| ā | ā | |
| ~ Charles M. Schulz on Marcie[1] |
Marcie Johnson or Marcie Carlin is a major female character, known for her unassuming sweetness and intelligence. She was officially introduced into the cast of Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts comic strip on July 20, 1971 (although a look-alike character named "Clara" appeared in the strip with her friends Sophie and Shirley as early as 1968). Her bookishness is contrasted with her best friend, tomboy Peppermint Patty, whom she always refers to as "sir"āone of many malapropisms she has. Marcie is insightful and introverted but always willing to help and is usually the voice of reason.
Surname
Marcie was never given a last name in the strip. In the TV special, You're in the Super Bowl, Charlie Brown, her last name is Johnson. In The Peanuts Movie, it is Carlin.[2] A storyboard for the film gives her surname as Ahrens, named after her first voice actor Jimmy Ahrens from 1973-1977.
History
The first appearance of Marcie in the strip from July 20, 1971.
Marcie is named in the strip from October 11, 1971.
Marcie was first introduced as a camp attendee with Peppermint Patty in July 1971. However, she was not given a name until later that year, on October 11. The friendship between Marcie and Peppermint Patty started off unassumingly; with Marcie calling Peppermint Patty "Sir" in the very beginning, and Peppermint Patty calling Marcie a "dorky kid" in response. Over time, Marcie's character developed more fully, though she fits best as a supporting player and Peppermint Patty's best friend.
Marcie is an intellectual and a bookworm. She is well known for the high quality of her schoolwork, which provides a perfect contrast to Peppermint Patty's ineptness and has provided dozens of punchlines in the strip. She has a talent for music, having taken organ lessons with Mrs. Hagemeyer (Miss Othmar's married name). She speaks French fluently and once read The Little Prince in French for a school assignment. Although not a hater of athletics (she admired the success of Billie Jean King, for example, and also likes ice skating and caddying golf), her knowledge of sports often seems to be lacking and the rules appear to confuse her (Peppermint Patty: "There's no penalty box in baseball!").
Marcie also has a deep appreciation for the arts. In addition to her organ playing, many of the series' later gags involve her attending "Tiny Tots" concerts with Peppermint Patty, where she once again plays "straight man" to Peppermint Patty's cluelessness about the concerts themselves.
While Marcie is very smart and wise, she has sometimes shown naivete and can be goofy; as seen in the TV special It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown, in which she repeatedly fails to understand the proper way to prepare Easter eggs.
When the actions of Snoopy's World War I Flying Ace alter-ego shifted from fighting the Red Baron to fighting the demons of lost love and loneliness, Marcie would act as friend, confidant, and ultimately the "French Lass" for the flying ace on his sojourns to the Moulin Rouge.
Despite catering to Snoopy's fantasy thoughts, it is Marcie herself who finally shouts out to Peppermint Patty (after a suspenseful fight sequence) that Snoopy's doghouse is not a guest cottage and that Snoopy himself is a beagle, not "a funny-looking kid with a big nose."
Such outbursts by Marcie, however, are very rare; and do not disguise the fact that she is one of the all-around sweetest, most caring, and smartest of the characters in Peanuts.
Appearance
Marcie appears without her glasses in the Sunday strip from May 25, 1980.
Marcie has short dark hair (sometimes shown as dark brown and sometimes as black in animated cartoons). She wears a T-shirt and pants in all her appearances. She has never been depicted wearing a dress, unlike most of the other girls. She also wears glasses which hide her eyes that have only been shown in very rare instances. In most of the animated cartoons, her shirt is colored orange and her pants are shorts. In The Peanuts Movie, she wears a red T-shirt with black pants and white sneakers.
Family
Strip from November 2, 1977.
In a series of strips from October 1977 and November 1977, Marcie joins Linus in waiting for the Great Pumpkin (misidentifying him as "The Great Grape"). Her family reacts poorly and comes to take her from the pumpkin patch. Marcie later recounts the experience of being "de-programmed", which consisted of being harshly scolded at great length.
According to the strip from June 13, 1975, Marcie's grandfather plays left-wing in the World Hockey Association (a short-lived competitor to the National Hockey League that existed from 1972 to 1979).
We learn from a series of strips starting October 15, 1990, that Marcie's parents are demanding and expect their daughter to be perfect and get straight A's in school. On one occasion, an exhausted Marcie heads to Charlie Brown's house while taking a break from reading "Ivanhoe" and opens up to him about all the pressure she is under. She also reveals her parents have already picked a college for her and that all they care about is her academic performance. She ends up wondering if a parent can love a child who does not get perfect grades.
Relationships
Peppermint Patty
See main article: Peppermint Patty and Marcie's relationship
Marcie is considered Peppermint Patty's sidekick and best friend, she likes hanging out with Peppermint Patty. Although Peppermint Patty can at times get on her nerves; it bothers Marcie how poorly Peppermint Patty does in school, and how she will never do her work. It also annoys her that Peppermint Patty will never tell anyone about her love for Charlie Brown. However, Marcie looks up to Peppermint Patty and thinks she is a great friend.
Charlie Brown
See main article: Marcie and Charlie Brown's relationship
Marcie has affectionate feelings for Charlie Brown as well. Unlike Peppermint Patty, Marcie is not the kind to hide her emotions, often speaking openly and from the heart. She is always rebuffed, however, as Charlie Brown never quite gets the message. In one daily strip, Marcie kisses Charlie Brown (causing his hat to fly up over his head and hover there, and Snoopy to wonder "How does he do that?") and she says she knows that he could never love a glasses wearing girl like her so she will just leave him alone.
Snoopy
Marcie regularly plays with Snoopy in his fantasy life, most often as a "beautiful French lass" in a World War I Flying Ace sequence. Marcie sometimes acts as a waitress in a "French cafƩ" (usually her family's kitchen) serving root beer to Snoopy. In one series of strips from April, 1991, Marcie has to call Charlie Brown and ask him to come get his dog, because Marcie's mom says they can't keep buying root beer for him and Marcie herself is getting tired of washing empty mugs.
On some occasions, the Flying Ace has been shown to have a love interest in Marcie, though she never returns his feelings. A recurring gag involves Marcie making small talk in French while Snoopy frantically searches through his phrase book for a suitable response,
Linus
Marcie has had little interaction with Linus, despite them both being smart bookish characters. This could be a result of the two living in different neighborhoods and attending different schools in the comic strip.
In Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (And Don't Come Back!!), they are both chosen to be exchange students in France along with Charlie Brown and Peppermint Patty. Marcie is shown to care for Linus as she rushes to his aid almost immediately after she discovers that the ChĆ¢teau du Mal Voisin is on fire.
Franklin
Franklin and Marcie live in the same part of neighborhood, so they interact quite often. They often make fun of Peppermint Pattyās habit of falling asleep during class. Franklin may have a crush on her, as shown in Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown, when he leads her in a waltz.
Gallery
.JPG "Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show - Snoopy the Psychiatrist - Thibault (1).JPG (262 KB)")
.JPG "Patty and Marcie (1).JPG (3.73 MB)")
.JPG "Patty and Marcie (3).JPG (3.26 MB)")
TV and Film appearances
- There's No Time for Love, Charlie Brown (1973)
- A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973)
- It's a Mystery, Charlie Brown (1974)
- It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown (1974)
- Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown (1975) [silent]
- You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown (1975)
- It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown (1976) [silent]
- Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown (1977)
- It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown (1977)
- You're the Greatest, Charlie Brown (1979)
- She's a Good Skate, Charlie Brown (1980)
- Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (And Don't Come Back!!) (1980)
- Life Is a Circus, Charlie Brown (1980)
- It's Magic, Charlie Brown (1981)
- A Charlie Brown Celebration (1982)
- Is This Goodbye, Charlie Brown? (1983)
- It's an Adventure, Charlie Brown (1983)
- What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown? (1983)
- "Snoopy's Cat Fight" (episode of The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show, 1983)
- "Snoopy the Psychiatrist" (episode of The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show, 1983)
- "The Lost Ballpark" (episode of The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show, 1983)
- "Chaos in the Classroom" (episode of The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show, 1983)
- "It's That Team Spirit, Charlie Brown" (episode of The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show, 1983)
- It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown (1984)
- Snoopy's Getting Married, Charlie Brown (1985)
- "Snoopy's Brother Spike" (episode of The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show, 1985)
- "Snoopy's Robot" (episode of The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show, 1985)
- "Peppermint Patty's School Days" (episode of The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show, 1985)
- You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (1985)
- Happy New Year, Charlie Brown! (1986)
- This Is America, Charlie Brown (1988)
- Why, Charlie Brown, Why? (1990) [silent]
- It's Spring Training, Charlie Brown (1992/1996) [silent]
- It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown (1992)
- You're in the Super Bowl, Charlie Brown! (1994)
- It Was My Best Birthday Ever, Charlie Brown (1997) [silent]
- It's the Pied Piper, Charlie Brown (2000) [silent]
- A Charlie Brown Valentine (2002)
- Lucy Must Be Traded, Charlie Brown (2003)
- He's a Bully, Charlie Brown (2006)
- Peanuts (2014-2016)
- The Peanuts Movie (2015)
- Snoopy in Space (2019)
- The Snoopy Show (2021)
- Snoopy Presents: For Auld Lang Syne (2021)
- Snoopy Presents: It's the Small Things, Charlie Brown (2022)
- Snoopy Presents: To Mom (and Dad), With Love (2022)
- Snoopy Presents: Lucy's School (2022)
- Snoopy Presents: One-of-a-Kind Marcie (2023)
- Snoopy Presents: Welcome Home, Franklin (2024)
- Camp Snoopy (2024)
Trivia
- In the June 8, 1974 strip, Marcie says that she has pierced ears but she has never been shown wearing earrings.
- Marcie is one of the many Peanuts characters to appear in the game Snoopy's Street Fair, in which she owns a bookstall.
- The only special to focus on Marcie is Snoopy Presents: One-of-a-Kind Marcie.
References
- ā "TV Guide:Feb 23-29"(1980), p24, Triangle Publications
- ā Marcie's test score with her surname Carlin in The Peanuts Movie.
External links
