- Hi, we're the Fine Brothers.
- Grab your Snoopy doll and take some notes
because, good grief, we're about to jump through
the entire history of Peanuts.
- You'll be all caught up and informed about the comic strip
and its characters in time for The Peanuts Movie
coming out November 6th after watching this recap
in one take and under five minutes. - Starting now!
- Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz was born
in Minneapolis, Minnesota on November 26th, 1922.
- His connection to comics began when his uncle gave him
the nickname Sparky, named after the horse Spark Plug
in the comic strip Barney Google. - New decade!
- In 1937, Schulz drew a picture of his dog Spike
and sent it to Ripley's Believe It or Not,
and it appeared on its syndicated panel. - New decade!
- In 1943, Schulz was drafted into the US Army.
- After his service, he focused on developing his career
in comics until he could do it full-time.
- His big break came in the summer of 1947,
placing a weekly feature called L'il Folks
in his hometown paper, the St. Paul Pioneer Press!
- Many Peanuts origins come from this strip,
including a dog named Rover that looked a lot like Snoopy--
- A boy very serious about his musical studies,
similar to Schroeder-- - And a character named Charlie Brown.
- New decade!
- After nearly three years of publication,
Pioneer Press dropped L'il Folks in January, 1950.
- Schulz didn't give up on the strip and in late 1950
approached the United Feature Syndicate.
- They decided the name L'il Folks was too close
to the names of two other comics at the time
and changed it to Peanuts. - Wait, that means Schulz didn't choose
the name Peanuts?! Mind blown!
- The first Peanuts comic strip debutes on October 2nd, 1950
and is the first time Charlie Brown is called "good old Charlie Brown,"
along with the appearances of Shermy and Patty.
- More iconic characters and events happen, like the appearance of Snoopy--
- Who resembles Schulz's childhood dog, Spike,
even though it wasn't a beagle.
- And we finally see Charlie Brown with his signature zigzag shirt.
- And welcome aboard, Violet and Schroeder!
- In August, Charlie Brown is first called a blockhead
and three months later falls for the football gag,
with Violet pulling the football away from him.
- In 1952, the first licensed product was a reprinted strip book called Peanuts.
- Kodak then featured Peanuts characters
in their camera instruction booklet in one of the hottest models
they had at the time, the Brownie.
- And hey there, Lucy! Welcome to Peanuts.
- Six months later, Linus van Pelt makes his first appearance
- In November of 1952, Lucy finally pulls a football
and falls in love with Schroeder.
- Soon after, we get Pigpen.
- In 1959, Lucy opens her psychiatric booth.
Best nickel I've ever spent!
- Sally also gets introduced, as well as the first mention
of The Great Pumpkin by Linus! - We believe you, Linus!
He is real! - New decade!
- Welcome to the '60s, which brought us bell-bottoms,
the moon landing, and automobiles like the Ford Falcon,
which feature the Peanuts characters in its commercial.
- Hallmark joins the fray and introduces the Peanuts gang
into their greeting cards for the first time.
- Fast forward to today: Hallmark is a partner
on the new Peanuts movie! - Back to the past!
- Big news is revealed officially that Snoopy is a beagle
as stated in a strip on December 5th, 1960
when Charlie Brown called him one.
- In 1961, Charlie Brown's biggest crush and future heartbreak,
The Little Red-Haired Girl, is first mentioned.
- The inspiration for her was Donna Johnson Wald,
a co-worker of Schulz at the Art Instruction School.
- And in 1964 The National Cartoonists Society
named him Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year!
- They already gave him the same award in 1955,
making him the first recipient to receive it twice.
No big deal.
- In 1965, Peanuts first came to movies and television
with the Emmy-winning A Charlie Brown Christmas.
- It was watched in over 15 million households
and is still shown every year since to this day.
- In fact, this year of 2015 is the 50th anniversary of the special!
- This led to the first theatrical feature, A Boy Named Charlie Brown,
which focuses on Charlie Brown's attempt
to win the National Spelling Bee.
- Welcome to Peanuts, Peppermint Patty!
- Peanuts' march into all media continued in March, 1967
with a Broadway show called You're a Good Man Charlie Brown,
which had over 1,500 performances.
- And a month later, we first meet Snoopy's sidekick!
- Woodstock isn't called by his name until 1970,
however birds resembling him had appeared for years
throughout the strip.
- Then in 1968, with the boom of the Civil Rights Movement,
the strip made a big move,
introducing the first African American character, Franklin.
- Also big was a Snoopy balloon that made its first appearance
during the 1968 Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. - New decade!
- Here come the '70s, the era of Disco, afros,
and brings us Marcie, along with the coolest character
in the form of Snoopy's alter-ego, Joel Cool.
- In 1973, the Emmy-winning A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving debuted.
- New decade!
- We're both Fine Brothers.
We'll be born and grow up to love Peanuts
through the TV series,
(singing) ♪ The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Shoooow! ♪
- By the '80s, Peanuts was already published
in many different languages around the world.
- It even broke into the Japanese market.
- It became huge there with the help of Hallmark
and Determined Productions,
who released popular Peanuts branded puzzles, dolls, and more.
Determined also began to contact famous fashion designers around the world.
- They worked on specially designed outfits for the plush dolls
of Snoopy and Belle, his Parisian sister.
A qui qui.
- Displaying these dolls became a huge event,
traveling all over the world called Snoopy & Belle in Fashion.
- And the dolls are still touring to this day!
- Back to the past!
- By 1984, Peanuts is seen in a record-breaking
2,000 newspapers around the world.
- This is America Charlie Brown debutes.
- It becomes TV's first animated mini-series.
- New decade!
- It's the 1990's!
- It starts with the celebration of Peanuts' 40th anniversary
during the Super Bowl XXIV halftime show.
- 1990 also brought our favorite Peanuts short,
Why Charlie Brown, Why?, which deals with the gang
befriending a girl with cancer.
- Meanwhile, overseas Peanuts was being showered with love as well.
- Schulz was honored by the French Ministry of Culture
with the Order of Arts and Letters in Paris in 1990.
- In 1992, the Italian Minister of Culture awarded the Order of Merit
to Schulz, who also met Italian director Federico Fellini.
- The original drawing that Schulz ended up drawing for him
is now in the Fellini museum.
- Back in the US, Schulz got his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame!
- The '90s also brought many of the major characters
last appearances in the comic strip, including Patty, Violet,
Pigpen, Schroeder, and Franklin.
- Schulz officially retired on December 14th, 1999
after writing 17,897 strips!
- That's a strip a day for over 50 years! Good grief!
- New decade!
- A new decade brings sorrow as on February 12th, 2000,
just one day before his final Peanuts comic strip
and the last appearance of Charlie Brown and Snoopy was released,
Charles Schulz passed away.
- Just over eight months after Schulz's passing,
Peanuts celebrates its 50th anniversary.
- The Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center
opens on August 17th, 2002 in Santa Rosa, California
and contains many of the original Peanut strips,
along with tributes to Schulz from other artists.
- And here we are now in October, 2015!
- We could not be more honored to be part of the 65th anniversary
of Peanuts and the release of the new film, The Peanuts Movie,
celebrating the work of one of the greatest cartoonists of all time,
without whom we might not even be making videos
due to all the influences his work had on our career.
- And now you're all caught up on the history of Peanuts!
- Who's your favorite character?
- What's your favorite quote from the comic strips?
- Would you let Charlie Brown kick a football?
- Will you be watching The Peanuts Movie on November 6th, 2015?
- (both) We know we'll be!
♪ (vocalizing Peanuts theme song) ♪