The successful

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

Peanuts ''Peanuts'' is a print syndication, syndicated daily strip, daily and Sunday strip, Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run extended from 1950 to 2000, continuing in reruns afterward. ' ...

'', by

Charles M. Schulz Charles Monroe "Sparky" Schulz (; November 26, 1922 – February 12, 2000) was an American cartoonist and the creator of the comic strip ''Peanuts'', featuring what are probably his two best-known characters, Charlie Brown and Snoopy. He is wi ...

, was adapted into 46 animated specials since 1965, most of them released on television. This article describes the history of these programs, including notable sponsors, directors, and voice actors.

History

In the strip, adult voices are heard, though conversations are usually only depicted from the children's end. To translate this aspect to the animated medium, the sound of a

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

with a solotone mute (created by

Vince Guaraldi Vincent Anthony Guaraldi (; birth name, né Dellaglio, July 17, 1928 – February 6, 1976) was an American jazz pianist best known for composing music for animated television adaptations of the ''Peanuts'' comic strip. His compositions for this s ...

played by

Dean Hubbard Dean W. Hubbard (July 21, 1953 – March 11, 2018) was an American musician and professional trombonist. Key credits include developing the "voice" of the teacher, Ms. Othmar on the Charlie Brown Peanuts cartoon and TV specials. He also played wit ...

. Eight ''Peanuts''-based specials have been made posthumously. Of these, three are tributes to ''Peanuts'' or other ''Peanuts'' specials, and five are completely new specials based on dialogue from the strips and ideas given to ABC by Schulz before his death. ''

He's a Bully, Charlie Brown ''He's a Bully, Charlie Brown'' is the 44th prime-time animated television special based on the comic strip ''Peanuts'' by Charles M. Schulz. It was originally aired on the ABC network on November 20, 2006. It is the third most recent ''Peanuts' ...

'', was telecast on ABC on November 20, 2006, following a repeat broadcast of ''

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving ''A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving'' is the tenth prime-time animated television special based upon the popular comic strip ''Peanuts,'' by Charles M. Schulz. It was originally aired on the CBS network on November 20, 1973, and won an Emmy Award the ...

''. Airing 43 years after the first special, the premiere of ''He's a Bully, Charlie Brown'' was watched by nearly 10 million viewers, winning its time slot and beating a

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

concert special. In October 2007,

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

acquired the ''Peanuts'' catalog from

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...

for an undisclosed amount of money. As aforementioned, they now hold the worldwide distribution rights for all ''Peanuts'' properties including over 50 television specials—these are originally managed by

Warner Bros. Television Warner Bros. Television Studios (operating under the name Warner Bros. Television; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division) is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of ...

and

Warner Bros. Television Animation Warner Bros. Animation Inc. is an American animation studio which is part of the Warner Bros. Television Studios division of Warner Bros., a flagship of Warner Bros. Discovery. As the successor to Warner Bros. Cartoons, which was active from ...

. Warner has made plans to develop new specials for television as well as the direct to video market, as well as short subjects for digital distribution, and some of these have in fact already been released via the now-defunct

Warner Premiere Warner Premiere was an American direct-to-video label of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, itself a subsidiary of Warner Bros. History Early years (2006–2008) In 2006, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment announced that they would enter the market ...

. Accordingly, the streaming rights to Peanuts media are scattered across multiple platforms.

Apple TV An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

holds the specials (with

Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution Warner Bros. Television Studios (operating under the name Warner Bros. Television; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division) is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of ...

and

WildBrain Distribution WildBrain Ltd. (formerly known as DHX Media, Ltd.) is a Canadian media, animation studio, production, and brand licensing company, mostly associated as an entertainment company. The company is known for owning the largest library of children ...

still holding the current streaming and home media rights with Apple) and

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

had the

free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the FTA Receiver, appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring ...

TV rights to select specials around 2020 to 2021, ''

The Peanuts Movie ''The Peanuts Movie'' (known in some countries as ''Snoopy and Charlie Brown: A Peanuts Movie'') is a 2015 American computer-animated comedy film based on Charles M. Schulz's comic strip ''Peanuts'', produced by Blue Sky Studios and distributed ...

'', distributed by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

, became part of

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

library and is on

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and deligh ...

External Links

Checklist

References

{{Peanuts filmography Film series introduced in 1965 Animated specials

History

See also

External Links

References