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One day, while searching for some kind of new story to work on, I decided to have the character named Frieda... threaten Snoopy with bringing a cat into the neighborhood.
~ Charles M. Schulz on Frieda[1]

Frieda is a supporting female character in the Peanuts comic strip by Charles M. Schulz, earning her name from Schulz's longtime friend, Frieda Rich. She was the eleventh permanent character to join the Peanuts gang and was prominently featured in the early years of the strip.

She was a regular in Peanuts throughout the 1960s but, as newer characters were phased in towards the end of the decade, she began appearing less often. She ceased to be a featured character after 1985, making only cameo appearances since then in various television specials. Today she is best remembered as the Peanuts character with naturally curly hair, of which she is extremely proud.

Personality

Frieda, while she is a protagonist, does have some bad tendencies. Frieda's biggest flaw is how vain she is, which often distracts her. Frieda is nicer in the strip, never putting down anyone unless that person really deserves it. She is willing to help her friends if it is necessary as well.

Unlike in the strip, Frieda in animation is depicted as a bit meaner to Charlie Brown (especially in Charlie Brown's All-Stars, where she and the other kids incorrectly assumed that Charlie Brown lost their team the game on purpose and got angry over his failure).

History

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Frieda's first appearance in the strip from March 6, 1961.

Frieda was first introduced to Charlie Brown by Linus on March 6, 1961. She served as a major part of the comic strip for a brief period of time and appeared in the TV specials. Her first television appearance was in A Charlie Brown Christmas in 1965.

Although blessed with one of the strip's most immediately memorable debuts, Frieda's place as a regular among her neighborhood friends was one of the shortest at a mere 15 years. Her relatively brief tenure was partly due to a one-joke physical characteristic: her "naturally curly hair".

In her early appearances in the strip, Frieda is presented as a chatterbox. She sits behind Linus in class, but due to her constant talking, Linus claimed not to have heard a word that their teacher has said all year (March 07, 1961).

Frieda is very proud of her "naturally curly hair". She manages to bring up the topic of her hair in every conversation, which is shown to annoy the people around her. This self-love about her hair leads people to believe that she is rather vain. In turn, Frieda believes the other girls are jealous of her hair and becomes disappointed when a girl says otherwise. Frieda also believes people expect more from her because she has naturally curly hair. Nevertheless, enough people in the neighborhood like her that she got thirty valentines one year (February 15, 1963). She has also admitted that she used to be an avid reader until she started getting too busy.

Frieda Rich, a Minnesota artist whom Schulz knew and the character's namesake,[2] was once asked whether she bore any character resemblances to her cartoon counterpart. She replied, "I recognize myself," adding as an example that while talking to Schulz once about Universalists and Congregationalists, she had jokingly called herself a "conversationalist," and Schulz borrowed that for the strip. Faron was named after country singer Faron Young.[3]

Appearance

As she always says, Frieda has "naturally curly hair", of which she is extremely proud. In her animated appearances, her hair is red. She usually wears a dress, which is colored violet in her animated appearances and has a pleated skirt, and black and white saddle shoes similar to those of Lucy, although on rare occasions (in animated appearances), she is seen wearing black Mary Janes, similar to those of Violet and Patty. In The Peanuts Movie, her dress is colored dark pink or green, the stripes on her saddles are brown instead of black, and also her hair is bright orange rather than red, probably so the viewers wouldn't think she was Heather.

Relationships

Charlie Brown

Unlike Lucy, Patty, and Violet, Frieda is usually a lot nicer to Charlie Brown and seems to be mindful of his feelings. Although she becomes angry with Charlie Brown on a few occasions, she never teases him or puts him down (except for rare moments in the Peanuts television specials). She eventually joins Charlie Brown's baseball team as an outfielder but refuses to wear a baseball cap because it would hide her naturally curly hair, though she does make rare exceptions, such as the April 18, 1965 Sunday strip.
244px-Frieda animated Peanuts

Frieda in Charlie Brown's All-Stars.

She seems to be one of the few characters in the neighborhood that Charlie Brown feels confident enough to stand up to. In one strip, Frieda is badgering Snoopy about chasing rabbits and Charlie Brown simply tells her to mind her own business.

Linus

Linus was the first character in the comic strip who Frieda met. She is also his classmate and sits behind him in class. From the start of Frieda's appearance in the strip, Linus is seen taking her around the neighborhood and introducing her to the other kids. Not much is shown of their friendship beyond those strips that introduce her, but even early in their relationship, they seemed to look out for each other. In one strip, when Frieda unintentionally hurts Lucy, Linus begs his sister not to slug her. Frieda is one of the few characters who does not see Linus' need for a security blanket as a bad thing, for which he is so grateful that he kisses her hand.

Snoopy

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Frieda criticizes Snoopy in the strip from March 10, 1961.

Out of all the characters in the strip, Frieda has the most trouble getting along with Snoopy, to whom she frequently accuses of being "lazy" and "useless." She has strong preconceived notions of what a beagle should be doing with its time; she insists that Snoopy become a working dog and a hunter (especially a hunter of rabbits), instead of spending so much time sleeping on top of his doghouse. She often comes over and tries to goad Snoopy into chasing rabbits with her, either by threat or persuasion. Snoopy is always reluctant to take up Frieda's suggestion. If he does consent to hunt, he will either "sandbag it" and only pretend to look for the rabbits, or if he does find rabbits, he will instead frolic and play with them once he is out of Frieda's sight. In one strip, Frieda reports Snoopy's behavior to the "Head Beagle" in a fit of frustration, which leads to him being found guilty of not meeting his rabbit quota. The other children in the neighborhood get angry at Frieda for turning him in. Frieda even buys a cat (Faron) as a way of motivating Snoopy to get over his laziness, although Faron turns out to be even lazier.

Schroeder

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Sunday strip from January 18, 1970.

Frieda has a tendency to make Lucy jealous by leaning on Schroeder's piano. This is evident during Frieda's first interaction with Schroeder in a Sunday strip from April 16, 1961, in which Lucy is encouraged by Snoopy to tackle Frieda off of Schroeder's piano, as well as in a Sunday strip from January 18, 1970. Schroeder seems to dislike her as much as he does Lucy since she also does not know who Beethoven was (even though Frieda claims that she is hanging around Schroeder because she is a music lover). In the Sunday strip from March 22, 1970, Frieda comments to Lucy that Schroeder is not very friendly. When Frieda is about to kiss Schroeder during his piano playing, she is surprised to find that she has instead kissed Snoopy on the lips.

Lucy

Almost as soon as they are introduced, Frieda's relationship with Lucy had gotten off to a rocky start when she brings up the subject of her naturally curly hair. Lucy becomes visibly offended by this, so much that Linus (upon introducing her to Frieda) feels it necessary to beg Lucy not to slug her. Despite Frieda's faux pas, the two girls eventually became friends and Frieda would often be seen with Lucy's group of female friends, along with Violet and Patty, though she would never be shown being mean to others, not even Charlie Brown, the main victim of the girls' abuse. When they are playing baseball for Charlie Brown's team, they often spend their time in the outfield chatting instead of paying attention to the game.

Later years

19851122

Frieda's last appearance in the strip from November 22, 1985.

Although Frieda was a regular character from 1961 to the late 1960s, her appearances gradually began dwindling. According to Charles Schulz, "I realized that Frieda added relatively little to the strip and had few character traits beyond bragging about her hair and her obsession with getting Snoopy to chase rabbits." Her last major impact on a storyline was running throughout October 1969, when she reported Snoopy to the Head Beagle; from here on, her appearances became fewer and further between, sometimes not appearing for years at a time.

Frieda's penultimate speaking role was in the July 26, 1978 strip.

A girl resembling Frieda, with her hair coloured-in black, appeared on the December 2, 1983 strip; whether it is Frieda or not is debatable.

Frieda also continued to make appearances in both the animated Peanuts specials and the Saturday morning series The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show - even being mentioned in the lyrics of the latter's theme song. She is also featured as an unseen character in the musical You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, being mentioned several times and being yelled to at one point. Also in this show, her characteristic fondness for hunting rabbits is assumed by Sally. In one particular strip from 1994, Patty is seen asking Snoopy to chase rabbits with her, a role that was previously taken up by Frieda.

Frieda appeared in 150 strips and appeared for the last time on November 22, 1985, with her first appearance in seven years.

Frieda's appearances from 1970 until 1985

TV and film appearances

Frieda has appeared in various animated specials, starting with A Charlie Brown Christmas in 1965, and is also seen in all five feature films. She continued to have speaking roles in the specials for many years until she eventually sank into the background. She has been surprisingly absent from several specials where her presence would have been appropriate such as Is This Goodbye, Charlie Brown?, Snoopy's Getting Married, Charlie Brown, and Happy New Year, Charlie Brown!.

Unlike in the strip, Frieda is depicted as a bit meaner (especially in Charlie Brown's All-Stars, where she and the other, kids incorrectly assumed that Charlie Brown lost their team the game on purpose and got angry over his failure even though logically his attempt for a home run should be a success given real-world physics and helping your teammate is better even if a loss is their fault).

Trivia

Gallery

References

  1. Schulz, Charles. Peanuts Jubilee: My Life and Art with Charlie Brown and Others (1975) Holt, Rinehart, and Winston (ISBN 0-03-015081-7)
  2. The Peanuts FAQ, accessed 10/14/07
  3. Schulz, Charles. Peanuts Jubilee: My Life and Art with Charlie Brown and Others (1975) Holt, Rinehart, and Winston (ISBN 0-03-015081-7)

External links


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Media

Films:
A Boy Named Charlie Brown | Snoopy, Come Home | Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown | Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (And Don't Come Back!!) | The Peanuts Movie
Television Shows:
The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show | This Is America, Charlie Brown | Peanuts | Snoopy in Space | The Snoopy Show
Specials:
A Charlie Brown Christmas | Charlie Brown's All-Stars | It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown | You're in Love, Charlie Brown | He's Your Dog, Charlie Brown | It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown | Play It Again, Charlie Brown | You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown | There's No Time for Love, Charlie Brown | A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving | It's a Mystery, Charlie Brown | It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown | Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown | You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown | It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown | It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown | What a Nightmare, Charlie Brown | You're the Greatest, Charlie Brown | She's a Good Skate, Charlie Brown | Life is a Circus, Charlie Brown | It's Magic, Charlie Brown | Someday You'll Find Her, Charlie Brown | A Charlie Brown Celebration | Is This Goodbye, Charlie Brown? | It's an Adventure, Charlie Brown | What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown? | It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown | Snoopy's Getting Married, Charlie Brown | You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown | Happy New Year, Charlie Brown! | Snoopy!!! The Musical | It's the Girl in the Red Truck, Charlie Brown | Why, Charlie Brown, Why? | Snoopy's Reunion | It's Spring Training, Charlie Brown | It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown | You're in the Super Bowl, Charlie Brown! | It Was My Best Birthday Ever, Charlie Brown |It's the Pied Piper, Charlie Brown | A Charlie Brown Valentine | Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales | Lucy Must Be Traded, Charlie Brown | I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown | He's a Bully, Charlie Brown | Happiness Is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown | Snoopy Presents: For Auld Lang Syne | Snoopy Presents: It's the Small Things, Charlie Brown | Snoopy Presents: To Mom (and Dad), With Love
Books:
The Complete Peanuts | Other Peanuts reprint books | Comic books
Music:
The Peanuts Movie (soundtrack)

Characters

Main characters:
Charlie Brown | Patty | Shermy | Snoopy | Violet Gray | Schroeder | Lucy van Pelt | Linus van Pelt | "Pig-Pen" | Sally Brown | Frieda | Woodstock | Peppermint Patty | Franklin | Marcie | Rerun van Pelt | Spike | Eudora | Lydia | Peggy Jean
Minor characters:
555 95472 | 3 and 4 | Charlotte Braun | Clara | Shirley | Sophie | Cormac | Cat next door | Emily | Ethan | Faron | Floyd | The Goose Eggs | Janice Emmons | Joe Agate | Joe Shlabotnik | José Peterson | Lila | Little Red-Haired Girl | Mary Jo | Maynard | Mimi | Miss Othmar | Molly Volley | Charlie Brown's pen(cil) pal | Poochie | Roy | Royanne | Russell Anderson | "Shut Up and Leave Me Alone" | Tapioca Pudding | Thibault | Truffles | Snoopy's Beagle Scouts | Snoopy's siblings | Snoopy's parents | Kite-Eating Tree | Great Pumpkin | Red Baron | Easter Beagle | Harold Angel

Locations

Ace Obedience School | Brick wall | Brown house | Daisy Hill Puppy Farm | Lucy's garden | Lucy's psychiatry booth | School building | Setting | Schroeder's piano | Snoopy's doghouse | Tree

Recurring themes

Aaugh! | Ace Airlines | Baseball team | Beethoven's birthday | Bubble gum | Bunny Wunny | Football gag | "I got a rock" | Linus' security blanket | Mr. Spaceman | Mrs. van Pelt's pool table | Patting birds | Pawpet Theater | Sally's philosophies | Snoopy's Beagle Scouts | Snoopy's alter egos | Spike's cactus | Suppertime | Sweet Babboo | Unrequited love | World War I

Songs

20th Century Fox Fanfare | Beethoven Day | The Book Report | Bows | Cha Cha Slide | Christmas Time Is Here | The Doctor Is In | Don't Be Anything Less Than Everything You Can Be | Easter Theme | Edgar Allen Poe | Failure Face | Glee Club Rehearsal | Great Pumpkin Waltz | Happiness | Hark! The Herald Angels Sing | Heartburn Waltz | Hurry Up Face | I Know Now | Joe Cool | Just One Person | The Kite | Let's Have a Party | Linus and Lucy | Little Birdie | Little Known Facts | Lucy Says | Musical Chairs | My Blanket and Me | My New Philosophy | Over the River and Through the Woods | Queen Lucy | The Red Baron | Schroeder | She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain | Slow, Slow, Quick! Quick! (Doin' the Foxtrot) | Snoopy | Suppertime | Thanksgiving Theme | We're Gonna Have a Party Tonight | You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown | You're in Love, Charlie Brown

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