Lucy van Pelt

Lucy van Pelt is a character in the immensely popular comic strip Peanuts, written and drawn by Charles Schulz. She is the older sister of Linus and Rerun. Lucy has a dominant personality, is crabby and cynical, and is often mean to the other characters in the strip, particularly her brother and Charlie Brown. In one word, she is a fuss-budget (a word which was made popular by the strip, along with the term security blanket).

Related Topics:
Comic strip - Peanuts - Charles Schulz - Linus - Rerun - Charlie Brown - Security blanket

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lucy was introduced into the strip on March 3 1952 as a wide-eyed baby who constantly tormented her parents. Very early on, Schulz eliminated the circles around her eyes and allowed her to mature to the age of the other characters. She soon grew into her familiar persona of a bossy, sardonic little girl with a short temper.

Related Topics:
March 3 - 1952

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Perhaps Lucy's most famous gimmick in her long existence as a character is as the one who pulls the football away from Charlie Brown right as he is about to kick it. The first occasion on which she did this was November 16 1952, taking over for Violet, who had previously subjected Charlie Brown to this trick on November 14 1951. This annual scenario has become one of the most famous and popular in the Peanuts universe, as well as highly parodied, as shown in an episode of Family Guy, when she gets kicked for pulling her football gimmick.

Related Topics:
Football - November 16 - 1952 - Violet - November 14 - 1951 - Family Guy

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lucy is frequently irked by her younger and more passive brother, Linus. In particular, she is frequently exasperated by his addiction to his security blanket, and has even gone so far as to steal and bury it.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lucy is terrified of being licked or kissed by Snoopy, who is naturally infatuated with her and likes to tease her about it.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lucy is also the proprietor of a psychiatric booth, parodying the archetypal lemonade stand operated by many young children. Here, she gives advice for five cents to the other characters in the strip, most frequently an anxious Charlie Brown. The psychiatric booth is a prime example of the more adult-oriented humor that Schulz incorporated into his comic strip, making it accessible to people of all ages.

Related Topics:
Psychiatric - Lemonade - Cents

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lucy is infatuated with Schroeder, who constantly rebukes her advances. She spends much of her time leaning against his toy piano as he plays, striving to gain a fraction of the attention Schroeder gives to his music. She constantly sees herself as being in competition with the piano (and, to an extent, Schroeder's favorite composer, Beethoven), which she has even tried to steal and destroy (and sometimes succeeding), needless to say earning her none of Schroeder's love or affection.

Related Topics:
Schroeder - Piano - Beethoven

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On Charlie Brown's baseball team Lucy plays right field, and is characterized as a stupendously inept player, who, when temporarily kicked off the team, turns to heckling the games.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~