Charles Schulz' Peanuts Turns 75

It was the best.

So groundbreaking and subversive in so many ways.

It helped depressed kids like me realize they weren't alone.

Apparently in the last decade, it had a second (or third or fourth) wind as Schulz made Linus and Lucy’s sibling Rerun more prominent. People loved Rerun.

I love the early years when their heads were huge. I love the first strip when the unnamed boy says about Charlie Brown, “How I HATE him!”

[quote]I love the first strip when the unnamed boy says about Charlie Brown, “How I HATE him!”

People don't appreciate how subversive that was for the '50s.

Forget about the animated shows and movies- the original strip from about 1960 to 1980 was absolutely brilliant.

Some of the animated shows were ok. But you can't beat those funny, melancholy philosophical daily strips. I read them endlessly as a kid.

From about ages 5 to 8, I had Peanuts everything: Peanuts compilation books, Peanuts sheets and blankets (c/o Sears), a Peanuts alarm clock, the Snoopy snow-cone machine. A set of Peanuts encyclopedias that were great primers on science; I read them back to front, again and again.

I think my parents and grandparents realized I was different and were trying to be supportive.

Would've been nice if it had continued after age 8!

Bill Watterson was the anti-Schulz when it came to marketing “Calvin and Hobbes”. Schulz allowed “Peanuts” to be marketed to death. Watterson allowed nothing to be marketed.

Creators can do whatever they want with their property.

I appreciated having Peanuts stuff around me as a kid, because it reminded me of the strip's life lessons: It's OK to be different, because there are others like you; rejection happens but you can deal with it; unrequited crushes are painful but they can be endured; "experts" and parents can be silly and not worth taking too seriously; don't take yourself too seriously—have a sense of humor, especially when things go wrong; dogs are brilliant.

Etc.

I highly recommend the Charles M Schultz Museum in Santa Rosa, California. An interesting retrospective of his career, and you can skate on the Snoopy’s Home Ice Rink.

The strip frustrated me sometimes because Charlie Brown was always shit on.

The one thing I never found funny, even as a child, were the adults who gave Charlie Brown rocks for Halloween. That was all kinds of fucked up.

I have about the first 5 books that have the yearly strips. I should try to start collecting them again.

[quote]Charles M Schultz Museum

SCHULZ, not Schultz. The Santa Rosa airport is also named after him.

I got a rock.

Peanuts statues in Sonoma County.

One of the most brilliant things ever was “This Charming Charlie” putting lyrics by The Smiths into Peanuts strips. A perfect pairing. I think the Schulz estate made them stop, but the images are still out there.

I loved the late 70s films where they go to summer camp and have a river rafting event (SPOILER: Woodstock wins!) and when they go to France. Except the side plot where Snoopy goes to Wimbledon...that was lame and boring.

Peanuts was wonderful for the first ten years or so. Then it just got silly. with Woodstock and strips that weren't funny anymore.

On the other hand, Calvin and Hobbes had a slow start but just got better and better. In the long run, it was the far superior comic.

But because Peanuts was warmer and sweeter, Calvin didn't reach its popularity. America prefers warmth to truth.

Christmas Time 🎄 Is Here

Growing up in the 70s and 80s, our parents didn't allow us to watch very much TV, and definitely not Saturday morning or afterschool cartoons. Cartoons in general were verboten.

But we were always allowed to watch Peanuts holiday specials. I'm not sure how my parents made the delineation that Peanuts was permissible to watch, however, they were hippies and cared about underlying messages about society in general; even toys and activities for us were chosen with that in mind. Perhaps they felt that Schulz' messages aligned with their own.

I grew up in Southern CA and could never have known that one day I'd end up living in the hometown of Charles Schulz and Peanuts. Now I live right around the corner from the Charles Schulz museum, but surprisingly, have never been. There are Peanuts statues dotted around this town, and many in the Santa Rosa airport, too. It might be worth it to walk down to the museum one of these days and see what's inside. I also have never been to Snoopy Home Ice (the skating rink) because I'm shitty at ice skating (I have weak ankles, no I'm not a great, big fat person). Maybe it's something to do one of these days.

Was it the most intellectual of comic strips/shows- absolutely not. But Schulz was one of the first cartoonists who captured children as they truly are in their world, without captulation to what society said. He was simplistic and unapologetically good natured in his creations, and many of the early cartoon shows were gems. I think it still hits a note of nostalgia for many people. Extra points for Vince Guaraldi’s soundtracks.

Even as a kid, I hated the Snoopy interludes in the television specials. Was never a big a fan of Snoopy and could only take Peppermint Patty in small doses. It does make me smile that Schulz knew the lesbian attire—lesbian bars are full of women in button up shirts, athletic shorts, and sandals, just like Peppermint Patty.

I used to have a whole series of paperback books filled with Peanuts comics. Don’t know what happened to them but I wish I still had them!

I sent Lucy a bottle of Jean Nate and a nice blouse.

By the early 80s, Peanuts was beginning to lose its edge. But it was still clever and occasionally hysterical.

By the mid 90s, reading Peanuts became a chore and I eventually stopped reading it with any regularity.

For me, the turning point was when Schulz started focusing so much on Snoopy's brother Spike and the saguaro cactus.

Finally someone is older than me!