in his usual dusty trademark fashion entrance. As Snoopy takes off Pig-Pen responds by telling Snoopy to come back anytime because he does not get many visitors.
* Finally, the home of Peppermint Patty, who thinks Snoopy is playing Cops and Robbers, so she dons a burglar mask and chases him through her house. Frightened, Snoopy and Woodstock escape and keep running until they got tired.

Upon stopping back at Woodstock's tree Snoopy takes more notice of a set of footprints he had seen before. They lead away from Woodstock's tree, so the two follow them straight to the elementary school. After making their way inside through an open window, they ultimately find Woodstock's nest under glass in a display case. The two grab the nest and run back to Woodstock's tree, whereupon Snoopy re-installs the domicile for his overjoyed and grateful friend.

The next day, Sally complains to Charlie Brown that her science exhibit has been stolen. When she reveals her exhibit was a so-called "prehistoric bird's nest", Charlie Brown puts two and two together and realizes it was Sally who took Woodstock's nest.

 Even with Charlie Brown's explanation that the nest was made by Woodstock, Sally is convinced that since she found the nest, it belongs to her. When she encounters Snoopy and Woodstock, she demands that they return her nest. The three are about to fight for it when Charlie Brown suggests they handle the problem in a different way, so they all go to see Lucy in her psychiatric booth, which she temporarily converts to a courtroom (after donning a judge's robe and wig, and enlisting Linus as stenographer, she tacks two cents on to her normal five-cent fee to cover the cost of the court).

The two sides present their cases to Judge Lucy:

* Snoopy presents Lucy with a document full of nonsensically-contrived legal jargon.
* Sally's case is "Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers".

Lucy rules in favor of Woodstock, saying he built the nest, so he should keep it. Sally is still frustrated at not having an exhibit for her science class, but Charlie Brown and Snoopy come up with an idea. Snoopy is willing to volunteer to be her exhibit in a re-creation of Pavlov's salivating dog experiment. Although Sally is against it at first, she decides to go along with it, and ultimately gets an "A" on her science project, and all is once again well with the world. In the end credits, as Woodstock lies on his new nest, it finally gives in and shatters, resulting in Woodstock to fall out of his tree.