Snoopy
Encyclopedia
Snoopy is an fictional character
in the long-running comic strip
Peanuts
, by Charles M. Schulz
. He is Charlie Brown
's pet beagle
. Snoopy began his life in the strip as a fairly conventional dog, but eventually evolved into perhaps the strip's most dynamic character—and among the most recognizable comic characters in the world. The original drawings of Snoopy were "slightly patterned" after Spike, one of Schulz's childhood dogs.
In earlier strips it is not clear to whom Snoopy belongs; for instance, in the February 2, 1951 strip, Charlie Brown accuses Snoopy of following him, only to be told by Patty that Snoopy isn't following Charlie Brown, but merely lives in the same direction. Indeed many early strips show Snoopy interacting with Shermy (who is shown in one early strip running with Snoopy on his leash) and Patty without Charlie Brown, making Snoopy appear to belong to all of the neighborhood kids, similar to the dog Pete in the Our Gang
comedies, who is everyone's dog. (Note: in this era, it was common for dogs to roam their local area and congregate with local children, and then return to their respective homes). Later, Charlie Brown states that his parents bought Snoopy for him at the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm, after another boy had dumped sand on him while playing in a sandbox.
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 in a thought balloon
; Schulz would utilize this device for nearly all of the character's appearances in the strip thereafter. At first, Snoopy acted as a normal dog, and would only think in simple one-word phrases (such as "FOOD!"), but then became more articulate.
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, monosyllabic utterances such as "bleah," "hey," etc., as well as through pantomime
. The only exceptions are in the animated adaptations of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown
and Snoopy!!! The Musical
, in which Snoopy's thoughts are verbalized through voice overs (by Robert Towers and Cam Clarke, respectively). Animation producer Bill Meléndez
voiced both Snoopy and (eventually) Woodstock
in numerous television special
s from 1965 to 2006. In Peanuts Motion Comics
, Snoopy's thoughts appear onscreen as text in thought bubbles, without voice.
Oddly enough, the first time a beagle was mentioned in the strip (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!" (Years later, Snoopy would paraphrase the Stein expression himself: "Pigeons on the grass, alas; Dogs on the ground, abound." (June 25, 1982)
As the series progressed, Snoopy became a more human-like dog. His character is that of a dog who pretends to be a person (or who sometimes forgets he is a dog). In one Peanuts strip, Sally had to do a report on animals for school, and requested Snoopy's help. But Snoopy was reluctant. "How can I help?" he thought. "I don't know any animals."
Many of Peanuts memorable moments come in Snoopy's efforts as a novelist: 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
. Almost all his submissions are rejected by potential publishers, who eventually resort to rude dismissals and cruel jokes to attempt to prevent being bothered by Snoopy. 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 (e.g., the Peanuts book title Life's a Dream, Charlie Brown). "It Was A Dark And Stormy Night" remains his most successful work.
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."
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
(to which Charlie Brown responded, "Frightening, isn't it?"). He would also pretend to be other animals, including a snake
, rhinoceros
, lion
, and vulture
. But his eccentricities
did not stop there.
On June 28, 1957, Snoopy walked on his two hind 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 ego
s (often beginning "Here's the world-famous [name of occupation]"). Snoopy's transformation to walking to two feet also was accompanied by his larger snout and great body length. Furthermore, Snoopy takes his fantasies so seriously that he plays out even unpleasant elements of them such as taking lengthy penalties in hockey games or facing humiliating disciplinary actions for incompetence.
One of Snoopy's most famous alter-egos is as the World War I Flying Ace
(first appearance, October 10, 1965), often seen battling his arch-enemy, Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron
). When assuming this personality, Snoopy would don goggles, a flying helmet and a scarf and climb on top of his doghouse, which he claimed was a Sopwith Camel
. The Red Baron, like other adult figures in Peanuts, was never drawn in a strip; his presence was indicated through the bullet holes that would riddle the doghouse, and Snoopy's fist-shaking and cries of "Curse you, Red Baron!" while his "Sopwith Camel" doghouse plummeted to earth trailing smoke. In I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown
Charlie Brown's sister Sally Brown
jumps on the doghouse and flies with Snoopy.
Snoopy also became "Joe Cool" as he put on sunglasses
and leaned against the wall doing nothing. Snoopy has also been a famous writer
(who was actually published once, in an October 1995 storyline, in which one copy of his unnamed novel was printed, but it failed to sell); a bow-tie wearing attorney
(who once defended Peter Rabbit
), a hockey
player, an Olympic
figure skater
(who used to skate with Peggy Fleming
before he became "big time"); a world famous grocery
checkout clerk who operated from the top of his dog house in an apron; the "Lone Beagle" (the first dog to fly solo across the Atlantic
– a play on Charles Lindbergh
, "The Lone Eagle"); and even the first astronaut
to land on the moon. In "It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown", Snoopy becomes a Flash dancer named "Flashbeagle".
Outside of his fantasy
life, he plays shortstop
on Charlie Brown's Little League
team; he is the best player, nearly passing Babe Ruth
on the career home run list, and an excellent fielder due to his ability to catch fly balls in his mouth. Snoopy is also a "Beagle Scout", the Peanuts version of Eagle Scout
and is the Scout leader for a troop composed of Woodstock and his other bird friends, such as Bill, Harriet, and Conrad. This Scouting
theme reappears throughout the comic strip.
Snoopy is also a tennis player. He does tend to double-fault
frequently, which sends him into rage-filled temper tantrums during which he screams and destroys his racket, a la John McEnroe
. He has also played in mixed-doubles, usually pairing with the garage door (whose best quality as a player, according to Snoopy, is that "he never foot faults") and later teaming up with the short-tempered Molly Volley.
Snoopy loves root beer
and pizza
, hates coconut
candy, gets claustrophobia
in tall weeds, and is deathly afraid of icicles dangling over his doghouse. One of his hobbies is reading Leo Tolstoy
's epic novel War and Peace
at the rate of "a word a day". Snoopy also has the uncanny ability to play fetch with soap bubbles, and can hear someone eating marshmallow
s or cookies at a distance, or even peeling a banana. Snoopy is also capable of disappearing, like the Cheshire Cat
from Alice in Wonderland, as shown in an extended strip, whenever Charlie Brown reads the book to him. ("Grins are easy. Noses are hard. Ears are almost impossible."). Two things Snoopy dislikes are listening to balloons being squeezed and cats.
He can also use his ears to fly about as a "whirlydog". Snoopy even became a canine helicopter
, with Woodstock piloting. This gag appeared in the strip several times, most famously rescuing Linus
from the top of a barn after being commissioned by Sally. When asked by Linus where he learned to pilot, Woodstock replied in his usual apostrophes, which Linus interpreted as meaning "'Nam
". The gag also appeared in It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown
.
Snoopy "understands a little French
and Serbo-Croatian
." His dog food brand is called "For Dogs who flew in World War I and understand a little French". He later was also depicted as a sergeant in the French Foreign Legion
(inspired by the film Beau Geste
from 1966), with Woodstock and his avian friends as members of his patrol. He failed his high school geometry
course, which was his excuse for not being able to follow a golf course
's 90 degree golf cart driving rule.
Snoopy has his own little dance, variously known as The Beagle, the Suppertime Dance, or simply the Happy Snoopy Dance. Most often he dances at suppertime and has broken his foot from being too excited. One strip includes a joke that he has forgotten the steps and another includes the joke that he needs new steps. One time, Charlie Brown gleefully revealed that Snoopy missed his suppertime and did his own song and dance gloating at his dog's mistake while Snoopy looked on in astonishment.
Snoopy is also adept at the accordion
, although his repertoire is limited to "polkas, waltzes, and schottisches", the names of which billow from the instrument as he plays.
Snoopy climbed trees at least five times—once to rescue Schroeder
's piano, once to rescue Linus's blanket, once to see a "strange creature" in Woodstock's nest which turned out to be an egg, once after Frieda's cat Faron, and once with Charlie Brown, Schroeder, and an unnamed Peanuts kid. He fell out of the tree almost every time. (Note: In his "vulture" persona and when visiting Woodstock's nest, Snoopy was depicted in trees many times.)
Every Veterans Day
, Snoopy dresses as an army veteran and goes to army cartoonist Bill Mauldin
's house to "quaff root beer and tell war stories."
Snoopy has been as much a failure at love with female dogs as his owner Charlie Brown has been at baseball and kite flying. In early 1965, he met a girl beagle at a skating rink
and fell in love. However, his girlfriend's father forbade marriage between the two; "he could never allow his daughter to marry an obedience school dropout", as Snoopy put it, and so turned to eating to attempt to forget her. It didn't work: "I'll always have a few memories and a fat stomach", he griped. Later that same year he met her again on the beach and tried surfing to impress her, only to wipe out. Charlie Brown told Snoopy he'd been making a fool of himself for nothing; the girl beagle in question had been seen walking on the beach with a golden retriever, which broke his heart all over again. In 1977, he met a female while serving as guard dog for Peppermint Patty
, fell in love with her, and gave her a proposal of marriage. But he was crushed on his wedding day when she ran off with the "best beagle", Spike, although when they arrived in Needles, she left Spike for a coyote
. (Snoopy's Getting Married, Charlie Brown
follows this same storyline, except Snoopy's bride-to-be ran off with a golden retriever
.) In 1970, he went to the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm (where he'd allegedly taught Sunday school
at one point) to give a 4th of July
speech. However, as he was about to begin, he was beaned with a supper dish by anti-Vietnam War
protesters, and a full scale riot
broke out, during which police used tear gas to control the crowd. In all the confusion, Snoopy ran off the podium and was lost in the crowd. While blinded by tear gas, he felt a girl beagle's paws, but the tear gas prevented him from seeing her. By the time Charlie Brown had tracked her down, the farm informed them that she'd been sold, thus breaking Snoopy's heart again. By this time, Snoopy had regained his vision. "What do you do?" Snoopy woefully asks, and then immediately answers: "Back to eating!" And in the TV special Life Is a Circus, Charlie Brown
, Snoopy met a circus-performing female French poodle
named Fifi and fell so hopelessly in love with her, he left Charlie Brown to join the circus as "Hugo the Great". But eventually, he tried to take Fifi with him when he ran away from the circus. Fifi, after considering a while, would have no part of it, feeling that her proper place was the circus. They parted ways, again leaving Snoopy brokenhearted. It is said that Snoopy's only regret was that he was not a Golden Retriever
, as his loves usually fall for one. Snoopy frequently falls for Lucy van Pelt
, and when he kisses Lucy, she yells in disgust about having been "kissed by a dog" and having "dog germs". However, he has also been seen kissing the other female characters, who are far more accepting of his gestures than Lucy is.
Snoopy also served a short term as the "Head Beagle," the dog apparently in charge of all other dogs in the world. The pressures and responsibilities of the job became too much for him, and he was replaced.
. Out of all his siblings, Snoopy's brother Olaf was sold last. Before they were sold, Snoopy and his brothers and sisters made a band and one by one each was sold. Snoopy's original owner was a little girl named Lila, who had to return him to Daisy Hill after her family moved to an apartment where dogs were forbidden.
Shortly after his return to the farm, Snoopy was selected by Charlie Brown's parents as a companion for him. In the strip for January 30, 1972, Charlie Brown says that his parents bought Snoopy for him to cheer him up after another child threw sand in his face while they were playing in a sandbox. In the strips for November, 1972, while accompanying Woodstock on his winter migration, Snoopy realizes he is near the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm. He decides to show Woodstock where he was born, only to find that the puppy farm has been replaced by a six-story parking garage, causing Snoopy to wail, "You stupid people! You're parking on my memories!" (November 24, 1972). This is also reflected in the 1991 animated special Snoopy's Reunion
, where Snoopy and his siblings get together at the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm for a picnic, but sadly find out that it was demolished for a parking garage.
Snoopy is usually depicted as having seven siblings, five of whom appear at some point in the strip: Andy, Belle, Marbles, Olaf, and Spike. Most often seen is Spike, who lives in the desert (near the real-life locale of Needles, California
). Sharing Snoopy's penchant for a fantasy life, he is friends with saguaro cacti
. Spike is very thin, wears a fedora
and has long whisker
s. (Spike was the name of one of Schulz's childhood pet dogs.)
Andy looks like a disheveled version of Snoopy. Olaf, who wears a fur cap, is round in both body and face. Marbles is the smartest in the group. He has spots on his fur (making him look somewhat like a Dalmatian
), wears shoes, and considers some of Snoopy's behavior very odd. Belle, who looks like Snoopy with long eyelash
es, is most notable in that there was a Belle stuffed animal
available for many years.
Although Snoopy often mentions that he was one of eight puppies, the two other siblings never appeared in the comic strip. According to the animated special Snoopy's Reunion, they are named Molly and Rover. They all play in a country band in that special, with Snoopy on the acoustic guitar
.
In a 1965 strip, Snoopy set up a "family reunion" and it was stated that he had two brothers (one lived in Washington and the other in Texas) and three sisters (one in St.Louis, one in Hollywood and the last one in Kansas). After the reunion, Snoopy was apparently disappointed, for immediately after arriving home he stated, "The anticipation far exceeded the actual event."
Many years before his siblings appeared, Snoopy referred to himself as an "only dog" who had no brothers or sisters.
Like Snoopy, his siblings' thoughts are communicated via thought balloon.
who was only recollected by Snoopy in the third person, she eventually made an appearance in the strip in 1968.
In 1972 Lila appeared in the animated
film
Snoopy, Come Home
, voiced by Johanna Baer
. Seriously ill, she is unexpectedly reunited with Snoopy when he comes to visit her at a hospital in Nebraska
, and now that she is recovering and will be released very soon, asks him to return to her (forcing him to choose between his "old" life with Lila or his "new" one with Charlie Brown). Snoopy initially leaves the hospital, but finally, out of love for Lila, Snoopy chooses to return to her. She tells him that he should go back and sell his belongings and say goodbye to his old friends, before going back to her. He ends up writing a will instead and goes back to Lila. At the same time, he also is heartbroken over leaving Charlie Brown. However, in an ironic twist when Snoopy arrives at Lila's new apartment, Snoopy finds out (to his surprise) that not only does Lila happen to have a pet cat, dogs aren't permitted in her apartment building either (which explains why her family had to return him). Snoopy bids Lila farewell and returns to Charlie Brown.
Lila later appeared again in Snoopy's Reunion
.
Despite his history of conflicted loyalties and his occasionally disdainful attitude toward Charlie Brown, Snoopy has shown himself steadfastly loyal to his current owner. He joined Charlie Brown in walking out of a game of Ha-Ha Herman when Peppermint Patty crudely insulted Charlie Brown (though she was unaware that Charlie Brown was within earshot). He also helped Charlie Brown recover his autographed baseball when a bully had taken it and was challenging Charlie Brown to fight him for it. In He's a Bully, Charlie Brown
, he teaches Charlie Brown to play marbles so Charlie Brown can win back the marbles Rerun
lost to a bully at camp, Joe Agate, who cheated him. When Charlie Brown has to stop dedicating himself to making Snoopy happy, Snoopy replies, "Don't worry about it. I was already happy."
On December 12, 1958, Snoopy slept on top of his doghouse
, rather than inside it, for the first time. Thereafter, Snoopy was seldom seen to venture inside the doghouse, except to retrieve something, instead spending the bulk of his time sitting or lying on its gable roof. One strip ascribed Snoopy's ability to sleep there to his ears, which—like the feet of a perching bird – "lock" him to the top so that he doesn't fall. How his typewriter balances there (let alone other neighbourhood kids) is never explained.
At this point, the side view of the doghouse became standard in the strip, which allowed the imagination of Schulz (and Snoopy) to expand this dwelling beyond the limits of a normal doghouse.
Despite Snoopy's tendency to stay outside in all weather (in some cases even allowing snow to accumulate on his supine body, or wearing a snorkel when it rains), a running gag
established that the interior of Snoopy's doghouse was something extraordinary. It defied physics
, being dramatically larger on the inside than the outside, with a carpeted foyer
, a den, a library, a guest room, a stairway, a basement, a television, a bed (although he sleeps on the roof), a pool table, and an original Van Gogh. The first indication of the doghouse's unique layout occurred on January 31, 1954 when Charlie Brown was puzzled to see all his neighborhood friends crawling into it for a visit. The doghouse was destroyed several times over the years, being hit by a tree due to a chase over Linus' blanket (July 26, 1959), crushed by a large icicle
(February 13, 1960), and finally burned to the ground (September 19, 1966). The doghouse also suffered damage from the particularly violent cat next door, who would swipe off a large portion of the doghouse, leaving a frightened Snoopy standing on the remaining strip on one foot (The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show). In each case the doghouse was soon rebuilt. Although individual items were lost in the fire, each replacement doghouse appears to have retained the spaciousness and opulence of its predecessor.
The interior was decorated with several pricey acquisitions including a painting by Van Gogh, first mentioned on February 29, 1964. After the fire destroyed the Van Gogh, it was replaced by an Andrew Wyeth
. At various times the interior of Snoopy's doghouse also held a table tennis
table, a mural (painted by Linus), a shower, a cedar closet, a grandfather clock
, and a whirlpool bath.
Features established in the television specials include a fine kitchen (A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving), and sound equipment (A Boy Named Charlie Brown). In It's Magic, Charlie Brown
, Snoopy enters his dog house and the underground interior is depicted as spacious and well equipped for anything he needs.
The doghouse also serves as a prop for Snoopy, often imagined as a World War I "Sopwith Camel
" fighter plane in Snoopy's battles with the Red Baron
. During these aerial fights, Snoopy's house often suffers from bullet holes and occasionally crashes. However, this seems to take place solely in Snoopy's imagination, as the house is in perfect shape later. Once, the doghouse serves as a commercial airline, with Snoopy as the pilot. Marcie serves as a stewardess when Schroeder goes to piano camp.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in the long-running comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
Peanuts
Peanuts
Peanuts is a syndicated daily and Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz, which ran from October 2, 1950, to February 13, 2000, continuing in reruns afterward...
, by Charles M. Schulz
Charles M. Schulz
Charles Monroe "Sparky" Schulz was an American cartoonist, whose comic strip Peanuts proved one of the most popular and influential in the history of the medium, and is still widely reprinted on a daily basis.-Early life and education:Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Schulz grew up in Saint Paul...
. He is Charlie Brown
Charlie Brown
Charles "Charlie" Brown is the protagonist in the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz.Charlie Brown and his creator have a common connection in that they are both the sons of barbers, but whereas Schulz's work is described as the "most shining example of the American success story", Charlie...
's pet beagle
Beagle
The Beagle is a breed of small to medium-sized dog. A member of the Hound Group, it is similar in appearance to the Foxhound, but smaller, with shorter legs and longer, softer ears. Beagles are scent hounds, developed primarily for tracking hare, rabbit, and other game...
. Snoopy began his life in the strip as a fairly conventional dog, but eventually evolved into perhaps the strip's most dynamic character—and among the most recognizable comic characters in the world. The original drawings of Snoopy were "slightly patterned" after Spike, one of Schulz's childhood dogs.
Character
Snoopy, whose fictional birthday has been established as October 2, made his first appearance in the strip of October 4, 1950, two days after the strip premiered. He was first identified by name on November 10. Schulz was originally going to call him "Sniffy" (as described in the 25th anniversary book), until he discovered that name was used in a different comic strip. He changed it to "Snoopy" after remembering that his late mother Dena Schulz had commented that if their family were ever to acquire a third dog, it should be called Snoopy, an affectionate term in Norwegian (the actual term is "Snuppa").In earlier strips it is not clear to whom Snoopy belongs; for instance, in the February 2, 1951 strip, Charlie Brown accuses Snoopy of following him, only to be told by Patty that Snoopy isn't following Charlie Brown, but merely lives in the same direction. Indeed many early strips show Snoopy interacting with Shermy (who is shown in one early strip running with Snoopy on his leash) and Patty without Charlie Brown, making Snoopy appear to belong to all of the neighborhood kids, similar to the dog Pete in the Our Gang
Our Gang
Our Gang, also known as The Little Rascals or Hal Roach's Rascals, was a series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and the adventures they had together. Created by comedy producer Hal Roach, the series is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively...
comedies, who is everyone's dog. (Note: in this era, it was common for dogs to roam their local area and congregate with local children, and then return to their respective homes). Later, Charlie Brown states that his parents bought Snoopy for him at the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm, after another boy had dumped sand on him while playing in a sandbox.
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 in a thought balloon
Speech balloon
Speech balloons are a graphic convention used most commonly in comic books, comic strips and cartoons to allow words to be understood as representing the speech or thoughts of a given character in the comic...
; Schulz would utilize this device for nearly all of the character's appearances in the strip thereafter. At first, Snoopy acted as a normal dog, and would only think in simple one-word phrases (such as "FOOD!"), but then became more articulate.
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
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
Peanuts films and television specials, Snoopy's thoughts are not verbalized; his moods are instead conveyed through growls, sobs, laughter, monosyllabic utterances such as "bleah," "hey," etc., as well as through pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
. The only exceptions are in the animated adaptations of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown
You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (TV special)
You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown is the 29th prime-time animated TV special based upon the popular comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz...
and Snoopy!!! The Musical
Snoopy!!! The Musical (TV special)
Snoopy!!! The Musical is the 31st prime-time animated TV specials, based on characters from the Charles M. Schulz comic strip Peanuts. It was an adaptation of the musical Snoopy!!! The Musical, and originally aired on the CBS network in 1988....
, in which Snoopy's thoughts are verbalized through voice overs (by Robert Towers and Cam Clarke, respectively). Animation producer Bill Meléndez
Bill Melendez
José Cuauhtémoc "Bill" Meléndez was a Mexican-American character animator, film director, voice artist and producer, known for his cartoons for Warner Brothers, UPA and the Peanuts series...
voiced both Snoopy and (eventually) Woodstock
Woodstock (Peanuts)
Woodstock is a fictional character in Charles M. Schulz's comic strip Peanuts. He is Snoopy's closest friend and, after Snoopy, the most recognized non-human in the strip.-History:...
in numerous television special
Television special
A television special is a television program which interrupts or temporarily replaces programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Sometimes, however, the term is given to a telecast of a theatrical film, such as The Wizard of Oz or The Ten Commandments, which is not part of a regular...
s from 1965 to 2006. In Peanuts Motion Comics
Peanuts Motion Comics
Peanuts Motion Comics is a series of animated cartoon shorts based on 1964 strips of Charles Schulz' comic strip, Peanuts. The series premiered on iTunes in 2008 with the support of the Schulz estate. The first season consists of 20 cartoon shorts, paired into 10 episodes. The episodes employ...
, Snoopy's thoughts appear onscreen as text in thought bubbles, without voice.
Oddly enough, the first time a beagle was mentioned in the strip (December 5, 1960), Snoopy denied being one. As Snoopy dozed, Charlie Brown paraphrased Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein was an American writer, poet and art collector who spent most of her life in France.-Early life:...
: "Beagles on the grass, alas." To this, Snoopy replied, "I ain't no stupid beagle!" (Years later, Snoopy would paraphrase the Stein expression himself: "Pigeons on the grass, alas; Dogs on the ground, abound." (June 25, 1982)
As the series progressed, Snoopy became a more human-like dog. His character is that of a dog who pretends to be a person (or who sometimes forgets he is a dog). In one Peanuts strip, Sally had to do a report on animals for school, and requested Snoopy's help. But Snoopy was reluctant. "How can I help?" he thought. "I don't know any animals."
Many of Peanuts memorable moments come in Snoopy's efforts as a novelist: his eternal opener on the typewriter "It was a dark and stormy night
It was a dark and stormy night
"It was a dark and stormy night" is an infamous phrase written by Victorian novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton at the beginning of his 1830 novel Paul Clifford. The annual Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest uses the phrase as a signifier of purple prose...
..." is taken from Edward George Bulwer-Lytton's 1830 novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
Paul Clifford
Paul Clifford
Paul Clifford is a novel published in 1830 by English author Edward Bulwer-Lytton. It tells the life of Paul Clifford, a man who leads a dual life as both a criminal and an upscale gentleman...
. Almost all his submissions are rejected by potential publishers, who eventually resort to rude dismissals and cruel jokes to attempt to prevent being bothered by Snoopy. 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 (e.g., the Peanuts book title Life's a Dream, Charlie Brown). "It Was A Dark And Stormy Night" remains his most successful work.
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
Schulz once said that the best idea he ever had in the strip was to move Snoopy from inside his doghouse to the rooftop. Preceding that, there was a gradual evolution of the character, from something like an actual dog to an anthropomorphic character, more like typical cartoon animals.His earliest impersonation was of a bird on August 9, 1951. Later (starting November 17, 1955), Snoopy engaged in dead-on imitations of Violet
Violet (Peanuts)
Violet Gray is a fictional character in the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz.Violet has shoulder-length dark hair, and she frequently wears green dresses...
, a pelican
Pelican
A pelican, derived from the Greek word πελεκυς pelekys is a large water bird with a large throat pouch, belonging to the bird family Pelecanidae....
, Lucy
Lucy van Pelt
Lucille "Lucy" van Pelt is a fictional character in the syndicated comic strip :Peanuts, written and drawn by Charles Schulz. She is the main bully and the older sister of Linus and Rerun. Lucy is a crabby and cynical eight-year old girl, and often bullies the other characters in the strip,...
, a moose
Moose
The moose or Eurasian elk is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic configuration...
, Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
and Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio. Mickey is an anthropomorphic black mouse and typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves...
(to which Charlie Brown responded, "Frightening, isn't it?"). He would also pretend to be other animals, including a snake
Snake
Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
, rhinoceros
Rhinoceros
Rhinoceros , also known as rhino, is a group of five extant species of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. Two of these species are native to Africa and three to southern Asia....
, lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
, and vulture
Vulture
Vulture is the name given to two groups of convergently evolved scavenging birds, the New World Vultures including the well-known Californian and Andean Condors, and the Old World Vultures including the birds which are seen scavenging on carcasses of dead animals on African plains...
. But his eccentricities
Eccentricity (behavior)
In popular usage, eccentricity refers to unusual or odd behavior on the part of an individual. This behavior would typically be perceived as unusual or unnecessary, without being demonstrably maladaptive...
did not stop there.
On June 28, 1957, Snoopy walked on his two hind 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
Walter Mitty
Walter Mitty is a fictional character in James Thurber's short story "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty", first published in the New Yorker on March 18, 1939, and in book form in My World and Welcome to It in 1942...
alter ego
Alter ego
An alter ego is a second self, which is believe to be distinct from a person's normal or original personality. The term was coined in the early nineteenth century when dissociative identity disorder was first described by psychologists...
s (often beginning "Here's the world-famous [name of occupation]"). Snoopy's transformation to walking to two feet also was accompanied by his larger snout and great body length. Furthermore, Snoopy takes his fantasies so seriously that he plays out even unpleasant elements of them such as taking lengthy penalties in hockey games or facing humiliating disciplinary actions for incompetence.
One of Snoopy's most famous alter-egos is as the World War I Flying Ace
Flying ace
A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down several enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The actual number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an "ace" has varied, but is usually considered to be five or more...
(first appearance, October 10, 1965), often seen battling his arch-enemy, Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron
Manfred von Richthofen
Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen , also widely known as the Red Baron, was a German fighter pilot with the Imperial German Army Air Service during World War I...
). When assuming this personality, Snoopy would don goggles, a flying helmet and a scarf and climb on top of his doghouse, which he claimed was a Sopwith Camel
Sopwith Camel
The Sopwith Camel was a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter introduced on the Western Front in 1917. Manufactured by Sopwith Aviation Company, it had a short-coupled fuselage, heavy, powerful rotary engine, and concentrated fire from twin synchronized machine guns. Though difficult...
. The Red Baron, like other adult figures in Peanuts, was never drawn in a strip; his presence was indicated through the bullet holes that would riddle the doghouse, and Snoopy's fist-shaking and cries of "Curse you, Red Baron!" while his "Sopwith Camel" doghouse plummeted to earth trailing smoke. In I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown
I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown
I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown is one of the Peanuts made-for-television specials. The hour-long special first aired on ABC on December 9, 2003...
Charlie Brown's sister Sally Brown
Sally Brown
Sally Brown is the younger sister of Charlie Brown in the comic strip Peanuts by Charles Schulz. She was first mentioned in early 1959 and throughout a long series of strips before her first appearance in August 1959.-Appearance:...
jumps on the doghouse and flies with Snoopy.
Snoopy also became "Joe Cool" as he put on sunglasses
Sunglasses
Sunglasses or sun glasses are a form of protective eyewear designed primarily to prevent bright sunlight and high-energy visible light from damaging or discomforting the eyes. They can sometimes also function as a visual aid, as variously termed spectacles or glasses exist, featuring lenses that...
and leaned against the wall doing nothing. Snoopy has also been a famous writer
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
(who was actually published once, in an October 1995 storyline, in which one copy of his unnamed novel was printed, but it failed to sell); a bow-tie wearing attorney
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
(who once defended Peter Rabbit
Peter Rabbit
Peter Rabbit is a fictional anthropomorphic character in various children's stories by Beatrix Potter. He first appeared in The Tale of Peter Rabbit in 1902, and subsequently in five more books between 1904 and 1912. Spinoff merchandise includes dishes, wallpaper, and dolls...
), a hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
player, an Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
figure skater
Figure skating
Figure skating is an Olympic sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform spins, jumps, footwork and other intricate and challenging moves on ice skates. Figure skaters compete at various levels from beginner up to the Olympic level , and at local, national, and international competitions...
(who used to skate with Peggy Fleming
Peggy Fleming
Peggy Gail Fleming is an American figure skater. She is the 1968 Olympic Champion in Ladies' singles and a three-time World Champion...
before he became "big time"); a world famous grocery
Grocery store
A grocery store is a store that retails food. A grocer, the owner of a grocery store, stocks different kinds of foods from assorted places and cultures, and sells these "groceries" to customers. Large grocery stores that stock products other than food, such as clothing or household items, are...
checkout clerk who operated from the top of his dog house in an apron; the "Lone Beagle" (the first dog to fly solo across the Atlantic
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
– a play on Charles Lindbergh
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...
, "The Lone Eagle"); and even the first astronaut
Astronaut
An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
to land on the moon. In "It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown", Snoopy becomes a Flash dancer named "Flashbeagle".
Outside of his fantasy
Fantasy (psychology)
Fantasy in a psychological sense is broadly used to cover two different senses, conscious and unconscious. In the unconscious sense, it is sometimes spelled "phantasy".-Conscious fantasy:...
life, he plays shortstop
Shortstop
Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball fielding position between second and third base. Shortstop is often regarded as the most dynamic defensive position in baseball, because there are more right-handed hitters in baseball than left-handed hitters, and most hitters have a tendency to pull the...
on Charlie Brown's Little League
Little League
Little League Baseball and Softball is a non-profit organization in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, United States which organizes local youth baseball and softball leagues throughout the U.S...
team; he is the best player, nearly passing Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth
George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
on the career home run list, and an excellent fielder due to his ability to catch fly balls in his mouth. Snoopy is also a "Beagle Scout", the Peanuts version of Eagle Scout
Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America)
Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Boy Scouting program of the Boy Scouts of America . A Scout who attains this rank is called an Eagle Scout or Eagle. Since its introduction in 1911, the Eagle Scout rank has been earned by more than 2 million young men...
and is the Scout leader for a troop composed of Woodstock and his other bird friends, such as Bill, Harriet, and Conrad. This Scouting
Scouting
Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement with the stated aim of supporting young people in their physical, mental and spiritual development, that they may play constructive roles in society....
theme reappears throughout the comic strip.
Snoopy is also a tennis player. He does tend to double-fault
Serve (tennis)
A serve in tennis is a shot to start a point. A player begins a serve by tossing the ball into the air and hitting it into the diagonally opposite backside box without being stopped by the net. The ball can only touch the net on a return and will be considered good if it falls on the opposite side...
frequently, which sends him into rage-filled temper tantrums during which he screams and destroys his racket, a la John McEnroe
John McEnroe
John Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. During his career, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...
. He has also played in mixed-doubles, usually pairing with the garage door (whose best quality as a player, according to Snoopy, is that "he never foot faults") and later teaming up with the short-tempered Molly Volley.
Snoopy loves root beer
Root beer
Root beer is a carbonated, sweetened beverage, originally made using the root of a sassafras plant as the primary flavor. Root beer, popularized in North America, comes in two forms: alcoholic and soft drink. The historical root beer was analogous to small beer in that the process provided a drink...
and pizza
Pizza
Pizza is an oven-baked, flat, disc-shaped bread typically topped with a tomato sauce, cheese and various toppings.Originating in Italy, from the Neapolitan cuisine, the dish has become popular in many parts of the world. An establishment that makes and sells pizzas is called a "pizzeria"...
, hates coconut
Coconut
The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...
candy, gets claustrophobia
Claustrophobia
Claustrophobia is the fear of having no escape and being closed in small spaces or rooms...
in tall weeds, and is deathly afraid of icicles dangling over his doghouse. One of his hobbies is reading Leo Tolstoy
Leo Tolstoy
Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
's epic novel War and Peace
War and Peace
War and Peace is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in 1869. The work is epic in scale and is regarded as one of the most important works of world literature...
at the rate of "a word a day". Snoopy also has the uncanny ability to play fetch with soap bubbles, and can hear someone eating marshmallow
Marshmallow
The marshmallow is a confection that, in its modern form, typically consists of sugar, corn syrup, water, gelatin that has been softened in hot water, dextrose, vanilla flavourings, and sometimes colouring, whipped to a spongy consistency. Some marshmallow recipes call for egg whites...
s or cookies at a distance, or even peeling a banana. Snoopy is also capable of disappearing, like the Cheshire Cat
Cheshire Cat
The Cheshire Cat is a fictional cat popularised by Lewis Carroll's depiction of it in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Known for his distinctive mischievous grin, the Cheshire Cat has had a notable impact on popular culture.-Origins:...
from Alice in Wonderland, as shown in an extended strip, whenever Charlie Brown reads the book to him. ("Grins are easy. Noses are hard. Ears are almost impossible."). Two things Snoopy dislikes are listening to balloons being squeezed and cats.
He can also use his ears to fly about as a "whirlydog". Snoopy even became a canine helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
, with Woodstock piloting. This gag appeared in the strip several times, most famously rescuing Linus
Linus van Pelt
Linus van Pelt is a character in Charles M. Schulz's comic strip Peanuts. The best friend of Charlie Brown, Linus is also the younger brother of Lucy van Pelt and older brother of Rerun van Pelt. He first appeared on September 19, 1952; however, he was not mentioned by name until three days later....
from the top of a barn after being commissioned by Sally. When asked by Linus where he learned to pilot, Woodstock replied in his usual apostrophes, which Linus interpreted as meaning "'Nam
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
". The gag also appeared in It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown
It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown
It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown is the 16th prime-time animated TV specials based upon the popular comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz...
.
Snoopy "understands a little French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian or Serbo-Croat, less commonly Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian , is a South Slavic language with multiple standards and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro...
." His dog food brand is called "For Dogs who flew in World War I and understand a little French". He later was also depicted as a sergeant in the French Foreign Legion
French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion is a unique military service wing of the French Army established in 1831. The foreign legion was exclusively created for foreign nationals willing to serve in the French Armed Forces...
(inspired by the film Beau Geste
Beau Geste (1966 film)
Beau Geste is a 1966 film based on the novel by P. C. Wren filmed by Universal Pictures in Technicolor and Techniscope near Yuma, Arizona and directed by Douglas Heyes. This is the least faithful of the various film adaptations of the original novel...
from 1966), with Woodstock and his avian friends as members of his patrol. He failed his high school geometry
Geometry
Geometry arose as the field of knowledge dealing with spatial relationships. Geometry was one of the two fields of pre-modern mathematics, the other being the study of numbers ....
course, which was his excuse for not being able to follow a golf course
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
's 90 degree golf cart driving rule.
Snoopy has his own little dance, variously known as The Beagle, the Suppertime Dance, or simply the Happy Snoopy Dance. Most often he dances at suppertime and has broken his foot from being too excited. One strip includes a joke that he has forgotten the steps and another includes the joke that he needs new steps. One time, Charlie Brown gleefully revealed that Snoopy missed his suppertime and did his own song and dance gloating at his dog's mistake while Snoopy looked on in astonishment.
Snoopy is also adept at the accordion
Concertina
A concertina is a free-reed musical instrument, like the various accordions and the harmonica. It has a bellows and buttons typically on both ends of it. When pressed, the buttons travel in the same direction as the bellows, unlike accordion buttons which travel perpendicularly to it...
, although his repertoire is limited to "polkas, waltzes, and schottisches", the names of which billow from the instrument as he plays.
Snoopy climbed trees at least five times—once to rescue Schroeder
Schroeder (Peanuts)
Schroeder is a fictional character in the long-running comic strip Peanuts, created by Charles M. Schulz. He is distinguished by his precocious skill at playing the toy piano, as well as by his love of classical music and the composer Ludwig van Beethoven in particular...
's piano, once to rescue Linus's blanket, once to see a "strange creature" in Woodstock's nest which turned out to be an egg, once after Frieda's cat Faron, and once with Charlie Brown, Schroeder, and an unnamed Peanuts kid. He fell out of the tree almost every time. (Note: In his "vulture" persona and when visiting Woodstock's nest, Snoopy was depicted in trees many times.)
Every Veterans Day
Veterans Day
Veterans Day, formerly Armistice Day, is an annual United States holiday honoring military veterans. It is a federal holiday that is observed on November 11. It coincides with other holidays such as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day, which are celebrated in other parts of the world and also mark...
, Snoopy dresses as an army veteran and goes to army cartoonist Bill Mauldin
Bill Mauldin
William Henry "Bill" Mauldin was a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist from the United States...
's house to "quaff root beer and tell war stories."
Snoopy has been as much a failure at love with female dogs as his owner Charlie Brown has been at baseball and kite flying. In early 1965, he met a girl beagle at a skating rink
Skating rink
A skating rink may refer to:* an ice rink used for ice skating* a roller rink used for roller skating...
and fell in love. However, his girlfriend's father forbade marriage between the two; "he could never allow his daughter to marry an obedience school dropout", as Snoopy put it, and so turned to eating to attempt to forget her. It didn't work: "I'll always have a few memories and a fat stomach", he griped. Later that same year he met her again on the beach and tried surfing to impress her, only to wipe out. Charlie Brown told Snoopy he'd been making a fool of himself for nothing; the girl beagle in question had been seen walking on the beach with a golden retriever, which broke his heart all over again. In 1977, he met a female while serving as guard dog for Peppermint Patty
Peppermint Patty
Patricia "Peppermint Patty" Reichardt is a fictional character featured in Charles M. Schulz's comic strip Peanuts. A freckle-faced auburn/brunette, she is one of a small group in the strip who lives across town from Charlie Brown and his school friends...
, fell in love with her, and gave her a proposal of marriage. But he was crushed on his wedding day when she ran off with the "best beagle", Spike, although when they arrived in Needles, she left Spike for a coyote
Coyote
The coyote , also known as the American jackal or the prairie wolf, is a species of canine found throughout North and Central America, ranging from Panama in the south, north through Mexico, the United States and Canada...
. (Snoopy's Getting Married, Charlie Brown
Snoopy's Getting Married, Charlie Brown
Snoopy's Getting Married, Charlie Brown is the 28th prime-time animated TV specials based upon the popular comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz...
follows this same storyline, except Snoopy's bride-to-be ran off with a golden retriever
Golden Retriever
The Golden Retriever is a medium-sized breed of dog. They were historically developed as gundogs to retrieve shot waterfowl such as ducks and upland game birds during hunting and shooting parties. As such, they were bred to have a soft mouth to retrieve game undamaged and have an instinctive love...
.) In 1970, he went to the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm (where he'd allegedly taught Sunday school
Sunday school
Sunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.-England:The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in...
at one point) to give a 4th of July
Independence Day (United States)
Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain...
speech. However, as he was about to begin, he was beaned with a supper dish by anti-Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
protesters, and a full scale riot
Riot
A riot is a form of civil disorder characterized often by what is thought of as disorganized groups lashing out in a sudden and intense rash of violence against authority, property or people. While individuals may attempt to lead or control a riot, riots are thought to be typically chaotic and...
broke out, during which police used tear gas to control the crowd. In all the confusion, Snoopy ran off the podium and was lost in the crowd. While blinded by tear gas, he felt a girl beagle's paws, but the tear gas prevented him from seeing her. By the time Charlie Brown had tracked her down, the farm informed them that she'd been sold, thus breaking Snoopy's heart again. By this time, Snoopy had regained his vision. "What do you do?" Snoopy woefully asks, and then immediately answers: "Back to eating!" And in the TV special Life Is a Circus, Charlie Brown
Life Is a Circus, Charlie Brown
Life is a Circus, Charlie Brown is the 20th prime-time animated TV specials based upon the popular comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. It was originally aired on the CBS network on October 24, 1980.-Synopsis:...
, Snoopy met a circus-performing female French poodle
Poodle
The Poodle is a breed of dog. The poodle breed is found officially in toy, miniature, and standard sizes, with many coat colors. Originally bred as a type of water dog, the poodle is highly intelligent and skillful in many dog sports, including agility, obedience, tracking, and even herding...
named Fifi and fell so hopelessly in love with her, he left Charlie Brown to join the circus as "Hugo the Great". But eventually, he tried to take Fifi with him when he ran away from the circus. Fifi, after considering a while, would have no part of it, feeling that her proper place was the circus. They parted ways, again leaving Snoopy brokenhearted. It is said that Snoopy's only regret was that he was not a Golden Retriever
Golden Retriever
The Golden Retriever is a medium-sized breed of dog. They were historically developed as gundogs to retrieve shot waterfowl such as ducks and upland game birds during hunting and shooting parties. As such, they were bred to have a soft mouth to retrieve game undamaged and have an instinctive love...
, as his loves usually fall for one. Snoopy frequently falls for Lucy van Pelt
Lucy van Pelt
Lucille "Lucy" van Pelt is a fictional character in the syndicated comic strip :Peanuts, written and drawn by Charles Schulz. She is the main bully and the older sister of Linus and Rerun. Lucy is a crabby and cynical eight-year old girl, and often bullies the other characters in the strip,...
, and when he kisses Lucy, she yells in disgust about having been "kissed by a dog" and having "dog germs". However, he has also been seen kissing the other female characters, who are far more accepting of his gestures than Lucy is.
Snoopy also served a short term as the "Head Beagle," the dog apparently in charge of all other dogs in the world. The pressures and responsibilities of the job became too much for him, and he was replaced.
Puppyhood and siblings
Over the course of the strip's run, it was revealed that Snoopy had been born and raised at the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm. His father used to run with hunting dogs, but would secretly run ahead and warn the rabbits. His mother is famous for her tapioca pudding, and in a 1990s Peanuts strip, came over on a World War I-era troopship to visit Snoopy and Spike, who had been ill with the fluInfluenza
Influenza, commonly referred to as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae , that affects birds and mammals...
. Out of all his siblings, Snoopy's brother Olaf was sold last. Before they were sold, Snoopy and his brothers and sisters made a band and one by one each was sold. Snoopy's original owner was a little girl named Lila, who had to return him to Daisy Hill after her family moved to an apartment where dogs were forbidden.
Shortly after his return to the farm, Snoopy was selected by Charlie Brown's parents as a companion for him. In the strip for January 30, 1972, Charlie Brown says that his parents bought Snoopy for him to cheer him up after another child threw sand in his face while they were playing in a sandbox. In the strips for November, 1972, while accompanying Woodstock on his winter migration, Snoopy realizes he is near the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm. He decides to show Woodstock where he was born, only to find that the puppy farm has been replaced by a six-story parking garage, causing Snoopy to wail, "You stupid people! You're parking on my memories!" (November 24, 1972). This is also reflected in the 1991 animated special Snoopy's Reunion
Snoopy's Reunion
Snoopy's Reunion is the 34th prime-time animated TV special based upon the popular comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. It originally aired on the CBS network on May 1, 1991 as part of the animated anthology series Toon Nite.-Plot:...
, where Snoopy and his siblings get together at the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm for a picnic, but sadly find out that it was demolished for a parking garage.
Snoopy is usually depicted as having seven siblings, five of whom appear at some point in the strip: Andy, Belle, Marbles, Olaf, and Spike. Most often seen is Spike, who lives in the desert (near the real-life locale of Needles, California
Needles, California
Needles is a city located in the Mojave Desert on the western banks of the Colorado River in San Bernardino County, California. It is located in the Mohave Valley, which straddles the California–Arizona border. The city is accessible via Interstate 40 and U.S. Route 95...
). Sharing Snoopy's penchant for a fantasy life, he is friends with saguaro cacti
Cactus
A cactus is a member of the plant family Cactaceae. Their distinctive appearance is a result of adaptations to conserve water in dry and/or hot environments. In most species, the stem has evolved to become photosynthetic and succulent, while the leaves have evolved into spines...
. Spike is very thin, wears a fedora
Fedora (hat)
A fedora is a men's felt hat. In reality, "fedora" describes most any men's hat that does not already have another name; quite a few fedoras have famous names of their own including the famous Trilby....
and has long whisker
Whisker
Whisker may refer to:* an element of box plots* cat's whisker diode, a thin wire used as a contact on a crystal radio receiver* facial hair, hair on the face of a human* vibrissa, a hair on the face of a mammal, used for sensing the surroundings...
s. (Spike was the name of one of Schulz's childhood pet dogs.)
Andy looks like a disheveled version of Snoopy. Olaf, who wears a fur cap, is round in both body and face. Marbles is the smartest in the group. He has spots on his fur (making him look somewhat like a Dalmatian
Dalmatian (dog)
The Dalmatian is a breed of dog whose roots are often said to trace back to Dalmatia, a region of Croatia where the first illustrations of the dog have been found. The Dalmatian is noted for its unique black- or brown-spotted coat and was mainly used as a carriage dog in its early days...
), wears shoes, and considers some of Snoopy's behavior very odd. Belle, who looks like Snoopy with long eyelash
Eyelash
An eyelash or simply lash is one of the hairs that grow at the edge of the eyelid. Eyelashes protect the eye from debris and perform some of the same function as whiskers do on a cat or a mouse in the sense that they are sensitive to being touched, thus providing a warning that an object is near...
es, is most notable in that there was a Belle stuffed animal
Stuffed animal
A stuffed toy is a toy sewn from cloth, plush, or other textiles, and stuffed with straw, beans, plastic pellets, cotton, synthetic fibres, or other similar materials. Stuffed toys are also known as plush toys A stuffed toy is a toy sewn from cloth, plush, or other textiles, and stuffed with straw,...
available for many years.
Although Snoopy often mentions that he was one of eight puppies, the two other siblings never appeared in the comic strip. According to the animated special Snoopy's Reunion, they are named Molly and Rover. They all play in a country band in that special, with Snoopy on the acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
.
In a 1965 strip, Snoopy set up a "family reunion" and it was stated that he had two brothers (one lived in Washington and the other in Texas) and three sisters (one in St.Louis, one in Hollywood and the last one in Kansas). After the reunion, Snoopy was apparently disappointed, for immediately after arriving home he stated, "The anticipation far exceeded the actual event."
Many years before his siblings appeared, Snoopy referred to himself as an "only dog" who had no brothers or sisters.
Like Snoopy, his siblings' thoughts are communicated via thought balloon.
Owner
Lila was first mentioned in the strip in the 1960s. It was revealed that she had taken Snoopy home from the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm (where he was born and raised), but was forced to return him after her family moved to an apartment building where dogs were forbidden. While she was initially an unseen characterUnseen character
In fiction, an unseen character is a character that is never directly observed by the audience but is only described by other characters. They are a common device in drama and have been called "triumphs of theatrical invention". They are continuing characters — characters who are currently in...
who was only recollected by Snoopy in the third person, she eventually made an appearance in the strip in 1968.
In 1972 Lila appeared in the animated
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
Snoopy, Come Home
Snoopy, Come Home
Snoopy, Come Home! is a 1972 animated musical film, produced by Cinema Center Films, National General Pictures and Lee Mendelson Films, directed by Bill Meléndez, and based on the Peanuts comic strip. The songs are by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman...
, voiced by Johanna Baer
Johanna Baer
Johanna Baer was born on June 11, 1961. Baer began her work as a child actress as the voice of Lila in the animated motion picture musical, Snoopy Come Home. In her late teens she played a dancer in the musical film, Hair....
. Seriously ill, she is unexpectedly reunited with Snoopy when he comes to visit her at a hospital in Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
, and now that she is recovering and will be released very soon, asks him to return to her (forcing him to choose between his "old" life with Lila or his "new" one with Charlie Brown). Snoopy initially leaves the hospital, but finally, out of love for Lila, Snoopy chooses to return to her. She tells him that he should go back and sell his belongings and say goodbye to his old friends, before going back to her. He ends up writing a will instead and goes back to Lila. At the same time, he also is heartbroken over leaving Charlie Brown. However, in an ironic twist when Snoopy arrives at Lila's new apartment, Snoopy finds out (to his surprise) that not only does Lila happen to have a pet cat, dogs aren't permitted in her apartment building either (which explains why her family had to return him). Snoopy bids Lila farewell and returns to Charlie Brown.
Lila later appeared again in Snoopy's Reunion
Snoopy's Reunion
Snoopy's Reunion is the 34th prime-time animated TV special based upon the popular comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. It originally aired on the CBS network on May 1, 1991 as part of the animated anthology series Toon Nite.-Plot:...
.
Despite his history of conflicted loyalties and his occasionally disdainful attitude toward Charlie Brown, Snoopy has shown himself steadfastly loyal to his current owner. He joined Charlie Brown in walking out of a game of Ha-Ha Herman when Peppermint Patty crudely insulted Charlie Brown (though she was unaware that Charlie Brown was within earshot). He also helped Charlie Brown recover his autographed baseball when a bully had taken it and was challenging Charlie Brown to fight him for it. In He's a Bully, Charlie Brown
He's a Bully, Charlie Brown
He's a Bully, Charlie Brown is the 44th prime-time animated TV special based on the popular comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. It was originally aired on the ABC network on November 20, 2006. It is the second most recent Peanuts television special and is primarily based on a story from the...
, he teaches Charlie Brown to play marbles so Charlie Brown can win back the marbles Rerun
Rerun van Pelt
Rerun van Pelt is Linus and Lucy's younger brother in Charles M. Schulz's comic strip Peanuts.-Introduction:Rerun started as a minor character in the Peanuts universe, only becoming a main character in the last decade of the comic strip...
lost to a bully at camp, Joe Agate, who cheated him. When Charlie Brown has to stop dedicating himself to making Snoopy happy, Snoopy replies, "Don't worry about it. I was already happy."
Doghouse
In the early years of the strip, Snoopy's doghouse was typically seen from the front or front plus one side, with the standard arched doorway of a doghouse, and Snoopy's name arched over the door. Snoopy would sleep in the doorway.On December 12, 1958, Snoopy slept on top of his doghouse
Doghouse
A doghouse, known in British English as a kennel, is a small shed commonly built in the shape of a little house intended for a dog. It is a structure in which a dog is kept or can run into for shelter from the elements.-Architecture:...
, rather than inside it, for the first time. Thereafter, Snoopy was seldom seen to venture inside the doghouse, except to retrieve something, instead spending the bulk of his time sitting or lying on its gable roof. One strip ascribed Snoopy's ability to sleep there to his ears, which—like the feet of a perching bird – "lock" him to the top so that he doesn't fall. How his typewriter balances there (let alone other neighbourhood kids) is never explained.
At this point, the side view of the doghouse became standard in the strip, which allowed the imagination of Schulz (and Snoopy) to expand this dwelling beyond the limits of a normal doghouse.
Despite Snoopy's tendency to stay outside in all weather (in some cases even allowing snow to accumulate on his supine body, or wearing a snorkel when it rains), a running gag
Running gag
A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling....
established that the interior of Snoopy's doghouse was something extraordinary. It defied physics
Cartoon physics
Cartoon physics is a jocular system of laws of physics that supersedes the normal laws, used in animation for humorous effect. Normal physical laws are referential , but cartoon physics are preferential ....
, being dramatically larger on the inside than the outside, with a carpeted foyer
Foyer
A foyer or lobby is a large, vast room or complex of rooms adjacent to the auditorium...
, a den, a library, a guest room, a stairway, a basement, a television, a bed (although he sleeps on the roof), a pool table, and an original Van Gogh. The first indication of the doghouse's unique layout occurred on January 31, 1954 when Charlie Brown was puzzled to see all his neighborhood friends crawling into it for a visit. The doghouse was destroyed several times over the years, being hit by a tree due to a chase over Linus' blanket (July 26, 1959), crushed by a large icicle
Icicle
An icicle is a spike of ice formed when water dripping or falling from an object freezes. Typically, icicles will form when ice or snow is melted by either sunlight or some other heat source , and the resulting melted water runs off into an area where the ambient temperature is below the freezing...
(February 13, 1960), and finally burned to the ground (September 19, 1966). The doghouse also suffered damage from the particularly violent cat next door, who would swipe off a large portion of the doghouse, leaving a frightened Snoopy standing on the remaining strip on one foot (The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show). In each case the doghouse was soon rebuilt. Although individual items were lost in the fire, each replacement doghouse appears to have retained the spaciousness and opulence of its predecessor.
The interior was decorated with several pricey acquisitions including a painting by Van Gogh, first mentioned on February 29, 1964. After the fire destroyed the Van Gogh, it was replaced by an Andrew Wyeth
Andrew Wyeth
Andrew Newell Wyeth was a visual artist, primarily a realist painter, working predominantly in a regionalist style. He was one of the best-known U.S. artists of the middle 20th century....
. At various times the interior of Snoopy's doghouse also held a table tennis
Table tennis
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth using table tennis rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net...
table, a mural (painted by Linus), a shower, a cedar closet, a grandfather clock
Longcase clock
A longcase clock, also tall-case clock, floor clock, or grandfather clock, is a tall, freestanding, weight-driven pendulum clock with the pendulum held inside the tower, or waist of the case. Clocks of this style are commonly 1.8–2.4 metres tall...
, and a whirlpool bath.
Features established in the television specials include a fine kitchen (A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving), and sound equipment (A Boy Named Charlie Brown). In It's Magic, Charlie Brown
It's Magic, Charlie Brown
It's Magic, Charlie Brown is the 21st prime-time animated TV special based upon the popular comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. It originally aired on April 28, 1981...
, Snoopy enters his dog house and the underground interior is depicted as spacious and well equipped for anything he needs.
The doghouse also serves as a prop for Snoopy, often imagined as a World War I "Sopwith Camel
Sopwith Camel
The Sopwith Camel was a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter introduced on the Western Front in 1917. Manufactured by Sopwith Aviation Company, it had a short-coupled fuselage, heavy, powerful rotary engine, and concentrated fire from twin synchronized machine guns. Though difficult...
" fighter plane in Snoopy's battles with the Red Baron
Manfred von Richthofen
Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen , also widely known as the Red Baron, was a German fighter pilot with the Imperial German Army Air Service during World War I...
. During these aerial fights, Snoopy's house often suffers from bullet holes and occasionally crashes. However, this seems to take place solely in Snoopy's imagination, as the house is in perfect shape later. Once, the doghouse serves as a commercial airline, with Snoopy as the pilot. Marcie serves as a stewardess when Schroeder goes to piano camp.
Snoopy in aviation and space
- Following the Apollo I fire, Snoopy became the official mascot of aerospace safety, testing and the rebuilding of the Apollo Program, due to his refusal to accept defeat and his "'outside the doghouse' way of looking at things." A series of Snoopy-in-Space ("Astrobeagle") products arrived with this campaign, and originals are still prized.
- The Apollo 10Apollo 10Apollo 10 was the fourth manned mission in the American Apollo space program. It was an F type mission—its purpose was to be a "dry run" for the Apollo 11 mission, testing all of the procedures and components of a Moon landing without actually landing on the Moon itself. The mission included the...
lunar moduleApollo Lunar ModuleThe Apollo Lunar Module was the lander portion of the Apollo spacecraft built for the US Apollo program by Grumman to carry a crew of two from lunar orbit to the surface and back...
was named Snoopy and the command moduleApollo Command/Service ModuleThe Command/Service Module was one of two spacecraft, along with the Lunar Module, used for the United States Apollo program which landed astronauts on the Moon. It was built for NASA by North American Aviation...
Charlie Brown. While not included in the official mission logo, Charlie Brown and Snoopy became semi-official mascots for the mission, as seen here and here. Schulz also drew some special mission-related artwork for NASA , and several regular strips related to the mission; one showing Snoopy en route to the moon atop his doghouse with a fishbowl on his head for a space helmet; one where Snoopy is on the moon beating everyone else there, including "that stupid cat that lives next door"; one where Snoopy is returning to Earth, and explains to the audience, "You can tell I'm headed back because I'm pointed the other way"; and one where Charlie Brown consoles Snoopy about how the spacecraft named after him was left in lunar orbit. The strip that ran on July 21, 1969 – one day after the Apollo 11Apollo 11In early 1969, Bill Anders accepted a job with the National Space Council effective in August 1969 and announced his retirement as an astronaut. At that point Ken Mattingly was moved from the support crew into parallel training with Anders as backup Command Module Pilot in case Apollo 11 was...
lunar module Eagle landed on the moon – included a full moon in the background, with a black mark on it representing the module.http://www.gocomics.com/peanuts/1969/07/21
- The Silver Snoopy awardSilver Snoopy awardThe Silver Snoopy award is a special honor awarded to NASA employees and contractors for outstanding achievements related to human flight safety or mission success...
is a special NASA honor, in the form of a sterling silverSterling silverSterling silver is an alloy of silver containing 92.5% by mass of silver and 7.5% by mass of other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925....
pin with an engraving of Snoopy in a spacesuit helmet. It is given by an astronaut to someone who works in the space program that has gone above and beyond in pursuit of quality and safety. - A series of postage stampPostage stampA postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...
s featuring Snoopy as a World War I flying ace was released on May 17, 2001 in Santa Rosa, CaliforniaSanta Rosa, CaliforniaSanta Rosa is the county seat of Sonoma County, California, United States. The 2010 census reported a population of 167,815. Santa Rosa is the largest city in California's Wine Country and fifth largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area, after San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, and Fremont and 26th...
. - Snoopy, piloting his "Sopwith Camel" (i.e., his doghouse), is featured in the logo of Charles M. Schulz - Sonoma County AirportCharles M. Schulz - Sonoma County AirportCharles M. Schulz – Sonoma County Airport is a county-owned public-use airport located 6 nautical miles northwest of downtown Santa Rosa, a city in Sonoma County, California, United States. It serves the county and surrounding areas of Wine Country in California.The airport is named after Charles M...
. - Snoopy is the US Air ForceUnited States Air ForceThe United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
Communications - Computer Systems Control mascot. He can be seen on the Tech Control emblem holding an old analog patch cord above his head as he walks on water. - During the Gulf WarGulf WarThe Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
Snoopy appeared as nose artNose artNose art is a decorative painting or design on the fuselage of a military aircraft, usually located near the nose, and is a form of aircraft graffiti....
on several aircraft. He remains a popular image in air forces that still allow crews to customize the appearance of their planes. - Snoopy is the name of a U.S. Air Force B-58 HustlerB-58 HustlerThe Convair B-58 Hustler was the first operational supersonic jet bomber capable of Mach 2 flight. The aircraft was designed by Convair engineer Robert H. Widmer and developed for the United States Air Force for service in the Strategic Air Command during the 1960s...
bomber, serial number 55-0665, which was modified to test a radar system. - The black-and-white communications caps (formally called a Communications Carrier Assembly) worn as part of NASA spacesuits, carrying radio earphones and microphones, are universally known as "Snoopy caps", due to the resemblance of the white center and black outer sections to the top of Snoopy's head.
- In 1966, the "Ace" was immortalized in song by the Royal Guardsmen with their hit, "Snoopy Vs. The Red BaronSnoopy Vs. The Red Baron"Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron" is a novelty song written by Phil Gernhard and Dick Holler and recorded in 1966 by the Florida based rock band, The Royal Guardsmen. The song was recorded at the Charles Fuller Productions studio in Tampa, Florida, and was released as a single on Laurie Records...
". This was followed in 1967 by "The Return of the Red Baron", in which it is revealed that the Baron survived their previous encounter but runs away when Snoopy challenges him to a duel with pistols, and then by "Snoopy's ChristmasSnoopy's Christmas"Snoopy's Christmas" is a song performed by The Royal Guardsmen in 1967. It continues to be played as a holiday favorite on most "oldie" radio stations, however is also often played on radio stations playing a Hit Music format as well as Adult Contemporary format stations...
", in which the two foes temporarily set aside their differences for a Christmas toast, as per the Christmas TruceChristmas truceChristmas truce was a series of widespread unofficial ceasefires that took place along the Western Front around Christmas of 1914, during the First World War...
s that occurred during World War I. "Snoopy's Christmas" continues to be played as a holiday favorite on many oldiesOldiesOldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....
radio stations. During the 1968 U.S. Presidential election, the Guardsmen released two additional songs, "Snoopy for President", in which Snoopy's bid for the nomination of the Beagle party is tipped in his favor by the Red Baron, and "Down Behind the Lines", which does not mention Snoopy specifically but describes the attempts of a World War I pilot to fly his damaged Sopwith Camel back to friendly territory. In 2006 the Guardsmen recorded a song called "Snoopy vs. Osama" in which Snoopy shifts his focus away from The Red Baron and captures Osama Bin Laden. - American insurance company MetLife has used Snoopy as their corporate mascot since the 1980s. Snoopy One, Snoopy Two and Snoopy Three are three airshipAirshipAn airship or dirigible is a type of aerostat or "lighter-than-air aircraft" that can be steered and propelled through the air using rudders and propellers or other thrust mechanisms...
s owned and operated by MetLife that provide aerial coverage of American sporting events, and feature Snoopy as the World War I flying ace on their fuselage. - Snoopy was the name of the Hercules W.2 used by the RAF's Meteorogical Research Flight.