Home Snoopy's Friends Peanuts Comic Strips Cited Sources
Home Snoopy's Friends Peanuts Comic Strips Cited Sources |
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Snoopy is an enthusiastic beagle and is an expert at everything he does (at least in his daydreams atop his doghouse). He regards his master, Charlie Brown, as "that round-headed kid" who brings him his supper dish. He is fearless though prudently cautious about "the cat next door." He never speaks- that would be one human trait too many- but he manages to communicate everything necessary in facial expressions and thought balloons. A one-man show with superior intelligence and vivid imagination, he has created such multiple personalities as: Joe Cool, World War I Flying Ace, Literary Ace, Flashbeagle, Vulture, Foreign Legionnaire, etc. |
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Schulz was born in St. Paul on November 26, 1922. His fascination with comic strips began early as he read the Sunday comics from four different newspapers with his father each week. With encouragement from his father and mother, Schulz enrolled in a course in cartooning at what is now the Art Instruction Schools, Inc., in Minneapolis. Schulz's first big break came in 1947 when he sold a cartoon feature called "Li'l Folks" to the St. Paul Pioneer Press. In 1948 Schulz sold a cartoon panel to the Saturday Evening Post and would go on to sell 15 more panels between 1948-1950. Shulz had a hard time early on receiving mailbox's full of rejections, this led him to board a train from St. Paul to New York with a handful of drawings for a meeting with United Feature Syndicate in 1950. On October 2 of that year, PEANUTS, named by United Features, debuted in seven newspapers. Today PEANUTS appears in over 2,600 papers worldwide, timeless icons for the enjoyment of young and old alike. In 1964, Schulz teamed up with animator Bill Melendez to create one of the most loved and watched televised specials of all time "A Charlie Brown Christmas". Melendez would later produce many animated productions with Schulz including, "Charlie Brown's All Star's" and "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" earning Melendez and Schulz the praise of both audiences and critics. Schulz, unlike many cartoonists, drew every comic strip without the assistance of an art staff. Among numerous honors, Schulz received two Reuben Awards from the National Cartoonists society in 1955 and again in 1964, and has been inducted into the Cartoonists Hall of Fame. He was named as International Cartoonist Of The Year in 1978 by 700 cartoonists. Schulz passed away at age 77 Saturday, February 12, 2000. The National Cartoonists Society was to honor Schulz with a lifetime achievement award at their convention in New York on May 27. His last comic strip, appearing in Feb. 13 Sunday editions, showed Snoopy at his typewriter and other Peanuts regulars along with a 'Dear Friends' letter thanking his readers for their support. His contribution to popular culture and the art of America will be remembered for generations to come.
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