25 Years Later: Why Peanuts Still Captivates Hearts and Minds!

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Recently, a writer from Quillette delved into the history of Charles Schultz’s Peanuts comic strip, reflecting on its journey twenty-five years after its original conclusion.

February 13th, 2025 will mark the 25th anniversary since the final printed Peanuts comic strip, an event that strangely happened on the same day as the death of its creator, Charles M. Schulz, at age 77. Looking back, Peanuts was not just a popular cultural product but one of the last major works by a single author to achieve international success on such a grand scale.

Charles Schulz’s hand-drawn characters, complete with iconic phrases such as “Good grief!” and “You blockhead!”, have achieved an immortality comparable to Vladimir and Estragon from Waiting for Godot, Yossarian from Catch-22, and Charlie Chaplin’s Tramp. However, his true legacy is not found in a particular comic strip or character, but rather in the unprecedented breadth of his fifty-year output of original work. From October 1950 to December 1999, Schulz created nearly 18,000 unique Peanuts episodes, alongside countless posters, calendars, greeting cards, and advertisements. In the words of illustrator Ivan Brunetti, Peanuts can be seen as “an epic poem composed entirely of haikus”. While a select few works from the 20th and 21st centuries have enjoyed a similar endurance, few, if any, have been so singularly crafted by one mind, and yet have become such a constant presence in daily lives, for over five decades.

For half a century, from 1950 to 2000, Peanuts was a beloved cartoon character. This timeframe encompassed two British monarchies, five different popes, and ten American presidencies – a span that seems almost unbelievable in today’s fast-paced media world. Many corporate entertainments have been around for what feels like an eternity, such as Saturday Night Live on American television, which debuted in 1975 and continues to air weekly in 2025. However, these are rare cases, and their longevity is often more due to their market value than their inherent quality, as seen with the endless stream of movies based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasies or superhero stories originally published before World War II. Unlike these works, each new Peanuts comic strip was created solely by Charles Schulz, not a team of successors, licensees, or merchandisers.

As a devoted fan, I’d like to highlight one unique aspect of Schulz’s genius in Peanuts: it wasn’t just about the amusing gimmick of having children speak adult dialogues. Instead, he masterfully delved into profound themes such as identity, faith, unfulfilled dreams, and unrequited love, presenting them in a simplified form suitable for little kids. Peanuts served as allegories of existential turmoil and yearning, not through scholarly discourses or spiritual journeys, but through tales about the seemingly mundane lives of ordinary children. Many readers found solace in recognizing their own intricate personal struggles mirrored in characters that appeared to live straightforward, routine lives. How many of us have dreams of unflown kites and untouched footballs? How many of us yearn for Valentines yet to arrive? Aren’t we all pursuing our own unreachable little red-haired girls?

Peanuts’ distinctively clear lines set it apart from the crowded panels of earlier comic strips, paving the way for comics like Garfield, Cathy, and Calvin and Hobbes, where familiar visuals have become as iconic as national emblems or well-known company logos.

Today, traditional newspapers are increasingly becoming obsolete, and the fillers such as advice columns, horoscopes, crossword puzzles, trivia quizzes, bridge or chess analyses that once filled their back pages are almost extinct. Many of the Suns, Stars, Times, Tribunes, and Heralds that once carried Peanuts have ceased to exist, and only a handful of surviving print news sources cater to the broad, nonpartisan audience that Charles Schultz appealed to. To today’s readers, the world of Peanuts might seem as fantastical as any science fiction setting: a sprawling neighborhood filled with parks, single-family homes, leafy paths, frozen ponds, and low brick walls where children, no older than eight or nine, casually chat on sidewalks, visit each other’s houses, and organize their own games without adult intervention. A dog has its own shelter in a large yard, a boy practices Beethoven on the piano, friends have deep conversations under trees, and siblings sit together in front of big televisions. For North Americans born after approximately 1975, this world may have once been somewhat realistic, but it’s now more like an unattainable dreamland.

It’s an interesting question to consider if today’s readers would find Peanuts appealing. The appeal might depend on the audience we’re discussing. For instance, modern college students, who are often exposed to progressive ideologies, may not resonate with it. Similarly, figures like Stan Lee, once popular among college students for his work in Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, and Fantastic Four, might not hold the same appeal today.

Just as some newspapers that used to carry Peanuts and other comics have closed down, so too might Marvel and DC at some point in the future. However, it’s fortunate that Peanuts ended its run as a newspaper strip, because…

Following Charles Schulz’s passing 25 years ago, his unique, self-crafted magnum opus – unlike the works of Walt Disney, Jim Henson, and other famous cartoonists who often delegated their work to employees or collaborators – could once again be cherished. However, in 2025, the concept of a one-man masterpiece, meticulously created stroke by stroke, bubble by bubble, missed goal by missed goal, has become symbolic of an era that can no longer be recaptured.

It was wise of Schultz to conclude his renowned comic strip instead of allowing it to become less sophisticated due to contemporary political correctness. As a result, it has remained strong and enduring. Unlike some other comics that have been influenced by PC writers and artists, potentially diluting their original appeal, Schultz’s work was never subjected to this fate.

If, at some point in the future, Marvel or DC decide to cease publication, it will be an opportunity to reevaluate and preserve what is essential from their established canon. If a new owner with vision emerges later, they can decide what elements to maintain or discard, ensuring a more coherent and authentic continuation of these iconic characters.

Currently, it’s fortunate that Schultz included an arrangement in his publishing deals for Peanuts to cease as a comic strip upon his demise. This decision has allowed it to maintain its integrity more effectively compared to numerous contemporary corporate-owned products.

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2025-02-20 17:31