History Of Charlie Brown

Charlie Brown was a famous cartoon character created by Charles M. Schulz. He was the protagonist of the cartoon strip ‘Peanut’, one of the most famous and talked about cartoon strip. Charlie Brown was first casted in 1950 as a kid with no skills. He represented kids without any luck whatsoever, facing failures at all stage of their life. Charlie Brown was a child who was a prey to the comments and mockery of the other casts of the cartoon strips. Though he was always mocked at and was a target for some or the other disappointment, he never used to give up and always tried to prove his stand. There was a common connection between Charlie Brown and his creator - the similarity being that they both were the sons of a barber. The character of Charlie Brown is an example of the great American un-success story, as he used to fail in almost everything he did. This article will provide you with some interesting and amazing information on the origin and background of Charlie Brown.

Charlie Brown is a comic character of the 20^th century American comic strip ‘Peanut’, created by Charles Schulz. ‘Peanut’ was one of the most famous and highly acclaimed newspaper cartoon strip, which first got published on 2^nd October, 1952. Charlie Brown represented a youthful character in it. He was a lovable and endearing loser who got humiliated by everyone and was always dominated by the bossy ‘Lucy van Pelt’ and other characters of the cartoon strip. Though having endless determinations and hope, Charlie was always overpowered by his bad luck and was ultimately dominated by several insecurities. He was a kid who realized his failures and the bad luck that he faced.

 

Charlie Brown is usually considered to be bald, though he had a bit of hair at the front of his head, which is actually an artistic shortcut given to him, representing the frontline of his hair. The back of his head which carried a few strands of hair was known as tote. Charlie Brown looked almost similar in all his casts, except some stylistic differences in Schulz’s art style. He used to wear an unadorned striped t-shirt. The Charlie Brown and the Peanut gang included Charlie’s beagle, ‘Snoopy’ and ‘Woodstock’, a little yellow bird, along with other human characters. These two characters were featured in many animated television specials later on, starting with ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’, 1965 and the award winning and quite successful, long-running live-action stage musical ‘You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown’, 1967. Apart from these, they were also featured in several other cartoon strips and films after that.

 

In the initial strips of Peanut, Charlie Brown was projected as more assertive and playful character, than what he became later on. He used to play tricks on other members of the strip. He was projected as a brat who used to cause headache to adults, though he was not competent in any skills from the beginning. Few of the cartoon strips even had romantic overtones between Charlie and Patty and Violet. In the later strips, Charlie Brown evolved into a ‘Sad Sack’ character, which he is well known as. He used to feel enslaved, as he had to care for snoopy, beset by comments from other casts and characters around him. Coming to the storyline, a common approach used included Charlie being stubborn and refusing to give in even when he had lost everything, or suddenly displaying a skill only to suffer humiliations when he used to lose on what he was just about to win.

 

Charlie’s life was full of sad and disgraceful happenings and surrounded by his disposition to bad luck. He never used to receive any valentine or Christmas gifts or cards. However, he never lost hope and always tried to prove his stand. His misfortunes granted him the sympathy of his audience and such was his popularity that audience used to send Charlie Brown Valentine and Christmas cards and gifts, in an effort to show that they cared for Charlie Brown. Amidst the uncountable loses, Charlie Brown did have occasional victories though, such as hitting a game winning run off a pitchy by Roy Hobbs’ great granddaughter on March 30, 1993. He even defeated “Joe Agate” in a game of marbles on April 11, 1995. Charlie Brown continued and maintained this deportment until the strip ended in 2000.