Random Surprising Facts About Peanuts And Its Creator Charles Schulz (20 items)

(#9) Fergie Was A Peanuts Voice Actor

The Charlie Brown animated specials have featured a lot of different voice actors - many of whom went on to become famous for other roles. Musician Fergie, AKA Stacy Ferguson, voiced Sally in Snoopy's Getting Married, Charlie Brown when she was a child; Jodie Sweetin of Full House once had a role, as did Taylor Lautner of Twilight; and so did Elisabeth Moss from Mad Men.
(#4) Charles Schulz Made The "Security Blanket" Popular

The term "security blanket," referring to a fuzzy object a child holds for comfort, was not coined by Schulz, but he is credited with bringing the term to popularity through the character of Linus. When the Oxford Dictionary was about to add "security blanket" as an entry, they wrote to Charles Schulz to ask if he was the first to use the term. Being a nice guy, Schulz declined any credit, responding, "I think that it was the readers who eventually coined the phrase."
(#6) Schulz Despised The Title Of His Comic Strip

The original title of Schulz's comic was Li'l Folks, and it was a one-panel cartoon featuring large-headed versions of Charlie Brown and a few of his friends. Although the strip wasn't successful, Schulz managed to sell it as a series to United Features Syndicate. But because there was already another strip called Little Folks, the editors changed the name to Peanuts. Schulz never liked the new name, once stating, "I wanted a strip with dignity and significance. Peanuts made it sound too insignificant."
(#20) Schulz Was A WWII Veteran, And That Made Its Way Into The Comic

Charles Schulz served in the 20th Armored Infantry Division during World War II, which means he was part of the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp. Shulz paid tribute to D-Day in Peanuts and was even part of planning the national D-Day memorial. He is quoted as once saying: “I think any sensible person with a grasp of history would have to admit that D-Day was the most important day of our century.”
(#8) Charles Schulz Only Took One Real Vacation During His Career

The ultimate hard worker, Schulz's rigid work schedule always kept him three months ahead of publication, but it was also said that he never took a vacation. Only reluctantly would he take more than 10 days off in a row - Schulz didn't even take off work when he had heart surgery. The only time Peanuts strips were ever re-published is when United Features ordered Schulz off for five weeks around his 75 birthday.
(#3) Schulz Created Nearly 18,000 Strips For Peanuts All By Himself

Peanuts was created entirely by Schulz - meaning that he wrote, drew, and inked the entire strip by himself. In 50 years, he created 17,897 Peanuts comic strips and kept a strict 9 to 4 weekday work schedule. As of 2000, the life of Charlie Brown and his friends was being published in 2,600 newspapers, 21 languages, and 75 countries. Syracuse University professor Robert Thompson called Peanuts "arguably the longest story ever told by one human being."