As we commemorate 50 years of Charles M Schulz’s beloved comic strip, artists and designers alike are tapping into its universal appeal. London sculptor and designer KAWS as well as a lavish new compendium of the strip are just two ways that its characters continue to resonate today.
Schroeder is best-known for his early talent on a toy piano and devotion to Beethoven, but this character also symbolizes racial and economic injustice.
Schroeder
Schroeder is an accomplished pianist featured in the Peanuts comic strip and an admirer of Beethoven, playing both piano and baseball with great skill. Lucy van Pelt pines for him unrequitedly; yet Schroeder remains humble about his skills, preferring not being recognized or praised despite this talent; instead preferring instead showing off his piano playing abilities whenever given the chance.
Schroeder sports short, blond hair and is frequently seen sporting a striped shirt. He sits at his piano, pounds the keys while shouting that music should be about art rather than money and has appeared in several movies and TV specials including A Charlie Brown Christmas; in addition, he stars on The Definitive Vince Guaraldi Jazz Album as its star artist.
Schroeder may or may not be autistic; however, he has displayed signs that suggest otherwise in various episodes of the animated series. In one such episode he throws a tantrum upon hearing too slowly played song and can become overwhelmed by noise and light sources.
One of the iconic episodes from this series shows Schroeder performing a jazz piece for Linus and Lucy. Although Schroeder enjoys it immensely, Lucy does not find it appealing and attempts to distract him by leaning against his piano – ultimately she yells at Schroeder for playing it “musically prostrations,” yet Schroeder defends himself by explaining he’s not trying to make money off it.
Schroeder stands up for Charlie Brown more often than any of the other characters in the comic, especially against bullies like Violet when she attempts to give him used Valentine’s Day cards. Additionally, Schroeder often assists his neighbor with various tasks around their neighborhood.
Ludwig Schroeder lives at 1770 James Street and loves playing his piano – especially multi-octave selections on his tiny toy piano! Although its black keys may look genuine, their painting on is completely fake – his musical dedication has led to an assortment of jokes surrounding Beethoven himself such as replacing pianos or busts to keep up his repertoire.
Charlie Brown
Charlie Brown has long been beloved comic strip character among millions worldwide. The first four-panel cartoon appeared in seven newspapers on October 2, 1950 and established its famed cast: Linus wearing a blanket over his head; Schroeder playing toy piano inspired by Ludwig van Beethoven; and Lucy, who often provokes or even attacks Snoopy her enemy.
Schroeder is an extraordinarily talented pianist who uses his toy piano to produce beautiful melodies. A huge admirer of Beethoven, Schroeder attempts to emulate his style as much as possible and has been described as a “musical prodigy”, becoming an idol to his younger brother Lucerne. Schroeder has also been likened to baseball greats Hank Aaron and Willie Mays while serving as catcher on Charlie Brown baseball team and being Lucy’s unrequited love interest.
Schroeder revealed in a strip from February 27, 1955, that Ludwig van Beethoven is his favorite composer and had even placed a bust of him in his house. Though obsessed with Beethoven, Schroeder wasn’t completely dedicated to music – he still found time for Woodstock the dog and sometimes lost baseball games! While talented musically, Schroeder often lost games due to poor baseball abilities.
Since Peanuts first debuted on television screens in 1951, many television specials featuring this beloved character have been created. One such special is A Charlie Brown Christmas, first shown in 1965 as part of Mendelson-Melendez Productions and featuring several classic characters that have since become part of pop culture.
Vince Guaraldi was an accomplished jazz musician and composer living in Northern California at the time, who had known Schulz since they met as friends. Guaraldi used A Charlie Brown Christmas’ success to revive his career before dying aged 47 shortly afterwards.
Other jazz musicians have contributed to the Peanuts soundtracks, such as pianist Kenny Barron and saxophonist Charles Mingus. Benoit recorded most of his solos for The Peanuts Movie during an all-day session at 20th Century Fox’s Newman Scoring Stage; in addition to providing cues and improvisations to Christophe Beck (the film’s composer).
Linus
Peanuts cartoon characters may seem unaccompanied by music; however, if you look closely you will discover many characters have musical backgrounds. This is because comic strip writer Charles Schulz was himself an experienced musician; he composed over 1,000 songs specifically for Peanuts! Additionally he scripted two feature-length animated films based on his comic strips that would later go on to star in two feature-length animated films featuring his work before dying of colon cancer in 1999.
While the world of the Peanuts gang may appear hopeful and optimistic, there are also subtle messages about hardship and disappointment. It isn’t unusual for Little Red-Haired Girl to ignore Charlie Brown, Linus to feel disappointed by Great Pumpkin or Sally to feel let down by her baseball team; yet somehow these characters manage to find ways to cope with their problems on their own. But the Peanuts gang is an adaptable group who find their own solutions when faced with difficult situations.
Schroeder is an obsessive piano player who prefers Beethoven. A cynic who believes the world is unjust, Schroeder requires an actor who can capture all his complex emotions; as an egotist and self-proclaimed piano prodigy he often compares himself with others and compares his talent against theirs.
David Benoit is an award-winning jazz pianist who has made several solo piano performances for “Peanuts” television movies and specials, most recently recording most of its three-D film’s piano parts at 20th Century Fox’s Newman Scoring Stage in Los Angeles. Additionally, he assisted Christophe Beck with cues and improvisations as part of Christophe Beck’s score composition process.
Nick Cearley and Lauren Molina performed in the musical You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown as actors who also used instruments such as kazoos, slide whistles and washboards in addition to performing their respective roles. This off-Broadway production opened its doors on March 7, 1967 and ran for 1,597 performances before closing.
Lee Mendelson, Executive Producer of the 1965 Off-Broadway Version of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown contacted Vince Guaraldi as Composer. Being familiar with Mendelson’s work and immediately responsive, Guaraldi composed the award-winning tune which served as the musical foundation of Linus and Lucy as part of their music gang; Guaraldi combined European inspired horn fifths with African rhythms to craft his arrangements and bring the show alive onstage.
Lucy
Lucy is one of the members of Charlie Brown’s unrequited love interest and regularly vexes and perplexes Schroeder by asking whether pianists make much money; she attempts to seduce him, although he shows no interest. Schroeder however prefers classical music – when hearing polkas or waltzes he immediately puts his hands in his ears or walks away; in one strip series following Snoopy’s advice he even played his piano with all black keys removed (per Snoopy’s advice), playing only white notes causing Schroeder to play only white notes when playing his piano (per Snoopy’s advice).
On November 24, 1974, paleoanthropologists Donald Johanson and graduate student Tom Gray discovered what would later become known as Lucy the australopithecine fossil they later named for herself. Her bones were exceptionally well preserved.
Kappelman observed when scanning the bones that one arm of Lucy appeared to have fractures consistent with being hit by something. To commemorate their discovery, he and his team hosted a celebration with The Beatles 1967 song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” playing as background music; thus immortalizing Lucy for many people today.
As is true of most fossils, Lucy remains mysterious to us. While her bones offer us some indication of her size and shape, they don’t give any information on her movement or activities; her height combined with being found in a tree suggest she likely used trees as cover from predators such as hyenas, jackals and saber-toothed cats to escape predatory attacks.
Schulz created an idiom to capture the musical essence of his characters when writing Peanuts comic strips, drawing inspiration from jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi’s distinctive syncopated style. When film-makers decided to record the title track of Charlie Brown and the Peanuts Movie, they turned to Benoit who had extensive experience performing Guaraldi’s work as well as being an avid reader of Peanuts comics; his extensive performance skills resulted in an unforgettable song for Charlie Brown fans everywhere.