Charles+Schulz

media type="custom" key="3906809"Charles Monroe Schulz November 26, 1922- February 12, 2000

Everyone knows the //Peanut Gang// and the loveable Charlie Brown. The //Peanuts// made a big impact on America today, but who was the person responsible for creating the Peanuts? Charles Monroe Schulz. Many people know who Charles Schulz is, but not many know how he impacted America today. How //__did__//, he impact America today? Charles Schulz was the only child born to Dena and Carl Schulz. He was born on November 26, 1922, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. When he was only two days old, his uncle nicknamed him Sparky. Sparky was short for Sparkplug, which was a horse’s name in the comic strip, //Barney Google. //He was called Sparky for the rest of his life. Charles found his love of art in kindergarten. His teacher told them to draw a picture, and Charles remembers drawing a picture of a man shoveling snow. Charles loved to play sports also. Since there were no organized sports, like //Little League,// he played on the streets, with friends. He also did very well in school. He skipped 3rd grade, and then he skipped 5th grade. In junior high school, he struggled, but he graduated high school. In the yearbook, he submitted his art, but not one piece was put into it. Charles loved art very much, so his parents saved up their money so he could take art classes. The first grade he earned was a C. Sadly, Charles was drafted into World War II, in 1943. During his basic training, his mom died. After the war, he got a job as an art instructor. He also started working for //Timeless Topix. //He sold his cartoons in the //Saturday Evening Post//, and then his cartoons appeared in local paper. He asked the editor if his cartoons could appear in the paper more often, but the editor said no. Then he asked the editor for a raise, but once again, the editor disagreed. Charles then asked the editor if he should quit. The editor agreed with this, and Charles lost his job. He sent his cartoons to syndicates, and he was answered. United Feature Syndicate took Charles in. His first comic strip appeared on October 2nd, 1950. Charles did very well, and he earned ninety dollars in his first week. There was only one glitch. They didn’t like the name //Lil’ Folks. //It sounded too much like another comic strip. They changed the name of Charles’s comic strip to //Peanuts. //Charles didn’t like the name //Peanuts. //He kept to his work, though. No one ever helped him with anything. He did all of his drawings, and all of the speech. Charles loved his job, and he wrote more than 18,000 strips, and worked for about 50 years. In 1965, the first animated movie, //Charlie Brown’s Christmas//, was released. In 1967, //You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown,// was a musical on Broadway, and in 1968, //It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown// was released also//. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving// came out in 1973. At first, there were just four main characters, Charlie Brown, Peppermint Patty, Shermy, and Snoopy. Charles Schulz wanted to marry a woman named Donna Johnson, she had red hair, and this is how he got his idea for the little red headed girl. She said “no,” to him when he asked her to marry him though. He ended up marrying Joyce Halverson in April of 1951. Her last name was the same last name as Charles’s mom’s maiden name, but they were not related. They had five children. Sadly, they divorced, and in 1973, Charles Schulz remarried Jeannie Forsyth. Before they divorced, Charles’s children gave him lots of ideas. For his daughter, Meredith’s second birthday, she received a toy piano, that’s why Charles Schulz made Schroeder play Beethoven music on his toy piano. One night at the dinner table, Charles’s family was being loud. He asked them to be quieter. After they had quieted down, his daughter, Amy, who was buttering her bread, asked him, “Am I buttering too loud for you?” Charles put those exact words in one of his scripts! Not only did Charles’s children inspire him, his childhood inspired him also. When Charles’s was young, he had a dog named Spike. Snoopy, represented Spike. Charles’s thought that Charlie Brown was very much like him, stupid, and dorky. Charles’s job made him very wealthy, and he gave lots of his money to charities. One of the charities he gave money to was the Jean and Charles Schulz Information Center at Sonoma State. Charles Schulz also won many awards. He won the cartoonist of the year twice, in 1955, and 1964. In 1987, he was put in the National Museum of Cartoonists and Cartoonist Hall of Fame. After he died he won the Lifetime Achievement Award. The Broadway Play, //You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown,// won two Tony Awards. In 1965, the //Peanuts Gang// was on the front of //Time// //Magazine.// The Baseball Hall of Fame made a //Peanuts Gang// exhibit based on the one of the comic strips, //You’re in the Hall of Fame Charlie Brown!// 2,000 Charlie Brown comic strips were about baseball. Charlie Brown loved baseball. In 1969, Apollo X, carried a Charlie Brown mascot up to space, and an airport near Charles’s home, was named Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport. Five of the T.V. specials won Emmy Awards. Charles Schulz earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He was also the grand marshal of the Tournament of Roses Parade, in 1974. In 2001 he won the CGM. Charles Monroe Schulz impacted America today in a lot of different ways. He entertained people with his funny comic strips. He even helped the army, in World War II. Charlie Brown is still a popular comic strip today. Adults and kids enjoy watching the holiday based Charlie Brown movies. The //Peanut// //Gang// warmed people’s hearts across the country, from Minneapolis, Minnesota, where Charles was born; to California, where he died the night before his last comic strip came out. By Grace Grace's grandfather has been reading "Peanuts" nearly every day since it first came out. He likens Charlie Brown's story to the iconography of lessons learned in childhood which are taken with each of us for all of our days.

Grace's grandmother notes that even today, the original "Peanuts" comic strip is syndicated in many newspapers in the United States. She has been reading the strip daily for many years and still enjoys the messages it conveys. It might never have continued if it were not for the empathetic nature of each character.

Works Cited 18 May 2009 . Marvis, Barbara J. __Charles Schulz__. Hockessin, Del: Mitchell Lane, 2005. Woods, Mae. __Charles Schulz__. Edina, Minn: ABDO Pub., 2002. __World Book encyclopedia.__ Chicago: World Book, Inc., 2004.