Kermode, Mark (October 15, 2021). Ron's Gone Wrong reviewed by Mark Kermode (Radio broadcast). BBC Radio 5 Live. Retrieved December 30, 2021.

Peanuts is a syndicated daily and Sunday American newspaper comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz that ran from October 2, 1950, to February 13, 2000, continuing in reruns afterwards. It is among the most popular and influential in the history of comic strips, with 17,897 strips published in all, making it "arguably the longest story ever told by one human being". The strip reached 75 countries, and was translated into 21 languages. In 1984, it was estimated the strip had readership of around 355 million. By the time of Schulz's death in 2000, it ran in over 2,600 newspapers. It helped to cement the four-panel gag strip as the standard in the United States.

I like to have Charlie Brown eventually be the focal point of almost every story. No matter what happens to any of the other characters, somehow Charlie Brown is involved at the end and usually is the one who brings disaster upon one of his friends or receives the brunt of the blow. Charlie Brown has to be the one who suffers, because he is a caricature of the average person. (Peanuts Jubilee: My Life and Art with Charlie Brown and Others, 1975) [1]

Yet more text.[2] And more.[3][4][5]

Tom Batiuk wrote: "The influence of Charles Schulz on the craft of cartooning is so pervasive it is almost taken for granted." Batiuk also described the depth of emotion in Peanuts: "Just beneath the cheerful surface were vulnerabilities and anxieties that we all experienced, but were reluctant to acknowledge. By sharing those feelings with us, Schulz showed us a vital aspect of our common humanity, which is, it seems to me, the ultimate goal of great art."[6]

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2019-11-27/the-peanuts-papers-charles-schulz-andrew-blauner https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/dec/05/charlie-brown-charles-schultz-peanuts-cartoon-movie-steve-martino https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(15)00338-4/fulltext https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2015/11/peanuts-real-little-red-haired-girl https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/the-filter/what-charlie-brown-from-peanuts-teaches-us-about-being-a-man/ https://philosophynow.org/issues/44/Sartre_and_Peanuts

Newspaper circulation (1950-1960)
Year Circulation
1950 7
1951 36
1956 125
1957 400
1960 614

History

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Early development: 1950-1955

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Peanuts began as a daily strip on October 2, 1950, in seven newspapers: Minneapolis Tribune, the hometown newspaper of Schulz; The Washington Post; Chicago Tribune; The Denver Post; The Seattle Times; and two newspapers in Pennsylvania, Evening Chronicle (Allentown) and Globe-Times (Bethlehem).[7]

Schulz was required to draw the strip in four equally sized panels, to allow editors run the strip horizontally, vertically, or 2-by-2.[8] The strips were created with blank ink on white paper.[citation needed]

By October 1951, the strip appeared in 36 newspapers. Schulz sought to rival with other then-contemporary newspaper comics, such as Pogo which appeared 80 newspapers at the time, and Nancy which appeared in 400.[9]

Schroeder began playing this piano in September 1951, and revealed his love for Beethoven in November 26, 1951.[10]

Schulz began to draw a half-page format Sunday strip that first appeared in newspapers on January 6, 1952. The strip was in 40 newspapers in the US.[11]

The design of the characters quickly developed in the first two years of the strip, with less exaggerated proportions and slightly more realistic postures.[8]

In February 1952, Schulz indicated that the strip had reached a certain level stylistic maturity: Schulz recommended that very early strips should not be reprinted when book publisher Rinehart & Company proposed that the strips from 1950 and 1951 be collected into a book, where "characters were beginning to develop and the ideas were changing".[12]

Over the course of four years the strip began to syndicate outside of the US, being translated into Spanish and syndicated in Latin American countries with the title Carlitos.[13]

Cultural success: 1956-1987

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On April 9, 1965, Peanuts became the subject of an edition of Time magazine; the characters appeared on the front cover along with the title "The World According To Peanuts", signalling the strip's ascension in American culture.[14] The 1960s is generally considered to be the "golden age" for the strip.[15]

The strip appeared in 1,480 newspapers in the US by 1975, and in 175 outside the US.[16]

Change of format: 1988-2000

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Beginning Leap Day, February 29, 1988, the four-panel format for the daily strip was discontinued in favour of a free-form horizontal format that offered Schulz more creative freedom; Schulz began to regularly draw three-panel strips, as well as two panel and single panel strips.[17] Schulz' pen lines during this period began to be rendered frazzled and wobbly due to him developing an essential tremor in his hand, resulting in the graphical style of strips being significantly different than earlier decades. While such a medical condition would normally justify hiring assistant artists, as was normal for other popular newspaper comic strips at the time, Schulz asserted his ideals of craftsmanship by continuing to draw the strip like this.[18]

Schulz announced his retirement on December 14, 1999.[18]

The last daily strip appeared on January 2, 2000. The last Sunday strip, concluding the strip as a whole, appeared on February 13, 2000. Schulz died on February 12, the night before the last strip; commentators have noted the close timing of these two events as an unusual coincidence, metaphorically suggesting that Schulz's life depended on the strip.[19]

Works

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Film

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As director:

Television

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As producer:

Other credits include Bob & Margaret (1998) as a writer for one episode; The Awful Truth (1999) as executive producer; Brass Eye: Paedogeddon! (2001) as a script consultant; Nighty Night (2004) as a script associate; I Am Not An Animal (2004) as a writer; Dead Man Weds (2005) as director; and Thin Ice (2006) as director.

† Writer ‡ Director

References

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Notes

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Citations

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  1. ^ Inge 2010, p. 149.
  2. ^ Inge 2000, p. 20.
  3. ^ Liverette 2006.
  4. ^ Eco 1963.
  5. ^ Obama 2016.
  6. ^ Groth 1997. sfn error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFGroth_1997 (help)
  7. ^ Michaelis 2007, p. 220.
  8. ^ a b Ware 2019.
  9. ^ Michaelis 2007, p. 243.
  10. ^ Braddock & Fajardo 2015, p. 4.
  11. ^ Inge 2000, p. xiv.
  12. ^ Michaelis 2007, p. 244.
  13. ^ Michaelis 2007, p. 267.
  14. ^ Michaelis 2007, p. 418.
  15. ^ Caldwell 2000.
  16. ^ Inge 2000, p. xvi.
  17. ^ Braddock & Fajardo 2015, p. 326.
  18. ^ a b Braddock & Fajardo 2015, p. 428.
  19. ^ Boxer 2000.

Bibliography

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  • Inge, M. Thomas, ed. (2000). Charles M. Schulz: Conversations. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 9781578063055.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
    • Morrow, Hugh (1956). "The Success of an Utter Failure". In Inge, M. Thomas (ed.). Charles M. Schulz: Conversations.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
    • Conrad, Barnaby (1967). "You're A Good Man, Charlie Schulz". In Inge, M. Thomas (ed.). Charles M. Schulz: Conversations.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
    • Wilson, Kenneth L. (1967). "A Visit With Charles Schulz". In Inge, M. Thomas (ed.). Charles M. Schulz: Conversations.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
    • Hall, Mary Harrington (1967). "A Conversation With Charles Schulz, or The Psychology of Simplicity". In Inge, M. Thomas (ed.). Charles M. Schulz: Conversations.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
    • Phelan, Jim (1971). "Penthouse Interview: Charles M. Schulz". In Inge, M. Thomas (ed.). Charles M. Schulz: Conversations.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
    • Maher, Charles (1973). "You're A Good Sport, Charlie Schulz". In Inge, M. Thomas (ed.). Charles M. Schulz: Conversations.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
    • Isaacs, Stan (1977). "Charles Schulz: "Comic Strips Aren't Art"". In Inge, M. Thomas (ed.). Charles M. Schulz: Conversations.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
    • Hurd, Jud (1979). "Cartoonist Profile: Charles Schulz". In Inge, M. Thomas (ed.). Charles M. Schulz: Conversations.
    • Greissman, Eugene (1981). "Atlanta Weekly Interview: Charles Schulz". In Inge, M. Thomas (ed.). Charles M. Schulz: Conversations.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
    • Maltin, Leonard (1984). "An Interview With Charles M. Schulz". In Inge, M. Thomas (ed.). Charles M. Schulz: Conversations.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
    • Maltin, Leonard (1985). "Good Grief! Charlie Brown Is 35". In Inge, M. Thomas (ed.). Charles M. Schulz: Conversations.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
    • Gorney, Leonard (1984). "An Interview With Charles M. Schulz". In Inge, M. Thomas (ed.). Charles M. Schulz: Conversations.
  • Liverett, David (2006). They Called Him Sparky. Chinaberry House. ISBN 0974241091.
  • Schulz, Charles; Obama, Barack (2016). The Complete Peanuts. Vol. 1999–2000, Vol. 25. Fantagraphics Books. ISBN 978-1606999134.
  • Andrews, Candice (2006). Great Wisconsin Winter Weekends (Trails Books Guide). Trails Books. ISBN 1-931599-71-8.
  • Bang, Derrick (2012). Vince Guaraldi at the Piano. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-5902-5.
  • Suskin, Steven (2000). Show tunes. Oxford University Press US. ISBN 0-19-512599-1.
  • Wilis, John; Hodges, Ben (2006). Theatre World. Vol. 2003–2004, Vol. 60. Applause Theatre and Cinema Books. ISBN 9781557836502.
  • Schulz, Charles (2016). Groth, Gary (ed.). The Complete Peanuts. Vol. 1999–2000, Vol. 25. Fantagraphics Books. ISBN 978-1606999134.
  • Michaelis, David (2007). Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography. Harper. ISBN 9780066213934.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
  • David, Stephen (1987). Say, kids! What time is it?. Little, Brown, and Co. ISBN 0316176621.
  • Bang, Derrick, ed. (2004). Li'l Folks – Charles M. Schulz: Li'l Beginnings. Charles M. Schulz Museum. ISBN 9780974570914.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
  • Inge, M. Thomas, ed. (2010). My Life With Charlie Brown. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1604734478.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
  • Braddock, Paige; Fajardo, Alexis, eds. (2015). Celebrating Peanuts. Andrews McMeel Publishing. ISBN 9781449471828.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)

Journals

Animation

Online

Animation

Theater

Music

Advertising

Characters

History

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-debt-that-all-cartoonists-owe-to-peanuts