Snoopy

Not to be confused with Snuppy or Snoop Dogg.

Snoopy
Peanuts character
Snoopy imagines himself as a World War One flying Ace, while imagining his doghouse as a Sopwith Camel
First appearance	October 4, 1950 (comic strip)
Last appearance	February 13, 2000 (comic strip)
Voiced by	Bill Melendez (1963–2008; vocal effects only, archival recordings of voice talent in The Peanuts Movie) Robert Towers (1985) Cameron Clarke (1988-1989) Daniel Davies (2008-2009) Andy Beall (2011-present)
In-universe information
Family	Father: Baxter Mother: Missy Brothers: Spike, Andy, Olaf, Marbles, Ruffles Sisters: Belle, Molly Owner: Charlie Brown Lillian "Lila" Emmons Allcroft (previously) Clara ("the annoying girl") Peppermint Patty Poochie (possibly before Lila)

Snoopy is Charlie Brown's pet dog in the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. He can also be found in Charlie Brown movies and television, like The Peanuts Movie. The original drawings of Snoopy were inspired by Spike, one of Schulz's childhood dogs.

Traits

Snoopy is an innocent and good-natured beagle who is prone to imagining fantasy lives, including being an author, a college student known as "Joe Cool" and a World War One flying Ace. All of the character's fantasies have a similar formula: Snoopy pretends to be something, and fails. His short "novels" are never published, and he is consistently shot down by his imaginary enemy. Schulz said of Snoopy's character in a 1997 interview: "He has to retreat into his fanciful world in order to survive. Otherwise, he leads kind of a dull, miserable life. I don't envy dogs the lives they have to live."

Snoopy cannot talk, so his thoughts are shown in thought balloons. In the animated Peanuts films and television specials, Snoopy's thoughts are not verbalized; his moods are instead conveyed through growls, sobs, laughter, and monosyllabic utterances such as "bleah" or "hey" as well as through pantomime. The only exceptions are in the animated adaptions of the musicals "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" and "Snoopy!!! The Musical" in which Snoopy's thoughts are verbalized by Robert Towers and Cameron Clarke respectively.

Snoopy's doghouse defies physics, and is shown to be bigger on the inside than the outside.

As of the 2015 film The Peanuts Movie, Snoopy and Woodstock are on 20th Century Fox logo, and the "y" in Blue Sky Studios logo is printed on Snoopy's body.

History

Snoopy's original appearance from October 4, 1950.

Snoopy appeared on the October 4, 1950 strip, two days after the first strip. On March 16, 1952, his thoughts were first shown in a thought balloon. Snoopy first appeared upright on his hind legs on January 9, 1956, when he was shown ice-skating across a frozen lake.

Relationship with other Peanuts characters

Charlie Brown

Despite his history of conflicted loyalties and his occasionally disdainful attitude toward Charlie Brown (he can never remember Charlie Brown's name and thinks of him as "that round-headed kid"), Snoopy has shown himself steadfastly loyal to his current owner. He joined Charlie Brown in walking out of a game of Ha-Ha Herman when Peppermint Patty crudely insulted Charlie Brown (though she was unaware that Charlie Brown was within earshot). He also helped Charlie Brown recover his autographed baseball when a bully had taken it and was challenging Charlie Brown to fight him for it. When Charlie Brown has to stop dedicating himself to making Snoopy happy, Snoopy replies, "Don't worry about it. I was already happy."

Lucy

Snoopy frequently tries to kiss Lucy on the cheek, which Lucy—who is afraid of dog germs—thoroughly hates. These actions have occasionally resulted in Lucy really hurting Snoopy.

Linus

Snoopy often tries to steal Linus' blanket, resulting in them fighting in slapstick fights in which Snoopy always loses.

Lila

Lila was Snoopy's owner before Charlie Brown. He visited her in the film Snoopy Come Home.

Siblings

Snoopy is usually depicted as having seven siblings, five of whom appear at some point in the strip: Andy, Belle, Marbles, Olaf, and Spike. Most often seen is Spike, who lives in the desert (near the real-life locale of Needles, California).

Reception

Snoopy, and Charlie Brown were ranked by TV Guide as the 8th greatest cartoon characters of all time.

Some critics feel that, after the strip's "Golden Age" in the 1960s, it suffered a decline in quality in the later years of its run. Writing in 2000, Christopher Caldwell argued that the character of Snoopy, and the strip's increased focus on him in the 1970s, "went from being the strip's besetting artistic weakness to ruining it altogether". Caldwell felt that Snoopy "was never a full participant in the tangle of relationships that drove "Peanuts" in its Golden Age", as he could not talk. He went on to say that Snoopy "was way too shallow for the strip as it developed in the 1960s, and the strips he featured in were anomalies."

In aviation and space

File:Snoopy statue at KSC.JPG

Statue at Kennedy Space Center. Now located in the Apollo/Saturn V building.

• Following the Apollo I fire, Snoopy became the official mascot of aerospace safety, testing and the rebuilding of the Apollo Program.
• The Apollo 10 lunar module was named Snoopy and the command module Charlie Brown. While not included in the official mission logo, Charlie Brown and Snoopy became semi-official mascots for the mission, as seen here and here. Schulz also drew some special mission-related artwork for NASA , and several regular strips related to the mission; one showing Snoopy en route to the moon atop his doghouse with a fishbowl on his head for a helmet. The strip that ran on July 21, 1969 – one day after the Apollo 11 lunar module Eagle landed on the moon – included a full moon in the background, with a black mark on it representing the module.
• The Silver Snoopy award is a special NASA honor, in the form of a sterling silver pin with an engraving of Snoopy in a spacesuit helmet. It is given by an astronaut to someone who works in the space program that has gone above and beyond in pursuit of quality and safety.
• Snoopy is the name of a United States Air Force B-58 Hustler bomber, serial number 55-0665, which was modified to test a radar system.
• American insurance company MetLife has used Snoopy as their corporate mascot since the 1980s. Snoopy One, Snoopy Two and Snoopy J are three airships owned and operated by MetLife that provide aerial coverage of sporting events, and feature Snoopy as the World War I flying ace on their fuselage.
• In the early 1970s a Snoopy figure wearing a spacesuit was marketed.

External links

• Media related to Snoopy at Wikimedia Commons
• Quotations related to Snoopy at Wikiquote
• The complete text of Snoopy's It Was a Dark and Stormy Night