Gone forever?

News Clippings
and
Press Releases



The strip above may be lost forever, due to some truly unusual circumstances. Read more below...



These articles are arranged from the most recent down, so you'll always find the newest news about Charlie Brown and his friends toward the top; older articles will be located further down, or on previous pages.



Its a good exhibit, Charlie Brown

April 26, 2005

By Mike Peters
The Dallas Morning News

When you make a living creating a cartoon about dogs, life is full of warm, fuzzy moments. But Patrick McDonnell, who writes and draws Earl the dog in his comic strip Mutts, has a particularly vivid one.

In 1999, Mr. McDonnell was hanging out at the skating rink at the Charles Schulz Museum and Research Center in Santa Rosa, Calif. The creator of the worlds most famous beagle came up behind him and said, Patrick, come with me. Ive got something to show you that will blow your socks off.

Mr. McDonnell followed Charles Schulz to his studio -- and grabbed for his socks Hed done a panel with the Peanuts gang looking at a picture of Earl.

Mr. Schulz died a few months later, but his legacy is immense.

Snoopy was my first dog, Mr. McDonnell says, and one of the great joys of being a cartoonist has been the chance to meet my idol, Charles Schulz, and have him become my mentor and my friend.

Mr. McDonnell was preparing last week for the opening Saturday of a new show he curated for the Schulz Museum Top Dogs Comic Canines Before and After Snoopy.

After the museum invited him to pull the show together about a year ago, the artist compiled a list of every dog featured in the century-plus history of newspaper comics. Then he began to court museums and collectors for significant examples.

It starts with what people consider the first comic, the Yellow Kid. Its not the original piece of art, but its an actual page from an 1896 Sunday newspaper, showing the Yellow Kid at a dog show.

We ended up with about 50 pieces in the show. Snoopy is right in the middle, since he came on the scene in 1950.

In addition to everyones favorite World War I flying ace, there are cartoons from Blondie, Napoleon, Little Orphan Annie, Pogo, Pickles, Luann, The Far Side, Dilbert, Red & Rover, Mother Goose & Grimm, Duncan, For Better or For Worse, Rhymes With Orange and Marmaduke. And two Mutts originals.

Ones a Sunday piece with Earl, he says. The other is a black-and-white daily from a shelter series. He draws a series each fall to commemorate National Animal Shelter Week, an award-winning effort.

When I was growing up, my family always had cats, for some reason, Mr. McDonnell says from his home in New Jersey. He got his first dog late in life, he says, and the flesh-and-blood Earl is the inspiration for Mutts Hes a Jack Russell terrier who turned 16 in February.


Seattle publisher revives Peanuts collection

April 26, 2005

By Cam Johnson
NorthWest Cable News
KING 5 TV Station, Seattle, Washington (transcript)

SEATTLE -- When cartoonist Charles M. Schulz passed away, he left behind an amazing body of work, including half a century of his beloved comic strip, Peanuts. Now, a Northwest publishing company is bringing new life to this American classic.

Seattle publisher Fantagraphics is presenting Charles M. Schulzs entire comic series in chronological order, releasing a new Peanuts book every six months for more than 12 years. Thats 50 years of comics in 25 books.

What can you find in The Complete Peanuts thats not in other collections?

Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of strips, said Kim Thomson of Fantagraphics. Even though Peanuts has been the most extensively collected comic strip of all time, I think, a lot of the strips, particularly from the first decade, especially from the first four or five years, have never, even been collected. Re-reading them you can see that Schulz was really experimenting early on.

Fantagraphics co-owners Thomson and Gary Groth know a thing or two about experimental work. Theyve been on the cutting edge of the comic scene for nearly 30 years, producing edgy comics such as Love and Rockets, Hate and Eightball, which inspired the movie Ghost World.

People sometimes ask whether Peanuts is a little bit of a strange fit for a publisher thats done so much edgy, underground, really dark, adult work, Thomson said. Actually, Peanuts is very much the focus of many of our cartoonists. Its a huge, huge influence. Peanuts is a very dark, very sad and very melancholy strip at times. Its also a very funny and life-affirming strip; its got both of those sides.

To design collection, Fantagraphics employed the talents of avid Peanuts fan and cartoonist, Seth, author of Palookaville. It was the series design that ultimately won over Charles Schulzs widow, Jeannie Schulz.

After seeing the design that Seth came up with, we realized that Fantagraphics had the same sensibility that we had, the same devotion to the period that it came in, and to seeing it simply...the thought, the art, the line he gave us, Schulz said in a telephone interview from Santa Rosa, Calif., home to the Charles M. Schulz museum.

Resources

Theres another design feature that has librarians swooning the index. If you want to see when Charlie Brown first fell for Lucys football trick, youll find it on page 308.

Theres so many that I love, Schulz said, but I still see strips in the Fantagraphics books and I think Ive never seen that one before, thats really funny, how did he ever think of that?

The first three volumes of The Complete Peanuts are available now. They contain all the strips from 1950 through 1956.

Fantagraphics is also working on a complete Dennis the Menace series. The first volume is planned for release this fall.


Collectible Poster Series Teaches Disaster Preparedness Through Peanuts

April 25, 2005

PRNewswire

Severe weather can strike anywhere, and, unfortunately, adults and children alike are often unaware of the steps they can take to protect themselves and their property against natural disasters.

This lack of understanding is the reason MetLife Auto & Home is offering a free series of Peanuts-themed disaster preparedness posters called Play It Smart, Play It Safe! The posters, which are available through June 15, 2005, can help families get started with planning now, before a disaster strikes. (They can be ordered by calling 1-800-MET-LIFE, 1-800-638-5433, prompt 3).

The posters are useful in teaching elementary and middle school students the importance of preparedness, and can help teach students good habits that can last a lifetime-and quite possibly save lives, said Mike Neubauer, who leads MetLife Auto & Homes claim catastrophe team. Also, because of the Peanuts characters, including Snoopy, they look great on the wall of a bedroom, or in a classroom.

Ten thousand thunderstorms, 2,500 floods, 1,000 tornadoes, and 10 hurricanes impact the United States in the average year, resulting in approximately 500 deaths and $14 billion in damage, according to the National Weather Service.

The six posters in the Play It Safe, Play It Smart series are presented in a colorful, easy-to-read format. Each poster addresses a different peril, including Fires and Wildfires, Hurricanes, Tornadoes, Severe Thunderstorms, Earthquakes, and Floods. Along with a variety of helpful tips on ways families can plan ahead, the posters provide valuable information about what to do during disasters, how to prepare for an emergency, and informative Web sites for those seeking even more information.

The MetLife Auto & Home disaster preparedness posters have been endorsed by the American Red Cross and the Institute for Business and Home Safety. Both organizations recognize the importance of communicating a message of preparedness to as wide an audience as possible, said Neubauer. Simply put, these posters can benefit everyone.

MetLife Auto & Home, an affiliate of MetLife, Inc., is one of the nations leading personal lines property and casualty companies with approximately 2.7 million policies in force. For more information about MetLife Auto & Home, or to obtain additional safety material, visit MetLifes Web site at www.metlife.com.


Drawn to the dogs

Schulz gave a dog ideas and changed cartooning

April 23, 2005

By Mike Antonucci
The San Jose Mercury News

People probably have wondered what their dogs were thinking since the beginning of pets.

But they still werent prepared for Snoopy.

Curse you, Red Baron!

Thats the stuff, flowing from a pen-and-ink fountain of Peanuts antics, that changed everything.

Starting today, the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa is celebrating the comic-strip view of dogs and humans in an exhibit titled Top Dogs Comic Canines Before and After Snoopy.

The panels on display, about five dozen representing 40 artists, are a visual treat regardless of theme. Check out Clifford McBrides Napoleon strip, launched in the 1930s, and then take a fresh look at Scott Adams Dilbert, where Dogbert lurks. Almost all the material in the exhibit is original artwork.

You really see the scope and range of different cartoonists, says Patrick McDonnell, creator of the Mutts strip and co-curator of the exhibit. Its fascinating just to see the pen line of these artists.

Still, the craftsmanship seems secondary to its inspiration. And Snoopys evolution at Schulzs hand was based on a revelation that otherwise had eluded mankind.

Sparky, says McDonnell, referring to Schulz by his almost lifelong nickname, let us in on a secret what the dogs were really thinking.

At the same time, there was a perpetually fresh sense of surprise -- of limitless illumination -- that came with every Snoopy caper or melancholy moment.

He could take Snoopy and do anything with him, says Schulzs widow, Jean.

Schulzs approach wasnt brand new to the comics pages -- Buster Browns dog came with quips much earlier, McDonnell notes -- but Snoopy ultimately took canine personality to a new level.

The exhibit was put together with the notion that Peanuts and Snoopy presided over the transition from typical pet behavior to sublimely flexible animal characters. Everywhere you look today, theyre walking, talking, smart-mouthing and philosophizing.

Snoopys impact also went beyond cartooning. It was cultural, exemplifying the bonds that can exist between people and animals.

And in that context, there was at least one moment of cosmic dissonance for Schulz and his friend Lynn Johnston, who writes and draws For Better or For Worse and also contributed to the exhibit.

When Johnston told Schulz she was going to kill off her strips aged family dog, he reacted forcefully, according to Jean Schulz. He said, You cant do that.

But Johnston was equally adamant. She said, Yes, I can. Because thats real life.

Much of whats regularly on display at the museum is inseparable from the spirit of the Top Dogs exhibit.

Part of the Peanuts mythology, for instance, is the way Snoopy progressed from a relatively familiar pet, walking on all fours, to what McDonnell calls the perfect cartoon character, dancing with his bird friend Woodstock or flying his doghouse into combat with the baron.

For the most passionate fans, the museum also is the vault for exquisite trivia about all things Schulz, who died in 2000. For instance You know Lucy always pulled the football away from Charlie Brown. But a 1953 panel that will be on display until late May, as part of a 1950-1956 Peanuts exhibit, shows that he also successfully kicked it -- sans Lucys participation.

The Top Dogs exhibit will remain on display through Sept. 26. Among the oldest material is The Yellow Kid as it ran in a newspaper. Baby boomer favorites include Walt Kellys Pogo and Dennis the Menace, and theres a large presence for contemporary strips, including the The Far Side, Luann, Rhymes with Orange and Pickles.

If youre planning a trip to the museum, you may want to take into account plans by Santa Rosa to have 55 statues of Charlie Brown on display throughout the city starting May 22. Its a tribute to Schulz -- Its Your Town, Charlie Brown -- with the statues painted by area artists.

The artists can be seen in a paint-off on the afternoons of May 5-8; check times and location on the citys Web site -- http//ci.santa-rosa.ca.us -- by clicking on Visitor and then Peanuts on Parade.


Comic-strip canines

The Charles M. Schulz Museum celebrates dogs from the funny pages

April 22, 2005

By Cynthia Hubert
The Sacramento Bee

Growing up in New Jersey, Patrick McDonnell never had a puppy of his own. But he did have Snoopy.

The beloved beagle, companion to Charlie Brown in the comic strip Peanuts, was young Patricks fantasy dog. Snoopy inspired McDonnell to become the cartoonist who created Mutts, which features a cast of endearing animal and human characters that today grace the pages of more than 550 newspapers, including The Bee.

This weekend, in a tribute to Snoopy and the comic dogs who came before and after him, McDonnell will be in Santa Rosa to help open a new exhibit at the Charles M. Schulz Museum.

Top Dogs Comic Canines Before and After Snoopy will celebrate the history of canines in comic strips, from the first pup that appeared in Hogans Alley with the Yellow Kid in 1896 to Mutts pooch Earl, who is modeled after McDonnells Jack Russell terrier.

Yes, McDonnell eventually did get himself a real dog.

Hes sitting right here at my feet, looking at me, the cartoonist said last week in a telephone interview from his home in Edison, N.J.

Earl turned 16 last month, and hes just started to slow down a little, said McDonnell.

Not so the artists Mutts strip, which in its 11th year is enjoying international popularity. Featuring Earl, his kitty pal Mooch and their loving human guardians Ozzie, Millie and Frank, it has earned wide praise from critics and honors from the industry.

To me, Mutts is different from everything else on the comics page, said Rose Marie McDaniel, a Schulz museum board member who is curating the Top Dogs show with McDonnell. Its sweet. Its subtle. I love the drawing and I love the writing. Usually, comic strips are reflective of the person who creates them, and that most definitely is true of Mutts.

A dedicated animal activist who sits on the board of the Humane Society of the United States, McDonnell said he hopes the strips gentle philosophical messages encourage people to treat all living things with respect and compassion.

We share this planet with so many great creatures, dogs being one of the very best, he said.

Snoopy, who evolved from a canine who merely barked to a smooth-talking World War I flying ace, is arguably the most popular comic dog of all time. Peanuts debuted in 1950 and was running in 2,600 newspapers when creator Schulz died in 2000. Snoopy lives on in Peanuts reruns in The Bee and in papers across the country.

It was the Schulz museums administrators who dreamed up the Top Dogs exhibit, and they thought McDonnell would be a perfect curator.

I was honored that they asked me, he said. After all, dogs and Peanuts are two of the great loves of my life.

McDonnell and McDaniel helped track down collectors of cartoons with canine characters and landed dozens of original drawings.

They include classics of Buster Brown and his pooch, Tige, dating back to the early 1900s; of Little Orphan Annie and her dog, Sandy, a strip first published in 1924; and of Daisy, the pup from Blondie, which has been syndicated since 1930.

Joining those and other vintage canines will be dogs from current strips, including The Far Side, Dilbert, Rhymes With Orange, Marmaduke, and, of course, Mutts and Peanuts.

The exhibit, which opens Sunday and runs through Sept. 26, will feature more than 60 pieces of art, mostly original drawings, and some of the proceeds from the show will benefit the Humane Society of the United States. At 1 p.m. Sunday, visitors will be treated to presentations by cartoonist McDonnell and Humane Society President Wayne Pacelle.

I hope people will come away from the exhibit with a real appreciation for the art form of the comic strip, which is really underrated, McDonnell said. The inking is beautiful. People will be knocked out about the art.

In the early days of comics, dogs typically were secondary characters, without thoughts or ideas, McDonnell noted.

Snoopy was the first one who really became a major character. We got to see the secret world of dogs through his eyes.

Mutts followed in Snoopys footsteps. McDonnells animal characters walk on all fours but have distinct personalities and communicate complex feelings, including joy, sadness and anger. Not all of them live in loving homes. Characters include a neglected dog chained in his back yard and unwanted pets who live behind bars in animal shelters.

Earl and Mooch have happy homes, but its really tough for a lot of other animals on the planet, said McDonnell. So I started thinking that it should become part of the strip.

Several times a year, McDonnell pens a series he calls Shelter Stories, featuring stray and abandoned creatures longing for homes. Their words and images tug at the heart and force readers to think about the plight of homeless animals.

Yes, it was a touch of a risk, because people do want to be entertained in the comics, and I want to do that, he said. But I see the comics as an art form, capable of dealing with a lot of issues and emotions. Nothing makes me happier than when people tell me they were inspired to adopt an animal because they were touched by the Shelter Stories.

Generating new and creative story ideas, McDonnell said, remains the toughest part of his work, and occasionally he finds himself at a loss.

But the dog and the cat are always around, so they are helpful, he said. If I can capture their spirit, Ive done my job.

Unlike his namesake in Mutts, the real Earl has a rather volatile relationship with the cat who shares his home. Meemow is a formerly feral tabby with an attitude, said McDonnell.

My wife, Karen, and I had Earl for nine years before introducing him to the cat, he said. Meemow was not nuts about dogs or humans, and Earl was totally excited about having a cat in the house. So it took a couple of months for them to adjust.

But everything is fine now, McDonnell said. They have learned to tolerate each other. Sometimes, we actually catch them sleeping on the same couch together.


Namco awarded license to publish Peanuts video games

Legendary comic strip coming to multiple video game platforms

April 20, 2005

Namco press release

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Leading video games publisher and developer Namco Hometek Inc. today announced that United Media has awarded Namco the interactive entertainment publishing rights to Peanuts, the renowned comic strip created by Charles M. Schulz. The partnership allows Namco to create and publish games featuring Peanuts characters and properties, including Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Peppermint Patty, Linus and Pigpen for all current and upcoming game platforms through 2009.

Peanuts is one of the most celebrated comic strips of all time, and Charlie Brown and his friends have firmly cemented their place as American icons of the highest order, said Jeff Lujan, Business Director at Namco Hometek, Inc. We relish this opportunity to continue these beloved characters storylines through the medium of games and are honored to introduce this cherished property to an all-new generation of gamers.

Debuting in just seven newspapers in 1950, Peanuts has since been enjoyed by millions of readers and viewers worldwide. Today the popular strip can be read in over 2400 newspapers in 75 countries and 21 languages worldwide. Charles M. Schulzs unique art style and endearing characters have inspired an entire generation of cartoonists, while becoming a perennial favorite with both parents and children through compilation books, television specials, and countless consumer products.

Namco has proven its ability to translate franchises to the video game format with respect and care, said Jean Sagendorph, Licensing Manager at United Media. Working with such a capable partner will allow us the opportunity to grow the Peanuts property in this popular category, as well as reach new audiences.

For more information about Namco and its products visit www.namco.com.


(Web editors note This next story comes with a warning regarding both content and possible credibility. It is a genuine story, and the Springfield News is an authentic newspaper. Judge for yourself...)

Naked woman flushes $90,000

Police say she tore up and sent irreplaceable Peanuts storyboard down the toilet

April 20, 2005

By Stacy D. Stumbo
The Springfield (Oregon) News

Springfield police got a call Sunday afternoon that sounded like crazy fiction.

A naked woman, locked in the bathroom, was tearing up and flushing a $90,000 work of art, the frantic caller reported.

It turned out to be true. According to police reports, a Springfield woman played Lucy to a neighbors Charlie Brown on Sunday, when she allegedly stole and destroyed a one-of-a-kind Peanuts cartoon storyboard.

And yes, police say -- she was naked, in the bathroom, flushing it down the toilet.

Good grief!

It wasnt a dark and stormy night when police were called to a residence in the 1100 block of Darlene Avenue. It was only 227 p.m. when Walter Merritt reported that the valuable item was stolen from the room he was renting.

Merritt, 60, was given the 1957 storyboard that featured Peanuts characters Lucy and Linus as a thank-you for helping a friend overcome a drug addiction.

He had the item appraised in 1990. Its value at the time was estimated at between $15,000 and $50,000. Although he is uncertain of its current value, he and police believe it can only have appreciated due to inflation and the death of cartoonist Charles Shulz in 2000.

Peanuts Flushed

Merritt believes it could have sold for as much as $90,000.

Over the years, Merritt guarded the artwork with the steadfast gaze of Snoopy's vulture. He kept it rolled in a cardboard tube and took it with him everywhere he went.

It never left my side, he said, except this once, for about half an hour.

Merritt told police he believed Pamela Ann Hemphill, 51, took the storyboard while he and another male tenant were at Safeway getting Chinese food.

Hemphill was the only person in the house he had shown the storyboard, he said. When he and his friend got home and found it missing, they immediately went to her room and asked for its return.

She said wed have to get a warrant, Merritt said.

Merritt denies any romantic relationship with the suspect, but describes her as The girl next door. Literally.

Hemphill, he said, was down on her luck, and looked like she was starving. With the brave spirit of Snoopys World War I Flying Ace, he tried to rescue her by giving her food and friendship.

Im a nice person, he said. I don't cheat people.

For this reason, Merritt said, he trusted her enough to show her his prized possession.

I didnt think shed do that after I helped her out, he said.

While Merritt called police, Hemphill reportedly locked herself in a bathroom.

Almost an hour after the first call, police had not arrived at the scene, and Merritt called 911 again requesting an officer come immediately.

While on the line with dispatch, another resident peered through the bathroom keyhole, according to police reports, and saw that Hemphill had disrobed and appeared to have taken the cartoon storyboard into the shower with her. Because it was made of cardboard, it would be necessary to get it wet in order to tear it into toilet-size pieces, and this appeared to be what Hemphill was doing.

Merritt said he asked for a female officer because he didnt want Hemphill to be embarrassed if she was nude when police arrived.

The resident who was watching Hemphill told Merritt he believed she was tearing the artwork apart and flushing it down the toilet.

Hemphill dressed and left the residence without comment before police arrived at around 4:45 p.m., Merritt said.

He said he walked into the empty bathroom, searched for his treasured Peanuts paraphernalia, but could find it nowhere. When he scrutinized the toilet bowl, Merritt said he saw something that looked like paper peeking up through the drain.

He reached down into the toilet water and grabbed it.

What he pulled out was a spoiled piece of history -- Lucys head from the storyboard, waterlogged and torn.

There is no rationale (for what Hemphill allegedly did), he said. That's what makes it so hard to understand. It makes no sense. Its like having a beautiful Cadillac and setting it on fire. Why would anyone do something like that?

Hemphill was later arrested for first-degree aggravated theft and criminal mischief. She was hauled off to the Lane County Jail, but was matrixed out due to overcrowding less than two hours later.

Springfield police Sgt. Mike McCarthy said Hemphill previously had no criminal record in Oregon.

The black market for art isnt great here, McCarthy said of Springfield, adding that Hemphill would have found it difficult to sell the storyboard, if that was her intent.

Merritt said Hemphill is still in the house, but they have not spoken since the incident.

Merritt, who survives on social security benefits and workers compensation, hoped to eventually use money from the sale of the storyboard to pay for his retirement.

When the piece was appraised, Merritt said it was insured for its value at the time, but he believes the policy only covers acts of God or natural disasters. It remains unclear if theft and flushing would be covered.

He doesnt regret not storing the storyboard in a safe deposit box.

What good is it if it's in a box? No one can see it. No one can enjoy it, he said. I have to laugh about it. Whats done is done, but I couldnt eat last night. I just had a couple of peanuts.

In trying times like these, Merritt can fall back on the wisdom of the cartoon that brought him, and the world, such happiness.

In the strip, when Lucy was in turmoil, she sought the advice of others.

She asked, Lifes a mystery, Charlie Brown ... Do you know the answer?

That bald-headed kid, as Snoopy described him, advised, Be kind, be prompt, smile a lot, eat sensibly, avoid cavities and mark your ballot carefully ... Avoid too much sun, send overseas packages early, love all creatures above and below, ensure your belongings and try to keep the ball low.

Lucy responded, Hold real still, because I'm going to hit you with a very sharp blow to the nose.

(A few editorial questions...
If that is the text of the supposed strip, it's from 1969 (March 19, 1969, to be exact), not 1957, as asserted above.
The Schulz Museum does not own this strip, and it is listed as being in unknown hands ... so, from that standpoint, it's possible.
Strips do go for a lot, but $90,000 seems wildly inflated for a non-Snoopy daily.
He carried it with him everywhere!??!
Schulz originals are on pretty heavy paper stock; it seems unlikely that one could be rolled up in a tube.
And can't these sloppy reporters learn how to properly spell Schulz?)


New Snoopy for Healtheast

April 16, 2005

The St. Paul Pioneer Press

David Monson wanted to honor his wife, Mary Jo, and she wanted to pay tribute to her alma mater, the Mounds-Midway School of Nursing. Now, the two, who have been married for 51 years, are each getting their wish.

On Tuesday, the couple will donate a fifth Peanuts statue to a HealthEast facility, this time to HealthEast Midway, the former hospital where the two met in 1953.

In each of the past five years, the Monsons have purchased one of the Peanuts tribute statues and donated it to a HealthEast facility. In November, they paid $10,000 for a Snoopy doghouse statue during an auction at HealthEasts annual Festival of Trees fund-raising gala.

Mary Jo Monson, who is curator of the Mounds-Midway School of Nursing Museum at the Midway campus, then worked closely with designer Laurie Ann Thomas to redesign the statue to emphasize the spirit of nursing and medical care the hospital group represents.

The Monsons, former longtime Roseville residents, now live in North Oaks.


Accomplished composer visits Maclay

April 15, 2005

By Kim McCoy Vann
The Tallahassee (Florida) Democrat

Twenty Maclay School students got a rare chance to pick the brain of a Pulitzer Prize-winning musical composer Thursday.

Ellen Taaffe Zwilich gave fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade students insight about the process she uses to create works like Peanuts Gallery, which will be recorded for the first time with the Florida State University Orchestra on Saturday at Opperman Music Hall.

Both events will be part of a video that will air on PBS and will be distributed on DVD. The Maclay students, as well as 200 others from Gilchrist and Hartsfield elementary schools and the Tallahassee Youth Orchestra, will attend Saturdays recording.

The chat session at Maclay gave students a chance to ask Zwilich questions and hear pieces of Peanuts Gallery performed by a pianist and percussionist. The piece, first performed in 1997 in Carnegie Hall, is made up of six movements that describe cartoonist Charles Schulzs Peanuts characters. Schulzs widow, Jean, is coming to town for the taping.

Zwilich told students Lullaby for Linus is slow and lyrical because his ever-present blanket shows hes always ready for a nap and needs some reassurance. Zwilich said she wrote a samba for Snoopy because she thought hed want something sophisticated, but fun.

One student asked Zwilich which character she has the most in common with.

I think Im most like Snoopy, she said. What I do involves a lot of dreaming.

Zwilich said she began creating music as a child. She remembers her mother telling her to get off the piano and go play outside. Zwilich lives in New York but also spends time in Tallahassee, where she is the Francis Eppes Distinguished Professor, which is awarded to people recognized as being at the height of their career, said Leo Welch, assistant dean for the College of Music. Zwilich earned degrees from FSU and The Juilliard School.

Before Zwilichs visit, Maclay students learned about the composer and Peanuts Gallery in their music classes. Fourth-grader Sarah Garvin said she enjoyed meeting Zwilich after listening to and analyzing her music.

First I got to hear it, then I got to meet the person who wrote it, Sarah said. It was interesting to hear what she thought about it and what my friends thought about it.

Welch said Zwilichs visit will help a younger audience appreciate another type of music.

Its a remarkable opportunity for children in the community to experience classical music in an intimate way, Welch said.


Charles Schulz Drew Them In

April 12, 2005

By Nancy Gondo
Investors Business Daily

In the comic strip Peanuts, Charlie Brown is in love with the red-haired girl, but cant ever muster enough courage to approach her. And though he never got to kick the football, he kept trying.

The cartoon character had a lot in common with his creator, cartoonist Charles Schulz (1922-2000). Both were shy and knew rejection, but neither gave up hope.

Hard work and determination eventually paid off for Schulz. He created 17,896 Peanuts strips, working nearly up to his death five years ago. At that time, the strips were published in more than 2,600 newspapers in 75 countries.

Getting to that point wasnt easy, but his passion for cartoons was clear early. His kindergarten teacher predicted he would be an artist after seeing a crayon sketch, The New York Times reported.

As a youngster, Schulz loved drawing cartoons and reading comic strips. Every weekend, he and his father would get the Sunday editions of the two Minneapolis and two St. Paul papers to read the funnies.

Art and smart

In grade school, he practiced sketching in notebooks. The other kids admired his deft replicas of cartoon characters like Mickey Mouse and Popeye, and often asked him to draw them in their notebooks too.

Drawing didnt distract him from his studies. He did so well in school, he skipped the second half of third and fifth grades.

Once he got to junior high, his shyness intensified since he was the smallest and youngest boy.

Those years would later provide a lot of fodder for Peanuts. Once, he waited in line at a movie theater that was giving out free candy bars to the first 100 kids to buy a ticket that day. Schulz turned out to be number 101.

But he did well when it came to art. His teacher noticed his talent and encouraged him. An illustration of his black-and-white dog Spike, who resurfaced as Snoopy, got published in Ripleys Believe It or Not. Success such as that fueled his desire to make a career out of drawing.

But he remained shy. After graduating from high school, he enrolled in an art school and mailed his illustrations in. He was unsure about his talent, especially after getting a C- for his drawings of children. But that didnt stop him.

He sent his best (cartoons) to magazines across the country in hopes that someone would buy one, wrote Michael Schuman in Charles M. Schulz Cartoonist and Creator of Peanuts. He had no luck and succeeded only in collecting piles of rejection slips.

To make ends meet, he worked odd jobs, often for direct mail advertisers. One firm noticed his talent and began paying the mail-room worker to illustrate brochures.

In 1945, after two years with the Army, he was itching to draw again. He got a job lettering comics; soon he took a second job teaching at his old art school. Schulz was busy and happy, working on little sleep.

I regarded it as something great, he said in a 2000 interview. I was involved. I was doing something with cartoons. He got along well with other teachers at the art school, such as Charlie Brown, Linus Maurer and Frieda Rich, who had curly hair. Always eager to learn, he sought out advice from mentors. Co-worker Frank Wing thought Schulz was especially gifted in drawing children and suggested he focus on that.

The cartoonist was determined to get his work published. He mailed at least one submission each week. His persistence paid off in 1947, when the St. Paul Pioneer Press decided to run his Lil Folks strip every Sunday on its womens page. He soon began selling single-panel cartoons to The Saturday Evening Post.

But he hadnt yet reached his goal of landing a daily comic strip. Since the Pioneer Press wouldnt give him more money or move Lil Folks to the Sunday comics page, he resigned after two years and resumed sending his work to newspapers.

He figured hed have a better shot with a unique angle. So he drew a panel with two cartoons instead of one and sent it to the United Feature Syndicate. That got the editors attention. They asked him to fly to New York for a meeting.

This time Schulz worked on a package of strips that were three panels wide, showing children in brief incidents. By contrast, most comic strips featured lots of dialogue and a convoluted plot.

My strips were very simple and the action was really brief, Schulz said in a 1987 interview. After officers of the syndicate saw that I had drawn a strip, they decided right then and there that they would rather have a strip than a panel, and thats how Peanuts was born.

The first Peanuts ran Oct. 2, 1950, in seven newspapers. Readers liked the surprisingly adultlike philosophical wit of Charlie Brown and the gang, and appreciated the artists keen attention to detail.

For instance, in scenes where Schroeder played the piano, Schulz painstakingly copied the actual notes from Beethovens music. A book publisher recognized the score and, intrigued, began reading Peanuts. He became such a fan he suggested the strips be published in a number of book collections.

Schulz stayed alert for ideas. His fussy daughter Meredith inspired Lucys bossiness. Some of his kids dragged around blankets, just like Linus. He dreamed up Schroeder one day while watching Meredith plink away at a toy pianos keys.

He often drew on past memories, too. In one strip, Charlie Brown didnt get a candy bar because he was one person too late.

Snoopy was inspired by Spike, the white-and-black dog Schulz grew up with. The red-haired girl was based on Donna Mae Johnson, an ex-girlfriend who turned down his marriage proposal.

Peanuts became so popular, it blossomed from a simple strip into all kinds of other forms, including TV, film, stage, greeting cards and even plush dolls.

Yet Schulz never sat back to enjoy his success. He continued to labor over his daily strips, working months ahead.

Back at it

In late 1997 he decided to take a five-week break from work for his 75th birthday.

But he couldnt stay away from his passion. By his third week off, he sneaked back into his studio to work. Only an illness could keep him from working, he said.

In November 1999 he suffered a series of strokes while having surgery for colon cancer. A month later, he said he would retire. The last strip ran Feb. 13, 2000.

He never saw it published. After 50 years of creating Peanuts strips, Schulz died in his sleep the evening of Feb. 12, 2000.


Ice show highlights young skaters skills

April 11, 2005

By Erin McCarty
The Ohio University Post (a student newspaper)

Despite plenty of falls and confusion, the young performers impressed friends and family Saturday at the Ohio University Learn to Skates 13th annual ice show, Good Grief, Charlie Brown, in Bird Ice Arena.

The ice show gave 44 students in the Learn to Skate program a chance to showcase the highlights of what they had learned over the year.

We just want to have a big, fun party, off-ice coordinator Christina Yednock said, I just hope the kids have fun and the parents are happy.

The show consisted of 20 musical numbers that were either solo acts or group performances. The musical numbers, which each had something to do with the Peanuts comic strip, featured eight songs from the Broadway musical Youre a Good Man, Charlie Brown, a song by B.B. King and instrumental compositions by Vince Guaraldi.

Most of the performers were 10 and under, with the exception of OU professor of modern languages Carole Cloutier.

The stands were filled with mostly the parents, siblings and grandparents of the performers, but some OU students and citizens from Athens and Nelsonville attended the show.

Aside from giving the students the opportunity to perform, the show promoted the Learn to Skate program, on-ice coordinator and head coach Nadia Peskar said. Last years ice show included a lot more students, Peskar said.

We want to promote (Learn to Skate) because its such a good program, Peskar said, It really ties into the community and college.

Learn to Skate is in Bird Ice Arena through Campus Recreation and is open to all ages, Peskar said.

The program teaches its students basic skating and other techniques and offers private lessons to those who want them, Peskar said.

The teaching staff is made up of undergraduate students with previous ice skating experience, either in hockey or figure skating, Yednock said.

The show was well-received by the crowd, drawing hearty chuckling from the spectators every time a tiny performer took a spill on the ice or got separated from the pack and tried in haste to return.

When asked why she decided to come to the event, Nelsonville resident Christina Andrews said, I love ice skating, and I thought the little ones would be great. And I wish I could do it.

Sharing similar feeling about the performance of the young students, OU junior Lindsey Davis said, Theyre so cute. All of the little kids are so cute.

Our daughters in the show, Parker, Nelsonville mother Monda DeWeese said, Its a wonderful end to a year.


Fond farewell

Friday, April 1

By Liz Chretien
The Exeter News-Letter (New Hampshire)

EXETER -- Residents will no longer call the town managers office and hear the familiar words, Olson here.

Retiring Town Manager George Olson said his longtime policy of being available to anyone who called is one that defused many an unhappy situation over the years.

If you call the town office, were blessed with a person answering the phone, Olson said. A lot of angry people ceased being angry when they called and heard those words. Maybe they werent expecting to talk to me, and it throws them off. The truth is, people get angrier with every barrier they encounter. Just answering the phone, or returning a call in a timely fashion, goes a long way.

Phone etiquette is just one topic Olson spoke about during his farewell interview on Wednesday as he reflected on his years running Exeter while finishing up some last-minute work in a corner office upstairs as Russell Dean, the new town manager, moved boxes in a floor below.

Oddly, Im not sad yet, Olson said. I keep waiting for that to happen. Im just looking forward to retirement, and Im going into it guiltless, so maybe I shouldnt feel sad.

Olson said part of that peace is knowing hes leaving Exeter in good hands with a man whose style is eerily similar to his.

I read the piece in the Exeter News-Letter on Dean right after he was announced as the chosen candidate, Olson said. It almost looked like the story was about me. His quotes were my quotes.

But Olson said one incident in particular stands out in his mind to illustrate the similarities between Dean and himself, one that involved, strangely enough, none other than Snoopy.

Thanks to my daughters, I have an extensive Snoopy tie collection, he said. Theres always been the assumption that George will wear a Snoopy tie to work.

So when Olson wore one of his favorites last week, Snoopy in Monets Garden, the last person he expected to see wearing the same tie was Russ Dean.

Ive never seen that tie anyplace else on anyone else, and here we end up wearing it on the same day.

Aside from being a Snoopy fan, Olson said many of Deans approaches are close to his own, starting with management style.

Olson said hes a great believer in taking the time to hire the right person and let them do their job. If people I hired arent doing their job, I find out, he said. So I dont feel particularly obliged to look over their shoulder. Were all grown-ups here.

He said that management style has worked for him over the years.

Ive had some cases where employees felt I didnt care what they were doing, that I wasnt concerned about their success or how their department worked. It didnt mean I was going to change my style, but I can certainly understand those feelings, he said. But 90 percent of the time I think department heads are glad not to hear that George is calling every 15 minutes, and the result of that is they do better work.

Olson said it was very rare that he ever took over if a certain department had an issue. They would come to me if they needed help, he said. But I never stepped in and took over. Department heads are very good about understanding the relationship with this office.

And then there is the matter of relationships with townspeople, which can be much more volatile. Yet Olsons genteel manner and quintessential politeness is known and widely respected around town.

It helped that I was raised in the south, and that I studied diplomacy, Olson said. I find its very off-putting to be nice to upset people. People who storm into offices anticipate a storm. If they dont get it, theyre thrown off. I used to think these were tricks, but now I realize its just doing a job right.

Olson said hes followed a good rule of thumb over the years, especially in town meetings. Never wrestle with pigs. You both get dirty and the pig enjoys it.

The rule in Exeter about getting on the agenda if you have an issue is one thats been amazingly effective, he said.

We love how boring our town meetings are here, he said. We dont want to fight over tiny issues, but some towns need that contentiousness.

And his advice to Dean? He should keep the philosophy hes been espousing, he said. People are happy with that approach. I think the boards wisdom and the good process they used to select him will lead to a seamless transition, Olson said. After 17? years, theres a lot of stuff that needs to be shared, and they did the right thing by giving us a month overlap.

But the town looks wonderful, Olson said, and there are great people, great employees, and great volunteers that make it that way.

I think the only thing Im leaving undone is the issue of the water plant, he said. Its something the town needs, and Im disappointed that I havent been part of that success.

I wouldnt change much, Olson said. It may take a while to get somewhere, but in the end we seem to get there.

For the first year of retirement, Olson said he and his wife are going to take a break from boards and committees and take some vacations. After that, he said, Well see.

There are some things that interest me. And Ill be around town. Im not teary yet. I havent burned any bridges, I have no guilt.


Snoopy takes on Augusta National

April 1, 2005

By Ben Cook
The Birmingham (Alabama) Post-Herald

The Masters, the most sacred of events in the world of golf is at hand.

Hundreds of thousands of words will be written during the event by hundreds of media who will return to Augusta National as if on a religious pilgrimage.

And for some it is. Susan Sarandon talked about the church of baseball in the movie Bull Durham. For golfers, Augusta National is the church of golf and the Masters is its holy week.

How many golfers have wilted under the pressure of the Amen Corner or found their throats tighten when they walk down the 18th fairway in contention for a green jacket?

This week you can add one more name to the list of golfers who have been beaten down by the tradition of the Masters.

Except this one is a dog.

Well, not just any dog but one of the most famous dogs in all the world -- Snoopy.

Yes, Snoopy, the world famous World War I flying ace whose aerial battles with the Red Baron are legendary, tackles the course at Augusta National in a book coming out next week entitled Its Par For The Course, Charlie Brown.

And, without giving away too much of the plot, rumor has it that Augusta National beats Snoopy down like the Red Baron never could.

Snoopy is, of course, the creation of the late Charles Schulz who brought the whole Peanuts gang into newspapers around the world. Schulz gave us Snoopy, his owner Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy, Pigpen, Peppermint Patty and the whole gang of eternally young children who made us laugh on a daily basis.

Schulz was an avid sports fan who was destined to become a cartoonist at an early age. His kindergarten teacher at Mattocks School in St. Paul told him, Some day, Charles, you are going to be an artist.

She was right.

Schulz first published drawing was in 1937 was of Spike, his black and white pet dog who would later be the inspiration for Snoopy.

Schulzs career as a cartoonist began when the St. Paul Pioneer Press published his first panel called Lil Folks in 1947. Three years later the United Feature Syndicate bought the strip and renamed it Peanuts, a title Schulz never really liked. He was paid $90 for his first month.

Peanuts became one of the most popular comic strips in the world and its characters, in particular Snoopy, became as recognizable as any movie star.

Weve all watched as Charlie Brown has tried to kick footballs only to have the holder, Lucy, snatch the ball away at the last second. Weve felt his pain when fly balls fell between Lucy and Snoopy in the outfield on their neighborhood baseball team.

Sports -- usually bad sports -- was a constant theme throughout Peanuts.

When the 1960s came to an end, the Associated Press sent out ballots to newspapers all over the world to vote on the athlete of the decade. At the time, Wayne Martin and I were writing sports for The Birmingham News. We got hold of a ballot and decided we would vote for Joe Schlabotnik, who was a terrible baseball player, but was Charlie Browns favorite.

When the list of winners and their vote totals came out, down at the bottom of the list was the name Joe Schlabotnik, 2.

We sent a copy of it to Schulz. Not long afterward we got back a nice autographed picture of Charlie Brown and Snoopy that read Thanks for the votes. Joe needs all the help he can get. Charles Schulz.

Ive been a dedicated Peanuts fan ever since and I expect I will suffer right along with Charlie and the gang if Snoopy is brought to his knees by Augusta National.

Its Par For The Course, Charlie Brown will go on sale Tuesday, the day before the Par 3 Competition kicks off the Masters.


Johnny Miller Pens Forward to Peanuts Book

March 29, 2005

The Associated Press

Johnny Miller is perhaps the most outspoken TV analyst in sports. But when it comes to a certain golfer named Charlie Brown -- and his creator -- Miller is a softy.

The NBC commentator and Hall of Fame golfer wrote the forward to the new Peanuts comic strip book Its Par for the Course, Charlie Brown.

In the book, Snoopy goes to the Masters and succumbs to the pressures of a major tournament.

Miller befriended Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz decades ago.

Charles Schulz was a great supporter of the game of golf and was an avid golfer, Miller says. Charles wanted to excel on the golf course just as much as he did on the drawing table.

I grew up with Peanuts. It was my favorite, along with Beetle Bailey, Miller writes in the forward to the book. He (Schulz) would ask for lessons sometimes, and I enjoyed helping him with his swing.


Youre a Good Man, Charles Schulz

March 2005

By Bill Baker
www.bookslut.com

While casting about for ideas and themes to pursue for my inaugural review on Bookslut, I considered a number of different options. I could easily discuss how I discovered comics at the ripe age of 3, and the thrill that I felt after discovering that reading allowed me to enter not just that ever-changing two- and four-color landscape, but a multitude of inner worlds made real via words and images, whether combined or deployed singly. I could also wax ecstatic about my eventual rediscovery of the newly-matured comics medium 18 years ago, after encountering my first modern comics shop and the work of revolutionary creators like Frank Miller, Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, Neil Gaiman, Dave McKean and their compatriots. But I kept finding myself drawn back to the two volumes of Fantagraphics The Complete Peanuts published to date, and with very good reason.

Quite simply, not only does Charles Schulzs long-running strip represent one of the more impressive bodies of work ever amassed by a comics creator, it has also acted as the introduction into the world of comic strips -- and an easy entry point into the medium generally known as comics or graphic novels -- for generations of readers, be they fans of that much-maligned medium or not. Furthermore, I honestly believe that Schulzs 50-year run on Peanuts stands as one of the most singular and sterling achievements of any artist of the previous century. If you consider the fact that Schulz produced a completed strip every day for that entire period, with the Sunday installments being twice the length and work of the dailies themselves, its an impressive enough feat. But when you sit down and seriously consider the work itself, and the depth of characterization and sly socio-political commentary therein, the true scale of good old Charles Sparky Schulzs accomplishment becomes apparent... and it is a truly monumental legacy.

Ultimately, however, its not just the sheer amount or fecundity of this shy mans imagination and output that weighs heaviest in my, and most others, estimation. Rather, its his subtle grace and phenomenal precision at capturing, through the simplest of statements or alterations of his characters expressions and body language, not only the humor of the moment -- Hey, kids do say and do the darnedest things! -- but, more importantly, both the zeitgeist of a nation and the larger idea of our shared humanity. Its an impressive feat to pull off on any single occasion, even when given 22 to 32 pages to accomplish the task; that Sparky was able to do this within the space of four panels on a daily basis, again and again and again over the course of decades, is simply mind-boggling. This is dedication to craft and project that makes for legends, and lies at the heart of Sparkys own personal vision and version of the American Dream. After all, using only his God-given talent and native abilities, Schulz literally built and then manifested not one but two imaginary ideal landscapes, the first being the world of the Peanuts gang, the other his own personal dream of being a truly successful cartoonist.

And what a dream, what body of work it is! Even at the very beginning of the strip, Schulz is busy recreating the universe in black and white miniature, all the while playing with and working out the verbal and visual language of his then ever-shifting cast, all the while delivering the goods with good humor and a simple grace. Still more satisfying is just how deeply amusing and honestly funny these strips are, even bereft of what most would see as the anchoring personalities and concepts made so famous and familiar by television, ads and seemingly-ubiquitous merchandise. Even more significant and telling, most of the material in these first volumes has rarely been seen by the public, or even hard-core fans, in accordance with Schulzs wishes that it not be reprinted because he felt it didnt meet the standards he later set for his own work. As a result, a good portion of the first seven of the planned twenty-five volumes -- each collecting two years worth of strips -- will be but the second time the majority of these strips have seen print since their original syndication in the early 50s.

Schulzs love for his imaginary children is palpable, and his generosity of spirit imbues everything in this universe. It adds real weight and meaning to the fat, supple lines which define the outer edges of his characters as well as the delicate squiggles used to suggest, with a simple and stunning accuracy, the casts shifting moods. And even though we observe these characters through a lens surprisingly similar to that Godlike point of view used in ancient times--the figures and their environs squashed flat, opened up and fully revealed on the page in two dimensions, just as the figures in Medieval tapestries held nothing back from their omniscient viewers and their God--there is a real tenderness to his handling of these faulted, frail and often frivilous creatures. His is a forgiving nature and perspective, and for all the critical and biographical noise about Schulzs own enduring personal grudges and bitterness arising from slights big and small from earlier in his life and career, there is very little, if any, of that dark aftertaste present in his work as a whole.

In the end, what The Complete Peanuts represents isnt just the sum total of one mans life and work. It is, among other things, an outstanding and important document of our society and the often deeply disturbing and drastic changes that it went through during the latter half of the 20th Century. It is also a tough-yet-tender examination of the fears, foibles and selfish tendencies present in us all, balanced with a true humanitarians gift for finding light, laughter and love where others might see only the darkness, despair and hopelessness that arises when any individual is faced with a universe and society that often seem hostile at best. As such, The Complete Peanuts project is ultimately a gift from the heart to each and every one of us from Charles Schulz, his heirs, and all the good folks at Fantagraphics. Its a national treasure which we should all accept and celebrate in the spirit in which it was offered by Good Old Charles Schulz -- with real passion, eagerness and joy.

And laughter. Always laughter...


Welcome to Florence-Carlton Schools Peanuts gallery

February 28, 2005

By Florence-Carlton students
Special for the Missoulian (Missoula, Montana)

Greetings! As an annual event, the transitional first-grade class and the first- and second-grade combination class at Florence-Carlton School in Florence get together to learn about the Peanuts comic strip and gain appreciation for the man who created it all, Charles Schulz. The children have loved this week of activities. They were able to choose their favorite Peanuts character, produce creative drawing assignments, make a Snoopy to hang on the wall and write letters to the Schulz family. We also enjoyed a Peanuts video and shared books. Good grief, we sure had fun this week. It was Snoopendous!
-- Lisa Verlanic, transitional first grade, and Karla Crawford, first- and second-combination class

We like the Peanuts gang!

Ask us why?

Because...

I like Snoopy because he makes it funny. ELIZA GUYAZ

I like Snoopy because its funny when he slams Woodstock into the birdhouse. JADA HUNSUCKER

I like Charlie Brown because he looks funny. BROOKELYNN LARKIN

I like Sally because she is pretty. ISABELLE PORTNER

I like Snoopy because he is friendly and funny. SEAN RICE

I like Snoopy because he is just Snoopy. BRANDON DAVIS

I like Snoopy because he is funny when he sniffs peoples root beer. JACOB DESCHAMPS

I like Snoopy because sometimes he is funny. BLAKE STEPHENS

I like Snoopy because he is funny when he is confused. EMMA DORMAN

I like Snoopy and the little birdie. I also like Lucy because she fed Snoopy a cookie. HILDE HUSEBY

I like Charlie Brown because sometimes he is funny. NATE MILLER

I like Snoopy because hes cute! GABBY RUEDA

I like Woodstock because he is a funny bird. LYNSEE SQUIRES

I like Snoopy because he is funny when he laughs and pretends he is a pilot. DAWSON THRASHER

I like them because they are funny and some of them get confused. CONNER WALDMAN

BECAUSE!

THATS WHY!

We like the Peanuts gang!

Letters to the Peanuts gang

DEAR CHARLIE BROWN,
My name is Hunter Stephens. Age 8, grade 2nd. Country USA. State Montana. Town Florence. I live in a house. I am a boy. My favorite character is Snoopy and you, Charlie Brown. My favorite book is Harry Potter and A Charlie Brown Valentine. From, HUNTER CLARK STEPHENS

GREETINGS PIG PEN,
Why are you so dirty? I think that you are a good person to your friends. You are friendly to people. I like you when you are dirty in the house. You are a good actor. From, CALLIE STEVENS

DEAR LUCY,
Why are you always mad at Charlie Brown? I like you because you are pretty. You have pretty hair. What grade are you in? My name is Emily. Im in second grade. We are learning about the Peanuts gang. From, EMILY JUDEN

I like you a lot because you are grumpy. I am grumpy sometimes too! You and I have very interesting attitudes. Love, JC-ANN COOKE

DEAR SNOOPY,
How old are you? Who is your hero? My favorite sport is basketball. I have three brothers. Have a nice day! From, CAJE GOLDEN

You are funny. Do you have fun? You are cute. Why do you pick on Woodstock and Charlie Brown? I wish you were my dog. Love, ASPEN HARDING

My name is Samuel and I want to ask you a question. Why dont you ever talk in your movies but only think? Can you answer me? I think a lot in my spare time. From, SAMUEL DIFORT

How are you? Why is your owner so weird and funny? Youre funny, do you know? Why do you ride your doghouse? Snoopy, if Charlie Brown yelled, Dinner time! would you rush there? From, LAUREN BAETEN

How are you? What does the inside of your doghouse look like? What does the little redheaded girl look like? My name is Sarah. I live in Lolo, Montana. From, SARAH JUDEN

Why are you so silly? I like you. My mom and dad think I am silly too! In any movie why were you in the mailbox? From, DAVEY JANE STEVENS

I like you because you act like you are a pilot. You are funny and cool. I really want to be a pilot too! From, BO ZEILER

I have a question. Why do you do weird things to Woodstock? I want to tell you something. I have a dog just like you. His name is Duke. I have a lot of other animals just like you Snoopy. From, HANNAH PORCH

I would like to know who you are going to the dance with at the party. I am going to bring my Uncle Matt to dance with me at the party. Talk to you soon. From, MAKAYLA LEE GOLLIHUGH

Why do you like the Air Force? You are my favorite cartoon. Whats your favorite kind of food? Mine is mashed potatoes and gravy. Your friend, DANIEL WIGHT

Do you play with Woodstock every day? I have a hamster. Do you eat hamsters? I think you are cute. From, JOSIE McCANN

My mom has a telephone that looks like you and Woodstock. What kind of bird is Woodstock? Remember when you fought the Red Baron? Best wishes. From, IAN APPLEBY


Theres still an empty spot 5 years later, Charlie Brown

February 12, 2005

By Chip Burch
The Daily News (Greenville, Michigan)

Its hard to believe that its been five years since the death of Charles Schulz.

Schulz, for those who dont remember, was the creative genius behind the Peanuts comic strip-turned-empire. He died five years ago today, one day before his final strip was published in many Sunday newspapers across the globe.

Schulz had been drawing the adventures of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, Lucy, Rerun, Schroeder, Peppermint Patty, Marcie, et al for 50 years before dying in his sleep at his home in California.

Since then, a number of newspapers have dropped Classic Peanuts comics for something else, but many still run the previous strips.

Those who dont get to see those classics can go to Peanuts official Web site at www.snoopy.com. A classic strip appears daily there.

Believe it or not, when the strip first was syndicated by United Feature Syndicate (UFS) back in the early 1950s, it originally was titled Lil Folks. It didnt become Peanuts until UFS took over syndication.

Schulz never did like the name, but kept on drawing.

In 50 years, anyone who read the strip on a regular basis could identify with someone in it, whether it was the cant-do-anything-right Charlie Brown, the blanket-toting Linus, the fussbudget Lucy, the multi-talented, world-famous-whatever Snoopy or someone else.

The sagas that were told were also timeless, like Charlie Brown always getting the football pulled away from him by Lucy, Linus yearly watch for the Great Pumpkin, Schroeders constant rejection of Lucys romantic desires and Snoopys never-ending battles with the Red Baron.

Peanuts became an icon, going from a comic strip to three Emmy Award-winning television specials to an empire of Peanuts toys, cards -- you name it, it was sold.

There was something magical about Peanuts, so much so that as a tribute to Schulzs legacy, multiple comic strip creators and editorial cartoonists dedicated their May 27, 2000, drawings to Peanuts and him.

At one point, all the tributes were posted on the Peanuts Web site, but now only five remain.

Some of them were hardly a tribute (Dilbert, Crankshaft, For Better Or For Worse), some were really funny (Tank McNamara, Hagar The Horrible, Heathcliff) and some were really touching (Garfield, Beetle Bailey, Ziggy).

But the editorial cartoon that put a bit of closure on the career of Sparky Schulz was drawn by one cartoonist whose name I forget. It was a five-panel strip showing Charlie Brown kicking a football held by Lucy, going through a bunch of valentines -- including one from the Little Red-Haired Girl -- finally flying a kite and throwing a game-winning pitch.

Then the final panel showed Charlie Brown looking up at Snoopy atop his doghouse, proclaiming in a thought balloon, Youre in heaven, Charlie Brown.

We miss you, Charlie Brown.


Not just a jazzman

Veteran musician performs tomorrow in the Valentine

February 11, 2005

By David Yonke
The Toledo (Ohio) Blade

Hes the smooth jazz pianist with a touch of Charlie Brown.

But David Benoit, who will lead his band in concert tomorrow night in the Valentine Theatre, is a lot more to those who take time to listen to the broad musical spectrum he has painted on his 23 recordings.

True, Benoit was a pioneer in the smooth jazz field when it blossomed in the 1980s and worked with cartoonist Charles Schulz for more than 10 years, composing and performing music for Peanuts TV specials.

But Benoit also enjoys blending jazz and funk, is adept at straight-ahead bebop, and has been increasingly drawn to the complex and challenging field of classical composition and arranging.

Its hard, Benoit said in an interview this week. People do tend to pigeonhole me as a smooth-jazz artist. But thats because the only time some people are exposed to my music is on the WAVE and other smooth-jazz stations.

Proof of his popularity among smooth-jazz fans, Benoit has won four Keyboardist of the Year honors at the National Smooth Jazz Awards.

The versatile, self-taught musician, who has been nominated five times for a Grammy Award, has spent the last four years as musical director of the Asia America Symphony in Palos Verdes, Calif., where he is working to build bridges between Eastern and Western music.

And he has served as guest artist and conductor for a number of symphonies including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the London, Nuremberg, San Francisco symphonies, and a July 4 concert with the National Symphony on the steps of the U.S. Capitol Building.

In 2002, he performed a tribute to Charlie Brown with the Toledo Symphony.

Benoits most recent CD, Right Here, Right Now, produced by jazz trumpeter Rick Braun, featured a funky cover of Herbie Hancocks fusion landmark, Watermelon Man, as well as a jazz take of James Taylors folksy ballad, Dont Let Me Be Lonely Tonight, with a 22-piece string section.

Benoit, 51, was born in Bakersfield, Calif., and grew up in Los Angeles South Bay area. Although he grew up in a musical family, he didnt start taking piano lessons until he was 14.

I think it was a reflection of the times, living in Hermosa Beach, everybody was dropping out in the Sixties, Benoit said. But I was listening to Frank Zappa, Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copeland, Henry Mancini. Ive always been learning. And Ive had a lot of help.

He said French composer Jean-Pascal Beintus took his concept for Kobe and turned it into a symphonic masterpiece.

Benoit began his professional career in 1976 as musical director for diva Lainie Kazan, then went on to work with singers Ann-Margret and Connie Stevens.

He was a founding member of the Rippingtons, the renowned smooth-jazz group, and has continued his relationship with Russ Freeman, current leader of the Rippingtons, recording two discs as the Benoit/Freeman Project.

Benoit also penned several film scores, including the soundtrack to Clint Eastwoods The Stars Fell on Henrietta and Sally Fields The Christmas Tree, and wrote the theme songs for the soap opera All My Children and the TV series Sisters.

His latest recording projects, due for release later this year, include a Charlie Brown Christmas album featuring an array of special guests, with Benoit leading on several tunes and accompanying some of the guests, plus Orchestral Stories, a CD containing his classical and neo-classical recordings.

Orchestral Stories is a very unusual release for me, very different, Benoit said from his home in southern California. Ive waited about 20 years to do this. It will have all my orchestral classical compositions, including 9/11, a ballad expressing Americas heroic response to the terrorist attacks; Kobe, a tone poem about a girl growing up in postwar Japan, and The Centaur and the Sphinx, his first piano concerto.

I like to dabble in all areas of music, Benoit said.

In performing with his quartet in Toledo, he said his set will include some of Vince Guaraldis famous Peanuts compositions, a cover of Dave Brubecks Blue Rondo a la Turk, a classical composition or two, plus a few surprises.

I wont do too much of my classical music, Benoit said with a laugh. I dont want to scare anybody off.

David Benoit will be in concert at 8 p.m. tomorrow in the Valentine Theatre, 400 North Superior St. Tickets are $25, $37, and $47 from the box office, 419-242-2787.


Misawa team picks Snoopy for its Sapporo snow sculpture theme

January 29, 2005

By Jennifer H. Svan
Stars and Stripes (Pacific edition)

MISAWA NAVAL AIR FACILITY, Japan -- Adopting a more light-hearted theme this year, a team of five Misawa sailors will carve Peanuts character Snoopy as the Red Baron flying ace at the 56th Sapporo Snow Festival next month on Japans northern island of Hokkaido.

Its the 22nd year in a row the Navy at Misawa has sent sailors to Japans most famous winter festival, slated for Feb. 7-13.

In years past, the team carved Lady Liberty after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Lone Sailor in honor of those killed in the 2000 terrorist bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen and the doomed space shuttle Columbia.

Snoopy piloting his doghouse rose to the top of the list this year because its something that the team all liked, and we felt comfortable it was something we all could do, said Chief Petty Officer Ranney Gaines, the team leader.

Besides, cartoon characters are really popular in Japan, he said.

About 2 million people come to the Sapporo Snow Festival each year to see snow sculptures as tall as houses, some with giant slides for children. The festival began in 1950 when local high school students built six snow figures in Odori Park; five years later, the Japan Self-Defense Force built the first massive snow sculpture.

For Misawa Navy personnel, the annual sojourn to Hokkaidos winter wonderland is above all a community relations venture, Gaines said. Japanese Ground Self-Defense Forces will host the sailors in Army barracks at Camp Sapporo. Theyll also meet with Sapporo city council members and mingle with Japanese spectators while carving a 10-foot block of snow.

The best part is interacting with the Japanese, said Petty Officer 2nd Class Joshua Mosenthin, a Seabee with Misawas public works department and a veteran carver of the local Misawa snow festivals. A lot of times the school kids come out and want to do interviews with you.

Joining Mosenthin and Gaines are Petty Officer 1st Class Tom Dary, Petty Officer 2nd Class Ronald Davis and Seaman Apprentice James Rucker. They applied and were selected by the command to be part of this years team.

Also preparing for the Hokkaido trip is a team of four from Yokota Air Base near Tokyo who will represent the United States in the festivals international competition, according to team organizer Dave Russo, a retiree and civilian employee at Yokota.

Yokota has sent a team to Sapporo every year for more than 30 years, Russo said. Team members in the early days were goodwill ambassadors but, about 16 years ago, Yokota gained official sponsor status from the U.S. Embassy to represent the United States in international competition, Russo said.

Team members this year are Tech. Sgt. Timothy Burns, 374th Transportation Squadron; Tech. Sgt. Bobby Jones, 374th Communications Squadron; Ronald Hawkins, an English teacher in the local community outside Yokota; and the team manager, Tech. Sgt. Michael Brogan.

The Yokota crew will carve an American bald eagle, competing against 16 other countries for the prize of grand champion.

The main prize we strive for is bragging rights, Russo said. If USA wins, we get a flag thats passed down to the first-place winner every year and displayed in front of the winning sculpture for the festivals duration.

Carving in the international competition starts Feb. 5, before the festival officially kicks off. Teams have four days to finish their sculpture and may work from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, Russo said.

Every year we try to do something representing America, Russo said. At the end of the day, you can barely bend your arms to reach your hair because youre hurting so bad, but its a lot of pride.


A snoopy Daily Show put our park foibles on parade

January 27, 2005

By Laura Billings
The St. Paul Pioneer Press

Just as traveling helps to open up our respective worldviews, visitors sometimes help us see ourselves in ways we may wish we didnt have to.

This is why we should thank the producers of The Daily Show who came to St. Paul during the coldest week of the year to prove that the battle waged over whether the Peanuts statues deserve a place in historic Rice Park has now become -- officially and irrevocably -- stupid.

Of course, The Daily Show is only a fake news show, not to be confused with the NBC Nightly News, which came to town to do a newscast from the Fitzgerald Theater earlier this month for no apparent reason but to show those of us in the hinterlands how devilishly handsome their new anchor, Brian Williams, really is.

It is interesting to note, however, that the St. Paul segment of The Daily Show, which aired Tuesday night and was rebroadcast Wednesday evening, was actually better reported than NBCs coverage of Minnesotas alleged swing-state status. The NBC report referred to Minnesota as The Land of 1,000 Lakes. The Daily Show didnt make any such glaring errors.

In fact, they explained the Rice Park contretemps pretty concisely. On one side was the Ross Group, the womens group dedicated to keeping St. Paul beautiful and keeping those cartoon characters far from F. Scott Fitzgeralds life-size likeness in Rice Park. On the other side were Peanuts proponents such as City Council Member Dave Thune, who say Charles Schulz deserves an equal place of honor in his hometown.

(That stuff about Peppermint Patty and Marcie having an unusually close friendship was just thrown in for laughs. You have to find something to keep the college boys interested.)

Now, I love a good culture war as much as the next person. But while watching the report, it became clear the Ross Groups complaints about the cartoon statues came about five years too late to matter. Where were they during the five previous summers, when their beloved city was overtaken by garish dogs, blanket-toting babies and compromised little girls with commercial titles like, Lets Hang Drywall Lucy? This newspaper covered every single move the Peanuts gang made -- running their pictures, biographical sketches and pinpointing precise locations so that Polaroid-wielding obsessives could have their pictures taken with every single one.

Having waged a lonely battle against this Snoopy loopiness -- even enduring insults from readers who said I had an obvious anti-Peanuts bias and that I probably also was a bad mom -- I would have been on the side of the Ross Groups refined aesthetics. Unfortunately, their request that the City Council find a new spot for Marcie and Peppermint Patty came more than two months after the statues had been installed.

By then it was clear they were a big improvement on their polyurethane predecessors. Cast in bronze, you hardly notice em.

As for those champions of Charles Schulz, lets not get carried away about the mans contributions to St. Paul. His strip never ran in this city. He didnt live here that long and only came back twice to visit. Fitzgerald was kicked out of St. Paul more often than that.

Not that any of this matters anymore. Seeing ourselves through the prism of Comedy Central, it became clear that America probably is not laughing with us -- theyre laughing at us.

As upsetting as this may be to see one of St. Pauls most pressing civic concerns reduced to a punch line on late-night television, perhaps we should be grateful The Daily Show producers didnt visit while the Winter Carnival was in full swing.

The epic struggle between King Boreas and Vulcanus Rex might seem charming to us, but its probably better if the rest of the world knows as little about it as possible.


Good grief, its a Peanuts invasion

First statues for Charlie Brown celebration arrive in SR

January 27, 2005

By Dan Taylor
The Santa Rosa Press Democract

Two statues of Charlie Brown arrived Wednesday in Santa Rosa, the first wave in an invasion of round-headed figures that will sweep the city this summer.

In early June, 55 such Charlie Brown statues, each painted or decorated by local artists, will go on display at malls, on the streets and in front of businesses in a citywide salute to the hapless hero of the Peanuts comic strip.

First conceived as Peanuts on Parade, the stunt ended a five-year run last fall in St. Paul, Minn., childhood home of the late Charles M. Schulz, who wrote and drew Peanuts for nearly 50 years. Santa Rosa calls its version of the event Its Your Town, Charlie Brown.

It was such a success that were bringing it to Santa Rosa, Schulzs son Craig said. Charles Schulz moved his family to Sonoma County in 1958, settling first in Sebastopol and later Santa Rosa, where he died in 2000.

Created by TivoliToo Designs and Sculpting Studios of St. Paul, which supplied the statues for Peanuts on Parade, the statues cost $3,000 apiece to make, Craig Schulz said.

TivoliToo delivered two statues Wednesday -- one blank gray and one painted in Charlies traditional comic strip colors -- to the Charles M. Schulz Museum, where artists will gather tonight for a briefing.

At 5 feet, 5 inches, the polyurethane Charlie Browns loom taller than Railroad Squares 4-foot-high bronze statue of Charlie and his dog, Snoopy, installed by Long Beach artist Stan Pawlowski in 2001. Discussions with the Schulz family about bringing Peanuts on Parade to Santa Rosa began at the dedication ceremony for Pawlowskis work, City Councilwoman Janet Condron said.

Designs must be submitted by Feb. 15 for review by the Schulz family and United Feature Syndicate, which continues to distribute Peanuts strips, said Pat Fruiht, assistant to the Santa Rosa city manager.

There are only two reasons a design might be rejected, Schulz said. They cant be gaudy or tasteless, and they cant be direct advertising, he explained. Sponsors cant just put their logos on the statues.

St. Paul featured a different Peanuts character each year Charlie, his pals Linus and Lucy, and two versions of Snoopy. St. Paul led off with Snoopy, but Santa Rosa chose Charlie.

Snoopy is a smaller character and fragile. His ears got broken off. There was some vandalism, Schulz said. In fact, one of the Charlie Browns that arrived Wednesday did not complete the journey unscathed -- he lost a portion of his ear.

Despite the blemish, which will be repaired, Charlie Brown makes a better canvas, Schulz said. Some artists actually used him like a canvas and painted a landscape on him. Others recast Charlie as Charlemagne or the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz.

Businesses, nonprofits or individuals can sponsor statues at $5,000 each, with $1,000 of that to go to the artist and the rest covering manufacturing, shipping and other costs associated with the project. So far, 25 sponsors have signed up, including the Charles M. Schulz Museum, Santa Rosa Plaza, Coddingtown Mall and Exchange Bank.

The sites for the statues are determined by who sponsors them, but well try to spread them out, Schulz said.

All of the statues will be moved to Old Courthouse Square for public viewing for two weeks in September. The statues will go up for auction Sept. 25 to raise money for a bronze sculpture of Charlie Brown and Linus at the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport, and for two scholarships for aspiring cartoonists.

Many other cities have done similar projects. The fad started in 1998 with 800 life-size fiberglass cows scattered across Zurich, Switzerland. The next year, 332 fiberglass and polyester cows showed up on Chicago streets. Stamford, Conn.; West Orange, N.J.; and New York City copied the cow idea. Then came pig statues in Seattle, geckos in Hawaii and party animals in Washington, D.C.

The Sonoma Valley introduced its own cow sculptures in 2000. Last year, Healdsburg gave the whole trend a creative turn with miniature pickup trucks artists painted, displayed and auctioned off.

Schulz predicted previous projects wont lessen the Peanuts events impact.

When you see a truck or painted giraffe, its not the same as seeing a Peanuts character, he said. They are so identifiable and people love them so much.


Chewing on Peanuts

January 15, 2005

By Liz Soares
The Kennebec (Maine) Journal

Ive recently enjoyed the first two volumes of The Complete Peanuts. These handsome retrospectives cover the very beginnings of the comic strip, from 1950 to 1954.

Ive learned that Charlie Brown didnt always wear a zigzag T-shirt. Ive seen Lucy as a toddler, Linus as a baby and Snoopy as a free spirit, with no obvious owner.

Ive also wondered Whats happened to the world Charles Schulz captured so unerringly?

The strips collected so far predate me by a few years, but describe my childhood nonetheless. It is not an innocent time -- these kids can be neurotic and nasty -- but a more real time.

The peanuts, for example, often shoot at one another. Sometimes they are dressed as cowboys, sometimes spacemen. They either hold toy guns or point their fingers. Im so schooled in the politics of nonviolence that one of my eyebrows lifted involuntarily when I came upon the shoot-em-up strips. Then I remembered the photo of Baby Liz in her diaper, holding the business end of her cowboy-suited cousins plastic pistol.

I wasnt always a peacenik. But back then, the lines between reality and fantasy were clear. Todays violent video games feature lifelike characters that players can kill or maim. When Lucy shoots Charlie Brown, on the other hand, he turns around and reminds her theyre on the same side. She apologizes Its a good thing I missed you then, isnt it?

Such creative play has been nearly lost to the ages. Television is sneaking into the neighborhood (an antenna sprouts from Snoopys doghouse in one panel), but the Peanuts kids mostly play pickup baseball, try to count the stars and shoot marbles. The character Violet is a master mud-pie baker. At one point, she creates ready-mix mud pies in boxes. Later she uses a spatula and a watering can to bake Sanitary mud-pies ... untouched by human hands.

The Peanuts characters also bully each other -- and survive. Lucy delights in shouting so loudly at Linus that he topples over. Violet and Patty devise ways to disinvite Charlie Brown to their parties. Schroeder boots out Snoopy when the dog snores over his music.

They sometimes proclaim they are depressed, but unlike contemporary children, arent prescribed drugs. Perhaps all that running around shooting helped.

Or maybe they kept their neuroses at bay because they were allowed to be kids, and to solve their own problems. Charlie Brown declares hes going to take all his toys and go home after a tiff with Violet and Patty. But after a half hour of carting stuff out, he realizes hes not mad anymore.

In another memorable strip, Lucy runs around destroying everything in her path. Im frustrated and inhibited, and nobody understands me, she declares in the final panel.

Those words, along with a wailing Lucy, were depicted on a green felt pennant that hung in my adolescent bedroom. I certainly resembled the perfectionist, angst-ridden brunette, described by her mother as a shoo-in for the title of Miss Fuss-Budget 1952.

That was a long time ago. The Peanuts generation outgrew its cowboy suits and laid down its toy guns to protest the Vietnam War. We didnt want our children to play with pretend weapons, but times have changed yet again. Now we seem to believe the violence depicted on electronic screens is preferable to the dangers of the world outside.

The Complete Peanuts has made me nostalgic for a lost way of life, imperfect as it was. I yearn for the solid and true. So I was pleasantly surprised to also find wry comfort from my old friend Lucy in its pages.

When Charlie Brown tells her that a space-gun doesnt go bang, but Brzaaap, she concludes, as I must do I was born in the wrong century.


Good grief! Her card made Charlie smile

January 4, 2005

By Seth McLaughlin
The Providence (Rhode Island) Journal

JOHNSTON -- As Ruth Healys eyes panned over the four panels of a 1956 Peanuts comic strip she remembers that her heart started to ache.

The little boy with the round head, yellow T-shirt and bent mouth looked devastated.

All Charlie Browns friends got Christmas cards, and he didnt have one, Healy, 79, said. He was sitting there on the curb with that crooked mouth, and he said maybe it got stuck in the mail.

It was coming up on Christmas Day in 1956, and Healy, then a Providence resident, was 31 years old.

She didnt like seeing the all-too-human Charlie Brown so depressed, so vulnerable.

Because people pick on him, I want to put my arms around him and hug him, Healy said.

So, she snagged a pen, found an envelope, and soon after she was licking a stamp.

I sent a Christmas card to Charlie Brown, Healy said. I dont even remember what I put in it.

First the card waded its way through the postal waters toward The Providence Journal Evening Bulletin on Fountain Street.

But the card was returned to her with information on where the people responsible for Charlie Browns grief, alienation and inferiority could be reached -- West Minnehaha Parkway in Minneapolis, Minn.

So once again, the now retired FM Global secretary sent off the Christmas card.

Today, she still has the March 12, 1957, response from Charlie Browns creator. She keeps it tucked between pages 772 and 773 of her Bible. That way I know where it is, she said.

Dear Ruth, it reads, Thank you very much for the Christmas card which you sent to poor Charlie Brown. He really appreciated it. I think it will probably be something which he will save for some time. Sincerely, Charles M. Schulz.

Healy said she still appreciates that Schulz, who died at age 77 in 2000, took the time to respond.

I knew he was a nice person to begin with, she said. I almost fell over when I got the letter and felt so much better.

Shortly after she received Schulzs note, Healys eyes once again were panning over the four panels of a Peanuts comic strip.

This strip, which ran on page 39 of the April 2, 1957, Providence Journal Evening Bulletin, helped make up for all Charlie Browns jagged luck and still warms Healys heart.

Here, Charlie Brown, see what you think of this, Lucy says to him as she hands him a piece of mail.

SAAAAAY! he says with a smile as he opens the card.

Do you like it? Lucy asks.

Sure, I like it, Charlie Brown answers.

Good, Lucy says. Now. Lets not have no more talk about not getting any Christmas cards!


Snoopy card is the ultimate in recycling

December 24, 2004

The Associated Press

HASTINGS, Nebraska -- When Earl Marian sends birthday wishes to his brother, he can count on getting the same exact birthday wishes from Floyd Marian the next month.

Its a card-swapping tradition that started in 1975, when Floyd first received the birthday card from his brother.

In it, Linus of the Peanuts comic strip tells the reader, This is the age of ecology! Dont throw this card away. Recycle it to a friend.

Floyd took the advice and sent it back to Earl. Earl followed suit the following year. And so on and so on.

For 29 years the brothers have kept their same-card exchange going, freshening the card up with one-line messages that now have taken up most of the cards open space.

Floyd, 80, receives the card each year around his Dec. 10 birthday, then kicks it back to Earl, 73, in time to acknowledge his birthday on Jan. 31.

Its getting worn out a little bit, Floyd said.


Working for Peanuts

Snoopys gang gets new life in Malone

December 23, 2004

By Denise A. Raymo
The Plattsburgh (New York) Press-Republican

MALONE -- At first, the idea was to make Snoopys doghouse out of scrap wood on one side and, when it was turned around the other way on Christmas Eve, it would show a nativity scene.

But, Craig Franz admits things got out of hand.

Now, six years later, most of the front yard at 37 Morton St. has been taken over by the Peanuts gang and images from the classic 1965 television special A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Curious drivers stop in front of the home he shares with his wife, Julie, and daughters, Abbey and Olivia, to admire his handwork.

The blue doghouse is decked out with Snoopys first-place decorating-contest award, right next to the droopy tree Charlie Brown picked out but killed with a heavy ornament.

Theres Pigpen building his dust-covered snowman and Sally preparing her list for Santa, hoping for cash in tens and twenties.

Lucy is in at her psychiatrists booth, and a short ways away, Schroeder watches Linus take aim to knock a tin can off the wall with his trusty blanket.

All of the decorations are animated and lit at night, and the musical soundtrack from the TV show plays continually.

And new this year -- which is to be set out Christmas Eve -- is the auditorium stage on which Linus stands in the spotlight to tell Charlie Brown the true meaning of Christmas.

A recording of his speech quoting a Bible passage from Luke will play, and Linus will be illuminated as soon as he says, Lights, please.

Ill have that all set up on the porch, said Franz, who gets painting help on all the characters from Abbey, who is 5.

From a video of the TV show, he takes still photographs of the scenes he wants to re-create.

Its too cold to work outside, so I bring all the wood and my power tools downstairs and do them right in basement of the house, Franz said.

The mechanism to animate the cutouts costs $60 each, and he laughed and said felt a little queasy realizing that he has spent between $600 and $1,000 on the Peanuts decorations.

I dont use any blueprints or anything like that. I just cut them out and paint them with my daughter, he said.

I used to make the snowman from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer -- you know, Burl Ives -- but there wasnt enough room, Franz said.

Too little room is also what keeps him from trying to re-create the skating-rink scene from the opening credits of the Charlie Brown special.

I should be institutionalized, he said, laughing. We go way overboard.

We go overboard for Halloween, too. We used to help my wifes parents decorate, then we started decorating for Halloween at our house. But I dont much like Halloween.

Snoopys doghouse was the first thing he built for the lawn, but then a little kid came by and said, Wheres Snoopy? so every couple of years, I add more things.

But, Im running out of room, so I might leave it as it is for a couple of years.


Longest running cartoon special is still special

December 23, 2004

By Jack Williams
The Anderson (Indiana) Herald Bulletin

My favorite Christmas cartoon drama, A Linus Van Pelt Christmas, made another prime time TV appearance last week. Oh, you may know it as A Charlie Brown Christmas. But for me, the star of the show was always Linus, the blanket-dragging, thumb-sucking little brother of that obnoxious little Lucy Van Pelt.

I had completely spaced their last names, too, until I stopped off at snoopy.com last week.

Thats where I learned also that cartoonist Charles Schulz debuted the Peanuts comic strip in seven newspapers in 1950, and that it was another two years before he introduced Linus as Lucys baby brother. In a 1954 strip, Linus appeared for the first time with the blanket that would define him for the rest of his days as a cartoon character.

After Peanuts popularity landed them on the cover of Time magazine in 1965, Schulz and an animation artist had the idea for a TV special, according to Holly Hartman, an online media writer. But in the pilot episode, the suits in the networks executive suite were pretty antsy about the soundtracks contemporary jazz, the use of literal childrens voices and Linus reciting the Christmas story in biblical language.

All the same, A Charlie Brown Christmas aired on Dec. 9, 1965, and half of Americans who owned TVs -- 15 million viewers -- tuned in. Only Bonanza attracted more viewers. A Charlie Brown Christmas went on to win Emmys and Peabodys and probably even a nod from a suit or two. When the show returned to ABC last week, it did so as the longest running cartoon special in TV history.

Of course, I was watching for the little brother I never had. Im not sure why Ive been drawn to Linus through the years. In one strip, Linus tells Charlie Brown, I cant live without that blanket. I cant face life unarmed.

Like Linus, I, too, carried a blanket and sucked my right thumb through much of adolescence. Perhaps Linus and I have lived parallel lives. When my blanket became a 2-by-2-inch remnant, I stuffed it into my pocket. I used it as a good luck charm in college math. Didnt work.

Maybe I identify with Linus because I, too, have an obsessive-compulsive-avoidance personality. Linus once summed up our temperaments when he told Lucy, I think the best way to solve problems is to avoid them. No problem is so big that it cant be run away from.

In another strip, Lucy advises Linus and me, You cant really drift along forever. For instance, you have to decide whether youre going to be a liberal or conservative. You have to take some sort of stand. You have to associate yourself with some sort of cause. To which Linus replied, Are there any openings in the lunatic fringe?

Who can forget the innocence and certainty of Linus recitation of Luke 2, straight from the King James tongue?

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, the glory of the Lord shone round about them; and they were sore afraid.

Which is probably how the suits in the suites were feeling about now ...

And the angel said unto them, Fear not for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

I like to think of this as the most enduring soliloquy in cartoon history. I like to think that Linus was, in Lucys words, taking some sort of stand. And I like to think that if Linus and I really are living parallel lives, I can do likewise.

Oh, Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown, and you, too, daily readers.


Wheres the Red Baron?

Good Grief -- Holiday decoration slows traffic on Church Street

December 21, 2004

By Ari Cetron
The Vienna/Oakton (Virginia) Connection

Vienna resident Billy Lancaster lives in the doghouse. So many people used to kid him about it being like a doghouse, so he decided hed decorate it like one, said Frank Lancaster, Billys father.

Billy Lancaster, however, didnt have just any doghouse in mind. I just had this idea of putting a giant Snoopy up there, he said. Lancaster decorated his house at 230 Church St., with the iconic comic strip beagle and his friend Woodstock.

He cut out the likeness of the dog and bird from paneling that was on its way to the dump. Then he painted them and mounted Snoopy on his roof. Woodstock is supported above the roof, flying down to visit Snoopy.

Billy Lancaster, 40, was born in the house next door, where his father still lives. He can still remember when trains used to rumble along what is now the Washington & Old Dominion trail.

Im probably one of the last few old Vienna guys around, Billy Lancaster said.

The little house, he said, has been something of a Vienna landmark, and when it is on the rental market, he often gets visitors who just want to see the inside.

The house, said Frank Lancaster, was built for the previous owners mother-in-law.

Lancaster has gotten many comments from passers-by who have stopped to get a closer look at the unusual Christmas decoration. If nothing else, I thought it was a good way to slow down traffic on Church Street, he said.


Good grief! Keep Peanuts in Rice Park

December 17, 2004

Editorial
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune

Theres no lovelier place in the Twin Cities than Rice Park, thanks in part to the Ross Groups extraordinary efforts at planting flowers there and throughout downtown St. Paul. But the groups push to remove the bronze Peanuts statues from the historic park is misguided.

The volunteer organization considers the cartoonish likenesses of Peppermint Patty and her bookish friend Marcie out of character with the dignified setting. Indeed, the colorized versions of the Charles Schulz figures that once filled the citys streetscapes grew quickly tiresome. But these few bronzed figures in Rice Park add just the right touch of whimsy. They represent as important a link to St. Pauls past as does the loftier nearby figure of F. Scott Fitzgerald.

How? Try these childhood remembrances from one of the nations most admired contemporary writers, Jonathan Franzen, who grew up the youngest, loneliest member of his family

Like most of the nations 10-year-olds, I had an intense, private relationship with Snoopy, the cartoon beagle. He was a solitary not-animal animal who lived among larger creatures of a different species, which was more or less my feeling in my own house. My brothers, who are nine and 12 years older than I, were less like siblings than like an extra, fun pair of quasi-parents. Although I had friends and was a Cub Scout in good standing, I spent a lot of time alone with talking animals. [Snoopy] was the perfect sunny egoist, starring in his ridiculous fantasies and basking in everyones attention. In a cartoon strip full of children, the dog was the character I recognized as a child.

Its all part of a longer piece Franzen wrote in the Nov. 29 New Yorker about Peanuts, his childhood comfort zone, and his beginnings as a writer.

We bring this up not to elevate a comic strip to literary levels but to show its considerable influence on kids growing up in the last half of the last century. Memorializing native son Charles Schulz through a few of his bronzed characters in our loveliest park is a fine gesture. Patty and Marcie should stay.


Aha! Early Peanuts shaped a generations sense of humor

December 12, 2004

The Arizona Republic

Peanuts, Dec. 18, 1951

Patty, curious as she listens to the radio Gee, isnt this violinist good, Charlie Brown?

Charlie Brown, dismissive Oh, I dont know. If I could play that well, Id be that good, too.

The Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal newsroom, July 1986

My editor, intrigued as she hands out an assignment We need you to write a story about the weather. Theyre calling for record heat today.

Me, disgruntled This is ridiculous. The only reason its a record is because its never been this hot before.

Everything I know I learned from Charlie Brown.

And Charles Addams.

The above exchange between my editor and me is one of those things that made sense in my head yet sounded ridiculous the moment it came out of my mouth. Im sure Charlie Brown felt the same way. As stupid as I feel about having said such a thing, Im kind of proud to share the same thought process with the round-headed kid.

Or with Charles Schulz, more like.

As someone who loves humor and has attempted, with wildly varying results, to write it from time to time (and probably will again), I can say two things with confidence One, its exceedingly difficult. Two, for the rest of your life you find funniest the things that shaped your sense of humor in the first place.

I learned to read with my grandmothers collection of Addams New Yorker cartoons and a bunch of old Peanuts compilations lying around the house. The first real joke I remember understanding was an Addams cartoon of a couple of cannibals sitting around the cauldron, one eating, the other looking queasy.

Oh, I like missionary, the sickish one says, but missionary doesnt like me.

As much as I loved the Addams books, the Peanuts books had more real-life applications, particularly real lives that involve humiliation, disappointment and failure. Write what you know, as they say.

That dark sensibility may come as a surprise to those who remember the Charlie Brown gang from its later, sunnier days, which included such inferior characters as Woodstock and Spike.

Things werent always that way, as youll learn from The Complete Peanuts, a series of 25 books published by Fantagraphics and scheduled to be released over 12-1/2 years. The first collection, released earlier this year, covers 1950-52. The second collection, covering 1953-54, was released in October (holiday shoppers take note). Next up 1955-56, due in April.

As for Addams, hes well-represented in The Complete Cartoons of The New Yorker, released in October. Its a collection of 2,004 of the best of the magazines cartoons, and it includes a double CD set with get this every cartoon ever published in the magazine. Thats 68,647 cartoons, searchable by date, cartoonist, whatever. Plug in Addams, Charles and go.

If youre a fan of A Charlie Brown Christmas but remember it only vaguely, watching it again will surprise you. The other kids tear into Charlie Brown unmercifully, belittling his tree selection as stupid, for instance. Hey, wait, this is good ol Charlie Brown?

You better believe it. Heres the dialogue from the first-ever strip, from 1950, delivered by a nondescript boy sitting with a girl as they see Charlie Brown approaching

Well! Here comes ol Charlie Brown. Good ol Charlie Brown ... Yes, sir! Good ol Charlie Brown...

Then, after Charlie Brown passes How I hate him.

Happiness wasnt always a warm blanket, it seems.

In a later strip, from 1951, Patty answers the door.

Oh, its you, Charlie Brown, she says. I thought it was somebody important.

Any variation on that line, on that set-up, on that bit, kills me still. It always will.

First impressions are hard to shake. Then again, over the course of 50 years, Peanuts managed to, turning into a softer, gentler strip pleasant, if not as funny. But those first years were darkly brilliant. And to me and anyone who grew up with them, theyre also the seeds of almost everything we find funny.


Civic group says nuts to Peanuts

Feels two bronzes mar Rice Parks character

December 7, 2004

By Karl J. Karlson
The St. Paul Pioneer Press

A group concerned about the appearance of downtown St. Paul is asking the City Council to find a new home for bronze statues of Peanuts characters Peppermint Patty and Marcie that were installed in Rice Park in September.

The Ross Group, an 11-member womens organization that has been involved for about a dozen years in downtown beautification efforts, claims the statues were installed with little or no public input and are not in keeping with the historic nature and character of the park.

In particular, they say, the Charles Schulz cartoon characters clash with the parks statue of St. Paul-born author F. Scott Fitzgerald.

The group, headed by St. Paul garden designer Sally Ross, includes several longtime community activists, including former City Council and Ramsey County Board member Ruby Hunt, author Billie Young, Perrin Lilly, and Stacy Becker, a former city budget and public works director.

Since 1995, with initial help from the St. Paul Foundation, the Ross Group members have helped provide flowers for downtowns streetscape.

In a letter sent to the council and city officials late last week, they complain that the Schulz statues could jeopardize the parks possible designation as a historic site.

But moving the statues from their location on the Market Street side of the park is not likely to happen, said Council Member Dave Thune, whose 2nd Ward includes the downtown area.

Charles Schulz was a great American hero and deserves to be commemorized. Put me in opposition to (the groups position) as strongly as you can, he said, adding that Schulz offers a better image for the public to follow than Fitzgerald, whose Bohemian lifestyle was notorious.

The bronzes are part of St. Pauls permanent tribute to Schulz, who used his St. Paul childhood for much of the humor and insights for the Peanuts comic strip he drew for 50 years. Three other bronze groupings of Peanuts characters Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Schroeder, Linus and Sally are in the new Landmark Plaza, across Fifth Street from Rice Park.

City Parks and Recreation Director Bob Bierschied said there were discussions about the appropriateness of putting the statues in Rice Park. The Ross Group was aware of this discussion or should have been and they just didnt like the outcome, he said. The park is for everyone.

Ross said Monday that members were not informed in advance about the statues.

She believes it is not too late for them to be moved to Como Park or Harriet Island, near facilities used more by children.

Rice Park is very lovely and old, Ross said. Its surrounded by the library, the Ordway, Landmark Center. The cartoons are out of place.

But John Labosky, president of the Capital City Partnership, which oversaw St. Pauls five summer-long tributes to Schulz involving yearly Peanuts statues, said the permanent bronze works are a wonderful addition to the collection of city art.

One of our missions is to bring families to downtown St. Paul. These statues do that, Labosky said. You see so much joy on kids faces when they see these statues.

Funds raised from the yearly auctions of many of the statues paid for the bronzes.

Thune did note that the city is working on a new policy to govern placing and maintaining public art but says that the policy will not appoint an art king to say what is good and what is bad.


Review The Complete Peanuts

December 6, 2004

By Jason Sacks
www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com

The Complete Peanuts Vol. 2 1953-1954
By Charles M. Schulz
Publisher Fantagraphics

Its weird going back to something you loved when you were younger. Old movies are often not as funny as you remember them, and old music often sounds silly when you hear it again years later.

I probably last read Peanuts in early high school. That was a long time ago, longer than Id like to contemplate (Im closer to 50 than I am to 18) and a hell of a lot has changed since then. Im older and hopefully wiser, and many of the comics I enjoyed in high school seem almost unreadable now.

Peanuts, however, is much better than I remember it being. This is brilliant, brilliant stuff. Even in 1953 and 1954, before Snoopy walked on two legs and before Linus could even walk, this was an astonishing comic. With a minimum number of lines in his art, and just the right amount of words, Schulz presents a full world, a complete world of cruelty and friendship, genius and silliness, profoundness and wackiness. And its still funny and fresh. Sure, the kids are outside playing baseball or cowboys and indians instead of inside playing video games, but its the characters that matter. And they dont get more archetypal than Charlie Brown, Schroeder and Lucy.

What makes Peanuts really special is exactly what I remember being the best thing about the strip everything is so damn fun. Charlie Brown is a loser, but hes probably one of the most lovable losers in comics history. He might lose every baseball game (and game of Checkers too), get his kite stuck in trees, and be generally despised by his peers, but we still love him. Lucy might be a blowhard know-it-all, but shes also one really fun character.

Stripped away from everything surrounding Peanuts the television specials, commercials, stuffed animals and other merchandising around the strip Charles Schulzs creation was extraordinary. Even in its third and fourth years, this comic was amazing. And it just gets better from here. I took a long time to return to Peanuts, but its been waiting for me all this time.


Guaraldi score keeps Charlie a classic

December 6, 2004

By Cary Darling
The Dallas-Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Everyone has a favorite little A Charlie Brown Christmas moment. It might be Linus stop-and-smell-the-manger speech to Charlie Brown about the true meaning of Christmas. It could be Snoopy transforming his humble hutch into the Trump Tower of doghouses.

Mine has always been when the 24-hour Peanuts-party-people, oblivious to Charlie Browns wishes to rehearse for the holiday play, just keep dancing to Schroeders jazzy piano grooves. That scene, which has been parodied by the likes of Barenaked Ladies in concert, underscores the importance of music in the Charlie Brown universe, a world with 5-cent psychiatric advice and no adults -- but an urban sophisticates taste in rhythm.

For that, we have the late Vince Guaraldi to thank. The jazz pianist, composer and real-life Schroeder scored all of the early Charlie Brown specials and was nearly as crucial as Peanuts creator Charles Schulz in breathing TV life into the comics-page characters.

Guaraldis music for the 1965 A Charlie Brown Christmas special remains one of his most popular recordings -- record stores haul out extra copies and display them prominently this time of year. Its easy to see why From the winter whimsy of Skating to the hearth-and-heart joy of Christmas Time Is Here (covered by such performers as Vanessa Williams, Patti Austin and Ellis Marsalis), A Charlie Brown Christmas is a modern-day holiday classic.

But Guaraldis work, and legacy, go beyond Peanuts. Its a shame that all of his other music is somewhat overshadowed by Charlie and company.

Guaraldi, from San Francisco, first came to fame in the 50s as part of the West Coast Jazz scene. Generally less dissonant and fiery than its East Coast counterpart of the same era, West Coast Jazz -- personified by the likes of Dave Brubeck and Chet Baker -- sashayed to a softer, more melodic beat.

Guaraldi played for a time with famed Bay Area vibraphonist Cal Tjader before putting together his own trio. He recorded such albums as The Vince Guaraldi Trio and A Flower is a Lonesome Thing, but it was in the early 60s that he really burst into the national spotlight.

Influenced by the bossa nova sounds wafting up from Brazil and the groundbreaking 1959 French-Brazilian film Black Orpheus, Guaraldi recorded Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus, featuring his takes on such noteworthy Brazilian tracks as Samba de Orfeu and Felicidade. But the 1963 Top 25 hit from the album was his own Cast Your Fate to the Wind. Its distinctively light-fingered style and laid-back, dappled piano cool foreshadowed the appeal of his Charlie Brown compositions.

Guaraldis fascination with Latin music continued, and he collaborated with Afro-Brazilian guitarist Bola Sete. Their From All Sides album, a sublime blend of subdued equatorial panache and jazzy grace, could have been considered crossover world music before such a category was even a gleam in a marketers eye. Similarly, an early 60s album like The Latin Side of Vince Guaraldi should have been as much of an influence on the 90s lounge-music revival as anything by Tony Bennett or the king of space-age pop, Juan Esquivel.

Fortunately, these Guaraldi discs are still in print and, along with other collections such as Vince Guaraldis Greatest Hits, they offer a wider window on the pianists world than Charlie Brown can provide.

Guaraldi died Feb. 6, 1976, after having a heart attack between sets at a California nightclub. He was all of 47 years old.

But his spirit survives, at least during the holidays. Switch on A Charlie Brown Christmas on Tuesday night and listen closely to the music this time. Bet it wont be just the Peanuts gang doing the dancing.


Worlds of Fun park offers overnight stay

December 3, 2004

By Rick Alm
The Kansas City (Missouri) Star

Worlds of Fun will add lodging, an RV park and a new childrens activity area for the 2005 season that opens April 16.

Worlds of Fun Village will offer the theme parks first overnight guest accommodations 20 cottages, 22 cabins, 80 deluxe RV sites, a clubhouse with swimming pool and other amenities all within walking distance of Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun.

The $7 million capital improvements plan also will add a childrens playhouse and activity area in the parks Camp Snoopy area.

Marketing director Chris Ozimek said the enclosed multilevel structure would include foam ball games, slides, rotating crawl spaces and other attractions for youngsters and their parents.

Designed by KoalaPlay Group, the new and as yet unnamed attraction is the largest expansion to Camp Snoopy since it opened in 2001.

Cabin and cottage sites will include private grill and picnic areas, efficiency kitchens and television. Larger cabins include a patio deck.

Pricing information is not yet available.

The continued investment in new attractions and the upgrading of existing facilities is a significant element of our long-term growth strategy, said Dick Kinzel, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Ohio-based Cedar Fair LP, which owns the Kansas City parks and others around the country.

The publicly traded partnership previously announced that 2005 planned capital spending would total $80 million for its 12 properties.

Cedar Point, the companys flagship park on Lake Erie between Cleveland and Toledo, is adding a new high-capacity thrill ride, called maXair, which accommodates 50 passengers who are swung in a pendulum motion up to a height of 140 feet, at speeds of up to 70 mph, while also being spun in a clockwise rotation.

Kinzel said that maXair will be a perfect complement to Cedar Points existing collection of world-class thrill rides, and it will be the parks 68th ride, more than any other park in the world.

Other new Cedar Fair attractions include new world-class roller coasters at Knotts Berry Farm near Los Angeles, and Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom, near Allentown, Pa., and a new water park at Geauga Lake, near Cleveland.

These improvements underline our dedication to offering the best in thrill rides and family entertainment, Kinzel said. Including the $80 million in expenditures for the 2005 season, Cedar Fair will have invested more than $385 million at its parks since 2000.

Cedar Fairs other amusement parks include Valleyfair near Minneapolis and Michigans Adventure near Muskegon.

Cedar Fairs other water parks are near San Diego and Los Angeles and in Palm Springs, Calif.

Cedar Fair also operates Camp Snoopy at the Mall of America.

For more information, go to www.cedarfair.com.


Comic aimed at adults entirely reprinted

Most of the strips focus on pastimes, sports and games

November 14, 2004

By Jeff Dyer
The Dubuque, Iowa Telegraph Herald

Quick name a nationally syndicated comic strip by Charles Schulz. If you answered Peanuts, youre only partially right.

It seems that in addition to creating Charlie Brown and Snoopy, Schulz also produced a short-lived sports strip titled Its Only a Game.

Now, that comic is reprinted in it entirety in a $15 paperback from About Comics. The 240-page volume reprints the entire run of Its Only a Game, which was published from 1957 to 1959.

This comic couldnt have been more different than Peanuts. For starters, Its Only a Game focused more on adults than children. Its interesting to look at cartoon adults drawn by Schulz. After all, Peanuts showcased a world seen through the eyes of children.

Another difference the format. While Peanuts ran for decades as a three or four panel comic, Its Only a Game was almost always a single panel strip.

Schulz launched his second syndicated comic strip after a half-dozen years working on Peanuts. Its Only a Game appeared in only about 30 newspapers during its run, and this collection of rare comics is the first time the strip has ever been reprinted.

As you might guess, juggling two comic strips was hard work. Schulz eventually handed over the art duties to Jim Sasseville, who also provides commentary in the Game collected edition. Interestingly enough, Sasseville was a longtime friend of Schulz.

He also provided art in many Peanuts comic books, so he apparently was quite familiar with Schulzs style.

Most of the strips center on sports, games and pastimes. Before abandoning the strip, Schulz managed to work in a number of jokes about golf, tennis, football, hockey, baseball and much more. Many of the comics also deal with how we win, how we lose and how we play the game.

Its a good time to be a Charles Schulz fan. The ongoing Complete Peanuts collections are topping best-seller lists. The second volume of a projected 25-edition set has just been published by Fantagraphics Books.

Each book reprints two years of Peanuts cartoons in chronological order. Last year, Schulzs Peanuts predecessor Lil Folks was collected for the first time. Now a long-forgotten piece of the Schulz legacy will be available once again.

While not as enduring and memorable as Peanuts, the comics collected in Its Only a Game provide a fascinating look at the development of Americas most beloved cartoonist.


"New" music from Dr. Funk

November 18, 2004

By David Rickert
AllAboutJazz.com

Oaxaca
Vince Guaraldi | D & D

"Dr. Funk" may seems like an odd nickname for Vince Guaraldi, most known for composing the music for the Peanuts specials, yet this is how he was known by his peers. While there are certainly others more deserving of the moniker, this new reissue will shed some light as to how he got it. For in the latter part of his career Guaraldi spent time fronting a jazz-rock band in addition to his recurring gig writing music for cartoons. Largely giving up the piano for the Hammond B-3 and the Fender Rhodes, he gathered together a group more interested in sustaining a funky groove than developing any novel improvisation; Oaxaca could be called In A Silent Way, Charlie Brown. These recordings are previously unreleased and were recorded in 1971.

Powered by a rhythm section well versed in providing a driving rock beat, Guaraldi and multi-instrumentalist Vince Denham tear through a selection of rock tunes. Armed with an arsenal of electronic devices, they turn "You Can’t Always Get What You Want" into a ferocious squall, yet display a gentler touch on "Something." It’s a testament to Guaraldi’s abilities as a musician that all this works as well as it does, and his treatments of these relatively new songs show a skill at interpretation that was never quite apparent in his early days as a pianist dealing with standards. It should come as no surprise that Guaraldi is still capable of crafting amazingly catchy melodies, and the title track is one of his finest.

Although many will prefer the whimsical musicality of Guaraldi’s Peanuts work, Oaxaca makes the claim that Guaraldi could work successfully in a variety of settings. David Guaraldi is dedicated to getting his father’s unreleased work into circulation, starting with last years’ release of The Charlie Brown Suite. Oaxaca is an interesting second choice, but no doubt Guaraldi’s fans, who are probably the main target for this reissue, will have this to tide them over until Alma-Ville gets reiussed. Available at www.vinceguaraldi.com.


The Beat poet of the playground

Anthology displays Schulz’s subversive sensibility

November 7, 2004 By Ty Burr The Boston Globe

The Complete Peanuts The Definitive Collection of Charles M. Schulz’s Comic Strip Masterpiece, 1953 to 1954
Fantagraphics, 360 pp., $28.95

When a great popular artist passes away, there’s usually an immediate taking stock, a sense of final assessment now that the parenthesis is closed. Whether the field is music or literature or painting or film, the boxed sets and special editions hit the shelves quickly. Lists of key works, critical essays — all part of repackaging the once vital for historical consumption.

For a number of reasons, this didn’t happen when Charles M. Schulz died. First, his chosen medium — the comic strip — has never received serious cultural respect and probably never will, no matter that "Peanuts" was perhaps the most pervasive pop artifact of the second half of the 20th century. (What’s the competition? Elvis and the Beatles, probably, but nothing else.)

Second, the sheer bulk of Schulz’s output makes the notion of somehow containing it hurtful to the brain. "Peanuts" ran every day from Oct. 2, 1950, to Feb. 13, 2000, for a total of 18,170 strips. No wonder Schulz died just hours before his final set of panels ran; after five decades of angst and whimsy tugging at each other, Schulz was "Peanuts," "Peanuts" was Schulz, and one could not exist without the other.

That leads to the third reason no one has really taken stock until now Schulz’s triumph was daily and thus invisible. Yes, everyone loved Linus and commiserated with Charlie Brown and cringed when Lucy held the football and bought every piece of merchandise Snoopy appeared on — and it was that very ubiquity that kept us from noticing the achievement. Week in, week out, "Peanuts" was part of the air we breathe, and how do you stand apart from air?

All this is by way of preface to the second installment in Fantagraphics Books’ The Complete ‘Peanuts’ The Definitive Collection of Charles M. Schulz’s Comic Strip Masterpiece, covering 1953 to 1954. The scope of this project is heroic With two fat volumes a year, each volume compiling two years of daily and Sunday strips (the latter in black and white, unfortunately), it will be 2029 before we see the final installment. The packaging and jacket art are impressively chic, designed to render Schulz newly attractive to 21st-century hipoisie; introductions so far have been penned by Garrison Keillor and Walter Cronkite; you can buy the first two volumes, covering the years 1950 through 1954, in a nice, covetable boxed set.

But the most startling aspect of The Complete ‘Peanuts’ is that it takes you back to the beginning — long before Schulz jumped the shark with Woodstock and Snoopy’s dad and increasingly woolly plot lines — and reminds you how radically bleak this strip once was. Hilarious too, of course, but the humor bled from insecurity and gnawing doubt, and if it was nice to have an emotional mirror of our times, who expected to find that on the funny pages?

The very first "Peanuts" is famous for the way it instantly subverted the cliché of 1950s kiddie innocence, with Shermy saying, "Here comes ol’ Charlie Brown ... Good ol’ Charlie Brown ... How I hate him!" But it’s the strip from Nov. 14, 1950 — a month and a half into the 50-year run — that most coolly captures the pre-K existentialism Schulz was after. Shermy and Charlie Brown sit on a curb, staring blankly at the street. For three panels, they say nothing, don’t even move. In the fourth panel, Shermy simply deadpans, "Yup! ... Well ... That’s the way it goes!" Imagine reading that over your Post Toasties in 1950 and having it fester throughout your day. It’s why Garry Trudeau called "Peanuts" "the first Beat strip."

If you’re under the age of 30, you probably don’t remember Shermy, or Patty, or Violet — all three, with Charlie Brown and the resolutely doglike Snoopy, the main characters of the strip’s first years. As he gained in skill, Schulz phased them out in favor of more idiosyncratic souls, each new character starting small and silent but within weeks developing tics that would serve them for decades.

First there’s a baby named Schroeder; four months after he arrives, Charlie Brown sits him down at a toy piano, the kid plays Beethoven, and off we go. A little later, there’s an oddly wide-eyed toddler who likes to cause trouble for her father, and shortly thereafter she’s recognizably Lucy. Snoopy first "speaks" on May 27, 1952; not surprisingly, his opening line is "Why do I have to suffer such indignities?" Linus appears as Lucy’s much-abused baby brother, already exuding gentle thoughtfulness.

Thus the main cast is in place by Volume 1; the only new character in Volume 2 is Pigpen, who never really rose above the status of utility outfielder. The second book, covering the years 1953 to 1954, is the more illuminating read, though. Because the strip had become an established success, Schulz was free to experiment with tone and narrative, to try out different graphic approaches, and to hone his timing. It is in these pages that "Peanuts" becomes "Peanuts."

Not everything worked. A frizzy-haired, loudmouthed girl named Charlotte Braun came and thankfully went in late 1954. When Schulz attempted a story arc unfolding over several Sundays — about Charlie Brown entering Lucy in a golf tournament — it went nowhere and ended limply. The man’s forte was the contained daily joke, with its call-and-response set-up and payoff.

He tinkered with surrealism The never-seen but apparently vast interior of Snoopy’s doghouse is first referred to in January of 1954, and there are a number of strips about Linus blowing square balloons. During this time, Schulz fooled around with sight gags, language gags, character gags, running gags, variations on a gag, and he started to create Sunday pages that are small miracles of gutbusting farce.

The best strips have an awareness of late-20th-century neuroses that was unprecedented at the time, which is a fancy way of saying Schulz was able to put his insecurities into the mouths of babes. Sometimes with impatience One of the most inexplicably funny daily strips features Lucy listening to a recording of a song that starts "Mary wore her red dress red dress red dress, Mary wore her red dress all day long," and drily commenting, "That poor girl was out of her mind."

More often, the pain is personal and internalized by good ol’ Charlie Brown, who came to suffer for everyone else in "Peanuts." His discombobulation when Lucy insists that an entirely new sun rises each day is played for comedy. The pit he gets in his stomach when Patty wins all his marbles is less funny. And there’s no escaping the hopelessness of a strip like the one where he tells Schroeder, "When people first meet me they dislike me ... then after they get to know me, they hate me!"

From first to last, the through line was dignity — mostly lost, occasionally gained, in some characters (like Snoopy) genetically encoded, for Charlie Brown forever out of reach. Dignity was important to Schulz, and he seems to have always felt on the outs with it. Even the name of the strip — imposed at the start by a comics syndication editor — was a disappointment that never ceased to rankle. It’s that gap between the desire for simple dignity and the world’s refusal to accord it that fueled "Peanuts" for 50 years.

Not that the shy Minnesotan would articulate it as such; the long, insightful 1987 interview that closes Volume 1 makes clear that Schulz just put the stuff out there without getting overly analytical about it. He knew better. "I don’t know anything, frankly," he insisted. "I think it’s all a total mystery."

Yup. Well. That’s the way it goes.


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