Peanuts by the numbers

My focus is, and always will be, on Peanuts as a work of art. I draw interest and amusement from how that work of art is presented commercially.

But it’s also a matter of business, and not a small business at that. So images like this one being distributed by the new purchaser of much of the Peanuts rights is an interesting reminder of that other end of things… the end that in many ways makes the ongoing presentation of the art possible, but seems so removed from the heart of it. I flinch a bit when 2/3s of the images shown are from the recent Peanuts movie, rather than things drawn by Schulz (and I say that with much respect for the careful effort the moviemakers did indeed put it.)

But none of this gets in the way of the fact that the strip continues to be available to be read, and that interesting things inspired from it continue to be produced.

Click to enlarge.
New releases
Double Love

Simon Spotlight has dropped two books for the Valentine’s Day Shopping Season, and they’re pretty similar. Love is Everywhere, Snoopy! is a board book that is supposed to be Charlie Brown explaining love to Snoopy (who is said to have asked, which raises the usual how-does-Snoopy-communicate-to-Charlie-Brown question.) Charlie Brown answers …

New releases
“Books”

My grocery shopping today landed me two new Peanuts “books”. The more bookish of the two is the latest edition of The Great Big Book of Peanuts Word Seeks, volume 5 to be precise, which as I’ve mentioned before I’ll allow to qualify as a book… particularly because it not …

Schulz/Peanuts news
New Peanuts podcast

Peanuts fans have had a number of podcasts to listen to over the years. Currently, there’s Unpacking Peanuts (working its way through the Peanuts canon four months per episode), Talking Nuts (working its way through the canon one month per episode), and It’s a Podcast, Charlie Brown (focused on, but …