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a14 people & arts
Thursday 4 February 2021

Snoopy shines in Apple TV+ series that’s true to its roots

By MARK KENNEDY very difficult sell.”
AP Entertainment Writer The show still allows Snoopy
NEW YORK (AP) — “Pea- to have his heroic flights
nuts” star Snoopy is famous of fancy — becoming
for being a highly imagina- the famed arm-wrestler
tive dog, liable at to go off Masked Marvel, hipster Joe
on loony flights of fancy. Cool or the dogged World
But, it turns out, his world War I Flying Ace behind en-
has some strict rules. emy lines.
No adults can be heard “Charles Schulz always said
there, just trombones. No he felt most like Charlie
technology past the 1970s Brown — he couldn’t al-
can be used. And under no ways kick the football, he
circumstances may the in- wasn’t always the winner.
side of Snoopy’s doghouse So Snoopy gave that outlet
ever be shown. to dream a little bigger,”
Creators of the new ani- said Betts.
mated series “The Snoopy “Peanuts” made its debut
Show” had to learn and Oct. 2, 1950. The travails of
respect all the rules as they This image released by Apple shows animated characters Snoopy, left, and Woodstock from the the “little round-headed
crafted stories for Apple original series “The Snoopy Show,” premiering Feb. 5 on Apple TV+. kid” Charlie Brown and his
TV+ that were true to the Associated Press pals eventually ran in more
original strips and various Snoopy and Rerun that “It was like, ‘How do you mime and a variety of ex- than 2,600 newspapers,
previous shows. leads to mild injuries and build on what he was trying pressions for the two char- reaching millions of readers
“I think the rules have actu- laughter. to tell the audience in four acters, who yelp, cry, titter in 75 countries.
ally made the story so much Adults will recognize the strips?’ We get seven min- and gulp with powerful Other Peanuts projects that
stronger, to go, ‘How do classic visual style and the utes,” said Betts. emotion. They’re aided by have been launched by
we play in the sandbox?’” world they read as kids: If the writers were intimi- a jazzy score by Jeff Mor- Apple TV+ include “Snoopy
says Stephanie Betts, an Kites still get eaten by trees, dated, so were the art- row. in Space” and “Peanuts in
executive vice president at Lucy’s psychiatric booth still ists, many of whom revere “The Snoopy Show” is a re- Space: Secrets of Apollo
media company WildBrain. costs a nickel and Snoopy “Peanuts.” freshing addition to a chil- 10,” both of which were
“And actually, we realized keeps flying missions on his “One of our storyboard art- dren’s TV landscape that is nominated for Daytime
it was so much wider than doghouse. ists would get nervous ev- full of superheroes and cute Emmy Awards, with the lat-
you can even imagine.” “There’s something to the ery time they had to draw shows where resolutions are ter winning.
The series, which debuts timelessness of Charles Lucy’s psychiatry booth, predetermined. The world One of the more intriguing
Friday, consists of three Schulz’s drawings,” said just because it was this heri- of “Peanuts,” on the other aspects of “The Snoopy
seven-minute vignettes per Mark Evestaff, showrun- tage thing and there’s so hand, explores failure and Show” is that it shows the
23-minute episode. They ner and an executive pro- much weight. Everyone’s a frustration. first time Charlie Brown met
are mined from the almost ducer. “I feel like this is the little bit terrified,” said Eve- “We do have these char- Snoopy, as well as the first
18,000 strips cartoonist kind of show that we need staff. acters that have real prob- time the beagle ever en-
Charles M. Schulz left be- now.” One obstacle was that lems and things don’t al- countered Woodstock.
hind. The series’ writers were Woodstock and Snoopy in ways work out. And they Snoopy is shown as a lonely
It’s an enchanting and each given a large red the strip communicate their deal with issues of rejection puppy inside a barn — the
endearing show; we see volume — nicknamed feelings through thought and failure. Those are things last of the litter to be adopt-
Charlie Brown overcom- “the Snoopy Bible” — that bubbles, something that that our kids deal with, ed — when Charlie Brown
ing his nerves at speaking contained Snoopy-centric doesn’t work in a show. too,” said Evestaff. “I think walks in and hands him a
in front of his class, and an strips, and were told to use That meant the artists had if you were to pitch a show bone, telling him they’re
epic game of tag between them for inspiration. to rely on sounds, panto- like this today, it would be a going to be best friends. q
Young reader’s edition of Michelle Obama’s book out in March

readers edition. It also will coated hard truths or pre- about your own — be-
finally be coming out as a sented their reality as any- cause it’s the most beauti-
paperback, more than two thing other than what it ful gift you’ll ever have.”
years after it was first pub- was — because they knew The paperback edition also
lished. “Becoming” has sold we could handle it. I want features a new introduc-
more than 10 million copies to give you all that same re- tion by the author, along
worldwide. spect,” she writes. with a book club guide.q
Both books are scheduled “So my promise to you is
for March 2. The young to give you my story in all
readers edition is for ages its messy glory — from the
10 and up and includes time I struggled in front of 1 7 4 8 5 2 9 3 6
a new introduction from my kindergarten class, to 5 9 6 1 7 3 8 4 2
Michelle Obama, right, appears with Oprah Winfrey to discusses Obama. my first kiss and the inse- 3 8 2 9 4 6 1 5 7
her book “Becoming” during her book tour in Chicago on Nov. “Growing up on the South curities I felt growing up, to 6 1 3 7 9 5 4 2 8
14, 2018. Side of Chicago in the the chaos of a campaign 8 2 7 6 1 4 3 9 5
Associated Press 1960s and ‘70s, my parents, trail, to the strange experi- 9 4 5 2 3 8 6 7 1 2021 Conceptis Puzzles, Dist. by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
NEW YORK (AP) — Michelle announced Wednesday Fraser and Marian Robin- ence of shaking hands with 7 5 9 3 8 1 2 6 4
Obama’s “Becoming” is that the former first lady’s son, always kept it straight the Queen of England. . . . 4 6 8 5 2 9 7 1 3
heading for new chapters. multimillion-selling memoir with me and my brother, I hope that as you’re read- 2 3 1 4 6 7 5 8 9
Penguin Random House will be released in a young Craig. They never sugar- ing my story, you’ll also think Difficulty Level 2/04