Welcome to Unpacking Peanuts, the podcast where three cartoonists take an in-depth look at the greatest comic strip of all time-- Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz.
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In the March 16, 1957 strip, Snoopy refers to Charlie Brown by name. By at least the 70's or 80's, there is a running gag that Snoopy, despite being Charlie Brown's dog, is unaware of Charlie Brown's name and he regularly refers to him as "that round-headed kid." I wonder when that started. I always found that to be a funny... if somewhat sad... recurring joke.
Good grief! You mean I have to be the one to draw Snoopy's memories of fighting in the Gallic Wars just because it was *my* dumb idea? And I was *so* looking forward to doing some Snoopy flash-beagle dancing art. That's what the kids are into now-a-days, right? Hula hoops, 1980s dance crazes, and ancient history. Right? Anyway, the name of the comic would be "Penates," not Peanuts, as the Di Penates were the little household gods. Here's how a Sunday strip could go. Panel: Title: PENATES Panel: Snoopy -- "Hail Cæsar, fellow legionaires!" Panel: Snoopy -- "Here's Snoopy the Centaurian posing beside the newly-built Roman fortress." Panel: Snoopy -- "By Hercules, we sure build a lot of fortresses and bridges in the army." Panel: Snoopy -- "Now I'm part of the Dawn Patrol! We're out to hunt down Lord Vercingetorix and his druids!" Panel: Snoopy -- "I cross over the enemy lines ... I see a network of wickermen and obelisks." Panel: Snoopy -- "Suddenly blue-painted Gauls appear! They're everywhere! I lift up my gladius and shield!" Panel: Linus (stabbing with a toy sword) "Stab stab stab!" Snoopy -- falls off of his dog house. Panel: Snoopy -- "It'd be safer if I just became a gladiator!" Next week: Snoopy gets into a confrontation with his neighbor, who's not only a cat ... but an Egyptian cat!!!
@@Liz.Sumner I recommend doing a Google images search. The models they made for those shots were very impressive and the best three dimensional Peanuts I've ever seen.
Mammy Yokum is best comic strip mom. Anyway, a few days ago at Free Comic Book Day I was sure to pick up the "Snoopy and the Beagle Scouts" free comics for my nieces and nephews whom I'll see next weekend for Mothers' Day. The store had one copy of the actual Beagle Scouts book, which I purchased, and I suppose the munchkins will just have to share it. As for the name "Snoopy," I'm sure it was mentioned in an earlier podcast how it was a common dog's name among immigrant Norwegian families in Schulz' youth. A glance at Wiktionary shows that in current Norwegian "Snuppe" is a word meaning "one's girlfriend," as in "chick" or "babe." So, I'm guessing that in Schulz' youth this word, or a word similiar to it, meant something like "Lassie" when applied to a pet dog. Perhaps this explains why Snoopy has a brother named "Olaf." Now that I think of it, Maggie from "Bringing Up Father" may be in the running for comic strip mother of the year ...
I vaguely remember my headmaster/Latin teacher having a book with a bit of Peanuts in Latin. I do remember at that time that the holy grail was to collect albums (issues) of Asterix that were translated into Latin (and also Esperanto!). Schulz was of course familiar with one phrase in Latin as it appears in his Jan 11, 1965 strip -- "Felicitas est parvus canis calidus" -- Happiness is a warm puppy. Considering that "Linus" is a latinate name, now I'm wishing that the strip had taken place in classical antiquitity. Snoopy's flashbacks to the Gallic Wars would be especially exciting. ("Opus" is of course also a latinate name in form, but Bloom County/Outland's pocket-dimension may already encompass all of space-time.)
Teasing a "Mary Worth" or a "Nancy" themed episode like that! I'm still waiting for the "King Aroo" episode to come out! It'll probably follow the episode on "The Legible Handwriting of Winsor McCay."
I am currently doing the great peanuts read, not reread, because I started reading the 1950 to 1952 book back when I was 12. 6 years later, and I'm currently reading 1982, so unless I read faster, I'll have episodes off limits for me because I'm not caught up. But I love this podcast so much. When I discovered this podcast, you guys were at 1970 or so, I was worried that the great peanuts reread would not be finished. I was concerned because several podcasts I've discovered end before they really get going. I'm glad my fears were for naught. I love this podcast, I can't say it enough. To end this long comment, I'll say one more thing, I'm very grateful that this podcast exists because there are few peanuts videos on RU-vid that talk about the strips only. Most videos are about the specials which I still enjoy, but I'm glad there is a show about the strips.
It’s funny that you mention Oscar Wilde, I remember in the Halloween special of Amelia that Reggie’s cousin EarthDog dressed as him for her party. He certainly had class 😂
I liked the Robert Smigel TV Funhouse take on this cartoon when the kids would make all sorts of things "better" by waving their arms in front of stuff.
Off-topic; do you guys, or anyone, know the complete "Guide to Life" bookseries list? I want to collect them, but i dont know what i miss or need. Thanks! Keep up the show. Fan from the Netherlands.
If you're looking for a comic strip precedent for Snoopy, perhaps we should look at Tige (short for "Tiger") who was Buster Brown's dog during the early 1900s. From what I remember, Tige seemed to be more than a normal dog: he made faces at the reader and seemed self-aware to some extent. By the way, Buster Brown's girlfriend, Mary Jane, had red hair, if I remember right. It seems that a hero with a semi-magical perhaps animal friend and who has an interesting relationship with a red-haired girl goes back quite some while. Another possible precedent could be Mr O' Mallery from "Barnaby," the cigar-chomping fairy godfather who may or may not be real. This comic did feature a talking dog and other magical folk whom only Barnaby could see. Not quite the same as putting on personas (or perhaps costumes) as Snoopy does, but certainly examples of cartooning that Schulz would have known. (By the way, RU-vid briefly changed the name of your video to "You Have Disorder, Snoopy." Brings to mind the Three Stooges short "Disorder in the Court").
Okay, I thought *I* was the only one using ChatGTP for "Peanuts" related nonsense. I asked the Chat a bunch of questions, and it kept telling me that The Little Red Haired Girl's name was "Marsha" (or something like that). I told the Chat that she's called "Heather" in the television specials. So, if, in the future, Chat calls her "Heather," it may be my fault. Be ye of good cheer.
@@unpackingpeanuts Chat might just call her "Heather" to me, since it seems to remember my previous conversations. I didn't save anything, but I had a long chat with Chat about What Makes a Pumpkin Patch Sincere and Does Charlie Brown *really* love the Little Redhaired Girl. Eventually I moved onto other nonsense: like Marx Brothers movies that were never made but should have been (Chat suggested "The Marx Brothers Go To Mars), what if Frodo had gone to Mordor with the Three Stooges ("Throw the ring into the fire, you knuckleheads!") , what if Shakespeare had written "The Terminator" ("I'll be back for you, Hamlet!") ... and then I tried to get Chat to rewrite passages from world literature. Eventually I had to tell the Chat "This is from the Bhagavad-Gita" or "This is from Shakespeare" and "This is from the Bible," because I don't think Chat really understood what it was reading. Chat flagged a passage from "The Song of Songs" as "inappropriate" -- I guess those perfumed maidens of Solomon were a bit too spicy for the Chat. Makes me wonder what Linus would be doing with ChatGTP though. Good grief.
Hello gentlemen. It’s real awesome getting to hear more about Mr. Schultz through your podcast. As you know, I always look forward to a new episode on Apple podcast and I thought I’d drop by your RU-vid channel to spread more of my support. Be of good cheer ^^
I'm fascinated that when Linus is doing his routine about "...a woman scorned..." routine, he says, "...a woman who has been CHEATED OUT OF tricks or treats..." Would Linus have seen it as "cheating" her out of tricks or treats? I would think he would be sad the Great Pumpkin didn't come, but I would expect him to say something like "...deprived of..." My other thought is that if he had more room he might have had Linus say, "... who THINKS she's been cheated out of tricks or treats." Thoughts? Does Linus know the Great Pumpkin really is a fake? Does he wait each year because of some sort of social awkwardness? Or is it something else? (What other cartoon makes me think this hard, or parse words so carefully?)
That’s a great question, Gene. This is Harold replying-being sort of Linus-y myself, and as we know that Schulz seemed to think out his word choices so carefully, here’s my theory: Linus is so empathetic that he’s speaking from Sally’s point of view and not his own when describing her situation. Does that make sense?
Chart should be the Peanut Gallery with the tiers being a theater arrangement - the main cast on stage, you’ve got understudies, the front row, the balcony, etc
Hi there and hello!! Thanks for the shout out!😃 I’m glad to hear that you guys are enjoying my research. Although I’m just realizing today that there are a few more strips that I should have added to my list for 1960. That weird strip with Snoopy running around Charlie Brown was animated in the early 2000s in “Lucy Must Be Traded, Charlie Brown”. And there are two VERY sweet strips in August with Sally. When Linus gets excited about Sally learning to walk, Sally thinks to herself, “Isn’t he the cutest thing?” And in the next one, we see Linus walking with his blanket, and Sally is walking behind him holding his blanket up off the ground so it doesn’t drag. Sally has hearts over her head.🥰 These two strips were loosely adapted in A Charlie Brown Christmas, and the last panel of the second one is shown on the disc 2 label of the Peanuts 1960s collection.
I’ll also mention that the story of Linus trying to do without his blanket for two weeks was the EARLIEST multi-week storyline to get an animated adaptation. This can be found in The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show in the episode “You Can’t Win, Charlie Brown”.
I’m from central Pennsylvania, so I’m familiar with the Eisenhower interchange in Harrisburg. We never called it Ike. We always called it the “concrete jungle”, because that was the first place as a kid that I saw that many bridges stacked on top of each other going every which way. We used to go through it every time we went to the Pennsylvania Farm Show.
Hennepin County, Minnesota, eh? Wow! I’ve never been to Minnesota before. But if I ever get up that way, I’ll have to check it out! As glad as I am to hear where Peanuts takes place, I’m almost glad we don’t hear it anywhere else. Because Peanuts can take place virtually anywhere if you use your imagination.
Hey, there’s another great strip from “Play it again, Charlie Brown”! I love that one with Linus and Snoopy dancing. And Lucy’s line at the end after she couldn’t get them to stop is fantastic: “Youth never listens.”
Schroeder’s ART! ART! ART! strip that all three guys picked? I would have picked that one, too! Know why? Because it was adapted in the special “Play it again, Charlie Brown”, which is a fantastic animated collection of some of the best Lucy and Schroeder strips.
That “queen jelly bean bug” strip reminds me of the time in “It was a short summer, Charlie Brown” where Lucy thinks she sees a butterfly from Brazil on the ground, but Linus looks at it; it turns out to be a potato chip. Lucy says, “well, I’ll be. So it is. I wonder how a potato chip flew up here from Brazil?”
I can totally relate to the old “it’s a bug! It’s a piece of fuzz!” gag. My mother was in the sewing business (she used to make table runners for the quilt shop at Kitchen Kettle Village in Lancaster County). There were often little fabric scraps and clumps of thread on the floor, and we sometimes couldn’t tell if they were alive or not LOL! So, that sort of became a running gag for us; mom would tell me to pick up those “fabric bugs” off the floor!
Oh my gosh, that argument at the end about birds flying south STILL has me laughing! I have a feeling that this year is going to take more than two weeks to cover.
Excellent work, gentlemen! I like the idea of splitting Peanuts into ten “seasons”, two for each decade. That’s actually how some of the DVD collections are set up. Peanuts 1960s collects specials from 65-69, and the Peanuts 1970s collection is split into two volumes. I also think it’s a great idea to start from your favorite special, and back up a few years from there in the comic strip, to get the kind of flavor you want. Plus, the really cool thing about The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show is that it covers 30 years of comic strips in just 18 episodes! In no particular order, that series uses storylines from the late 50s all the way to the early 80s, so it has a little something for Peanuts fans of every generation! And one last thing; although most of the comic strips before 1955 were never adapted, there is one important exception. The very first strip (Good ol’ Charlie Brown. How I hate him!) finally became animated in the 2011 special, Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown.
Super! Okay, there’s another Pigpen strip in January in which he says, “What do you want me to be? Inconsistent?” This one was used in the second special, Charlie Brown’s All-Stars. Then later, in August 1956, Lucy steals the Beethoven head sitting on Schroeder’s piano, and replaces it with a picture of herself. This also happens in A Charlie Brown Celebration. Two strips from 56 also made their way to the first 70’s special, Play It Again, Charlie Brown. First, Lucy asks Schroeder if piano players make a lot of money. Schroeder says, “This is ART!” And I really like the one where Lucy is annoyed with Linus dancing with Snoopy. Linus says, “Five hundred years from now, who’ll know the difference?” Lucy walks away sighs, “Youth never listens.” And finally on December 30th 1956, we see Snoopy dancing on Schroeder’s piano, which closely resembles that well-known scene in A Charlie Brown Christmas. I think what I’ll do from now on, if this is helpful for you, is to read ahead a year and tell you what I find. That way this information will be ready for you in case you want to mention mention them in the next episode.
@@Liz.Sumner 1960 already? Wowza! In that case, I've got a lot of ground to cover if I'm going to catch up with you guys! Fortunately, I did a lot of my own research almost three years ago, so I already have a lot of the adapted strips from 55 to 61 written down. If Jimmy still wants to see my list, what would be the best way to send it to him? Should I email it, or send it through an Instagram message? After I catch up to the 60's, I'm going to try to stay about five years ahead of the completed podcasts.
Here are the adaptations of the strips featured in this episode: Lucy saying “snow comes UP!” became part of the song “Little Known Facts” in You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown (both the live musical and the animated special) Square balloons- Happy New Year, Charlie Brown (Except Rerun plays Linus’s role) CB accidentally says “Merry Christmas” on Valentine’s Day- You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown (Except the valentine is for Lucy, not Violet) Lucy destroys Schroeder’s Beethoven statue (and Schroeder has more in the closet)- TWO VERSIONS: You’re In Love, Charlie Brown (Lucy slams statue down on piano, smashing them both, Schroeder has a closet full of pianos as well), and Happiness Is A Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown (smash with baseball bat). Both end with Lucy saying, “I’ll probably never get married.”
The next strip adapted in A Charlie Brown Christmas is in January 1956, where Pigpen says, “On the contrary, I didn’t think I looked THAT good”. I know the specials very well (I have most of them on DVD) as well as the Saturday morning series, so I can always recognize a strip that was later animated. Would you like me to point out each time I see one?
