characters of peanuts comic sitting around rectangular table with food on it; yellow, red and orange circles with question marks surround them

Photo Collage: MOA Staff; (Source: Allstar Picture Library Limited/Alamy Stock Photo)

It’s a ‘Peanuts’ Quiz, Charlie Brown

How well do you know Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the rest of the gang?

Matt Alderton,

AARP

Published November 02, 2023

10 Questions

Every year, Americans celebrate Thanksgiving with turkey, pumpkin pie and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, the classic animated TV special based on Charles Schulz’s popular Peanuts comic strip. Originally aired in 1973, the time-honored holiday tradition is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. To mark the occasion, give thanks for Charlie Brown and his friends by taking our quiz — then stream A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving on Apple TV+.

It’s a ‘Peanuts’ Quiz, Charlie Brown

[ {
 "question" : "True or false: There’s an entire museum dedicated to Peanuts history.\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "True",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "False",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "The Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, California, opened in 2002, two years after Schulz’s death in 2000. It’s home to the world’s largest collection of original Peanuts artwork, a re-creation of Schulz’s art studio, a theater that plays Peanuts animated specials and a room where visitors can draw their own comics.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "Which Peanuts character is based on creator Charles Schulz?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Charlie Brown",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "Linus",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Lucy",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Snoopy",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "“Each of the characters represents a piece of our dad,” Schulz’s son Craig told author Jerry Schmitz in his 2015 book The Art and Making of the Peanuts Movie. “Charlie Brown was his real self, while Snoopy was what he wanted to be.” And yet, Schulz isn’t Charlie Brown’s namesake. Rather, it’s Charlie Francis Brown, a friend Schulz met while they were colleagues at a correspondence school for aspiring cartoonists.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "True or false: Charles Schulz chose the name Peanuts because his comic strips provided bite-sized humor that was snackable, like nuts.\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "True",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "False",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "In the 1940s, Schulz created a Peanuts precursor called Li’l Folks. In 1950, he accepted an offer to syndicate it, but because there were two other comics with similar names, the syndicate renamed Schulz’s strip Peanuts — which was a common term for children at the time. Schulz was not a fan of the new name: “I wanted a strip with dignity and significance. ‘Peanuts’ made it sound too insignificant,” Schulz told Time magazine in 1965.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "Charlie Brown’s best friend, Linus, carries around what item?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "A pacifier",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "A pillow",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "A blue blanket",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "A teddy bear",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "Linus van Pelt didn’t appear in the comic until 1952, and he didn’t have a speaking line until two years later. Today, however, Lucy’s little brother is instantly recognizable thanks to the blanket that he always carries. According to Merriam-Webster, Charles Schulz helped popularize the term “security blanket,” which evolved its modern meaning in 1954 — the same year Linus was first seen holding his blanket.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "True or false: Martin Luther King Jr. inspired Franklin, the first Black Peanuts character.\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "True",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "False",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "Schulz created the first Black character following the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Shortly after that fateful day, a white school teacher wrote to Schulz asking him to create a character of color. Schulz was receptive but worried he might come off as condescending to Black families. The teacher subsequently engaged two Black friends to help brainstorm. They sent Schulz their ideas, and in July 1968 he introduced Franklin as Charlie Brown’s newest friend.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "What is the ’60s-inspired name of Snoopy’s yellow-feathered best friend?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Apollo",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Lennon",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Kennedy",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Woodstock",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "Schulz often named characters after people in his life. Lucy, for example, was named after a friend he played bridge with, and Schroeder was named for a boy he used to caddy with at a golf course in St. Paul, Minnesota. There’s at least one exception, however: Woodstock, who was named for the famous 1969 music festival. Schulz reportedly didn’t care for rock music but thought it would be a fun reference “for people who like that sort of thing.”\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "Charlie Brown’s sister, Sally, has a crush on which character?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Schroeder",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Franklin",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Linus",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "Shermy",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "Opinionated, inquisitive and just a little bit nihilistic — her life philosophy is “Who cares?” — Sally Brown is full of questions. One thing she’s certain of, however, is her love for Charlie’s best friend, Linus, whom she calls her “Sweet Babboo.” The pet name, which dates back to a 1977 Peanuts comic strip, was inspired by a term of endearment that Schulz’s wife, Jean, used for him.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "True or false: Schulz named the character&nbsp;Peppermint Patty after his favorite candy treat, which he ate every day.&nbsp;\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "True",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "False",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "It’s often assumed that Peppermint Patty Reichardt (yes, she has a surname) was named for the York Peppermint Pattie, or perhaps the other way around. As it turns out, there’s no clear connection between the character and the confection, which was invented in 1940 but didn’t become nationally distributed until 1975 — nine years after Schulz introduced Peppermint Patty.&nbsp;Schulz is quoted as saying, &quot;I got the idea for her name after looking at a dish of candy on my desk,&quot; but he doesn't specify the type of candy.&nbsp; It's also been reported that the genesis of the name was a beloved cousin of Schulz’s named Patricia.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "Snoopy has a painting by what famous artist hanging in his doghouse?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Claude Monet",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Pablo Picasso",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Vincent van Gogh",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "Andy Warhol",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "Schulz first drew Snoopy’s doghouse in 1951. Although he never drew the interior in a comic strip, over the years he revealed many of the objects that were supposedly inside it, including books, records, a pool table and — most famously — an original painting by Vincent van Gogh. When fans finally saw the inside of Snoopy’s doghouse for the first time in the 1981 animated special It’s Magic, Charlie Brown, lo and behold: The painting was there.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "Charlie Brown famously has an unrequited crush on a girl with what color hair?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Brown",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Black",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Blonde",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Red",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "Based on a real-life redhead Charles Schulz once dated — Donna Johnson, who ultimately rejected Schulz for another man — the “Little Red-Haired Girl” made her debut in 1961 and was never named or fully seen in the comic strip. Fans did eventually meet her, however, in the 1977 animated special It’s Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown. Not only did the animators show her face, but they also gave her a name: Heather.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
} ]

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It’s a ‘Peanuts’ Quiz, Charlie Brown

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Matt Alderton has written about everything from classic cars and climate change to farming robots and fighter jets for publications such as USA Today, The Washington Post and Forbes. Originally from Denver, which boasts 300 days of sunshine a year, he now resides in Chicago, which boasts three. You can reach him on his website, MattAlderton.com.