GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ - Charles Schulz, creator of the comic stripPeanuts, officially announced his retirement, effective January 4 of this year. His last original daily strip has already appeared, and his final original Sunday strip appears in newspapers this Sunday, February 13. Peanuts has appeared in over 2,600 newspapers worldwide, has appeared in over 1,400 published books, and has generated television specials, animated films and the Broadway production "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown." It is perhaps no wonder, then, that the American public will sorely miss the original cartoons with the familiar Peanuts characters. A recent Gallup poll shows that 63% of the American public say they are fans of the widely syndicated comic strip. The appeal of Peanuts is widespread, as just about as many young people as older people say they are fans.
Favorite Characters
In the February 4-6 poll, Gallup also asked fans of the comic strip
to name their favorite Peanuts characters. The lovable beagle
Snoopy tops the list, with 31% picking him. Charlie Brown, the
strip's lead character, follows Snoopy with 26%. Linus, who is best
known for toting a blue security blanket, is the claimed favorite
of 13% of fans, while another 8% name Lucy as their favorite,
followed by Pig Pen with 3%.
Snoopy's popularity among fans is strongest among women. Thirty-one percent of female fans choose Snoopy as their favorite, compared to 21% of women who pick Charlie Brown. By contrast, men favor Snoopy over Charlie Brown by a margin of just one percentage point, 32% to 31%. At the same time, younger Americans, those aged 18-29, are most likely to prefer Charlie Brown over Snoopy, 35% to 31%.
Who Is Reading the Comics?
While some may associate comic strips with young people, the poll
shows that, in fact, older people are the most likely to be comic
strip readers. Forty-seven percent of Americans aged 65 and older
claim to read newspaper comic strips daily or several times a week.
This number drops to just 23% of those between the ages of 18-29.
This difference in readership can be attributed in part to the fact
that younger Americans are choosing to get their news and
entertainment from other sources like television and the Internet,
while older Americans continue to read newspapers regularly.
Survey Methods
The results below are based on telephone interviews with a randomly
selected national sample of 1,018 adults, 18 years and older,
conducted February 4-6, 2000. For results based on this sample, one
can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum error
attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus
3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question
wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can
introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion
polls.
How often do you read the comic strips in a local newspaper -- every day, several times a week, a few times a month, less often than that, or never?
| Every day | Several times a week | A few times a month | Less often than that | Never | No opinion | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 Feb 4-6 | 16% | 13 | 20 | 23 | 28 | * |
Are you a fan of the comic strip Peanuts?
| Yes | No | No opinion | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 Feb 4-6 | 63% | 36 | 1 |
Who is your favorite Peanuts character?
BASED ON -- 644 -- FANS OF PEANUTS; ± 4 PCT PTS
| Snoopy | 31% |
| Charlie Brown | 26 |
| Linus | 13 |
| Lucy | 8 |
| Pig Pen | 3 |
| Woodstock | 2 |
| Peppermint Patty | 1 |
| Schroeder | 1 |
| Franklin | -- |
| Marcie | -- |
| Sally | -- |
| ReRun | -- |
| Other | 3 |
| None/ No favorite/ No opinion | 12 |
| 100% |
* = less than 0.5%