Peanut Creator Charles Schulz Hated this Award-Winning Comic Strip
Renownedly not a fan of overtly political comedy, Peanut creator Charles Schulz developed a strong dislike for the modern strip Garry Trudeau's Doonesbury. Trudeau's strip was in more respects than one the complete opposite of Peanuts. Although the two kept a friendly professional connection, Schulz was strongly against the substance of Doonesbury, therefore creating a clear difference in the careers of the two powerful artists.
Scholar Blake Scott Ball claims that whereas Doonesbury was purposefully of the moment, Garry Trudeau created his comic in reaction to the period and location of its production, Charles Schulz intended to convey the "timeless" and "eternal" features of childhood. Both methods created legendary works spanning decades; Peanuts ran nonstop for fifty years until Schulz's death, while Doonesbury is still published today, more than half a century following its newspaper debut. Examining the variations in Schulz and Trudeau's techniques provides an interesting window into how both creators' comics connected with readers.
Diametrically Opposed To Garry Trudeau's "Doonesbury" Charles Schulz's "Peanuts
Doonsbury and Peanuts represent two sides of an ongoing artistic argument with everything but a simple solution.
Academic Blake Scott Ball deftly argues in his book Charlie Brown's America: The Politics of Peanuts that Charles Schulz's longrunning Comic Strip included more of the author's politics than most readers – and the artist himself – acknowledged throughout Peanuts' publication. Ball discussed Schulz's view on the explicitly political comic strip Doonesbury in an essay taken from the book released online, noting:
Artistic opposites were Charles Schulz and Garry Trudeau.
Though they had somewhat different ideas about comedy, it seems [Charles Schulz and Garry Trudeau] kept at least a professional contact.
Garry Trudeau, born in 1948, was just two years old when Peanuts first came out. Two decades of Peanuts had been a mainstay of the comic section by the time Doonesbury started showing up in newspapers. They coexisted for the rest of the 20th century; one could consider them as the two extreme points of the Comic Strip continuum. Although Charles Schulz might not have valued Doonesbury's approach to humor, Trudeau was more enthusiastic about Peanuts's impact on the medium.
Charles Schulz Could Not Avoid Dating His Comic Completely
Still as vital as ever is the argument of whether art should aim to be timeless or record the moment of its production. As it happens, in that struggle of artistic viewpoints, Doonesbury and Peanut are two ideal surrogates.
As author Blake Scott Ball pointed out in his piece, Charles Schulz could not totally ignore politics, culture, and the odd outmoded reference. Like any continuing story, Peanuts changed over the years to subtly but importantly represent the development in American society. Although Schulz's Peanuts whispered softly and Garry Trudeau's Doonesbury yelled, both writers clearly had something to say, something that readers would have gravitated toward. Although modern readers may have distinct experiences going back to each comic, both will somewhat reflect the age they were created in.
Peanuts Against Doonesbury: Two Sides of a Coin
Gary Trudeau started Doonesbury in the fall of 1970 as Schulz observed the [twenty] anniversary of Peanuts. Like Peanuts previously had spoken to the alienated and unhappy 1950s, a comic strip full of unapologetic, cold sarcasm became the voice of a new, more openly political generation.
Schulz hated Doonesbury, quite understandably. Apart from seeming unprofessional and blatantly insulting, Trudeau's work, according to the aged cartoonist, hinged on what Schulz thought to be the least enduring and cheapest sort of humor: political criticism. This is important mostly because of how it views the relative popularity of Doonesbury and Peanuts. Ball claims that Charles Schulz really hated Doonesbury, although this was driven by a more abstract unfavorable view of political humor. Critics in the 1970s disagreed with Schulz's viewpoint, yet just five years after it first came out, Doonesbury received the Pulitzer Prive for Editorial Cartooning for its social commentary. That again, fifty years later, Doonesbury is not fixed in the public imagination to any degree matching Peanut's continuing appeal. Stated differently, Doonesbury and Peanuts represent two sides of an ongoing artistic dispute with everything but a simple solution.
Peanut and Doonesbury's Lasting Effects
The main difference between Doonesbury and Peanuts is essentially that Garry Trudeau gave readers the chance to explore the reality of adulthood while Charles Schulz offered them an escape into an endless childhood. Both fulfilled the essential creative need of demonstrating to the audience that they are not alone and providing brief respite from the tension and annoyance of life. Though each executed things remarkably differently, both considered Charles Schulz's opinions about Doonesbury and performed quite successfully.
Though Charles Schulz hated political comedy, Garry Trudeau's popularity with Doonesbury proved there was demand for it; at the same time, Peanuts' compounding generational appeal confirmed Schulz's approach to his own work was appealing. Both still have humor for modern readers, and the argument on whether art should aim to be timeless or if it should record the moment of its production is still as vital as ever. As it happens, two ideal representatives in that struggle of artistic viewpoints are Doonesbury and Peanuts.
Peanuts and Doonesbury: Their Legacy
Designed by Charles M. Schulz, Peanuts is a multimedia property starting as a comic strip in the 1950s and finally encompassing movies and a television series. Following the daily exploits of the Peanuts gang—with Charlie Brown and his dog Snoopy in the center—peanuts depicts Apart from the 2015 movie, the franchise runs multiple Holiday specials on U.S. Television over the suitable seasons.
The field of comic strips has been considerably changed by Doonesbury. Readers have been captivated by the strip for more than five decades thanks in great part to its clever dialogue, keen social satire, and consistent cast of characters. Examining a broad spectrum of subjects and issues, from the Vietnam War to the contemporary political scene, it has shaped generations of cartoonists. The Pulitzer Prize-winning Doonesbury has been praised for its intelligence, humor, and its ability to engage readers on a political, social, and cultural level. Doonesbury is evidence of the ability of the comic strip to impact and delight viewers as well as to be a social criticism tool.
