Linus Van Pelt

Linus Van Pelt is a fictional character in Charles M. Schulz’s comic strip Peanuts. He is the best friend of Charlie Brown, the younger brother of Lucy Van Pelt, and the older brother of Rerun Van Pelt. His first appearance was on September 19, 1952, but he was not mentioned by name until three days later. He was first referred two months earlier, on July 14. Linus spoke his first words in 1954, the same year he was first shown with his security blanket. Linus is named after Schulz's friend Linus Maurer.^[1]

Linus Van Pelt
Peanuts character
First appearance	Peanuts July 14, 1952 (first mention) September 19, 1952 (debut)
Last appearance	February 13, 2000 (comic strip)
Created by	Charles M. Schulz
Voiced by	Various voice actors See below
In-universe information
Gender	Male
Family	Rerun Van Pelt (younger brother) Lucy Van Pelt (older sister) Unnamed blanket-hating grandmother Unnamed parents Marian (aunt) Felix Van Pelt (paternal grandfather)

The character's creator, Charles M. Schulz, has said of the character, "Linus, my serious side, is the house intellectual; bright, well-informed which, I suppose, may contribute to his feelings of insecurity."^[2] Lee Mendelson, producer of the majority of the Peanuts television specials, has said that Linus is his favorite character: "He made sucking your thumb and holding a security blanket OK. I think he's one of the most original fictional characters of all time—blending childish behavior with great wisdom."^[3]

Personality

Though young, Linus is intelligent and wise^[4] and acts as the strip's philosopher and theologian,^[5][6] often quoting the Gospels.^[7] Juvenile aspects of his character are also displayed; for example, Linus is almost always depicted holding his blue security blanket, for which he is often mocked by other characters, and he often sucks his thumb.^[8] Linus is the only member of his group who believes in the Great Pumpkin, an alternative Santa Claus–like figure who, according to Linus, appears every Halloween, arising from the most "sincere" pumpkin patch and bearing gifts. He occasionally temporarily convinced other characters that the Great Pumpkin is real, only to stubbornly maintain his faith when they lose theirs.^[9]

In the strip from June 9, 1986, Linus claims that his birthday is in October.^[10] Lucy gives him a chair for his birthday in the November 22, 1964, Sunday strip.^[11][12]

Appearance

Linus has brown hair and hazel eyes and normally wears a red striped shirt, black shorts, red socks, and dark brown tennis shoes. On February 5, 1962, Linus began wearing eyeglasses after being diagnosed with myopia,^[13] but after the Sunday strip of September 9, 1962, the glasses were not seen again. In an earlier strip of July 17, 1962, Linus had told Charlie Brown that his ophthalmologist said that he may not have to wear his glasses all the time, which thus explains their eventual disappearance.^[14] In a 1985 interview, Schulz said he stopped putting glasses on Linus because it interfered with his expression lines.^[15]

Relationships

Linus looked for an opening to knock out Lucy in a boxing match, but...

...Linus is the loser as Lucy landed the knockout punch instead.

Linus is often bullied by his older sister, Lucy Van Pelt, to which he responds by either giving in or taking revenge. He is Charlie Brown's best friend; Linus became sympathetic towards Charlie Brown and often gave him advice after listening to Charlie Brown's various insecurities.

Upon the introduction of Charlie Brown's little sister, Sally Brown, in 1959, Linus had the desire to marry her. As the strip progressed, he outgrew this idea. Meanwhile, Sally proceeded to fall in love with Linus, calling him her "Sweet Babboo," much to his displeasure. Linus, in turn, has an innocent unrequited love crush on his school teacher, Miss Othmar.

Voiced by

• Christopher Shea (1965–1968)
• Glenn Gilger (1969)
• Stephen Shea (1971–1975)
• Liam Martin (1975–1977)
• Daniel Anderson (1977–1980)
• Rocky Reilly (1980–1983)
• Jeremy Schoenberg (1983–1985)
• David T. Wagner (1984–1985)
• Jeremy Miller (1985–1988)
• Brandon Stewart (1988–1990)
• Josh Keaton (1991)
• John Christian Graas (1992–1993)
• Anthony Burch (1995–1997)
• Corey Padnos (2000–2003)
• Benjamin Bryan (2006)
• Quinn Lord (2008–2009)
• Tyler Kohanek (2009)
• Austin Lux (2011)
• Alexander Garfin (2015)
• Jude Perry (2016)
• Felix Helden (2018–2019)
• Wyatt White (2019–present)

References

1. Schulz, Charles M. (1975). Peanuts Jubilee: My Life and Art with Charlie Brown and Others. Holt, Rinehart and Winston. pp. 81–100. ISBN 978-0030150814.
2. Schulz, Charles M. (February 23, 1980). "What Do You Do with a Dog That Doesn't Talk?". TV Guide: 22–24.
3. Best, Nathan (February 12, 2015). "EXCLUSIVE: Q & A With Charlie Brown's Lee Mendelson". Comic Book Movie. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
4. Mansour, David (2005). From ABBA to Zoom: A Pop Culture Encyclopedia of the Late 20th century. Andrews McMeel Publishing. p. 281. ISBN 0-7407-5118-2.
5. Leaman, Thomas L. (2002). Healing the Anxiety Diseases. Da Capo Press. p. 268. ISBN 0-7382-0873-6.
6. Clayton, Philip (1997). God and Contemporary Science. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. pp. 81. ISBN 0-7486-0798-6.
7. Pendergast, Tom (2000). St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. St. James Press. pp. 25. ISBN 1-55862-404-X.
8. Morrow, Hugh (2000). "The Success of an Utter Failure". In Inge, M. Thomas (ed.). Charles M. Schulz: Conversations. University Press of Mississippi. p. 7.
9. Lind, Stephen J. (2015). A Charlie Brown Religion: Exploring the Spiritual Life and Work of Charles M. Schulz. University Press of Mississippi. pp. 88–89. ISBN 978-1-4968-0469-3. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
10. Schulz, Charles (June 9, 1986). "Peanuts by Charles Schulz for June 09, 1986 | GoComics.com". GoComics. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
11. Schulz, Charles (November 22, 1964). "Peanuts by Charles Schulz for November 22, 1964 | GoComics.com". GoComics. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
12. "The Sacco Armchair, the most revolutionary seat ever". www.finestresullarte.info. February 23, 2023. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
13. Schulz, Charles (February 5, 1962). "Peanuts by Charles Schulz for February 05, 1962". GoComics. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
14. Schulz, Charles (July 17, 1962). "Peanuts by Charles Schulz for July 17, 1962". GoComics. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
15. Schulz, Jean (May 15, 2014). "Linus's Glasses". Charles M. Schulz Museum. Retrieved October 28, 2023.

External links

• The first appearance of Linus Van Pelt in the "Peanuts" comic strip from September 19, 1952.