R.I.P. Bill Melendez
Bill Melendez, the animator who brought the Peanuts characters to screens big and small, turning out some of the most beloved cartoons, passed away yesterday, at 91. I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Melendez on a couple occasions. He was happy, friendly, and even in his later years, an …
A leather-bound pumpkin
For those of you who like throwing the big bucks at the fancy editions of Peanuts books, Easton Press now has turned their leather-binding, gold-stamping equipment on It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown: The Making of a Television Classic. It’ll run you about $80. Like all Easton Press editions, it’s …
Amazon policy change
Word is getting out about an Amazon policy change that’s about to hit, and I wanted to be clear about what this change is… and more vitally, what it isn’t. Amazon is eliminating their 30-day price guarantee. Up until now, if you ordered something, Amazon shipped it, and a couple …
Peanuts holiday boxed set
If you’re looking forward to the new Peanuts DVDs, get the boxed set. Not only do you get three DVDs (A Charlie Brown Christmas, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, and It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown) for about $10 less than buying them separately, you also get them weeks before a …
Buy Willie, Get Joe For Free
You know that big, two-volume hardcover boxed set of Willie & Joe you’ve been lusting after? The one with all those great World War II cartoons by Bill Mauldin, the very same cartoonist that Snoopy used to quaff root beers with each Veterans’ Day? And you look at the $65 …
How old is Linus?
Well, we know he’s at least three years old. Why do I say that? Well, I just got the new box “kit” set Linus Learns to Share. And as the cover points out, the book includes Linus’s blanket. And according to another part of the cover… …this is a choking …
Snoopy in the air, on the air
My pal Scott McGuire notes that CBS is about to reair a one-hour documentary about Snoopy. No, not the dog himself… the blimp, Met Life’s “Snoopy One”. The title is The Best Shot in Golf, and it airs Saturday daytime on CBS. Check your local listings.
Peanuts on DVD and the campaign trail
Taking advantage of the election season, the folks at Warner Home Video are moving the TV special You’re Not Elected Charlie Brown from its former role as the second feature on Great Pumpkin DVDs to its own lead role on a DVD that comes out in early October. Taking the …
That Racer X Illustrated piece
Well, I’ve got my hands on the Peanuts-covered issue of Racer X Illustrated which I mentioned earlier. It’s apparently not on the stands quite yet — I checked my local Borders yesterday, and they still had copies of the previous issue out (which means that the next issue should be …
Fawcett Crest research
I’ve heard from someone who is eager to get deep into the nitty-gritty of the publishing history of the Fawcett Crest Peanuts books – getting the public dates of each printing of each book, perhaps the print run, that sort of detail. If anyone out there has already done such …