Thursday, November 18, 2010
July 6, 1953: Whither the pigs?
Chagrimace!
Lucy has quickly become the most frequent female character, and second only to Charlie Brown in recent appearances. Patty and Violet are nearly interchangeable now. Although Violet joined the cast as a "young" kid character, she was never as naive as Lucy can be.
Lucy is especially unique because she can combine her naivety, somehow, with sarcasm. That combination sticks to the character for quite some time.
Labels:
blush,
chagrimace,
charliebrown,
lucy,
pigs,
slop,
slurp
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Sunday, July 5, 1953: First use of "real" extras
We've seen one-use animals other than Snoopy before (a dog and two birds), and we had one strip in which we saw other kids from a distance. But this here is the first time in Peanuts we've seen entirely non-regular character designs as throwaways. Also included: the first kid with glasses, and a kid with a "Jughead" hat.
Note: of all the extras in that sandbox, only two of them are girls, and both are cast members. Also, Violet wears her hair down this time; she's got it in a bob most appearances now.
The tiers of Peanuts characters:
"Cast" characters are the main guys. There are some characters who, once they arrive, are frequently seen for a while. Some of these are long-term characters (like Charlie Brown, who was in the first strip and the last).
We might call "understudy" characters those who join for a little while, like Frieda, but then digress into occasional appearances, usually disappearing completely some time later. Eudora is also one of these, I'd say.
Some never seem to progress beyond being bit characters. These guys are usually introduced as part of a story, and sometimes get used as extras in group scenes. Roy is a good example; he's not quite an extra, and in fact has an important place in Peanuts history for introducing Charlie Brown to "Peppermint" Patty, but he never really joins the main cast. I think "5" and his sisters, the twins "3" and "4," are also in this category. (The digit kids aren't much remembered now, but are notable for appearing in the dance scenes in A Charlie Brown Christmas.)
Labels:
cast,
characters,
charliebrown,
extras,
firsts,
glasses,
jugheadhat,
patty,
schroeder,
shermy,
sunday,
understudy,
violet
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
July 3, 1953: Slow approaching doom
We haven't actually seen many of those tricks. I guess it's comforting to know that Lucy will keep on with them for a long time to come.
One thing about this strip... Linus never does catch up with Lucy in height. His development slows down due to the Peanuts Time Warp effect and he always remains just a little behind her.
Maybe Schulz ran out of ideas for baby jokes, because he now seems in a hurry to have him achieve parity with the other characters. The kid doesn't have much infanthood left.
Labels:
baby,
charliebrown,
development,
doom,
infant,
linus,
lucy,
timewarp
Monday, November 15, 2010
July 2, 1953: Lucy and Linus, sister and brother
This is the first time the two have actually seemed to be "together" in anything. Fellow-feeling is a remarkably uncommon trait for the Peanuts characters to have; most of them are loners at heart. Exceptions: Snoopy and Woodstock, "Peppermint" Patty and Marcie. Maybe Patty and Violet, although we haven't seen much of that yet.
Labels:
babysitter,
linus,
lucy,
mother,
sigh
Sunday, November 14, 2010
July 1, 1953: That's a big outfield
At some point Lucy's problems with outfielding become more the result of her fussiness and ill-temper than more personable factors. At least her absence from play doesn't see to have caused Charlie Brown's team any problems this time.
Labels:
baseball,
centerfield,
charliebrown,
lucy,
outfield
Saturday, November 13, 2010
June 29, 1953: Lucy in the outfield
The beginning of a long-standing Peanuts theme, Lucy as problematic baseball player. Note here her position is center field. I'm not sure, but I think most of the time she is a right fielder.
Labels:
baseball,
centerfield,
charliebrown,
lonliness,
lucy,
outfield
June 30, 1953: Linus' first steps
Linked for notability.
When Rerun joins the cast much later, in a way it's almost like these early strips with Linus return. Rerun looks so much like Linus, even if his personality is a little different, that it's hard to escape the conclusion that Schulz named him as a self-referential joke.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
June 26, 1953: August 4 is Snoopy Day!
Mark it on your calendars!
How did Snoopy communicate his desire to have a specific day to Charlie Brown? It's not like he's learned to type yet.
Labels:
augustfourth,
charliebrown,
cliches,
patty,
snoopy,
snoopyday
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