Shaun Micallef’s
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What's
happened to Snoopy?
The
Age, Backpage
A
certain fast-food vendor is selling small representations of Snoopy dressed in
various national costumes for $1.20. But there's a catch. You have to buy, and
presumably ingest, some of their food. Though a worldwide campaign, there are
only 21 Snoopy versions on offer, which means that not all the nations are
represented. Where is Latvia Snoopy? Sierra Leone Snoopy? Bougainville Island
Snoopy. Nowhere. It's an outrage, but at least such elitism reduces the number
of meals you have to endure to get the whole set. Although being a bit more
generic would have enabled them to cover a lot more ground. Let's face it,
looking at Third World Snoopy while tucking into a burger would have been
nothing if not ironic.
It wasn't always like
this though. When Snoopy began his life 50 years ago, he was more or less a real
dog. He had a set of dog hind legs and trotted around on all fours, concerning
himself with drinking from his bowl, sitting under the sprinkler, or playing
with a ball. He was supposedly based on Charles M. Schultz's own dog. But over
the years, something quite strange happened to Snoopy. He started sleeping on
top of his kennel. His head grew bigger and he learned how to walk erect. He
began playing tennis and writing manuscripts. He developed an unhealthy
fascination with WWI aircraft. Sometimes he would don a flying helmet and scarf
and pretend to be the Red Baron machine-gunning people. Now, either Schultz was
taking dramatic liberties, or his own dog was on acid. Then Snoopy grew to the
size of his master, Charlie Brown. One can only wonder at the horror Charlie
went through, watching the mutation of his pet over the years. He should have
called the vet. Surely it would have been best to have the poor animal
destroyed.
Cartoon worlds are
supposed to remain fairly constant. The only change in Andy Capp over 40
years was that he gave up smoking. Blondie is still a 1940s housewife.
And Snake Tales is virtually the same every week.
But Snoopy in any form
still appears to be wildly popular. In Hong Kong, thousands of people lined up
for hours to get their greasy fingers on Chinese Snoopy. People were arrested
for fighting and a small child was rushed to hospital after being glassed. Seems
some people will do anything to get a hold of Snoopy, including eating at
McDonalds. Good grief.
Keep your head
still.
Peter Sellers, on being asked to
reveal the secret to a great comic performance.
Jerry Hall. Will judge
the prestigious British literary prize, the Whitbread Book of the Year
award.
nafffact:
Humans are the only animals to sleep on their backs.