Snoopy
From open-encyclopedia.com - the free encyclopedia.
Snoopy is the name of Charlie Brown's pet beagle in the comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. Born on the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm, Snoopy started out as just a dog, but eventually evolved into perhaps the strip's most dynamic character.
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Character
Snoopy first made his appearance on the strip on October 4, 1950, two days after the strip premiered. As a character Snoopy never talks (because he is a dog) but thinks. However, other characters have the uncanny knack of reading his thoughts. 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 world of dream and Charlie Brown's in the world of the mundane is central to the humour and philosophy of Peanuts.
Developments
One of the first odd developments of Snoopy was his tendency to sleep on top of his doghouse, rather than inside it. Then, Snoopy started walking on two legs like a human. This soon became so commonplace as to be almost unnoticeable, as Snoopy developed a variety of alter egos, most notably the World War I flying ace. For this character he would don goggles and a scarf and fly his Sopwith Camel (actually his doghouse), battling the Red Baron (who appeared vicariously through the bulletholes he left riddled in the doghouse).
Snoopy also became "Joe Cool", as he put on sunglasses and leaned against the wall (in standard "cool" fashion) doing nothing. He has also been a famous writer (who was never published), 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"), and even an astronaut. Outside of his fantasy life he is the shortstop for Charlie Brown's Little League team (and the best player), and even owned a Van Gogh (later replaced by an Andrew Wyeth after his first doghouse caught fire and burned down). Other than his owner Charlie Brown, Snoopy's best friend and confidante is probably the undersized bird Woodstock. His arch-enemy (other than the Red Baron) is the cat next door named 'World War II' (and cats in general).
Siblings
Snoopy has seven siblings (Andy, Belle, Marbles, Molly, Olaf, Rover, and Spike) who rarely appear in the strip. The most common is Spike, who lives in the desert (near the real-life locale of Needles, California) and is friends with cacti. Andy looks like a dissheveled version of Snoopy; Olaf is rotund in both body and face.
Snoopy elsewhere in popular culture
- The Royal Guardsmen's debut album was in 1966. Among other popular songs, they recorded the song "Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron", which made it to number 2 on request charts. The Royal Guardsmen recorded a few other songs featuring Snoopy and the Red Baron.
- Apollo 10's lunar module was named "Snoopy", while its command module was named "Charlie Brown".
- A series of postage stamps featuring Snoopy as a World War I flying ace was released on May 17, 2001 in Santa Rosa, California.
- American Rock band Built To Spill has released a cover of the Snoopy theme song "Linus and Lucy" on the Monitor This compilation.
- On Amusement Park logos owned by Cedar Fair.
