Talk:Linus Van Pelt

Linus on the meaning of Christmas

Possibly, the thing the character Linus is most famous for is having read from the Bible to explain the meaning of Christmas on network television. ("A Charlie Brown Christmas") Perhaps this article should expand on that a little, giving the scriptural reference of Linus's most famous quotation. Does this idea raise NPOV issues in anyone's mind? --Nerd42 00:03, 19 December 2005 (UTC)

Not most famous, but it is very well known and deserves mention, I agree. -R. fiend 01:04, 19 December 2005 (UTC)

I am replying literally ten years later! But, I came to this page to say the very same thing. Linus's speech in which he quotes the Scriptures in A Charlie Brown Christmas should be mentioned in this article. It is one of his most well-known moments. Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 08:56, 31 December 2015 (UTC)

100% agreed and certainly the most famous scene in Peanuts. Should have it's own section and be mentioned in the opening summary.2601:205:467F:4AAA:98D4:EC3:5082:87AE (talk) 17:10, 20 January 2024 (UTC)

Duplicated Section

The section of the article "Crushes and admirers" is duplicated, almost word for word, save for a minor detail . I was going to delete one of the sections but decided to do "CTRL F" first to see if I would possibly need to combine the two sections instead. I discovered that the top "crushes and admirers" says "school teacher, Miss Othmar, who later marries and becomes Mrs. Hagemeyer," while the bottom one says "his school teacher, Miss Othmar, who is later replaced by Mrs. Hagemeyer." Obviously, these have very different meanings, because the one says the Miss Othmar became Mrs. Hagemeyer after getting married, and the other says she was replaced by Mrs. Hagemeyer. Neither is sourced so I can't tell which one is correct. Also, the images and image text is duplicated in this section. SpidersMilk, Drink Spider Milk, it tastes good. (talk) 17:17, 15 October 2021 (UTC)

Update

The problem seems to have been fixed. SpidersMilk, Drink Spider Milk, it tastes good. (talk) 23:25, 15 October 2021 (UTC)

References

Sacco chair

The claim that Linus likes using the Sacco chair is not backed up by the cited source, which claims that Lucy likes it and mentions that Lucy is Linus's sister, but does not claim his use. I ask that another editor review this and then treat the claim appropriately. -- Nat Gertler (talk) 12:34, 9 January 2024 (UTC)

A few points on Linus

• It would be good to mention Linus plays shortstop on Charlie Brown's neighborhood baseball team and, along with Snoopy, is one of the two best players.
• The great pumpkin is not just a standin for a confused for Santa Claus but often an allegory for bad religious practices such as insecure faith and blind stubbornness. He explained this in a response to a letter from a woman complaining about him.
• The Van Pelts at one point moved away only to have Schulz write them back in, coming back after reader complaints. This was very noteworthy at the time.
• I'd like to see if there's evidence that Linus moved up a grade which seems to be implied. Schulz himself skipped a grade as a child and felt desperate loneliness on the playground as he didn't play with kids his own age or in his class. This is a source of many strips.
• Lucy sometimes complains bitterly about wishing she were an only child and resents Linus for it (mentioned with the birth of Rerun). Schulz himself was an only child (as is Peppermint Patty whom, like Schulz himself, lost her mother when she was young).
• The security blanket section is very long but it's not mentioned that the term "Security Blanket" was adopted by psychologists inspired from the strip as the metaphor for people, especially young children, clinging to concepts and objects. Gene Wilder's character had a passionate melt down over his "blue blankee" in the movie, The Producers, a scene which was improvised by him.2601:205:467F:4AAA:98D4:EC3:5082:87AE (talk) 17:10, 20 January 2024 (UTC)

  Charles shultz said that the great pumpkin was not an allagory 173.63.235.226 (talk) 00:09, 10 March 2025 (UTC)

Quick note on the Van Pelt name

There was a recent attempt to lower-case the V in Van Pelt, which is indeed how some people with that last name write it. However, to slightly correct something that I posted a few years back at Talk:Lucy Van Pelt:

While this is not something that has been consistently policed by the rightsholders, a quick check of a few licensed books suggests that capital-V is more common than lower-case, which is consistent with my instinct. 'The licensed Peanuts histories The Peanuts Book, 50 Years of Happiness and The Peanuts Collection (and for COI purposes I should note that I wrote the last of those three and consulted on the first, but do not speak on behalf of Peanuts Worldwide, the Schulz Estate, or anyone else beside li'l ol' me on this matter) use capital V when full names are given; the back cover of the strip collection Lucy: Speak Out uses the lower case.

However, the best case may come from the strip itself. The only times that I can find that the Van Pelt name isn't written in ALL CAPS in the strip is the November 8, 1964 strip, and again on Halloween 1982; both times, Linus handwrites the name with a capital V.

As such, we should stick with the capital V. -- Nat Gertler (talk) 06:07, 20 December 2025 (UTC)