[Groop]Cartoon show....

Ugly Person msudol0928 at rogers.com
Wed Mar 19 09:34:12 PST 2003


----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark Evanier" <mail at evanier.com>
To: <groop at groo.com>
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2003 1:01 PM
Subject: Re: [Groop]Cartoon show....


>ME: Well, for what it's worth, my sources were Charles Schulz and his
>producer, Lee Mendelson.

I never disputed that.  Somehow, I'm surprised, though. No offense.  But to
me, the lowly reader, Sparky (and Sergio for that matter) are like the
"gods" of cartooning and while I never spoke (emailed) either, I'm still in
awe to realize somebody has met one of them, never mind BOTH.

>Mr. Schulz always retained a creator's right to change his mind and
>act on hunches.  He sometimes made a certain decision and then, a few
>years or months later, would decide to do the opposite.

I suppose I'm just resistant to change sometimes when I am used to a certain
format.  I know some things are inevitable. Like when Alan Reed died.
Despite his replacement, I think his name is Henry Corden or something, as
far as I was concerned, Fred Flintstone was dead.  Some things are not quite
the same.  I suppose there are exceptions. Digging through archives that
date back way before my time, I realize that Snoopy didn't originally walk
like a human, etc.

>Here's one example.  Snoopy never had a voice apart from Bill Melendez
>making little squealing sounds.  At one point, Schulz saw one of those
>Teddy Ruxpin dolls where a stuffed toy tells stories to kids.  He
>decided he liked the idea of Snoopy telling stories to children, so he
>decided that Snoopy could have a voice.  Actors were auditioned for
>the role and one (no one you ever heard of) was selected.  Then Schulz
>changed his mind and decided Snoopy shouldn't talk.

Amen to that.  Sorry, but Snoopy got his point across quite well to readers
and viewers without saying a word so I'm glad that didn't change.

>A year or three later, Schulz was discussing a TV project (a proposed
>Snoopy animated Saturday morning series) then Schulz
>changed his mind again.  No voice.  The cartoon was abandoned.

Aguably pure genius on his part.  For some of us he did fine not saying any
more than Rufferto.

>Creator-control does not mean a creator makes up his mind and never
>deviates.  It means the creator makes the decisions and, as things
>evolve and projects change, the decisions can change.

Although sometimes winning formulas shouldn't be messed with.





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