A Tale of Two Pattys
John A. Merullo
named Peppermint Patty into the strip when there was already a character
named Patty (whom I called "Plain Patty" when I was little). I know the
story about the dish of candy and I most certainly know several
real-life people who share a first name, but it seems to have caused
undue confusion. How many school productions of _You're a Good Man,
Charlie Brown_ have you seen where "Patty" is wearing shorts and sandals?
I think Patty might not have faded into the background so much had she
a different name. For example, Violet appeared a bit more often than
Patty in the later years (although she was often mistaken for Lucy).
On the other hand, Peppermint Patty was a wonderful character too.
Steve Carras
>From: "John A. Merullo" rockh...@ev1.net
>Date: 8/15/02 4:56 PM Pacific Daylight Time
>Message-id: <3D5C3FC3...@ev1.net>
Maybe just "Un"-Peppermint Patty would have been a good name in retrospect.
Violet, her obvious best friend, also receded into the spotlight (as did
Franklin, the first black character in the strip).
===========================================================
"It isn't enough I have to take care of TWO babies!"-from ICE AGE
tc...@lsa.umich.edu
>I know the story about the dish of candy and I most certainly know
>several real-life people who share a first name, but it seems to have
>caused undue confusion.
I imagine Schulz was obeying the following principles:
1. Good ideas are hard to come by; when they arrive serendipitously,
you had better seize them.
2. In the long run you're better off staying loyal to your own artistic
vision and your loyal fan base than trying to cater to the mass of
casual fans, whose tastes are fickle anyway.
The confusion was largely experienced by casual fans, not serious fans.
After all, the two Pattys were quite different-looking and had quite
different personalities.
On the other hand, in the early 1990's when Schulz was resuscitating
Rerun, it was sometimes confusing even to serious fans whether they
were seeing Rerun or Linus. Fortunately there was only a relatively short
period between Rerun's coming off the bicycle and his acquiring overalls.
--
Tim Chow tchow-at-alum-dot-mit-dot-edu
The range of our projectiles---even ... the artillery---however great, will
never exceed four of those miles of which as many thousand separate us from
the center of the earth. ---Galileo, Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences
Covenant
<tc...@lsa.umich.edu> wrote in message news:ajtqde$1l2$1...@galois.mit.edu...
> 2. In the long run you're better off staying loyal to your own artistic
> vision and your loyal fan base than trying to cater to the mass of
> casual fans, whose tastes are fickle anyway.
But what do you do when your *vision* is contrary to the vision of your
loyal fan base??
IE.. Release the full run !!!
;' )
--
Covenant
A Man With Far Too Much Time On His Hands
Steve Carras
seem at least three YEARS OLDER than Charlie brown, who'se eight. Therefore,
given the slight aging olf the children, it wouldn't be long before Patty,
etc. became..gulp, teenagers, which would nagate any possiblity of them
returning later (of course, Schuilz left us two and a half years ago and the
strip is in, no Peanuts character intended, reruns)..but I disgress.
That said, I do fondly recall, Patty, Frieda, and her cat Faron, named for
scountry star Faorn Young, Violet (a snobby Lucy), and Shermy, the very first
character with ANY dialogue in PEANUTS.."Good ole Charlie Brown, oh how I hate
him!":) Shermy was the first long runner to leave, Juune 15, 1969 according to
the FAQ, and Voliet,Frieda, and finally Patty left around that tiume (Frieda's
cat having been removed almost after introduction, since Snoopy became too much
of a real dog because of it..still I recall some very funny stuff with Linus
walking around having to carry Frieda's cat, and finally yelling for Frieda
that she should come and get her stupid cat-Linus's own words, then Linus
realized he just shocked the poor little kitty..:))
Remember the Weber's btread ad when Frieda said it ghave you naturally curly
hair..?:)