Patrick McDonnell, creator of the Mutts comic strip, presents the Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award to Jeanne Schulz, wife of cartoonist Charles M. Schulz, during the National Cartoonists Society's 54th annual awards ceremony May 27, 2000, in New York.
Mrs. Schulz received the award on behalf of her late husband "Sparky," creator of Peanuts.
(AP photo/Louis Lanzano)
These articles are arranged from the most recent down, so you'll always find the newest news about Charlie Brown and his friends toward the top; older articles will be located further down, or on previous pages.
Snoopy putting spotlight on St. Paul
Schulz tribute has been publicity boon
July 30, 2000
By Karl J. Karlson
St. Paul Pioneer Press
St. Paul's "Peanuts on Parade" is big. How big?
Hordes of people are swarming through downtown streets, taking thousands of pictures of the more than 70 Snoopy statues now scattered around the city.
People tell of having to wait in crowds six-deep on weekends to take a picture of their kid or grandkid with a Snoopy.
There has been so much foot traffic at the "Top Hat & Tail" Snoopy at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts that the grass has been worn down to dirt patches.
Internet pages connected with "Peanuts on Parade" are getting thousands of hits.
Bus tours of the Twin Cities have added the statues to their tourist itineraries.
More than 350 newspapers in 42 states, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico with a combined readership of 40 million have printed stories about St. Paul's tribute to the late cartoonist and favorite son Charles Schulz.
Seventy national television shows have featured "Peanuts on Parade," and TV and radio stations in 24 states have carried news feeds about it.
The Minnesota Division of Tourism has begun advertising the event on 63 outstate radio stations, and the St. Paul Convention and Visitors Bureau is advertising "Snoopy getaway" information kits in regional travel magazines and on its Web site.
"This," says Mayor Norm Coleman, "is big."
Not a day goes by, he says, when someone doesn't mention Snoopy, ask him how the project is going or comment about what a fun thing the city is doing.
Coleman, too, says he has toured the city in search of the 5-foot decorated statues of Charlie Brown's beloved beagle. A political veteran, he declines to pick a favorite, saying they all are eye-catching -- and some even can be startling.
"Did you see that one up in the air at Pearson's (on West Seventh Street)?" he asks.
Not all the dogs have been easy to find. Some are in the downtown skyway system, and some are not exactly where maps say they are. For instance, three Snoopys were to be on the plaza in front of the Science Museum of Minnesota and two were supposed to be on the museum's river side.
However, apparently for logistical reasons, all five ended up on the plaza.
"Snoopy Kirby," the tribute to the Minnesota Twins' Kirby Puckett, originally was inside the World Trade Center's Minnesota Street entrance but was then moved outside.
Likewise, a Snoopy by Dayton's on Wabasha Street showed up a week late.
"It was a runaway, and we had to send the dog catcher after it and send it back to obedience school," jokes Megan Ryan, the city's marketing and promotion director.
She calls the changes in plans the kind of glitches that stem from running such a complicated effort with lots of volunteers and having to make decisions on the run.
Her office, she notes, has been inundated with calls from other places wanting to know how to do a "something on parade" promotion. In Northern Minnesota, "Grand Rapids -- home of Judy Garland -- called about how to do Munchkins," she said.
There are still 26 Snoopys to be placed, and they should be up by mid-August. These are the "second litter" of dogs, which were added after the original sponsorship deadline passed.
Several of the original 75 have been broken by vandals or overzealous huggers and are at "the vet" for repairs.
All of this has made it difficult for people to visit all of the dogs and get all of their photographs.
But Mayor Coleman plans to make that endeavor easier for Snoopy fans. In mid-September, about two weeks before the Oct. 2 auction of the statues, they will be gathered in downtown St. Paul for a standstill parade.
The entire collection will be lined up along Wabasha Street and around Rice Park, he says. "so everyone can come down and see them all."
Books, posters and other "Peanuts on Parade" memorabilia will be going on sale, though the exact timing has not been set. The proceeds will go to pay for the event and to help pay for a permanent Charles Schulz memorial in St. Paul.
Lee Koch, marketing director for Capital City Partnership, which is helping sponsor the event, is enthusiastic about the statues' impact. They are bringing people to town -- and downtown in particular -- where "they see all that is going on," she says. "The timing could not have been better ... the new arena, Lawson Commons, the new Science Museum of Minnesota, the Children's Museum. Next summer maybe we can do statues of Charlie Brown."
There are no actual counts of visitors who come to see the statues, but Eileen McMahon, president of the visitors bureau, expects 250,000 extra visitors by the time the Snoopys are auctioned to permanent homes in October.
"That's a guess," she admits, but she says there are indications everywhere of lots of people. "The occupancy rate at our hotels is 80 percent, which is the highest it's been for five summers."
She said the city's tribute to Schulz has received mention in the New York Times and in the Japanese and Italian media, all of which has helped boost traffic on the bureau's Web site by 60 percent.
"Everyone relates to Snoopy," she says. "He is dancing there with open arms, saying, 'Welcome to St. Paul and have fun.' And he's contagious. You see one, you want to see them all."
Internet star
In addition to his popularity on the streets of St. Paul, Snoopy is a big draw online, too. The new "SnoopyCam" (www.larsen.com), which has been broadcasting a live Internet image from Rice Park downtown round-the-clock since last weekend, received more than 30,000 visits in its first seven days of operation. A zoom lens has been added to provide a larger image of visitors to the mirror-covered Snoopy, which is sponsored by Larsen Design & Interactive. Web sites in eight states have linked to the image.
Connecting Images, the St. Paul firm that is host to the "Peanuts on Parade" portion of the official "Peanuts" Web page (www.snoopy.com) reported more than 398,000 visits to the site in July and 196,000 visits in June.
Weekly traffic at the Web site of the St. Paul Convention and Visitors Bureau (www.stpaulcvb.org) more than doubled its weekly average, jumping from 23,800 visits a week in April to a high of 48,000 last week. The site allows visitors to order a "Snoopy kit" that includes a map, information about St. Paul and a coupon book.
The map and photo gallery of Snoopy statues at the Pioneer Press Web site (www.pioneerplanet.com/snoopy) topped 46,000 visits as of last week.
Voices
"We're making a Snoopy book. We've taken about 30 pictures so far," said St. Paul East Sider Chris Anderson, who was visiting the statues with her husband, Dean, and their two young grandchildren, Melissa and Mike Krug of Inver Grove Heights. "It's probably been two or three years since I've been to Dayton's and downtown. It's amazing all the new buildings and people down here."
"Snoopy saved St. Paul," said George Weckman, a downtown vendor of hot dogs and soda for 20 years. "There are people down here at Rice Park all the time, wanting to know where the dogs are. Business is great."
"We decided to go downtown 'Snooping,' " quipped Kay Kasel, who with two friends was trying to locate other statues after taking photos in front of the Pioneer Press-sponsored Snoopy. "They are just delightful, so imaginatively decorated."
"You see a cow in Chicago and you say, 'So what?' You see one of these characters and you start to smile and you say to yourself, 'This is about the cutest little thing I've ever seen,'" said City Council President Dan Bostrom on Friday, while dedicating Snoopy's Doghouse, a new information center at the Science Museum of Minnesota.
USS Minneapolis-St. Paul submarine to get Snoopy mascot
July 29, 2000
The Associated Press
ST. PAUL, Minnesota -- The USS Minneapolis/St. Paul submarine, which has played a pivotal role in national defense, will get a
new mascot on Monday. His name is Snoopy.
The custom-made miniature Snoopy, along with 150 gift packages, will be presented to the submarine' s crew in Norfolk, Va., in
celebration of the 100-year anniversary of naval submarine service.
The Snoopy mascot was chosen because the late Charles Schulz, who created the comic character Snoopy, grew up in St. Paul.
Among the items, donated by area businesses, are gift certificates, Minnesota foods and products, paraphernalia from area sports
teams and handmade crafts from Crossroads Elementary school students. One gift bag contains a pair of round-trip tickets good for travel anywhere in the continental United
States, courtesy of Northwest Airlines.
Since being commissioned in 1984, the USS Minneapolis/St. Paul has been awarded five Meritorious Unit Commendations, most
recently in 1991 for operations in support of Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm.
"Snoopy's Doghouse" to guide statue viewers
Structure built on plaza outside Science Museum
July 28, 2000
The St. Paul Pioneer Press
Snoopy's Doghouse, a bright-red 12-foot-high information center for "Peanuts on Parade," will open at 10 a.m.
today on the plaza in front of the Science Museum of Minnesota on Kellogg Boulevard in downtown St. Paul.
The plaza is also home to five of the 100 Snoopy statues that are part of the city's summer-long salute to cartoonist
Charles Schulz, who grew up in St. Paul.
Disposable cameras will be given away to the first 25 visitors.
Union members from the St. Paul Building and Construction Trades Council donated their time Thursday to put
together the 8-foot-by-10-foot visitors' center, which also will distribute information about the city and its other attractions.
The "doghouse" is being sponsored by the St. Paul Convention and Visitors Bureau in response to thousands of
inquiries from the public about "Peanuts on Parade," the agency said.
The center will be staffed by volunteers from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday through Labor Day and weekends through Oct. 2.
The bureau is looking for citizens knowledgeable about the city to help staff the center. To volunteer, call (651) 265-4923.
Schulz honored as hockey enthusiast
July 20, 2000
By Laura Casey
Santa Rosa Press Democrat
During the 25 years that he played host to his hockey tournament, Charles Schulz never allowed himself to be thanked in public.
On Wednesday night, he was not only thanked but he was inducted into the Canadian Adult Recreational Hockey Association Hall of Fame.
"He was so generous and he was so committed to hockey and we enjoyed the fun of it," said James Tindle, an association member who announced the honor.
Schulz is the second non-Canadian hockey player to be given this honor.
Canadians make up more than half of the 1,100 players at this week's event at the Redwood Empire Ice Arena in Santa Rosa. It is considered the premiere old-timers' hockey tournament in the world.
"Canadian teams have been coming to the tournament for many, many years and they have always wanted to honor Sparky," said John Riley, a longtime friend of Schulz and a 26-year veteran of the tournament. "It seemed like they should do it at this time."
There also are teams from the United States and Japan, and the flags of all three nations were displayed during the ceremony Wednesday.
Tournament coordinator Cecilia Shortt, who also was inducted into the hall, said all the players will miss Schulz this year.
He often spent days seated beside the rink, watching hockey games. At the end of the tournament, he passed out awards to the winners.
Shortt said some Canadian players asked if they should wear black arm bands to the ceremony.
But, she said, "the theme of the tournament is fun. Sparky would have never wanted us to wear black arm bands."
The Canadian Adult Recreational Hockey Association was founded in 1975 and promotes recreational hockey for thousands of male and female senior teams across Canada.
Future of Snoopy senior hockey tournament in doubt
July 20, 2000
By Laura Casey
Santa Rosa Press Democrat
Walking along the ice rink and socializing with hockey fanatics whose faces he recognizes but whose names are too numerous to remember, Jim Doe did not have an answer this week to the question on the tip of everyone's tongue.
Doe, new director of the Redwood Empire Ice Arena in Santa Rosa, cannot say if the Snoopy Senior World Hockey Tournament will continue next year.
"We need to step back and look and see if this is something we can do in the future," he said.
Since the death of Charles Schulz in February, the future of both the senior hockey tournament and the holiday ice show the world-famous cartoonist created and subsidized has been on shaky ground.
Doe said the ice show, like the hockey tournament, will continue this year. But that is the only commitment he will make.
Schulz's wife, Jeannie, offered only: "Enjoy the day and tomorrow will take care of itself."
The hockey tournament, which Schulz started 26 years ago at the ice rink he built, continues through the week with more than 1,000 participants from around the world. They have in common a love for hockey and a sad recognition that Schulz will not be there to play with his team, the Santa Rosa Diamond Icers.
Even though the ice rink traditionally lost money on the hockey tournament, Doe said Schulz did not want to raise the team registration fees or cut the event perks for the good of the budget.
"Mr. Schulz was a very great host. He loved to give," said Doe, holding the coveted tournament trophy -- a small version of professional hockey's Stanley Cup that comes with a gold Snoopy figurine on top.
For a team's $275 registration fee, each team member receives an embroidered nylon jacket, a coffee mug, a T-shirt, a sweater, three games on the ice and an invitation to a barbecue and a socializer. After the games, a number of teams are awarded medals and trophies.
With their love of the game, these hockey players also bring extra money and spend it locally, pumping more than $1 million into the community during their one-week stay, according to a 1998 study by the Santa Rosa Visitors and Convention Bureau.
Jesse Atkins of the Bodega Harbour Golf Links course said hockey tournament seniors have been a steady and welcomed supply of business for more than 10 years.
"It's one week a year that we know we're going to be solid," he said while he served one of the hockey players from Canada.
At Los Robles Lodge in Santa Rosa, general manager Laura Knipping spent Wednesday afternoon goofing around with the hockey players at a lodge barbecue and party held just for them.
"They're having a good time, a great time," she said. "They're here to play hockey, to play golf, to go shopping and spend time with each other."
Sixty-four teams are playing this year with 12 to 20 men on each team. Broken down, each player pays only $14 to $23 for the tournament.
"You can see that this is obviously not a money-making tournament," said Doe, who was named vice president of operations at the rink shortly after Schulz's death.
On top of the fees, some teams also donate money to Canine Companions for Independence, a nonprofit agency Schulz supported.
Similar tournaments charge $600 or more a team to play.
Don George of Toronto has been visiting Santa Rosa every July for eight years to play in the tournament. He said Schulz's friendly games and generosity were what brought him to Santa Rosa year after year.
"This is the best tournament in the world for ordinary people who like to play hockey," George said. "Mr. Schulz puts on a very good deal, he really does. The treatment is A-1."
Derry MacFarlane of Calgary said he first came to the tournament 24 years ago as a member of a team for those 40 and older. Now he's a player and coach for those 65 and older.
"It's the ideal holiday for us. We play hockey and golf, get some sunshine and the women shop," he said.
MacFarlane, an oil prospector, spent Tuesday afternoon with his team at local thrift stores shopping for women's clothes to wear in a slapstick cabaret show Wednesday at Los Robles.
MacFarlane said Schulz and the legacy of the Snoopy tournament are the reason people come from as far away as Japan to play.
He said they would still come even if the perks were cut and the prices rose a little.
"They could probably handle it with no problem. Up the entry fee, but keep it reasonable. Cut the jackets, cut the social, but keep the barbecue," he said.
Team coaches are being asked to give suggestions on how to keep the tournament afloat now that Schulz is gone.
Some fear if the social activities and all the perks are cut from the tournament, the famed Snoopy Senior World Hockey Tournament will be the same as all the other tournaments played in Canada and the United States.
If the hockey tournament and the Christmas season ice show do continue, both will be run with the bottom line in mind, Doe said.
"These things are very costly," he said. "Sparky is not here anymore. It will never be the way it was when he was here."
Jeff Gordon/DuPont Team Up With Peanuts Gang to Honor Charles Schulz
July 20, 2000
BW SportsWire
SONOMA, California -- Jeff Gordon, DuPont and Hendrick Motorsports have teamed up with United Media and Action Performance Companies Inc. to honor one of America's most beloved cartoonists, Charles Schulz, and celebrate Peanuts' 50th Anniversary.
The media caught its first glimpse of Gordon's Peanuts-themed car Friday, June 23, 2000, at an unveiling event at Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma. NASCAR and Peanuts fans got their chance to see the brightly animated car at a pre-race unveiling held trackside on Sunday, June 25 at Sears Point Raceway.
Gordon's DuPont/Peanuts No. 24 Chevrolet Monte Carlo appears to have just raced off the funny pages. With its brilliant blue body, Gordon's machine will carry three new copilots as the legendary Joe Cool, the fearless World War One Flying Ace and his faithful sidekick Woodstock will help to navigate the DuPont/Peanuts Monte Carlo around the track.
Gordon and his new teammates will join forces for one exclusive race. Fans can catch the DuPont/Peanuts Monte Carlo at the Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on August 5. Beginning with the car's on-track debut at Indianapolis, Action Performance Companies Inc. will offer fans a full line of collectible die-cast replicas, apparel items and related merchandise with the DuPont/Peanuts theme.
"I grew up reading Peanuts comic strips and watching the cartoons," Gordon said. "I never would have dreamed that someday I would be able to race a car painted up with the Peanuts gang. Of course, I could always relate to the Red Baron, and hope that we can take him to victory lane with us in Indy."
"DuPont is a company that believes that excellence over time is the true measure of success," Harry Hall, West Region sales manager for DuPont Performance Coatings said. "That's why we're honored to join this recognition of Charles Schulz -- an American icon whose Peanuts characters and special humor are truly timeless.
"We also hope the Schulz family can experience what it's like to be on the winning team at the Brickyard 400 -- the way DuPont has been fortunate enough to do on two occasions."
"We are thrilled that this exceptional team headed by Jeff Gordon is celebrating the work of Charles Schulz and the 50th anniversary of the Peanuts gang," said Joshua Kislevitz, senior vice president, licensing United Media.
"The partnership offers a unique opportunity to reach fans of one of America's greatest sports, as well as create collectable merchandise. We will be rooting for Team Peanuts to co-pilot Jeff Gordon and the DuPont racing team to victory!"
"Action is excited about this very special project with Jeff, DuPont, Hendrick Motorsports, the Schulz family and United Media on this very special project," said Fred Wagenhals, Action Performance chairman, president and chief executive officer. "We tried to capture the spirit of Charles Schulz' artwork with this paint scheme.
"He was truly one of America's greatest cartoonists. Not only are we honoring Schulz' work, but we are celebrating 50 amazing years of Peanuts."
Action will design, market and distribute a variety of exclusive collectible die-cast replica cars, apparel items and other merchandise with the Snoopy/DuPont theme. These specially designed items will be available through Action's standard distribution channels, trackside and online through goracing.com. Related Hasbro Winner's Circle(R) products will be available through mass retail outlets.
Action Performance Companies Inc. (NASDAQ:ACTN) is the leader in the design, promotion and distribution of licensed motorsports merchandise. Its products include a broad range of motorsports-related die-cast car replica collectibles, apparel, souvenirs, and other memorabilia.
The company markets and distributes products through a wide variety of channels, including Racing Collectables Club of America (RCCA), online at goracing.com, trackside at racing events, mass retail department stores, and a worldwide network of wholesale distributors and specialty dealers.
"SnoopyCam" brings celebration to world
Internet site to feature statue in Rice Park live
July 19, 2000
By Karl J. Karlson
St. Paul Pioneer Press
"SnoopyCam" -- a round-the-clock live picture of one of St. Paul's popular "Peanuts On Parade" statues -- is expected to be up and running on the Internet by Saturday.
The camera will focus on "Snoopy -- Reflecting Us All," the statue covered with a mosaic of small mirrors that stands in downtown's Rice Park at Washington Avenue and Fifth Street. It will be aimed at the statue from office space being donated by the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts.
The camera is a project of Larsen Design & Interactive, the Minneapolis graphics firm that sponsored the Rice Park statue, which is part of the city's summer-long tribute to the late "Peanuts" cartoonist Charles Schulz, who grew up in St. Paul.
"We are doing it for the fun," said Elise Williams, a marketing specialist with Larsen. "We want to capture the energy being created at the Snoopy when people stop to look at it."
The popular statues have become instant successes since the first of nearly 100 Snoopys started going up throughout the city in mid-June. Visitors stop, look a while and then have their pictures taken with the statues, and children want to hug them, Williams said.
"It is easy to show the world what is happening here. Besides, everyone wants to see everything these days," she said.
Sending live images on the Internet long has been popular, ranging from Web sites dedicated to everything from Las Vegas wedding chapels to Irish pubs. There is even an Iowa "corncam" -- www.iowafarmer.com/corncam/corn.html -- that shows corn growing.
The Web cam will allow Snoopy visitors to share their outing with visitors worldwide by telling faraway friends what time to tune in to see them live.
The SnoopyCam image should be visible day or night, she said, because the area is well lit from streetlights and nearby buildings.
Williams said she expects the city and others to link to the site, www.Larsen.com, for the images.
20 more Snoopys to visit St. Paul
City finalizing new statue batch
July 15, 2000
By Karl J. Karlson
St. Paul Pioneer Press
St. Paul's second "litter" of Snoopys -- maybe as many as 20 more statues -- should be on city streets in the next two weeks, the city's promotions director said Friday.
The new 5-foot polyurethane pups will join the current 75 decorated creations now scattered throughout downtown and city neighborhoods, said Megan Ryan, who is coordinating the summer-long tribute to the late "Peanuts" cartoonist Charles Schulz, who grew up in St. Paul.
The new "Peanuts on Parade" batch is being unleashed because of the persistence of St. Paul restaurant owner Nick Mancini, who failed to meet the original June deadline for sponsoring a dog.
But he successfully pleaded his case to Mayor Norm Coleman, who opted last Friday to reopen the sponsoring process for one week.
That opened the gate for others to get in on the fun, and at least 50 rushed in with their requests. But not all of them succeeded.
Some were eliminated, Ryan said, because they weren't from St. Paul. Others came from folks who were offering decorating ideas rather than offering to sponsor statues.
The rest of the requests are being processed, she said. United Media, the firm that manages the business side of Schulz's "Peanuts" empire, should approve about 20 new designs and sponsors by early next week, Ryan said.
Among them, for example, is Jack Norqual, who grew up playing golf and hockey around Como Park and Washington High School. He wants to sponsor two -- one by his family and the other by the business he and his brother Don operate.
Norqual is leaving Sunday for Santa Rosa, California, to play for the third time in the annual Old-timers Hockey Tournament that Schulz started there 27 years ago. The cartoonist, a longtime hockey fan, built an ice rink in the California town where he had lived since 1954. He died there in February of colon cancer at age 77.
About 60 teams of people in their 50s and older are expected to take part in the tournament.
"Schulz played in it until he was in his 70s," Norqual said. "I was lucky to meet him last year. He was a genuinely nice guy."
Others who have applied for Snoopys this week include Schulz's alma mater, Central High School, and Metro Transit, Cosetta's restaurant and several community organizations.
While most will have to wait for a statue, Mancini already has a temporary one in front of his West Seventh Street restaurant. Its sign says: "On Loan From Kraus-Anderson," the construction firm that is donating equipment and staff to deliver the 300-pound statues.
The entire "Peanuts on Parade" effort has created other news around town, too:
The St. Paul Riverfront Corp. plans to take pictures of those who visit the "River Captain Snoopy" at its headquarters at 25 W. Sixth St. It then will post the pictures on its Web site -- www.grandexcursion.com -- to promote its 2004 re-creation of a famed 1854 Mississippi River tour.
People magazine was in town this week to do a photo shoot of Trent Mayberry, an intern working on "Snoopy patrol" in the city clerk's office. Part of his job entails checking the statues three times a week for damage. Mayberry said he is not sure if or when an article will appear.
Although very few of the statues have been damaged, some Snoopy accessories have been lost. For example, a hand-sewn costume on Woodstock at the Minnesota Business Academy, 505 Wabasha St., disappeared.
An unidentified woman quickly replaced it with a bird-size hand-knitted sweater. She later called Mayberry to say how sorry she felt for the bird when she noticed his buckskin shirt was gone.
FYI: "Peanuts on Parade" maps are available at:
St. Paul City Hall
City libraries
Recreation centers
State tourism information centers
www.pioneerplanet.com/snoopy
Samaritan Knits Sweater for Woodstock; Snoopy's Sidekick Loses His Shirt, Unknown Knitter Makes Him a New One
July 14, 2000
PRN Newswire
Snoopy and his small feathered friend, Woodstock, brought out the best in an unknown St. Paulite.
Voyageur Snoopy, the Peanuts on Parade entry posted on the front step of Minnesota Business Academy in downtown St. Paul, is dressed as a voyageur. The legendary adventurers who helped open up the region now known as Minnesota were trappers and hunters and often French. Voyageur Snoopy is equipped with snowshoes, a stringer of fish and fringed buckskin clothing. He also has his pal Woodstock with him.
Woodstock was dressed like his big buddy and permanently perched on the tip of the upright canoe paddle Voyageur Snoopy holds in his outstretched left hand. He, too, wore a "buckskin" shirt and pants and a red toque -- a warm hat that is the ancestor of today's ski cap. But Woodstock's clothes disappeared after the pair were ensconced on the front porch of Minnesota Business Academy, located in the former Science Museum building. Shortly afterward, some warm-hearted person -- apparently from St. Paul -- knitted a sweater for Voyageur Woodstock so he wouldn't sit out all summer in his birthday suit.
"I don't know who did it," says Trent Mayberry of the city of St. Paul's marketing department. Mayberry is on Snoopy watch this summer, noting any damage on the 75 statues posted around the city for the Peanuts on Parade event and notifying sponsors so they can make repairs.
"I received a voice mail message from a woman who said she had visited Voyageur Snoopy and noticed that Woodstock's clothes were gone," says Mayberry. "She said she felt sorry for him so she knitted him a sweater to replace his buckskin shirt."
"We didn't originally plan to sit Woodstock on top of the paddle," says Mike Gonzo, manager, Design Communications, Minnesota Life Insurance Company. He and two associates, Lauri Mueller and Dale Kimmes, designed and decorated Voyageur Snoopy during Peanuts Paint-off weekend at River Centre June 9-11.
"Lauri went shopping the night before, looking for Snoopy ideas to enhance our design," says Gonzo. "She found a Woodstock doll that was just the right size to perch on the paddle." Mueller sewed his tiny pants, shirt and hat.
"Woodstock's clothes were details that enhanced the sculpture," says Gonzo. "It's gratifying to know that we achieved our goal of bringing out warm, friendly feelings in someone."
Minnesota Life chairman, president and CEO Bob Senkler bought the Snoopy statue for display at Minnesota Business Academy, whose fund drive he chairs. When all of the Snoopy statues are sold at auction in the fall, Senkler will donate the proceeds from the sale or Voyageur Snoopy to the academy.
Knott's Show Becomes a Tribute to a Good Man
Skating Extravaganza with "Peanuts" Characters Was Conceived Before Death of Charles Schulz
July 13, 2000
By Libby Slate
The Los Angeles Times
About 1-1/2 years ago, Knott's Berry Farm's entertainment division began making plans for a summer 2000 ice show commemorating the "Peanuts" comic strip's 50th anniversary, part of a park-wide celebration of the characters Knott's has licensed since 1983.
But "Peanuts" creator Charles Schulz was diagnosed with colon cancer in November 1999 and died three months later.
The ice show that was conceived, "Snoopy's Fabulous 50th on Ice" -- which premiered June 24 and runs through Sept. 4 -- has thus become a tribute as well as a celebration.
And the Good Time Theatre, the home of Knott's ice shows, has been re-christened the Charles M. Schulz Theatre, with photos of the cartoonist and skating-themed comic-strip panels on display in the lobby.
Though Knott's ice shows have long featured Snoopy, this edition marks the first time five "Peanuts" characters have skated simultaneously: Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus and Sally share the ice with the intrepid beagle.
The non-character stars are soloists Jennifer Itoh and Patrick Brault, who trained in Burbank during their amateur competitive years, and the pairs team of Valeria and Viktor Mytnik.
Karen Kresge, the show's director/choreographer/co-producer, has been the resident show director-choreographer at Schulz's Redwood Ice Arena in Santa Rosa for 21 years. Despite her nearly three-decade association with the characters -- she played Snoopy's girlfriend in Ice Follies in 1971 -- she had to compete with proposals of other ice show producers to earn the Knott's job.
"We felt very comfortable with Karen's ideas," said Charles Bradshaw, Knott's director of entertainment. "We didn't want to do 'You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown' or an ice show with just Snoopy in it. We wanted to marry those two themes, to be true to the legacy of the strip but at the same time give something to the parents. Karen's ideas were very similar to ours."
The result: a fast-paced, half-hour show with 10 vignettes capturing classic "Peanuts" moments set to nearly 30 songs. Many of the musical selections come from the "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" Broadway show or animated "Peanuts" television specials.
Charlie Brown fumbles his way through baseball games and kite flying; Lucy dispenses 5-cent psychiatric advice; Snoopy descends from over the audience's heads to curse the Red Baron and later performs a dazzling ode to suppertime; Linus awaits the Great Pumpkin at Halloween; and all the kids send valentines to classmates.
"The obvious scenes really rose to the top very quickly," Kresge said from her Sausalito home. "Many had been numbers in the half-hour animated shows."
Kresge, who had told Schulz about the Knott's script treatment, felt the cartoonist's presence throughout the process of putting the show together.
"It's impossible to deal with his characters and costumes and not think of him," she said. "Sparky [Schulz's nickname] was always very involved with the script. He used to say, 'You've got to give the audience their moments. You've got to give them laughs, poignancy, romance.' And he'd say, 'Make it clever.' "
Cleverness in this show translates to moments that Kresge said "stretch the imagination a bit."
In one number, for instance, Charlie Brown tries to fly a kite, only to be caught up in a "wind ballet" of ensemble skaters.
To stay true to the comic strip, Kresge and Knott's worked closely with Creative Associates, the Schulz company that retains creative control over the "Peanuts" characters. Through computerized archives, they accessed every strip showing Lucy's psychiatric booth to design the on-ice version and sent tapes of vocal talent for casting approval.
As for the famous characters, "It takes great arm strength and skating skill to be in those outfits," Kresge said. (Snoopy's costume weighs 20 pounds, the others, 30 to 35.) "You have to have a sense of humor, and understand the character. The audience wants to see them glide and spin, but they mainly want to see the faces and gestures."
Kelli Aylmer, 24, plays Snoopy. "You have to have extreme energy," said Aylmer, who previously played the beagle for 18 months in "Snoopy's Magic on Ice" in Myrtle Beach, S.C. "You just try to never stand still. If there's any dead spot, you try to make it come alive."
Snoopy is traditionally played by a woman because of height requirements, but Aylmer has adjusted. "I have to be butch!" the 4-foot-11 Pennsylvania native said with a laugh. "If I extend my arms, I may do a fist. I can't put my hand out in a feminine way. I have to do what the men do."
Kresge and Bradshaw said Schulz would be pleased with their efforts. "To me, this is a show about 'Peanuts,' with skating mixed in," Bradshaw said. "I think what we created here is exactly what we wanted to do."
"Snoopy's Fabulous 50th on Ice" plays several times daily (except Wednesdays) through Sept. 4 in the Charles M. Schulz Theatre, Knott's Berry Farm, 8039 Beach Blvd., Buena Park. Show times are 2, 4 and 6 p.m., with an additional show at 7:30 p.m. Saturdays. Show is included in park admission. All-day general admission: adults, $38; children 3-11 and seniors 60 and older, $28. After 4 p.m. admission is $16.95 for all ages. Southern California resident admission (ZIP codes 90000-93599): adults, $29; children 3-11, $14. Call (714) 220-5200.
St. Paul thought too small with slew of Snoopys
July 10, 2000
By Nick Coleman
St. Paul Pioneer Press
I have decided to come out of the closet.
No, I'm not going to discuss my gender preference, my fascination with duck decoys or my secret dalliance with Republicanism. This is about all those dang Snoopys.
I do not like them on my streets. I do not like their plastic feets. I do not like these little mutts. I do not like them in my guts.
Wait a sec: That's too strong. I don't hate Snoopy. The mutt and I are turning 50 this year, which means we're both getting junk mail from the AARP and starting to gum our Alpo. Anyway, I like the Snoopy on Snelling Avenue next to O'Gara's, with a dog dish hanging from Snoopy's lance. But the rest should be rounded up and melted down at the pound, pronto.
It's scary to admit I harbor anti-Snoopy feelings, what with all the hoopla about the 75 Snoopy statues (minus whatever number currently are undergoing repairs after being vandalized or hugged too enthusiastically by kindergartners). Everyone loves Snoopy. So to stand up and say "Ix-nay on the Oopie-snays" is to be a grouch and to risk being labeled an enemy of children and civic pride. Any minute now, I might be taken away for reprogramming and I may not reappear in these pages until I have a vacant look in my eyes and can say, "Have a Super Neat-O Day, St. Paul!"
Well, kids, you can skip the reprogramming. I'm already in favor of Super Neat-O days in St. Paul. After years of living in Minneapolis, I have returned to the city of my birth and re-established a St. Paul address. Being a born-again St. Paulite, I hereby reclaim that most cherished of St. Paul birthrights: the right to complain. What I'm saying is that our Snoopys are cheesy. But they are not cheesy enough. If we want this Snoopy thing to take off, we have to go for Giant Size Cheese. If you don't believe me, take it from someone who knows what she's talking about:
"There are a lot of things that bother me about the Snoopys," says Karal Ann Marling, a professor of art history at the University of Minnesota. "They're sort of delicate -- why make a statue that's just calling out to be broken? And poor Charles Schulz! He drops dead and suddenly St. Paul turns into the Snoopy capital of the world."
Marling is an expert on roadside attractions like statues of Paul Bunyan (her book, "Colossus of Roads: Myth and Symbol Along the American Highway," is being reissued by the University of Minnesota Press). And she agrees that our Snoopys are too small, too feeble and too precious.
"The statues of cows in Chicago (which inspired St. Paul's Snoopys) were tall as a person and had an enormous physical presence," Marling says. "There was a sense of hard-working, unglamorous Chicago doing this goofy thing but there also was a sense that the cows were real objects of some gravity. Happy little flappy Snoopys don't have the same effect. There's a difference between figurines and sculpture and the Snoopys aren't sculpture. They look like gift-shop detritus -- stuff you'd see on the sales counter at Buffy's Boutique. There must be something better you can do with the Snoopy form. I mean, they're not exactly Paul Bunyan, are they?"
No, they aren't. And that's the problem.
We don't need 75 droopy Snoopys. We need one humongous, sturdily constructed, 75-foot-tall Snoopy towering over Interstate 94 or Harriet Island -- a Snoopy for the ages that would rival anyone's Paul Bunyan.
One Giant Snoopy for Mankind would bring more tourists to St. Paul than a million one-eared, graffiti-covered lame-o Snoopys.
Take it and run with it, Mayor Norm. You can have my idea free of charge. All I ask is that I be asked to cut the ribbon when we dedicate Snoopy Kong.
Oh. One last thing:
Have a Super Neat-O Day, St. Paul!
Nick, others can get their Snoopy
July 8, 2000
By Karl J. Karlson
St. Paul Pioneer Press
St. Paul's "Peanuts on Parade" -- once limited to 75 Snoopy statues -- is going to get bigger, city officials announced Friday, because the mayor "couldn't say no to Mr. St. Paul."
The deadline to sponsor one of the 5-foot-tall dancing dogs was to have been in early June, before artists gathered for a two-day public "paint-in" of the statues.
But this week, noted St. Paul restaurateur Nick Mancini began pestering city officials for one to put in front of his Char House at 531 W. Seventh St.
"People started asking me why I didn't have one -- was I too cheap?" Mancini said Friday.
No one calls Mancini cheap or ungenerous when it comes to St. Paul, West Seventh Street or his customers. He's been known to buy pizza for everyone, on the spur of the moment, at another Italian restaurant down the street.
"I thought there might be 10 of the statues, but then I started seeing them everywhere," Mancini said. "I made a mistake in not getting one in the first place."
Megan Ryan, the city's director of marketing and promotion, tried to convince Mancini there would be no more Snoopys, but he went over her head to Mayor Norm Coleman.
"The mayor said, 'Sell one to Nick.' I'm going down Monday (to City Hall) with the money -- $4,100," Mancini said.
Ryan said it was difficult to say no to Mancini, and the mayor just could not do that. "How can you say no to someone who's called 'Mr. St. Paul?' " was Coleman's response, Ryan said.
Because Mancini is getting a statue, Ryan said, the city is reopening the sponsorship period, so that others can get in on the city's tribute to the late cartoonist Charles Schulz, who grew up in St. Paul.
"We are installing the last one (of those ordered by the first deadline) next Friday at City Hall. That will be the final, final deadline," Ryan said.
"I've got a perfect place for one out front," Mancini said. "Megan said she would get me an artist to paint one like an Italian dog, or with the Italian colors."
Three Snoopy statues ened repairs after being climbed on
June 30, 2000
By Karl J. Karlson
St. Paul Pioneer Press
At least three of St. Paul's 5-foot-high Snoopy statues have been sent to the "vet" for repairs after developing cracks, apparently from folks climbing on or handling them.
As a result, "Peanuts on Parade" officials are asking that children -- and others -- stay off the polyurethane Snoopys, which will be on display around the city all summer as a tribute to the late hometown cartoonist Charles Schulz.
"We know the Snoopys are very huggable, but they shouldn't be climbed on," said Megan Ryan, city director of promotion and marketing.
Fifty of the planned 75 statues are to be in place by today, including a unique one sponsored by the Capital City Partnership, a downtown group that has been working on the tribute with the city.
Its "Explorer Snoopy" is mounted atop a Land Rover that will roam the area this summer, showing up at many community festivals and visiting other towns.
The roving Snoopy is scheduled to make its first appearance at 2 p.m. today at Taste of Minnesota on the state Capitol grounds and to distribute the first of 250,000 brochures that feature maps of all 75 Snoopys.
The free maps will also be distributed at information booths at the annual Fourth of July event, many Minnesota tourism booths and other area locations.
The proposed design of a St. Paul sculpture honoring Charles Schulz shows his gang at their merry best.
June 28, 2000
By Karl J. Karlson
The St. Paul Pioneer Press
A permanent bronze grouping of 11 "Peanuts" characters is being planned for St. Paul's riverfront as part of the city's permanent tribute to native son Charles Schulz.
As envisioned now, the sculpture would re-create a scene from the 1965 perennial television favorite, "A Charlie Brown Christmas," that depicts the characters happily dancing while Schroeder pounds his piano and Snoopy plays the guitar.
