The Art of being a Dog
HIS COMIC STRIP IS THE MOST FAMOUS IN THE WORLD. AND HE IS ITS SCENE-STEALING STAR. ONCE AGAIN, TOUGH LUCK FOR CHARLIE BROWN
This rotund dog with its flat nose and black floppy ears was to become a star? No one believed it – but then, no one noticed in any case when he suddenly set up home in October 1950 in a comic strip which was printed by less than a dozen newspapers. The strip was called Peanuts, much to the initial annoyance of its creator Charles Schulz, who wanted to call it Li’l Folks. That was the name of a comic strip which Schulz, born in America in 1922, had drawn for the Pioneer Press in his home town of St. Paul, Minnesota (by the way, that also had a small dog in it but he did not yet have a name). But since the name Li’l Folks was already copy-righted by another artist, Schulz reluctantly agreed to the renaming of his comicstrip.
First Steps
The recipe for Peanuts was simple but inspired. No adult was to enter the world of Charlie Brown and his friends, and it is indeed true that the number of strips where a partial drawing of an adult appears can be counted on the fingers of one hand – and that over a period of fifty years and more than 18,000 strips. When Charles Schulz died in 2000, newspapers all over the world printed the series and the artist had become famous with his characters. His success was, of course, particularly due to that very unique dog known as Snoopy.
Even though the main character (Charlie Brown) and the artist (Charles Schulz) have the same first name, the dog is the only thing that links the two at first glance. As a boy, Schulz had owned a spirited dog and Snoopy benefited as a character from that experience. At the age of fifteen, Schulz described his dog in the following words: “A hunting dog that eats pins, tacks and razor blades”. Snoopy did not have to do that, but he did inherit the impetuous character. He owes his proud, sometimes aloof, but certainly always stubborn and determined character to the model of the young Schulz’s much-loved dog.
Charlie Brown and Snoopy
It was largely because of Snoopy’s expansive personality – the philosopher on the kennel roof, of whom Schulz once said that it was completely absurd that this dog was always sitting on the sharp ridge of the kennel (no one can quite work out why he never fall off) – that Peanuts became the most successful comic strip of all time. There were several key human characters with distinctive personalities, but not a single one who was able to express the whole gamut of emotions from top of the world to down in the dumps. Snoopy was the one who developed the broadest range of traits and interests. Snoopy benefited here from the conceivably simple way in which his creator drew him: huge muzzle, small button eyes, thin flappy ears which almost look as if they are glued on. All of this makes possible particularly expressive gestures; no one enjoys himself with such abandon as he does, no one gets so bored, no one can express greater sorrow. Charles Schulz had a very strong work ethic. He took pride in drawing and lettering every strip himself. With the encouragement of his children, he eventually stipulated that no one would be allowed to continue his comic strip following his retirement.
Snoopy's Best Friend
Snoopy enjoys a circle of friends and relatives all of his own. His fondness of that little bird Woodstock never fails to delight the readers and his brother Spike is even more of a melancholic than Snoopy is. And yet no one in the comic strip has suffered such a great loss as the beagle. In 1966 his kennel was gutted by fire and not only did his beloved billiard table fall victim to the flames, but his Van Gogh as well. At least Snoopy was able to replace him with a painting by Andrew Wyeth, but things have never been quite the same since then. Instead the Lord of the kennel has tended to restrict himself to writing novels. Too bad that he almost never got beyond the first sentence. But that is doing pretty well for a dog who has never yet uttered a single sentence.After living for more than half a century, it is only fitting that he should be given his rightful place on all those things which delight collectors’ and children’s hearts in equal measure. Who would not be happy to see the philosopher in the shape of a dog that’s him on their breakfast or coffee table–or simply on the shelf?
Náhledy fotografií ze složky SNOOPY