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Bill Watterson on Charles Schulz and Peanuts.


Creator of Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson, reviews the new Charles Schulz biography in the Wall Street Journal:
It's a strange and interesting story, and Mr. Michaelis, the author of a 1998 biography of artist N.C. Wyeth, paces the narrative well, offering many insights and surprising events from Schulz's life. Undoubtedly the most fascinating part of the book is the juxtaposition of biographical information and reproduced "Peanuts" strips. Here we see how literally Schulz sometimes depicted actual situations and events. The strips used as illustrations in "Schulz and Peanuts" are reproduced at eye-straining reduction and are often removed from the context of their stories, but they vividly demonstrate how Schulz used his cartoons to work through private concerns. We discover, for example, that in the recurring scenes of Lucy annoying Schroeder at the piano, the crabby and bossy Lucy stands in for Joyce [Schulz's first wife], and the obsessive and talented Schroeder is a surrogate for Schulz.
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  1. Unknown25/11/07 10:06 am

    You might enjoy this audio interview with “Schulz and Peanuts” biographer David Michaelis (with transcription).
    Bob Andelman
    Author
    Will Eisner: A Spirited Life
    http://www.aspiritedlife.com/blog/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ted Mahsun26/11/07 2:59 am

    Hey Bob, thanks for dropping by. I'll be sure to check your interview out.

    ReplyDelete

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