Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
VO (00:02):
Welcome to Unpacking Peanuts, the podcast where three cartoonists take an in-depth look at the greatest comic strip of all time, Peanuts by Charles M.
Schulz.
Jimmy (00:18):
Hey, everybody.
Welcome back to the show.
This is Unpacking Peanuts and we're here in 1993 looking at some great fun comic strips.
Hope you're doing well.
I'll be your host for the proceedings.
My name is Jimmy Gownley.
I'm also a cartoonist.
I did things like Amelia Rules, Seven Good Reasons Not to Grow Up, and The Dumbest Idea Ever.
And you can read my brand new comics for free now at gvillecomics.substack.com.
(00:43):
Joining me as always are my pals, co-hosts, and fellow cartoonists.
He's a playwright and a composer, both for the band Complicated People as well as for this very podcast.
He's the original editor for Amelia Rules, the co-creator of the original Comic Book Price Guide, and the creator of such great strips as Strange Attractors, A Gathering of Spells and Tangled River.
It's Michael Cohen.
(01:04):
He's executive producer and writer of Mystery Science Theater 3000, a former vice president of Archie Comics and the creator of the Instagram sensation, Sweetest Beasts, it's Harold Buchholz.
Harold (01:15):
Hello.
Jimmy (01:16):
Making sure everything runs smoothly, producer Liz Sumner is here.
Liz (01:20):
Hello.
Jimmy (01:21):
Here we are guys, 1993.
We got almost 20 strips to discuss today.
Do you guys have any sort of introduction, any sort of preamble you want to get out of the way first?
Michael (01:32):
Seems to me, he's recycling a lot of old ideas.
Jimmy (01:38):
There are lots of callbacks, I think.
SPEAKER_2 (01:40):
Yeah.
Liz (01:41):
Yeah.
Jimmy (01:41):
One of the ones I picked definitely has late 60s vibes.
Liz (01:47):
Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
Michael (01:49):
I mean, they're good, but they're good because there's something that really worked years ago.
A couple of them were like, have I seen this before?
And then realized that, yeah, that he's used that idea before, but like 40 years.
Jimmy (02:04):
40 years ago.
Michael (02:05):
Yeah.
Harold (02:05):
Liz's question is interesting.
It's like once you've created something and you return to it and you do themes and variations on it, is that good?
Do you always expect an artist to be doing something new or is there something wrong with the guy who created it, being the one who just keeps dabbling and changing?
(02:28):
Because obviously, going way back in the strip, you just see things over and over again.
You see Lucy and Schroeder at the piano.
Does it feel in some way different to you, Michael, than seeing things repeated over and over again within its own time period?
Michael (02:44):
I'd find them better than the stuff that is newer.
Some of the best gags were what I would call his callbacks.
Harold (02:56):
So, some of the new things he's trying is to start clicking with you?
If he does do something that looks a little unusual or unique or new, or like say with rerun pops up and does something?
Michael (03:06):
Yeah.
I mean, I'm just not...
In general, I'm not crazy about where the strip is right now.
But, you know, the good ones are still up there, and there's enough good ones to fill a podcast.
Harold (03:19):
What do you miss the most at this point, Michael?
Michael (03:21):
I miss some of the more sophisticated humor.
I think I talked about this last time.
It seems like a lot of the jokes are something that little kids would appreciate and enjoy.
Harold (03:35):
Okay.
So he's somehow simplifying some of the ideas and the newer strips.
Michael (03:44):
Yeah.
It's not adults in kid costumes, basically.
As it was earlier on, it's just like kids.
This is not kids.
These are like mature thoughts.
And you don't see a lot of that anymore.
Jimmy (04:03):
So, Michael, do you think maybe it was because you were a child when you first read these that they appeared or more profound or deeper to you?
Or you just had more resonance?
Because there was so much you didn't know.
Michael (04:18):
Yeah.
Well, that's definitely it.
I was learning from the strip.
I learned a lot from Peanuts.
I mean, there are a lot of references.
I remember seeing the word fallout for the first time.
Jimmy (04:28):
Yeah, right.
Michael (04:28):
And it was a punch line.
And I didn't know what that was.
Yeah.
So, yeah, obviously I was looking at it from a whole different perspective than I am now.
But I do think it used to be a much funnier strip.
And I think I talked in one of the 1960s pods.
(04:53):
I made the my theory that he might have been the funniest man in America in the 60s.
Jimmy (05:00):
Right.
Michael (05:01):
I wouldn't say that for the 90s.
Jimmy (05:04):
No.
But that would also be like inhuman if he was the funniest person for 40 years.
Michael (05:09):
Yeah.
Jimmy (05:10):
You know, I feel for artists, like part of me, like Harold said earlier, wants to see constant growth and change.
But part of me does want to hear the hits.
Like whenever there's a Beatles-y Paul McCartney song, that's always kind of thrilling.
Harold (05:26):
Right.
Jimmy (05:27):
And it's weird because like he's the one person that has the right to do it, but is also the one person that in some ways is kind of shying away from doing it.
Which is a weird position to be in, you know, I think as an artist, to be kind of competing against or reacting against your own past.
(05:48):
Yeah.
Harold (05:48):
Yeah.
I think if we were reading Crazy Cat right now and we were into whatever year, we'd be like, wow, he is just repeating himself over and over again.
Jimmy (05:56):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Harold (05:59):
It's like no avoiding it.
I mean, that's one of the obligations of a daily comic strip, right?
Is in some ways.
That's true.
Jimmy (06:06):
Yeah.
Michael (06:07):
Well, but also, you know, there was no history of these things being archival.
Jimmy (06:13):
Right.
Michael (06:14):
I think kind of same with comics.
I mean, there was no continuity till the sixties where, you know, these little universes started popping up.
Before that, they assumed the readership, every three years readership would change and they'd never seen these before.
Jimmy (06:33):
Right.
Michael (06:33):
You can recycle the plots.
You can recycle covers.
Harold (06:37):
It's weird when the way people experience a certain type of art changes.
We start to judge the art and the artists based on the new rules and not the rules in which they were made.
Another example would be theatrical cartoons, like a Bugs Bunny cartoon or a Terry Toon's Mighty Mouse.
(06:59):
Back in the day, they turn out one a month.
So the most you could see, unless, you know, when they were being made and they were designed for this, is once a month.
And you probably wouldn't see everyone because you wouldn't go to the theater every time there was a new one.
Michael (07:13):
Yeah.
And you probably wouldn't assume you'd ever see them again.
Harold (07:17):
Right.
And then all of a sudden on Saturday mornings, now you've got an hour and a half of these things.
You're just going to watch one after the other.
And the ones obviously that are more repetitious or, you know, they tend to be judged on this different, this different level.
Michael (07:36):
People often want more of the same.
But the question is, would you have wanted peanuts to progress into something new?
I had stopped reading, you know, 20 years before this, so I wasn't conscious of this.
But if I had picked up a Peanuts book from 1993, you know, I'd be puzzled by some of the new characters, but I wouldn't go like, wow, this strip has really changed.
(08:04):
Right.
Formally it has, you know, three panels, two panels, one panel.
It's still recognizably the same strip.
Jimmy (08:11):
Right.
Liz (08:12):
Well, and Jimmy, you were just talking about seeing the Bob Dylan movie and artists getting criticized for changing their style.
Jimmy (08:21):
Yeah, that's true.
That's true.
First off, I highly recommend the Bob Dylan movie.
Really, really good.
Yeah.
And actually I had a really long discussion with my daughter about that, who is an art, and she went to see it with me and she's an art major.
And it is something that's the artists, you know, it's part of the artist's journey, right?
(08:41):
Because you spend the first part of your career finding something that will work and both become, you know, commercially effective for you.
And then you got to repeat it forever.
But to be an artist, you don't want to repeat it.
And you don't want to even necessarily blame people for wanting you to repeat it because they're doing that out of, because they love it.
Harold (09:03):
Right.
Michael (09:03):
Well, like the case in point, I just got the Mark Schulz portfolio book.
This is another Schulz.
I'd say this Schulz is actually more influential to me than the Schulz we were talking about.
But basically, since he stopped doing comics like 30 years ago, he's just focused on drawing covers and single image.
(09:28):
Same style exactly, keeps refining it more and more.
It's more and more refined, it's cleaner, it's brilliantly laid out, but there's no advancement.
Subject matter stays the same.
Jimmy (09:41):
Right.
Michael (09:42):
Technique pretty much stays the same.
Harold (09:43):
How does that feel to you, Michael, when you see him just getting better and better and better?
Michael (09:48):
Well, there's a point where you can't get better unless you're willing to spend a year on one drawing.
In his case, it's all about the detail.
Jimmy (09:59):
Well, it's absolutely an extremely interesting topic, and it's great to be able to have the venue here to discuss this sort of thing, because it doesn't come up in line at the bank.
You don't get to talk about, what do you think about the Schulz's artistic growth?
You don't get to talk to Mark or Charles either, it doesn't matter.
(10:22):
Now, I do have one piece of leftover business from maybe our last episode, one of our recent episodes.
We were discussing, did Charles Schulz ever not use panel borders?
And the answer is yes, at least on the Sundays, there's at least one example where he got rid of the panel border.
(10:44):
And it's one of our favorites that I noticed, it's a bug, it's a bug, it's a pizza fuzz.
So the fact that we didn't know that is to our eternal shame.
Liz (10:55):
I think we should stop now and not go forward.
Jimmy (10:59):
Exactly.
Exactly.
It's our deepest apologies.
Be of good cheer.
Yes.
All right.
Let's hit the strips.
All right.
If you characters are out there, you want to follow along, there's a couple of things you need to do.
First thing I'd love for you to do is go over to unpackingpeanuts.com, sign up for the great Peanuts reread.
That'll get you one email a month.
(11:20):
That'll clue you in as to what we're going to be discussing on the next episode.
Then all you got to do is go over to gocomics.com, search for Peanuts and all of these strips are there freely for you to read.
I heard it through the grapevine, there might be an upgrade to the gocomics site soon, so might be even more fancy.
(11:43):
So do that and here we go.
Yeah, September 1st, Charlie Brown's in the beanbag chair watching TV and his sister Sally approaches from behind and says, school starts next week.
I needed to test me on my multiplication tables.
Charlie Brown says, OK, how much is five times eight?
Sally says, who cares?
(12:03):
And Charlie Brown sinks a little bit further into the beanbag chair and says, I think you're ready.
Michael (12:10):
What I like here is the who cares is Sally's kind of motto right now.
It seems like that's always been the punch line.
And to have Charlie Brown actually come up with something kind of nice little quip at the end is good.
Yes.
The who cares is getting a little old.
Jimmy (12:31):
Yep.
Yeah, it works great.
That's one of the innovations that he really came up with, this idea of sort of developing a punch line and then moving it around in the strip so it's not always in that fourth panel and giving somebody else the true punch line.
And yeah, it really works.
And this is a great one from Charlie Brown.
(12:51):
Yeah.
Michael (12:52):
He's usually not this quick on his feet.
Jimmy (12:55):
He's getting quicker.
He's getting quicker.
I love that he sinks just a little bit in the beanbag chair in that last panel.
Liz (13:03):
And he wouldn't be as quick if there was a fourth panel.
Jimmy (13:07):
Yeah, that's true.
Harold (13:08):
That's a really good point, Liz.
Jimmy (13:10):
Yeah.
Harold (13:11):
That could have very well been separated.
Sally's Who Cares and Charlie Brown's I Think You're Ready.
Jimmy (13:18):
Yep.
Yeah.
And those are the types of things that you have to spend time on as a cartoonist to think, well, is it better to break this up in two panels or is it better to keep it as one panel?
And then 12 hours pass and you start again the next day.
September 15th, Marcie and Peppermint Patty are out tossing the old football around and Peppermint Patty says, I'll run down the field, Marcie, and you throw me the ball.
(13:45):
And Peppermint Patty runs down the field, but then when she gets to her chosen spot, she turns around and has a quizzical look on her face.
And we see in the next panel, Marcie has gone inside.
So Peppermint Patty goes to Marcie's house and says, Marcie, where did you go?
And then Marcie says to Peppermint Patty, after you ran down the field, I suddenly felt very lonely.
Harold (14:11):
I've been enjoying some of these Marcie strips where Peppermint Patty is dragging her into sports and Marcie is trying to participate or sometimes doesn't want to participate or wants to do it in a different way.
And this one in particular struck me as this is, this is something that only lives in a peanut strip, this particular one.
(14:35):
There is that melancholy aspect of Schulz that comes through here, but it's also, I just found it kind of sweet and touching and surprising.
She's only been gone for a few seconds to do a football play and Marcie's gone home because she's alone.
Jimmy (14:54):
It also would only live in a comic strip because the timing is nebulous in a strip, whereas if you did that in an animated special, I mean, I'm sure they could have tried it, but it wouldn't have the same impact or feeling.
Harold (15:06):
Well, maybe Peppermint Patty went real long.
Jimmy (15:10):
Yeah, right, exactly.
September 30th, Charlie Brown's in school and he's talking to himself, given the side eye over something in his peripheral vision, and he says, I think I'll ask the teacher if I can move my desk next to that little red-haired girl.
Now he's in complete reverie, saying, then one day I can reach over and touch her hand.
(15:34):
And then in third panel, he's shocked because he now is realizing, and she can look at me like I've lost my mind.
And he sinks down in his chair and says, maybe I'll ask the teacher if I can move my desk out into the hallway.
Now, talking about the recall strips, this is like a recall of maybe I'll flap my arms and fly to the moon.
(15:56):
You know, he would do these things where he would think about how he wanted to interact with the little red-haired girl.
And then he would undercut himself at the end.
Michael (16:05):
Yeah.
Jimmy (16:05):
And we see that again here.
Michael (16:06):
Yes, it's got the rhythm of older strips.
But I do have a question for you guys.
Would this work if those were thought balloons instead of speech balloons?
Harold (16:20):
For me, yes.
Jimmy (16:22):
Yeah, it would have worked.
It might have actually worked better because Charlie Brown is not sitting there talking to himself.
Michael (16:27):
Right.
He chose to have him talking to himself.
Liz (16:30):
It looks to me like the third panel is that the person sitting behind him says that.
Jimmy (16:37):
He really has those weird pointers this time.
Harold (16:39):
Yeah, it looks like it's pointing two different ways.
The little curve on that incredibly curvy pointer is looking like it's going off.
That's interesting.
Jimmy (16:51):
Yeah, these are really extreme.
If you look at even the ones around it, the day before we looked at and the day after, they're not like that.
Michael (17:01):
Yeah, these are not points.
Maybe that's his way of doing a thought balloon.
Jimmy (17:06):
Yeah.
Michael (17:06):
It's kind of open.
Jimmy (17:08):
Yeah, like he's whispering to himself or something.
But I definitely think it should have been thought balloons.
I think that would be better.
Harold (17:16):
I feel like he's using thought balloons sparingly with the kids, maybe because he considers that the domain of Snoopy.
I don't know.
Jimmy (17:25):
Maybe.
Maybe.
October 6th, Linus and Lydia are sitting in class in their famous positions, and Lydia says to Linus, if you really loved me, you'd buy me a music box.
And then Linus over his shoulder says to Lydia, if you really loved me, you wouldn't ask me to buy you a music box.
(17:47):
To which Lydia replies, another tie.
Michael (17:51):
Well, she realizes, or they realize now that this is a game, and you're trying to win.
Jimmy (18:00):
Another tie is such a great punchline for it.
Liz (18:03):
Yeah.
Jimmy (18:04):
Really, really funny.
Really good.
Liz (18:07):
And they're equal now.
Yeah.
Jimmy (18:11):
At least for a day or two, because October 8th, we're back in class with Linus and Lydia, and Linus has indeed gotten Lydia a music box, and he says to her, or she says to him, a music box?
Linus, you bought me a music box.
And Linus puts his head in his hands, and he presses his elbows on the back of his chair, and says, Well, you said a music box is the most romantic gift that a boy can give to a girl.
(18:39):
And then Lydia says, It is.
It's very special.
I'll put it with all the others.
And Linus sinks down in his chair.
Michael (18:48):
Yep.
It's a match point for two, Lydia.
Liz (18:52):
You fool, Linus!
Harold (18:55):
Looks like Linus shrunk about a foot right there.
Jimmy (18:58):
He's got the double stress lines on either side of his eye there, you know, so.
Harold (19:04):
Yeah.
In Schulz's world, it's often the one who puts themselves out on the line that gets hurt, right?
And that's probably true for life a lot of times.
Jimmy (19:13):
Well, that's true.
That's true.
Oh, but Lydia also, I mean, first off, you know for a fact she does not have all these music boxes from Little Boys, but she's sharp.
Harold (19:24):
I don't know.
It's Lydia.
Jimmy (19:25):
Well, that's true.
Michael (19:27):
Well played, I must say.
Liz (19:29):
Yes, very well played.
Harold (19:31):
Yeah, and you're getting to know Lydia a little better here, too.
She's been an enigma, and now we're getting to see a few more facets about her, and that's kind of fun.
This really is, Ben, we've mentioned it multiple times, but a real delightful surprise for me for some of the later Peanuts that Lydia has come into this strip.
(19:53):
She's a really fun character.
It's nice that she's a peripheral character that kind of lives in Linus' world, but not in the other character's world.
It's just something he's dealing with.
Jimmy (20:04):
Yeah, yeah.
Harold (20:06):
I think a lot of other strips wouldn't necessarily do that.
Schulz is kind of good sometimes about siloing characters off for the most part with another character.
Now, he has such a big cast.
Michael (20:16):
I'd like to see Sally take on Lydia.
Jimmy (20:19):
Yeah.
Well, you notice this is all well and good, but in a few weeks when we need to have someone out in the pumpkin patch waiting for the great pumpkin, it's Sally again.
Harold (20:33):
Linus, that would just be shooting his whole life.
If he tried to get Lydia out in a pumpkin patch, oh my gosh, maybe I'll be surprised as these 90 strips play out.
Liz (20:44):
They never appreciate the loyal ones.
Jimmy (20:49):
That's true.
Harold (20:49):
That's a good point.
Jimmy (20:51):
Well, if I can quote a great philosopher, her boys only want love when it's torture.
Don't say I didn't warn you.
October 11th, Charlie Brown's back in the bean bag watching TV, and Sally comes up again saying, I need you to write a theme for me.
And Charlie Brown says, if you don't write it yourself, how will you ever learn?
(21:13):
To which Sally replies, learn?
Michael (21:16):
It never occurred to her before that school and learning were somehow tied together.
Harold (21:22):
So who is Sally gonna be as an adult?
Michael (21:26):
Ooh, that's a scary thought.
Jimmy (21:29):
A middle manager of something.
Absolutely, because she'll never fully understand what's going on or why anything's going on, but she'll move that work through.
Yes, she'll be in charge.
Yeah.
I think she'll do fine.
Harold (21:46):
Yeah, she knows how to look after herself.
SPEAKER_2 (21:48):
Absolutely.
Jimmy (21:51):
October 13th, Linus is in classic thumb and blanket position, and Lucy is sitting there with him, and she says, if everyone listened to me, this would be a perfect world.
She continues, just think about it.
Wouldn't you love to live in a perfect world?
And then Linus throws a blanket over his head to ignore his sister, and then Lucy yells, well, why not?
(22:12):
Well, why not?
Sending Linus flying.
Harold (22:22):
This is great.
I love this strip.
We haven't seen as much of the Lucy-Linus relationship recently.
And I thought this was a really brilliantly crafted strip where you have that strange self-centered idealism that Lucy can have sometimes.
And Linus is going, oh, okay, I'm going to a place where this is not going to turn out well.
(22:47):
He gets under his blanket because he is like, I cannot.
If I answered her, I would get slugged.
Jimmy (22:55):
Absolutely.
This, by the way, is also the plot of every Alan Moore superhero story.
This is the plot for Miracle Man.
This is the plot for Watchmen.
If everyone listened to me, it would be a perfect world, but then no one wants to live in that perfect world.
Harold (23:12):
Well, this is also the theme of John Lennon's Imagine.
Jimmy (23:15):
Right.
You know how John, you know what, as long as we try to improve the work of geniuses, I can work on Imagine a little bit.
Harold (23:28):
I find that one disturbing, is if everyone thought like me, the world would live as one.
That's essentially what he's saying.
Jimmy (23:34):
Yeah.
Well, if he would have done Imagine No Possessions, I wonder if we can.
I think that would be, do you know what I mean?
Because if-
Michael (23:43):
I went through that piano, that white piano crossed.
Jimmy (23:47):
I'll tell you what.
You know what's weird about that white piano?
Black keys are only painted on.
All right.
Back to Peanuts.
October 21st.
Marcie and Peppermint Patty are back throwing the old pigskin around.
And Marcie says to Peppermint Patty, sir, instead of playing, maybe I should just be a cheerleader.
(24:11):
Listen to this.
Come on, team.
Try to do your very best.
Peppermint Patty just walks away saying, let's just work on some more plays, Marcie.
And then Marcie says, a little too impassioned, huh?
Michael (24:24):
Football has really come into its own in this trip.
There wasn't a whole lot of football going on back in the day.
Harold (24:32):
That's true.
It's a little more in the mix.
I think Schulz kind of said he just knew it was the most popular sport in America.
So may as well put it in the mix.
But again, I love this.
Marcie is trying to find a way to engage with what Peppermint Patty is interested in in her own way.
Jimmy (24:54):
For our international listeners, I don't know if you understand how dominant football is.
Liz (25:01):
American football.
Michael (25:02):
We're cheerleaders.
Jimmy (25:04):
Oh, cheerleaders are great too.
But no, I just mean football is ubiquitous for like six months of the year.
Liz (25:10):
American football.
Jimmy (25:12):
Well, I'm in America.
Liz (25:14):
Yes, but you are talking to the rest of the world where football means something entirely different.
Jimmy (25:19):
Well, nonetheless.
Harold (25:21):
Well, I love and then the next trip, there's a really cute picture of Marcie with these little pom poms, watching Peppermint Patty on the phone talking to Chuck to see if he'll have her as a cheerleader for his football team, which we don't see a whole lot of, right?
Liz (25:41):
No.
Jimmy (25:41):
Now, the other thing that's really important to understand is Peanuts started before the absolute rise of football in America.
I mean, it existed, of course, but it was not, I mean, America's baseball-
Harold (25:56):
College football was more dominant probably.
Jimmy (25:58):
Yeah.
Baseball was America's pastime and football was this other thing.
But then by the late 60s and then into the 70s and obviously now, it just exponential growth and just became like the sport that dominated everything else.
Michael (26:13):
I remember one time, because every little nickel had to go to baseball cards.
Pre-comic books for me.
But yeah, I remember one time I went like, maybe I'll buy a pack of these football cards.
I bought them and I went, what's the point?
Jimmy (26:29):
What's the point?
It's so weird because the baseball card is such a perfect item with the stats on the back.
Michael (26:37):
Yeah, right.
What can you do in football?
He ran five miles.
Jimmy (26:41):
Yeah, right.
All right, yeah.
Yay.
Harold (26:44):
Yeah, I bought the hockey pack.
I don't know why.
I got Bobby Orr, which I guess wasn't a bad thing.
Jimmy (26:49):
Oh, that's impressive for one pack of sports cards.
Liz (26:53):
I bought the Munsters.
Harold (26:55):
Oh, nice.
Good choice, Liz.
Jimmy (26:58):
Well, did any of you, well, not the one pack of hockey cards, but did you ever collect the whole set for a year or whatever it was?
No?
No one got that close?
Michael (27:09):
I was probably pretty close.
I mean, the worst thing in the world growing up was when you put your nickel down, and you've got triplets of every card there.
Jimmy (27:22):
I know I've actually mentioned this before, but Art Monk, his all-pro card, I had a stack of Art Monk cards.
Harold (27:31):
Please, please take my Art Monk card.
Jimmy (27:34):
He must have known someone at Tops and put a couple of Art Monks out there.
Michael (27:40):
Man, talk about a marketing opportunity.
Where's the Peanuts cards?
Jimmy (27:45):
They had Peanuts cards years ago.
I had them in around 1990.
They at least had a set.
Maybe it was a little later when that trend for trading cards was really big in comic shops and stuff.
Michael (27:56):
Like collectible trading cards.
Harold (27:58):
Yeah, but it is kind of surprising the most popular strip that nobody, maybe they did think to, but it was too expensive to license them or something for like in the 70s.
Since they had, like you said, they were Munster's cards and I had Good Times cards.
Jimmy (28:13):
For everything, Happy Days, Star Wars, Superman, Rocky.
Harold (28:17):
Maybe comic strip wasn't considered a big enough deal.
I don't know.
Jimmy (28:22):
October 28th.
Charlie Brown has a beat up looking old rake in his house, and Sally is sitting on a chair reading a book and she says to him, Where are you going?
And Charlie Brown says, Out to make money raking leaves.
He then says to her, I'm going to use salesmanship.
I'll convince everyone they need their leaves raked.
And he walks out of the house off on his quest and says, It's all a matter of salesmanship, perseverance and being well liked.
(28:49):
To which Sally replies, Willie Lowman of the Leaves.
Harold (28:54):
There's your sophisticated line.
Jimmy (28:56):
Yeah, come on.
Michael (28:57):
This is sort of like what I was talking about.
Liz (29:00):
And Sally.
Harold (29:02):
Yeah, right.
The one who never reads and she's not letting on.
Yeah.
Jimmy (29:07):
She has seen Death of a Salesman.
Michael (29:08):
She has the book right there in panel one.
Harold (29:11):
She does watch a lot of TV, but it is surprising to see Sally with a book.
Jimmy (29:16):
Well, you know, in 1993, Seinfeld was making tons of references to Death of a Salesman.
Harold (29:24):
Oh, really?
Jimmy (29:25):
Calling George Biff Lohman and stuff like this.
Although this is October, so maybe not.
He would have been doing this in summer.
Harold (29:34):
I think that's the funniest looking rake in cartoons right there.
Jimmy (29:37):
That is wild.
Harold (29:38):
It just looks so forlorn.
Having grown up with those little metal tooth rakes that were so flimsy, they would look horrible.
Jimmy (29:48):
They are hard to draw.
A rake is hard to draw.
George Tanner raking leaves a couple months ago and it's hard to draw a rake.
How about we take a break and then we'll come back, answer the mail and wrap up 1993.
Liz (30:05):
Sure, sounds good.
Jimmy (30:07):
All right, we'll be right back.
Liz (30:09):
Hi, everyone.
We love it when you write or call to tell us how much you enjoy the show.
But don't just tell us, tell your friends, tell complete strangers, share your appreciation in a review.
It doesn't have to be on Apple Podcasts.
Sixty percent of you listen on other apps.
Some of those apps have review sections.
(30:29):
Think of all the poor Peanuts fans out there who haven't found us yet.
There are review instructions on our website at unpackingpeanuts.com/spread the word.
Thank you for your support.
And now let's hear what some of you have to say.
Jimmy (30:47):
All right, we're back.
Liz, I'm hanging out in the mailbox.
Do we got anything?
Liz (30:50):
We do.
We got a couple.
First one's from Rich Bowen, who has the YouTube channel Cynical Adult, and he writes, hey, Peanuts Unpackers, loved your look at Christmas time again, Charlie Brown.
Sally's hockey stick gaff was a favorite in my house growing up, ever since it appeared in The Strip in 1983.
(31:11):
There it was a complete non sequitur, and I thought it was in the cartoon as well.
But then when I was researching my video on Charlie Brown's other Christmases, I realized every time Sally is rehearsing around Charlie Brown, he's holding a hockey stick.
So somehow without even consciously registering, she was associating Hark with hockey stick.
(31:35):
And you mentioned Christmastime again being produced for the purpose of being shown with a Charlie Brown Christmas.
That's literally true of the next Christmas special, Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales.
When ABC acquired the rights to a Charlie Brown Christmas in 2001, they ran it uncut.
(31:56):
But due to the increase in commercials since 1965, the uncut version ran about 33 minutes.
So Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales at 18 minutes long was produced to fill out the one-hour time slot.
Jimmy (32:10):
Very cool.
Harold (32:11):
Wow.
That's cool.
And shows how loved that Christmas special, the first one was that they didn't dare cut a single scene out because everyone would notice, someone would notice.
Jimmy (32:22):
Although I sort of remember a period where it ran without the scene where Linus uses his blanket to knock the can.
Harold (32:31):
They did cut, yes.
At some point they did cut.
There might be some listeners who kind of know how that went.
But it seemed like as, well, this is a more cynical way to look at it, but anybody who was smart about it at ABC, you can look at the Nielsen ratings because so often it might be Charlie Brown, Christmas, and then Frosty or something.
(32:52):
And then I do believe it's Christmas time again, Charlie Brown.
They would run them together, but then you'd have an edited version of the original.
So that was happening back when it wasn't as easy to kind of be a purist about an animated cartoon special.
But by that time, what happened was, and this has happened for a lot of shows, is you're selling commercials for Charlie Brown Christmas.
(33:16):
They're going to go for a lot more money than for the thing in the second half of that hour.
Jimmy (33:21):
Interesting.
I would say, I understood that Charlie Brown was holding the hockey stick.
I think we may have even mentioned that at one point, but maybe not.
Maybe in the year when we were talking about it.
I guess the leap I can't make is how Hark becomes hockey stick.
You know, they're too different for me to buy that she has them confused in her head.
(33:46):
That's, I guess, my issue.
Harold (33:47):
Except it's Sally.
Jimmy (33:48):
Except it's Sally.
But like, I don't know what the other, what different, you know, if there's any word that would be better, you know, but that's just me.
Harold (33:57):
Yeah.
Liz (33:58):
It is a big leap.
And Steven Antonelli writes to us, he says, hello all, in regards to your discussion of Lucy bringing Charlie Brown back to reality, as he reminisces on the pitching mound, I feel you missed one key fact.
You debated whether this was Lucy being mean or just giving unsolicited criticism.
(34:21):
While I do agree that Lucy considers Charlie Brown a friend, it is also important to remember that she is his therapist.
Disabusing Charlie Brown of his delusions is her job, for which she is regularly compensated.
And then secondly, I wanted to mention that I've been listening for quite a while now and I enjoy your show very much.
(34:46):
However, I have never ever looked at the strips you discuss.
I find that just hearing the description and the reading of the dialogue gives me a very clear picture of the strip.
Jimmy (34:59):
Damn right it does.
Liz (35:01):
I'm not sure if this reflects how embedded these characters are in my brain or the skill in which they are described.
Jimmy (35:10):
It's the skill, baby.
Liz (35:12):
Even without looking at them, I still enjoy the technical discussions about the lines and framing.
Thank you for your work, Stephen.
Harold (35:20):
Well, thank you.
That's so nice of you.
We'll sing your praises, Jim.
You don't have to do it for yourself.
But no, I go back when I'm listening to them.
It's very vivid.
Now, of course, I have read them not too much in the past, but I'd like to throw it back out there.
I'd like to know more from more of our listeners.
(35:41):
How they do it, or if they've done it both ways, and if they enjoy it having read them before or during or after.
Michael (35:49):
I have a friend who said he stopped listening because it was too much trouble to go and look at the strips.
He thought that an idea of having a-
Jimmy (36:00):
First off, heck of a friend.
Heck of a friend.
Liz (36:03):
Yeah, really.
Michael (36:04):
Yeah, no, it's okay.
I wasn't offended.
He was being honest.
But, yeah, having it together would be ideal, but this is a podcast, so no, can't do it.
But Jimmy, it could be-
Don't rule out ESP.
You might be sending out those images.
Jimmy (36:20):
I might be.
I might be.
Hey, if any friends out there who are adjacent to someone doing a creative thing, here's how it goes.
It's fantastic.
I love it.
That's all you got to say.
That's all your job is as a friend.
It's fantastic.
I love it.
Liz (36:40):
Well, but didn't you have a good friend who suggested that you write about what you know?
Jimmy (36:45):
One.
How many billions of people are on the earth?
One.
Gave me a useful piece of advice.
Forty years ago.
I love it.
It's great.
That's all you say.
Liz (36:59):
I just have to say that I did write back to Stephen and say, I appreciate the fact that you like the descriptions and you're an auditory person like I am.
However, you really should look at the strips.
Harold (37:12):
Oh, really?
Liz (37:13):
Yeah.
They are worth it.
Harold (37:15):
Well, obviously, we love peanuts and I wouldn't keep anyone from looking at the original beautiful stuff that Schulz does.
But just from the few people that I have spoken to who listen to the podcast, I'm assuming the majority, probably a good majority of the people, are just experiencing the podcast for the podcast, and they are not, with maybe an exception here and there, if they get intrigued by a conversation or not going back.
(37:44):
Is that true, listeners?
Are you just taking in Unpacking Peanuts on its own merits and not looking at the strips?
Jimmy (37:52):
I know of one person that reads every strip on their lunch break, and then when it gets to the date we're talking about, they'll play the podcast, and then when we're done, then they'll read until the next one.
So I know some people are doing that.
Harold (38:05):
I do know some as well, yeah.
I just would, I'd say they aren't the majority of the people.
Jimmy (38:09):
Oh yeah, I'm sure not.
Most people I'm sure are listening to this in their car, in which case, don't call up strips.
Harold (38:16):
Yes.
Liz (38:17):
Hey Siri, show me on Go Comics.
Oh, sorry Siri, listen to me.
Jimmy (38:24):
I found this on the website.
Unbelievable.
Liz (38:30):
Finally, we got a comment on Facebook from Brendan Briggs, who writes, because I'm still listening to the 1960s, I'm not sure if this is a good way to get an answer, but was Charlie Brown always meant to be the anchor of the strip?
I don't recall if it was mentioned in the earlier episodes.
Also, did Mr.
(38:51):
Schulz ever address why even related characters like Sally call him Charlie Brown?
Jimmy (38:59):
Well, you know, I think that Charlie Brown developed into the lead, because I think if you look at those very, very early strips, there's an element, and I talked about this before, where it's almost a rom-com between Patty and Shermie, with Charlie Brown as like the third wheel.
But then somehow, just, you know, through repetition and, I guess, attrition, you know, Charlie Brown became the standout.
(39:26):
That's my feeling of how it happened.
What about you guys?
What do you guys think?
Michael (39:30):
I'm not sure.
I mean, his name is the punchline of the first strip.
Yeah.
Right.
Yeah, it was an ensemble.
It was actually a fairly small ensemble.
Yeah, I mean, Schulz, you know, always says he is Charlie Brown, and Charlie Brown represents his life.
I don't know if I totally buy that, but he sure said it a lot.
Jimmy (39:52):
And I think that's something that developed, even if whether or not you buy it 100%.
I don't think it would have been true in, you know, November 1950.
You know, he didn't sit down and go, I'm going to create a character that's going to have my foibles.
Michael (40:05):
Well, was there a, I haven't read all of Little Folks, but was there a lead character or was it just kind of equal?
Jimmy (40:12):
There were no characters at all.
It was just gags.
Michael (40:15):
But they were recognizable sort of prototype.
Harold (40:18):
Yeah, like the Saturday evening post-cartoons and Little Folks, I don't see it, like there's one dominant character.
I think Charlie Brown could have been seen as like the most forward character in Schulz's mind from the start, but I don't know that I've heard him say that, but it definitely is an ensemble, but it seemed like Charlie Brown to him was the one who could make the impact that would reach a reader to what kind of come back the most.
(40:50):
That was the sense I have of the early ones, is the smart alecky kind of kid, and like you said, Michael, he's the focus of the very first strip.
So in my mind, he kind of always was a little forward.
Michael (41:04):
Yeah.
Well, his full name was used from the very beginning.
And I don't know if that was a sign of affection.
Harold (41:11):
Well, apparently not.
Michael (41:16):
Well, yeah, apparently not.
But, yeah, kids had some funny habits.
Among my crowd, I guess it was a little later.
Everybody was their last name.
Harold (41:28):
Oh, right.
Yeah, that was a big thing.
Michael (41:30):
You don't see that in peanuts ever.
Jimmy (41:34):
Possibly with Schroeder.
He could be Fred Schroeder.
Michael (41:41):
Von Schroeder.
Liz (41:45):
So that's it for the mail.
Jimmy (41:47):
All right, let's get back to the strips.
November 6th, Marcie's on the phone and she says, Hi, Charles, did your dog get home all right?
This is after a sequence of Snoopy has been visiting people in the neighborhood in his World War I flying ace getup.
The next call is from Lucy who says, Sure, Charlie Brown, he almost kicked our door down.
Then Peppermint Patty, Hey Chuck, that's a weird dog you've got there.
(42:11):
Then Schroeder is in on the act.
So all I'm saying is I don't want him leaning on my piano.
Then the last panel, it's Charlie Brown with Snoopy in his flying ace getup.
And Charlie Brown still on the phone says, Why can't I have a normal dog like everyone else?
To which Snoopy replies, Was that General Pershing?
Tell him I'm on my way.
Harold (42:32):
This was an interesting one for me because this was the Saturday strip in a six day daily sequence and Snoopy is stopping by everybody's place and they're doing a different gag.
And I don't know that I remember seeing such a clean wrap up of what's happened in the first five days on the sixth day of the dailies where everybody is complaining to Charlie Brown of what had just happened in each of those previous strips.
(43:00):
I thought it was kind of cool.
It was kind of fun.
It seemed like it would work in the daily and it would work if you were reading it in a book as well.
Because it's kind of a pleasing wrap up to a little sequence.
Jimmy (43:16):
Absolutely.
Is that a weird window in panel four?
Harold (43:23):
I think it's a frame.
Jimmy (43:24):
Oh, I see.
Oh, I see.
Because we see the corner of the frame and that's why it's shadowed on the bottom.
I see.
Okay.
November 7th.
It's a Sunday and Charlie Brown yells.
He's dressed ready for school and yells behind him, probably to his sister, Sally.
And don't forget your lunch.
And then we see it is Sally.
(43:44):
The two of them are walking to the bus stop or to school or other.
And as they walk along, Sally says to Charlie Brown, Grandpa says he used to walk 10 miles to school in the deep snow.
And just then it starts to snow.
Sally says, Ha!
Look at this!
Wait till I tell him about today.
Oh, boy.
And Sally continues.
I'll tell him how it started to snow while we were waiting for the school bus.
(44:07):
And suddenly it turned into a blizzard and the bus got stuck in huge snow drifts.
And all the schools had to close.
But at this point, we see the snow which had previously dusted up to quite a bit is slowly fading out.
And then in the next to last panel, just one last snowflake falls, leaving Sally to say, Rats.
(44:31):
I think this is a great one.
I really just think it's very funny.
I like, I love the way Schulz cartoons snow.
I think Sally and Charlie Brown standing there in that first panel in the last tier.
Sally is yelling to the sky with all the snow falling is really cute.
Yeah, I just liked it.
SPEAKER_2 (44:49):
It's cool.
Jimmy (44:51):
November 11th.
It's Veterans Day, so Snoopy is in his World War I Flying Ace outfit and he hops off his dog house thinking to himself, On Veterans Day, I always go over to Bill Maldon's house to quaff a few root beers.
Bill knew my hero, Audie Murphy.
Snoopy is continuing as he walks to Bill's house.
I've told Bill how I met Captain Harry Truman in France.
(45:13):
But then he apparently arrives at Bill's house and he thinks to himself, But Bill never believes me.
Michael (45:19):
So the real tribute to Bill Mauldin comes up soon in several strips.
Harold (45:26):
We've mentioned Mauldin before as this very famous World War II cartoonist.
And then he throws in Audie Murphy.
VO (45:36):
Peanuts Obscurities Explained
Harold (45:38):
And I knew Audie Murphy kind of peripherally because he had a movie acting career, largely in like the 50s and 60s and some of the 40s.
I didn't realize that he was this, basically he was a kid who grew up in Texas under really tough circumstances.
And went off to-
Jimmy (45:57):
Well, yeah, he was named Audie.
Harold (46:00):
And he was pretty much the most decorated combat soldier in possibly in American history, depending on how you count it.
And he was credited with over 200 kills in combat.
Can you imagine?
And apparently, he had experienced some major PTSD.
(46:23):
You don't say.
But for who he was in that war, he was fearless.
There's one famous thing where he single-handedly fought off 19 German soldiers, held them at bay.
I mean, this guy was in combat, apparently, was just absolutely amazing and became this real hero.
Jimmy (46:43):
So that is a peanut's obscurity explained for you, Audie Murphy.
November 13th.
Oh, here's something we're going to become more and more familiar with, Charlie Brown lying awake at night in his bed.
And he says to himself, sometimes I lie awake at night and I ask, why me?
Next panel, he says, then a voice answers, nothing personal, your name just happened to come up.
Michael (47:07):
I just read, or I am just reading a huge book on strips by Kevin Huizenga.
Jimmy (47:15):
I don't know this.
Michael (47:16):
Who I think is one of the real masters of the form.
It's called The River at Night.
And it's basically all about not being able to sleep.
And a really smart guy just can't turn his brain off.
And he's thinking about time and geology and all kinds of things.
Jimmy (47:34):
What?
This is a comic?
Michael (47:36):
Yeah.
No, it's a comic called Ganges, which is the character's name.
And it's one of the all-time great comics.
Jimmy (47:44):
I've never heard of this.
How have you never mentioned it to me?
Michael (47:47):
Because I'd never bought Ganges, but I've been getting these collections of his work.
It's beautiful, very cartoony.
And he's like a master.
He's like, it's just beautiful stuff.
Liz (48:02):
And when was he published?
Michael (48:04):
90s, I mean, he's still working.
Liz (48:07):
Is he a listener?
Michael (48:09):
I doubt it.
Yeah, I mean, he should be up there with Chris Ware and the others, but he seems to be ignored.
Jimmy (48:16):
Interesting.
Wow.
Harold (48:17):
I have never heard of him.
Liz (48:19):
Give me his name and I'll put him in the show notes.
Michael (48:22):
Kevin, his last name is H-U-I-Z-E-N-G-A.
And the book is called The River at Night.
It's really dense.
It's like 12 panels a page.
Jimmy (48:37):
Awesome.
All right.
Well, we'll be checking that out.
November 15th, Peppermint Patty and Marcie are in class and Peppermint Patty says, Today?
The test is today?
Yes, ma'am.
I'm surprised.
I thought maybe before the real test, there'd be a Pro-Am.
I picked this one.
The reason I picked it is that he had to go out of his way to have Marcie put the glasses on top of her head, just so that we could see that she's rolling her eyes at Peppermint Patty.
Harold (49:08):
Yeah.
Jimmy (49:09):
It's very, I think, silly and fun.
Michael (49:12):
This didn't do anything for me because I had no idea what a Pro-Am is.
Harold (49:16):
No.
Jimmy (49:17):
Let's see what a Pro-Am is.
That sounds like something from the 70s for some reason, like that you would see on wide world of sports.
Harold (49:25):
Isn't it a tournament that mixes both professional and amateur, usually golfers?
Jimmy (49:29):
Pro-Am, would make sense that?
Pro-Am is a sporting event where, Harold, this is your finest moment in athletics.
Are you ready?
Pro-Am is a sporting event where professional athletes and amateurs compete together.
But no, the reason I picked it was not because of the strip, but just because I thought it was so funny watching her have to put her glasses on top of her head so we could see her eyes.
Harold (49:56):
Yeah, it's an important eye roll, yeah.
Jimmy (49:59):
Exactly.
November 16th, Charlie Brown and Snoopy are in the old bean bag chair watching TV, and Sally says, this can of dog food cost 89 cents, and she is holding it to show.
Then she says in the next panel, this frozen dinner you're having tonight costs $3.50.
(50:21):
She walks away saying, mom and dad should trade you in for another dog.
And then Charlie Brown looks at Snoopy and says, stop grinning, which Snoopy in fact is.
Michael (50:33):
I was just wondering, I mean, they could just as likely trade Sally in.
Jimmy (50:38):
That's true.
You got to watch what you wish for.
Michael (50:41):
And really what's disturbing is, where did Snoopy's ears go on panel three?
Oh, and one.
Liz (50:49):
Oh, true.
Jimmy (50:49):
Oh, yeah, no ears.
That's funny.
I think it's so cute though, seeing Snoopy and Charlie Brown tucked in the beanbag chair together.
Harold (50:58):
Yeah, let's think of him and Schulz.
Liz (51:00):
That's like two punch lines.
Jimmy (51:03):
Yeah.
Harold (51:04):
The drawing of Snoopy in panel three is why I picked this one.
That is a little sweet smug look on his face is great.
Jimmy (51:11):
But four is great too.
Harold (51:13):
That's true too.
But the three, I'd never quite seen Snoopy look like that.
Michael (51:19):
I had to hear his.
Jimmy (51:23):
December 5th, Linus, in I guess a symbolic panel, maybe not, has made a big snowman.
But then we cut to the second panel and we see him making a much smaller snowman.
We see over the course of one, two, three, four, five, six, seven panels total, he is making snowman.
Then in the last panel, we see him standing behind a snow podium, addressing a whole crowd of these tiny little snowmen.
(51:52):
He says, so what we're talking about here is empowerment through inner dialogue, hopefully leading to life enhancement.
Michael (52:02):
That's funny because the original one, I mean, this is a real callback.
Jimmy (52:07):
Right.
Michael (52:07):
He's also making this huge army of snowmen.
He goes totally fascist.
He's like Mussolini, interesting truth.
But here he's become sort of a guru.
Harold (52:19):
He's now like a PBS speaker in the 90s.
Jimmy (52:23):
Self-help, for sure.
I love it.
I love seeing all the tiny little snowmen.
They look great.
December 7th.
We're in the middle of a sequence where Peppermint Patty has suggested the kids play some down in the dirt football.
And things got pretty rough and it gets really rainy.
(52:44):
And they're playing around in just heaps of sloppy mud.
And in this panel, this strip, we're seeing a one panel denouement of the action from the football game where everybody's a little worse for wear.
And we start with Marcie who says, where am I?
And that moves over to Linus who says, who's got the ball?
(53:08):
And then Snoopy, dazed on the ground, says, somebody called the vet.
We go over to Franklin who is very hard to identify, but you have to know that from the previous day's strip that you can see it is, in fact, Franklin.
And he says, is it still raining or am I bleeding?
Charlie Brown is just lying flat on his back, dazed.
(53:28):
And then Peppermint Patty with a big smile on her face and the only one not wearing a helmet says, isn't this great, Chuck?
Good old fashioned down in the dirt football.
Michael (53:39):
I think this is the real tribute to Bill Maulden.
This sequence, if you know up the Willie and Joe stuff from World War II, there's three main characters.
There's Willie, there's Joe, two GIs, and there's mud.
And half the strips, they're either like digging in the mud or they're lying in the mud.
(54:06):
And there's mud over everything.
And it's just big black blobs like this.
Jimmy (54:12):
Yeah, I totally see that.
I think this looks awesome.
I think it looks so expressionistic.
I think it's one of his most radical artistic choices.
Harold (54:23):
Yeah.
Jimmy (54:24):
And it's 90s.
It's got 90s grunge.
Harold (54:27):
It's grunge.
Jimmy (54:28):
Yeah.
Harold (54:31):
Yeah, I agree.
Talk about doing something new.
He did something new here.
It was, you know, this was a fun sequence to see.
We see Peppermint Patty so often struggling with, you know, doing something she wants to do with Marcie that Marcie has no desire to do, or Peppermint Patty in school struggling and winding up the principal's office.
(54:52):
And here Peppermint Patty instigates a game that only she wants to play and everybody goes along.
She is absolutely ecstatic to be playing.
She's in her element and it's just fun to see that.
And I also think the line from Franklin is, it's still raining or am I bleeding?
(55:14):
That's pretty, it's pretty intense and funny at the same time.
Jimmy (55:20):
Yeah, it really is.
It's interesting that he decides to not do the Zip-A-Tone except for the very little bit on Franklin.
You know, I guess it just would have been one texture too many.
Michael (55:37):
Well, there's still a lot.
Harold (55:38):
There's Zip-A-Tone on everybody.
Michael (55:39):
Yeah, and helmets.
Jimmy (55:40):
But I'm saying the complete Zip-A-Tone to color in Franklin's skin tone.
Harold (55:45):
Oh, yeah, right.
He avoids that in the previous strip as well.
Michael (55:48):
I still don't see Franklin.
Jimmy (55:49):
The only reason, the only way you know it's Franklin is because of the day before.
Harold (55:55):
Yeah, and because Franklin is called Franklin.
If Franklin wasn't called Franklin, we wouldn't know it's Franklin in that one because he's in his helmet.
Jimmy (56:02):
And no Zip-A-Tone on his skin again.
Harold (56:04):
And no Zip-A-Tone.
Jimmy (56:04):
Nothing to indicate a different skin tone on the sixth.
But yeah, I see the Willie and Joe thing.
I give it two thumbs up.
And then it continues and concludes actually here.
On December 11th, it's still raining and Peppermint Patty is at Marcie's house.
The game's over.
Marcie is sitting on her stoop.
(56:25):
They're both caked in mud.
Peppermint Patty is elated saying, Wasn't that fun, Marcie?
Good old-fashioned playing the rain down in the dirt football.
To which Marcie replies, I think I lost my shoes.
Peppermint Patty continues, And now it's starting to snow.
We should play again tomorrow.
Then Peppermint Patty walks away looking absolutely blissed out.
(56:49):
And she says to herself, I never knew life could be so beautiful.
Harold (56:53):
That's great.
That's great.
Jimmy (56:55):
That is great.
Harold (56:56):
So nice.
Jimmy (56:57):
And Marcie in that first panel looks amazing.
Harold (57:01):
Yeah.
Jimmy (57:02):
This is a great Peppermint Patty.
This is maybe my favorite Peppermint Patty.
Michael (57:06):
This is like Frank Miller doing Peanuts.
Jimmy (57:09):
It's really Frank Miller-esque, which is not the first time we've said that, which is really weird.
Yeah.
I mean, that almost silhouette of Marcie really is good.
Harold (57:25):
And that second panel of Peppermint Patty where it looks like, you know, either she has a mouthful of mud or she's lost her teeth.
Jimmy (57:35):
Yeah.
It's just, it's a good one.
And that brings us to, at long last, December 26th.
Sally's at the table.
She's going to be writing something and she's thinking to herself.
Charlie Brown is in the other room at his chair and he yells out, what are you doing?
And Sally yells back to him, I'm writing a thank you letter.
(57:57):
What did I get from grandma for Christmas?
This is by the way, December 26th again.
So she's already forgotten.
Charlie Brown yells back, which grandma?
You've got two of them.
Sally comes in and says to him, maybe I'll write to grandpa.
What did I get from grandpa?
And then Charlie Brown says, which grandpa?
You've got two of them.
And Sally asks, what did I get from my aunt?
(58:18):
Maybe I'll write to my aunt.
And Charlie Brown says, which aunt?
You've got five of them.
Sally walks away with a piece of paper.
Then back at the table, she yells to Charlie Brown, what did I get from my third cousin once removed?
Nothing.
Nothing, Sally.
You don't get anything from your third cousin.
Harold (58:36):
You notice what Charlie Brown's reading?
Jimmy (58:39):
He is reading, what is it?
No, I can't read it.
What is it?
Michael (58:42):
Down by the River?
Harold (58:44):
Down by the River.
Michael (58:45):
Collection of Neil Young lyrics?
Harold (58:50):
This was so rare and unusual that you'd see the title of the book, Charlie Brown's Reading, in his chair.
I had to do a little research to figure out why on earth Schulz went out of his way twice to put the name of the book, Charlie Brown's Reading, on there.
That is a little book by Monty Schulz.
Jimmy (59:14):
Oh, that's amazing.
Harold (59:15):
That had come out.
And Monty's gone on to write a number of novels.
Jimmy (59:20):
Yes.
Harold (59:21):
And that may have been his first major novel.
It had been out for a couple of years, but I thought it was kind of cool that Schulz went out of his way to honor his son.
Jimmy (59:32):
Yeah, that's very, very cool.
Harold (59:34):
A little belated Christmas present.
Jimmy (59:36):
Nice, nice.
Well, you know, if you've got a book published, you deserve a little shout out around Christmas time.
Why not?
That's impressive feat for anybody to do.
All right, guys, that brings us to the end of the year.
It was another great one.
So we're going to wrap up.
I'll get the MVP and strip of the year from the guys.
But before I do that, I'm going to give you my little litany here.
(59:59):
If you enjoy the show and you want to keep this conversation going, there's a couple of different ways you can do it.
First thing you can do is go on over to that website, unpackingpeanuts.com.
Sign up for the good old Great Peanuts Reread.
That will get you one email a month.
That'll give you the heads up about what we're going to be covering.
And then you can read along with us.
You can also email us.
(01:00:19):
We're at unpackingpeanuts at gmail.com.
Or you can call us.
We have the Unpacking Peanuts hotline, 717-219-4162.
You can leave a message or just text us.
And you can follow us on social media.
We're at Unpack Peanuts on Instagram and Threads and at Unpacking Peanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky and YouTube.
(01:00:40):
And remember, when I don't hear from you, I worry.
So guys, with all that said.
Liz (01:00:45):
But what about the anger and happiness index?
Jimmy (01:00:48):
With all that said, I want Harold to give us the good old anger and happiness index.
Harold (01:00:54):
All right, so here we are, 1994.
Liz (01:00:57):
Three.
Harold (01:00:58):
Did it feel any different than 1993?
Liz (01:01:00):
This is 1993.
Harold (01:01:03):
Well, there you go.
Here we are in 1993.
Jimmy (01:01:08):
I love 1993.
Does anything feel differently?
Yeah, everything feels different.
Boy, if I could feel like I felt in 93, the world would be in trouble.
Michael (01:01:17):
Yeah, that's when I met you, man.
Jimmy (01:01:19):
Yeah, around then.
Yeah, around then.
That's crazy.
Harold (01:01:21):
The history is made.
That's cool.
So yeah, 1992, we had seen a sharp drop from a weird spike in anger in 1991.
So there were 87 strips out of 365 where there was a character showing anger in 1992.
Did it seem like it was about the same or a little more or the less?
Jimmy (01:01:39):
I think this year is furious.
I think it has shot up three percent.
Harold (01:01:49):
And Michael, nothing to posit here?
Michael (01:01:53):
No, I think reading it in three separate chunks.
It's hard to see with the picture of the whole year.
Harold (01:02:02):
Yeah, I agree.
This year we went from 87 to 79, so we're down about 10 percent, not a big deal.
And then happiness?
Jimmy (01:02:10):
I think it's a really happy year.
I think it's up about three percent.
Harold (01:02:17):
So we went from 84 to 94.
So we're down in anger, up in happiness that we had more angry in 92 by a hair.
But now happiness reigns 94 to 79.
All right.
Jimmy (01:02:28):
There you go.
Harold (01:02:29):
All right.
Jimmy (01:02:30):
All right.
Now, with all that out of the way, guys, give me your MVP and your strip of the year.
Michael, why don't you go first?
Michael (01:02:37):
Okay.
I'm going to give my MVP, which I've done, I think the same person the last four years.
But anyway, Sally is someone who makes me laugh.
So just based on that, I got to give this to Sally because I enjoy those strips the most.
And strip of the year, I think this is like just masterful cartooning.
(01:03:02):
It's simple.
It's hilarious.
It's March 17th.
It's Woodstock wants to play shortstop for the team.
Jimmy (01:03:14):
Oh, yeah.
It's a good pick.
Good pick.
Harold, how about you?
Harold (01:03:21):
Nobody stood out super strongly to me this year.
It's a real ensemble year like it has been.
But because Peppermint Patty went on her high note, I'm going to give it to her for the year.
She's been very solid throughout 1993.
And my strip of the year, though, does not have Peppermint Patty in it.
I really do like the strip from July 18th, where Snoopy is disturbed at night and bangs on the back door.
(01:03:51):
Charlie Brown in bed comes out and basically gives some solace to Snoopy and shows him some real kindness and love and ownerly wisdom and sends him off to be reassured.
And then he's back in bed with his nose just above the cover, saying, who reassures the reassurer?
Michael (01:04:10):
That's definitely the most profound, deepest of the strips.
Jimmy (01:04:14):
I'll tell you, of those two that you guys picked, those are classic peanut strips.
They are up there with anything.
And that's amazing to be able to say that about anything that's gone on for 43 years.
I've gone on for 52 years.
And let me tell you, my best years are behind me.
There's no new tricks or no, that is it.
(01:04:35):
I'm going to go, I'm going to agree with Harold and go with Peppermint Patty, because I think this Down in the Dirt Football is my favorite Peppermint Patty strips or series so far.
And I'm going to give a strip of the year to December 11th.
I never knew life could be so beautiful.
Harold (01:04:52):
That's a great strip.
Jimmy (01:04:53):
Great.
And it's just so great to have her have that moment of joy.
Because that's the moment I have every week when I get to hang out with my pals and read my favorite comic strip.
And I'm not even kidding.
I really feel that way.
Hey, Harold, before we wrap things up, do you have any place that you're going to be that people could come see you?
Harold (01:05:11):
I am.
On 25th of January, it's a Saturday.
I will be at the Frankfurt Con in Kentucky, if anyone's in the Kentucky area.
And on January 26th, the Sunday, if Frankfurt is too far away for you in Kentucky, you can go to Northern Kentucky Con in Hebron, Kentucky.
(01:05:32):
I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing that right.
So those are my two events coming up quickly.
Jimmy (01:05:38):
Oh, you know, while we're announcing things, I need to tell you guys one of my favorite comics of all time is being serialized on Substack right now.
Michael, yeah, Strange Attractors.
Tell us about where can people find Strange Attractors, the soon to be completed classic sci-fi comic.
Michael (01:05:56):
Well, it's not soon to be completed because I'm going back and running one strip a day starting on issue number one.
Jimmy (01:06:04):
The eventually to be completed.
Michael (01:06:06):
Eventually to be completed.
Jimmy (01:06:09):
It's Strange Attractors Omnibus at substack.com, correct?
Michael (01:06:13):
Thank you.
Jimmy (01:06:14):
All right.
So everybody come back next week where we will be talking about 1994.
Can you believe it?
Harold (01:06:22):
What?
Jimmy (01:06:23):
All right.
So we'll see you characters then.
Until then, for Michael, Harold and Liz, this is Jimmy saying, be of good cheer.
Harold (01:06:30):
Yes, be of good cheer.
Liz (01:06:33):
Unpacking Peanuts is copyrighted by Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz and Liz Sumner.
Produced and edited by Liz Sumner.
Music by Michael Cohen.
Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.
For more from the show, follow Unpacked Peanuts on Instagram and threads.
Unpacking Peanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky and YouTube.
(01:06:55):
For more about Jimmy, Michael and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.
Have a wonderful day and thanks for listening.
Sorry.