Almost 75 years ago to the day, Charlie Brown and the Peanuts comic strip created by Charles Schulz debuted in a handful of newspapers across the United States to significant fanfare. While few knew it at the time, the comic would become one of the most popular, most influential, and most loved comics of all time. Despite its success, Schulz never got over his anger at a major editorial change.
Before a Peanuts comic existed, there was Li'l Folks, Charles Schulz's original name for the comic he created that would eventually become known as the world-famous Peanuts brand. According to The Complete Peanuts #25, when Schulz was an art teacher in Minneapolis, Minnesota he created a comic strip about little kids, which he included in a larger comic book that got canceled after its first issue. Despite the cancelation, a friend suggested that he focus on the strip about the kids, as it was the funniest comic in the collection. Schulz took up the recommendation and concentrated on building the story of the kids out more. The St. Paul Pioneer Press soon after picked it up as a weekly strip in their paper, and it ran from June 1947 to January 1950. During this time Schulz developed most of the elements of the story that are instantly recognizable in Peanuts.
After leaving the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Schulz attempted to sell the comic to a number of outlets with the focus on finding one that would better position the comic for success, such as having it appear daily, rather than weekly. Pioneer Press' failure to address these issues was the main reason why he left them. Ultimately, Schulz got a deal for his comic with United Feature Syndicate (UFS). UFS's national footprint allowed Schulz's comic to get the notoriety it would need to eventually become one of the most beloved comic strips in the world. While Schulz could not complain about what UFS offered to the comic strip, he did have one major disagreement with his new editors, namely their decision to change its original title to Peanuts. According to The Complete Peanuts #25, it was a name change that Schulz, "loathed to his dying day." Indeed, considering all the work he put into creating and marketing the comic, and the benefits it provided him as an up-and-coming artist, it was only natural for him to be protective of it. As Schulz would later say in an interview with TIME Magazine, "I wanted to keep Li'l Folks. I wanted a strip with dignity and significance."
Why The Title of Peanuts Was Changed From Its Original Name
However, the editors at UFS had a legitimate concern about changing the title. They were already publishing Li'l Abner and Little Folks, two strips that not only had titles similar to Schulz's comic but also focused on a similar subject matter. Accordingly, they had concerns that if they were to publish Schulz's comic strip under the original title, they'd be accused of copyright infringement.
While Schulz most likely understood the logic behind changing names, the name chosen clearly was problematic to him.That the name was chosen without much consideration, or consultation with Schulz, must have made the title choice of Peanuts even more unbearable for him to accept. Indeed, Schulz himself said, "Peanuts made it sound too insignificant." Fortunately, the title was all the editors changed about Peanuts, as altering the names of future icons such as Charlie Brown might have been more than Charles Schulz could bear.
Source: TIME Magazine