Peanuts is a syndicated daily and Sunday comic strip written and illustrated
by Charles M. Schulz, which ran from October 2, 1950, to February 13,
2000 (the day after Schulz's death), continuing in reruns afterward. The
strip is considered to be one of the most popular and influential in the
history of the medium, with 17,897 strips published in all, making it
"arguably the longest story ever told by one human being", according
to Professor Robert Thompson of Syracuse University. At its peak, Peanuts
ran in over 2,600 newspapers, with a readership of 355 million in 75 countries,
and was translated into 21 languages. It helped to cement the four-panel
gag strip as the standard in the United States, and together with its
merchandise earned Schulz more than $1 billion. Reprints of the strip
are still syndicated and run in many newspapers.
Peanuts achieved considerable success for its television specials, several
of which, including A Charlie Brown Christmas and It's the Great Pumpkin,
Charlie Brown won or were nominated for Emmy Awards. The holiday specials
remain quite popular and are currently broadcast on ABC in the United
States during the corresponding season. The property is also a landmark
in theatre with the stage musical, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, being
an extremely successful and often performed production.
It has been described as "the most shining example of the American
success story in the comic strip field", ironically based on the
theme of "the great American unsuccess story", since the main
character, Charlie Brown, is meek, nervous and lacks self-confidence,
being unable to fly a kite, win a baseball game and kick a football (with
the exception of "It's Magic, Charlie Brown" when he kicked
the football while invisible).
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