Forest Lawn Museum Celebrates the Football Legacy of Charlie Brown and 'Peanuts'

Good grief! Timed to the Super Bowl earlier this month, the Forest Lawn museum in Glendale has entered the funny pages. The short term exhibit Pigskin: Peanuts takes a look at the football legacy of the long-running "Peanuts" comic strip. Between 1950 and 2000 (when creator Charles Schulz died), sports was a big part of the lives of Charlie Brown and the gang. Perhaps better known for its focus on baseball, nonetheless football also made an annual appearance in the strip — most memorably, of course, when Lucy would promise not to lift the ball before he had the chance to kick it.

Of course, much like the futility of some things in life, Lucy would always pull it, and Charlie would always end up flying through the air and landing on his back.

Per the museum: "The 50 Sunday and daily strips in this exhibition demonstrate the fun Charles Schulz had with the sport of football and explore his wonderful world of Pigskin Peanuts. Visitors will also enjoy viewing football themed Peanuts objects and ephemera; dressing up in the team locker room; taking a photo-op on a football trading card; and trying their own hand at “pulling the football” from Charlie Brown."

Hurry — the exhibit ends on March 15. As always, admission and parking are free. Some pics from our recent visit:

Peanuts' Lucy and Her Magazine of Choice

From "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown," which re-airs this Thursday at 8 pm on ABC: Lucy, reading a large-sized TV Guide (minus the famous logo, however)!

Happy Easter!

As I post this, Evan and I actually are watching the entire "It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown" special on DVD (or, as I mentioned the other day, "the Easter Bagel").

The Easter Bunny hit our home last night and left the BT a small toy plane and some Easter eggs filled with jellybeans. He also left a note.

One of the things that always left me suspicious as a child regarding Santa and the Easter Bunny: Their notes were always written in the EXACT same handwriting as my parents. I still remember how much that bugged me. So last night, I made sure to scrawl the Easter bunny's note with my right hand. Sure, it looks like the scrawlings of a 4 year-old, but no one said the Easter Bunny had good penmanship. (He has no opposable thumbs, after all.)

P.S.: My big problem with "It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown" are the scenes with Marcie and Peppermint Patty. As we know from years of comics, Marcie is supposed to be the smarter one. Sure, Peppermint Patty has street smarts, but Marcie's no dummy. So why is it Marcie who can't figure out that eggs are meant to be boiled?

It's the Easter Bagel, Blogger Toddler

Ever since we visited the Charles Schulz/Peanuts museum in Santa Rosa last fall, Evan has been a Charlie Brown and Snoopy fan. Having recently watched "It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown," the BT has been asking to watch it again. But then, again, he's been asking to see the "Easter Bagel," so he may have something entirely different in mind.

Good Griefing It At The "Peanuts" Museum

Charlie Brown welcomes you.

Growing up, I went through my obsessive "Peanuts" phase, collecting the comic strips, stuffed animals, TV specials, etc. Charles Schulz even inspired me to dream of a comic strip career -- too bad I couldn't draw. And let's face it, as a 10 year old, I just wasn't very funny. (Some would argue that hasn't changed. Bastards.)

That's why last month, as we spent a few days up in Santa Rosa, I made sure we stopped by the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center.

You've probably read in recent reviews for the new biography Schulz and Peanuts, which depicts Schulz as a rather bitter figure. I've always figured that Schulz had a glass-half-empty view toward life -- just read the strip! -- so that doesn't really bother me. And indeed, a visit to the museum (built next to the studio where he worked, and the ice rink he erected in the 1970s) shows that Schulz was mostly set in his ways: He ate lunch at the rink snack bar every day, and watched the ice skaters in the afternoon in between drawing that day's strip.

The museum itself is well-done, offering a history of "Peanuts" (a name Schulz always hated -- but his syndicate forced on him) as well as a rotating gallery of strips themed to different topics and events. There are exhibits for kids (including an art room, where young ones can design their own comics), a screening room where "Peanuts" specials are shown, a garden shaped like Snoopy's head, and more.

The visit was well worth the trip. I was amazed at Blogger Toddler, who somehow had figured out already who Charlie Brown and Snoopy were, and who was excited to go see "Snoopy's house." If a 2 1/2-year-old pretty much discovers Charlie Brown and Snoopy just by being alive, then "Peanuts" is truly universal.


Charlie Brown and Snoopy at the entrance


Museum exhibit


Comic strips, even at the bathroom urinal!


Comic strips, turned into a larger Charlie Brown and Lucy mural


Parade of 95 Snoopy "Joe Cools" -- which will be auctioned for charity after being displayed at the museum. (These initially sat in front of businesses this summer around Santa Rosa.)