Talk:Charlie Brown
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[edit] Charlie Brown and Kicking the Football
The article (as it stands now) states that Charlie Brown kicked the football *one* time. Can someone give an exact reference? Schulz remarked in his 60 Minutes interview that Charlie Brown had never kicked it (when Lucy held it for him.)
According to Derrick Bang's fabulous "Peanuts FAQ", [1], Lucy never let CB kick the ball in the entire run of the "Peanuts" comic strip. In 1979, after CB had been ill, she did not pull the ball away, but he accidentally kicked her in the hand. Twenty years later, in the final football strip, Lucy is called in to lunch and trusts her brother Rerun to hold the ball. When Rerun comes into the house, Lucy asks him if CB kicked the ball or if he pulled it away. Rerun replies "You'll never know!" Now in the TV special It's Magic, Charlie Brown, CB does kick the ball while he is invisible, but "Peanuts" fans rarely consider the TV specials to be canon. Rockhopper10r 20:02, 7 Apr 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Charlie Brown's Homerun
From what I could find, Charlie Brown only hit one home run, on March 30, 1993. I have changed the article to reflet this. Does anyone have any information regarding the second home run the article used to refer to? I think the previous editor may have been confused by this time line where the home run is refered to as his "first". -- TomPreuss 13:41, 13 Aug 2004 (UTC)
- Shortly after his first home run, Charlie Brown scored another one off the same pitcher. Later, the pitcher admitted she let him hit both home runs because she thought he looked cute.
[edit] Fresh Prince?
Is the sentence referencing The Fresh Prince of Bel Air really necessary? --Frank Burdett 15:20, 6 Oct 2004 (UTC)
- No. --Paul A 00:53, 7 Oct 2004 (UTC)
[edit] Name Charlie is called by
Should we mention that when his mother is "heard" calling him in an early strip, it reads "Charlie! Charlie Brown!"? If no-one else does, at least she calls him Charlie. Aliter 17:27, 1 Feb 2005 (UTC)
- That's true, but that seems to be the only time he ever is called "Charlie" (except in Lucy's "Look, Charlie, we all know Christmas is a big commercial racket." comment in A Charlie Brown Christmas). I remember a strip from the late '50s where CB asks his mother a question and she responds calling him "dear". rockhopper10r 00:12, 2 Feb 2005 (UTC)
Can't recall ever seeing that one. Can you recall what it was about? Aliter 18:27, 2 Feb 2005 (UTC)
- CB is writing to his "Pencil-Pal" about what he got for Christmas (I think--it may have been his birthday) and asks his mother how many gs are in the word "goggles". She replies "two, dear". In the last panel, CB writes that he received "ggogles".rockhopper10r 21:36, 2 Feb 2005 (UTC)
Good grief! I read it, but I didn't notice. (Christmas) I expect few people would use a first name at that point in such a conversation, though. But we could leave it at a mention of the time she did use a name. Aliter 18:10, 3 Feb 2005 (UTC)
Also I remember one or two strips where Schulz slips and has his sister Sally call him Charlie Brown. Mostly she calls him Big Brother, which I suppose is amusing if you're an Orwell fan.
- I believe Sally calling her brother "Charlie Brown" occurs fairly early on, when Sally is very little ("Can you bring me an ice cream cone too, Charlie Brown?" leaps to mind). I think Schulz thought a member of CB's own family addressing him by his full name sounded awkward, so Sally went to calling him as "Big Brother" from about the mid-'60s on. Rockhopper10r 19:16, 26 April 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Parents
Mrs. Brown does not get very many mentions in the comic, but occasionally her name does come up. For instance, when Mrs. van Pelt gets a tangerine pool table, we learn that Mrs. Brown usually makes Charlie Brown a brown bag lunch, that she now goes to play pool at the Van Pelts every morning, and that, according to Linus, she's the only mother who can put back-spin on the cue ball. Aliter 17:27, 1 Feb 2005 (UTC)
I've now found a strip where Charlie writes to his pencil-pal: "My dad is a barber". My mother is a housewife." I guess that makes the parents' roles a bit more certain than the current "His father is said to be a barber." suggests. Aliter 18:27, 2 Feb 2005 (UTC)
Goodness, yes. There's a series of strips going on for probably a week where Charlie Brown gets nasty when Schroeder says his Dad is thinking of cutting the family's hair himself because the price of haircuts is going up. Charlie Brown's father is definitely a barber.
[edit] Peggy Jean & the little red-haired girl
I thought Peggy Jean was the same as the little red-haired girl. IIRC, she had red hair in the Sunday strips. I felt heartened that Charlie Brown had worked up the courage to meet her, that she was shown "on stage", and that she displayed an interest in him rather than obliviousness to his existence. But this article seems to say they are separate characters. Say it ain't so! LeoO3 04:51, 1 Apr 2005 (UTC)
The Little Red-Haired Girl continued as an unseen character long after Peggy Jean appeared. LRHG also was still only referred to as "The Little Red-Haired Girl" throughout the run of the strip. The only time we came close to seeing her (the infamous TV special notwithstanding), was in 1998 or 1999, when LRHG is seen in silhouette only. Peggy Jean reappeared in the final year of "Peanuts" at summer camp when she told "Brownie Charles" that she had a new boyfriend. Rockhopper10r 17:55, 1 Apr 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Movie References
I removed the fact about 21st Century movie references from the Trivia section. Hope no one minds, I thought it wasn't important, as Charlie Brown has been referenced hundreds of thousands of times, in every form of media.
[edit] The Little Red-Haired Girl's Name
Although the TV special It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown shows the Little Red-Haired Girl on camera and calls her Heather, this was not considered canonical by Charles Schulz and is not her "official" name. [2] Rockhopper10r 01:12, 12 July 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Dear Pencil Pal
Actually there is a strip in which Charlie Brown reads a letter from his Pencil Pal out loud to Lucy. Pencil Pal says something along the lines of, "I read your last letter to friends of mine, and we all agreed that you were a fascinating person whom it would be pleasant to know." Charlie Brown startles Lucy with a loud, "HA!"
[edit] Birth date footnote
There seems to be a broken link to a footnote that's either been removed or was never added.
[edit] Absolute pitch
Was it ever established that CB had absolute/perfect pitch? I recall one strip where Schroeder tells CB that he (Schroeder) has perfect pitch and CB responds "You mean 'a' perfect pitch! Besides, who cares? Baseball season is over!" Schroeder then fumes that he wants to transfer to a new comic strip. So Schroeder, yes, but CB?Rockhopper10r 17:52, 4 May 2006 (UTC)
- I don't know, myself. I put the category here because he was listed on a now-deleted page about people with Absolute pitch. If you ask on Talk:Absolute pitch someone there might be able to answer. - Rainwarrior 18:00, 4 May 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Anyone know any more catch phrases?
Hm? JAF1970 15:33, 27 July 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Charlie
He walks in the classroom, cool and slow, who calls the English Teacher Daddy-O? Charlie Brown, Charlie Brown, He's a clown that Charlie Brown. He's gonna get caught, just you wait and see, "Why's everybody always pickin on me?"
[edit] Recommended merge of Weapon Brown
This is a non-notable character from a locally distributed comic. If the information belongs anywhere, it belongs in the Charlie Brown article as a minor footnote.
[edit] Survey
- Merge --Chris Griswold (☎☓) 12:51, 9 October 2006 (UTC)
- Strong delete - Mike | trick or treat 13:07, 9 October 2006 (UTC)
- Weak delete - merge would probably be okay in the form of a brief mention, but as a stand-alone article it's nn and a mess. Karen | Talk | contribs 09:42, 11 October 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Discussion
[edit] Adults Talking
Quote: "Like all adults in the strip, Charlie Brown's parents are never seen (nor "heard" in speech balloons), ..." This is not completely accurate. Some parents are heard off-panel in Complete Peanuts Vol. 1 A handful of strips feature adults from the legs down speaking. It was during a golf tournament attended by Lucy and they are featured in The Complete Peanuts, Vol. 2. Jackbox1971 05:22, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
- Did any of the legs so depicted belong to either of Charlie Brown's parents? If so, then it's probably worth rewriting the sentence. These appearances are mentioned in passing in the Peanuts article. Karen | Talk | contribs 07:33, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
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- It is not implied that CB's parents are in the crowd of "legs" at Lucy's golf tournament. CB's mother spoke off-panel on a few occasions (once very early on when she is calling her son and later when she helps him spelling a word). Mr Brown never was heard. It should be noted that speech balloons leading off-panel with adults speaking were used intermittently until about the mid-1960s. Rockhopper10r 14:25, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Charlie Brown as a non-loser
Several times in recent months, one or more editors have removed the word "loser" from the expression "lovable loser", describing C.B. instead as a lovable boy or lovable child. I have two objections to this. One, the "loser" designation is an inextricable part of the way the character is conceived and described. The dust jacket to Charlie Brown & Charlie Schulz by Lee Mendelson (1970) describes the book as "The warmhearted biography of a wonderful man (real) and a wonderful boy (almost-as-real) who proved that being a loser could be the biggest success story of all." In 1967 Life Magazine had a cover story titled "Charlie Brown and Snoopy - Winners at Last", a title that makes no sense if Charlie Brown isn't thought of as a loser. Even Schulz himself explained the early evolution of the character by saying, "When I first started Charlie Brown, I didn't know he was going to lose all the time. He certainly wasn't the victim he is now." (Charlie Brown & Charlie Schulz, pg. 35) To try to expunge this aspect of the character from the article is to render it inaccurate, I think. (Also, to characterize Charlie Brown as a competent baseball player is a stretch, to say the least. Yes, he's dedicated, yes, he tries hard, throws hard, and loves the game - but it is well established that as a pitcher he gives up a lot of big hits.) Two, the term "lovable" has a very different connotation without the word "loser" attached to it. Calling Charlie Brown a "lovable child" or "lovable boy" makes him sound like a cute little boy that everyone in the strip treats with love and respect. This, too, is a gross mischaracterization of the strip. Therefore I have reverted the latest edit that seeks to portray the character as a lovable non-loser who plays baseball well. Sorry. Karen | Talk | contribs 10:12, 1 January 2007 (UTC)
Okay, I understand. Sorry if I caused any inconveinance. Happy New Year! 65.101.86.69 15:12, 7 January 2007 (UTC)65.103.86.6965.101.86.69 15:12, 7 January 2007 (UTC)
One question: If Charlie Brown is a "loser," then does that mean he is a person who fails to do good in many subjects, or a hopeless dork? I know this isn't an encyclopedia that studies psychology, but I just wanted to make sure Charlie Brown wasn't mischaracterized. Cheers! 71.217.236.119 00:06, 20 February 2007 (UTC)65.101.86.69
[edit] The Coasters song
Recently, I've been listening to a song by The Coasters titled "Charlie Brown" that describes a juvenile delinquent who, according to them, is "a clown" who keeps interrupting the song to say "Why is everybody always picking on me?" Can somebody please tell me if the song is directly referring to the character himself? --Nintendo Maximus 02:07, 6 January 2007 (UTC)
- Although the song is mentioned in both this article and Peanuts in popular culture, from what I've read the song, written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, was based on someone they knew in school, and not the comic strip character. The fact that they have both the same name, came along in the fifties, and have some superfieical resemblance (i.e. complain about getting picked on) results in the two being associated in people's minds, but as far as origins go they're not related. Karen | Talk | contribs 02:18, 6 January 2007 (UTC)
