History Creator / CharlesMSchulz

->''"Schulz is a rare breed of cartoonist. Even though he comes from this very mainstream place, every cartoonist loves him, underground or overground. He’s the Beatles of comics, absolutely.”''

-->-- '''Eric Reynolds, Fantagraphics (publisher of ''The Complete Peanuts'')'''

* SadClown: The dark edge that could sometimes be glimpsed in his work very much stemmed from a somewhat difficult life. He was a social misfit in his youth (and that youth taking place during TheGreatDepression didn't help matters). His mother died when he was 20, not long after he'd been drafted into the Army. After several years of waiting stateside, his Army unit was suddenly deployed to Europe in the final days of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, and even assisted in the liberation of Dachau, the longest-lived Nazi concentration camp. After he got home he endured a RejectedMarriageProposal. In 1966, at the height of his success, his visiting father suddenly died from a heart attack and his studio burned to the ground. His first marriage ended bitterly after a prolonged separation. In 1981 he suffered a heart attack and underwent quadruple bypass surgery, and his health suffered a gradual decline in the ensuing decades.

* SadClown: The dark edge that could sometimes be glimpsed in his work very much stemmed from a somewhat difficult life. He was a social misfit in his youth (and that youth taking place during TheGreatDepression didn't help matters). His mother died when he was 20, not long after he'd been drafted into the Army. After several years of waiting stateside, his Army unit was suddenly deployed to Europe in the final days of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, and even assisted in the liberation of Dachau, the longest-lived Nazi concentration camp. After he got home he endured a RejectedMarriageProposal. In 1966, at the height of his success, his visiting father suddenly died from a heart attack. His first marriage ended bitterly after a prolonged separation. In 1981 he suffered a heart attack and underwent quadruple bypass surgery, and his health suffered a gradual decline in the ensuing decades.

[[NamesTheSAme He's not to be confused]] with Charles A. Schulz, the tubist of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra since 1971.

Good luck finding a cartoonist who ''hasn't'' cited Schulz as an influence. [[ComicStrip/{{Garfield}} Jim Davis]], Creator/BillWatterson, and Creator/MattGroening in particular owe much of their styles to Schulz's work. His influence goes beyond cartooning too. Creator/WesAnderson is a big fan (''Film/{{Rushmore}}'' is loaded with ''Peanuts'' allusions).

The only child of a German-American [[UsefulNotes/TwinCities St. Paul, Minnesota]] barber and his Norwegian-American wife, he was nicknamed "Sparky" by his uncle after the horse "Spark Plug" from his favorite comic strip, ''Barney Google''. A bright child with obvious art talent, young Sparky skipped several grades in elementary school, but as he became the youngest and smallest in his class, he suffered a rough adolescence. An ill-fated move by his family from Minnesota to the desert town of Needles, California also caused some disruption to his childhood.

* ExecutiveMeddling: According to some of his autobiographical books made during his lifetime. The reason Franchise/{{Hello Kitty}} and [[Creator/{{Sanrio}} Sanrio characters came into existence]] was a result of [[CreativeDifferences a disagreement he had with the company]]. They also grew tired of paying royalty fees to him. [[note]] Sanrio had merchandise rights for Snoopy back in the 60s and early 70s.[[/note]] As a result, [[StartMyOwn Sanrio decided to create their own characters]]. In later years, the company gained back the merchandise rights to the Snoopy/ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}} franchise in Japan.

* SadClown: The dark edge that could sometimes be glimpsed in his work very much stemmed from a somewhat difficult life. He was a social misfit in his youth (and that youth taking place during TheGreatDepression didn't help matters). His mother died when he was 20, not long after getting drafted into the Army. After several years of waiting stateside, his Army unit was suddenly deployed to Europe in the final days of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, and even assisted in the liberation of Dachau, the longest-lived Nazi concentration camp. After he got home he endured a RejectedMarriageProposal. In 1966, at the height of his success, his father died from a heart attack during a visit to his house. His first marriage ended bitterly after a prolonged separation. In 1981 he suffered a heart attack and underwent quadruple bypass surgery, and his health suffered a gradual decline in the ensuing decades.

* SadClown: The dark edge that could sometimes be glimpsed in his work very much stemmed from a somewhat difficult life. He was a social misfit in his youth (and that youth taking place during TheGreatDepression didn't help matters). His mother died when he was 20, right after joined the Army. After several years of waiting stateside, his Army unit was suddenly deployed to Europe in the final days of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, and even assisted in the liberation of Dachau, the longest-lived Nazi concentration camp. After he got home he endured a RejectedMarriageProposal. In 1966, at the height of his success, his father died from a heart attack during a visit to his house. His first marriage ended bitterly after a prolonged separation. In 1981 he suffered a heart attack and underwent quadruple bypass surgery, and his health suffered a gradual decline in the ensuing decades.

* SadClown: The dark edge that could sometimes be glimpsed in his work very much stemmed from a somewhat difficult life. He was a social misfit in his youth (and that youth taking place during TheGreatDepression didn't help matters). His mother died when he was 20, right before he joined the Army. After several years of waiting stateside, his Army unit was suddenly deployed to France in the final days of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, and even assisted in the liberation of a Nazi concentration camp. After he got home he endured a RejectedMarriageProposal. In 1966, at the height of his success, his father died from a heart attack during a visit to his house. His first marriage ended bitterly after a prolonged separation. In 1981 he suffered a heart attack and underwent quadruple bypass surgery, and his health suffered a gradual decline in the ensuing decades.

It's probably easier to list the cartoonists who ''haven't'' cited Schulz as an influence, but [[ComicStrip/{{Garfield}} Jim Davis]], Creator/BillWatterson, and Creator/MattGroening are among those who took obvious inspiration from him.

After the family resumed their life in Minnesota, teenaged Schulz became a fan of the work of comic strip creators like [[ComicStrip/KrazyKat George Herriman]], Percy Crosby (''Skippy'') and Roy Crane (''Wash Tubbs & Captain Easy'') while he started working on his own cartooning. After a stint in the U.S. Army during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, he created what would be the prototype of ''Peanuts'', a comic strip called ''ComicStrip/LilFolks'', in 1947. After signing on with United Feature Syndicate, it would be refined into ''Peanuts'', first published on October 2, 1950.

Charles Monroe "Sparky" Schulz (November 26, 1922 – February 12, 2000) was an American cartoonist, best known for being the creator of the comic strip ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}''.

Schulz, who moved from Minnesota to Northern California in 1958, oversaw the evolution of ''Peanuts'' from a daily comic strip into a full-blown [[Franchise/{{Peanuts}} franchise]], with animated TV specials and movies and countless bits of merchandise. While ''Peanuts'' makes up the bulk of his life's work, he also did some book illustration, some teenager-themed cartoons for ''Youth'', a magazine published by The Church of God (of which he was a longtime member) and another syndicated strip called ''It's Only a Game'' (a weekly panel of sports-related cartoons).

Entering the 21st century, his health began to deteriorate, and he finally announced his retirement on December 14, 1999. A month later, on February 12, 2000, he died from colon cancer at age 77. The last ''Peanuts'' strip was published the next day.

Schulz has been cited as an influence by many other cartoonists, including [[ComicStrip/{{Garfield}} Jim Davis]], Creator/BillWatterson, and Creator/MattGroening.

The Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, California, located adjacent to his studio and an ice arena that the hockey-loving Schulz built for the community, houses a rotating collection of original strips and a permanent exhibit of items relating to his life (including a re-creation of his drawing room, complete with shelves full of books). There are dozens of books about his life and work, headed up by two full-length biographies: ''Good Grief'' (1988) by Rheta Grimsley-Johnson (an "authorized" bio that's actually quite frank about how the man who had a huge influence on American humor lived a SadClown life), and ''Schulz & Peanuts'' (2007) by David Michaelis (somewhat controversial, as Schulz's family felt that it overemphasized his depression and dwelled sensationalistically on his failed first marriage).

* ''You Don't Look 35, Charlie Brown'' (1985)

The only child of a [[UsefulNotes/TwinCities St. Paul, Minnesota]] barber and his wife, he was nicknamed "Sparky" by his uncle after the horse "Spark Plug" from his favorite comic strip, ''Barney Google''. A bright child with obvious art talent, young Sparky skipped several grades in elementary school, but as he became the youngest and smallest in his class, he suffered a rough adolescence. An ill-fated move by his family from Minnesota to the desert town of Needles, California also caused some disruption to his childhood.

Schulz, who moved from Minnesota to Northern California in 1958, oversaw the evolution of ''Peanuts'' from a daily comic strip into a full-blown [[Franchise/{{Peanuts}} franchise]], with animated TV specials and movies and countless bits of merchandise. While ''Peanuts'' makes up the bulk of his life's work, he also did some book illustration, some teenager-themed cartoons for publications of The Church of God (of which he was a longtime member) and another syndicated strip called ''It's Only a Game'' (a weekly panel of sports-related cartoons).

The Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, California, located adjacent to his studio and an ice arena that the hockey-loving Schulz built for the community, houses a rotating collection of original strips and a permanent exhibit of items relating to his life (including a re-creation of his drawing room, complete with shelves full of books). Besides numerous retrospective ''Peanuts'' anniversary books written by Schulz, he has also been the subject of two full-length biographies: ''Good Grief'' (1988) by Rheta Grimsley-Johnson (an "authorized" bio that's actually quite frank and detailed about his life), and ''Schulz & Peanuts'' (2007) by David Michaelis (somewhat controversial, as Schulz's family objected to the book's portrayal of him). There are some other books about Schulz and his work that are worth a look as well.

The only son of a [[UsefulNotes/TwinCities St. Paul, Minnesota]] barber and his wife, he was nicknamed "Sparky" by his uncle after the horse "Spark Plug" from his favorite comic strip, ''Barney Google''. A bright child with obvious art talent, young Sparky skipped several grades in elementary school, but as he became the youngest and smallest in his class, he suffered a rough adolescence. An ill-fated move by his family from Minnesota to the desert town of Needles, California also caused some disruption to his childhood.

** Snoopy's brother Spike was named after his childhood dog, and like Spike, he had briefly lived in Needles, California.

Schulz, who moved from Minnesota to northern California in 1958, oversaw the evolution of ''Peanuts'' from a daily comic strip into a full-blown [[Franchise/{{Peanuts}} franchise]], with animated TV specials and movies and countless bits of merchandise. While ''Peanuts'' makes up the bulk of his life's work, he also did some book illustration, some teenager-themed cartoons for publications of The Church of God (of which he was a longtime member) and another syndicated strip called ''It's Only a Game'' (a weekly panel of sports-related cartoons).

** Linus and Shermy were named after two of his friends.

Schulz, who moved from Minnesota to northern California in 1958, oversaw the evolution of ''Peanuts'' from a daily comic strip into a full-blown [[Franchise/{{Peanuts}} franchise]], with animated TV specials and movies and countless bits of merchandise.

The Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, California, located adjacent to his studio and an ice arena that the hockey-loving Schulz built for the community, houses a rotating collection of original strips and a permanent exhibit of items relating to his life (including a re-creation of his drawing room, complete with shelves full of books). Besides numerous retrospective ''Peanuts'' anniversary books written by Schulz, he has also been the subject of two full-length biographies: ''Good Grief'' (1988) by Rheta Grimsley-Johnson (an "authorized" bio that's actually quite frank and detailed about his life), and ''Schulz & Peanuts'' (2007) by David Michaelis (somewhat controversial, as Schulz's family objected to the book's portrayal of him).

Growing up in Minnesota, he was nicknamed "Sparky" by his uncle after the horse "Spark Plug" from his favorite comic strip, ''Barney Google''.

Having worked with art throughout his teenage years, he created what would be the prototype of ''Peanuts'', a comic strip called ''ComicStrip/LilFolks'', in 1947. After signing on with United Feature Syndicate, it would be refined into ''Peanuts'', first published on October 2, 1950.

Having worked with art throughout his teenage years, he created what would be the prototype of ''Peanuts'', a comic strip called ''[[ComicStrip/LilFolks]]'', in 1947. After signing on with United Feature Syndicate, it would be refined into ''Peanuts'', first published on October 2, 1950.

Having worked with art throughout his teenage years, he created what would be the prototype of ''Peanuts'', a comic strip called ''Lil' Folks'', in 1947. After signing on with United Feature Syndicate, it would be refined into ''Peanuts'', first published on October 2, 1950.