Snoopy

Snoopy is a character in the long-running comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. He is Charlie Brown's pet beagle. more...

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Snoopy began his life in the strip as a fairly ordinary dog, but eventually evolved into perhaps the strip's most dynamic character—and among the most recognizable comic characters in the world. Animation producer Bill Melendez voiced both Snoopy and (eventually) Woodstock in numerous television specials from 1965 to 2003.

Character

Snoopy first made his appearance on the strip on October 4, 1950, two days after the strip premiered, and was identified by name on November 10. Schulz was originally going to call him "Sniffy" (as described in 25th anniversary book, Peanuts Jubilee, (pg. 20)), until he discovered that name was used in a different comic strip. Snoopy was a silent character for the first two years of his existence, but on May 27, 1952 he verbalized his thoughts to readers for the first time via a thought balloon; Schulz would utilize this device for nearly all of the character's appearances in the strip thereafter. In addition to Snoopy's ability to "speak" his thoughts to the reader, many of the human characters in Peanuts have the uncanny knack of reading his thoughts and responding to them. In the animated Peanuts films and television specials, Snoopy's thoughts are not verbalized; his moods are instead conveyed through growls, sobs, laughter, etc., as well as through pantomime. The only exceptions are in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (voiced by Robert Towers) and Snoopy!!! The Musical (voiced by Cam Clarke) in which Snoopy's thoughts are verbalized.

Curiously, the first time a beagle was mentioned in the strip (on December 5, 1960), Snoopy denied being one. As Snoopy dozed, Charlie Brown paraphrased Gertrude Stein: "Beagles on the grass, alas." To this, Snoopy replied, "I ain't no stupid beagle."

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 dream world and Charlie Brown's in the real world is central to the humour and philosophy of Peanuts (see e.g. Peanuts book title Life's a dream, Charlie Brown).

Schulz summed up Snoopy's character in a 1997 interview: "He has to retreat into his fanciful world in order to survive. Otherwise, he leads kind of a dull, miserable life. I don't envy dogs the lives they have to live."

Developments

One of the first odd developments of Snoopy was his tendency to engage in impersonations. His earliest impersonation was of a bird on August 9, 1951. Later (starting November 17, 1955), Snoopy engaged in dead-on imitations of Violet, a pelican, Lucy, a moose, Beethoven and Mickey Mouse. He would also pretend to be various other animals, including a snake, rhinoceros, and vulture. But his eccentricities did not stop there. On January 5, 1956, Snoopy walked on two legs like a human for the first time. This soon became so commonplace as to be almost unnoticeable, as Snoopy developed a variety of Walter Mitty-esque alter egos.

Read more at Wikipedia.org