Peanuts: a Golden Celebration - Hardcover

Schulz, Charles

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0007105126 ISBN 13: 9780007105120

Publisher: HarperCollins Entertainment, 2000

Synopsis

The art and the story of the world’s best-loved comic strip. Part autobiographical, part selected strips, this is the ultimate celebration of 50 years of Peanuts.

Peanuts: A Celebration honors the momentous 50th anniversary of Charlie Brown and the gang, from the debut of Peanuts on October 2nd 1950 to the golden jubilee.

Charles Schultz tells us how he came to create the world’s most popular comic strip characters which have always brought laughter, insight and joy to generations of fans. Fifty years of the best strips and the events that have made Peanuts an awesome phenomenon – appearing in 2,600 newspapers worldwide every day – are included, as well as scenes from the Charlie Brown tv specials.

Schultz sadly died in February 2000, but theDaily Mail is continuing to run classic strips and editorial features, starting with strips originally drawn in 1974.

The strip is read by 350 million people in 21 languages and syndicated in newspapers and magazines in 75 countries. Snoopy has become more than just a character and will continue to flourish.

Let the celebration begin!

About this title

Review:

Charles M. Schulz has been cartooning for an astonishing 50 years (the "Peanuts" strip itself debuted October 2, 1950, but he drew an earlier incarnation called "Li'l Folks" before that). Peanuts: A Golden Celebration is a remarkable collection of strips spanning that time period. Readers get to see the first appearance of Linus, Marcy, Pigpen and Woodstock, and even the momentous first time Lucy holds a football for Charlie Brown to kick. Schulz comments on the cartoons and his inspirations via notes in the margin, ranging from boyhood stories about his father (a barber, just like Charlie Brown's) to an account of the time the narcolepsy experts at Stanford University expressed concerns over Peppermint Patty's constant sleeping in class. One of the most interesting inclusions is that of several letters of complaint, ranging from readers whose religious sensibilities have been offended to a 1969 missive from Schulz's own syndicate asking him not to depict Franklin in the same school as the white students anymore. Naturally, the much-loved "Peanuts" holiday specials are covered, as is the musical adaptation You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, but it's the strips that really make the book. Readers can follow the evolution of Schulz's drawing style--deliberately less realistic as the years went on--and even check out a few panels drawn by Schulz's own cartooning heroes. This is a terrific compilation that serves well both as a chronicle of popular culture and as just a really funny collection of comic strips. Don't wait for the Great Pumpkin to bring you one. --Ali Davis, Amazon.com

From the Back Cover:

Will Charlie Brown ever get to kick the football? Will Schroeder finally return Lucy's love? Will Linus give up his security blanket? Will Peppermint Patty ever pass a test? And, most importantly, will Snoopy – that canine literary ace – ever be published?

PEANUTS: A GOLDEN CELEBRATION honours the momentous 50th anniversary of Charlie Brown and the gang with over 1,000 carefully selected strips that tell the story of 'Peanuts' like no other book before. In Schulz's own words we learn how he came to create the world's most popular comic strip characters from nostalgic and sometimes painful memories of growing up – such as the agony of classroom Valentine exchange and the longing for a little red-haired girl.

From the debut of 'Peanuts' on October 2nd 1950, to the golden jubilee, here are fifty years of the favourite episodes and the 'firsts' such as the first time Lucy pulled the football away from Charlie Brown. Included are scenes from the beloved Charlie Brown television specials and the latest revival of the Broadway musical, 'You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown'

These are strips and events that have made 'Peanuts' an awesome phenomenon, appearing in2'600 newspapers worldwide every day. Not bad for a round-headed kid called Charlie Brown.

'To take a blank piece of paper and draw characters that people love and worry about is extremely satisfying. It really does not matter what you are called or where your work is placed as long as it brings some kind of joy to some person some place.'
CHARLES SCHULZ

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins Entertainment
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0007105126
• ISBN 13: 9780007105120
• Binding: Hardcover