Cartoonists are celebrating Charlie Brown creator Charles Schulz’s 100th birthday with cartoons dedicated to him.
Over 75 cartoonists have created cartoon tributes for his centenary birthday referencing ‘Peanuts’ in Saturday’s funny papers, according to The Associated Press (AP). (RELATED: As ‘Peanuts’ turn 60, Schulz family plans future)
Famous cartoonists discussed Schulz’ legendary career, including Patrick McDonnell, the cartoonist for the daily strip ‘Mutts,” which is featured in 700 newspapers all over the country. Several other strips have included tributes and Easter eggs dedicated to Schulz, including ‘B.C.,” Dennis the Menace,” and “Zippy the Pinhead,” among others, according to The AP.
More than 75 syndicated cartoonists have tucked tributes, Easter eggs and references to “Peanuts” in this coming Saturday’s funny papers to honor the creator of Charlie Brown, Snoopy and company. https://t.co/WZlRGjJuvE
— AP Entertainment (@APEntertainment) November 22, 2022
McDonnell is also a member of the board of directors for the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center. He came up with the idea to get lots of cartoon strips onboard as a tribute to Schulz’s life, according to the AP.
McDonnell’s tribute to Schulz is inspired by a strip of the “Peanuts” from 1999, which pictured his cartoon kids visiting a museum, admiring a painting on the wall of the dog Earl from “Mutts,” according to McDonnell with the AP. “I look at it every day and think of what a wonderful gesture that was and what a wonderful man and what a wonderful comic strip,” stated McDonnell.
Readers of McDonnell’s cartoon “Mutts” will picture Earl looking up at a framed image of Snoopy at a museum, a direct nod to Schulz’s cartoon strip, according to the AP.
“‘Peanuts’ was everything. I read ‘Peanuts’ books every night, and I wanted to be a cartoonist because of that since I was 4. To actually have my own little cartoon character in ‘Peanuts’ — it still boggles … Every morning I look at it and I still can’t believe it happened,” stated McDonnell.
‘Peanuts’ made its debut in 1950. Charles Schulz passed away in 2000, according to the source.