Snoopy
Character
Snoopy, while born on October 2nd, first made his appearance on the strip on October 4, 1950, two days after the strip premiered and was identified by name on November 10. Schulz was originally going to call him "Sniffy" (as described in 25th anniversary book), until he discovered that name was used in a different comic strip. He changed it to "Snoopy" after remembering that his late mother Dena Schulz had commented that if their family were ever to acquire a third dog, it should be called Snoopi.[2] In earlier strips it is not clear who Snoopy belongs to; for instance in the February 2, 1951 strip, Charlie Brown accuses Snoopy of following him, only to be told by Patty that Snoopy isn't following Charlie Brown but merely lives in the same direction.[3]. Indeed many early strips show Snoopy interacting with Shermy and Patty without Charlie Brown, making Snoopy appear to belong to all of the neighborhood kids, similar to the dog Pete in the Our Gang comedies, who is everyone's dog.
Snoopy, while born on October 2nd, first made his appearance on the strip on October 4, 1950, two days after the strip premiered and was identified by name on November 10. Schulz was originally going to call him "Sniffy" (as described in 25th anniversary book), until he discovered that name was used in a different comic strip. He changed it to "Snoopy" after remembering that his late mother Dena Schulz had commented that if their family were ever to acquire a third dog, it should be called Snoopi.[2] In earlier strips it is not clear who Snoopy belongs to; for instance in the February 2, 1951 strip, Charlie Brown accuses Snoopy of following him, only to be told by Patty that Snoopy isn't following Charlie Brown but merely lives in the same direction.[3]. Indeed many early strips show Snoopy interacting with Shermy and Patty without Charlie Brown, making Snoopy appear to belong to all of the neighborhood kids, similar to the dog Pete in the Our Gang comedies, who is everyone's dog.
Casper
History
Casper was created in the late 1930s by Seymour Reit and Joe Oriolo, the former devising the idea for the character and the latter providing illustrations. Intended initially as the basis for a 1939 children's storybook, there was at first little interest in their idea. When Reit was away on military service during the Second World War before the book was released, Oriolo sold the rights to the book to Paramount Pictures' Famous Studios animation division, for which he had occasionally worked.
The Friendly Ghost, the first Noveltoon to feature Casper, was released by Paramount in 1945 with a few differences from the book. In the cartoon adaptation, Casper is a cute, pudgy ghost-child with a New York accent, who prefers making friends with people instead of scaring them (Casper used to scare people but got tired of it all). He escapes from his home and his brothers and sisters at the Winchester Mystery House and goes out to make friends. However, the animals he meets (a rooster a mole a cat a mouse resembling Herman and Katnip and a group of hens) for some reason take one horrified look at him and run off in the other direction. Distraught over his acquaintant life, Casper unsuccessfully attempts to commit suicide (or at least re-act a wild west film so a friend could rescue him) by laying himself down on a railway track before an oncoming train (apparently forgetting that he's already dead) before he meets two little children named Bonnie and Johnny who become his friends. The children's mother at first is frightend of Casper, but later welcomes him into the family and sends him off with her children to town wearing clothes after he wards off a greedy landlord.
Casper appeared in two more subsequent books by Seymour Reit and Joe Oriolo, There's Good Boos To-Night and A Haunting We Will Go. These were later adapted into Noveltoons before Paramount started a Casper the Friendly Ghost series in 1950, and ran the theatrical releases until the summer of 1959. Nearly every entry in the series was the same: Casper escapes from the afterlife of a regular ghost because he finds that scaring people can be tiresome year after year, tries to find friends but scares nearly everyone due to the random reasons of ghost fears, and finally finds a (cute little) friend, whom he saves from some sort of fate. The cartoon series also boasted a catchy title song which was written by Jerry Livingston and Mack David.
Casper was created in the late 1930s by Seymour Reit and Joe Oriolo, the former devising the idea for the character and the latter providing illustrations. Intended initially as the basis for a 1939 children's storybook, there was at first little interest in their idea. When Reit was away on military service during the Second World War before the book was released, Oriolo sold the rights to the book to Paramount Pictures' Famous Studios animation division, for which he had occasionally worked.
The Friendly Ghost, the first Noveltoon to feature Casper, was released by Paramount in 1945 with a few differences from the book. In the cartoon adaptation, Casper is a cute, pudgy ghost-child with a New York accent, who prefers making friends with people instead of scaring them (Casper used to scare people but got tired of it all). He escapes from his home and his brothers and sisters at the Winchester Mystery House and goes out to make friends. However, the animals he meets (a rooster a mole a cat a mouse resembling Herman and Katnip and a group of hens) for some reason take one horrified look at him and run off in the other direction. Distraught over his acquaintant life, Casper unsuccessfully attempts to commit suicide (or at least re-act a wild west film so a friend could rescue him) by laying himself down on a railway track before an oncoming train (apparently forgetting that he's already dead) before he meets two little children named Bonnie and Johnny who become his friends. The children's mother at first is frightend of Casper, but later welcomes him into the family and sends him off with her children to town wearing clothes after he wards off a greedy landlord.
Casper appeared in two more subsequent books by Seymour Reit and Joe Oriolo, There's Good Boos To-Night and A Haunting We Will Go. These were later adapted into Noveltoons before Paramount started a Casper the Friendly Ghost series in 1950, and ran the theatrical releases until the summer of 1959. Nearly every entry in the series was the same: Casper escapes from the afterlife of a regular ghost because he finds that scaring people can be tiresome year after year, tries to find friends but scares nearly everyone due to the random reasons of ghost fears, and finally finds a (cute little) friend, whom he saves from some sort of fate. The cartoon series also boasted a catchy title song which was written by Jerry Livingston and Mack David.
Eeyore
Eeyore also appears in the Winnie-the-Pooh cartoons which were popularized by Disney studios. In the Disney's cartoon, he was originally voiced by Ralph Wright (who was also a major writer for Disney); his current voice actor is Peter Cullen. In Kingdom Hearts II, he is voiced by Gregg Berger.
Eeyore is often used as a beast of burden in the cartoons, most notably when he was ridden by Rabbit in his search for train "borrowers" in The Tigger Without A Name and The Pooh With A Name. Nearly all of Eeyore's houses in the cartoons have fallen down, been knocked down, or been bounced down. Eeyore is not good at rebuilding the houses; butterflies often knock them down just by landing on them. Yet he soldiers on and rebuilds them time after time. Despite his depressive nature, Eeyore is capable of great compassion, which is shown when he grows a plant that Rabbit, a master gardener, was unable to grow, just by showing the plant a little love.
Eeyore has also been featured in a number of movies: Piglet's Big Movie, The Tigger Movie and Pooh's Heffalump Movie. He appears at the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts for meet and greets. His catchphrases are "Thanks for noticin' me" and "Ohhh-kayyy."
In merchandise by The Walt Disney Company, Eeyore sometimes has an uncharacteristic smile. Also, he is somewhat less caustic and sarcastic in the Disney version than in A. A. Milne's original stories. His tail was not always fixed to him by a drawing-pin, although Disney has chosen this as part of his permanent image. Eeyore lost his tail in one of Milne's stories. Owl found it and used it as a bell pull for his door, before Winnie-the-Pooh found it for Eeyore. Christopher Robin then pinned it back on. According to Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, this was possible because Eeyore is full of sawdust. Also, when Eeyore appears in animation he is colored his natural grey, though he is colored blue with a pink muzzle in merchandising.
The difference between Milne's and Disney's portrayals of Eeyore may be due to a difference between British and American culture. The original Eeyore is very British, embodying as he does a mixture of pessimism, stoicism, sarcasm and cynicism, all qualities common to the stereotypical British character. Moreover he expresses these attitudes in dry, deadpan humour, again typically British. In her book Watching the English, author Kate Fox lists "Eeyorishness" as a fundamental English characteristic. This characteristic can be found in the Disney version of Rabbit.
Eeyore is often used as a beast of burden in the cartoons, most notably when he was ridden by Rabbit in his search for train "borrowers" in The Tigger Without A Name and The Pooh With A Name. Nearly all of Eeyore's houses in the cartoons have fallen down, been knocked down, or been bounced down. Eeyore is not good at rebuilding the houses; butterflies often knock them down just by landing on them. Yet he soldiers on and rebuilds them time after time. Despite his depressive nature, Eeyore is capable of great compassion, which is shown when he grows a plant that Rabbit, a master gardener, was unable to grow, just by showing the plant a little love.
Eeyore has also been featured in a number of movies: Piglet's Big Movie, The Tigger Movie and Pooh's Heffalump Movie. He appears at the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts for meet and greets. His catchphrases are "Thanks for noticin' me" and "Ohhh-kayyy."
In merchandise by The Walt Disney Company, Eeyore sometimes has an uncharacteristic smile. Also, he is somewhat less caustic and sarcastic in the Disney version than in A. A. Milne's original stories. His tail was not always fixed to him by a drawing-pin, although Disney has chosen this as part of his permanent image. Eeyore lost his tail in one of Milne's stories. Owl found it and used it as a bell pull for his door, before Winnie-the-Pooh found it for Eeyore. Christopher Robin then pinned it back on. According to Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, this was possible because Eeyore is full of sawdust. Also, when Eeyore appears in animation he is colored his natural grey, though he is colored blue with a pink muzzle in merchandising.
The difference between Milne's and Disney's portrayals of Eeyore may be due to a difference between British and American culture. The original Eeyore is very British, embodying as he does a mixture of pessimism, stoicism, sarcasm and cynicism, all qualities common to the stereotypical British character. Moreover he expresses these attitudes in dry, deadpan humour, again typically British. In her book Watching the English, author Kate Fox lists "Eeyorishness" as a fundamental English characteristic. This characteristic can be found in the Disney version of Rabbit.
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