One obstacle was that Woodstock and Snoopy
in the strip communicate their feelings through
thought bubbles, something that doesn’t work
in a show.
That meant the artists had to rely on sounds,
pantomime and a variety of expressions for the
two characters, who yelp, cry, titter and gulp
with powerful emotion. They’re aided by a jazzy
score by Jeff Morrow.
“The Snoopy Show” is a refreshing addition
to a children’s TV landscape that is full of
superheroes and cute shows where resolutions
are predetermined. The world of “Peanuts,” on
the other hand, explores failure and frustration.
“We do have these characters that have real
problems and things don’t always work out. And
they deal with issues of rejection and failure.
Those are things that our kids deal with, too,”
said Evestaff. “I think if you were to pitch a show
like this today, it would be a very difficult sell.”
The show still allows Snoopy to have his heroic
flights of fancy — becoming the famed arm-
wrestler Masked Marvel, hipster Joe Cool or
the dogged World War I Flying Ace behind
enemy lines.
“Charles Schulz always said he felt most like
Charlie Brown — he couldn’t always kick
the football, he wasn’t always the winner.
So Snoopy gave that outlet to dream a little
bigger,” said Betts.
“Peanuts” made its debut Oct. 2, 1950. The
travails of the “little round-headed kid” Charlie
Brown and his pals eventually ran in more than
2,600 newspapers, reaching millions of readers
in 75 countries.