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Charlie Brown is the main character of the Peanuts franchise and fanon series. He first appeared in the 1965 TV special A Charlie Brown Christmas, 15 years after his debut on October 2, 1950 in the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. He is considered to be a popular icon in the comic world, alongside his dog Snoopy, Woodstock, and his friends Linus and Lucy. He has been hailed as one of the best cartoon characters of all time, and he has become one of the great American archetypes. In terms of personality, he is gentle, insecure, and lovable. Charlie Brown possesses significant determination and hope but frequently fails because of his insecurities, outside interference, or plain bad luck. While he can be smart, he over-thinks things and this often gives him a tendency to procrastinate, as well as give him his "wishy-washyness". While all of the permanent characters (and a few minor characters) are his friends, he is often ostracized by them, and three of his friends even bully him, particularly Lucy van Pelt. Many of them (including the bullies), however, follow him as the manager of a baseball team, and that is where Charlie Brown's greatest skill, good leadership, is displayed. He leads the baseball team and keeps hoping for a victory despite their numerous failures and painful letdowns, yelling words of admirable encouragement to his players, leading them to the next game. Charlie Brown has many more traits, and his character is very deep. Charlie Brown inherited a massive number of traits from Schulz, right down to his first name. His nickname "Charlie" and his last name "Brown" were given for Charlie Brown, one of Schulz's co-workers at the Art Instruction Inc. He and Snoopy are the only characters to appear in every TV special and movie. He first appeared in 1969 on the big screen in A Boy Named Charlie Brown. He appeared in four more films including The Peanuts Movie in 2015. He appeared in The Peanuts Movie 2, and The Peanuts Movie 3: Godzilla vs Charlie Brown, where fights the king of the monsters, Godzilla and his controllers, the Camp Remote bullies from Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown. He also appeared in books, video games, specials, merch, and television series.

Charlie Brown

Charlie Brown


Description[]

Name: Charles "Charlie" Brown

Age: 8

Hair color: Brownish-black

Family members: Sally (sister), Craig (brother), Snoopy (his dog), Maria (sister), Jonny (cousin), Alice (cousin), Silas Brown (grandfather), Edward (father), Mrs. Brown (mother), Patrick O'Braun (Irish cousin), Fillmore (cousin), Dick (cousin), Sawyer (nephew)

Friends: Linus, Lucy (frenemy), Peppermint Patty, Marcie, Franklin, Schroeder, The Little Red-Haired Girl (Heather Wold)crush)), Nell (pen-pal), Violette Honfleur, Pierre, Morag (penpal), Godzilla, Rick Larson, Luca, Alberto, Giulia, Derek, Bobby, Maynard, Thomas, Hello Kitty and others.

Enemies: Lucy (frenemy), Violet, Patty, camp bullies, Joe Agate, Peppermint Patty (partily), Camp Remote bullies, The Kite-Eating Tree, Godzilla, others

Likes: Snoopy, Linus, The Little Red-Haired Girl, writing, baseball, kite-flying, friendship, football, soccer, being free-spirited, winning, people who support him, others

Dislikes: Giving up, being bullied and humiliated, others not being considerate of him, his sister being hurt, 2,000 word essays, fountain pens, coconut, losing, bad grades, The Kite-Eating Tree, others

Personality: kind, compassionate, brave, funny, meek (often), insecure, lovable, gentle, polite, optimistic (often), intelligent, honest, innocent, quick-witted

Love interests: The Little Red-Haired Girl aka Heather Wold (crush and main girlfriend), Peggy Jean, Emily, Morag (penpal)briefly), Nell, Mary Jo (briefly), Melody-Melody (briefly) Rachel (briefly)

Pen-pals: Morag, Nell, The Little Red-Haired Girl (Heather Wold), Violette Honfleur, Claude, Kenji Ragahashi, Rosario, Luca, Alberto, Giulia

Nicknames: Chuck (by Peppermint Patty), Charles (by Marcie), Carlos (José Peterson), Monty (Craig), round-headed kid (Snoopy)

Alter-egos: Mr. Sack, Agent 0195, The Fiddler, World War One pilot, The World-Famous Tailgunner, The Yellow Samurai, etc

Portrayed by: Orson Bean, Anthony Rapp, Joshua Roley, Wendell Burton, Jacob Tremblay, Evan Peters

Voice actors: Peter Robbins, Duncan Watson, Todd Barbee, Erin Chase, Chris Inglis, Arrin Skelley, Chad Webber, Jimmy Guardino, Wesley Singerman, Noah Schnapp, Ethan Pugiotto, various

Etienne Kellici, Tyler Nathan, Evan Collins (currently)

Appearances[]

History[]

Charlie Brown first appeared in the comic strip Peanuts on October 2, 1950. In his first appearance, he was seen walking down the street as Shermy and Patty watch him go by, as Shermy remarks how much he hates him. He was created by Charles M. Schulz for the comic strip. Charlie Brown's name came from Schulz's friend in art school, and was used for two characters in the 1948 comic Lil' Folks. Charlie Brown's traits and experiences are inspired by those of Schulz, who admitted in interviews that he'd often felt shy and withdrawn in his life. In an interview on Charlie Rose in May 1997, Schulz observed: "I suppose there's a melancholy feeling in a lot of cartoonists, because cartooning, like all other humor, comes from bad things happening." Furthermore, both Charlie Brown's and Schulz's fathers were barbers and their mothers housewives. Charlie Brown's friends, such as Linus and Shermy, were named after good friends of Schulz, and Peppermint Patty was inspired by Patricia Swanson, one of Schulz's cousins on his mother's side. Schulz devised the character's name when he saw peppermint candies in his house. Even Charlie Brown's unrequited love for the Little Red-Haired Girl was inspired by Schulz's own love for Donna Mae Johnson, an Art Instruction Inc. accountant. When Schulz finally proposed to her in June 1950, shortly after he'd made his first contract with his syndicate, she turned him down and married another man. During the strip's early years, Charlie Brown was much more lighthearted and impish and not the dour defeatist he would soon become. He was something of a smart-aleck and frequently played pranks and jokes on the other characters. His signature zig-zag pattern first appeared on his formerly plain T-shirt on December 21, 1950. By April 25, 1952, his T-shirt was changed to a polo shirt with a collar and the zig-zag. On the March 6, 1951, strip, Charlie Brown first appears to play baseball, as he was warming up before telling Shermy that they can start the game; however, he was the catcher, not yet the pitcher. Charlie Brown's relationships with other Peanuts characters initially differed significantly from their later states, and their concepts were grown up through this decade until they reached their more-established forms. An example is his relationship with Violet Gray, to whom he was introduced in the February 7, 1951, strip. The two constantly remained on fairly good terms, a bit different from their later somewhat tepid relationship. In the August 16, 1951, strip, she called Charlie Brown a "blockhead", being the first time Charlie Brown was referred by that insult. The strip for November 14 of that year featured the first appearance of the famous football gag, with Violet in the role that would later be filled by Lucy.

Charlie Brown is introduced to Schroeder on May 30, 1951. As Schroeder is still a baby, Charlie Brown cannot converse with him. On June 1 of the same year, Charlie Brown stated that he felt like a father to Schroeder; in fact, for quite some time, he sometimes acted like a father to him, trying to teach him words and reading stories to him. On September 24 of that year, he taught Schroeder how to play the piano, the instrument which would later become Schroeder's trademark. On that year's October 10, strip, he told Schroeder the story of Beethoven and set the piano player's obsession with the composer. Charlie Brown placed the Beethoven bust on Schroeder's piano on November 26, 1951. Later, Schroeder and Charlie Brown were portrayed as being about the same age, and Schroeder became Charlie Brown's closest friend after Linus van Pelt. Schroeder became the catcher on Charlie Brown's baseball team for the first time in the April 12, 1952, strip.

In early 1959, Charlie Brown (and other Peanuts characters) made his first animated appearances after they were sponsored by the Ford Motor Company in commercials for its automobiles, as well as for intros to The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show. The ads were animated by Bill Melendez for Playhouse Pictures, a cartoon studio that had Ford as a client.

By the 1960s, Charlie Brown and the rest of the gang entered what most readers consider to be its Golden Age, and Charlie Brown reaching his peak in popularity, becoming well-known in numerous countries, with the strip reaching 355 million readers.

In 1965, the Coca-Cola Company approached Mendelson about sponsoring a Peanuts Christmas television special. The next day Mendelson called Schulz and said they were making a Christmas special featuring Charlie Brown and the Peanuts characters, in which he collaborated with both Schulz and Melendez. Titled A Charlie Brown Christmas, it was first broadcast by the CBS network on December 9, 1965. The special's primary goal is showing "the true meaning of Christmas". Before A Charlie Brown Christmas was broadcast, several of those involved in the special's creation were worried that it might be poorly received, with its unorthodox soundtrack and overt religious message; however, it turned out to be a huge success, with the number of homes watching the special an estimated 15,490,000, placing it at number two in the ratings, behind Bonanza on NBC. The special's music score made an equally pervasive impact on viewers who would later perform jazz, among them David Benoit and George Winston. A Charlie Brown Christmas was honored with both an Emmy and Peabody Award.

The success of A Charlie Brown Christmas was followed by the creation of a second CBS television special starring Charlie Brown, Charlie Brown's All-Stars, which was shown on June 8, 1966. In October of that year, Charlie Brown appeared in a third Peanuts special: the Halloween-themed It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.

The stage adaptation of a concept album titled You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, based on Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus, Schroeder, and Patty, went into rehearsal in New York City on February 10, 1967. Prior to its opening, the musical had no actual libretto; it was several vignettes with dialogue adapted from Peanuts strips and a musical number for each one. Since Patty was such a weakly defined character in Schulz's strip, she became a composite character in the musical, with much of her material taken from Violet and Frieda in the strip. On March 7, 1967, the musical premiered off-Broadway at Theatre 80 in the East Village, featuring Gary Burghoff as Charlie Brown.

On December 4, 1969, Charlie Brown starred on the first full-length animated feature based on Peanuts: A Boy Named Charlie Brown. The film was a box office success, gaining 6 million dollars in the box office out of its 1 million dollar budget, and was well received by critics.

Charlie Brown and his dog Snoopy reached new heights on May 18, 1969, when they became the names of the command module and lunar module, respectively, for Apollo 10. While not included in the official mission logo, Charlie Brown and Snoopy became semi-official mascots for the mission. Charles Schulz drew an original picture of Charlie Brown in a spacesuit; this drawing was hidden aboard the craft to be found by the astronauts once they were in orbit. Its current location is on a display at the Kennedy Space Center.

During the 1970s, the character appeared on twelve Peanuts television specials that were produced as a result of the success of the prior ones, including It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown where Charlie Brown is chosen to escort the Homecoming Queen, the Little Red-Haired Girl and kiss her on the cheek. He is scared to do so, but eventually pulls through and successfully kisses her. Charlie Brown also appeared on two full-length animations (Snoopy, Come Home and Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown, released respectively on August 9, 1972, and August 24, 1977).

In the 1980s, Charlie Brown went on to feature in fourteen more television specials, two of which are musicals (one of which is the animated version of You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown). Charlie Brown starred once again in a full-length animation, which was titled Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don't Come Back!!) and released on May 30, 1980. The story followed Charlie Brown and his friends as they are chosen to go to France as foreign exchange students. There, Charlie Brown is invited to a mysterious château by a girl whose family has a strong connection to Charlie Brown's family. Also, two television series were made as well. The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show, released from 1983 to 1986 with 2 seasons and 18 episodes in total. It adapted some of the Peanuts strips while having new stories as well; and This is America, Charlie Brown, a miniseries from 1988 to 1989 which featured the Peanuts characters learning about events and people from American history.

Six television specials featuring Charlie Brown were produced during the 1990s including Why, Charlie Brown, Why?, Snoopy's Reunion, and You're in the Super Bowl, Charlie Brown.

Within the comic strip, a storyline got Charlie Brown the character Peggy Jean as a girlfriend; this relationship lasted for roughly nine years.

By the early 2000s, the strip ended on February 13, 2000 after Charles M. Schulz passed away the previous day due to cancer. But after Schulz's death, the characters lived on through television specials being reaired and added. On November 20, 2006, the special He's a Bully, Charlie Brown beat a Madonna concert special with its 10 million views, although Peanuts was no longer in its heyday.

Charlie Brown and the gang resurfaced in 2011 with Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown.

Four years later, 20th Century Fox and Blue Sky Studios (the creators of Ice Age) brought Charlie Brown and his friends to the big screen after a 35 year hiatus from being on motion pictures. The Peanuts Movie sees Charlie Brown trying to improve his odds with the Little Red-Haired Girl, while Snoopy writes a book where he is a World War I Flying Ace trying to save his fellow pilot and love interest Fifi from the Red Baron and his flying circus. The film grossed $246 million worldwide against a $99 million budget, making the film a box office success and became the 7th highest-grossing animated film of 2015. The film was met with generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for the animation, voice acting, and faithfulness to the source material, but received minor criticism for its lack of ambition.

Around that same time, Charlie Brown also appeared in the French-Italian program Peanuts by Schulz which was produced around the same time as the movie. It was released in France in 2014 and the US in 2016.

Then, in 2018, DHX Media announced that it would be producing new Peanuts material for Apple's then unnamed streaming service, starting with the animated Snoopy in Space series which released alongside the streaming service Apple TV+ on November 1, 2019. The first season followed the entire gang as they try to help Snoopy become the first beagle in space. In October 2020, it was announced that a second season was in production. The second season premiered on November 12, 2021. The second season titled Snoopy in Space: The Search for Life followed Snoopy and his friends as they explored the rest of the solar system while trying to find extraterrestrial life. Alongside the series, four new Peanuts specials were produced and its 70th anniversary documentary Who Are You, Charlie Brown? were also released. Around the 70th anniversary of Peanuts, Apple also announced that a new series titled The Snoopy Show would be released on Apple TV+ on February 5, 2021.

Later that year, Disney had acquired 20th Century Fox, and thus Disney and Pixar released The Peanuts Movie 2 on October 2nd. They had secretly produced it, not revealing it until the teaser trailer for the film came out in August. Following up after the events of The Peanuts Movie, it followed the further adventures of Charlie Brown as he tries to show Lucy how brilliant he is, while along the way, he finds out shocking secrets about his family. It also followed a new kid named Rick Larson as he tried to meet Charlie Brown. It became a box office success praising it for its unique story, and new characters never seen before.

In December 2021, the New Years special Snoopy Presents: For Auld Lang Syne was released on Apple TV+. The following year, three new specials were released alongside a new season of The Snoopy Show.

In 2022, Snoopy Presents: It's the Small Things, Charlie Brown was added. The story followed Charlie Brown as he is getting ready for the championship game for his baseball game, but is unable to do so, due to a dandelion attracting the attention of his sister Sally. That same year, a Mother's Day special was also released alongside another special focusing on back to school. Another Halloween special also came out focusing on Linus trying to wait for The Great Pumpkin. Over the next couple of years, more specials were released.

Relationships[]

To be written.

Quotes[]

Over the years, Charlie Brown has accumulated lots of quotes and catchphrases that are quite memorable for many Peanuts fans. Such examples include:

  • "Good grief!"
  • "I can't stand it!! I just can’t stand it!!!"
  • "I got a rock."
  • "Rats!"
  • "AAUGH!!!"
  • "Why can't I have a normal dog like everyone else?!"

Trivia[]

  • Charlie Brown's middle name in The Peanuts Movie 2 is revealed to be Monroe, a reference to Charles M. Schulz's middle name.
  • Charlie Brown is one of the only Peanuts characters to appear in every special alongside his dog, Snoopy.
  • In The Peanuts Movie, Charlie Brown is voiced by Stranger Things actor Noah Schnapp. He would later do Craig Brown, who is Charlie Brown's brother, in The Peanuts Movie 2 and The Peanuts Movie 3: Godzilla vs Charlie Brown.
  • Charlie Brown, along with Snoopy, was ranked eighth on TV Guide's 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters of All Time.
  • In 2017, Charlie Brown was inducted into the Baseball Reliquary's Shrine of the Eternals. He is the first fictional character to be inducted into the Shrine.
  • Charlie Brown's age is neither normally specified nor consistently given. Charlie Brown states in the strip from November 3, 1950, that he is "only four years old", but he aged over the next two decades. He says he is six in the strip from November 17, 1957. In the strip from April 3, 1971, he says that he will be twenty-one in thirteen years time, making him eight years old in that strip. He says that he is eight-and-a-half years old in the strip from July 11, 1979. Later references continue to peg Charlie Brown as being approximately eight years old.
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