Peanuts FAQ updates

If you haven't checked out our informative Peanuts FAQ for awhile, now would be an excellent time.

During the past few weeks, we made significant updates to half a dozen sections, and major updates to the sections devoted to theme parks, movies, trading cards, POGs and several sub-sections of music.

We also added two entirely new sections:

• 4.10 How many different roles has Woodstock played? (a nice companion to the preceding section, which discusses Snoopy's many, many roles); and

• 4.21 What are Sally's philosophies? (long overdue!)

By way of example, this is the list of Woodstock's amusing alter-egos:

• A secretary -- 2/19/70 (his first role, when assigned to assist Snoopy, as the newly minted Head Beagle)

• A knight -- 5/12/82

• A scuba diver -- 5/9/83

• A golf caddie -- 8/23/85

• A lawyer -- 11/2/86

• A debonair cabaret dancer -- 12/28/86

• A farmer -- 5/2/87

• A football player -- 11/8/87

• The "Pink Baron" -- 10/7/89

• A shepherd -- 1/20/90

• King of the jungle -- 4/17/90

We'll also call attention here to the section regarding trading cards, because we've been very pleased by recent activity. Cryptozoic Entertainment obviously enjoyed a great response to its first set of Peanuts Playpaks, released at last year's San Diego Comic Con. That Series 1 75 Years tribute delivered a set of 45 cards, a pattern that was echoed in the Series 2 Charlie Brown Christmas set, released last December 10; and the Series 3 Love Me, Love Me Not set, released a few months back, on January 28.

(Looks like they saw us coming...!)

Beagle Scouts fly again

The Beagle Scout Snoopy balloon will return for a third year in the 99th annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, which will air live on NBC-TV from 8:30 a.m. until 12 p.m. ET/PT on Thursday, Nov. 27. 

The parade will begin on Manhattan's Upper West Side, and conclude at Macy's Herald Square flagship store. The parade broadcast also will stream on Peacock, with an encore on NBC-TV at 2 p.m. ET/PT.

The 55-foot tall Beagle Scout Snoopy wears his red Scout tie and green backpack; his pal Woodstock rides on his hat, to join the festivities. This balloon debuted in 2023, to honor the 50th anniversary of the first appearance of Beagle Scouts in the Peanuts newspaper strip.

Snoopy continues to be the longest-running character in the parade’s history.  He started in 1968 as the WWI Flying Ace; this was followed by an Astronaut, Ice Skater, Ice Skater with Woodstock, Millennium Snoopy, an updated Flying Ace, Snoopy and Woodstock, an updated Astronaut, and now (again) Beagle Scout with Woodstock. 

Also for the third year, the Snoopy balloon will be joined by a Peanuts float of Camp Snoopy, with Woodstock and friends perched atop their tent, on the lookout for some wild turkeys. This is the sixth version of a Peanuts float; the first was way back in 1967!

At 8 p.m. the previous evening (Wednesday), NBC-TV and Peacock will air the primetime special Countdown to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. During this live broadcast from the iconic Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade starting line, viewers will get an exclusive first look at the incredible stories behind the floats, balloons and bands, as they prepare to make their way through the streets of New York City.

If you'd like to learn the full history of Peanuts' appearances in the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, check out this earlier post.

The Beagle Scout flies again!

The Beagle Scout Snoopy balloon will return to this year’s Macy’s 98th Annual Thanksgiving Parade.

The parade will air live from 8:30 a.m. until 12 p.m. ET/PT on Thursday, Nov. 28. It will begin on Manhattan's Upper West Side, and conclude at Macy's Herald Square flagship store. The parade broadcast also will stream on Peacock, with an encore on NBC at 2 p.m. ET/PT.

The 55-foot tall Beagle Scout Snoopy wears his red Scout tie and green backpack; his pal Woodstock rides on his hat, to join the festivities. This balloon debuted to honor 2023’s 50th anniversary of the first appearance of Beagle Scouts in the Peanuts newspaper strip.

Snoopy continues to be the longest-running character in the parade’s history.  He started in 1968 as the Flying Ace; this was followed by an Astronaut, Ice Skater, Ice Skater with Woodstock, Millenium Snoopy, an updated Flying Ace, Snoopy and Woodstock, an updated Astronaut, and now (again) Beagle Scout with Woodstock. 

The new Snoopy balloon will be joined by a Peanuts float: Camp Snoopy, with Woodstock and friends perched on top of their tent, on the lookout for some wild turkeys.  This will be the sixth version of the Peanuts float; the first was way back in 1967!

If you want even more Beagle Scout fun following the parade, season 1 of Camp Snoopy is available via subscription on Apple TV+. 

Can Beagle Scouts fly?

(This special post is by 5CP Associate Editor Gayna Lamb-Bang.)

(Amended, to correct two mistakes; note, in particular, the parade start time.)

A new Snoopy balloon and Peanuts float will debut at this year’s 97th annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade

The parade will be televised from 8:30 a.m. to noon November 23rd, all time zones, on NBC-TV and also streaming via Peacock.

The 55-foot tall Beagle Scout Snoopy, wearing his red Scout tie and green backpack, with his pal Woodstock sitting on his hat, will join the festivities. This honors the 50th anniversary of the first appearance of Beagle Scouts in the Peanuts newspaper strip. (Check out the relevant strips below.)

Snoopy continues to be the longest-running character in the parade’s history.  He started in 1968 as the WWI Flying Ace, which was followed by an Astronaut, Ice Skater, Ice Skater with Woodstock, Millennium Snoopy, an updated Flying Ace, Snoopy and Woodstock, an updated Astronaut, and now the Beagle Scout with Woodstock. 

The new Peanuts float will feature Camp Snoopy, with Woodstock and friends perched on top of their tent, on the lookout for some wild turkeys.  

To top it all off, in 2024 Apple TV+ will present more of the Peanuts gang’s adventures, with the premiere of the “Camp Snoopy” series.

Snoopy debuted as an "apprentice Scout" on May 13, 1974

He hoped to become a Beagle Scout the following day...

...and he finally debuted as the World-Famous Beagle Scout on May 17.

A bird by any other name...

Many American newspapers currently have been re-running the lengthy 1972 storyline that begins when Snoopy starts to read Tolstoy’s War and Peace — one word at a time — and climaxes when, after a silly spat with Woodstock, Snoopy bravely hops the fence in order to save his little bird buddy from the vicious cat next door … only to wind up “rescuing” an old yellow glove.

Fellow Peanuts fan Derek Tague just called our attention to an existential hiccup that pops up midway through this sequence, in the strip originally published April 7. (And boy, we love to get mail like this!)

The “cat and dog fight” has drawn the attention of the entire gang, at which point Linus hastily explains that “Snoopy is rescuing Woodstock!”

So … how does Linus know Woodstock’s name?

We take for granted that Snoopy and Woodstock communicate with each other, via thought balloons and chirps, but they certainly don’t talk to people. And it’s not as if Woodstock’s nest is equipped with a mailing label.

We’d be inclined to dismiss this as a single slip on Charles Schulz’s part, except that — as we discovered via some quick research — it happens several more times, with Charlie Brown: in a weeklong January 1973 sequence, when Snoopy gets annoyed after receiving a bill for items he broke during Woodstock’s New Year’s Eve party; when Charlie Brown encourages Snoopy to put an orange in Woodstock’s Christmas stocking (12/23/75); when Charlie Brown chastises Snoopy for getting out of control at another of Woodstock’s New Year’s Eve parties (1/1-3/76); and when Snoopy, traveling to Kansas City, sends Charlie Brown a letter and asks him to say hello to Woodstock (6/22/76).

Although the latter offers an explanation for how Charlie Brown would know Woodstock’s name — rather late in the game — it does beg another question; one is forced to wonder how Snoopy penned this missive.

No doubt there are other examples of Charlie Brown and his friends somehow knowing Woodstock’s identity; we leave their discovery to our readers. Logically, we can assume that word spread after Linus’ initial announcement, but that still doesn’t explain how he found out.

Mention also should be made of 1977’s big-screen film, Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown. Recall that when Woodstock wins the race, he’s honored with a trophy that’s presented to him, by name. Granted, we’ve long insisted that the TV specials and movies are “non-canonical,” but still … it remains part of the same droll mystery.

Was Schulz aware of this delightful anomaly? Did he do it intentionally, or did he not realize the whimsical muddle he made of his own continuity?

We’ll never know…

A History of Peanuts Balloons in the Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

(This special post is by 5CP Associate Editor Gayna Lamb-Bang.)

After watching last year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and anticipating the oversized balloons of our pals Snoopy and Woodstock, I wondered about the Peanuts balloon legacy in this annual celebration.

1968 WWI Flying Ace Snoopy

I quickly discovered that information was both scarce, and frequently inaccurate.

In the interests, then, of providing an authoritative chronology of the association between Macy’s and the Peanuts gang, I spent considerable time researching the topic. The goal was to find and provide an absolutely accurate listing, at all times cross-checked with photos and news coverage from reputable sources.

Let’s start with a few fun facts:

• New York City’s famous Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade began in 1924, complete with live animals borrowed from the Central Park Zoo. Beginning in 1927 — not 1928, as numerous Internet sites incorrectly claim — the live animals were replaced by large balloons designed by famed puppeteer Tony Sarg, and built by Bil Baird. A terrific Smithsonian Magazine article profiled Sarg in November 2013, and the Norman Rockwell Museum mounted a delightful exhibit devoted to him from June 10 through November 5, 2023. In November 2025, CNN updated its terrific decade-by-decade photo gallery of all the balloons ... not to be missed!

• Snoopy, in various personas, has been in this parade more than any other character. 

Newspaper ad for the 1969 parade

• The average height of the large balloons, like our pal Snoopy, is roughly six stories.

• The ground-based balloon handlers must weigh at least 125 pounds.

• For many year's, Macy's promoted the parade with detailed, full-page newspaper ads that sometimes even listed the scheduled balloons and floats.  

• Until 2011, the floats and balloons were built in a former Tootsie Roll factory in Hoboken, New Jersey. The parade construction facility then moved to a larger warehouse in Carlstadt, also in New Jersey. 

• During the very early hours of parade day, everything travels through the Lincoln Tunnel, to get to the parade’s starting point in Manhattan. Once there, the balloons are inflated with a mix of helium and outside air, just a few hours before the parade begins.

• These days, roughly 2 million spectators line the streets of Manhattan, to view the parade. The event lasts approximately three hours, and covers two and a half miles.