I’ll probably weigh in on the controversy over the new Charles Schulz biography once I’ve had a chance to read it. But for now, here’s another Schulz-related item: When I was perusing birthday cards in a Boston CVS recently, I came across this one decorated with images of Charlie Brown and Snoopy as they appeared at the very start of their careers:
This is the only current product I’ve seen with retro Schulz drawings–but I suspect it’s part of an attempt to bring very early Peanuts back into fashion on new merchandise. That makes sense from a business standpoint–presumably, Disney has made hundreds of millions from items using the 1930s version of Mickey Mouse over the past forty years or so. I wouldn’t be startled if the success of the Fantagraphics Complete Peanuts has inspired this revival, and I kind of like it.
But am I wrong in remembering that Charles Schulz wasn’t crazy about his early work–and in fact didn’t even like using that much of it in books about the history of the strip? And if so, how would he feel about 1950 Charlie Brown bumping late-model Charlie Brown off a Hallmark card?