A Bagful of Peanuts Trivia Quiz

Answer:

Charles M Schulz's 'Peanuts' ran for a massive forty-nine years, beginning on 2nd October 1950 and ending on 13th February 2000. Over the years, it has become a multi-million dollar franchise, with films, an animated TV series, books, a musical, video games, a play and countless parodies, such as 'Weapon Brown' (a comic with a hero based on an adult version of Charlie Brown, definitely not aimed at kids!)

The unfortunate Charlie Brown is the hero of 'Peanuts' and the owner of Snoopy, a beagle with a very vivid imagination and the mascot of the series. He also appeared in 'Li'l Folks', Schulz's previous strip, and was one of the first characters in 'Peanuts'. The son of a barber, he manages a baseball team which includes Snoopy - despite Snoopy being a dog - and has a younger sister, Sally, who is in love with Linus and calls him her 'sweet Babboo'. He is often referred to as 'that round-headed kid' and has a crush on Heather, a little red-haired girl who never appears in the strip (though she does appear in the films). His catchphrase is 'good grief'.

Woodstock is a little yellow bird who is friends with Snoopy. He sometimes uses Snoopy's kennel as a nesting site or sits on Snoopy's head. When Snoopy imagines himself as the Flying Ace, Woodstock is his mechanic; he is also Snoopy's secretary and golf caddy. When his bird bath freezes over, he skates on it. He and his fellow birds form a group of scouts called the Beagle Scouts. He was introduced on 4th March 1966.

Lucy van Pelt and her brother Linus are siblings who live next door to Charlie. Lucy constantly bullies Charlie; a running gag involves her holding a football for him to kick, only to pull it away at the last minute and make him fall over. She often insults people by calling them 'blockheads' and runs a psychiatrist's booth, charging 5 cents for advice. Linus has a security blanket (a term popularised by Schulz), which is often stolen by Snoopy. He is wise beyond his years in some respects and naive in others, such as his belief in the 'Great Pumpkin'. Lucy was introduced on 3rd March 1952 and Linus on 19th September 1952. The van Pelt children later gain a younger brother, 'Rerun', introduced on 26th March 1973.

Schroeder is a pianist who loves Beethoven and is often seen playing Beethoven tunes on his piano. Lucy has a crush on him and often talks to him while he plays. He likes macaroni and cheese, and hates accordions and polka music. He is the catcher on the baseball team. He was introduced on 30th May 1951.

Franklin was the first black character in 'Peanuts'. He manages Peppermint Patty's baseball team. He was introduced on 31st July 1968 after Harriet Glickman, a teacher, wrote to Schulz following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., asking Schulz to draw a black character in the strip. Schulz had wanted to draw a black character, but was worried about potentially patronising black readers. Schulz later said that he received letters asking him not to draw Franklin at school with white children, which he ignored, causing some Southern papers to drop the strip in protest.

Pig-Pen is essentially a joke character, whose real name is unknown. He is always dirty, with messy hair, and covered in what he calls 'the dust of civilisations'. Schulz disliked the character as he found him too one-note, but kept him in the strip because he proved to be popular. He sometimes plays the double bass while the other kids dance. He was introduced on 13th July 1954.

Violet Gray is a girl who looks similar to Lucy. She was one of the first female characters who appeared in the strip and, like Lucy, would bully Charlie. She often bragged about how her father was better at certain things than other people's fathers. In the earlier strips, she used to play at house and made mud pies, and hung out with Lucy and Patty (not to be confused with Peppermint Patty below). She was introduced on 7th February 1951.

'Peppermint' Patty Reichardt is one of Charlie's friends, who goes to the same school as Franklin, and calls Charlie 'Chuck'. She is a tomboy with freckles, and is not academic, but is good at sports and plays baseball. Her best friend is Marcie, a bookish girl who she met at summer camp. Marcie wears thick glasses and calls her 'sir'. Some parodies portray them as a lesbian couple as adults. Patty was introduced on 22nd August 1966, and Marcie on 20th July 1971.

As for the other characters, Zonker Harris is a character from Garry Trudeau's political cartoon 'Doonesbury', a hippy and an old college friend of Mike Doonesbury. Antimony Carver is the heroine of Tom Siddell's fantasy webcomic 'Gunnerkrigg Court'. Elizabeth Patterson is one of the three Patterson family children in Lynn Johnston's newspaper comic 'For Better or for Worse'. Undine Wells is the heroine of 'Sleepless Domain', a webcomic about magical girls. Finally, Marmaduke is a Great Dane who stars in the comic strip of the same name by Brad Anderson.