These articles are arranged from the most recent down, so you'll always find the newest news about Charlie Brown and his friends toward the top; older articles will be located further down, or on previous pages.
Major upgrade will force arena to close for part of the summer
December 28, 2000
By Rayne Wolfe
The Santa Rosa Press Democrat
The Redwood Empire Ice Arena is gearing up for the winter skate season at the same time it is planning a $1 million upgrade scheduled for next summer.
The renovation will mean the arena's traditional senior hockey tournament -- which celebrated its 26th year in 2000 -- will not be held in 2001.
"The rumors have been flying since we canceled the July 2001 hockey tournament, but we did that only to accommodate necessary improvements and repairs," said Jim Doe, general manager of the arena since 1981 and an employee there since 1970.
With a year-round and nearly around-the-clock roster of activities, the rink management was hard pressed to find a way to get improvements scheduled without disappointing someone.
"There is never a good time to close the rink. If our doors are shut, skaters have to drive to all the way to Vacaville to find a comparable facility," Doe said.
The ice rink has had the same electric compressors in the engine room since it opened in 1969. They provide all the cooling and heating necessary to keep the ice frozen and the coffee shop cozy. They will be replaced with more efficient units.
"Currently, our yearly energy costs run about $225,000 and this will save us about $100,000," Doe said, adding that the arena is taking the long view on what it needs to do now to meet the anticipated increase in visitors when the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center opens.
Under construction just across the street, the museum will house "Peanuts" cartoonist Charles Schulz's archives, spanning 50 years of publishing. An opening date in late 2001 or early 2002 is anticipated.
The ice rink normally employs 25 to 30 full-time employees. During the ice show, which this year offered a compressed calendar of 30 performances in 16 days rather than the customary 40 shows in 26 days, approximately 150 people were required to keep things running smoothly.
On the day after Christmas, workers were frantically putting away all the equipment, costumes and props and turning their attention to reconditioning the ice to welcome skaters Wednesday.
"We haven't done this in a long time. And I can't remember when we've offered skating two days after Christmas or on New Year's Day.
"But I've got two Zamboni machines out there shaving the ice right now while the phones are ringing off the hook. Apparently Santa brought a lot of people skates -- and they want to use them," Doe said.
In addition to the engine room upgrade, all the outdoor lighting will be upgraded at a cost of approximately $200,000.
"This year has been all about efficiency. We're reviewing how we do things -- and how we can do them smarter. Upgrading our facilities is one smart thing we'll be glad we did," said Doe, whose first job at the rink was as coffee shop manager.
Although the death of Charles Schulz in February was hard for everyone at the rink, Doe said he was encouraged by the way the management and workers pulled together to serve visitors, maintain holiday traditions and plan for the future.
"When the museum opens, this is going to be such a popular tourist destination and we want to be ready. We all feel like goodwill ambassadors. We want every visitor who comes to Santa Rosa to say it was the highlight of their vacation," Doe said.
Self-doubts, setbacks feed world of 'Peanuts'
December 28, 2000
By Bob Minzesheimer
USA Today
Charles Schulz never called himself an artist or a philosopher. But when the Peanuts creator died at 77 on Feb. 12 -- just as his last strip was going to press -- those terms were applied to the man who said, "All I do in life is draw funny pictures."
Asked about the vast merchandising of his characters, Schulz said, "I don't think there's such a thing as going commercial with a comic strip because a comic strip is a commercial right from the beginning." It's there to sell newspapers, he said.
For nearly 50 years, Schulz did that and much more with a gang of imperfect, crudely drawn children and one beguiling beagle. No adult ever appeared in Peanuts. "Well," Schultz said, "there just isn't room for them."
It was the first "postmodern comic strip," said Garry Trudeau, creator of Doonesbury. "Everything about it was different. The drawing was graphically austere but beautifully nuanced. It was populated with complicated, neurotic characters speaking smart, haiku-perfect dialogue."
It even inspired two books of theology, "The Gospel According to Peanuts" and "The Parables of Peanuts," by Robert Short, a Presbyterian minister.
It was a success built on Schulz's self-doubts and setbacks, including his own youthful rejection by a red-haired girl who would become Charlie Brown's unrequited love. "I worry about almost all there is in life to worry about," Schulz wrote in his last book, "Peanuts A Golden Celebration." "And because I worry, Charlie Brown has to worry."
Schulz once said he wanted to be remembered the way E.B. White, author of "Charlotte's Web," remembered humorist James Thurber "He wrote the way a child skips rope and the way a mouse waltzes."
More "Peanuts" videotapes to arrive next week
1,000 reserve orders will be filled, with more being accepted
December 23, 2000
By Karl J. Karlson
The St. Paul Pioneer Press
A new shipment of "Peanuts on Parade" videotapes is expected next week, according to Kathy Burns, who has been involved in the production of the 28-minute tape.
The first batch of several hundred sold out immediately, with advance orders topping 1,000.
The tape was created by Craig Schulz, son of "Peanuts" creator Charles Schulz, who grew up in St. Paul. The video documents all 101 Snoopy statues that were part of the city's summerlong "Peanuts on Parade" tribute to the late cartoonist.
The initial shipment of videos was sold exclusively at the five Twin Cities Borders bookstores. After the copies were sold, the stores issued "reserve" slips that now can be filled, according to Borders spokesman Colin Mansfield.
Borders stores will continue to take orders. Soon, the $19.95 tape also will be available at the Snoopy Shop at Camp Snoopy in the Mall of America in Bloomington and at Pied Piper Books and Music in the Miracle Mile Shopping Center in Rochester, Minnesota, according to Burns, executive producer of the video.
The tape also is listed in the Internet catalog of the Santa Rosa, Calif., Snoopy's Gallery & Gift Shop at www.snoopygift.com. The shop is part of the complex that Charles Schulz built there, where he lived since the early 1950s.
Burns also has established an information line at (952) 858-9008 about the tape and its availability.
The video appears to be the only official memorabilia item that includes all 101 statues from "Peanuts on Parade."
Burns, through her company, EmeraldLight, bought 128 copies of the video, which she is giving to every public and private school in St. Paul, as well as to each of the city's libraries for public use.
A lifelong love affair with 'Charlie Brown'
December 22, 2000
Music preview -- Cyrus Chestnut 9 and 1130 tonight through Sunday. The Blue Note, 131 W. Third St., Manhattan. $20 and $30. (212) 475-0049.
By Ed Condran
The Bergen (New Jersey) Record
The more things change, they say, the more they stay the same.
For Cyrus Chestnut, that's the appeal of the character immortalized by Charles Schulz all over.
"Charlie Brown is timeless," says the renowned jazz pianist. "Even though things change so much from generation to generation, kids can connect with the characters on the show, and that's what the message is about. Everybody wants to be accepted and respected."
And Chestnut has spent his career -- all 14 years of it -- dreaming about recording an album full of "Charlie Brown" classics.
Finally, the dream has come true. In 1999, he recorded "It's a Charlie Brown Christmas," marking the 50th anniversary of the "Peanuts" comic strip and the 35th anniversary of the beloved television special.
The album underscores Chestnut's nearly lifelong love affair with the music from "A Charlie Brown Christmas," with which he became enamored shortly after he began, at age 3, to tickle the ivories.
"It's just something that I've been compelled to do," Chestnut said in a call from Oakland, California, of his drive to record the album. "This is a pure labor of love. Playing this material brings back some great memories of childhood. I loved the Charlie Brown songs for most of my life."
But Chestnut, who has worked with such jazz greats as Betty Carter and Terence Blanchard, didn't alter the songs, popularized by the Vince Guaraldi Trio, too dramatically -- although he was tempted.
"I went into the studio and I just decided to throw the arrangements that I wrote out the window," he said. "I just didn't think they were good enough.
"I simplified things. In the world of music, sometimes less is much more. I tried to be true to the essence of the music but still add my touch to it. I just had to work a little harder at it, but it was worth it."
Chestnut's homage is warm, melancholy and charming. He spiced up the project by inviting a number of high-profile guests and accomplished studio musicians to record with him Manhattan Transfer, which offers a pretty vocal background on "What Child Is This"; Vanessa Williams and the Boys Choir of Harlem, who mesh perfectly in a rendition of "Christmas Time Is Here."
"My name might be on the album, but this really was a collaborative effort," Chestnut said. "I wanted to bring some people in who I felt would make this a special album. And they were all great. I'm just glad that they were as interested in this music as I am. But how could they not be? I love Charlie Brown. He's a universal character."
"A Charlie Brown Christmas" was the final recording project given the green light by Schulz, who passed away in February.
"The only thing that is unfortunate about the album is the timing," Chestnut said. "I would have loved to have handed the disc to Charles Schulz. That would have made this so extra special. But I'm sure the melodies are reaching him up in the heavens. I hope he's smiling."
Snoopy Video Demand Is Too Much, Too Soon
600 quickly sold out; Schulz's son plans to start making more
December 17, 2000
By Nancy Ngo
The St. Paul Pioneer Press
When Craig Schulz, son of the late "Peanuts" creator Charles Schulz, decided to produce a video of the 101 Snoopy statues from this summer's "Peanuts on Parade," he hoped for, but never expected, such demand.
"He only created a limited number," said Kathy Burns, executive producer at a Bloomington-based company working with Schulz. "He really wasn't sure how this was going to be received."
Now the production company is trying todetermine how large the next order should be and whether the video should be sold on a larger scale.
With 600 videos available Saturday for the release of "Peanuts on Parade A Summer of Snoopys in St. Paul," demand far outweighed supply. The video was released exclusively at the five Borders bookstores in the Twin Cities.
At the Midway store in St. Paul, which got 300 copies, a premiere also was held. As the 28-minute video played on the second floor, the crowd of about 40 nibbled on chocolate chip cookies and drank root beer.
Buyers gathered early Saturday for the noon video release, including some who hoped to get a copy by just showing up. Anyone not on a reserve list, however, was turned away.
"There was a lot of miscommunication," said Justin Gavette, corporate sales representative for Borders in Midway. "Some thought it was first come, first serve."
There were "mixed emotions," he said.
Only those people like Jeanne Janisch of West St. Paul, who called shortly after 10 a.m. Tuesday morning and prepaid, received a copy.
Most copies were sold within 24 hours after the video was announced on Monday after the broadcast of "A Charlie Brown Christmas."
Those who got turned away can still get a copy. A reserve list is available, and Schulz plans to reprint the video to meet demand.
"He wants everyone to have one. So there should be more," Burns said. The video eventually might be sold at other bookstores nationwide, but right now the focus is on the Twin Cities.
"He wanted to give it a hometown release," Burns said. Charles Schulz was reared in an apartment on the corner of Snelling and Selby avenues in St. Paul, above a barbershop his father owned.
By 2 p.m. Saturday, the five Twin Cities stores reported 1,000 names on the list.
"It keeps getting up there," said Vance Olivier, manager of the Richfield store.
Managers expect to have additional copies by Christmas, but there are no guarantees.
"Tell them to call and put in a reserve. We're doing the best we can," said Jennifer Bates, music manager for the store in Woodbury.
For Margaret Smith of St. Paul, who put her name on the list Saturday, she did not mind the wait as long as she eventually received two copies -- one for her and one for a friend.
The two toured Snoopy statues this summer but got photographs of only 70.
"I've seen some that I don't have a picture of, so now I'll have them," she said. "Whenever we get it, it will be fine with us."
Kathy Moehring of St. Paul took pictures of all 101 Snoopys during beagle sightseeing this summer.
Moehring, who attended the premiere, said she still wanted a video because of its close-up shots.
"(Craig Schulz) took a lot of time with the detail -- showing the details of each statue," she said.
The video sells for $19.95. Proceeds will to toward building a permanent tribute to Charles Schulz in downtown St. Paul, renovating a baseball park in the Snelling-Selby neighborhood and supporting a concert tour for musician David Benoit, who performs music in the video.
St. Paul Snoopy video sells out; Schulz' son plans to start making more
December 17, 2000
The Associated Press
ST. PAUL, Minnesota -- "Peanuts" creator Charles Schulz may have made Northern California home, but Minnesota claims him as its native son.
Now, Schulz's son Craig is producing a video of the 101 Snoopy statues that graced Minnesota's capital this summer.
With only 600 tapes available Saturday for the release of "Peanuts on Parade A Summer of Snoopys in St. Paul," demand far outstripped supply. The video was released exclusively at the five Borders bookstores in the Twin Cities.
"He only created a limited number," said Kathy Burns, executive producer at a production company working with Schulz. "He really wasn't sure how this was going to be received."
Now the company is trying to decide how large the next order should be, and whether the video should be sold on a national scale.
Charles Schulz was reared in an apartment in St. Paul, above a barbershop his father owned. This summer, the 101 Snoopy statues decorated by local artists in a wide variety of motifs were a popular attraction across the city.
At a Borders in St. Paul that got 300 copies, a premiere also was held. As the 28-minute video played on the second floor, the crowd of about 40 nibbled on chocolate chip cookies and drank root beer.
Buyers gathered early Saturday for the noon release. Anyone not on a reserve list, however, was turned away. Most copies were sold within 24 hours after the video was announced on Monday, after the broadcast of "A Charlie Brown Christmas."
Those who were turned away still can get a copy. A reserve list is available at Borders bookstores in the Twin Cities, and Schulz plans to make enough to meet demand. By 2 p.m. Saturday, the five stores reported 1,000 names on the list.
Kathy Moehring of St. Paul took pictures of all 101 Snoopys during beagle sightseeing this summer. She said she still wanted a video because of its close-up shots.
"(Craig Schulz) took a lot of time with the detail - showing the details of each statue," she said.
The video sells for $19.95. Proceeds go toward building a permanent tribute to Charles Schulz in downtown St. Paul, renovating a ballpark in his old neighborhood and supporting a concert tour for David Benoit, who performs music in the video.
Snoopy rescued, and two men in the doghouse with police department
December 14, 2000
By Johnna A. Pro
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh police, Public Works employees and an apartment building manager joined last night to rescue Snoopy from the second-floor balcony of an Oakland apartment building where he turned up after being dog-napped earlier this week.
"Beautiful. That's great. There is a Santa Claus," said a joyful Ron Gembarosky, the city Public Works Department employee who built the wooden Snoopy and his doghouse as a tribute to the late "Peanuts" cartoonist Charles Schulz.
"The Red Baron loses again," quipped Pittsburgh police Cmdr. Dom Costa, whose officers made the rescue.
Police said the part of the Red Baron was played by Jarrod D. Schwartz and Robert Costanzo, both 20, who recently moved into the second-floor apartment at 314 McKee Place where Snoopy was found.
The two were not home when the rescue took place, but are being charged with receiving stolen property and possibly with theft of city property, Costa said.
Guy Costa, the city's Public Works director, rushed to the scene to identify Snoopy.
Snoopy was recovered at 6 p.m. when the building's maintenance manager, Marc Kirby, opened the apartment for plainclothes Officers Scott Evans and Rich Ruffolo of the Squirrel Hill station.
Within seconds, the officers whisked Snoopy to safety under the watchful eye of patrol Officer Eric Tatusko and Public Works employees Dan Kovacic and Ted Cillo.
A reporter could not reach Schwartz and Costanzo, but detectives said they spoke with them last night.
"They said they purchased the item on the corner of Centre and Craig," said Evans, who was typing warrants for their arrests.
Snoopy's whereabouts became known about 430 p.m., when a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reader who saw a story yesterday about the dog's disappearance called the newspaper to report that the dog and his house were in plain view on the apartment balcony.
At about the same time, Guy Costa got an anonymous call in his Public Works office.
Evans and Ruffolo were at the scene when Guy Costa got there shortly after 5 p.m. and verified that the wooden structure was the one that belonged Downtown near Stanwix Street and the Boulevard of the Allies.
"Yeah, yeah. That's him," Costa said, smiling broadly. "The nerve of some people. I'm just surprised they got the whole thing."
By then, Dom Costa was at the scene, too.
With Snoopy in plain view, no search warrant was needed. All the officers had to do was get to Snoopy, who was perched precariously on the balcony railing.
"If we don't get him down, he'll be gone," said Dom Costa, who was ready to call in a fire ladder truck if necessary. "We're taking him tonight. Guaranteed."
That's when Kirby stepped in. After Snoopy was retrieved, Kovacic and Cillo whisked him off in the back of their pickup truck to the safety of the Public Works Department.
Guy Costa said Snoopy and his house were worth about $750, based on the materials and volunteer time that Gembarosky put into making and installing him.
"The guy volunteered his time. He put a lot of effort into making it," he said.
Gembarosky, a carpenter, built Snoopy as a tribute to Schulz, who died Feb. 12 of colon cancer. The doghouse structure covers conduit and studs that were installed near the curb for a future street lighting project.
In May, though, someone stole Snoopy. Gembarosky built another one and bolted the doghouse to the sidewalk, thinking it was secure.
Not so, as he learned Tuesday after Snoopy and his house vanished.
But Gembarosky isn't giving up.
Now that Snoopy is safe, Gembarosky will give him a fresh coat of paint and even more secure anchors. He promises Snoopy will be back at his corner by Christmas.
"I'm so happy he is found. Really truly," Gembarosky said. "I'm going to repaint him, freshen him up and re-reinstall him. It's for the people of Pittsburgh. It's not for me."
You're a good man, Ron Gembarosky.
Good grief!
Snoopy and doghouse vanish from downtown street corner
December 13, 2000
By Michael A. Fuoco
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Staff Writer
This time, even Lucy would be speechless.
What can be said when, for the second time in seven months, Snoopy has been dognapped from his popular residence at a Downtown intersection.
In May, someone took the wooden version of the popular cartoon character from the corner of Stanwix Street and the Boulevard of the Allies but left behind his plywood doghouse and white scarf.
This time Snoopy, doghouse and scarf are all missing in action. And this occurred within hours of the annual television broadcast of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" on Monday evening.
Good grief!
But fear not, Snoopy fans. Despite feeling disappointed and discouraged, city Public Works Department carpenter Ron Gembarosky, who built the popular display last February, said he's going to try again.
"I think over the holidays I'll work on it," said Gembarosky, showing the same never-give-up determination that propels Charlie Brown each fall to kick at that football despite Lucy pulling it away year after year.
Gembarosky, of Beechview, said February seems like a good time to re-re-install the depiction of Snoopy battling the Red Baron because it will mark the one-year anniversary of the death of Charles Schulz, the "Peanuts" cartoonist, who died Feb. 12 of colon cancer.
Within days of Schulz dying, Gembarosky, a carpenter for 30 years, constructed and installed Snoopy on his doghouse as a tribute to the famed cartoonist.
In addition, the doghouse prevented people from tripping over conduits, wiring and studs that had been installed nearly 20 years ago in case the city eventually needed them for new street lights and sign posts.
Shortly after the first theft in May, Gembarosky underwent surgery on his vocal chords.
After he recovered he built yet another Snoopy and doghouse, vowing that it would be more difficult to remove.
It was, but someone found a way to do it.
"They had to work to get it off. It was bolted down and there was a steel plate between Snoopy and his house," Gembarosky said.
Interestingly enough, while Snoopy and his doghouse were missing from Downtown, they were front and center in the "Classic Peanuts" comic strip that ran on Page C-8 in yesterday's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Perhaps that reminder made clearer what the city has lost -- again.
"It's disheartening," said Guy Costa, director of public works. "The gentlemen took pride in building it not once but twice. It's discouraging when city employees are trying to improve the city and someone takes it away.
"But knowing [Gembarosky], he'll build another one."
Charlie Brown would be proud.
Charlie Brown Lights Up CBS' Monday Lineup
December 13, 2000
By Rick Kissell
Daily Variety
HOLLYWOOD -- "A Charlie Brown Christmas," a longtime CBS chestnut that is headed for ABC next season, posted strong numbers on Monday, helping the network draw its largest audience on the night without sports help in more than four years.
According to Nielsen, the 36th annual airing of the special averaged winning scores of 19 million viewers and a 7.5 rating, 18 share in adults 18-49 -- its best tally in the coveted demographic since 1992. It also won easily in adults 18-34 (6.7/19), adults 25-54 (8.1/18) and kids (8.5/24).
The results are bittersweet for CBS, which is losing "A Charlie Brown Christmas" -- the first Peanuts special televised in 1965 -- to ABC after this month. ABC picked up three half-hour Charlie Brown specials for at least three years, beginning in 2001, although CBS has added one last airing of the special for Christmas night.
"Charlie" led into the most-watched episode ever for "King of Queens" (16.81 million), which also hit all-time highs in adults 18-49 (6.6/15) and adults 25-54 (7.6/16). "Everybody Loves Raymond" (21.20 million, 8.0/18) contributed its best ratings ever for a half-hour episode, while at 930, "Becker" chimed in with its most-watched episode (18.05 million) and best 25-54 rating ever (7.8/16).
Snoopy's success was Christmas miracle
December 11, 2000
By Bill Keveney
USA Today
After 35 years as a holiday TV classic, it's hard to believe "A Charlie Brown Christmas" initially had the same prospects as the special's scrawny Christmas tree.
CBS executives thought it moved too slowly, and even some of its creators wondered whether quotations from the Bible would work in a cartoon, says Lee Mendelson, who produced the special with Peanuts creator Charles Schulz and animator Bill Melendez.
"We thought it had failed, and the network thought it had failed. We felt we had lost Charlie Brown forever," Mendelson says.
As any viewer knows, he wasn't lost at all. Tonight (CBS, 8 ET/PT), as they first did on Dec. 9, 1965, Charlie Brown will seek the meaning of Christmas, Linus will recite a biblical passage about the birth of Jesus, and the Peanuts gang will ridicule and then decorate the suddenly beautiful little tree.
"It's so weird to have this happen from something we thought we had ruined," Mendelson says.
He and Melendez recount the Christmas special's modest beginnings and ultimate success, including an Emmy, in "A Charlie Brown Christmas The Making of a Tradition" ($29.95, HarperCollins), a retrospective on the collaboration.
The book describes the making of the special, the "firstborn" of more than 40 from Mendelson, Melendez and Schulz, who died in February. It includes production sketches, music sheets and an illustrated script.
Interest in a Christmas special grew after a 1965 Time cover story about the Peanuts strip, but production was crammed into five months, the 67-year-old Mendelson says.
For example, he wrote the lyrics for "Christmas Time Is Here," one of many Peanuts songs by jazz composer Vince Guaraldi, in about 15 minutes on an envelope.
"It was an instrumental. I was watching the show, and I thought maybe we ought to have words with this. They just popped into my mind," he says. The song has been recorded by many artists.
Mendelson also wondered about whether a biblical passage would be a good fit for a cartoon, but Schulz insisted on it.
The rush to broadcast led to a few mistakes. In one scene, Pig Pen disappears from the screen for a second in midsong. In another, Schroeder's fingers come off the piano while his music continues to play. And the barren Christmas tree loses and miraculously regains a couple of branches.
"We never had time to change it," Mendelson says.
In addition to being the special's first broadcast since Schulz's death, tonight's presentation will be the last on CBS, which has been synonymous with Peanuts on TV. The producers agreed to a multiyear deal with ABC, which also will broadcast "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" and "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving."
Even before the Christmas special, Peanuts was a huge comic strip success, spawning heavy merchandise sales, which made Charlie Brown's complaint about Christmas commercialization seem "somewhat of a paradox," Mendelson says.
The producers discussed that matter, Mendelson remembers, and Schulz, separating himself from the accounting ledger, explained "All I do in life is draw funny pictures. My business is to entertain."
Schulz was still working with his partners on Peanuts cartoons at the time of his death. The most recent release, "It's the Pied Piper, Charlie Brown," came out on video a few months ago.
Mendelson spoke to Schulz shortly before he died, when the final Peanuts Sunday strip was about to run.
"He said, 'Good grief. That little kid's never going to kick the football,' " Mendelson says.
Tonight's broadcast "will be bittersweet," Mendelson says. "He won't be with us, but he'll be listening."
Good God, Charlie Brown
December 11, 2000
By Adam Buckman
The New York Post
The Minnesota boy who grew up to become the world's most famous cartoonist insisted that his Christmas special have snow and skating.
He directed that the show -- the first to star the child characters he created for Peanuts -- include no grown-ups and carry no laugh track.
And he pressed for the inclusion of a biblical passage which would likely not survive the final cut if it were proposed today.
The show, "A Charlie Brown Christmas," airs tonight at 8 on Ch. 2. Nothing has changed about the show since it premiered on Dec. 9, 1965, except for one thing For the first time, its creator isn't around to see it. Charles Schulz died last Feb. 12 at age 77.
He may be gone, but the men who worked with him on "A Charlie Brown Christmas" cannot forget the friend they affectionately called Sparky.
"It was amazing how Sparky came up with the religious aspect of the story and made it so acceptable," says one of them, animator Bill Melendez. "He wanted to be very straightforward and honest, and he said what he wanted to say because he was a very religious guy."
Melendez, the director of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and the only animator entrusted by Schulz to bring his Peanuts characters to life, is quoted in a new book by Lee Mendelson, the executive producer of the special. The book is called "A Charlie Brown Christmas The Making of a Tradition," published by HarperCollins.
Schulz outlined what he wanted in his very first meeting with Mendelson. "If it's to be a Christmas special, I want to certainly deal with the true meaning of Christmas," Schulz said, according to notes Mendelson took at the time.
In the show they created, a forlorn Charlie Brown searches for meaning beneath the commercialism he sees overtaking the holiday.
About 20 minutes into the show, he finds what he's looking for, thanks to Linus, who boils the true meaning of Christmas down to seven verses of Luke (Chapter 2, Verses 8-14), which he recites from the center of a darkened stage.
Among them "And the angel said unto them, 'Fear not for behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, which will be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior, which is Christ the Lord.'"
Bill Melendez remembers how the scene came to be. "When I first looked at that part of the story, I told Sparky, 'We can't do this, it's too religious.' And he said to me, 'Bill, if we don't do it, who else can? We're the only ones who can do it.' I wasn't convinced that was true at the time, but he was right about so many things."
Melendez and Mendelson each knew Schulz for nearly 40 years. Together, the three men made 45 television specials, four feature films, and 18 Saturday morning shows.
Of all those projects, "A Charlie Brown Christmas" was Schulz's favorite.
"The show combines the questioning and faith that somehow coexist within people everywhere, and perfectly illuminates the inner life of Charles Schulz," writes Mendelson, who points out that Schulz didn't go in much for introspection.
"Some people put labels on him that he never accepted," Mendelson says. "He always said, 'I draw funny pictures. Nothing more, nothing less.'"
Snapshots of Snoopy
'Peanuts on Parade' resulted in untold numbers of photographs being taken by admirers of the Snoopy statues. Many 'Snoopers' have created scrapbooks and traded pictures with others to enhance their collections.
December 10, 2000
By Karl J. Karlson
St. Paul Pioneer Press
They called it "Snooping," and it was the activity of last summer for hundreds of hometown folks and visitors who searched St. Paul for the 101 "Peanuts on Parade" Snoopy statues.
The "Snoopers" inevitably took photos, and many of them created scrapbooks as a keepsake of the city's tribute to the late cartoonist Charles Schulz, who grew up in St. Paul.
"Once I started, I was hooked. I couldn't stop until I had them all," said Nyleen Mullally of St. Paul.
She said her scrapbook started as a present for her 14-year-old niece, Megan Jaros of South Dakota, who is a lifelong Snoopy fan. But with the help of a friend, Luann Rogers, Mullally lined up a publisher to issue her scrapbook if she got permission from United Media, the syndicate that owns the rights to the characters of Schulz.
That didn't happen, but her niece pronounced the scrapbook "cool."
The pictures Mullally took were of the statues themselves, not with visitors in the pictures. "I wanted to emphasize their artistry," she said.
In the case of Darlene Lazer of St. Paul, she made sure her 90-year-old mother, Bonita Johnson, was in each of the pictures she took for a scrapbook.
"We love it. We show it at all the family reunions," Lazer said.
At first, visiting the Snoopys was sort of something to do to get her mother out and about, she said, but over time, Johnson found it difficult to get in and out of the van all the time. But eventually, everyone in the family became involved and enjoyed the outings, she said.
"You'd meet nice people at the statues -- you know, 'I'll take your picture, you take mine.' "
Lazer said this camaraderie among "Snoopers" was part of the fun, as was watching the reactions visitors had to each of the dogs.
"Who couldn't love the statues? They are so cuddly," Lazer said.
Russell Myers said his family's Snoopy scrapbook began as a 4-H project by his daughter, Laura. It was so good, he said, that it won a ribbon at the Ramsey County Fair.
Family visitors last summer -- such as his brother Erik, from Ohio -- toured St. Paul, looking at the statues, Myers said, and everyone enjoyed the experience.
He added that he always gets duplicate prints with his film developing and has extra prints made "to swap or trade for pictures we didn't get or for ones better than ours."
Megan Ryan, St. Paul's director of promotions and marketing, who oversaw much of the "Peanuts on Parade" project, said her office keeps getting questions from people who may need one or two images to fill out their scrapbooks.
As a result, the city is planning an exhibit, swap meet or a show-and-tell time for "Peanuts on Parade" fans during the St. Paul Winter Carnival, she said. The carnival runs from Jan. 26 through Feb. 4. Details for the event are still being worked out.
Susanne Howze of Houston, Texas, said such an event and the carnival may tempt her to return to St. Paul.
Last summer, she accompanied her husband, Jim, to St. Paul for a business trip. She said she spent her time "Snooping" and got pictures of the 60 statues that were on exhibit by the time they left.
"Jim even went with me one day. He went to school at Macalester and knows St. Paul fairly well," she said. "He tells me about the Winter Carnival, and we have two (frequent flier) tickets we have to use. Maybe we'll come to St. Paul."
New video preserves memories of Snoopy
101 statues on tape; sales benefit charity
December 10, 2000
By Karl J. Karlson
The St. Paul Pioneer Press
Legions of Snoopy fans, saddened by a decision not to issue a "Peanuts on Parade" souvenir book for the holidays, now have an alternative a videotape featuring all 101 statues in the event.
The 28-minute tape, "Peanuts on Parade A Summer of Snoopys in St. Paul," will go on sale Saturday as a summary of the city's salute to cartoonist Charles Schulz, who grew up here.
Craig Schulz, son of the late "Peanuts" creator, produced the video. Over the weekend, promotional plans were finalized to get the video out in time for the holidays, according to Kathy Burns, executive producer at a Bloomington-based production company that is working with him.
"Craig Schulz wanted to put together a special keepsake of 'Peanuts on Parade,' of his and his family's experiences with it," Burns said. Schulz videotaped all the Snoopys on public display, she said.
There will be a public release party at noon Saturday at the Midway Border Books, 1390 W. University Ave., St. Paul.
First public word of the video was scheduled to come Monday night in a 15-second television announcement preceding the annual airing of the Schulz holiday classic, "A Charlie Brown Christmas."
Proceeds from the tape will go to the Charles M. Schulz Fund, established to build a permanent tribute to Schulz in downtown St. Paul, Burns said.
Because the recent sale of 61 Snoopy statues at auction raised more than $1 million, video proceeds may be used instead for renovation of a baseball park in the Snelling-Selby neighborhood where Schulz grew up.
"The park is a special project conceived by the Schulz family as a way to give back to the community, which did such a phenomenal tribute to their dad and his work," Burns said.
"It's Christmas Again," and Again Great Fun
Holiday Ice Show Brings New Talent and Reprises Familiar Favorites
Dec. 10, 2000
By Diane Peterson
The Santa Rosa Press Democrat
The annual Redwood Ice Arena Holiday Show serves some delicious surprises in "It's Christmas Again," but like a box of chocolates, you take the good with the bad.
Still, kids and kids-at-heart go home happy, heads dancing with clowns, pirates, court jesters, magicians and familiar characters Captain Hook and Snoopy.
The holiday ice show, produced by the family of Charles M. Schulz, is more of a family affair than ever -- and it offers a little something for everyone.
From an artistic point of view, the talent appears in place, with fresh faces like Matt Kessinger teaming with seasoned veterans Anita Hartshorn and Frank Sweiding presenting over-the-top thrills and chills.
The sweetest bonbon in this production is the "Magic Fantasy" sequence, which unfolds during the second half under a black light with glowing costumes and props.
This number, boasting everything from lyrical skating to heart-stopping back flips, is capped by an eerie Venetian fantasy performed alluringly by Hartshorn and Sweiding. There's even real magic -- the girl popping out of the hat trick -- and a surreal soundtrack.
This year, the bar has also been raised for the lighting and sets, with the addition of two long trampolines along the ice and a team of tumblers providing an extra layer of visual excitement.
