Peanuts is perhaps the most popular comic strip in history. It was created by the American cartoonist Charles M. Schulz . The characters in “Peanuts” are children and animals. The main characters rank among the most recognizable figures in modern pop culture.
The most famous characters include Charlie Brown, his beagle Snoopy, Lucy, Schroeder, Linus, Peppermint Patty, Sally, and a bird named Woodstock. Each character has a distinct personality. For example, Charlie Brown is wholly decent, but a born loser. Lucy is crabby and rather devious. Linus is an intellectual attached to his blanket. Snoopy acts and thinks like a human being. Schroeder loves to play the music of Ludwig van Beethoven on a toy piano.
United Features Syndicate began distributing the comic strip in 1950. Schulz originally called it “Li’l Folks.” The syndicate changed the name to “Peanuts” because the original name was similar to names used by other comic strips.
“Peanuts” eventually developed into a multimillion-dollar industry that includes adaptation into other media, anthologies of the newspaper comic strips, and a wide range of other merchandise. The characters have appeared in more than 50 television specials, beginning with A Charlie Brown Christmas in 1965. The “Peanuts” gang has also starred in a number of animated motion pictures. A musical called You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, based on Schulz’s characters, opened in New York City in 1967 and ran for four years. It has frequently been revived and is a favorite among community theaters. It also spawned a successful sequel called Snoopy!!! that opened in San Francisco in 1975. Late in 1999, Schulz announced he was retiring from drawing “Peanuts” for health reasons. He died on Feb. 12, 2000. The last original daily and Sunday comic strips were published in early 2000. No one but Schulz had ever worked on the strip.
