ANDERSON, Ind. —
The cartoon world’s Charlie Brown had a plain round face. His young lady pal, Lucy Van Pelt, had rather unremarkable dark hair and generally dispassionate eyes.
But there was nothing ordinary about these or other “Peanuts” characters drawn for 50 years in the comic strip by Charles M. Schulz.
Schulz’s genius in turning the common and familiar into the exceptional and witty is on display through Oct. 17 at The Anderson Center for the Arts, 32 W. 10th St.
The two-gallery exhibit, “Inside Peanuts: The Life and Art of Charles M. Schulz,” is a wonderful way to spend a half-hour with the family.
More than just comic strips on a wall, the exhibit explores, often in Schulz’s own words, the power of the pen.
In fact, one of Schulz’s joys was in creating perfect “pen lines.” Perfect may be understating the impact of “Peanuts,” an international phenomenon that took a simple boy, his neighborhood friends and a beagle, and filled their thoughts with a dry humor that never talked down to readers.
In addition to the exhibit’s easy-to-understand analysis of Schulz’s evolution, there are insightful looks at 12 of the main “Peanuts” characters.
Charlie Brown, who first appeared Oct. 2, 1950, was created to represent the everyman who rarely wins a battle, because, as Schulz said, “defeat is a lot funnier than victory.”
The works show the growth of the characters, most notably that of Snoopy’s appearance from scowling and emotional to lovable and deadpan, a feat accomplished by drawing a bigger nose to create a more approachable beagle. Beethoven-loving Schroeder developed from the purchase of a tiny piano for Schulz’s granddaughter. In the individual characterizations, Schulz took the “ordinary” events of our lives and friends and made them quirky. But more to Schulz’s credit, he showed that passing moments could be everlasting.
An interviewer once asked Schulz what epitaph Charlie Brown would write for Schulz. The cartoonist responded, “He made us happy.”
But the words that might also sum up the nostalgia felt by “Peanuts’” everyman reader was written by Schulz in his last comic strip panel in 2000: “Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, Lucy — how can I ever forget them.”
Contact Scott L. Miley. 648-4230, scott.miley@heraldbulletin.com
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Related Photos
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Charles M. Schulz surrounded by his “Peanuts” characters. Submitted photo
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Schulz's 'Peanuts' based on appeal to 'everyman'
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