Snoopy

Snoopy is the name of Charlie Brown's pet beagle in the long-running comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. more...

Snoopy began his life in the strip as a fairly ordinary dog, but eventually evolved into perhaps the strip's most dynamic character - and arguably the most recognizable comic character in the world. Bill Melendez voiced both Snoopy and Woodstock from 1965 to 2003.

Character

Snoopy first made his appearance on the strip on October 4, 1950, two days after the strip premiered, and was identified by name on Nov. 10, 1950. Schulz was originally going to call him "Sniffy" (as described in 25th anniversary book, "Peanuts Jubilee", (pg. 20)), until he discovered that name was used in a different comic strip. Snoopy was a silent character for the first two years of his existence, but on May 27, 1952 he verbalized his thoughts to readers for the first time via a thought balloon; Schulz would utilize this device for nearly all of the character's appearances in the strip thereafter. In addition to Snoopy's ability to "speak" his thoughts to the reader, many of the human characters in Peanuts have the uncanny knack of reading his thoughts and responding to them.

Curiously, the first time a beagle was mentioned, on Dec. 5, 1960, Snoopy denied being one. As Snoopy dozed, Charlie Brown said, "Beagles on the grass, alas." To this, Snoopy replied, "I ain't no stupid beagle."

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