Violet was the original mean girl of the Peanuts gang. She was even the first character to call Charlie Brown a blockhead. Her main weapon was social exclusion: “I’m having a party, and YOU’RE not invited!” She was, on the surface, an unrepentant bully and one of the least likable characters in Charles Schulz’s strip.…
The Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. The attraction has a timeless appeal, and its greatest strength was its lack of storyline. But then, Disney added Jack Sparrow to the ride in 2006. Sparrow’s inclusion, and the intrusive manner in which it was done, detracts from…
Charlie Brown is hesitant. Marcie is shy. Lucy is cruel. Schroeder is aloof. But Franklin is just…perfect.
Disney is at its best when it abandons pretense. Every great Disney animated film has that moment when the wheels come a bit loose. A big burst of creative energy threatens to derail the whole production with its absurdity. Aladdin’s go-for-broke moment is “Friend Like Me,” the musical sequence where Genie introduces…
Aside from Charlie Brown, Peppermint Patty is the most well-thought out, deeply characterized member of the Peanuts gang. Charles Schulz told some heartbreaking stories about unrequited love, single parenthood, gender norms, and deep-seated insecurities—themes that did not normally appear on the Sunday funnies page.…
Aside from Charlie Brown, Peppermint Patty is the most well-thought out, deeply characterized member of the Peanuts gang. Charles Schulz told some heartbreaking stories about unrequited love, single parenthood, gender norms, and deep-seated insecurities—themes that did not normally appear on the Sunday funnies page.…
There was no happy ending, no neat resolution, when Moe bullied Calvin out of his toy truck. But during that two week stretch of Calvin & Hobbes strips from 1989, cartoonist Bill Watterson made a dark but salient point about how unfair life can be. It was a gutsy move, and it resonated with anyone who had a less than idyllic childhood. Calvin said it best: “People who get nostalgic about childhood were obviously never children.”
The first time I watched the 1978 Peanuts special What A Nightmare, Charlie Brown, I was eight and a little scared. The cartoon made a significant impression on me. It was unnerving to see Snoopy whipped, starved, pelted with produce, and drowned. Dream sequence or not, that’s heavy shit.
The first time I watched the 1978 Peanuts special What A Nightmare, Charlie Brown, I was eight and a little scared. The cartoon made a significant impression on me. It was unnerving to see Snoopy whipped, starved, pelted with produce, and drowned. Dream sequence or not, that’s heavy shit.
Back in the mid to late-90’s, Naomi Chiba expressed her die-hard Nintendo fan love in the pages of Nintendo Power magazine. And many young Nintendo fans, myself included, looked forward to seeing her latest drawings.