Snoopy
Snoopy is a character in the long-running comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. He is Charlie Brown's pet beagle. Snoopy began his life in the strip as a fairly ordinary dog, but eventually evolved into perhaps the strip's most dynamic character—and among the most recognizable comic characters in the world. Animation producer Bill Melendez voiced both Snoopy and (eventually) Woodstock in numerous television specials from 1965 to 2003.
Character
Snoopy first made his appearance on the strip on October 4, 1950, two days after the strip premiered, and was identified by name on November 10. Schulz was originally going to call him "Sniffy" (as described in 25th anniversary book, Peanuts Jubilee, (pg. 20)), until he discovered that name was used in a different comic strip. Snoopy was a silent character for the first two years of his existence, but on May 27, 1952 he verbalized his thoughts to readers for the first time via a thought balloon; Schulz would utilize this device for nearly all of the character's appearances in the strip thereafter. In addition to Snoopy's ability to "speak" his thoughts to the reader, many of the human characters in Peanuts have the uncanny knack of reading his thoughts and responding to them. In the animated Peanuts films and television specials, Snoopy's thoughts are not verbalized; his moods are instead conveyed through growls, sobs, laughter, etc., as well as through pantomime. The only exceptions are in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (voiced by Robert Towers) and Snoopy!!! The Musical (voiced by Cam Clarke) in which Snoopy's thoughts are verbalized.
Curiously, the first time a beagle was mentioned in the strip (on December 5, 1960), Snoopy denied being one. As Snoopy dozed, Charlie Brown paraphrased Gertrude Stein: "Beagles on the grass, alas." To this, Snoopy replied, "I ain't no stupid beagle."
Many of Peanuts' memorable moments come in Snoopy's daydream as a writer: his eternal opener on the typewriter "It was a dark and stormy night..." is taken from Edward George Bulwer-Lytton's 1830 novel Paul Clifford. The contrast between Snoopy's existence in a dream world and Charlie Brown's in the real world is central to the humour and philosophy of Peanuts (see e.g. Peanuts book title Life's a dream, Charlie Brown).
Schulz summed up 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."[1]
Developments
One of the first odd developments of Snoopy was his tendency to engage in impersonations. His earliest impersonation was of a bird on August 9, 1951. Later (starting November 17, 1955), Snoopy engaged in dead-on imitations of Violet, a pelican, Lucy, a moose, Beethoven and Mickey Mouse. He would also pretend to be various other animals, including a snake, rhinoceros, and vulture. But his eccentricities did not stop there. On January 5, 1956, Snoopy walked on two legs like a human for the first time. This soon became so commonplace as to be almost unnoticeable, as Snoopy developed a variety of Walter Mitty-esque alter egos.
Possibly his most famous alter-ego is as the World War I Flying Ace, often seen battling his arch-enemy, the Red Baron. For this, he would climb to the top of his doghouse, don goggles and a scarf, and thus fly his Sopwith Camel (the type of plane flown by Arthur "Roy" Brown, who was credited with shooting down the Red Baron in World War I, and whose surname matches that of Snoopy's owner). The Red Baron, like other adult figures in Peanuts, was never drawn in a strip; his presence was indicated through the bulletholes that would riddle the doghouse in a dogfight, and Snoopy's angry outbursts in response: "Curse you, Red Baron!" (usually accompanied by fist-shaking and a salute while his "Sopwith Camel" doghouse plummets to earth trailing smoke). In I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown Charlie Brown's sister Sally Brown jumps on the doghouse and flies with Snoopy.
Snoopy also became "Joe Cool", as he put on sunglasses and leaned against the wall doing nothing. He has also been a famous writer (who was actually published once, in an October 1995 storyline, in which one copy of his unnamed novel was written, but it failed to sell), an attorney (who once defended Peter Rabbit), a hockey player, an Olympic figure skater (who used to skate with Sonja Henie before he became "big time"), a world famous grocery checkout clerk who operated from the top of his dog house in an apron, the "Lone Beagle" (the first dog to fly solo across the Atlantic), a much rejected story writer and even the first astronaut to land on the moon. In one of the animated specials, Snoopy becomes a Flash dancer named "Flash Beagle".
Outside of his fantasy life he is the shortstop for Charlie Brown's Little League team (and the best player, nearly breaking Babe Ruth's record of 714 career home runs before Hank Aaron). Snoopy is also a "Beagle Scout", the Peanuts version of Eagle Scout and is the Scout leader for a troop comprised of Woodstock and his other bird friends. This Scouting theme reappears throughout the comic strip.
Snoopy loves root beer and cookies, hates coconut candy, gets claustrophobia in tall weeds, and is deathly afraid of icicles dangling over his doghouse. Snoopy also has the uncanny ability to play fetch with soap bubbles, and can hear someone eating marshmallows or cookies at a distance, or even peeling a banana.
He can also use his ears to fly about as a "whirlydog". Snoopy even became a canine helicopter, with Woodstock piloting. This gag appeared in the strip several times, most famously rescuing Linus from the top of a barn after being commissioned by Sally. When asked by Linus where he learned to pilot, Woodstock replied in his usual apostrophes, which Linus interpreted as meaning "in Vietnam".
Snoopy "understands a little French." His dog food brand is called "For Dogs who flew in World War I and understand a little French." He failed his high school geometry course, which was his excuse for not being able to follow a golf course's 90 degree golfcart driving rule.
Snoopy has his own little dance, variously known as The Beagle, the Suppertime Dance, or simply the Snoopy Dance. Most often he dances at suppertime and has broken his foot from being too excited. One strip includes a joke that he has forgotten the steps.
Every Veteran's Day, Snoopy dresses as an army veteran and goes to army cartoonist Bill Mauldin's house to "drink root beer and tell war stories".[1]
Puppyhood and siblings
Over the course of the strip's run, it was revealed that Snoopy had been born and raised at the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm. His father used to run with hunting dogs, but would secretly run ahead and warn the rabbits. Snoopy's original owner was a little girl named Lila, who had to return him to Daisy Hill after her family moved to an apartment where dogs were forbidden. Shortly after his return to the farm, Snoopy was selected by Charlie Brown's parents as a companion for him. At one point in the series, Charlie Brown said that his parents bought Snoopy for him to cheer him up after another child threw sand in his face while they were playing in a sandbox. In the late 1970s Snoopy embarked upon a journey to visit Daisy Hill, only to find that the puppy farm had been replaced by a six-story parking garage, causing Snoopy to wail, "You stupid people! You're parking on my memories!"
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) and is friends with cacti. Spike is very thin, wears a fedora and has long whiskers. Andy looks like a disheveled version of Snoopy. Olaf, who wears a fur cap, is round in both body and face. Marbles has spots on his fur, wears shoes, and considers some of Snoopy's behavior very odd. Belle, who looks like Snoopy with long eyelashes, is most notable in that there was a Belle stuffed animal available for many years. Although Snoopy often mentions that he was one of eight puppies, the two other siblings never appeared in the comic strip. According to the animated special Snoopy's Reunion, they are named Molliepop and Rover.
Many years before his siblings appeared, Snoopy referred to himself as an "only dog" who had no brothers or sisters.
Other relationships
Snoopy's owner is of course Charlie Brown. Early in the strip he appeared to be a stray dog whom Charlie Brown and his friends had adopted—or vice versa—but eventually it became clear that he was Charlie Brown's dog. Snoopy has a fairly indifferent relationship with Charlie Brown. Charlie Brown's tormentor Lucy once demanded to know when he would be taking Snoopy to obedience classes; Snoopy wondered what would be the point, since Charlie Brown already did everything he (Snoopy) wanted. Snoopy almost never remembers his owner's name, usually referring to him as "that round-headed kid". Though rarely conveyed, it is clear that Snoopy does actually love Charlie Brown, or at the very least acknowledge that he is completely dependent on the boy, and in precious occasions show him genuine affection, particularly if they reunite after long partings.
His relationship with the other human characters is no more cordial than with Charlie Brown. Snoopy's deft and droll throwaway lines are an effective foil to Lucy's barbed remarks, making him less put-upon than the besieged Charlie Brown or the slightly hapless Linus. He often torments Linus by grabbing one end of the blanket, taking Linus for a soaring glide, twirling him and letting him go flying. On March 2, 1958, he declared himself the first dog to launch a human being. When Linus began to wear eyeglasses, Snoopy would abscond with them.
Snoopy's best friend and confidant is the undersized yellow bird Woodstock, who only "speaks" in apostrophe marks. His arch-enemy (other than the Red Baron) is the unseen, vicious cat next door named "World War II". During one series of daily strips, Snoopy antagonized the cat each day, and the cat's paw made one giant slash move that, day by day, decimated Snoopy's freshly-rebuilt doghouse to a greater extent than the day before. In fact Snoopy reviled all cats generally, once remarking that they were "the crab grass on the lawn of life" and taking umbrage at the expression "cats and dogs", insisting that the proper expression was always "dogs and cats".
For a while in 1977, Snoopy was engaged to an unseen female dog he met while on guard duty at Peppermint Patty's house. However, she ran off with an unknown golden retriever before the wedding had started. (This story was later adapted as the animated special Snoopy's Getting Married, Charlie Brown), and another unseen female dog, a beagle, who Snoopy met down at an ice skating rink. In this case, Snoopy nearly got married, and even said he would hire his wife a French Poodle maid, but the girl beagle's father forbade it, saying he could never allow his daughter to marry an obedience school dropout. Snoopy was heartbroken, and tried to forget his love by eating, but for the first time, food failed him.
Doghouse
On December 12, 1958, Snoopy slept on top of his doghouse, rather than inside it, for the first time. Thereafter, Snoopy was seldom seen to venture inside the doghouse, instead spending the bulk of his time sitting or lying on its pitched roof.
Despite Snoopy's tendency to stay outside in all weather (in some cases even allowing snow to accumulate on his prone body), a running gag establishes that the interior of Snoopy's doghouse was something extraordinary. It defied physics, being dramatically larger on the inside than the outside, with a carpeted foyer, a den, a library, a guest room, a stairway and a basement. The first indication of the doghouse's unique layout occurred on January 31, 1954 when Charlie Brown was puzzled to see all his neighbourhood friends crawling into it for a visit. The doghouse was destroyed several times over the years, being hit by a tree due to a chase over Linus' blanket (July 26, 1959), crushed by a large icicle (February 13, 1960), and finally burned to the ground (September 19, 1966). In each case the doghouse was soon rebuilt. Although individual items were lost in the fire, each replacement doghouse appears to have retained the spaciousness and opulence of its predecessor.
The interior was decorated with several pricey acquisitions including a painting by Van Gogh, first mentioned on February 29, 1964. After the fire destroyed the Van Gogh, it was replaced by an Andrew Wyeth. At various times the interior of Snoopy's doghouse also held bunk beds, a pool table, a ping pong table, a television, a mural (painted by Linus), a shower, a grandfather clock, and a jacuzzi.[1]
Features established in the television specials include a fine kitchen (A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving), and sound equipment (A Boy Named Charlie Brown). In It's Magic, Charlie Brown, Snoopy enters his dog house and the underground interior is depicted as spacious and well equipped for anything he needs.
Snoopy and aviation
- The Apollo 10 lunar module was nicknamed "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 [2] and here. Schulz also drew some special mission-related artwork for NASA , and at least one regular strip related to the mission, where Charlie Brown consoles Snoopy about how the spacecraft named after him was left in lunar orbit.
- A series of postage stamps featuring Snoopy as a World War I flying ace was released on May 17, 2001 in Santa Rosa, California.
- Snoopy, piloting his Sopwith Camel, is featured in the logo of Charles M. Schulz - Sonoma County Airport.
- Snoopy is the US Air Force Technical Control mascot. He can be seen on the Tech Control emblem holding an old analog patch cord above his head as he walks on water.
- During the Gulf War Snoopy appeared as nose art on several aircraft. He remains a popular image in air forces that still allow crews to customize the appearance of their planes.
- Snoopy is the name of one of the U.S. Air Force's B-58 Hustler bombers.
- Snoopy is the name of the primary research vehicle of Check-Six.com Click here.
- The black-and-white "communications helmets" that are worn as part of NASA spacesuits, carrying radio earphones and microphones, are universally known as "Snoopy caps," due to the resemblance of the white center and black outer sections to Snoopy's head.
- In 1966, the "Ace" was immortalized in song by the Royal Guardsmen with their hit, Snoopy vs The Red Baron. This was followed in 1967 by Snoopy's Christmas, in which the two foes temporarily set aside their differences for a Christmas toast. Snoopy's Christmas continues to be played as a holiday favorite on most "oldie" radio stations.
- The Silver Snoopy is a special honor, in the form of a sterling silver pin that has flown on a Shuttle mission. It is given by an astronaut to someone who works in the space program and has gone above and beyond in pursuit of quality and safety.[3]
See also
References
- ^ 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:|accessdate=and|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "Picture of Charlie Brown and Snoopy on Apollo 10". Retrieved 2006-10-01.
- ^ "Space Flight Awareness Awards: the Silver Snoopy". Space Flight Awareness, NASA website. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Retrieved 2006-12-12.
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- ^ Groth, Gary (December 1997). "Charles Schulz at 3 o'clock in the morning". The Comics Journal, p. 27 (flip).
External links
- The complete text of Snoopy's It Was a Dark and Stormy Night
- Official Namco Bandai Snoopy vs. The Red Baron website
