I was born in 1962 and grew up watching The Peanuts on
television. The fifty two years I’ve spent on this earth becomes more evident
every time I look in the mirror. Yet, I’ve noticed Charlie Brown and Lucy have
not aged a day. Time continues to treat them well, and it’s not just for the
sake of appearance. Something about these characters resonates with every
succeeding generation.
My wife and I introduced The
Peanuts to our children. Now our kids are grown, but we still celebrate holidays
with the gang. We already know Charlie brown is going trick-or-treating for a
sack full of rocks, and will spend the night waiting for the great pumpkin. All
the while Snoopy is busy patrolling the night skies and fighting off The Red
Baron.
I’ll always treasure how Linus
reminds Charlie Brown of the true meaning of Christmas and uses his security
blanket to put the finishing touch on what turned out to be the perfect
Christmas tree.
At its height The Peanut strip
became a billion dollar industry with Charles Schulz earning a reported 30 -40
million dollars a year. A Charlie Brown Christmas was first aired during the
Christmas season of 1965. It was the very first primetime animated feature film. It was also a
raving success and critically acclaimed. It has been aired every year since.
It speaks to the genius of
Charles Schulz in that he was able to tell Children’s Stories adults still enjoy,
and love to read. He was able to speak to the heart of real life issues through
the innocence of a child’s personality.
A new full length movie is slated to
be released in the fall of 2015, and though their creator is gone, the Peanuts
live on. This world is a better place for it.
I recently posted a similar blog regarding
the idea of Children’s Stories adults
love to read. In that post I cited C.S. Lewis and Mark Twain as examples. I
believe there is something to be learned. It is possible in this day, to write “G”
rated material that speaks to the masses and communicates a marketable message.
Schulz, Lewis and Twain represent
something that’s much needed, but seriously lacking in today’s world. At the risk of redundancy allow me to share
their genius one more time. “Kid’s stories, adults love to read. “
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