Again this year Macy’s
grand balloon parade was headed by Snoopy, America’s most famous canine. But how did he get to be that way, and why?
When Charles Schultz
created the Peanuts characters, a rather colorless canine he named Snoopy
quickly became the Top Dog. Not willing
to settle for the ordinary life of a yard dog, Snoopy changed the image he and
everyone else had of him. He began
seeing things not as they were but as he wanted them to be.
He
transformed his non-descript doghouse into a showcase for never seen art
treasures. Other times it served as a
fighter plane, the “Sopwith Camel”.
Pictures of Snoopy sleeping on the peaked roof of his dog house, with no
concern for the weather, helped to make him the world’s most recognizable dog.
This canine extraordinaire imagined himself navigating
the globe, and with a little assistance from NASA, Snoopy walked on the moon. We
embraced Snoopy’s zany antics and simple philosophies: “My
life is going too fast…my only hope is that we can go into overtime.”
At whatever he
attempted Snoopy saw himself as “The World’s Best”, and so did we. Much to Charlie Brown’s chagrin, Snoopy was
the best player on his Little League team.
Without
ever uttering a word Snoopy spoke volumes using gestures and expressions; he
communicated with the other Peanuts characters—and us--with thought balloons.
Snoopy’s only real concern seemed to center around his
food, which was usually served late and seldom appeared exciting. Yet he danced exuberantly for that dinner
with anticipation and appreciation. In true dogged fashion Snoopy accepted the
failure of several love affairs by sighing deeply and “going back to
eating”.
Snoopy
was the author of a 227 word novel that never sold, yet achieved world-wide popularity. He developed several alter-ego personalities
like Joe Cool, Vulture, and World War I Flying Ace. When Snoopy declared he would read Tolstoy’s War and Peace-- one word a day –we
decided we could too.
The dog
with no real pedigree became a breed onto himself. He loved everyone and everything, except The
Red Baron and cats! By breaking the
rules of confinement Snoopy captivated our hearts.
In
Snoopy’s world the only Impossible Dream
was one in which he didn’t believe. We fell in love with him because he
represented everything we aspire to be.
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