Shout Out / Peanuts

• Yes, Woodstock was named after the 1969 music festival.
  • Schulz said he named Peppermint Patty after the York Peppermint Pattie candy. (In 1966 York Peppermint Patties were only sold in the Northeast, Midwest, and Florida,^note they went national in 1975 so it might seem unlikely that the California-based Schulz would have been aware of them, but he certainly could have visited any of the places where they were available. He did, in fact, travel to Indiana in 1963 to receive an honorary degree from Anderson College. And, of course, he was originally from Minnesota.)
• The punchline of the famous "Mr. Sack" Story Arc featured a shout-out to MAD magazine and Alfred E. Neuman.
  • In turn, MAD had done a bit about the Peanuts gang as teens and adults. Schulz wrote in and said, "Why don't I retire and let you guys take over?" It was signed with a sketch of Snoopy saying, "What, me worry?"
• Beethoven, of course. Occasionally Schroeder would reference other classical composers as well.
  • Incidentally, Schulz's own favorite composer was actually Brahms, not Beethoven. But when coming up with a favorite composer for Schroeder, he decided "Beethoven" sounded funnier than "Brahms".
  • The first piece Schroeder ever played on his toy piano was actually by Rachmaninoff.
• A 1961 strip has Linus telling Lucy that he filled out a personal information card for school. When asked for the name of his family physician, he didn't know, so he put down Dr. Seuss.
• In another 1961 strip, Lucy shows Linus a picture of a little girl "playing on the south lawn of the White House," whom it could be assumed is Caroline, daughter of then-President John F. Kennedy. Lucy is quick to point out that she isn't holding a blanket. An apparently clueless Linus decides this must be because "her parents can't afford to buy her one" and decides to write to her offering to send her a blanket if she'd like, asking Lucy, "Do you know what her last name is?"
  • In an earlier strip that same year (drawn at about the time of JFK's inauguration), Linus dreams of Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, which is the home of the Kennedy family compound.
• A 1963 strip has Sally getting up from watching TV, going to Charlie Brown, and asking, "Do you think there really is a person named Walt Disney?"
  • Snoopy's brother Spike is apparently a friend of Mickey Mouse.
  • Mickey is also one of the many impressions Snoopy can do.
  • Also, Linus got quite upset while reading the newspaper in one 1965 strip because "Annette Funicello has grown up!"
• The introduction of Snoopy's sister Belle included meeting her teenage son, whose tall and skinny body topped with the same beagle head made Snoopy comment that he [Belle's son] resembled The Pink Panther.
• Snoopy would typically commemorate Veterans Day by donning his World War I Flying Ace outfit and "heading over to Bill Mauldin's house to quaff a few root beers".
  • The penultimate Veteran's Day strip, which was co-drawn by Mauldin, had Snoopy meet Mauldin's legendary characters of Willie and Joe. This would be the final time that Mauldin would ever draw Willie and Joe.
• The 1984 special It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown contains a sequence during the otherwise original song "I'm in Shape", where Peppermint Patty sings a bridge that clearly is a spoof of Toni Basil's hit "Mickey". The segment itself may also have been inspired by Olivia Newton-John's "Physical".
  • Really, that whole special is a shout-out to various elements of '80s pop culture. The "Flashbeagle" theme song itself obviously spoofs "Maniac" by Michael Sembello. In fact, the animators' model for Snoopy's dancing was Marine Jahan, Jennifer Beals's dance double from Flashdance.
• Speaking of '80s pop, in a 1984 strip Charlie Brown, infuriated with Lucy for missing yet another fly ball, asked her why she bothered to play baseball at all. Lucy's response: "Girls just want to have fun."
• 1950s songbird Joni James is mentioned in one strip as one of Snoopy's favorite singers (he tells the Cat Next Door not to bother asking to borrow any of his Joni James albums ever again), and in a Sunday strip in 1989 in which Linus is unable to use the telephone for a phone-in contest in which the prize is four tickets to a Joni James concert, because Lucy is hogging the phone. James returned the favor by including Snoopy on the cover of her compilation CD Jukebox Joni.^note James is also important in Peanuts history for indirectly inspiring Schulz to add The Little Red-Haired Girl as The Ghost. It was while listening to her 1959 album Joni James Sings Songs of Hank Williams, especially her rendition of "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love With You)", that Schulz reminisced about his failed relationship with red-haired Donna Johnson and decided to have Charlie Brown fall in unrequited love.
• Other musicians mentioned in the strip included:
  • Frieda's cat, Faron, was named after Country Music singer Faron Young.
  • A 1971 strip has Linus noting that "Bob Dylan will be thirty years old this month", to which Charlie Brown responds "That's the most depressing thing I've ever heard."
  • In a 1975 Sunday strip, Lucy asks Schroeder what makes him think Beethoven was better than Elton John. In response, Schroeder gives her a mock trophy for asking "the most stupid question of the year."
    • That same year, for Beethoven's birthday, Lucy gave Schroeder a special gift for the occasion...Elton John glasses!
  • Also in 1975, Charlie Brown fantasized about being a "ringer" (as in, "That guy is too good, who let in the ringer?") and decided there was as much chance of that happening as there was of marrying Olivia Newton-John.
  • Linus took a spill on his roller skates while listening to his Walkman, and explains to Charlie Brown that he lost control when Sandi Patti (a superstar of Contemporary Christian music) hit a high note.
  • Lucy had a crush on pianist Van Cliburn in the late '50s.
  • Also, in a 1972 strip, Snoopy mentions that Woodstock enjoys listening to his stereo, but then grouses that Woodstock only listens to one song over and over: "American Pie".
• A fairly obscure one is Charlie Brown's favorite breakfast cereal, "Snicker Snacks".
  • One strip had a box of Snicker Snacks with a marble prize inside. Charlie Brown's box ended up with over 300 marbles and 1 snicker snack.
• Quite a few to Billie Jean King. In one strip, Sally draws a picture of George Washington and Betsy Ross playing a mixed doubles match against Harry Truman and Billie Jean King for Independence Day. Charlie Brown comments that Harry and Billie would have won in straight sets.^note King was a close friend of Schulz and even spoke at his funeral.
• One Sunday comic in the mid-1990s shows Snoopy about to participate in a hockey game with Woodstock and several other birds. Snoopy was surprised to find out that before every game, they do the Macarena.
• Here's one from a 1980 strip involving Peppermint Patty's feet wrapped in comic book pages. The character isn't much of a surprise, receiving shout-outs all the time from one place or another...
  Marcie: Did you ever read this one, sir? It's where Spiderperson is on this bridge, and...
• In a 1999 strip, Sally writes a fan letter to Harry Potter. She is visibly disappointed when Charlie Brown tells her that Harry Potter is not a real person.
• The Great Gatsby got lots of Shout Outs in the last decade or so of the strip. Schulz apparently became very interested in the work of F. Scott Fitzgerald in his later years, spurred on by the fact that he and Fitzgerald shared St. Paul, Minnesota as a hometown.
• Citizen Kane also gets referenced a lot, most famously in the December 9, 1973 strip which (literally) employs the It Was His Sled trope.
• Snoopy has paintings by Vincent van Gogh and Andrew Wyeth inside his doghouse.
• Rod McKuen, who wrote and sang the songs for A Boy Named Charlie Brown, is referenced at least once in the strip.
• In 1995, World Famous Attorney Snoopy represents Peter Rabbit in his lawsuit against Mr. McGregor.
• In a 1954 strip, Violet angrily berates Charlie Brown and calls him a "complete flop". After she walks away, Chuck points at the television and says, "'Miss Francis' likes me!" Miss Francis was the host of Ding Dong School, a popular 1950s children's program.
• The Peanuts TV series has a bit in which Snoopy, with Woodstock as the pilot, lifts off in his helicopter mode with "Ride of the Valkyries" (played on a toy xylophone) as music accompaniment.
• In a 1963 strip, some birds land on Snoopy's doghouse and he scares them away, explaining "I don't trust birds any more since I saw that movie!"^note A movie set in Schulz's home base of Sonoma County, California
• Schulz encountered the Australian cheer, "Sydney or the Bush!" and had Sally and others cheering Charlie Brown on with the phrase, to Chuck's bafflement.
• A 1976 story arc has Snoopy planning to play tennis at Wimbledon. Charlie Brown wonders where Snoopy is supposed to stay since he doesn't know anyone who lives in London. Snoopy ponders living downstairs with Mr. Hudson and Mrs. Bridges, or living upstairs with Miss Georgina.
• In a February 1972 strip, Snoopy imagines he is the captain of the Starship ''Enterprise''.
• In one strip, Snoopy as the WWI Flying Ace decides to get a card for the Red Baron's birthday, and wonders if he likes Garfield.
• In a 1964 strip, Linus brags that he was the only student in his class who made an A on his geography exam, because he was the only one who knew where Ipanema was.
• In a June 1967 strip, Snoopy thinks he's in love with the fashion model Twiggy.
• The May 24, 1993 strip.
  Linus: Okay, let's say the president has appointed you to the Supreme Court. Now, you're facing the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Senator Biden asks you a tough question..How will you respond?
  Snoopy: Woof!
  Linus: I think you're in!
• During the August 1975 story arc where Lucy attempts to fatten up Snoopy's brother, Spike, he's seen sitting in bed sipping on a milkshake while watching an episode of what is clearly Hogan's Heroes.
• In a 1981 strip, Charlie Brown is watching a TV program, and he tells Sally he's watching Carl Sagan. Later, he mentions watching a science show to Linus.
• The February 1, 1980 strip has Peppermint Patty's principal quote Henry VI Part 2 to show he's not intimidated by Patty having her lawyer Snoopy threaten legal action with that play's famous line "the first thing we do, is kill all the lawyers". This leads Snoopy to fleeing for his life.

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