This Charlie Brown character design secret is a real head-scratcher

Charlie Brown
(Image credit: Charles Schulz)

Peanuts' Charlie Brown is one of the most iconic cartoon characters around, having adorned over 17,000 comic strips since 1950. His is a deceptively simple character design – but not, as it turns out, without its unexpected limitations.

In a recently resurfaced interview with Garfield creator Jim Davis, the artist discusses his own characters as well as those of Peanuts' creator Charles Schulz, and how the jump from illustration to animation revealed ways in which they turned out to be, er, physically challenged.

In the 2021 interview, recently rediscovered by Screen Rant, Davis explains how, when animating the title character for 1969's A Boy Named Charlie Brown movie, Schulz tried to have him scratch his head in thought. But with Brown's head so large, and arms so short, he isn't able to reach any further than the bottom of the back of his head.

An Interview with Garfield's Creator, Jim Davis - YouTube An Interview with Garfield's Creator, Jim Davis - YouTube
Watch On

Davis reveals how Schulz helped him navigate similar animation issues with his own characters, including giving Garfield larger feet when standing up. This is similar to a technique Schulz himself adopted with Snoopy. "When Snoopy is on all fours," David says, "he has little puppy feet, but when he stands up, his back feet get bigger, giving him balance." To help Davis, Schulz "drew these big cat feet with Garfield standing up, and all of a sudden, Garfield was balanced."

Apple Watch Snoopy watch face

Snoopy recently became a beloved Apple Watch wallpaper (Image credit: Apple)

When it comes to animating illustrated characters, we've seen plenty of tricks and techniques that come together to make the whole thing appear seamless, like these 4 mind-blowing Disney animation secrets.

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Daniel John
Design Editor

Daniel John is Design Editor at Creative Bloq. He reports on the worlds of design, branding and lifestyle tech, and has covered several industry events including Milan Design Week, OFFF Barcelona and Adobe Max in Los Angeles. He has interviewed leaders and designers at brands including Apple, Microsoft and Adobe. Daniel's debut book of short stories and poems was published in 2018, and his comedy newsletter is a Substack Bestseller.