‘Peanuts’ creator Charles Schulz's experiences in WWII shaped the character of Charlie Brown

Stars and Stripes ^ | 12/25/2020 | JP Lawrence

[DFG]

The cartoonist who created the Peanuts gang and television specials like “A Charlie Brown Christmas" drew from some of his experiences as an Army staff sergeant during World War II to fashion the enduringly popular comic series.

Charles Schulz, the cartoonist behind “Peanuts,” took part in the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp and the occupation of Munich shortly before the end of the war.

Biographies about Schulz, as well as his own essays, talk about the impact military service had on him and the characters he created.

“The three years I spent in the army taught me all I needed to know about loneliness,” Schulz wrote in “My Life with Charlie Brown,” published in 2010. “My sympathy for the loneliness that all of us experience is dropped heavily upon poor Charlie Brown.”

[DFG]

[Eagles6]

Interesting.

Fortunately, the left hasn't managed to destroy Peanuts.

[Peter W. Kessler]

Schulz led efforts to honor the D-Day invasion and donated $1 million to fund what would become the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Va.

I'm an ardent supporter of the Nation D-Day Memorial. It's one of the most beautiful, meaningful WWII Memorials in the world.

https://www.dday.org/

[Peter W. Kessler]

https://www.dday.org/

[GrandJediMasterYoda]

Well not so fast: Charlie Brown sounds like a black name and Schultz could have been mocking black men by calling it “Pea Nuts”. That’s it! RACIST! BAN IT!

[Eagles6]

Well, I always thought Peppermint Patti might have “played for the other team” if ya’ know what I mean.

[dayglored]

> Well, I always thought Peppermint Patti might have “played for the other team” if ya’ know what I mean.

I just figured PP was a tomboy. In my teens in the 60's I had a girlfriend who was a tomboy, climbed trees, got dirty, played baseball, knew how to fight. She also was a terrific kisser and at least in those years there was no doubt she preferred boys. We just assumed she did "boy things" because it gave her greater access to the "boys".

If she turned gay, it certainly wasn't on my watch. :-)

[PLMerite]

Yeah, I had one like that. Until she dumped me for another woman.

But, you’re probably right about your girlfriend.

[Spacetrucker]

Give them time, their plate has been full.

[Spacetrucker]

Agreed. The Holocaust Memorial Museum in D.C. is also worth praise and note.

[jeffersondem]

“I'm an ardent supporter of the Nation D-Day Memorial. It's one of the most beautiful, meaningful WWII Memorials in the world.”

I'm still hoping it will not be torn down.

[Dr. Sivana]

Schultz could have been mocking black men by calling it “Pea Nuts”.

Schulz HATED that name, wanting to call it "Li'l Folks", but the syndicate forced it on him.

[Dr. Sivana]

Well, I always thought Peppermint Patti might have “played for the other team” if ya’ know what I mean.

No. Her mom died, and her dad was often away on business, so she had no feminine influences and had to fend for herself a fair amount. The few times she got dolled up, she liked it, and she was continually trying to get "Chuck" to ask her for a date. Of course, he was hung up on the "Little Red Haired Girl".

[Natty Bumppo@frontier.net]

Peppermint Patty was modeled on Charles Schultz’s favorite cousin, Patricia Swanson, and the character Marcie was modeled on Patricia Swanson’s college roommate.

Since both characters competed for Charlie Brown’s attention and affection, I doubt Charles Schultz would have agreed with you.

On the other hand Peppermint Patty was originally the manager of a baseball team that beat Charlie Brown’s team.

[Hatteras]

A Charlie Brown Christmas was suspiciously absent from the TV guide this year...

[P.O.E.]

the left hasn't managed to destroy Peanuts.

I did notice the 50th anniversary book of the Charlie Brown Christmas (sold by Kohl's) left out the whole bit about Linus' speech towards the end.

[P.O.E.]

Oops sorry - I retract that. A version I saw a year or so ago left it out. The most recent one put it back in.

[GreyFriar]

Regarding the National D-Day Memorial, you said: “I’m still hoping it will not be torn down.”

Are you telling us that it is currently in danger of being demolished. Or just that under a “woke” population that it will not be destroyed by anti-American social justice warriors/communists/socialists?

[7thson]

Several years ago, I purchased a coffee table book on Peanuts. On the back cover was a reprinted Sunday strip. It starts with Snoopy on his dog house manning a machine gun. He then goes to the window of Sally Brown and barks. She tells him he's a good dog and to go back to his dog house. He repeats the bark at Charlie Brown's window and he tells him the same thing. He walks back to his dog house, his head down in dejection. Laying on his dog house, he thinks "You try to tell them the world has gone mad, but they won't listen."

That strip struck me as one of the most profound statements on the current world situation. I made a copy of it and used to tape it on the wall in whatever office I worked in as a government contractor and then at the DoD. Most people never seemed to get the message.

[minnesota_bound]

#2 They are trying. This past year they tried to portray him as a racist because he had a character who was black sit on one side of a table away from 3 of the white kids on the other side. There was one kid on both ends as well. He did not draw the animation but you know he has to be lied about by the socialists.