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User:Jc37/Sandbox/Peanuts in popular culture

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The long-running comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz has been the subject of many references, homages, parodies, etc. Here are some of them:

In comics

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  • On May 27, 2000, almost 100 syndicated comic strips and cartoons included a tribute to Peanuts and its creator. In addition, numerous cartoonists paid tribute on other dates between November, 1999, when Charles Schulz was unexpectedly hospitalized, and February 13, 2000, the scheduled date of the final Peanuts Sunday strip. Comics appearing on the latter date took on an added poignancy due to Schulz's death the previous evening.[1]
  • Debuting two years after "Peanuts," MAD Magazine relentlessly satirized the comic strip over the next half-century. This included "Misery is a Cold Hot Dog" (1963), a parody of Charles Schulz's hit book "Happiness is a Warm Puppy"; "Will Success Spoil Charlie Brown?" (1968) in which Shermy returns to the strip only to find that his old gang has "gone show biz"; "Adventures of the Red Baron" (1968 and 1969), an alleged comic strip which told the German side of the story of his aerial duels with Snoopy; and so on, until the elegiac "Final Episodes of Peanuts You Never Saw" (2000), which included Charlie Brown accepting mob payoffs after another losing pitching performance (a grinning Charlie Brown admits, "I can't believe after all these years they still haven't figured out that I'm throwing the games"). A full list of "Peanuts" articles and references in MAD can be seen at http://www.madcoversite.com/peanuts.html.[2]
  • In the comic Baby Blues, Darryl buys his daughter, Zoe, a dollhouse but she yells "That looks like a doghouse!" Her sibling, Hammie, lies on the top afterward, which is reminiscent of Snoopy.
  • In one Bloom County strip, Opus once visited Lucy's psychiatric booth, but she was not in; her sign read "The Doctor is: not seeing any stupid waterfowl".
  • In the LT Comics series Captain Amazing, Principal Charles Brown (also called Mr. Brown) is the principal at Amazingville High. He appears much older than the Charlie Brown of the Peanuts strip, but has the same hair.
  • The comic strip The Far Side once featured a cartoon depicting a war plane flying through the air. On the nose are eight tiny pictures: seven silhouettes of enemy planes the pilot had shot down, and one silhouette of Snoopy on his doghouse.
  • In FoxTrot:
    • In the strip published on November 29, 1998, Jason attempts to kick a football but slips and lands on his back, commenting, "At least Charlie Brown has Lucy to blame."
    • The day the final daily Peanuts strip ran (January 3, 2000), a dirt-covered Jason comes up to Andy to confess that he broke her vacuum cleaner, but she thinks he's dressed up as Pig-Pen as a tribute.
    • When all the cartoonists paid tribute to Schulz on May 27, 2000, the FoxTrot strip published that day had Jason selling lemonade for $50,000. Nearby, Lucy is in her psychiatry booth, asking "Got a nickel?"
    • The strip published on December 10, 2006, had Roger looking for a Christmas tree with great difficulty, as all the good ones are all sold. He then decides on "that little one over there", but he is too late for that one, as the last panel reveals Charlie Brown and Linus have already taken said tree (it's the same one as in A Charlie Brown Christmas).
  • In one installment of The Family Circus, the father character is depicted reading a book to Billy. The cover reads "Li'l Folks: By Sparky" in reference to Schultz's original Peanuts-esque strip and the signature he used at that time.
  • The comic strip Garfield once featured Garfield looking into his reflection in a mirror and instead of himself, sees Snoopy, simply replying "It's gonna be one of those Mondays..." In a different strip, after Jon ridicules him for being lazy, Garfield asks "I wonder if Charlie Brown could use a cat?" In another, Jon and Garfield are about to depart on a plane for vacation. Garfield, who has never before flown, feels fully prepared: "If a dog can be a WW1 flying ace, then I can surely fly commercial." There is alsoJim Davis' May 27, 2000 contribution which has Garfield coming across Snoopy's doghouse. He, like Snoopy, sleeps on top of it, leaving a dejected sigh.
  • The web comic User Friendly had a Valentine's Day strip that featured Lucy giving Charlie Brown a Valentine's card and apologizing for all the times she pulled the football away from him.
  • One Ziggy cartoon strip had a group of people stopping to admire Ziggy because he is a famous cartoon character. In the last frame, they say to him, "Goodbye Mr. Brown. Say hello to Snoopy for us." At least three Ziggy cartoons, published February 16, 2000 (four days after Schulz's death), May 27, 2000 (the date of the mass tribute), and July 16, 2001, have featured Peanuts tributes.[1]
  • A comic from Gary Larson's Far Side comic shows three explorers discovering a second Lucy. However, this time it's a fossilised Lucy Van Pelt.

In television

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  • In the episode "Jolly Old St. Dick" of 3rd Rock from the Sun, Harry finds a "tree" resembling the one from A Charlie Brown Christmas and comments that "All it needs is a little love."
  • In The West Wing episode, The Drop-In, White House Chief of Staff, Leo McGarry tries to convince President Bartlett to watch a test of the Department of Defense Missile Defense Plan. Bartlett smiles and tells him that he is like Charlie Brown and the DOD is Lucy with a football. McGarry tells Bartlett that he doesn't understand the reference, because he has never read the comic strip. He defensively responds "I know there's a dog." Bartlett looks at him and responds, "Were you born at the age of 50?"
  • On the series Arrested Development, the term "Charlie Browns" was used to refer to testicles, based on their similar look to Charlie Brown's head.
  • In the Just Shoot Me! episode "How the Finch Stole Christmas" (1998), Elliot, dressed like Charlie Brown, brandishes a small Christmas tree and says dialogue that closely parodies A Charlie Brown Christmas.
  • In the Season 1 episode "Dog Days" of the series The King of Queens (episode 14, first aired January 18, 1999), the character Arthur Spooner believes that Charles Schultz is using his life and likeness as inspiration for Charlie Brown. Due to this he wishes to sue him, but then opts to create his own comic strip.[4]
  • Mad TV once did a cartoon titled "South Parknuts", featuring the Peanuts characters drawn and acting like the characters from South Park. MADtv also did a short-lived series called "Chucky Brown", which shows the Peanuts characters as African Americans living in a ghetto.
  • In one Malcolm in the Middle episode "cold opener", after discovering that Reese has never read 'Peanuts', Malcolm plays the football trick on Reese. The result is never seen.
  • In Saturday Night Live:
    • In one episode of Weekend Update, Chris Rock rants angirly about how Franklin, the only black character in the group, has no distinguishing characteristics like some of the other characters: "Linus has the blanket, Lucy's a bitch, Schroder has the piano, Peppermint Patty is a lesbian, but Franklin has nothing. I mean, give him something! They can at least give him a Jamaican accent 'yo leave me alone Charlie Brown'."
    • During a 1998 episode, the Charlie Brown characters were parodied by actors who played out the football gag, with Charlie Brown, played by Brendan Fraser, suffering a severe head injury and bleeding profusely upon missing the kick. Lucy, played by Ana Gasteyer, finally realizing what she had done, freaks out and cries over Charlie Brown's injury.
    • On the season 25 episode hosted by Ben Affleck (musical guest: Fiona Apple), there was a Nightline parody cold opening centered around Charles Schultz's death and how Schultz's life affected three Peanuts characters: Franklin (played by Tim Meadows), Marcie (played by Rachel Dratch), and Pigpen (played by Horatio Sanz).
    • In another episode, during a TV Funhouse segment, clips from A Charlie Brown Christmas are sampled, and then parodied. After showing the scene where the gang waves their hands around Charlie Brown's sad tree, which then turns beautiful, they realize their "gift" where waving their hands over something turns the ordinary to the extraordinary.
  • That 70s Show gives a nod to the influence of A Charlie Brown Christmas in the season four episode "An Eric Forman Christmas." In this episode, the show's protagonist is persuaded to direct the church Christmas pageant in an effort to rediscover the true meaning of Christmas. When the episode reaches its emotional peak, Fez ehtusiastically blurts "Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!!", only to be stared at awkwardly by the others.
  • In "Hannah Montana," in one episode Miley states that the comics in the newspaper are nothing but a fat cat and a pumpkin-headed kid trying to kick a football, which references to Charlie Brown trying to kick Lucy's football.

In animation

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  • The Arthur episode The Long, Dull Winter features several false holiday specials favored by the characters. One of these specials, known as The Kid Who Got Clothes For Christmas, features an anthropomorphic, round-headed dog character wearing Charlie Brown's shirt as the protagonist.
  • In Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Frylock is wondering what to name the new super computer he created. Meatwad suggests that he should name it "Snoopy" or "Schroeder".
  • In The Boondocks episode entitled "A Huey Freeman Christmas", there are several references to A Charlie Brown Christmas. For instance the music used in the background is very similar, the urge for the protagonists to give the "true" meaning of Christmas by directing a Christmas play, Riley's letter to Santa appears over his head as he writes, and the sound effects used are easily recognized by anyone familiar with the original special. Also a part of Huey's explanation of the true history of Christmas to Robert (which itself is a rebuttal to the true meaning of Christmas given in the Charlie Brown Christmas special) is muffled much like the voices of the teacher's in Peanuts cartoons. Charlie Brown is also mentioned in the episode.
  • In the "Sports a Poppin" episode of the Cartoon Network series Dexter's Laboratory, as Dexter's dad tries to show Dexter how to play football, Dexter's annoying sister Dee Dee can be seen lying on top of a red doghouse like Snoopy in the background. Dexter tries to hit the football, but it goes out of his reach as Dee Dee takes it at the last second, Dexter flying through the air like Lucy did to Charlie Brown. Dexter's dad then shows up with the incomprehensible gibberish of the cartoon Peanuts' adult world, but reveals that he's chewing taffy (candy).
  • Charlie Brown has made two cameo appearances on Comedy Central's Drawn Together in the episodes "Requiem for a Reality Show" and "Spelling Applebee's". In the prior, the cast is caught in a plane crash. All survive, but among the rubble is the partially obscured figure of Charlie Brown. In the latter, when the Peanuts gang wins at the spelling bee, Charlie Brown states "We beat you worse than Linus's dad beats him!" at which, we see a clip of a bruised, bleeding Linus holding his blanket and saying, "You'll protect me won't you blue blanket?".
  • Near the end of the Fairly OddParents episode "Foul Balled," when Chester is playing baseball badly again, his clothes get knocked off after pitching similar to Charlie Brown's. Also, in the TV movie Channel Chasers, Timmy is shown appearing in various media, such as TV shows and comic books. In one such instance, he stumbles into a Peanuts parody called Walnuts and ends up knocking the character based on Linus unconscious.
  • In the Johnny Bravo episode "Freudian Dip", Johnny, unable to sleep due to night terrors, is referred to 8-year-old Little Suzy, who earned a degree in psychiatry over the internet. After she successfully diagnoses Johnny and charges her hourly rate of $130, Johnny retorts, "You know, that annoying girl in the comic strip only charges a nickel."
  • In Family Guy:
    • Charlie Brown makes a cameo appearance in his Halloween costume in the episode "E Peterbus Unum." Peter and his friends are talking about how much money they received and Charlie Brown quotes his line from the Halloween special, "I got a rock."
    • Snoopy also appears the Family Guy episode "Brian in Love" where Brian dreams he is in Logan's Run and is set for extermination. He points the guards to Snoopy, hiding in plain sight, and says, "What about him? He's gotta be in his 50s!"
    • In "Brian Goes Back to College", when Brian gets fired from The New Yorker magazine, they hang a sign on the door that says "No Dogs Allowed", similar to Snoopy Come Home. Dejected, Brian lies atop a red doghouse with the Peanuts theme music in the background.
    • In "Lethal Weapons", Lois becomes a martial arts master, and Lucy pulls the football trick on her; Lois responds to this with a swift kick to the face. Also, later in the same episode, Stewie makes the famous "Aaugh" noise, face and all.
    • In "Stuck Together, Torn Apart", Peter is visiting old girlfriends, one of which is an adult version of Peppermint Patty, apparently involved with Marcie.
    • Most recently, in "Mother Tucker", Peter recalls a "Peanuts Reunion," where Charlie Brown returns to the gang, drugged up and with a hooker, saying how he regrets killing Snoopy by giving him and Woodstock drugs.
  • At the end of the My Life as a Teenage Robot Christmas special, a kid who looks exactly like Charlie Brown is shown receiving hair tonic.
  • In Robot Chicken:
    • Episode #6 of season 1 (Vegetable Funfest), features a segment in which Linus summons the Great Pumpkin through the use of black magic (he is seen lighting a chicken on fire inside a pentacle). The Great Pumpkin then proceeds to kill off all of the children except for Charlie Brown, who is saved when the Great Pumpkin is eaten by the Kite-Eating Tree. Other memorable scenes:
      • Charlie Brown finally gets his revenge as he kicks Lucy instead of the football (remarking "That's for years of humiliation, bitch!"), sending her flying through the air and into the pumpkin patch, into Linus' remains (who was killed by the Great Pumpkin he summoned).
      • When a policeman (investigating Linus' death) addresses Lucy and Charlie Brown, Lucy wonders what he says, and Charlie Brown confesses that he's never been able to understand any of the adults, "It's always that woow, woow, woop crap!"
      • Sally's love for Linus was parodied when she is unwilling to let Linus (who was killed) stay away from her and sticks to his coffin. Pig-Pen buries both of them.
      • In the end the rest of the Peanuts are seen dancing in hell.
    • Episode #6 of season 2 (1987), Snoopy is getting an x-ray and the doctor says to him, "What have you been sleeping on?" alluding to Snoopy sleeping on top of the dog house which apparently caused back problems.
  • In South Park:
    • In the Christmas episode A very Crappy Christmas, The boys change the channel on the TV to a South Park style Merry Christmas Charlie Brown. The boys proceed to rip on the special and point out the flaws of the series, and decide to make a Christmas special of their own.
    • In the episode "Something You Can Do with Your Finger", an unnamed boy strongly resembling Schroeder is the piano accompanist at the auditions for the fifth member of the band Fingerbang. He is also seen playing the piano along to Kyle singing "Oh Dreidle Driedle Driedle" in "A Very Crappy Christmas".
    • One of the students at South Park Elementary, Dog Poo, closely resembles Pig-Pen in appearance; however, Dog Poo is rarely given a speaking part in episodes.
    • In several episodes, including Tom's Rhinoplasty and Summer Sucks, some of the characters exhibit a smile drawn in a semicircle on their face, similar to Charlie Brown's smile.
    • South Park has been described by a journalist as "Peanuts on crack".[citation needed]
  • One episode of Tiny Toon Adventures had Babs Bunny constantly doing imitations trying to find the one that her mother liked. One of them, had her looking as much like Charlie Brown as she could and uttering his famous line from A Charlie Brown Christmas - "Can't anyone tell me what Christmas is all about?" Also, the closing song from "It's a Wonderful Tiny Toons Christmas Special" had a brief shot of Buster and Babs looking over the pathetic tree seen in A Charlie Brown Christmas, accompanied by the line "If your Christmas tree's pathetic", and with the characters sporting Charlie Brown-esque facial features.

In film

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  • A character in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill Vol. 1 (nicknamed and titled in the credits as "Charlie Brown") has the same properties as him: round head, yellow kimono, and similar black pattern on it, thus ending up in the receiving end of taunts and insults from the Crazy 88.
  • Similarly, there is a Japanese character named "Charlie Brown" in the film Lost in Translation.

In music

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  • "Charlie Brown" was the title of a hit 1959 R&B song by The Coasters, written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. The song was later recorded by Buck Owens. Although many people associate the song with Peanuts, the Charlie Brown of the song is quite different from the Schulz character.[9]
  • The 1960s pop band, The Royal Guardsmen, released several Snoopy-themed albums and singles, including their debut album in 1966 featuring the song "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron", which made it to number two on request charts. The band followed with several other Snoopy-themed songs, but they did not do as well: The Return of the Red Baron, Snoopy and His Friends, Snoopy's Christmas and Snoopy for President. Some of their releases featured cover art by Charles Schulz.[10]
  • Contemporary artist Tori Amos makes references to Peanuts elements such as the Red Baron, Charlie Brown, and "Charlie's wonderful dog" in her song "Not The Red Baron" from her 1996 album Boys For Pele
  • Rapper Calvin Broadus (better known as Snoop Dogg) was given the nickname "Snoopy" as a child by his mother because he would often watch Peanuts cartoons, and he took the stage name Snoop Doggy Dogg when he began recording.
  • The Jam Band Widespread Panic take some artistic license as they detail the activities of the Peanuts Gang in their song, "C. Brown".
  • R&B singer Chris Brown got the nickname Charlie Brown because he watched the cartoons and has a shirt similar to the brown and yellow design of Charlie Brown's.
  • In modern-day covers of the Christmas song Winter Wonderland, Charlie Brown is sometimes used as a replacement for the phrase "Parson Brown", possibly to avoid Christian connotations.

Other

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  • A parody of the holiday special A Charlie Brown Christmas, entitled Charlie Brown Kwanzaa, is currently circulating the Internet.
  • In the internet cartoon series Homestar Runner, one of the toons on the site shows the young version of Strong Sad wearing a yellow shirt with a black zigzag, likely based on Charlie Brown's. In the 2006 Halloween cartoon, Strong Bad is seen at the beginning wearing a witch mask resembling Lucy's mask from It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. In addition, many of the holiday cartoons reference A Charlie Brown Christmas. A full list of Peanuts references in Homestar Runner can be found here.
  • A parody of the Peanuts gang called Weapon Brown, which features adult characters designed to resemble the Peanuts characters, set in a post apocalyptic world.
  • The 2004 Halloween event in the MMORPG City of Heroes, players could knock on the various doors throughout the city, and would either get a gift (a treat) or spawn monsters (a trick). Occasionally, the character would receive a rock instead of a trick or a treat.
  • In 2003, the cast of the NBC series Scrubs created a Christmas card called "My Charlie Brown Christmas," by cutting and overdubbing the original.
  • The Peanuts gang, Snoopy in particular, have become so popular in Japan that they can be found in many major department stores. There are several stores (most famously the one on Takeshita Street) that sell Peanuts merchandise exclusively.
  • Tony Romo's infamous botched snap in 2007 was parodied in an internet animation, putting his head on Lucy's body, as he/she pulls the football away from Charlie Brown, who is wearing a Cowboys helmet.
  • Dourney Park, Allentown, Pensylvania, has the Peanuts gang as their themes for the fun park. There is a section of the theme park that has "Snoopy Camp" and has rides all having to do with Peanuts Characters

References

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  1. ^ a b Bang, Derrick (2006-11-12). "Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Charles Schulz and his Peanuts cartoon strip" (text). Peanuts Collectors Club. Retrieved 2006-12-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ Gilford, Doug. "Peanuts parodies". Doug Gilford's MAD Cover site. Retrieved 2007-02-15.
  3. ^ Ruditis, Paul (2004). The Watcher's Guide Volume 3. Simon and Schuster. p. 19. ISBN 0-689-86984-3.
  4. ^ Kolasinski, Kyle. "The King of Queens: an Episode Guide". epguides.com. Retrieved 2006-12-14. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ McCann, Jessie L. (2002). The Simpsons: Beyond Forever. New York: HarperCollinsPublishers. p. 93. ISBN 0-06-050592-3. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ Cherry, James A. "Treehouse of Horror IV". The Simpsons Archive. Retrieved 2006-12-11.
  7. ^ McCann, Jessie L. (2005). The Simpsons: One Step Beyond Forever. New York: HarperCollinsPublishers. p. 21. ISBN 0-06-081754-2. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ Robinson, Benjamin. "The Computer Wore Menace Shoes". The Simpsons Archive. Retrieved 2006-12-11.
  9. ^ Unterberger, Richie. "Song Review: Charlie Brown". All Music Guide. All Media Guide. Retrieved 2006-11-27.
  10. ^ Ruhlmann, William. "The Royal Guardsmen". All Music Guide. All Media Guide. Retrieved 2006-11-27.
  11. ^ Rivadavia, Ed. Your Friends "Pet Your Friends". All Music Guide. All Media Guide. Retrieved 2006-11-27. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)

Popular culture Peanuts

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