Schulz on PBS American Masters

[Brandon Hanvey]

Did anyone watch this PBS documentary?

I thought it was pretty well done. It mostly focused on Schulz's life and how he was a very private man even when it came to his family and children. It also focused on the themes of the sadness/melancholy in Peanuts and how it mirrored Schulz's life.

The interview Al Roker did near the end of Schulz's life is really heartbreaking. Schulz knew he was going to die, and he was talking about ending the strip and he just breaks down.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/schulz_c.html

[Ed Cunard]

Did anyone watch this PBS documentary?

I thought it was pretty well done. It mostly focused on Schulz's life and how he was a very private man even when it came to his family and children. It also focused on the themes of the sadness/melancholy in Peanuts and how it mirrored Schulz's life.

The interview Al Roker did near the end of Schulz's life is really heartbreaking. Schulz knew he was going to die, and he was talking about ending the strip and he just breaks down.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/schulz_c.html

Crap. I forgot this was airing. Busy month--I hope I'll be able to catch a rebroadcast.

EDIT: Yep, it looks like I'll be able to catch it this weekend.

[Kan-Man]

I'm a huge Peanuts fan but was reluctant to watch the special and read the new biography after reading the comments from his family. I think it's fairly obvious from reading the strips that there was an undertone of sadness throughout some of his best material, I just didn't want to be left with an overly negative view of him and his work.

Did you feel it was a balanced portrayal or was it as negative as his family suggested?

[Ryan K]

I watched it; thought it was OK. The pacing was really slow, and quite boring. I could have done without the real life images of things that look like famous Peanuts images like Snoopy's dog house.

Maybe part of my boredom was just because I'm reading the biography at the moment and there was a lot of overlap. Especially with the Citizen Kane parallels and using Peanuts strips to mirror and illustrate Schulz's life.

The Al Roker clip was fantastic though, and I always love watching cartoonists draw so the footage of Schulz drawing was fascinating.

I do think the book and the TV special do focus a little too much on the sadness of Schulz, but at the same time I haven't seen the family dispute it as much as just say that that wasn't ALL there was to Schulz. But I certainly haven't come away from either with a negative view of Schulz or Peanuts. He was a flawed man and both projects look into that and theorize how that affected his work (especially the book). Too negative? I don't think so. Too one sided? I can see that.

The TV special made me care less about what the kids think. The daughter that was interviewed seemed to have a HUGE chip on shoulder and seemed to really resent Schulz and the way he treated his first wife. And the two boys struck me as having some heavy rose-tinted glasses on when it came to their father (which is to be expected). All 3 were just slightly . . . odd. Plus I usually tend to side with the biographer when the subject's family becomes outraged in these sorts of things.

[Kan-Man]

I watched it; thought it was OK. The pacing was really slow, and quite boring. I could have done without the real life images of things that look like famous Peanuts images like Snoopy's dog house.

Maybe part of my boredom was just because I'm reading the biography at the moment and there was a lot of overlap. Especially with the Citizen Kane parallels and using Peanuts strips to mirror and illustrate Schulz's life.

The Al Roker clip was fantastic though, and I always love watching cartoonists draw so the footage of Schulz drawing was fascinating.

I do think the book and the TV special do focus a little too much on the sadness of Schulz, but at the same time I haven't seen the family dispute it as much as just say that that wasn't ALL there was to Schulz. But I certainly haven't come away from either with a negative view of Schulz or Peanuts. He was a flawed man and both projects look into that and theorize how that affected his work (especially the book). Too negative? I don't think so. Too one sided? I can see that.

The TV special made me care less about what the kids think. The daughter that was interviewed seemed to have a HUGE chip on shoulder and seemed to really resent Schulz and the way he treated his first wife. And the two boys struck me as having some heavy rose-tinted glasses on when it came to their father (which is to be expected). All 3 were just slightly . . . odd. Plus I usually tend to side with the biographer when the subject's family becomes outraged in these sorts of things.

I've seen a few interviews with Schulz in the past (a pretty good 60 Minutes profile comes to mind) and it was pretty obvious there was a sadness there. I'm just a little wary of celebrity bios because some of them are just real hatchet jobs. Not saying this one is, just explaining my reluctance to read it.

These American Masters specials are sort of hit or miss - the subject matter is usually top-notch but depending on the filmmaker, the results are mixed.

[Rob Allen]

For those who might not have seen this in my "fun links of the day" thread, here is a message board discussion that includes Schulz' children:

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/books/more-on-the-schulz-book

[devildinosaur]

I'm a huge Peanuts fan but was reluctant to watch the special and read the new biography after reading the comments from his family. I think it's fairly obvious from reading the strips that there was an undertone of sadness throughout some of his best material, I just didn't want to be left with an overly negative view of him and his work.

Did you feel it was a balanced portrayal or was it as negative as his family suggested?

I'm reluctant to read the biography for another reason: There's quite a bit of stuff in it about his life which I, as a Peanuts fan, don't need to know to enjoy his work. I was, however, sad to read a few tidbits about his life in a article about the biography. Oh, well.