Schroeder (Peanuts)
Encyclopedia : S : SC : SCH : Schroeder (Peanuts)
Schroeder is a fictional character in the long-running comic strip Peanuts, created by Charles M. Schulz. He is distinguished by his precocious skill at playing the piano, as well as by his love of classical music and the composer Ludwig van Beethoven in particular. Schroeder is also the catcher on Charlie Brown's baseball team (though he is always seen walking back to the mound with the baseball, never throwing it -- admitting in one strip he didn't want the other team to discover his lack of ability), and the object of Lucy van Pelt's unrequited infatuation.
After Linus and Snoopy, Schroeder is probably Charlie Brown's closest friend; he once angrily denounced Violet for giving Charlie Brown a used valentine well after Valentine's Day had come and gone (only to be undercut when Charlie Brown eagerly accepted it), and he is one of the few players who has any respect for Charlie Brown as a manager (although he is as capable of ire at Charlie Brown's poor performance as anyone else, but these instances are few and far between).
History
Schroeder was introduced as a baby on 30 May 1951, but aged to the maturity level of the other characters over the next three years. He initially had no notable characteristics, but soon, Schulz had the idea to incorporate his daughter Meredith's toy piano into the strip. He decided to give it to the newest character in the strip, and thus the character as he is known to millions of fans was born.From his first appearance at the piano on 24 September 1951, Schroeder has played classical pieces of virtuoso level, as depicted by Schulz's painstaking transcription of sheet music onto the panel. Schroeder is often found playing selections from a sonata by Beethoven, his favorite composer. As revealed in one strip wherein Lucy took his bust of Beethoven and smashed it, he has an entire closetful of Beethoven busts. Every year, Schroeder marks December 16, the birthday of his idol. (Schulz once revealed that he had originally planned to depict Johannes Brahms as Schroeder's favorite, but decided that Beethoven simply sounded "funnier".) He was once in shock when he forgot Beethoven's birthday. In the early strips Schroeder also played other composers. Schroeder generally wears a shirt with thick black stripes. In the animated TV specials and movies, it is colored purple.
Schroeder is usually depicted sitting at his toy piano, able to pound out multi-octave selections of music, despite the fact that such a piano has a very small realistic range (for instance, and as a running joke early on, the black keys are merely painted on to the white keys). This has been a recurring joke through the duration of the comic.
Schroeder's other distinguishing mark as a character is his constant refusal of Lucy's love. Lucy is infatuated with Schroeder, and frequently leans against his piano while he is playing, professing her love for him; however, Beethoven was a lifelong bachelor, and Schroeder feels he must emulate every aspect of his idol's life.
Schroeder's piano
The piano's capability is illustrated in 1965's A Charlie Brown Christmas. Lucy asks Schroeder to play "Jingle Bells". Schroeder plays it in the style of a conventional piano, then a three-piece jazz combo, and finally in the style of a pipe organ, but Lucy cannot recognize the tune until the now-irritated Schroeder plays it, with one finger, in the tones of a normal toy piano. It's the only time in the history of the television specials that his toy piano ever actually sounds like a toy piano.Schroeder is normally a very impassive character, content to play his music, but can be angered quite easily if his music or his idol Beethoven are insulted. In one short Lucy points out to him the woefully inadequate single-octave range of a toy piano; an angry Schroder yanks it out from under her and sends her flying. On another occasion, Lucy asked if pianists made a lot of money, and Schroeder flew into a rage: "Who cares about money?! This is ART, you blockhead! This is great music I'm playing, and playing great music is an art! Do you hear me? An art! Art! Art! Art! Art! Art!" (the last five words punctuated by slamming his hands against his piano)
The musical notes Schroder plays also seem to have substance; characters are able to touch them as they appear in the air. Snoopy, for example, once decorated a Christmas tree using a handful of them.
On two occasions, Lucy has destroyed Schroeder's piano in an attempt to be rid of the "competition" for his affection. She once threw it into a sewer and the piano was washed out to sea. She later threw it into a Kite-Eating Tree, which apparently ate pianos as well. Schroeder ordered his replacement pianos from the Ace Piano Company. Along with his new piano, Schroeder received an autographed photo of Joe Garagiola.
Trivia
- In his 1975 book, Peanuts Jubilee, Charles Schulz stated the following:
- "Schroeder was named after a young boy with whom I used to caddy at Highland Park golf course in St. Paul. I don't recall ever knowing his first name, but just 'Schroeder' seemed right for the character in the script, even before he became the great musician he now is."
External links
| Peanuts | |
|---|---|
| Characters | |
| 5 | Charlotte Braun | Charlie Brown | Sally Brown | Eudora | Franklin | Frieda | The Great Pumpkin | Kite-Eating Tree | Lila | Little Red-Haired Girl | Marcie | Miss Othmar | Patty | Peggy Jean | Peppermint Patty | José Peterson | Pig-Pen | Poochie | Roy | Schroeder | Shermy | Joe Shlabotnik | Snoopy | Snoopy's siblings | Thibault | Linus van Pelt | Lucy van Pelt | Rerun van Pelt | Violet | Woodstock | |
| Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don't Come Back!) > A Boy Named Charlie Brown (feature film) | Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown | Snoopy, Come Home | |
| Other Media | |
| A Charlie Brown Christmas (soundtrack album) | The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show | Linus and Lucy | Snoopy | Snoopy's Silly Sports Spectacular | This is America, Charlie Brown | You're a Good Man… |
| People | |
| Vince Guaraldi > Donna Johnson | Bill Melendez | Charles M. Schulz |