Who Let the Dots Out!

News Clippings
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Press Releases



The "surprise" Charlie Brown statue, Tom Everhart's "Who Let the Dots Out," could be seen at the Charles M. Schulz Museum.



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.





Schulz broke with tradition to create a holiday classic

December 6, 2005

By Craig Hergert
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune

Its been 40 years since A Charlie Brown Christmas, which airs at 7 tonight on ABC (Channel 5), first appeared on network television. But back in 1965, working for CBS, Charles Schulz made the special his way, not according to the conventions of the time. And the network was sore afraid.

In the age of The Simpsons, its easy to forget that most prime-time cartoons in the 60s had laugh tracks. Way too many used incidental music of the hokiest sort, and it was standard to have professional adult actors voice animated characters, even when the characters were kids.

So what did this newcomer to television, Charles (Sparky) Schulz, have in mind? He wanted to junk the laugh track, feature children for the voice work, and use jazz for the soundtrack. And there was one more thing The script called for Linus to read from the Bible. In a childrens cartoon. During prime time. Good grief!

The shows storyline has Charlie Brown attempting to shove aside the commercial clutter to find the true meaning of Christmas by directing a Christmas program. When the program turns into a secular dance fest, he cries, Isnt there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?!

Not surprisingly in the no-adults-allowed world of Peanuts, its a little child who leads him. Taking center stage, Linus quotes Luke 28-14, including the verse For unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior, which is Christ the Lord. He then adds, Thats what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.

In A Charlie Brown Christmas The Making of a Tradition, Bill Melendez, who directed the animation in the program and voiced Snoopy, comments on Linus recitation When I first looked at that part of the story, I told Sparky, We cant do this, its too religious. And he said to me, Bill, if we dont do it, who else can?

Its generally accepted that Schulz was the only one with the clout to get the unconventional show on the air.

Everybody loves a classic. But its good to remember that a TV show -- or a play, a film or a book, for that matter -- cant reach that status if it isnt allowed to be made in the first place. Or if its tampered with so thoroughly that it no longer presents the artists vision. In a culture where the credo is Dont offend anyone even if it means boring everyone, classics rarely come to pass.

The Peanuts special, like the birth of the one it honors, is a story of humility. Most of the folks who worked on it didnt think it would see a second season. Executive producer Lee Mendelson recalls that after the staff watched a screening a week before airtime, We thought that perhaps we had somehow missed the boat. It was one of the animators, Ed Levitt, who saw the light, predicting A Charlie Brown Christmas will run for a hundred years.

Tune in 60 years from now to know that he was right.


Youre a Good Magnet for Holiday Ads, Charlie Brown

December 6, 2005

By Meg James
The Los Angeles Times

In a twist that might make its round-headed hero exclaim, Good grief, Charles M. Schulzs A Charlie Brown Christmas -- the animated television special about love conquering materialism that airs tonight on ABC -- now fuels a $1.2-billion-a-year global publishing, merchandising and marketing machine.

Millions of Americans will tune in, as they have every December for 40 years, to watch Charlie Brown and his gang learn that friendship and faith are more important than presents.

And this year, as every year, advertisers clamored to buy time during the cartoon to hype their holiday movies and toys. So many advertisers, in fact, that ABC had to turn some away.

They chase us for this show, said Geri Wang, ABCs senior vice president for prime-time sales. It provides a safe, warm and family-feel-good message.

Those who got into the coveted program paid as much as $200,000 for each 30-second spot, which is more than what advertisers have paid for such hot new hits as ABCs Commander in Chief.

That is just one reason Schulzs estate, the Charles M. Schulz Creative Assn., earned an estimated $35 million in 2004, according to Forbes magazine. Powered by Peanuts-related products that include clothing, cosmetics, dishes, toys and stationery, Schulz has become the second-most-profitable dead celebrity, Forbes found, with only the estate of Elvis Presley collecting more.

It is ironic that something so totally noncommercial has become so commercial, said Doug Stern, chief executive of United Media, the licensing arm and syndicator of the comic strip that still runs in 2,400 newspapers five years after Schulzs death.

Peanuts accounts for more than 90% of United Medias licensing revenue, according to regulatory filings. Last year, United Media took in more than $100 million in revenue.

In a sense, the financial success has been an unintended consequence, said Stern, who believed Schulz was more focused on drawing his comic strip than on the merchandise it generated. The artists soul shines through.

Schulz and his creations have had strong ties to corporate America almost since the beginning.

In 1950, after several failed attempts, Schulz sold his comic strip Lil Folks to United Feature Syndicate, which renamed the comic Peanuts -- a title Schulz never liked.

The strip was a hit, and within a few years marketers came calling. Eastman Kodak Co. featured the characters in a camera handbook in 1955. The first plastic Snoopy doll was produced in 1958.

Schulz then teamed up with Hallmark Cards, allowing the family-owned Kansas City, Mo., company to produce a line of greeting cards. Since they were first offered in 1960, Hallmark has sold more than 1.5 billion Peanuts cards.

But it was Schulzs relationship with Ford Motor Co. that would lead the comic strip characters to make their debut on television and cement their status as cultural icons.

When the car company first asked to use his gang of innocents in its TV commercials, Schulz -- known as Sparky to his family and friends -- initially resisted the idea. He changed his mind, however, when ad agency J. Walter Thompson introduced him to Bill Melendez.

A gregarious animator from Los Angeles who had worked at Walt Disney Co. on such classics as Pinocchio and Bambi, Melendez impressed Schulz by not embellishing his characters, instead taking care to duplicate the flat look and feel of the comic strip. The resulting black-and-white commercial of Linus and Lucy inspecting Fords line of 1962 Falcons preserved the characters sweetness, with Linus knocking his little cartoon fist on the Falcons simulated wood side panels for good luck.

Meanwhile, a young TV producer from San Francisco who had filmed a documentary for NBC about one of baseballs best players, Willie Mays, wanted to do a sequel about the worst player, Charlie Brown.

The producer, Lee Mendelson, spent much of 1963 working on the project, which featured animation by Melendez. But in the end, no network or advertising sponsors wanted to buy it.

That changed in April 1965, when the Peanuts characters were featured on the cover of Time magazine. Suddenly, an ad agency called Mendelson to say that Coca-Cola Co. wanted to sponsor an animated Charlie Brown Christmas special. Could they do that?

I said, Absolutely, Mendelson, now 72, recalled in an interview. Once I said it, I couldnt take it back, so I called Schulz and said I just sold A Charlie Brown Christmas. And he said, Whats that?

Schulz, Mendelson and Melendez scrambled to draw up an outline for the show, complete with a school play with Nativity scenes, a stubby tree and an undercurrent of anti-commercialism.

Mendelson suggested adding a laugh track, a popular device in the 1960s, but Schulz said no. Schulz also decreed that only childrens voices would be featured.

Schulz, a Midwesterner who had taught Sunday school, wanted Linus to quote a passage from the Bible about the birth of Jesus to present the true meaning of Christmas.

His collaborators worried it might feel preachy.

I was dead set against it, Melendez, now 89, recalled during an interview at his Sherman Oaks office. It was too religious, too dangerous.

Melendez has never forgotten Schulzs response Sparky said, Bill, if we dont do it, then who will?

Coca-Cola approved the story outline and agreed to cover production costs of less than $150,000. Schulz wrote the script and Melendez got busy on the drawings. For the soundtrack, producer Mendelson turned to a San Francisco jazz pianist, Vince Guaraldi. Mendelson wrote the lyrics for the shows opening number, Christmas Time Is Here, on an envelope.

When they finished about a week before the shows December premiere, Mendelson and Melendez were disappointed with the shows slow pace.

We thought that we had ruined Charlie Brown, Mendelson recalled.

CBS executives thought the show was awful, Mendelson said. They complained that there wasnt enough action and that the jazz soundtrack was all wrong for a childrens show. Besides, they asked, what kids would talk in such a grown-up manner?

With the premiere broadcast just days away, it was too late to pull the plug. But as others braced for a flop, there remained one true believer in the little Christmas show.

Sparky liked it from the beginning, Mendelson said.

In December 1965, the first viewers tuned in to see snowflakes gently falling on a frozen pond. Charlie Brown and his friend Linus trudge through the snow with ice skates slung over their shoulders. They stop at a brick wall.

I think theres something wrong with me, Charlie Brown confides, his round head cupped in his hand. Christmas is coming, but Im not happy. I just dont feel the way Im supposed to feel.

To cure his depression, he consults with Lucy at her 5-cent psychiatric booth. She ultimately tells him Lets face it. We all know that Christmas is a big commercial racket. Then she lowers her voice Its run by a big Eastern syndicate, you know.

Well, Charlie Brown says defiantly This is one play thats not going to be commercial.

The exchange was an inside joke for Schulz, who some believe intended the Eastern syndicate to refer to United Feature Syndicate, which still owns the copyright to his characters. Just as Charlie Brown vowed to direct a noncommercial play, Schulz was vowing to do the same in his Christmas special.

The show was an immediate success. Nearly half of all homes with TV sets tuned in that night in 1965, and the show would go on to win an Emmy for best animated special.

Over the years, the show would bring in more than $50 million to the producers, United Media, Schulz and, later, his estate, and the two networks that have broadcast it.

Last year, ABC raked in $5.75 million in ad revenue for its two telecasts of A Charlie Brown Christmas, according to TNS Media Intelligence, which tracks ad spending. More than 13.6 million people watched the show, which led its time slot in all key demographic groups.

More than 30 companies bought ad time, collectively forking over five times the nearly $1 million in license fees that ABC paid to run the show.

ABC is anticipating another big audience tonight, and, thus, more happy advertisers. Companies that committed to buying time during the show last summer paid about $170,000 for a 30-second spot. Now, with so much demand, the price tag for latecomers has topped $200,000.

This year, the show attracted some companies that dont typically buy a lot of network prime time. Like Welchs.

Kids grew up watching this show, and now they are parents watching it with their kids, said Jim Callahan, spokesman for the Massachusetts-based grape farmers cooperative. It brings you back to your childhood, when you were drinking grape juice and getting a purple mustache.

Stacey Lynn Koerner, an executive vice president of Initiative, a major ad-buying firm, agreed.

It hearkens back to a much simpler time, she said. Even though we get caught up in the hustle and bustle and all of the buying, we hold up that ideal of what the holidays were back then.

A host of products are now on sale to tie in with the shows 40th anniversary a music CD, a puzzle, a commemorative book and, for $24, a pathetic Christmas tree -- just like the one in the special -- with droopy branches and one red ball ornament.

And Charlie Browns global reach is expanding. Snoopy dolls, cellphones, dishes and pans sell in Japan. In China, 120 Snoopy stores offer T-shirts, pajamas, plush dolls, cosmetics and skin-care products. Plans call for 240 such stores in mainland China within two years. And coming soon to Guangdong province Snoopy Fun Garden, a mini theme park.

What would Schulz think about all this? His widow, Jeannie, said in an interview that over the years, when he received complaints from fans about the commercial exploitation of the characters, he would say, Once you open the door, its somewhat out of your hands.

To Jeannie Schulz, the show endures in large part because of its innocence and honesty.

The things that Sparky felt strongly about are a big part of what made the show a success, she said. Besides, she added, Sparky said there would always be a market for innocence.


A TV tradition turns 40

Youre a classic, Charlie Brown Schulzs holiday delight almost wasnt aired

December 6, 2005

By Susan Swartz
The Santa Rosa Press Democrat

And behold, in slunk a little round-faced kid toting a scraggly Christmas tree. And a dog danced and a little girl said all she wanted from Santa was real estate. Then a bunch of kids sang and a star appeared and, forever more, millions tuned in and hummed along.

The late Charles M. Schulz was pleased with what he created in 1965 when A Charlie Brown Christmas first aired on TV. His collaborators werent so sure.

Executive producer Lee Mendelson and animator Bill Melendez were worried.

We thought we had ruined Charlie Brown. We thought the show was too slow. People were used to Tom and Jerry, fast-action cartoons, Mendelson said. But Sparky (Schulz) liked it. And one of the crew told us Youre nuts to worry. This will run for 50 years.

So far, so good. Tonights airing on ABC marks the 40th anniversary of the animated Peanuts special. It has become as much a holiday classic as Its a Wonderful Life or Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Some say its even bigger.

This show has maybe another good century to go, said Robert Thompson of Syracuse Universitys Center for the Study of Popular Television, who praises its jaw-dropping Zen-like simplicity and E.B. White linguistic economy.

Then, theres the hipness factor.

It was very hip then and it still is, said Thompson, 46, who has watched the show 35 times. Charlie Brown is about a kid who is essentially clinically depressed and has to make it through the holidays. That is a very modern idea. Unfortunately, he was too early for Prozac or Dr. Phil. But he really hits what so many see as part of the modern Christmas, the blessing and curse of an obligation to feel happy.

He said the cure for Charlie Browns malaise, the anti-commercial thesis, was also ahead of its time.

So ahead it of its time it almost didnt get made. In 1963, Mendelson produced a short film about Schulz with some animated scenes by Melendez. None of the TV networks wanted it, but an advertising agent for Coca-Cola saw it and pitched to Mendelson the idea for a Christmas special. He, Schulz and Melendez put it together in six months.

The trio knew they wanted to have ice skating, a school pageant, Vince Guaraldis jazz piano music and lots of snow, which Schulz had grown up with in the Midwest. They also wanted two innovations Using actual childrens voices for the characters and no laugh track.

Schulz, who once taught Bible study in Sebastopol, also insisted on a message about the birth of Jesus via his favorite Biblical passage from Luke, delivered by the Linus character.

When Sparky first suggested that, we said we didnt think anything from the Bible had been animated before, Mendelson recalled. He said, If we dont do it, who will?

When the show aired Dec. 9, 1965, 15 million homes tuned in, second only to Bonanza. Viewers wrote to Coca-Cola praising the show. It scored an Emmy Award for outstanding childrens program and a Peabody Award for excellence in programming.

Its a classic, said Baby Boomer culture historian James Von Schilling at Northampton College in Pennsylvania. It has the timeless themes of commercialism, cynicism and works on a variety of levels. Its entertaining for a little child who can see the humor in dog kisses, and it works up to an adult level, with the line about an Eastern syndicate running Christmas.

Perfectionist Schulz always thought it could have been improved, said his widow, Jeannie Schulz. Hed say, Oh, I hate that part, and I never could tell what it was -- maybe three seconds somewhere.

Still, hed make plans to watch it every December it was on TV. He preferred to see it live, and that being before TiVo, hed sometimes have a time conflict, she said. Then hed say, Darn, I missed it.

A Charlie Brown Christmas was the first of nearly 50 Peanuts TV specials, but Thompson called it the epitome of Charles Schulzs career.

There were the comic strips and scads of specials and books, Thompson said, but, I think if you had to point to the one creation that nailed it all in one time, this was Charlie Browns greatest appearance and here, in 25 minutes, the perfect expression of that Peanuts universe.


40 and still going strong

Schulzs holiday special is commemorated

December 6, 2005

By Chuck Barney
The Contra Costa Times [Walnut Creek, California]

Television executives can be such clueless blockheads. Consider, if you will, the case of A Charlie Brown Christmas.

After CBS bigwigs took their first peek at the 30-minute holiday special, they were convinced they had a stinker on their hands. The plot was too sluggish, the animation too crude. They disliked the shows jazz score and fretted over a scene in which Linus reads from the Bible.

Oh, great, executive producer Lee Mendelson recalls thinking, weve lost Charlie Brown forever.

Good grief, they couldnt have been more wrong. When A Charlie Brown Christmas debuted Dec. 9, 1965, nearly half the country tuned in. Charles Schulzs gentle poke at holiday commercialism went on to win an Emmy and take its place among Americas pop-cultural icons.

Tonight the program celebrates its 40th anniversary with an airing on ABC, and millions of fans will likely once again tune in to watch Linus recite his account of Jesus birth from a darkened stage, a materialistic Snoopy compete in -- and win -- a house-decorating contest and a forlorn Charlie Brown shower love upon a pitiful little tree.

It has lasted all these years partly because it touches upon all our vulnerabilities and our senses of wonder. People can see themselves in it, says Karen Johnson, director of the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center in Santa Rosa. That, and of course, its very funny.

To commemorate the anniversary, the museum will hold a reunion and panel discussion later this month featuring Mendelson and some of the voice talent from A Charlie Brown Christmas, including Peter Robbins (Charlie) and Christopher Shea (Linus). The gang undoubtedly will have plenty of colorful stories to tell about the shows humble beginnings and how it made a wildly improbable journey into our national consciousness.

I honestly felt it would air one time and that would be it, says Mendelson, a resident of Hillsborough. I still watch it with the family every year and it still shocks me that it hit so big.

The concept for the show came together quickly over a weekend in 1965, says Mendelson, when he and his partner, Bill Melendez, met with Schulz in Santa Rosa to discuss how to best deploy his comic-strip characters in a holiday special for sponsor Coca-Cola.

Schulz, who died in 2000, insisted from the start that the show be more than just a bunch of mindless jingle-jangle and suggested they have Linus do a Bible reading. Melendez, the chief animator on the project, recalls shooting Mendelson a skeptical look.

I was aghast. I thought This is a cartoon. Why be so serious? says Melendez, who, at age 89, still runs an animation production company in Southern California. But Schulz insisted. He said, I want this to be about the true meaning of Christmas. If were just going to entertain people, lets not bother. I wasnt convinced at the time, but he was right about so many things.

For music Schulz wanted some Beethoven for Schroeder and, in addition, the team agreed to hire Vince Guaraldi to create a jazz score -- not exactly your typical approach for a cartoon.

Also highly unconventional was the decision to hire children to supply the voices of the characters. At the time, animation voice work was done exclusively by adults who did their best to sound like youngsters. Nine-year-old Robbins, who got his showbiz start in commercials, was assigned to Charlie Brown and initially had some trouble getting into character.

I couldnt understand why Christmas was so depressing for Charlie, says Robbins, contacted at his home in Van Nuys. Those arent the kinds of feelings little kids usually have -- unless, maybe, theyve just been told theres no Santa Claus.

But Robbins forged on (earning $400 for two days of work) and so did the rest of the crew, which crammed production into five months. The deadline rush necessitated some quick thinking -- Mendelson, for example, wrote the lyrics for the opening song Christmastime Is Here on an envelope in about 15 minutes.

It also led to some animation blunders. In one scene, Pigpen briefly vanishes from the screen midsong. In another, Schroeders fingers come off the piano, but the music continues to play.

And Charlies scrawny Christmas tree loses, then miraculously regains, a few branches.

We could have gone back and fixed them later, but we never did, says Melendez. I like the idea of leaving it as it is, warts and all. Collectively, its still OK.

So frenzied was the production process that the show didnt get delivered to CBS until a week before its air date -- a development that Mendelson is convinced helped their cause.

I truly believe that if we had given it to them a month or two early, they wouldnt have aired it. They would have just buried it, he says. But we left them with little choice.

The aspects of the special that network execs perceived as weaknesses are exactly what fans find so endearing four decades later. In an age when television routinely tosses pointless noise and slam-bang action our way, it offers a quiet and contemplative story. And its themes of anti-commercialism, seasonal anxiety and the search for a meaningful Christmas experience obviously continue to resonate.

Last December, TV Guide named A Charlie Brown Christmas the best Christmas special in television history. The ABC airing that month was seen by 13 million people -- an amazing number considering the program has been available for years on videotape and DVD. The simple little show that Mendelson thought would air once and vanish has become a holiday heirloom passed on through the generations.

The network guys were wrong and we got lucky, he says. And now we have our revenge.

Chuck Barney is the Times TV critic. Reach him at 925-952-2685 or cbarney@cctimes.com.

Good grief, its Christmas

The 40th anniversary of A Charlie Brown Christmas is being commemorated in various ways this holiday season. Heres the rundown

The TV show The special has its annual airing at 8 tonight (Channels 7 and 10).

The exhibit The Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center in Santa Rosa offers an exhibition of books, figurines and archival artifacts associated with the show. Now through Jan. 9.

The reunion Producer Lee Mendelson and several cast members involved in the making of the special will get together at the Schulz Museum for a panel discussion and viewing. Noon-5 p.m., Dec. 17.

The CD 40 Years -- A Charlie Brown Christmas features newly recorded versions of the original soundtrack and new songs by Vanessa Williams, David Benoit, Toni Braxton, Brian McKnight and others. (Peak Records, $14.98)


Glued to the tube

The making of a classic

December 6, 2005

By Diane Werts
Newsday

Its the ugly duckling of animation -- the little cartoon that could. Even its makers considered it a disappointment, and the network might have scrapped it altogether if it hadnt been scheduled for airing just days after completion, too close to call off.

Forty years later, its only a classic cherished by generation after generation, a landmark of pop culture known worldwide, and a poignant distillation of both the awe and the alienation stirred by the holiday season.

A Charlie Brown Christmas -- just say the title and you can hear the bouncy lines of pianist Vince Guaraldis jazzy Linus and Lucy. You can see sad little Charlie Brown moping at his empty mailbox, mulling the true meaning of Christmas. Theres his scrawny stick of a Christmas tree drooping under the weight of a single ornament. And blanket-dragging pal Linus finally proclaiming under a school stage spotlight what Christmas is all about.

This gentle 1965 holiday half-hour from Peanuts comic strip creator Charles Schulz (airing tonight at 8 on ABC/7) encapsulates the contemporary American Christmas in a way other specials dont, no matter how much Santa Claus, reindeer, shopping and gingerbread they throw at us. Schulz understood the heart of Christmas lay not in such showy outward traditions, but in the tender yearnings annually inspired deep inside us by the promise of peace and love, togetherness and merry moments. All the mercantile tinsel piled upon the modern yule could make Christmas sag under the burden. Yet the holidays foundation -- the joy and salvation embodied in its biblical origin -- still stands strong beneath the razzle-dazzle. It needs only, like Charlies emaciated tree, a little love to make its significance resonate.

The soulful story of a sad boys search for meaning hardly seemed to have the makings of a cartoon blockbuster. No up-tempo pop sing-alongs, just a contemplative jazz score. And in lieu of professional actors, a bunch of real-life kids speaking for Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy and the other Peanuts regulars. Todays tube viewers expect the unusual. But A Charlie Brown Christmas premiered in a day of just three networks, when chances were rarely taken. Nearly everything about this half-hour flouted convention, trusting instead in plain sincerity.

As producer Lee Mendelson tells it in his 2000 book A Charlie Brown Christmas The Making of a Tradition, Coca-Cola was looking to sponsor a 1965 Christmas special. Mendelson had done a documentary about Schulz and Charlie Brown, so he called his comic-sketching friend, who spouted some random ideas for an outline to meet a quick proposal deadline -- ice skating, a school play, a Christmas tree, reading from the Bible. Once approved, they were given just six months to produce the half-hour for a December airdate. Added to the thrifty team were animator Bill Melendez, whod done some brief cartoon footage for the documentary, and jazz favorite Guaraldi, whod scored it. Almost overnight, they would need to create walking, talking versions of the Peanuts characters otherwise seen in static, silent newspaper incarnations.

Decisions were made briskly, without the kind of rethinking in which brilliant inspiration gets watered down to blandness. Simplicity was the byword. Charlie Brown would sound blah. Lucy should be crabby. Linus had to spout a babes wisdom from a thumb-sucking mouth. Snoopy would not talk. The show would unpretentiously reflect the comic strips portrayal of a lovable loser always doing his best, falling short and picking himself up to try again. If on the newspaper page the reader was often the only one to appreciate Charlie Browns humble instincts, the television special would give the round-headed boy the chance to prove himself to all -- a worthy holiday gift.

But A Charlie Brown Christmas begins with Charlie being blue I know nobody likes me. Why do we have to have a holiday season to emphasize it? He bemoans Snoopys commercial Christmas and Lucys psychiatrist-stand greed. Instead of feeling happy about Christmas, he moans, I feel sort of let down.

That stark sentiment would soon be shared by the folks whod put together A Charlie Brown Christmas. Upon screening the laid-back finished product, the production team worried perhaps we had somehow missed the boat, Mendelson recalls. The network told him, It seems a little flat. The first critics review, in Time magazine, perked them up a bit; it called the special refreshingly low-key ... a special that really is special. And the ratings sent them over the moon. The lovable loser finished second in the Nielsen ratings only to Bonanza, then a network powerhouse, and a few months later, it won an Emmy for animated special.

And it has, of course, aired annually for 40 years now (first on CBS, the last four years on ABC). Families wanted to own their own VHS copies and later DVDs of A Charlie Brown Christmas, which spawned other Peanuts TV specials to celebrate Halloween, Thanksgiving, New Years, Easter, Valentines Day, and even Arbor Day and baseball spring training. But none has quite matched the enduring appeal of Schulz & Co.s first burst of innocent insight.

Christmas touches our hearts -- even non-Christian hearts -- in a way no other holiday matches. It teases our imaginations and stirs our emotions. Over the years, we have imbued it with strains of significance from faith, family, material comfort and personal contentment. Every year, we get our hopes up that at Christmastime, no matter our state before or after, this moment will be perfect. And every year, we are, like Charlie Brown, let down by Christmas failure to meet our elevated expectations. A Charlie Brown Christmas suggests we reassess our perspective and appreciate what we have. Even if its a stick of a tree. All it takes is a little love to make it great.


Youre a classic, Charlie Brown

Holiday favorite marking 40th year

December 5, 2005

By Darla Atlas
The Dallas Morning News

As part of the 40th anniversary of A Charlie Brown Christmas, the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, Calif., is displaying letters that kids sent after the first airing in December 1965. The show, which was funded by Coca-Cola, clearly made an impression, says Jeannie Schulz, the artists widow.

One said, I promise to drink more Coke so you can put out more specials about Charlie Brown, she said in a recent telephone interview. She recalls her husband, who died in 2000, saying during the shows 25th anniversary that he was so proud. He was pleased that it had become a classic.

Not that it was destined to be one. The show wasnt well received by the suits at CBS, according to the book A Charlie Brown Christmas The Making of a Tradition. After watching a screening, they were so unimpressed that they decided to not let the Time magazine critic see it -- even though he was waiting out in the hall.

Quietly panicking, executive producer Lee Mendelson spoke up. Wont it be worse if we dont show it to him? he asked.

The execs relented, and the critic loved it. His review called it one childrens special this season that bears repeating. Which, of course, it has.

Why its still around Sure, there are flashier, even funnier, holiday shows out there. And including a Bible reading in the middle of a kids show is risky for many reasons. But if everyone was asked to name his or her favorite part of the show, most of us would quickly have an answer. (Those twins dancing, with their hair flopping from side to side, is oddly seared into our brains.) The shows staying power owes a lot to such nostalgia, Ms. Schulz says. But its not just that Its simple. Its simple and truthful.

The extras Although it kind of goes against the anti-commercialization message of the show, fans can buy stuff to commemorate its 40th year. Theres a Snoopy version of Monopoly; a special ornament that comes free with the purchase of a Keepsake model at Hallmark; a CD featuring new recordings of the shows music; and, best of all, a Charlie Brown tree of your very own. The pathetic, overgrown twig comes with a wooden stand and one red ornament, which the makers recommend be hung from the highest branch so it droops just so. The tree, selling at Urban Outfitters for $24, is inside a box that pleads, This Tree Needs You.

They dont make them like this anymore The concept of the story was Mr. Schulzs alone (with help in the execution from Mr. Mendelson and animator Bill Melendez). You look at how television shows are conceived today, and there are too many cooks, his wife says. Having a single storyteller gives it a presence and a cohesiveness.

Youre a bullied man, Charlie Brown The poor guy takes a beating in this show. A sampling of disses Boy, are you stupid, Charlie Brown. Youre hopeless, Charlie Brown, completely hopeless. Youve been dumb before, Charlie Brown, but this time youve really done it. Then they all laugh in his face for good measure. No wonder he seeks psychiatric help (although he gets it from Lucy, of all people). Nowadays, the show would end with the meanies being trotted off to sensitivity training.

The message part Even back in the 1960s, the idea of including Scripture from the book of Luke was controversial. When, according to Making of a Tradition, Mr. Melendez suggested that it seemed too religious and they shouldnt do it, Mr. Schulz replied, If we dont do it, who else can? If he was going to do a Christmas special, he said, it was going to include religion.

Candace Hackett Schively, who was part of the choir of kids singing the opening and closing numbers (Christmastime is Here and Hark the Herald Angels Sing) once wrote a letter to Mr. Schulz. She said, I cannot listen to the King James version of the Christmas story without hearing Linus voice adding, ... and thats what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.

Rest in heavenly peace Mr. Schulz died in his sleep the day before his final strip was scheduled to run in newspapers across the world. If youd written it like that, people would say, Well, its dramatic license, Ms. Schulz says, still amazed by the timing. Ms. Schulz says her continued involvement in the Peanuts industry has given me my life since he died. I continue to get to live in this space with him, with his memory right at my shoulder.


Working for Peanuts

Boy with paper route still caught his favorite show

December 5, 2005

By Doug MacGregor
The News-Press (Fort Myers, Florida)

The News-Press editorial cartoonist Doug MacGregor recalls his love for A Charlie Brown Christmas, which marks its 40th anniversary this year.

I was 8 years old when I first saw A Charlie Brown Christmas, and Ive loved it ever since.

I had been drawing Snoopy on his doghouse for two years and was getting darn good at it. Maybe someday, I thought, I could draw a comic strip like Charles Schulz and even have a TV show!

Not having missed A Charlie Brown Christmas for eight straight years, I had my own Charlie Brown-type experience in 10th grade.

My friend Tom in my hometown of Binghamton, N.Y., had an evening newspaper route. My brother and I had a morning route, which I loved because the paper was tabloid size and there were no inserts to deliver (or to drop).

Tom couldnt deliver his papers one evening, so I agreed to deliver them, not realizing that A Charlie Brown Christmas was on TV that night!

Good Grief!!

And there were no VCRs in those days to record anything. I hoped the newspaper truck would arrive early so I could get home before the movie started.

No such luck. No papers by 6 p.m. No papers by 630 p.m. No papers by 7 p.m.

Rats!!

Finally, the bundles arrived about 730 p.m., a half-hour before showtime. I had to stuff three inserts into each paper before heading out. No chance to see the show at home.

Double Rats!!

Fortunately, our neighborhood had houses with big living room windows. Of course every house had the show on. With a Charlie Brown grin, I watched the movie by walking house to house, peering into neighbors windows as I dodged snowmen of all sizes.

Who needed sound? I had most of the dialogue memorized, and I knew the songs by heart. So I talked and sang the show in the snow.

I hadnt missed A Charlie Brown Christmas. I was living it. Not only that, I had Christmas money when Tom paid me the next day.

Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown! And congratulations on bringing the holiday spirit to all for 40 years -- wherever we happened to watch it!


The Christmas classic that almost wasnt

December 5, 2005

By Bill Nichols
USA TODAY

When CBS bigwigs saw a rough cut of A Charlie Brown Christmas in November 1965, they hated it.

They said it was slow, executive producer Lee Mendelson remembers with a laugh. There were concerns that the show was almost defiantly different There was no laugh track, real children provided the voices, and there was a swinging score by jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi.

Mendelson and animator Bill Melendez fretted about the insistence by Peanuts creator Charles Schulz that his first-ever TV spinoff end with a reading of the Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke by a lisping little boy named Linus.

We told Schulz, Look, you cant read from the Bible on network television, Mendelson says. When we finished the show and watched it, Melendez and I looked at each other and I said, Weve ruined Charlie Brown.

Good grief, were they wrong. The first broadcast was watched by almost 50% of the nations viewers. When I started reading the reviews, I was absolutely shocked, says Melendez, 89. They actually liked it!

And when the program airs today at 8 p.m. ET on ABC, it will mark its 40th anniversary -- a run that has made it a staple of family holiday traditions and an icon of American pop culture. The show won an Emmy and a Peabody award and began a string of more than two dozen Peanuts specials.

Last year, 13.6 million people watched it, making it the 18th-most-popular show on television the week it aired; CSI was first. One advertiser on the show, financial services giant MetLife, has contracted to use Peanuts characters in its advertising since 1985 and will continue through at least 2012.

Schulz, who died in 2000, never doubted the power of his tale of Charlie Browns quest for the true meaning of Christmas amid the garish trappings of a commercialized holiday. It comes across in the voice of a child, says Jeannie Schulz, the wife of the cartoonist, whose friends called him Sparky. Sparky used to say there will always be a market for innocence.

Peter Robbins, now 49, was the voice of Charlie Brown. This show poses a question that I dont think had been asked before on television Does anybody know the meaning of Christmas?

Parents like Molly Kremidas, 39, who grew up adoring A Charlie Brown Christmas, watch it with their kids. Its the values in the story, says Kremidas, of Winston-Salem, N.C. Shell watch tonight with daughter Sofia, 6. Would there be any programs for children on today that could get away with talking about the real meaning of Christmas? I dont think so.

Erin Kane, 36, is eager for her 3-year-old son Tommy to watch the program for the first time tonight in their Boston home. The Christmas season doesnt start, Kane says, until Charlie Brown is on.

Hip but wholesome

On paper, the shows bare-bones script would seem to offer few clues to its enduring popularity. Mendelson says the show was written in several weeks, after Coca-Cola called him just six months before the program aired to ask if Schulz could come up with a Peanuts Christmas special.

Charlie Brown, depressed as always, cant seem to get into the Christmas spirit. His friend and nemesis Lucy suggests that he direct the gangs Christmas play. But the Peanuts crew is focused on how many presents theyre going to get, not on putting on a show.

Just send money. How about tens and twenties? says Charlies sister Sally as she dictates a letter to Santa Claus.

Charlie goes to find a Christmas tree to set the mood. He returns with a scrawny specimen that prompts his cohorts to mock him as a blockhead. In desperation, Charlie asks if anyone can explain to him what Christmas is all about.

Sure, I can, says his friend Linus, who proceeds to recite the story of the birth of Jesus from the book of Luke in the King James Version of the Bible. 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, and goodwill toward men, Linus says. And thats what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.

Scholars of pop culture say that shining through the programs skeletal plot is the quirky and sophisticated genius that fueled the phenomenal popularity of Schulzs work, still carried by 2,400 newspapers worldwide even though its repeating old comic strips.

The Christmas special epitomizes the nostalgic appeal of holiday television classics for baby boomers raised as that medium gained prominence, says Robert Thompson, a professor of television and popular culture at Syracuse University.

Thompson notes that other Christmas specials made during the same era -- such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty The Snowman -- also air each year to strong ratings.

This is the only time in the year when TV programs from the LBJ years play on network television and do very, very well, he says. For millions of baby boomers, these things became as much a holiday tradition as hanging a stocking or putting up a tree.

What makes A Charlie Brown Christmas the gold standard in Thompsons view is that it somehow manages to convey an old-fashioned, overtly religious holiday theme thats coupled with Schulzs trademark sardonic, even hip, sense of humor.

While Schulz centers the piece on verses from the Bible, laced throughout are biting references to the modern materialism of the Christmas season. Lucy complains to Charlie that she never gets wants she really wants. What is it you want? Charlie asks. Real estate, she answers.

A key element in all of Schulzs work is his sense of mans place in the scheme of things in a theological sense as well as a psychological sense, says Thomas Inge, an English and humanities professor at Randolph-Macon College who edited a series of interviews with Schulz released in 2000. Then theres this slightly cynical attitude that makes everything work.

Parents say the combination of humor and bedrock values is what draws them and their children to the show. It does provide a balance, but its a balance that we as a society have forgotten about, says Patrick Lemp, 43, of West Hartford, Conn. Hell watch tonight with son Brendan, 13.

This is one of the last shows that actually comes out and talks about the meaning of Christmas. As a society, were taking religion out of a lot of the trappings of the holiday. This one is different.

A cultural footprint

Much about A Charlie Brown Christmas was revolutionary for network TV, even beyond its religious themes.

The voices of children had not been used before in animation, a technique Mendelson, Melendez and Schulz all wanted to try.

Lee didnt want to use Hollywood kids. He wanted the sound of kids who didnt have training, says Sally Dryer, 48, who did the voice of Violet -- the little girl who mocks Charlie Brown for not getting any Christmas cards. In later specials, she was Lucys voice.

Mendelson sent tape recorders home with all his employees in Burlingame, Calif. Dryer, then 8, was chosen because her sister worked for the Mendelson crew. Robbins and Christopher Shea, the voice of Linus, were the only children with professional acting experience in the cast.

The show was also novel in that it used no laugh track, an omnipresent device in animated and live-action comedies of the era. Schulz strongly believed that his audience could figure out when to laugh.

Perhaps the most enduring aspect of the show has been its score -- a piano-driven jazz suite that was absolutely unheard-of for childrens programming in 1965.

Guaraldi, the composer and pianist, was best known for a 1962 hit called Cast Your Fate To the Wind. Mendelson liked it so much that he hired Guaraldi to score a documentary about Schulz that never aired. When the Christmas program was sold, parts of that music were incorporated.

The driving tune that the Peanuts children keep dancing to in the special, called Linus and Lucy, has become a pop staple thats been recorded countless time in the intervening decades.

A new version of the soundtrack was released last month for the 40th anniversary. It features Vanessa Williams, Christian McBride, David Benoit and others.

The song that opens the program, Christmas Time is Here, was written only for piano by Guaraldi, but Mendelson decided to add words to appease other network concerns. When he found his songwriter friends in California were all tied up, Mendelson wrote the words himself on the back of an envelope.

So now its a standard, says Mendelson, now 72. Who knew? I tell people that Im old and Im lucky.

Jazz pianist George Winston, recorded a 1996 tribute album to Guaraldi, who died in 1976. He says that when he plays Guaraldi tunes at concerts, young children come up later and say, Hey, thats the Peanuts music!

Says Winston Vince made a stamp on our popular culture that will never go away. For an artist, thats the ultimate tribute.

A sweet memory

The Christmas special has become a key part of the Peanuts marketing empire, which racks up $1.2 billion in annual retail sales, $350 million of which come in the USA. Millions of VCR tapes and DVDs of the program are in circulation worldwide.

The 40th anniversary has spawned a long list of spinoff products, including a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree at Urban Outfitters and a paperback version of a book Mendelson wrote, The Making of a Tradition A Charlie Brown Christmas. And the Charles Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, Calif., where Schulz lived, plans a special commemoration on Dec. 17 with Mendelson and several cast members. The museum also has an exhibit on the Christmas show that runs through Jan. 9.

Its a tradition, along with White Christmas, A Christmas Carol and Its a Wonderful Life, says Marion Hull, 77, who toured the exhibit on Friday. Its simple, it tells a simple story, and its something that both adults and children can get something out of.

For those who worked to make the program -- as well as fans who watch it -- its material success seems ancillary. The word that keeps coming up is sweet.

Robbins, who is single, has no children and manages an apartment building in Encino, Calif., loves that kids of friends squeal with delight each Christmas that Uncle Pete used to be Charlie Brown.

Jeannie Schulz, who was the artists second wife when they married in 1973, says their five children, 25 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren see the show as a holiday tradition as well.

The reason its endured is because of its simplicity and its very basic honesty to real life, she says. Who would have thought this would last 40 years? How did that happen?

For many viewers, it is the speech by Linus from Luke near the end that packs the biggest emotional wallop.

Christopher Shea was just 7 when he did the part and credits Melendezs coaching and his moms doctorate in 17th-century British literature for Linus lilting eloquence with a Biblical text.

Shea, who now lives in Eureka, Calif., with two daughters, 11 and 16, answers quickly when asked why the special has proved so enduring. Its the words, he says.

Shea says that for years, in his teens and 20s, he didnt quite understand his soliloquys impact.

People kept coming up to me and saying, Every time I watch that, I cry, he says. But as I got older, I understood the words more, and I understood the power of what was going on. Now I cry, too.

USA TODAY reporter Bill Nichols first watched A Charlie Brown Christmas on Dec. 9, 1965. He was 7. This Thanksgiving, he watched a tape of it with his son, Charlie, 3, for the first time.

How Peanuts rates

A Charlie Brown Christmas drew 15.4 million viewers when it first aired in 1965, making it the second-most watched program on television that week.

The top show Bonanza.

Ratings last year for three cartoon favorites still airing

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964), 14.9 million viewers. Tied for 15th place the week it ran. CBS.

A Charlie Brown Christmas, 13.6 million. 18th place the week it aired. ABC.

Frosty the Snowman (1969), 10.1 million. Tied for 38th place the week it aired. CBS.


A Classic Whose Message Endures

December 4, 2005

By Robert J. Thompson
Special to The Washington Post

We all know that Christmas is a big commercial racket. Its run by a big eastern syndicate, you know. So says Lucy in A Charlie Brown Christmas, which turns 40 this month.

By 1965, Charlie Brown and his friends already had penetrated American popular culture. Charles M. Schulzs Peanuts comic strip, which he started in 1950, already had inspired a best-selling book and a wide range of merchandising tie-ins, but Peanuts had yet to be featured in its own television show. Then Time magazine did a cover story about Schulz in April 1965. Eight months later, Schulz and former Disney animator Bill Melendez delivered the first of nearly 50 television specials.

Christmas television was on a roll in the 1960s Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer made its debut in 1964, How the Grinch Stole Christmas in 1966 and Frosty the Snowman in 1969.

Somehow, though, A Charlie Brown Christmas remains the gold standard, perhaps because it still seems so modern. Its hard to believe that this show was made when Lyndon B. Johnson was in office and Bonanza was the biggest hit on television. It is, after all, a childrens Christmas story about a kid whos depressed.

I think there must be something wrong with me, Charlie tells Linus. Christmas is coming, but Im not happy. I dont feel the way Im supposed to feel. I always end up feeling depressed.

And Charlie relies on Lucy, a pre-adolescent quack who dispenses psychiatric advice at 5 cents per session. If we can find out what youre afraid of, she declares, we can label it. It was only 1965, but Lucy had seen the future.

With a little sleight of hand, the story then turns to the idea that the overcommercialization of the holiday is responsible for Charlies diminished emotional wellness. And the evidence is everywhere. Lucy, who delights in that beautiful sound of cold, hard cash, confesses that she hates her toys and bicycle and other presents of Christmas past -- what she really wants is real estate.

Little Sally, a toddler not yet old enough to write but with an acute sense of entitlement, dictates her letter to Santa with the request that he just send cash All I want is whats coming to me. All I want is my fair share.

Even Snoopy is made delirious by a flier for a neighborhood decorating contest that reads, Find the true meaning of Christmas. Win money, money, money.

Then the show does something extraordinary for network TV. In its low-key, minimalist way, with the cool jazz piano of Vince Guaraldi in the background, A Charlie Brown Christmas resorts to old-time religion.

Charlies directorial debut at the school auditorium is going poorly. He needs to be saved. He follows a light in the east to a Christmas tree lot. The fancy aluminum trees are well accommodated, but there seems to be no room in this inn for one little runt of a tree.

Charlie embraces it and is mocked by his peers for doing so. Linus recites from the Gospel of Luke, wraps the tree in his swaddling blanket and, lo, the tree becomes radiant. Charlie is redeemed, and the children all sing Hark! The Herald Angels Sing. And the over-commercialization that plagued Charlie has been vanquished.

Its commonplace now for movies such as Jingle All the Way to take on the holiday-industrial complex. It wasnt so commonplace in 1965. In the end, though, Lucy was right Christmas is a big commercial racket, and Christmas TV specials are an important part of that racket. Christmas television helped fuel the growth in holiday spending and extend the holiday season.

A Charlie Brown Christmas has launched a commercial bonanza of its own. If you take a quick look online or in mail-order catalogues, heres a small sampling of what you might find a set of two Charlie Brown Christmas vinyl bobbleheads, $26; a Charlie Brown Christmas sweatshirt, $23; a three-piece set of scenes from the show rendered in ceramic, $37.50; a book about the show, $29.99; a 40th-anniversary CD, $14.99 and, of course, the DVD, $16.99.

Youve got to think that Lucy, Sally and Snoopy are loving this -- a shopping list of items celebrating a show in which materialism was the problem.

But still, A Charlie Brown Christmas was one of the nice things about the 20th century, and its good to see the show still can make it on network TV in the 21st.

Thompson, professor of media and popular culture at Syracuse University, says he will watch the show again this year for about the 35th time -- having missed a couple of years while in college.


Youre a good brand, Charlie Brown

The Peanuts revival inspires publishers to look back at other classic newspaper strips

December 4, 2005

By Jeff Salamon
Austin American-Statesman (Texas)

Theres probably no pop-culture character more universally beloved than Charlie Brown. So its an oddity of the publishing marketplace that until last year no one had ever bothered -- no one had, apparently, even thought -- to put together a complete and chronological collection of the Peanuts gangs decades-long perambulations.

Last year, the independent comic book and graphic novel publisher Fantagraphics finally got around to doing so, launching its multivolume hardcover Peanuts series with a fat, bricklike tome devoted to the strips first three years. The result -- 100,000 copies sold and counting -- has drawn attention to other classic strips that are getting the same treatment. Fantagraphics has just launched a Dennis the Menace series, Canadian publisher Drawn & Quarterly has done the same with Gasoline Alley and Andrews McMeel found its original sales projections far outstripped by the quick success of its massive Calvin and Hobbes collection.

Why this sudden upsurge after decades of benign neglect? I think part of it is simply that, for publishers like Fantagraphics and Drawn & Quarterly, only in the past few years have we had proper distribution in book stores, says Fantagraphics publicist Eric Reynolds. Prior to that it was just comic shops, really, and the old-fashioned comic book shop isnt a real strong ground for comic strip reprints. For years we were publishing things like Thimble Theater and Little Nemo and we were only able to get them under the nose of superhero fans, and I just dont think there was enough of an interest from that audience.

Its not just methods of distribution that have changed in the past few years. Theres also been an upsurge in bookstores embracing comics, Reynolds says. Part of it is the attention that Hollywood adaptations of comics, ranging from Ghost World to Spider-Man, have drawn to the form; part of it is the increasing critical respect given to ambitious works like Chris Wares Jimmy Corrigan; and part of it is the exploding popularity of Japanese manga comics among teenagers.

The comics market has just opened up so wide and far from where it was 10 years ago, says Reynolds. Book buyers for major chains and independent stores are at least making a good effort to stock a wide variety of material.

As a result, the second and third volumes of Fantagraphics Peanuts series have sold about 40,000 to 50,000 apiece, and its Krazy Kat reprints a more modest but still profitable 10,000. Thats huge, thats a great number for us, Reynolds says, recalling the companys earlier forays into comic strip reprints. Something like Popeye or Little Orphan Annie, we were probably printing 4,000 each. And some of them are still in our warehouse 15 years later.

One big difference is packaging. Fantagraphics Popeye and Little Orphan Annie books were big, floppy paperbacks designed with minimal artfulness. The new books are nicely bound, hardcover volumes smartly wrought by such alt-comic auteurs as Chris Ware and Seth. The packaging has made such a difference in sales and critical attention that Fantagraphics plans to reissue its Pogo and Popeye reprints in hardcover format.

Incidentally, its not just readers and critics who appreciate these books. The estates of the various creators seem moved that, finally, the works of these golden age cartoonists are getting the respect they deserve. Charles Schulzs people are really concerned with keeping the integrity of the property alive, says Reynolds. They see us as a feather in the cap in a way I dont think they feel about, say, a Snoopy beach ball.


Theres a little Charlie Brown in each of us

December 4, 2005

By Craig Muder
The Utica Observer-Dispatch (New York)

I pulled the flyer out of my mailbox and immediately saw it my face ... on Charlie Browns body.

Nothing malicious, mind you. Just a computer trick done by my friends in the graphics department. A little way to spice up the notice about our office Christmas party.

Who did this?!? I shouted in mock outrage. I am not Charlie Brown! I am not a loser!

But somewhere in the depths of my soul, I felt like one.

Get ready with the tar and feathers. I never liked Peanuts. I know, thats about as un-American as kissing Saddam Hussein. But the Charlie Brown character hit too close to home.

As someone who lived five years of his adolescent life as a social outcast, I can tell you that theres nothing funny about having the football yanked away every time you try to kick it. Theres nothing funny about failing at everything you attempt.

I always thought Charles Schulz was just a tad sadistic in his portrayal of Charlie Brown. For the real problem is not that Charlie Brown is a loser, but that hes unable to find a game where he can win.

Isnt that the bottom line in life? We are all given talents -- some obvious, others less so. But they can all be unearthed, if only we keep digging.

The ol Blockhead never figured that out. He just kept flailing away at the ball, while Lucy kept on laughing. Ive known far too many Lucys -- people who take pleasure in a mans pain, rather than celebrate his strengths.

Maybe thats why I did enjoy A Charlie Brown Christmas, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. No footballs in that one, but a timeless story about the meaning of Christmas.

When Linus reads those lines from the Bible, I still get a chill up my spine. Rarely have cartoons depicted such dignified characters. Seldom since have Charlie Browns friends stopped to consider their actions.

Maybe thats why were still watching it 40 years later.

For theres a little Charlie Brown in all of us. Its the compassion of Linus, however, that makes life worth living.


Youre a classic, Charlie Brown

A Charlie Brown Christmas is 40 years old already? Good grief!

December 4, 2005

By T.J. Banes
The Indianapolis Star (Indiana)

Like a package waiting to be opened, television viewers young and old know they can depend every year on a special holiday gift a host of ageless shows celebrating the Christmas season.

Parents, grandparents and grandchildren anticipate the arrival of the traditional family classics -- from A Christmas Carol to Jack Frost.

One of the most popular, about a blockhead and his friends, celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. A Charlie Brown Christmas airs at 8 p.m. Tuesday (and Dec. 16) on WRTV .

Written by Charles M. Schulz, A Charlie Brown Christmas won an Emmy for Best Network Animated Special when it first aired in 1965 -- that, despite initial concerns about the shows religious theme, slow pace and jazz soundtrack. Last year, it ranked No. 1 among holiday specials, with 13.8 million viewers. (Theres also a plethora of commemorative items available this year in honor of the shows anniversary.)

As Charlie Brown would say Good grief!

So whats all the hype about these holiday specials?

The biggest appeal is nostalgia, said Dom Caristi, an associate professor of telecommunications at Ball State University.

Youve got people in their 30s, 40s and 50s who grew up watching these shows, and they want their children to see them. And, of course, some of those people grew up without VCRs, so they had to wait for these Christmas specials, Caristi said. The popularity comes down to recapturing the warm, fuzzy feeling you had all those years ago.

Eastside resident Lori Parks, 45, remembers sitting in her familys living room eating snacks and watching A Charlie Brown Christmas for the first time when she was 5. Today, she organizes a similar family night with her three grandchildren.

Its an icon. It takes me back to my childhood, and the next generation looks at Charlie Brown as something completely new. Its about the characters. Theyre all neat and have such different personalities, Parks said.

Schulz is possibly the reason so many generations can relate to Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the gang. Much of his writing is based on real life.

Ive always said that the reason A Charlie Brown Christmas is a classic is because it reflects the Midwest values that Charles Schulz grew up with, said Lee Mendelson, 72, the shows executive producer.

Growing up in Minnesota, Schulz jumped ahead a couple of grades. When youre the youngest and the skinniest in your class, youre picked on. Like Charlie Brown, he learned to get beyond that, said Mendelson, speaking by phone from his California home.

In the animated special, Charlie Brown feels like the Christmas message is lost in all the glitter of the season. So his self-appointed psychiatrist and friend, Lucy, suggests a cure Get involved with a Christmas play.

When the hapless hero sets out to find a Christmas tree as a stage prop, he places a single red ball on his scrawny, but real, tree. But the ornament weighs the tree down, and Charlie Brown immediately declares Ive killed it!

However, all is not lost. With a little help from the Peanuts gang, Charlie Brown offers a heart-warming seasonal message.

According to Mendelson, it was Schulzs idea that Linus read from the Bible the account of Jesus birth. A hometown childrens church choir was brought in for a day to record Christmastime Is Here, which explains why some of the notes are sung off-key, he said.

Schulz also wanted the Schroeder character to play Beethoven on the piano. The contemporary jazz score by Vince Guaraldi added to the shows appeal.

Today, the music -- piped into shopping malls and department stores each year -- continues to resonate with fans.

I love the theme song, said Steve Cronner Jr., 35, an Eastside father of four girls ranging in age from 9 to 16. He watches A Charlie Brown Christmas each year and said his 9-year-old loves it as much as he does.

The music makes me think of Linus. I used to have a blanket that I carried around and slept with when I was a kid. I still have it today.


Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!

For 40 years, Peanuts special has looked at holiday excesses with eyes of innocence

December 3, 2005

By Tim Cuprisin
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (Wisconsin)

Lee Mendelson thought he was producing a disaster.

He was screening a rough cut of A Charlie Brown Christmas before it was delivered to CBS four long decades ago this week. The opening scene featured a moody jazz tune from Vince Guaraldi and the whole thing just wasnt working.

Bill Melendez and I looked at it, and we thought we had destroyed Charlie Brown, Mendelson said, recalling that screening with the animator who brought Charles Schulzs comic strip to life in 1965. Maybe we were too close to it, but it seemed kinda slow. It was that instrumental that slowed things down.

I guess it was two weeks before, I said, Maybe we should get somebody to write some words for that song, just to pep it up just a little. And I called all my songwriter friends, but everybody was busy.

As a deadline loomed, Mendelson took 15 minutes to scribble some words himself on the back of an envelope.

Christmas time is here, happiness and cheer. Fun for all that children call their favrite time of year . . .

Instead of being responsible for the destruction of Charlie Brown, Mendelson was part of a troika, along with Schulz and Melendez, that created a classic that spawned 50 more Peanuts cartoons.

Of course, you had three guys who didnt know what they were doing, said Mendelson in a phone interview. In our innocence and naiveté, you know, we just didnt go by the rules.

Coca-Cola had asked for the animated special and gave them six months to produce it, a bigger task than the three realized at the time. The speedy schedule led to a few flaws in the simple animation -imperfections that add to the cartoons charm.

There were very minor things, said Mendelson. Schroeders hands, when hes playing the piano, came off a couple of times. And one of the ones Sparky noticed was that when the branches were falling off on one of the scenes, some of em came back on again.

Sparky, of course, is Charles Schulzs nickname. And Jeannie Schulz, who married the cartoonist in 1973, recalls her perfectionist husband being less than satisfied with that final product even years later.

Sparky was so like this, she said. Every time somebody would say the Christmas show was going to be on, or how great it was, he said, It really has some terrible parts. Id really like to redo the whole thing.

Straight from the comics pages

Of course he never did. And the original half-hour special, the 40th anniversary broadcast, is scheduled for another airing at 7 p.m. Tuesday, locally on WISN-TV (Channel 12).

The show has moved to ABC, along with the rest of the Peanuts catalog of annual specials.

From the hummable songs to the simple and memorable dialogue, its a half-hour of television that charms a new gaggle of young viewers each holiday season, adding to the legions who watch it again and again and still laugh when Patty urges the gang to let the snowflakes fall on their tongues.

Mmm. Needs sugar, says Linus. Its too early, Lucy adds. I never eat December snowflakes. I always wait until January. Linus comes back with, They sure look ripe to me.

Lucys voice -- along with the voices of the rest of the memorable characters -- were supplied by actual children. And it was one of many things about A Charlie Brown Christmas that made CBS executives nervous.

Up to then, only adults had done kids voices, Mendelson said. Melendez knew Schulz in 61, before I met them. And they had done a Ford commercial, of all things, and had used kids voices for Charlie Brown and Linus. And those kids at the time were only about 6, they were very, very young. And then four years later, they ended up being on our television show.

Every couple of years, that means new children voicing the characters in the dozens of Peanuts cartoons that followed that first one.

Along with the youthful voices and the moody jazz soundtrack, there is the unadorned animation that brought life to Schulzs simple drawing style.

That was absolutely key, said Mendelson. Bill Melendez didnt embellish anything. He literally lifted them off the comic page, put em in the same simple backgrounds.

Despite nervousness from the network, that first airing on Dec. 9, 1965, pulled in nearly half of the households watching TV.

While television viewing has changed dramatically in 40 years, the show still brings in a healthy audience.

Last years airing attracted 13.6 million viewers and ranked 18th for the week it aired, according to Nielsen Media Research numbers, showing its continuing strength.

Getting back to the basics

One of the regular viewers is WISN-AM (1130) midday host Bob Dolan, who talked about the shows charms on his radio show last week.

At 47, Dolan has grown up with the Christmas special. Its one of the few that he watches each and every year. And what keeps bringing him back is a simple but powerful message thats rare in animated holiday specials.

I dont watch a lot of TV to begin with. But well be there. The only decision is what am I ordering for dinner, Dolan said with a laugh as he considered the carryout food hell be enjoying along with Charlie Brown and Linus and Lucy on Tuesday night.

This is the one Christmas classic well make sure we watch every season because of what happens at the end.

Christmas has become so commercialized and so materialistic, he said. So you want to get back to the basics the older you get. What Linus says at the end is what most of us feel.

That climactic scene comes after the gang has turned on Charlie Brown over the anemic little Christmas tree hes brought for their pageant.

Everything I do turns into a disaster, says Charlie. I guess I really dont know what Christmas is all about . . . Isnt there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?

Sure, Charlie Brown. I can tell you what Christmas is all about, answers Linus, beginning a Bible reading that concludes. 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, goodwill toward men.

You dont see much of that any more, said Dolan of the shows religious flavor, a rarity among the animated specials that air all over television December after December.

Mendelson remembers that, even back in 1964, Linus reading from the Gospel of Luke was an unusual touch for an animated special. But Schulz was adamant that the half-hour would include a religious message.

When we had that initial meeting, he said, You know, our main thing here is to entertain. And we will. But if were going to show about Christmas, then I want to talk about, you know, what I believe is the true meaning of Christmas, recalled Mendelson, who asked Schulz how that could be accomplished in a cartoon.

Maybe we can have Linus read from the Bible, just a little bit, Mendelson quotes Schulz as saying.

Jeannie Schulz recently talked about Linus reading from Luke with Melendez, the veteran animator who breathed life into Schulzs characters.

I said I dont think we can do that on television, Sparky, she quoted Melendez as saying. He said, Well, if we dont, Bill, who else will?


Good grief! The creation of a holiday classic

December 2, 2005

By Lee Mendelson
Special to The Los Angeles Times

It was my great privilege to work with cartoonist Charles Schulz and animator Bill Melendez for nearly 40 years. But the one time that stands out the most was a day in May 1965 when we all met at Schulzs studio in Sebastopol, Calif.

The day before, I had received a call asking if Schulz and I had ever considered doing an animated Christmas show, and I kind of pretended that we had. It was a Wednesday, and they needed the story line by the following Monday. I called Sparky (as friends called Schulz) and Bill, and we met the following day.

For a while, we just kind of stared at one another. None of us had ever done an animated special. Then Sparky said Maybe we could do something involving the kids doing a Christmas play. Ive done a few strips like that over the years. More silence. Then he said If were going to do this and make it worthwhile, we should also talk about the true meaning of Christmas. Maybe have Linus read from the Bible.

So with those two comments, we spent the next few hours putting together what eventually was the final story for A Charlie Brown Christmas. We even agreed that we would mix traditional Christmas music with the jazz of Vince Guaraldi (who had scored our Schulz documentary in 1963). We assumed there would be only one broadcast.

It is mind-boggling to realize that this year, A Charlie Brown Christmas will air for the 40th time. You can watch it at 8 p.m. Tuesday on ABC.

Lee Mendelson is executive producer of A Charlie Brown Christmas.


A Charlie Brown Christmas simple, quiet and still very hip

November 29, 2005

By Rachel Kipp
The Chronicle-Tribune (Marion, Indiana)

Years before the VCR, the Schulz family had tapes of A Charlie Brown Christmas. But that didnt mean the specials creator, the late Charles Schulz, didnt lament a missed opportunity to see it live.

We did try to watch it when we were home and sometimes wed be out and hed say, Oh drat, its on tonight, remembers Schulzs wife, Jeannie. For some reason, when you watch it on television at the time that its broadcast, I think you have a sense of the community of people that are watching it with you.

Since the special premiered in 1965, that community has grown to millions of adults and children who span generations. Like Schulz, many carve a place in their holiday tradition to watch each year when the program is broadcast on television, despite the availability of VHS and DVD.

Special has new stories

On Dec. 6, fans will celebrate Christmas with the Peanuts gang for the 40th time when they leap off the newspaper comics page into Schulzs tale of needy trees, a materialistic beagle named Snoopy and a depressed Charlie Brown who is searching for the true meaning of the holiday. The special includes an additional series of animated stories based on the work of Schulz, who died in 2000.

Fans and the specials creators say the program has endured for the very reasons that television executives were initially wary of it quiet, simple storytelling, the jazzy Vince Guaraldi score and Linus answering Charlie Browns plea with a recitation of the Bible passage that describes Jesus birth.

This will always hold up because it has a core to it, says Peanuts fan and collector Andrea Podley, 59, of Bellingham. It had a meaning that everybody from all levels can relate to. The story is extremely simple, yet it has meaning and I think everyone extracts the meaning they want for themselves.

All of those elements came together quickly over a weekend in 1965. Schulz, whom friends called Sparky, executive producer Lee Mendelson and animator Bill Melendez holed up in the cartoonists studio near Santa Rosa, Calif., to create a holiday special using the comic-strip characters for sponsor Coca-Cola.

We sat down and Mr. Schulz said, First of all, I really think if we do a Christmas show, it should have some meaning and I guess the best meaning it could have is to tell the true story of Christmas. So at the end maybe we could have Linus read from the Bible, remembers Mendelson, who went on to create dozens more Peanuts specials with Schulz and Melendez. Bill and I looked at each other because no one ever animated anything from the Bible before.

For music, Schulz wanted some Beethoven for Schroeder and all agreed that jazz by Guaraldi should be included. It was finished about a week before airing on CBS.

We had an opening song, and at the last minute I said, Gee, we really have got to put some words on it, Mendelson says. So I wrote the words to Christmastime is Here because I couldnt find anybody else to do it, and thats really kind of become a Christmas standard.

Reviews offered hope

But the special nearly missed gaining that designation. Both network and sponsor were initially unimpressed. Glowing reviews from several magazines gave the creators hope, but it was a wait-and-see attitude until the program aired Dec. 9, 1965.

We got a 47 share, which means that half the country that had television that night watched A Charlie Brown Christmas, Mendelson says.

A Charlie Brown Christmas won an Emmy and a Peabody Award, made Guaraldis music a Peanuts mainstay and spawned Charlie Brown holiday programs for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Valentines Day. It also gave Schulz the creative freedom to tackle subjects like cancer and D-Day in subsequent specials.

The program remains relevant today because it was ahead of its time, tackling holiday depression before it was acknowledged in public, says Robert Thompson, professor of pop culture at Syracuse University.

Its just a very, very hip show and hip not because it was dripping in irony and wisecracks, Thompson says. Hip in just its absolute sincerity.


Its the Christmas TV list, Charlie Brown

Charles Schulzs beloved holiday classic is marking its 40th anniversary

November 24, 2005

By Carma Wadley
Deseret Morning News

The story of A Charlie Brown Christmas is the story of a whole bunch of improbables coming together to create an incredible.

It all began with a connection between the worlds greatest baseball player (or at least one of them) -- Willie Mays -- and the worlds worst baseball player (or at least the unluckiest) -- Charlie Brown.

Lee Mendelson had produced a documentary on Mays and was reading the comics and saw a strip about Charlie Browns baseball team. The idea of following my special on the best with a program about the worst popped into my head, Mendelson said during a telephone interview from this California home.

He contacted Charles Schulz, who had seen the Mays special and was amenable to the idea of a documentary on Charlie Browns world, and they set to work. They wanted to include a brief bit of animation in the documentary, so Schulz recommended animator Bill Melendez, who created two minutes of animation -- all I could afford, said Mendelson.

For music, Mendelson remembered a song by jazz composer Vince Guaraldi that he liked, so he contacted the composer. The result was a jazz composition titled Linus and Lucy. It was perfect for the Peanuts characters.

The Charlie Brown documentary was finished, and Mendelson began shopping it around to networks and advertisers. In true Charlie Brown fashion, no one was interested.

A year and a half later, Mendelson got a call from an advertising agency asking if he and Schulz had ever considered doing an animated Christmas special. Of course, said Mendelson, who would have said pretty much anything at that point. Coca-Cola wanted to sponsor a Christmas special. It was Wednesday; they needed the outline by Monday. Could they do it? Of course, said Mendelson.

He hung up and called Sparky -- as Schulz was known to his friends. Could they do it? Without missing a beat, Sparky told me to come on up. Ideas flowed, and by the end of the day we had an outline. It remained essentially unchanged.

Lee Mendelson, left, Charles Schulz and Bill Melendez accept the Emmy for best network animated special in 1966 for A Charlie Brown Christmas.

They turned it in, waited three weeks for an answer, and learned that Coca-Cola not only liked it but wanted it for early December -- giving them just six months to complete the work. Of course, said Mendelson, with no clue if that was even possible.

They contacted Melendez; they decided to use actual kids as the voices (up until then, all animation voices were performed by adults), so they auditioned dozens of kids. They contacted Guaraldi, who agreed to do the music, incorporating his earlier Lucy and Linus. And the race was on.

The production was finished a week before the viewing date. Just prior to that, they had watched it and decided the opening song needed words, so Mendelson sat down and wrote some lyrics on the back on an envelope. In about 15 minutes, Christmas Time Is Here was born.

Then came the preview for CBS executives. They didnt like it, said Mendelson. They thought it was flat and a little slow, that it lacked oomph. They would air it, they said reluctantly. But they wouldnt be ordering any more shows on the Peanuts gang.

The ratings, critical acclaim and an Emmy changed all that, of course.

That was back in 1965. But, if the fact that A Charlie Brown Christmas was made at all is proof of the vagaries of luck and timing, the fact that 40 years later it is considered one of the all-time Christmas classics is a testament to the power of sincerity and heart.

I think the show reflects Sparkys basic beliefs, his fundamental Midwestern values, said Mendelson. From the very beginning, Schulz wanted to include the religious angle, include the Bible story. That had not been done before in an animated work, said Mendelson. The shows ending, where they all gather around the tree -- thats very powerful.

A Charlie Brown Christmas aired to critical acclaim, although CBS executives thought it flat.

Mendelson also credits the success of the story to the fact that Charlie Brown finally won something. This little boy who appeals to the loser in us all discovers the true meaning of the holiday and helps us all to share in that discovery, he said.

And I think the fact that we used the characters just as they appear in the strip, making them move but without embellishments, was important, he added. The music, too, turned out to be just right. It was just one of those things that all came together in a propitious way.

Mendelson, Melendez and Schulz went on to do more than 40 Charlie Brown specials. Work is just now being finished on the last one, started by Schulz prior to his death in 2000. Release on Hes a Bully, Charlie Brown is scheduled for next spring. It will be bittersweet to see it all come to an end, said Mendelson. I was very lucky to become personal friends with Sparky. We worked together for 38 years, and we never had a disagreement. He was fun to work with. He had a great sense of humor. And he really cared about the characters.

Mendelson didnt realize at the time that making animated specials would turn out to be pretty much his life work. He got his start at a local CBS office in San Francisco making five- and 10-second spots. You couldnt start any smaller than I did. In addition to Charlie Brown, he produced shows on Garfield and Cathy, also based on comic strips, and others -- about 275 shows in all -- and in the process collected 12 Emmys.

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of A Charlie Brown Christmas, holiday gift items and memorabilia include a DVD, A Charlie Brown Christmas Tree, a CD featuring a newly recorded soundtrack -- as well as new versions performed by Vanessa Williams, David Benoit, Brian McKnight, Dave Koz and others -- a paperback version of the book A Charlie Brown Christmas The Making of a Tradition (originally released in 2000), A Charlie Brown Christmas 40th Anniversary Collectors Edition jigsaw puzzle featuring the gang gathered around the Christmas tree, a special Charlie Brown Christmas ornament from Hallmark and a Snoopy edition of Monopoly.

Who would have dreamed this would all happen, said Mendelson. Back when we first finished the special, we were all feeling tired and rushed, and we figured wed probably ruined Charlie Brown forever. Thankfully, not so, because, he said, the ultimate and endearing message of Charlie Brown is you just keep trying no matter what. Its a good reminder for us all.


Its the great ad, Charlie Brown

Ford commercials use Peanuts theme

November 23, 2005

By Julie Hinds
The Detroit Free Press

A Charlie Brown Christmas will air Dec. 6. The ad is on now.

Signs are everywhere that Christmas is coming soon, from sparkly trees in shopping malls to carols on the radio.

The latest sign of holiday overdrive? A new national TV ad that uses music from A Charlie Brown Christmas.

In a commercial for Ford and Lincoln Mercurys new Keep It Simple pricing program, families romp and smile in shirtsleeves, dealers dole out friendly handshakes and spotless vehicles glisten in the sun. The temperature seems to be a balmy 70 degrees.

Theres no snow, no mistletoe in the spot for Fords year-end incentive campaign, which promises no tags, no hassles and that the price you see is the price youll pay.

But the holiday feeling is there all the same, because the footage is set to the Linus and Lucy song from Vince Guaraldis classic soundtrack for the Peanuts gangs 1965 Christmas special.

Its the same irresistibly bouncy melody thats also known as the Peanuts theme.

The timing for the ad couldnt be better, in one aspect. Next month marks the fortieth anniversary of A Charlie Brown Christmas, and a new tribute CD, 40 Years A Charlie Brown Christmas ($14.98, Peak Records), features performances by artists like Brian McKnight, Chaka Khan and Dave Koz.

But to some music buffs, its never a great time to link songs so close to the heart to sales pitches.

I dont like to see anything like that used for advertising, says Todd Fundaro, a manager at Flipside Records in Clawson. Its not what I consider OK.

Still, Fundaro admits hed rather hear Charlie Browns music in a minivan commercial than that of the Rolling Stones. Where rockers are icons of rebellion, childhood favorites like Peanuts are more establishment, he says.

Indeed, for grown-ups of a certain age, the soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas has become a secular version of sacred music for the holidays. Listening to the Guaraldi score at this time of year conjures up for them warm, fuzzy memories of a simpler time.

And that pretty much explains why the Linus and Lucy song wound up in the ad.

The music evokes feelings of simplicity, honesty and integrity, which made it perfect for the spot, according to George Piliouras, executive creative director for JWT, whose Detroit office came up with the spot.

Like other baby boomers, Piliouras says he watches A Charlie Brown Christmas each year. Although he understands the reservations some feel about putting beloved pieces of music into ads, he doesnt feel bad about using the Charlie Brown music for his commercial.

I respect it like crazy, he says.

This isnt the first time snippets from the score to A Charlie Brown Christmas have been borrowed. The music has popped up in ads for Dell and in scenes from The Royal Tenenbaums, Wes Andersons quirky 2001 movie about a dysfunction family.

An episode of Foxs Arrested Development played the melancholy strains of Christmas Time Is Here -- another well-known selection from A Charlie Brown Christmas -- when a teen character, George Michael, walked home after breaking up with his girlfriend.

ABC plans to air A Charlie Brown Christmas on Dec. 6.

Until then, theres always the Keep It Simple ad to keep you humming.

Its kind of nice to hear it a lot, say Bob McClowry, director of regional advertising for JWT.


Dreaming of a Brown Christmas

The annual holiday special turns 40(!) this year

November 22, 2005

By Edward M Eveld
The Kansas City Star

The plot is thin. The pace is slow. The music is decidedly not rock n roll. A Charlie Brown Christmas is a beloved piece of Americana, despite its flaws and idiosyncrasies, or maybe because of them.

Theres reason to consider this cultural icon now because ... are you sitting down? The animated TV special turns 40 this year.

Thats right, it was 40 years ago that Charlie Brown first decried the commercialization of Christmas. Forty years ago he placed a single red ball on his sorry but real Christmas tree and lamented, Ive killed it!

In a bit of irony the folks in charge of all things Peanuts are trotting out new stuff they want you to buy to commemorate the 40th, including a plastic rendition of a spindly Charlie Brown tree available at Urban Outfitters for $24.

Many fans will forgive them the excess.

When the show airs Dec. 6 on ABC, you can bet Jon Yaeger, 26, will be watching. A local singer/songwriter whose own music is more rock n roll, Yaeger remembers getting hooked on the shows Vince Guaraldi jazzy score when he was 10 years old. Plus, the nostalgia of growing up with the show keeps him coming back.

With video, of course, fans arent limited to one viewing. I watched it like four times last year, Yaeger said.

Thats nothing. Mark Harries, a University of Kansas student, makes a vow every year along with a group of friends to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas every day, from Dec. 1 right up to Christmas.

If we miss it one day, we watch it twice the next day, said Harries, a 21-year-old senior.

Harries bought the soundtrack in high school. Besides the draw of the score, hes a music major and plays drums in a rock band, Marry Me Moses. Harries likes that the show has clout.

Its a substantial Christmas special as well as a fun little movie, he said.

And you can feel the smile in Pauline Graebers reverie as she thinks about the show To see Charlie Brown come back with that pitiful little tree and say he cant do anything right, and then theres Snoopy decorating his house and winning first place ...

Graeber, of Leavenworth, probably has one of the biggest collections of Peanuts music boxes in the country 550 at last count. She recalled meeting Charles Schulz in 1989 at Beaglefest, a gathering of collectors, in California. Schulz told the collectors about the shows foibles, how at the time he and the other creators figured it was doomed. Schulz died in 2000.

We thought we had destroyed Peanuts, said Lee Mendelson, executive producer of the show, in a recent interview. It just didnt work. And the network didnt like it. It was too slow; we had used kids voices and that jazz music.

When he first saw the show, Mendelson immediately thought the opening weak because of the instrumental music, which wasnt exactly joyful. Mendelson figured lyrics might help, and he came up with Christmas Time Is Here. Over the years Guaraldis tune with Mendelsons lyrics grew into a holiday standard.

So why the Guaraldi score -- a contemporary jazz sound -- in the era of rock n roll? Mendelson had used Guaraldis music for a 1963 documentary on Schulz and liked it. Guaraldis instrumental song, Cast Your Fate to the Wind, won a Grammy in 1963.

Mendelson credits Schulz for the success of the show.

It was a hit because of the morals and humor of a great Midwestern guy, Mendelson said about Schulz, who grew up in Minnesota.

The shows anti-mercantile theme continues to resonate, including the discussion about the true meaning of Christmas. In the show its Linus who moves center stage, blanket in tow, and recites the account of Jesus birth from the Gospel of Luke.

Its the whole denouement, Mendelson said. Its totally unexpected. It was probably the first animated scene of someone reading out of the Bible. That was Schulzs Midwestern roots.

No doubt the humor in the admittedly sluggish storyline and the peculiarities of Schulzs characters are big factors in the shows continued popularity, said Derrick Bang, the entertainment editor of the Davis Enterprise in California, and author of three Peanuts -related books. His latest, Its Only a Game, is a collection of single-panel cartoons by Schulz from the 1950s.

Scenes from the show and Peanuts gags are cultural mainstays Lucy in the psychiatry booth, Sally radiating hearts for Linus, Lucy trying desperately to get Schroeder to notice her noticing him.

I watch the show every year and still chuckle when Charlie Brown and Linus are on the Christmas tree lot, Bang said. They rap on the aluminum Christmas tree and it goes, clunk, clunk. Its a sociological statement people can relate to.

In the 1960s, animated television was aimed at a very young audience, Bang said. The action often was fast, and the music wacky or agitated. The Flintstones was on TV, and those storylines werent supposed to be taken seriously, he said. The Peanuts special was different. One unusual approach was to use children to voice the characters instead of adults trying to sound like kids.

That was all but unprecedented at the time, Bang said. It gave the show a sense of childhood innocence that was completely absent from other animated fare.

The music undeniably became a draw, Bang said, and the CD sells extremely well every year. Guaraldi, who died at 47 in 1976, was a genius at the instrumental hook, he said.

And Bang agreed with Mendelson that the Linus spotlight scene clinched it. Bang said the comic strip had gentle theological content but was never preachy. In the Christmas special, too, Schulz wasnt sermonizing.

That was the meat, Bang said. I truly believe the special was a convergence of many happy events.

The special received an Emmy for best network animated special of 1965. Its popularity remains strong. Last December, TV Guide named the show Best Christmas Special, and its airing by ABC drew an audience of 13 million.

Heres a heads up for next year, when another animated classic turns 40. Its the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown first aired Oct. 27, 1966.

Peanuts potpourri

Practice up on some Peanuts trivia in preparation for ABCs 7 p.m. Dec. 6 broadcast of A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Who are the dancing girls in A Charlie Brown Christmas?
They are twin sisters named 3 and 4 and were also characters in the comic strip in the 1960s. Their older brother was named 5, and their last name was 95742, which was also their ZIP code. Their father did this to protest the reduction of human lives to statistics.

What does Charlie Browns dad do for a living?
He was a barber, as was Charles Schulzs father.

Who are Snoopys siblings?
He had one sister, Belle, and four brothers from the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm. The brothers were Spike, Marbles, Olaf and Andy.

How did the creators make the sound of the teachers wah-wah-wah voices in the TV specials?
With a trombone and a plunger as a mute.

Who was the girl with the naturally curly hair?
Her name was Frieda.

Who was the Little Red-Haired Girl?
Schulz didnt give her a name or picture her in the comic strip, but animators for the 1977 TV special Its Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown did. Her name was Heather.

How old were the children who voiced the characters in A Charlie Brown Christmas?
About 6 to 9. Charlie Brown was 8 1/2 -year-old Peter Robbins, and Linus was 7-year-old Christopher Shea.

Sources United Medias official Peanuts Web site, www.snoopy.com and A Charlie Brown Christmas The Making of a Tradition by Lee Mendelson.

More anniversary items

*** 40th Anniversary A Charlie Brown Christmas holiday music CD by Peak Records, features new versions of the original soundtrack and new songs by Vanessa Williams, David Benoit, Brian McKnight and others, at music stores for $14.98.

*** A Charlie Brown Christmas DVD from Paramount Home Video is the classic Christmas special, at stores for $16.99.

*** A Charlie Brown Christmas ornament from Hallmark is free with the purchase of a Hallmark Keepsake ornament at stores.

*** Peanuts Tree Lot is a Department 56 ceramic scene that pictures Charlie Brown and Linus choosing the tree that leads them to the true meaning of Christmas, at gift stores and at www.department56.com for $45.

Happy 40th anniversary

Not to over-commercialize Christmas or anything, but United Media, which syndicates Peanuts, and its licensees would like you to consider several anniversary items. Hardees started offering Peanuts-themed toys this month, and Wal-Mart and Blockbuster have 40th anniversary holiday gift cards. The three items shown are

*** A Charlie Brown Christmas Tree. Looks just like the one Charlie Brown and Linus picked out at the tree lot; at Urban Outfitters, $24.

*** A Charlie Brown Christmas The Making of a Tradition by Lee Mendelson ($14.99, HarperCollins) is a paperback edition of the holiday book that tells the story of the animated special.

*** 40th anniversary collectors puzzle, 550 pieces, shows the Peanuts characters gathered around Charlie Browns tree, at Barnes & Noble, various specialty stores and www.snoopystore.com for $12.50.


Airship Snoopy One Floats Over First Coast

November 13, 2005

By Grayson Kamm
First Coast News (Jacksonville, Florida)

As the Jaguars battle the Ravens on Sunday, a man with ties to the First Coast will be floating overhead in the Met Life blimp.

The blimps named Snoopy One, and its been hovering over the First Coast off-and-on since Monday.

For the whole week leading up to the game, the blimps been based at Craig Airport.

When it finally flies over Alltel Stadium on Sunday, chief pilot Jeff Capec will be in control.

Hes a good flyer, and a local guy.

Before he took command of his first blimp, he lived in Jacksonville.

But Capec typically gets overshadowed by his co-pilot.

With six years of experience and four thousand flight hours, Capec still cant believe he gets shown up by a cartoon dog.

Along with Met Life and a corporate slogan, a giant image of Snoopy (complete with scarf and flying goggles) stretches across both sides of the blimp.

He gets all the respect, but he really isnt that much help to me, Capec says.

Peanuts comic strip characters are also painted on the wall behind the pilots seat.

Of course, its Capec and his ground crew who do all the real work.

A blimp has to depend on these ten guys you see out there. They travel on the ground with our trucks and trailers, and we cant go anywhere without them. Its a huge team effort, Capec says.

Each week takes Capec and his mobile base to a new town.

Their main job -- wherever they go -- is to fire up the engines, and get this big billboard balloon back up in the air.

Met Life makes our schedule, [and] hands it down to me. Im pretty much in charge of getting us from city to city and make sure were here and ready for whatever they want us to do, Capec says.

Shes no speedster. Snoopy one tops out around 55 miles an hour.

But shes mighty mobile, and -- maybe surprisingly -- incredibly safe.

We have a hundred-percent safety record. Weve never had anyone injured, or hurt in any way in our operation, Capec says.

The blimps filled with Helium. And if theres a problem with the relatively simple flying system, the pilot can just let out a little of the gas until the airship touches down like a hot air balloon.

Snoopy One will be carrying a camera when it flies over the Jags game Sunday.

The gear straps onto a rail right in front of the pilot.

The blimp will be up for about five hours on Sunday.

If need be, it can keep flying for 20 hours straight.

There is one problem with that, though.

Theres no bathroom on board.


Bye-bye to Peanuts just fine with most

But poll finds desire for new promotion

November 4, 2005

By Laura Yuen
The St. Paul Pioneer Press

After making it through their first summer in six years without the likes of Snoopy and Charlie Brown, most St. Paulites say theyre not pining for the once-ubiquitous Peanuts statues.

Perhaps sheer burnout beleaguered residents responding to a Pioneer Press poll last week in which more than half said they didnt miss the street-corner tourist attractions. Or maybe machismo was to blame. (While 47 percent of women said they missed the statues, only 35 percent of men did.)

More than 60 percent, however, want the city to try a similar tourist promotion next summer.

It was family fun, said Maurice Weldon, 31, a truck driver who lives near Hamline University and sought out the characters every year with his three children. Statue-seeing turned into lunch, sitting in the park or picture-clicking. We got the map and went and found them. The kids really enjoyed it, and thats what makes me happy. It was the best time ever.

But where theres a Maurice Weldon, theres an Erin Keyes. Almost apologetic, Keyes, a University of Minnesota law school administrator, prefaced her opinions with a nod to St. Paulites fondness for Peanuts creator Charles Schulz, who grew up here. She also appreciated the projects role in showcasing the talent of local artists.

The problem for Keyes was more aesthetic. She was OK when Chicago showed off painted cows and other cities did fish or pigs, but found the comic strip characters too commercial for her tastes.

Great idea, cheesy execution, said Keyes, 31, who lives on Grand Avenue.

But even Keyes has a soft spot for Snoopy. Those surveyed apparently agree the beagle statue was top dog - with more than double the appeal of even that round-headed kid, Charlie Brown.

Snoopy kicked off the statue project in 2000. Later came Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus and, finally, Snoopy lounging on the doghouse with Woodstock. Capital City Partnership, the downtown-revitalization group that spearheaded the public art project, decided to say so long to the characters when momentum appeared to dwindle after five years.

The St. Paul RiverCentre Convention and Visitors Authority estimates that more than 3 million people flocked to St. Paul during those five summers. Those visits spurred purchases of film, gas, bottled water and meals plus trips to the nearby museums or theaters, said Brad Toll, the groups vice president of tourism.

All told, his agency estimates that the economic impact of all five Peanuts summers was about $200 million. Would we love to have a Peanuts campaign? Absolutely, wed shine up the doghouse and use another coat of paint, he said.

The Capital City Partnership has been employing focus groups and feasibility studies to find the next thing to follow Peanuts. The group has toyed with the idea of creating a walking tour of the citys architecture and history.

Edison Vizuete, 47, a Washington County finance director who lives in the Summit-University area, said the next big idea should capitalize on St. Pauls identity. His friends from Spain and Mexico who have come to visit him like to exclaim St. Paul - thats where Charlie Brown was born, he said.

Attorney Patricia Hartmann, 51, said she misses the lovable kind of energy that Snoopy and the gang evoked. It gave a winsome, light air to the city when you looked around and saw the statues, said the Macalester-Groveland resident. It was the sort of thing that would put a smile on your face.


Good grief!

With the publication of The Complete Peanuts, the often dark and lonely side of Charles Schulz is more apparent than ever

November 3, 2005

By Alan Bisbort
The Hartford Advocate (Connecticut)

Oddly but somehow fittingly, Charles M. Schulz died only hours before the last of his Sunday Peanuts episodes arrived on Americas collective doorstep. With this one-two punch in February 2000, we lost an artist who, for a half-century, bared his soul to readers on a daily basis yet still remains an enigma.

We also lost an institution that stretched back through our collective memory and reached across barriers of age, race, gender and class, perhaps the last remaining pop cultural icon about which that can be said.

By the time the last Peanuts daily installment appeared on Jan. 3, 2000, Schulzs strip was syndicated in 2,400 newspapers in 68 countries. Americans, in short, werent the only ones left bereft.

Schulz also felt the loss. In his farewell strip to readers, he wrote, Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, Lucy ... how can I ever forget them?

As it happens, people have not forgotten Schulz, nor have they abandoned comics and print animation, which are experiencing a major revival all over the world.

Peanuts itself is enjoying a second life. Though Schulz kept his strips integrity intact by forbidding anyone else to draw it after his death, he surely didnt imagine that classic Peanuts strips would continue to be syndicated nearly as widely as when he was alive. In addition, one of the pleasant surprises on last years hardcover bestseller list was The Complete Peanuts, 1950 to 1952 (Fantagraphics), the first in a monumental 25-volume series that will, over the next 12 years, reprint all 18,000 of Schulzs strips on 7,500 pages.

That series is now on its fourth volume , with this months publication of The Complete Peanuts, 1957 to 1958 (Fantagraphics, 344 pages, $28.95), and sales continue to be brisk.

Another sign of Charlie-mania the first full-scale biography of Charles M. Schulz, Schulz , by David Michaelis, will be published by HarperCollins in 2007. Finally, this holiday season will mark the 40th anniversary of CBS first airing of A Charlie Brown Christmas, which has become a phenomenon in and of itself.

Why the enduring attachment to this little strip about a group of little people? The answer, or answers, to that question may be as simple, and as complicated, as the Peanuts creator.

Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Nov. 26, 1922, Charles Monroe Schulz was the only child of parents who both quit school by the third grade. His father (like Charlie Browns) was a barber and, for a period of time, the family lived above the barbershop. From the cradle, Schulz acquired the nickname Sparky, after Spark Plug, the horse in Barney Google, the most popular comic strip of its time (an omen of his own calling and his own unrivaled fame). For the rest of his life, no one called him Charles, Charlie or Chuck. He was Sparky, even to relative strangers on the street, and even as an old man. Though an affectionate nickname, it may have had the effect of infantilizing Schulz in the eyes of the public, thus making it easier to miss the deeper, darker elements to his art.

For all the loving remembrances of him -- and he was generous to a fault -- Schulz was also a peevish and secretive man, given to nursing old slights and licking old wounds. Michaelis said he never got over the pain of an awkward, friendless adolescence.

To the end of his life, Michaelis said, he remained baffled that the editors of the high school yearbook had rejected a batch of his drawings.

Schulz was also unhappy in love. He once said, I never had a date in high school, because I thought, whod want to date me? His 1974 divorce from his first wife, Donna Johnson, sent him into a deep hermitic funk. Melancholic by nature, he was beset by chronic bouts of depression throughout his life. Michaelis quotes a relative who said, He always felt that no one really loved him. He knew his mom and dad loved him but he wasnt too sure other people loved him.

Even as his success reached unprecedented levels for a cartoonist, Schulz never overcame this profound sense of inferiority. At age 65, he told one interviewer, Im beginning to wonder if I hadnt wasted my life.

He made $62 million in 1988, but according to an earlier biographer, Rheta Grimsley Johnson, He has spent a lifetime perfecting failure.

Charles M. Schulz was not a deep thinker but he may have been a genius. His genius was like Franz Kafkas -- forlorn but bemused, deceptively simple. And, like Kafkas stories, Peanuts has been interpreted by theologians and religious leaders for their own purposes.

Was Peanuts a religious strip, with a subtle evangelical mission. That question has dogged the strip since 1965, when Robert Shorts The Gospel According to Peanuts , became a bestseller. Was Schulz really trying to inject some Christian theology into his comics?

The 40th anniversary of A Charlie Brown Christmas this holiday season will, no doubt, raise these questions anew. Even as a cartoon figure, Linus and his recitation of the Nativity story is one of the most touching moments in the history of television broadcasting, capable of bringing tears to the eyes of even non-believers. This is due, in large part, to Schulzs extraordinary achievement. That is, he created Linus, with his sheer unflappable goodness, and he created that scene in the Christmas play. Yes, its a purely Christian story, but it is also the act of a decent little boy who feels compelled to silence the tormentors of his friend, Charlie Brown for what they, with their smug and overcommercialized eyes, see as his less-than-stellar directing job.

Dennis R. Hoover, formerly of the Leonard E. Greenberg Center for the Study of Religion in Public Life at Trinity College in Hartford, has estimated that 10 percent of the Peanuts strips had to do with religion. He said the strips complex point of view can only be fully understood in theological terms.

Hoover cites Umberto Eco who said, of Peanuts, These monster-children are capable suddenly of an innocence and a sincerity which call everything else into question ... we never know whether to despair or heave a sigh of optimism. Hoover said, This tension between despair and hope reflected Schulzs traditional Christian worldview. Humanity is fallen and sinful, yet created in the image of God.

But placing this burden on Schulzs shoulders might be what they call projecting in psychology. And, before the fundamentalists, gay-baiters and women-haters start making extravagant claims for Schulzs righteousness during the upcoming holiday season, it may be worth going back to the strips themselves and seeing for yourself whether these claims hold water.

Schulz was what might be described as an idiosyncratic Christian. He was raised in a Lutheran family that seldom went to church. Only after his mother died of cancer when he was 20 did he take an active role in any church, finding solace at a small Church of God in St. Paul. Here, he taught an adult Sunday school class for 10 years and even did some testifying on street corners and in missions, which later filled him with remorse. He told Rheta Johnson, It always bothered me that here we youngsters were presuming to tell these craggy old guys the Secret of Life.

After he moved with his wife and five kids to Northern California in 1958, he stopped going to a church regularly, which isnt to say that he ceased being Christian, though his faith was as unconventional. (Schulz loathed televangelists and made much sport of them in Peanuts strips of the 1980s and 1990s). Even his preferred scripture was colored by pain. When asked by a stranger for his favorite Bible verse, Schulz cited Romans 826 Likewise the spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the spirit Himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words.

In 1988, he told Gary Groth of The Comics Journal , Im not questing for anything. I dont know anything, frankly. I think its all a total mystery. I have no idea why were here and I have no idea what happens after you die.

In this same interview, he said, I no longer feel Im in a position to tell anybody anything, so I dont do it...

Schulz was as naive politically as religiously. He called himself an Eisenhower Republican, mostly an offshoot of his Midwest upbringing. When asked about his political leanings by Groth, he said, I dont even want to get into that. Its the same as the religious thing. He called his strips politics wishy washy and said he didnt want to offend people and I dont think its necessary.

Reading The Complete Peanuts from the beginning of the comic strip in 1950 as it progressed from day to day over the course of a half-century is not the same thing as picking through one of those innumerable Peanuts anthologies that were sold in the mass marketplace while Schulz was alive.

To read it as Schulz drew the comic and wrote it, like a novel from end to end, is to appreciate and understand that the strip was not, first and foremost, funny. Sure, the antics of Snoopy, as vulture, hoofer, tormentor of Linus and his blanket, are laugh-out-loud hilarious. And Patty (no, not Peppermint Patty), Charlie Browns original, pre-Lucy foil, had her moments of straight-faced comedy (If I knew you were coming Id have baked a mud pie!).

Many mysteries are also solved by reading the strips in this manner. Charlie Brown, as it turns out in the early strips, was the real classical music protégé, but his violin playing was not up to snuff (this same exact scenario turned Henny Youngman into the King of the One-Liners). He then became the mentor of Schroeder, who is a gurgling infant in diapers when we first see him. You also find out that both Violet and Patty are the original love interests of Charlie Brown and that they are both, of course, unrequited.

The Peanuts strips dont begin to reveal the darkness at the core of Schulzs vision until the mid-1950s, but the twinges are there from the outset.

Which brings us to Lucy. In or through Lucy, one can see the reservoir of pain at the core of this remarkable strip, which, if it didnt anticipate the inner child movement of the 1980s, certainly awakened generations of young readers to the darker echoes within themselves.

Lucy was a little monster, a nasty, browbeating, cruel, insensitive she-beast, the caricature of every mother or wife or teacher who could never be satisfied. Her endless baiting of Charlie Brown, her vicious glee in sticking the shiv in his ribs, in reducing him to head-banging self-loathing are, frankly, weird in a strip that purports to be about and for little children.

These Lucy strips are not funny strips. Reading them, one feels sadness and compassion for their creator; one cant help but ponder the pain he must have endured somewhere down the line to create such a character as Lucy. For, surely, Schulz is Charlie Brown, the good man who is inexplicably beset with woes, the loving man who seems to inspire nothing but hate in his peers.

In the very first Peanuts strip, in fact, from October 1950, Charlie is walking down the street as Shermy and Patty malevolently watch him approach. As he strolls past, Shermy says, Good ol Charlie Brown ... How I hate him!.

Linus, another less-than-funny character, has always been the linchpin for those who project religious themes on the strip. He was not always saint-like, however; in the earlier strips, he was capable of the same small cruelties as all the others. But, perhaps explaining the enduring appeal of Peanuts, Linus evolved as a character.

So did Snoopy, who was the comedic center of Schulzs little world, and in some ways the most consistently appealing character during the 50-year run of the strip. Snoopy is a master of physical comedy. Its weird to say that about a cartoon dog, but theres no getting around it. The vulture thing, the penguin walk, those hot-foot dances, the head in the water dish, rolling off the dog house roof. Hes as hilarious as Charlie Chaplin, whereas Charlie Brown is more reminiscent of Buster Keaton.

As Edmund Wilson has shown, in his profound meditation on this theme in The Wound and The Bow , personal pain has been the source of much great art and great writing. Schulz was capable of both.

Indeed, Schulzs writing is the most overlooked aspect of Peanuts. Some of his panels, if the dialogue were written straight out on the page, read like haiku poetry.

Take, for instance, Snoopys nocturnal meditation from Nov. 27, 1958 When I was young I used to howl at the moon every night ... I was wild and ignorant in those days ... I had a lot of fun, though ... Now I dont have any fun and Im still ignorant.

Or Charlies nearly existential lecture to Linus, from Aug. 5, 1958 My Gramma says that we live in a veil of tears ... shes right. This is a sad world ... this is a world filled with sorrow ... sorrow, sadness and despair ... grief, agony and woe...

What makes this strip work is Snoopy, who enters in mid-lecture doing his hot-foot, ear-flapping dance É only to slink into a state of dread-filled paralysis by strips end. All of this was created in four tiny panels!

Other strips are like Henny Youngman himself, only more jarring, more Dangerfield-like. Take the strip from Oct. 20, 1958. Lucy is telling Linus (whos holding his blanket and sucking his thumb), When I get big, I think Ill try to be an airplane hostess ... Maybe Ill get to fly all over the world! What do you want to be when you grow up, Linus?

Linus, extracts his thumb, lowers his blanket and earnestly says, A fanatic.

Some strips only have one line It always rains on the unloved.

Or Those stars are a lot farther away then they look.

But, coupled with the pathos-inducing portraits of Charlie Brown and Linus, they grab at the deepest currents within each reader. And, of course, some strips have no lines at all, like the one where Linus is playing in the autumn leaves or his staring at the stars in an ink-black night sky.

On rare occasions, Schulz tackled topical subjects, like the Sunday installment devoted to Linus fears of nuclear fallout (it turns out to be a snowfall).

Some simply say it all in one phrase and one gesture A person shouldnt have to lose all his pride when hes only 6 years old.

That Peanuts is not strictly funny is not to diminish Schulzs achievement. To admit that is, in fact, to encourage all whove been shaped or touched over the years by this little world of little people to reimmerse yourselves in the strip as it unfolded, as Schulz developed his themes, as he grew as an artist.

Thanks to Fantagraphics Books, this is now possible. Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, Lucy ... how can we ever forget them?


Good Grief!

New Peanuts exhibit opens at EdVenture

October 7, 2005

By Williesha C. Lakin
The State [Columbia, South Carolina]

When 4-year-old Luke Worsham stepped inside the EdVenture Childrens Museum, he communicated with small grins and nods.

But after venturing upstairs to see the new Peanuts traveling exhibit, Good Grief!, he couldnt help but utter, Snoopy, Snoopy, Snoopy, Snoopy.

His mother, Courtney Worsham, had this to say as she went upstairs to view the exhibit, which hails from the Childrens Museum of Manhattan This is going to bring back memories of when Mom used to watch Charlie Brown (on TV).

Luke and his 2-year-old brother, Matt, immediately ran to the life-sized statues of Charlie Brown and Lucy playing baseball, then to a pile of fabric leaves that resembled a giant nest for Woodstock the bird.

They are all boy, Worsham said when Matt started swinging around a fake twig. For grown-ups like her, the exhibit includes an extensive history of the comic strip, including quotes from its creator, the late Charles Schulz.

As a mom, of course, she couldnt help but feel some pity for Charlie Brown, who always seemed to lose in every facet of his life.

I always feel sorry for Charlie Brown, she said. Bless his little heart.

But Luke and Matt dont understand Browns poor lot in life. At the moment, they are too enamored with Schroeders piano, which seemed to play all by itself, and the television they could crawl inside. But that doesnt mean the exhibit wont make a lasting impression on the children, especially Luke.

He will tell me about it months from now, his mom predicted.

While his younger brother would spend the next 15 minutes or so playing classical music, Luke paused for a minute to watch a cartoon clip.

As Snoopy turned his doghouse into a fighter jet, Luke giggled and said, I know that part. I remember that part. Hes getting ready to take off. Hes pretending to steer.

Passing the piano, the TV and the stations where you can trace your favorite Peanuts character, Luke played with a sliding device that showed some quote bubbles from the strip translated into foreign languages. The strip has been translated into 21 different languages worldwide.

Of course, theres one language thats universal Woodstocks. In every language, the same squiggles appeared in his quote bubble.

It really attracts kids of all ages, Worsham said. You really can enjoy it on many different levels. For them to focus on this shows that theyre really enjoying it.

At one station where you can see several different comic strips, Worsham used the opportunity to teach Luke a lesson on being a good sport. She showed him a strip of Sally cheering after winning a tennis match, noting how she probably wasnt being very nice.

If you dont win, how does that make you feel?, she asked. Sad, Luke responded. After a few more minutes of flying with Snoopy and playing catch with the rest of the Peanuts gang, it was time to leave. The siblings, their spirits lifted, ran to the elevator and pressed both the up and down buttons.

Good grief, Worsham said. Her laughed seemed to mimic her sons.


Snoopy the Flying Ace Soars into Kohls to Benefit Childrens Health and Education Opportunities

In Celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the First Peanuts Television Movie, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Retailer is Offering Exclusive Collectors Editions of Classic Peanuts Books and Matching Plush

October 5, 2005

Business Wire

MENOMONEE FALLS, Wisconsin -- For a limited time, Kohls Department Store is offering exclusive collectors editions of Peanuts Books A Charlie Brown Christmas, I Want a Dog for Christmas Charlie Brown! and Snoopy Flying Ace to the Rescue. Kohls is also offering exclusive Charlie Brown, Snoopy and Woodstock plush characters and coordinating outfits.

As part of its Kohls Cares for Kids program, Kohls stores across the country will feature the exclusive items for $5 each with 100 percent of the net profits benefiting childrens health and education opportunities in Kohls markets across the country. The items will also be available online at www.kohls.com.

We are thrilled to be able to offer this special edition collection of childrens Peanuts books and plush to our customers, said Julie Gardner, senior vice president of marketing for Kohls. By buying and sharing these ageless stories, shoppers will help raise millions of dollars for our Kohls Cares for Kids program nationwide.

The collectors edition Peanuts books feature the classic Peanuts characters in brightly-colored illustrations based on stories and comics by Charles M. Schulz. A Charlie Brown Christmas is the classic holiday tale of Charlie Brown and his quest for the true meaning of Christmas. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the first Peanuts television movie based on the book, which is the longest-running cartoon special in history, airing every year since its debut in 1965.

I Want a Dog For Christmas, Charlie Brown! is the story of Lucy and Linus younger brother Rerun who wants a dog of his own and theres only one person who can help -- Santa Claus!

Snoopy the Flying Ace bravely keeps the world safe during World War I in Snoopy Flying Ace to the Rescue.

In addition to the Peanuts books and plush, Kohls is offering an exclusive holiday CD containing holiday favorites performed by Nat King Cole and Dean Martin. The CD, available only at Kohls, features 12 holiday selections including Winter Wonderland, Joy to the World, Baby, Its Cold Outside and many more.

The collectors edition books and plush, as well as the CD, are part of the Kohls Cares for Kids program. Throughout the year, Kohls features special items in its stores priced at $5 each with 100 percent of the net profits going to support health and educational opportunities for children in the communities it serves.

In addition to supporting childrens health and educational opportunities, the Kohls Cares for Kids program features a gift card fundraising opportunity for local schools and non-profit youth groups, the Kohls Kids Who Care program, which recognizes kids who contribute through volunteerism to their local communities, and the associate volunteer program, which encourages volunteerism to benefit local nonprofit organizations.


Peanuts to travel to EdVenture

September 27, 2005

The State (Columbia, South Carolina)

The simply illustrated comic strip Peanuts, created more than 50 years ago, has been a favorite of several generations around the world.

Now the strip has evolved into a traveling exhibition that will be featured at EdVenture Childrens Museum through Jan. 2.

Called Good Grief, the 1,700- square-foot exhibition from the Childrens Museum of Manhattan features the Peanuts gang.

Good Grief! uses the trials and tribulations of Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang to help kids see the hope and possibilities even if, like Charlie Brown, they always lose at baseball or if, like Peppermint Patty, they dont succeed in school. Life goes on even when things go wrong.

Children -- and grown-up fans, too -- can play with Schroeder and his piano or watch Charlie Brown in mid-pitch on the baseball diamond. They also can man Lucys psychiatric booth and journey to the mysterious pumpkin patch in search of The Great Pumpkin.

Check EdVentures calendar for exciting events including Breakfast with Snoopy, a Good Grief! birthday party theme, regular appearances by the Snoopy costumed character, and much, much more!

Children can trace their favorite characters. Adults, too, should appreciate learning about the history of the strip.

Admission is $8.95 for adults and $6.95 for children. Those younger than 12 months will be admitted free. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. For more information, call (803) 779-3100 or go to www.edventure.org.


Popular kid on block

Auctioning of 16 of Charlie Brown statues raises about $300,000 for art scholarships for local students

September 26, 2005

By Martin Espinoza
The Santa Rosa Press Democrat

One by one, the adorable Charlie Brown statues slipped through 9-year-old Teresa Kays hands Sunday afternoon at the Redwood Empire Ice Arena.

Every time the Santa Rosa girl raised her bidding paddle, someone else would top her bid. With her fathers hand securely on her paddle, Teresa watched the bidding go to $10,000, $12,000 and $13,000.

But when Maestro Brown, a statue of Charlie Brown dressed in a conductors uniform and holding a baton, went up for bid, Teresas father, Murray Kay, kept tapping her on the back, his sign that she could keep bidding.

The little girl could barely contain her joy when guest auctioneer John Bain announced she had the winning bid.

I feel really, really excited and happy, said Teresa. Kay, a real estate investor, will pay $16,000 in cash for Maestro Brown.

After spending all summer in various locations in Santa Rosa, 16 of the 55 Charlie Brown statues brought in about $300,000 at Sundays auction. The highest bid, $54,000, went to the colorful statue titled, Who let the dots out, by well-known artist Tom Everhart.

Lebo Newman, the owner of Liberty Enterprises in Reno and a former Sonoma County businessman, couldnt resist the Schulz/Everhart combination.

I havent been in Sonoma County for four years, said Newman. I havent been able to support the community. This was a good way to do it.

A statue of Charlie Brown dressed in a Giants baseball uniform -- signed by all the current players including Barry Bonds, as well as Giants legends Willie Mays, Willie McCovey and Orlando Cepeda -- brought a winning bid of $43,000. The statue, titled Say Hey, Charlie Brown, and three other statues were purchased by Pierre Ehret, the owner of the Flamingo Hotel in Santa Rosa.

For months, Santa Rosa hosted 55 Charlie Brown statues in an arts and community project called Its Your Town, Charlie Brown. The project, spearheaded by Charles Schulzs son Craig Schulz, marked the 55th anniversary of the Peanuts cartoon.

Parents and grandparents took little ones all over Santa Rosa on a treasure hunt to find the Charlie Brown statues. The auction was the culmination of a project that captured the hearts of many Sonoma County residents, as well as visitors from all over the world.

In the days leading up to the auction, many locals got the chance to see 53 of the statues all in one place, where they surrounded the baseball diamond next to the Charles M. Schulz Museum on Hardies Lane in Santa Rosa.

The statue autographed by the Giants players and Everharts statue were both on display in the museum.

Several of the artists who worked on the Charlie Browns were on hand Sunday, posing for photographs and signing autographs for many who had grown fond of the statues.

Zenny Warren of Petaluma was busy getting autographs for her two granddaughters who live in Alameda. Warren said she took her granddaughters to visit 40 Charlie Browns during the summer.

Charlie Brown brings a smile to your face, said Warren, who works in admissions and records at Santa Rosa Junior College. People relate to him because hes just a regular ol guy.

Craig Schulz said he got the idea to bring the statues to Santa Rosa after he saw how successful a similar project was in St. Paul, Minn., where Charles Schulz was born. Schulz said he was proud of the work of local artists who participated in the project.

I was most pleasantly surprised at how the Santa Rosa artists stepped up to the plate and made the designs as good as they are, he said.

The money raised in the auction will go toward art scholarships for local students, as well as the construction of a bronze statue of Charlie Brown and Linus for the Charles M. Schulz Airport.

Schulz said the art project will continue next summer, with another character from the Peanuts comic strip. But he wouldnt say which character it would be, only that it would be announced late December or early January.

Before the auction began, Schulz took an unofficial survey of the audience in the arena to find out who they wanted the next character to be memorialized.

Snoopy and Woodstock got the loudest cheers.


CafePress.com and Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates Team Up to Bring Vintage Peanuts Artwork to Fans of All Ages

September 21, 2005

PRNewswire

FOSTER CITY, California -- CafePress.com and Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates today announced the launch of the Snoopy Store, a store with character -- Peanuts characters, that is. Now fans can proudly support the Peanuts Gang -- Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Pigpen, Peppermint Patty, Linus and more -- on products ranging from apparel to framed prints, mugs and tile coasters to BBQ aprons and mousepads. As all fans know, each Peanuts character brings special humor and insight to life.

Beginning today, enthusiasts young and old can get dirty with Pigpen by sporting t-shirts and other apparel emblazoned with everyones favorite mud-soaked Peanuts character. Linus lovers can gear up for Halloween by wearing the Dear Great Pumpkin, Well I waited and you didnt show up, t-shirt or sweatshirt. Political aficionados can support Charlie Browns campaign by drinking their morning coffee or tea out of a Chuck for President mug.

And, just in time for the holiday season, the Snoopy Store features designs that will take all fans back to one of their fondest television memories, A Charlie Brown Christmas. Designs are available on a range of products, including the 1955 strip featuring Snoopy in a stocking, hanging from the chimney, with Charlie Brown and Lucy proclaiming, Oh Good Grief.

Were thrilled that such an important American icon has joined the CafePress community, said Maheesh Jain, co-founder and vice president of business development for CafePress.com. Charles Schulz was a hero to many, and we love being able to help share his work with fans.

Designs available through the Snoopy Store at CafePress.com were hand selected by employees at Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates, and showcase some rarely seen images from the comic strips 50-year history.

This store will be fan driven from day one. After all, we are all fans of the Peanuts Gang, said Paige Braddock, creative director at Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates. We believe weve done a good job of selecting images from the strip that folks have probably never seen on products before. And this comes at the same time as the strips 55-year anniversary. What better way to celebrate than to give something back to the fans.

To purchase Snoopy merchandise, visit http//www.cafepress.com/snoopystore .


Post-mortems on the Charlie Brown statue auction

September 20, 2005

By Chris Smith
The Santa Rosa Press Democrat

ON CHUCKS HOME FIELD Charles Schulz loved playing softball on the diamond he built across Hardies Lane from his ice rink. He played his final game not long before his death in 2000.

So you have to believe hed like the notion of inviting everyone there Sunday to mark the close of Santa Rosas first Peanuts public art project.

The statues of Charlie Brown will be scattered about Sparkys ballfield all through Sundays 11 a.m. to 330 p.m. celebration. At 4, the festivities move to the ice arena for the statue auction.

Heres a little news flash the public art project honoring Schulz will continue next year with artists being invited to personalize statues of another character.

Which one? Sparkys son Craig will reveal only, It definitely wont be Charlie Brown and it definitely wont be Garfield.

THE BIDDING KNOCKED THEIR SOCKS OFF Going into the auction of the Charlie Brown statues, Craig Schulz and other organizers thought it would be great if the 16 figures brought in $4,000 or $5,000 apiece.

Good grief, if the bidding in Santa Rosa were any hotter, it would have melted the ice in the late Charles Schulzs skate rink. The winning bids averaged nearly $19,000, and the one by ex-Santa Rosan Lebo Newman alone raised the temperature several degrees.

Lebo, a community dynamo who moved to Nevada after selling Redwood Landscaping in 1998, decided on the spur of the moment he wanted the Charlie Brown that was painted by artist Tom Everhart -- the only person on Earth authorized to include Peanuts characters in his works.

Lebo didnt know this A Florida woman named Linda Shefner-Holden had come to the auction determined to add that statue to her collection.

Linda went to St. Paul when it honored native son Sparky Schulz with its own statue project, and she was the high bidder for four Peanuts figures by Everhart. She wanted his Santa Rosa piece -- Who Let the Dots Out? -- in the worst way.

But in St. Paul shed paid only about $60,000 for all four of her Tom Everhart figures. In Santa Rosa on Sunday night, she wasnt prepared for this guy Lebo to bid and bid and bid against her, up to $54,000.

Lebo didnt know beforehand about Lindas quest to expand her collection. He said that if she wants his Charlie Brown badly enough to make him an offer, hell listen.

If he sells, hell donate anything above $54,000 to the Schulz museum.

BRAVO, TOO, to community-minded Santa Rosa hotelier Pierre Ehret. He came to the auction on a whim and wound up spending $69,660 for three statues, including the one signed by Barry Bonds and all the San Francisco Giants.

Pierre plans to rotate his Blockheads in and out of the lobby at his Flamingo Resort Hotel.

THE WINNING TICKET One of the Chucks -- the one dressed as a Wine Country tourist -- was given away in a raffle won by Santa Rosas Kristy OShaughnessy.

Kristy, who owns a bookkeeping firm and bought a hundred $1 tickets, said her familys Charlie Brown will go in the back yard.

Kristy said her kids, Conor, 12, and Shannon, 9, are very excited to have a new brother.

HARDLY PEANUTS When I reached Linda Shefner-Holden in Miami, she was gracious but still stinging from the auction of Charlie Brown statues in Santa Rosa.

Lindas the lifelong collector who fully intended to take home the statue of Blockhead painted by artist Tom Everhart, but gave up when Lebo Newman bid $54,000.

She said Charles Schulzs characters are so important to her that she has tens of thousands of pieces of Peanuts memorabilia in her house. Now 49, she celebrated her 40th birthday with a party where everyone came dressed as members of Charlie Browns gang.

She said shell definitely return to Santa Rosa next to bid for whatever figure Everhart paints for the citys 06 statue celebration. And she may make Lebo an offer for his.

But right now, she said, its still very raw to me.


Toon library opens for Peanuts at White River Jct. school

September 17, 2005

By Modisane Kwanza
The Burlington (Vermont) Free Press

The states new cartooning school now has a library bearing the name of arguably the most famous comic strip creator -- Charles M. Schulz.

The Schulz Library, named after the Peanuts creator, has opened under the auspices of the Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction. The center, which held its grand opening last week, offers one- and two-year courses on the creation of -- and appreciation for -- graphic novels and comics. About 500 people (some from Connecticut, Maine and New York City) attended the opening, which featured students cranking out original artwork at the centers Sketch Factory.

Funding to get the library up and running was provided by Jean Schulz, Charles Schulzs widow and director of the Schulz Foundation. The initial cost of setting up the library was $30,000, said CCS co-founder and director James Sturm. However, he added, Jean Schulz has given more than that to cover items such as staffing and contributions to last years capital campaign.

The library is in the old firehouse next door to the Main Street Museum, which Sturm called a truly unique cultural institution. The centers growing collection of graphic novels, comics and related ephemera will be kept at the library for use primarily by CCS students. Public use of the library might be arranged.

Sturm also expects visits from scholars and academics who wish to make use of the librarys collection. Sturm said the center owns a lot of rare graphic novels, adding that items in the collection will surprise even the most studied and learned cartoonist.

Sturm said that having a library dedicated to Charles Schulz goes far beyond the financial support given by his widow.

Ive been collecting, reading Peanuts since I was five, Sturm said, recounting a trip to the market in 1970, when he begged his mother to buy him a 40-cent Fun with Peanuts book published by Fawcett Crest. He has the book at his office at CCS.

That was the beginning of my comic collecting, Sturm said. It also gave rise to his enduring love for Schulzs work and Sturms collection of Peanuts memorabilia.

His approach and belief in cartooning, in believing that cartooning has a certain dignity, thats the cornerstone of this institution, Sturm said. I dont think theres a better person to have it named after.


New Snoopy to depict bonds with Manzanillo

Mall event highlights Mexican city

September 16, 2005

By Sam Stewart
The St. Paul Pioneer Press

St. Paul is sending a new goodwill ambassador to its sister city Manzanillo in the Mexican state of Colima.

Its a second Snoopy statue, similar to the ones on display last year during the citys five-year salute to Peanuts creator Charles Schulz, who grew up in St. Paul.

The new statue was designed by artist Wanda Mumm, a member of the Manzanillo-St. Paul Friendship Sister City board of directors and a veteran designer of Peanuts tribute statues.

Mumm, who two years ago designed another Snoopy statue on display in Manzanillo, said the new work represents the friendship and exchanges the two cities have undertaken.

The doghouse statue features Snoopy and Woodstock in scenes juxtaposing Manzanillo life with Minnesota images of ice and snow. It also features books in English and Spanish to emphasize the cities educational exchanges.

The new Snoopy has been on display at the Mall of America. Beginning today, it will be part of the weeklong event Experience Colima, a joint presentation by the mall, the city of St. Paul, area businesses and the governments of Colima and Mexico.

Its a big endeavor from Colima from its tourist and economic development arm, said the malls associate director for tourism, Doug Killian.

The event, which runs during mall hours through Sept. 25, features twice-a-day performances (noon and 6 p.m.) by the University of Colima Folkloric Ballet. Other activities include a simulated deep-sea-fishing experience and miniature golf putts, a 12-foot smoking volcano and Colima artisans demonstrating craftworks such as miniature furniture, folkloric masks, hammocks, clothing and jewelry. For more details, check out the malls Web site at www.mallofamerica.com.

Experience Colima also is meant to promote tourism, economic investment and housing development in the Mexican state, said Edina-based Affinity Marketing owner Gabe Castaneda, whose company was hired by the Colima government to promote the exhibit.

It also tries to build on Mexicos popularity as a vacation spot for Minnesotans and highlight Manzanillo as a safe destination that is more authentically Mexican than Cancun and other tourist spots, said Heidi Springman of Affinity Marketing.

Castaneda said the exhibit will promote a Colima housing community developed by a company headed by Twin Cities businessman Robert Koens, who was instrumental in creating the sister-city relationship between Manzanillo and St. Paul. The developments plans call for a combination of shops and businesses, an upscale hotel and resort and a gated section of homes and condos.

The mall event also will showcase St. Pauls sister-city relationship with Manzanillo.

Weve had teachers go to visit their schools, Mumm said. Weve also had students come up here as exchange students.

Over the years, St. Paul has made several special donations to the area, including sending a used firetruck and firefighting gear to Manzanillo. This weekend, St. Paul officials will dedicate a new library bookmobile and turn over the keys to its old one to representatives of Manzanillo.


Auction of Mutts Strip Raising Funds for Gulf Coast Animals

September 15, 2005

Editor & Publisher

NEW YORK -- Mutts cartoonist Patrick McDonnell, who previously never offered his original comics for public sale, is auctioning off a Sunday strip to aid Hurricane Katrina relief. All of the selling price will go to The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), which has been rescuing Gulf Coast animals.

The hand-colored comic -- from May 2, 2004 -- shows a couple who adopted a dog from an animal shelter being congratulated by the two stars of Mutts. Earl the dog licks the mans face and Mooch purrs near the woman. The strip also contains a tribute panel to Charles Schulzs Peanuts, with Earl as Snoopy hugging a Charlie Brown-looking Mooch.

Bidding on eBay started yesterday at $400, and was already up to $4,250 Thursday morning. The auction lasts until Sept. 24.

In a statement, McDonnell said The current situation created by the devastation of Katrina is intolerable for the human victims and horribly cruel to the displaced animals. There are estimates that over 50,000 pets were abandoned in New Orleans alone. The HSUS is in the trenches, has rescued over 4,000 animals to date, and is leaving food and clean water for many thousands more, allowing them to survive until they can also be brought home.

The King Features Syndicate cartoonist added The HSUS is in a good position to not only rescue these pets, but to also work with government and emergency management officials so that, in the future, Americans wont be forced to choose between staying with their companion animals in disaster-devastated areas, or abandoning their pets to what most certainly would be death by starvation. Katrina has proven what we have known all along -- there is a strong human-animal connection and our pets are part of our families. This bond deserves to be honored.

In related news, the North Shore Animal League Americas Muttsmobile -- usually used to promote shelter awareness and help find homes for shelter pets -- will be traveling to the Gulf Coast to help animals there. The bus-sized vehicle is decorated with drawings of Mooch and Earl.


Nuts about Peanuts

Robin Kubel has spent decades collecting items from popular comic

September 3, 2005

By Judy Eburg
The Ocala Star-Banner (Florida)

Robin Kubel is absolutely nuts about Peanuts characters. Kubel started her Charles Schulz collection 36 years ago, while a student at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey. Kubel had a professor of English Literature who used cartoons which had themes, in his class.

Kubel received permission from Charles Schulz to utilize Peanuts characters for a teaching program, with the stipulation that everything regarding Peanuts reverted back to Schulz when her teaching was completed.

Kubel, an Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner, has bought most of her extensive collection, (she has a storage facility packed full of Peanuts items) from the Danbury Mint, a magazine called Snoopy, Etc., and the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center in California. She became a charter member of the museum in July of 2001. She considers this an honor, as not everyone is allowed to join this organization.

She explained that everything that is sold under the Peanuts brand must go through United Features Syndicate. For instance, Danbury Mint must get approval from UFS before making anything pertaining to the Charles Schulz characters.

Kubel has received some of her collection as gifts. Two hundred of her items are Christmas ornaments. She also has blankets, sheets, towels, alarm clocks, soap dishes, toothbrush holders, jewelry boxes and Lionel train sets with Peanuts characters, just to name a few of the items she has.

Kubel says Everywhere in the world, people know Snoopy. She has received cards with Peanuts characters on them, from Germany, France, Japan and many other countries.

Her collection has too many items to list them all and she loves every one of them. She hopes to leave her collection someday to an organization like St. Judes Childrens Hospital, so many children can enjoy these characters as much as she does.


THE COMPLETE Peanuts 1957-1958

September 1, 2005

By Leroy Douresseaux
Comicbookbin.com

The Complete Peanuts -- 1957 to 1958
CARTOONIST Charles M. Schulz
EDITOR Gary Groth
DESIGNER Seth 327 pp., B&W, $28.95
Introduction by Jonathan Franzen

Having said it once, this bears repeating If you consider yourself a serious collector or reader of comic strips and/or even comic books, you must have Fantagraphics Books The Complete Peanuts as part of your comics collection.

The Complete Peanuts 1957-1958 is scheduled to be published on October 18, 2005. Fantagraphics graciously sent me an advance, uncorrected proof of the new book, the fourth in this series. In addition to a years worth of strips (January 1, 1957 to December 31, 1957), the book also includes an introduction by Jonathan Franzen, author of The Corrections and the writer who dissed Oprah Winfrey and her choice of The Corrections as an Oprahs Book Club selection. Franzen doesnt diss Peanuts cartoonist Charles Schulz, rather his introduction connects the suffering of Schulz and how it guided his work on the strip.

In this fourth volume of the series, the character of Snoopy (perhaps the worlds most famous fictional dog), asserts himself. Two classic Snoopy traits or habits become prominent -- his assault on Linus Van Pelts (Lucys brother) security blanket and his ability to do imitations and impersonations. Concerning the latter, this book contains 30 strips (at least two or three are Sunday pages) in which Snoopy imitates or impersonates an animal, his best impersonations being that of a vulture and a bald eagle. Endowing his character with that trait was a great move of Schulzs part, as it put the dog on equal footing with human characters. He was no longer just a pet; he was a fully functioning player in this little drama. He also joins the baseball team (April 12, 1957), and as one of the better players, he cements his new position as an equal.

As for Snoopys assaults on Linus blanket the first really good attack included in this volume is the Sunday page for September 15, 1957. The sequence is as a close to depicting a supersonic attack as a comic strip that relies on lettering for its sound effects can get. Snoops blanket strikes arent always so fast and furious; sometimes Snoopy uses smooth tricks to get Linus away from his blanket, as in a second Sunday page exactly two weeks later (9/29). The blanket battles are further evidence of both Snoopys independence, and also his ability to pretty much do what he wants without fear of punishment -- at least no more than what the human children would get for doing wrong.

One of my personal favorite storylines in his volume is the series of dailies (Jan 7-12, 1957), in which Lucy and Linus show Charlie Brown their ability to fuss (whine) in stereo, which usually gets their parents (unseen) to give them their way. Two small children whining and complaining in unison is not a novel concept, but the fact that these children deliberately plot this unique approach emphasizes that in the context of Peanuts drama, the children are intellectually akin to adults.

This volume certainly shows that Peanuts was gradually getting better as the strip got older. It was no longer a simple comedy about kids a la The Little Rascals. The strip was a fully functioning drama in which these characters explored both their own inner and outer worlds and that of their friends, but did so with comedy, both heartfelt and raucous.

The Complete Peanuts is available in retail outlets and directly from the publishers Web site.


Contest winner announced

August 30, 2005

Editor & Publisher

NEW YORK -- The winner of a MuttsComics.com contest seeking the weight in Peanuts of cartoonist Patrick McDonnells real-life dog Earl was only two goobers off.

Earl -- the model for the canine co-star of McDonnells King Features Syndicate strip -- weighs 2,662 in Peanuts (just over 15 pounds). Angie Gray finished first among thousands of entrants by guessing 2,664 Peanuts.

The contest (E&P Online, Aug. 9) was designed to celebrate the Top Dogs Comic Canines Before and After Snoopy exhibit running until Sept. 26 at the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, Calif. McDonnell is curating the show.


Dennis the Menace is a prize edition

August 25, 2005

By George Estrada
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Peanuts turned to gold for Fantagraphics. Now the once-struggling Seattle comics publisher hopes another cartoon icon, Dennis the Menace, can follow in Charlie Browns footsteps.

Fantagraphics will publish the first book in a 25-volume series, Hank Ketchams Complete Dennis the Menace, in early September. The series will run 11 years and reprint every Dennis the Menace newspaper strip drawn by Ketcham -- nearly 11,000 strips spanning more than 44 years.

The 624-page first volume will reprint the first two years (1951-53) of the cartoon life of the mischievous lad who bedevils his parents and neighbors. The company also will republish Ketchams autobiography as a companion to the first volume. The cartoonist was born in Seattle and died in 2001 at age 81.

Dennis is everybodys kid, said Ketchams widow, Rolande. Hes a lovable guy who gets into trouble but in a nice way. She had never heard of Fantagraphics until she saw its Peanuts anthology and its proposal to reprint Dennis.

They did a lovely job on Peanuts, and we are quite flattered that they are doing Dennis, too, she said.

Fantagraphics was on the verge of going broke just two years ago. Four best-selling Peanuts reprint editions and a boom in the graphic novel industry helped turn it around.

Compared to where we were two years ago, were quite prosperous now, said company president Gary Groth.

The first volume of The Complete Peanuts was published in spring 2004 and has since sold 110,000 copies. It was the first Fantagraphics product to hit The New York Times list of best sellers in the companys 29 years. The second volume has more than 100,000 copies in print, and the third and fourth volumes each have more than 80,000. Each volume has a retail list price of $28.95.

Fantagraphics had long been known for underground and alternative comics rather than family fare such as Peanuts, but a friendship between Peanuts creator Charles Schulz and Groth helped the company land the deal. After Schulz died in 2000, his widow, Jean, helped get the project off the ground. She helped us cut through all the red tape and convinced the syndicate that this was a good thing, Groth said.

For a small independent publishing company to get a license for the biggest cartoon character in the world was surprising, said Eric Reynolds, a special projects editor at Fantagraphics. Its been the biggest thing weve ever done.

Charlie Brown and his pals have an enduring and almost universal appeal.

He has hope, but knows there is always the possibility of failure, said M. Thomas Inge, a humanities professor at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Va., who has curated exhibits on comics art for the Smithsonian Institution. Hes a loser, but hes always trying to get ahead.

Dennis the Menace, on the other hand, persists in being the troublesome child but also has a universality. Dennis explores new environments, he challenges parental authority. We can all relate to him because almost every family has a child like this.

Marcus Hamilton, who took over the strip after Ketcham retired in 1994, said that the first volume of reprints may surprise longtime fans who view Dennis as a mischievous, but harmless little kid. The strip was a little more risque when it first started, he said. For example, in one panel, Dennis tied a swans neck in a knot.

Inspired by his rambunctious young son, Ketcham created Dennis in 1951, and the strip started running in 16 newspapers. It reached 100 papers by the end of its first year, and now Dennis trails only Charlie Brown in cartoon popularity. Dennis appears daily in more than 1,000 newspapers (including the Seattle P-I) in 48 countries, and is translated into 19 languages.

Ketchams autobiography, The Merchant of Dennis the Menace, originally was published in 1990. The new version will have vintage photos of Ketchams childhood home, family photos, early sketches and many other illustrations.

Graphic novel sales have quadrupled over the past five years, said Jim Killen, a buyer for Barnes & Noble, Inc., chiefly because the number of movies and other media projects based on graphic novels has increased. Also, the explosion of Japanese graphic novels has attracted readership.

Fantagraphics began as a trade magazine called the Comics Journal in Washington, D.C., before moving to Seattle in 1989. It later published comics by Robert Crumb and other underground artists. Alternative-type comics has remained its primary business, although it has reprinted collections of classic newspaper strips Pogo, Prince Valiant and Krazy Kat.

Other Fantagraphics titles include Ghost World, which inspired a 2001 film about two cynical teens. The screenplay was nominated for an Academy Award.

Fantagraphics almost went belly-up in 2003, when it was about $200,000 in debt and facing the prospect of more losses from the bankruptcy of a distributor. The company was saved by a frantic last-minute promotional campaign, in which it implored customers and retailers to buy more Fantagraphics products. The campaign yielded more than $100,000 in new purchases, Groth said, and the success of the Peanuts book got us over the hump.

We bought a lot of stuff from them because it was impossible to imagine a world without Fantagraphics, said Emily Harrold, a sales clerk at Zanadu Comics in Seattle. Were so glad they pulled through because they publish some of the best books in our industry.

The company now publishes about 50 books and 25 comics annually, with most of these publications being of the alternative or underground bent.

Were still a bunch of weirdos, Groth said. We just hide it better these days.


R&B, Jazz Acts Salute Charlie Brown Christmas

August 23, 2005

By Jordan Heller Weissmann
Billboard

Vanessa Williams, Toni Braxton, Brian McKnight and Chaka Khan have all lent their talents to an upcoming A Charlie Brown Christmas tribute album. Due Oct. 4 via Peak Records, 40 Years -- A Charlie Brown Christmas will feature a collection of soul, jazz and R&B artists crooning newly recorded versions of the cartoon classics in honor of the holiday specials 40th anniversary.

David Benoit, Rick Braun, Dave Koz, Norman Brown, Gerald Albright, Eric Marienthal and the Rippingtons featuring Russ Freeman will also offer their renditions of the holiday standards.

The album also boasts three new tracks Just Like Me. performed by Williams, Red Baron with the Rippingtons featuring Freeman and Braxtons take on Its The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.

The first A Charlie Brown Christmas album, performed by the Vince Guaraldi Trio, has been a strong holiday seller for decades. In December, ABC will broadcast the original cartoon alongside a 40th anniversary special.

Christmas Is Coming, David Benoit
Just Like Me, Vanessa Williams
Linus and Lucy, Dave Koz
Its the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, Toni Braxton
My Little Drum, Rick Braun
Skating, Norman Brown
Christmas Time Is Here, Brian McKnight
O Tannenbaum, Gerald Albright
Red Baron, the Rippingtons featuring Russ Freeman
The Christmas Song, Chaka Khan
Fur Elise David Benoit
Christmas Time Is Here Eric Marienthal


They just love Peanuts

Fifty-five large sculptures of Charlie Brown stand sentry throughout Santa Rosa, offering proof that although he was a loser in love, baseball and everything else, Charlie Brown wins the game of attracting tourists

August 21, 2005

By Jocelyn Y. Stewart
The Indiana Express

SANTA ROSA -- In tribute to Peanuts cartoonist Charles M. Schulz, who lived and worked in this city for four decades, Santa Rosa has painted the town Brown. This June, after the installation of the statues, the number of people stopping in at the Santa Rosa Convention and Visitors Bureau increased by more than 50 per cent to a record 6,660, said Mo Renfro, the bureaus executive director.

Were getting visitors from all over, literally, said Santa Rosa City Councilwoman Janet Condron, who helped organize the Its Your Town Charlie Brown celebration, which also commemorates the comic strips 55th anniversary. The recognition of Charles Schulz and the Peanuts characters is international.

Just as artists decorated statues of cows in Chicago and angels in Los Angeles, artists in Santa Rosa were allowed to paint blank statues as they saw fit. Like Snoopy imagining himself as a World War I flying ace, Charlie Brown was depicted in different personas Good Grief, Its Superman!, painted with a red cape, blue tights and black hair; Aloha Charlie, wearing a Hawaiian shirt, sunglasses and a lei; and Surf Chuck, with suntan and surfboard.

The summer celebration has had its good grief! moments. In June, someone stole Charlie Brown, dressed as a chef, from his spot in front of Micheles Restaurant. He reappeared after co-owner Bob Forsyth offered a $2,500 reward.

Fifty-five miles north of San Francisco, Santa Rosa is near 200 wineries, has its own symphony and boasts the famous Luther Burbank Home & Gardens. Schulz spent the last 40 years of his life in the Sonoma County town, which dubbed him the most beloved resident of the 20th century. He is known locally as Sparky, the nickname given to him as an infant.

The man who gave the world Snoopy, Lucy, Linus and the rest of the Peanuts gang also gave much to this community. In 1969, Schulz and his wife built the Redwood Empire Skating Arena -- also known as Snoopys Home Ice -- which plays host to an annual Christmas show with nationally known skaters. Every child whos grown up in our community has been to there for lessons, birthdays, Condron said.

Vandals ripped the arm off Dive On In, Charlie Brown, and tipped him over. They crushed the gold leaf-covered Peanuts attached to Gold Rush, and stole the sunglasses off another statue. As Charlie Brown might say Rats!

But such treatment is rare. What is obvious are families snapping photographs around Charlie Brown, each with a Peanuts story

Next to the arena is the Warm Puppy Cafe, where Schulz ate breakfast most mornings before heading to his nearby studio to draw. In 2002, the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center opened, featuring more than 7,000 original strips, cartooning classes for children, and discussions with cartoonists.

Santa Rosa isnt the only city that claims a special bond with the cartoonist. Schulz spent his childhood in St. Paul, Minn. For six years it has held a Peanuts-themed statue celebration, beginning with Peanuts on Parade in 2000. That summer, 101 statues of Snoopy were stationed throughout the city. Each year, members of the Schulz family traveled to St. Paul for the event, which inspired Schulzs son Craig, a Santa Rosa resident, to suggest a similar event.

Artists in Santa Rosa spent four days painting the statues in a warehouse, with the public invited to watch. Each polyurethane statue is bolted to a concrete base. The combined statue and base weighs 500 pounds and stands 5 feet tall. We let people be as free as they wanted to be, said Craig Schulz, the celebrations co-chairman who reviewed and approved all of the designs. His 16-year-old daughter, Lindsey, helped paint Holiday Special, a Charlie Brown statue covered with scenes from animated TV specials such as A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Photos of all 55 statues can be found under the visitors section of the citys Web site, http//ci.santa-rosa.ca.us/. Local business owners paid $5,000 to have a statue placed at their establishment, and $7,000 to own one. About 20 statues will be auctioned off in September after a Blockhead Party. The proceeds will fund art scholarships and help pay for a permanent bronze Peanuts statue at the countys airport, renamed Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport after his death in 2000.

In addition to attracting tourists, the statues have drawn locals out of their neighborhoods. It has a tendency to bring people together, said Craig Schulz. Its what I call rediscovering Santa Rosa.

Janet and Tim Sandis of Mountain View, California, recently visited Santa Rosa. Born and raised in Greece, Tim knew nothing about Charlie Brown until he met Janet, then 25 years old and a Peanuts lover. That love persisted through parenting, work, retirement. Multiple sclerosis has left Janet, now 60, in a wheelchair. It has robbed her of tennis and the symphony, things she once enjoyed. So Tim, 75, brought her to Santa Rosa. He wheeled her through the museums halls and past the Charlie Brown statues. They purchased a T-shirt for their daughter, who recently graduated from art school. Janets spirits are still high from the trip, said Tim, days later. Shes a fan.


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