4477. Woodstock the King of Love

Woodstock is a fictional character in Charles M. Schulz's comic strip Peanuts. He is Snoopy's closest friend and, after Snoopy, the most recognized non-human in the strip.

Snoopy began befriending birds in the early 1960s, when they started using his doghouse for various purposes: a rest stop during migrations, a nesting site, or a place to play cards. None of these birds were ever given names, or even used speech balloons; they simply looked at Snoopy and he understood them. What set Woodstock apart from all these earlier birds was the fact that he attached himself to Snoopy and assumed the role of Snoopy's sidekick and assistant. There had been no recurring relationships between Snoopy and the earlier birds who visited the yard of the Brown family, and Snoopy was as often as not more hostile than friendly toward those birds. But, in the April 4, 1967, Peanuts daily comic strip, a single bird flew in after a long flight while Snoopy was lying on top of his dog house. He chose Snoopy's nose as a good place to rest, and Snoopy uncharacteristically accepted this intrusion. Over the next two days, Charles Schulz began to establish character traits for Snoopy's new friend by revealing that he could talk (more accurately that he could complain, in the form of repetitive sounds in word form—"gripe, gripe, gripe, gripe", "complain, complain, ..."), that, unlike normal birds, he didn't like to fly south every winter, and that his flying skills were not quite up to snuff. By the end of this four-strip sequence, Snoopy, in character as the World War I Flying Ace, learns that the bird is his new mechanic — Woodstock's first supporting role. After this introduction, the unnamed Woodstock is seen with Snoopy on occasion, and other birds continue to appear as they had for years. But Woodstock is singled out as the bird who befriended Snoopy, in part by continuing references to him as the Flying Ace's mechanic (July 12, 1967; June 12–14, 1968). Finally, on June 14, 1968, fourteen months after his first landing on Snoopy and after a second appearance as a supporting character for Snoopy (his wrist wrestling partner on April 25, 1968), the most important aspect of Woodstock's relationship with Snoopy is made clear—Snoopy first refers to this bird as his buddy. That identification was more than enough for readers to know, if they hadn't already figured it out, that this little bird, name or no name, had assumed the role of a regular character in the Peanuts cast.
Schulz did not give him a name until June 22, 1970. Schulz acknowledged in several print and TV interviews in the mid-1970s that he took Woodstock’s name from the rock festival. (The festival’s logo showed a bird perched on a guitar.)

Schulz originally considered the bird to be a female—but after the naming on June 22, 1970, it incidentally changed to be a male. As he explained in an interview in 1987:
"I had been reading the Life magazine article about the Woodstock Festival and I had the little bird in the strip. It was a she and she was Snoopy's secretary and I was doing secretary jokes quite often so then I thought Woodstock would be a good name for this bird and also, it will get the attention of these people that liked that kind of thing. Suddenly she was not a secretary; she became Woodstock, the boy. It just happened. But that's what's good about a comic strip—you can just do it."
(In the Norwegian translation of Peanuts, the bird is named “Fredrikke”—a female name—and it is always referred to as a female.)

Snoopy has often wondered what type of bird Woodstock is. At one point Snoopy attempts to identify him with the aid of a field guide, asking Woodstock to attempt to imitate various birds: Crow, American Bittern, Carolina Wren, Rufous-sided Towhee, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Canada Goose, Warbler and Mourning Warbler. Snoopy finally gives up trying to figure it out, and hurts Woodstock's feelings by saying, "For all I know, you're a duck". Snoopy takes it back with a quick hug, at which point it becomes clear that it does not matter what type of bird Woodstock is; the only important fact is that he is Snoopy's best friend.
Schulz never definitively answered the question of what type of bird Woodstock was supposed to be.

3931. Charlie Brown as Santa Claus

Charles "Charlie" Brown (occasionally called Chuck by certain characters) is the main character in the Peanuts comic strip by Charles M. Schultz. Charlie Brown is a lovable loser, a child possessed of endless determination and hope, but who is ultimately dominated by his insecurities and a "permanent case of bad luck". He is often taken advantage of by his peers.

Charlie Brown first appeared in 1947, three years before Peanuts started, in a comic strip by Charles M. Schulz called Little Folks. He later appeared in the first Peanuts comic strip on October 2, 1950. He is one of the most well known characters in Peanuts and is considered to be the main character in the strip.
Charlie Brown states in the strip from November, 3, 1950, that he is "only four years old", but he aged over the next two decades. He says he is six in the strip from November 17, 1957, and eight-and-a-half years old in the strip from July 11, 1979. Later references continue to peg Charlie Brown as being approximately eight years old.

Charlie Brown falls for the football gag again.
Charlie Brown is an avid kite-flyer, but his kites keep landing in a "Kite-Eating Tree" or suffering even worse fates. In one strip from 1958, he finally gets the kite to fly before it spontaneously combusts in the air.
Every autumn Lucy van Pelt promises to hold a football for Charlie Brown to kick, and every year she pulls it away as he follows through, causing him to fly in the air and land painfully on his back. Charlie Brown was never shown as succeeding to kick the football in the comic strip. In a strip from 1979, in which Charlie Brown is in hospital, Lucy promises she will never pull the football away again. She does not pull the football away when Charles Brown tries to kick it after he gets well, but he misses the football and kicks her hand. However, he kicks it in a 1981 TV special, It's Magic, Charlie Brown when he was invisible. In a strip from 1999, Lucy delegates the task of holding the ball to her brother Rerun van Pelt. Rerun does not reveal whether Charlie Brown kicks the ball or not.

Charlie Brown is drawn with only a small curl of hair at the front of his head, and a little in the back. Though this is often interpreted as him being bald, Charles M. Schulz has explained that he saw Charlie Brown as having hair that was so light, and cut so short, that it could not be seen very easily. Snoopy thinks of his owner as "the round-headed kid". He almost always wears black shorts and a short-sleeved shirt, usually yellow, with a black zig-zag stripe around the middle (he originally wore a plain white tee shirt in 1950). Charlie Brown's apperance has become "iconic. " During the Christmas he wears a green jacket and jeans.

3897. World War I Flying Ace

The World War I Flying Ace is one of the many fantasy identities that Snoopy adopted during the fifty year run of the Peanuts comic strip. In the early years of the strip, Snoopy would pretend to be other animals, such as a vulture, a boa constrictor or a piranha. As his character developed, Snoopy's imaginary life became more complicated. Many strips would focus on Snoopy pretending to be a lawyer or the student "Joe Cool." However, the World War I Flying Ace would be one of Snoopy's most popular and enduring alternate identities.
Snoopy's first appearance as the World War I Flying Ace was in the Peanuts comic strip from October 10, 1965, which saw him climb on top of his doghouse (claiming it was a Sopwith Camel biplane) to do battle with the Red Baron. The fantasy ended when Linus came up behind him and imitated the noise of a machine gun.

Often, when Snoopy is seen as the World War I Flying Ace, it is hard for other characters to get his attention, because all Snoopy cares about at that point, is his imaginary battles. For instance, in the strip from June 20, 1989, when Charlie Brown comes home from camp, and really misses Snoopy, the first thing Snoopy (as the World War I Flying Ace) says when he sees the boy is, "Don't they realize how dangerous it is to let unauthorized kids on the runway?".

Often, after an imaginary battle, Snoopy will call out "Curse you, Red Baron!"

The first television appearance of Snoopy as the World War I Flying Ace was in the animated special, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, initially broadcast on October 27, 1966. In the special, Schroeder appears to be happy to go along with Snoopy's game by playing popular songs from the World War I era on his toy piano.

Other characters would participate in Snoopy's imaginary World War I exploits during the strip's run, including his friend Woodstock and his siblings, Belle and Spike. The most eager human participant appears to be Marcie, who is happy to accept the role of "French lass" who falls for the dashing pilot. However, Snoopy's brother Marbles refused to take part in the game and found his brother's behavior very confusing.

3783. Spike

In the Peanuts comic strip by Charles M. Schulz, Spike is Snoopy's brother who lives alone in the California desert. He first appeared in the strip from August 13, 1975 and has appeared in Peanuts more frequently than any other of Snoopy's siblings. Spike has whiskers which look like a mustache and always wears a hat. He is shown to be very skinny.
Origanally, he lived with coyotes, but they treated Spike badly, so he moved out, and went to Needles, and now lives by himself, with a cactus for company. However, he sometimes leaves Needles to visit Snoopy.

At first, Spike was a minor character, but as time past, Spike started appearing more frequently. By the 1990s, Spike had arguably become a major character.

Spike is the main character in the 1988 television special It's the Girl in the Red Truck, Charlie Brown and features prominently in the specials Snoopy's Getting Married, Charlie Brown (1985), Snoopy's Reunion (1991) and I Want A Dog For Christmas, Charlie Brown (2003).

Quotes

* The annual meeting of the Cactus Club will now come to order... (Said multiple times)

* Well, I learned something. Never carry a cactus in a rubber raft. (October 28, 1983)
Living in the desert isn't all bad. There's beautiful scenery. And good conversation. Hi rock. (October 12,1985)

* When you live on a desert there's nothing more exciting than watching the sun go down. Then what? (January 13, 1992)

* Sometimes I lie here at night, and it's so lonely so I look up at the stars, and I give them names like they're all friends of mine, and I talk to them. Hi Michelle. (April 11, 1992)

* Sure life in the desert can be lonely at times. But at least you know you're not going to get hit in the face with a pie. (Gets hit in the face with a pie) Probably. (February 12, 1993)

* It's hard to explain why balloons are so much fun. (September 3, 1993)

* Life in the desert is exciting. Last night the sun went down and this morning the sun came up. There's always something happening. (October 12, 1993)

3152. Baby Marbles

Marbles, reputedly the smartest of the siblings, is a spotted beagle whose few appearances in the comic strip were in 1982 from September 30 to October 9. Unlike Snoopy's siblings Spike and Belle, he does not share in Snoopy's fantasy WWI scenery, seeing Snoopy's Sopwith Camel as his doghouse, an "ambulance" as a shopping cart, etc. while commenting that "...he [Snoopy] was always the quiet one in the family." He was also seen to wear shoes.
He also appeared in the 1991 animated feature Snoopy's Reunion, and in a flashback from I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown, when Charlie Brown was talking to Rerun about Snoopy's siblings. Marbles plays the banjo.

2399. Snoopy as The Flying Ace

One of Snoopy's most famous alter-egos is as the World War I Flying Ace (first appearance, October 10, 1965), often seen battling his arch-enemy, Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron). When assuming this personality, Snoopy would don goggles, a flying helmet and a scarf and climb on top of his doghouse, which he claimed was a Sopwith Camel. The Red Baron, like other adult figures in Peanuts, was never drawn in a strip; his presence was indicated through the bullet holes that would riddle the doghouse, and Snoopy's fist-shaking and cries of "Curse you, Red Baron!" while his "Sopwith Camel" doghouse plummeted to earth trailing smoke. In I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown's sister Sally Brown jumps on the doghouse and flies with Snoopy.

2003-2004 Snoopy and Woodstock

Snoopy and Woodstock are probably the two most loyal friends all of Peanuts. At first, Woodstock seemed to annoy Snoopy, but eventually, they developed a very good friendship.

Snoopy's opinion of Woodstock
Woodstock first appeared when a mother bird built a nest on Snoopy's stomach. There were two birds in it, and the mom never came back, meaning Snoopy would have to raise them. Snoopy didn't want to raise them, and one day, got fed up with the two birds, and threw them into the world. Snoopy's first thought was that he was glad to be unburdened of the responsobility. And he became upset when one of the two birds returned. Snoopy decided to raise that one, and he became very close with that bird. Snoopy taught that bird how to do many things, including how to fly, although that wasn't very succsessful. That bird grew up to be Woodstock. In Woodstock's early years (Before he was named) Snoopy often seemed very annoyed at Woodstock. Many times, Snoopy called Woodstock a "Stupid bird". Snoopy also hated Woodstock's poor flying skills.

Woodstock's opinion of Snoopy
Because Woodstock doesn't talk, it is hard to know exactly how he feels about Snoopy. You can tell Woodstock thinks of Snoopy as a great, and trustworthy friend. Woodstock likes to sit on Snoopy's stomach when he sleeps.
Whenever Woodstock has a problem, he always goes to Snoopy for help right away. And he tells Snoopy very nice things, but the reader cannot understand what Woodstock says. Although Snoopy doesn't like it when Woodstock bosses him around, and Woodstock gets offended very easily when Snoopy yells at him, Woodstock will always return to Snoopy and forgive him.

1886. Linus van Pelt

Linus van Pelt is a character in Charles M. Schulz's comic strip Peanuts. He is Lucy and Rerun's brother. Linus always means well and tries to smooth over any storms that arise amongst the gang. A source of frustration for him is Lucy, who always belittles him, particularly over his security blanket. In spite of his insightful nature, he has a naive belief in the Great Pumpkin.
Lucy's baby brother was first referred to on July 14, 1952. Linus first appeared on September 19, 1952, as a baby too young to sit up by himself and was not given a name until three days later. However, he soon aged to just slightly younger than the rest of the cast.
On February 5, 1962, he got glasses. However, by July his opthalmologist said that he did not have to wear them all the time, and they were soon phased out completely.
Despite being younger than the rest of the characters, Linus seems to be the smartest. He acts as a philosopher and theologian, often quoting the Bible.
In contrast to his advanced intellect, Linus carries a security blanket. Lucy often tries to break Linus of his blanket habit and Snoopy tries to get the blanket for himself. Linus is able to use the blanket as a whip. In later strips, Linus was seen less and less with his blanket. Charles Schulz said in 1989 that Linus had outgrown his blanket and it only appeared in strips that were dependent on it.
Linus became a valued member of Charlie Brown's baseball team (the second best player, in fact, after Snoopy). He is usually seen playing second base.

1465. Lucy van Pelt

Lucille "Lucy" van Pelt is a fictional character in the syndicated comic strip Peanuts, written and drawn by Charles Schulz. She is the main bully and the older sister of Linus and Rerun. Lucy is a crabby and cynical eight-year old girl,^[1][2] and often bullies the other characters in the strip, particularly Linus and Charlie Brown.^[3] She is often referred to as the world's greatest fuss-budget, mostly by her mother.

1326. Linus Van Pelt

Linus van Pelt is a character in Charles M. Schulz's comic strip Peanuts. The best friend of Charlie Brown, Linus is also the younger brother of Lucy van Pelt and older brother of Rerun van Pelt. He first appeared on September 19, 1952; however, he was not mentioned by name until three days later. He was first referenced two months earlier, on July 14. Linus spoke his first words in 1954, the same year he was shown with his security blanket. On the various specials, Christopher Shea first voiced Linus van Pelt in 1965. His younger brother, Stephen, voiced Linus from 1971 until 1975. Various actors (among them Jeremy Miller of Growing Pains fame) have played Linus since then.^[1]

Perhaps paradoxically, given his advanced intellect, Linus is almost never without his blue blanket, which debuted in the June 1, 1954, strip. He holds the blanket over his shoulder while sucking his thumb. It was in fact he who coined the term "security blanket."^[6][7] Ridicule of the habit is not a major concern for him as shown when one friend, Roy, warned him at summer camp that he would be viciously teased for it. In response, Linus uses his blanket like a whip and shears off a tree branch with intimidating power and notes: "They never tease me more than once." The blanket, it turns out, is an autonomous (although non-verbal) entity. In a 1965 strip, it engaged in a campaign of clandestine attacks on Lucy, even routing her from the house, due to her constant, albeit failed, attempts to get rid of it by throwing it in the trash burner. In the special A Boy Named Charlie Brown, it also performed a complex dance routine with Linus upon being reunited with its owner.

105. Charlie Brown PEZ

Charles "Charlie" Brown is the protagonist in the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz.
Charlie Brown and his creator have a common connection in that they are both the sons of barbers, but whereas Schulz's work is described as the "most shining example of the American success story", Charlie Brown is an example of "the great American un-success story" in that he fails in almost everything he does.

Charlie Brown is a lovable loser, a child possessed of endless determination and hope, but who is ultimately dominated by his insecurities and a "permanent case of bad luck," and is often taken advantage of by his peers. He and Lucy Van Pelt star in a running gag that recurs throughout the series: Lucy holds a football for Charlie Brown to kick, but pulls it away before he kicks it, causing Charlie Brown to fly into the air and fall on his back.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia




Advertisements:

 

17. Sally Brown

Sally Brown is the younger sister of Charlie Brown in the comic strip Peanuts by Charles Schulz. She was first mentioned in early 1959 and throughout a long series of strips before her first appearance in August 1959.
Sally has flipped blonde hair with a cluster of curls and sometimes a bow in front, and she wears a polka dot dress, usually pink or light blue. In the winter, and most of the time in the later years of the strip, she switched to a shirt and pants. She has a "take it easy" approach to life, preferring to slide by while doing as little work as possible. Her favorite pastime is sitting in her beanbag chair watching TV. In a series of strips from 1982, Sally actually went to "beanbag camp", which consisted of nothing but lazing around in beanbags, watching TV and gorging on junk food, and returned home fat. She can be stubborn sometimes, and is usually convinced she's right until someone proves her wrong, but she also has a good heart and a strong moral sense; like her older brother she is extremely sensitive to the unfairness of life. Charlie Brown usually goes to Lucy in her psychiatric booth when he's feeling depressed, but Sally prefers to confide her troubles to the school building, which is very protective of her and will drop a brick on anyone who doesn't treat her nicely.




Advertisements: