Line #36 Awesome/Peanuts


1	Having [[LongRunner run for eight months short of 50 years]], made numerous forays in the [[WesternAnimation field of animation]], and generally won the hearts of millions (continuing to do so to this day), it is no wonder that ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' has many a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome under its belt.
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3	[[AC:{{Comics}}]]
4	* A decade before ''WesternAnimation/BeMyValentineCharlieBrown'', when the strip featuring Schroeder's TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to the girls in defense of Charlie Brown [[http://www.gocomics.com/peanuts/1963/03/17 appeared in papers]], it was just as awesome.
5	* Marcie gets one in [[http://www.gocomics.com/peanuts/1973/07/26 a story arc where she's drafted into Peppermint Patty's baseball team.]] An extremely sexist boy is giving her trouble, and [[http://www.gocomics.com/peanuts/1973/08/03 she has had enough.]]
6	-->'''Marcie:''' If you say one more word, I'll belt you right across the chops!\
7	'''Thibault:''' Oh?\
8	''[[BitchSlap (Marcie belts Thibault right across the chops)]]''\
9	'''Marcie:''' [[ExactWords That was one word!]]
10	* When Linus and Snoopy are putting a dinosaur skeleton together, they begin dancing and raucously singing "Dem Bones", deliberately mixing the lyrics up ("the knee bone's connected to the wrist bone," etc.) until Lucy bodily throws them out the front door.
11	* Charlie Brown pulls one off in one strip where he talks up to the Kite-Eating Tree and points out that since he's the only one around who flies kites, without him the Tree would starve to death. As he says to Lucy at the end of the strip, "For the first time in my life, I feel needed!" And since this is '''''[[ButtMonkey Charlie]]''''' '''''[[DoggedNiceGuy Brown]]''''' getting a Moment of Awesome, it's practically a Crowning Moment for Charles Schulz.
12	* Charlie Brown's other greatest reaction to the kite-eating tree... getting so mad at it, that he goes right ahead and BITES ITS TRUNK HALFWAY THROUGH! ''[[http://www.gocomics.com/peanuts/1977/02/25 "Didn't think I'd do it, did you?"]]''
13	** (This being Charlie Brown, [[http://www.gocomics.com/peanuts/1977/03/01 the EPA then goes after him...]])
14	* Charlie Brown realizes that Snoopy, who takes his food provided for him arrogantly for granted, missed his supper and does his ''Anti-Suppertime song and dance'' gloating while Snoopy watches stunned at this.
15	* In [[http://www.gocomics.com/peanuts/1954/09/01 this strip]], where [[AlphaBitch Violet]] and [[BetaBitch Patty]] [[KickTheDog taunt]] Charlie Brown with their usual "we're having a party and you're not invited" jeer, Good Ol' Chuck finally snaps at them and threatens to get in a jet fighter and '''air strike''' their party if they don't invite him.
16	* One of Lucy's greatest "Moment of Awesome" bits comes when Charlie Brown says to Linus, "Well, another Halloween has come and gone and the Great Pumpkin didn't show up, did he?" Lucy counters: "No, she didn't, did she?", making Linus' hair stand on end. As Linus buries his head in despair, a triumphant Lucy says, "Never even occurred to you, did it?"
17	* Rerun gets his when Lucy has to go inside as she's about to engage in the classic scenario of pulling the football away, and leaves Rerun in her place. She desperately asks whether Rerun pulled the ball away, and Rerun's response ("You'll never know.") is enough to drive her to the [[BigNo Big "AAUUGH!"]]
18	* Many of the cast get theirs when Charlie gets one of his. Lucy is holding out the football again, and he decides to walk away. He calls over his shoulder that he's just glad nobody else thinks he's dumb enough to fall for ''that'' one again. The last panel shows several girls, as well as Snoopy and Woodstock, holding footballs for him.
19	* 1965: Linus's security blanket gets its revenge on Lucy for all the times she's tried to destroy it by ''physically attacking'' her - grabbing her around the ankles and trying to throw her, and leaping on her regularly. It gets to the point where Lucy is afraid to go home for fear of being attacked by the blanket. Eventually, she and the blanket sign a "peace treaty" and cease hostilities, but it's fun to see Lucy on the defensive for a change.
20	* There was a week of strips where Charlie Brown taught Rerun to play marbles; Rerun then went on to play against an older kid who pretended that they were playing for fun but, when he won, said "Keeps" and took all of Rerun's marbles. When he tells Charlie Brown what happened, Charlie goes with him to talk to the older kid, named Joe Agate, to try and reason with him into returning Rerun's marbles. On the way, a little girl runs past, another victim of Joe's scam. Charlie Brown decides enough is enough and challenges Joe to a game of marbles "for keeps".
21	--> '''Charlie Brown:''' Knuckle down, Joe. This is for keeps.
22	** This storyline is an awesome moment for two reasons:
23	*** 1) It's one of the few times Charlie Brown gets a clear and decisive victory, with no loss or injury to himself.
24	*** 2) Said victory is earned ''on Charlie Brown's own terms''. He doesn't come out on top because of luck or outside interference, but because marbles is one of the few things Charlie Brown, a lovable loser, is shown to unquestionably and prodigiously skilled at, to the point he's apparently earned the nickname "Cool Thumb" Brown. He doesn't just ''win'' against Joe, he ''[[CurbStompBattle completely cleans his clock]]''. He even gets his own LetsGetDangerous moment at the start of the match.
25	*** As a surprising 3) It's a victory that shows that when Charlie Brown [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness gets pissed]] he can do some amazing things, but more importantly, it shows that Charlie, who is as slow a burn as it ever gets to anger, is a genuine case of BewareTheNiceOnes. Joe made his best friend's little brother ''cry''. Charlie is pretty much ''living'' in TranquilFury when he takes Joe on. And for a 4th MOA? Well, think about it. This is '''''[[NiceGuy Charlie Brown]]'''''. Who the hell would figure the guy even '''''had''''' a BerserkButton? Turns out, messing with his friends is a big one. Maybe his '''''only''''' one. He scored what might have been the biggest possible victory of his entire life....and it was done '''''purely for the sake of helping someone else'''''. This kid is basically a '''''saint'''''.
26	* In [[http://www.gocomics.com/peanuts/1974/03/11 one 1974 arc]], Peppermint Patty refuses to go to school and sits on top of Snoopy's doghouse all day, much to the annoyance of Marcie. In the end, Marcie ''single-handedly smashes'' Snoopy's doghouse and screams to Peppermint Patty that Snoopy is a dog (and not a "funny-looking kid with a big nose"). Ol' Ms. Reichardt's quite a doofus, wouldn't you say?
27	* The week when Charlie Brown actually hit a home run - against the girl who claimed to be Roy Hobbs' (as in ''Film/TheNatural'') great-granddaughter. Not just a Moment of Awesome for the ''Peanuts'' universe, but also an MOA for Schulz pulling a sort of "Tommy Westphal" move on American literature.
28	* Hell, any time Charlie Brown actually succeeds in baseball is a Moment of Awesome. In 1993, he went up to bat so nervous he left the bat on the bench and the next day showed him bounding home with a big grin on his face yelling about how he hit a homer at the bottom of the ninth, winning the game.
29	* BewareTheNiceOnes indeed. Charlie Brown is slow to anger, but when he gets pissed.... [[https://www.gocomics.com/peanuts/1963/09/05 Lucy has been spending the whole week trying to get the kids in the neighborhood to call her "Cutie."]] Ol' Chuck finally loses his temper and lays down a '''brutal''' TheReasonYouSuckSpeech on Lucy: "You want someone to call you 'cutie?' Ha! That's a laugh! You've never acted cute in your whole life. You're crabby, you're bossy and you're inconsiderate! You're just about as 'uncute' as a person can get!" He storms off, and Lucy stands there in shock, saying to herself, "I'm an uncutie!"
30	* Charlie Brown kicks the football, [[http://scans-daily.dreamwidth.org/3546489.html with a little help from your friendly neighbourhood]] ComicStrip/SpiderMan!
31	* One classic strip featured Lucy spouting off about the world's population and how there are "too many babies being born" and "the Earth can't feed this many people". Linus says, in a completely serious deadpan tone in the final panel, "why don't you leave?"
32	* In one early Sunday strip, Lucy was watching TV and Linus complained about how he was tired of always having to watch what Lucy wanted to watch. Lucy then turned to Linus threatening to slug him. After her threat, Linus merely walked over to the TV set and changed the channel. He then looked Lucy directly in the eye and said, [[ChallengingTheBully "You don't frighten me one bit."]] Linus gets to watch his show as Lucy stands there and cries.
33	* In a 1967 story arc, Linus foolishly makes a deal with his "blanket-hating Grandma" that he'll give up his blanket if she'll give up smoking, never thinking that Grandma would actually ''do'' it. Lucy is only too happy to hide the blanket from Linus, unmoved by his suffering and pleading. She finally brings the blanket out to burn it in the trash burner, but as soon as she tosses the blanket in, Linus snatches the blanket back and delivers Lucy an epic tell-off. Charlie Brown even ''applauds''.
34	--> '''Linus:''' GIVE ME BACK THAT BLANKET! No one is going to "cure me" of ANYTHING! Who are YOU to tell me what to do? Who is GRANDMA to tell me what to do? When MOM tells me it's time to stop dragging this blanket around, then I'll do it, but it's no one else's business, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!!
35	* Snoopy gets a big one in a classic strip. Linus runs over to him screaming that he saw Woodstock get caught by the cat next door, (a LightningBruiser cat who can cut down trees with alarming, often artistic precision). Snoopy's '''immediate''' reaction is to fling himself off his doghouse, over the fence and become the losing end of a CurbStompCushion to rescue his friend. He succeeds. As it turns out, "Woodstock" was an "old yellow glove" that the cat was playing with (that from a distance, resembled the bird). But as Linus states; Woodstock would have been honored to know what Snoopy went through for him.
36	* In a strip Charlie Brown sees the Little Red-Haired Girl being bullied and shoved to the ground. He does his usual spell of {{Wangst}}ing about how he's a coward who can't even talk to her let alone try to save her. Linus, who is also watching, gets fed up and lets out a loud snapping sound with his blanket, mimicking a whip, and deals with the Bully himself off-panel as a loud cracking sound is heard. Linus calmly walks back and says she won't be getting bullied anymore.
37	* In one strip, Snoopy steals Linus' SecurityBlanket again. Fed up with him doing it, Linus holds Snoopy's dinner dish hostage. Realizing that Linus is serious, Snoopy exchanges the blanket for the dish.
38	* [[http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Iy-QvX1qv0E/S9Tnv22Y8lI/AAAAAAAAG98/QUPxzklAqnw/s1600/peanuts.jpg Snoopy can be the most awesome guard dog ever]] [[MoreDakka when he pulls out all stops]].
39	** Also one for Schulz for the GeniusBonus[[note]]The machine gun is a Lewis Gun modified to accept belt feeding. The Lewis was the gun mounted on British and Allied aircraft during WWI[[/note]].
40	* [[http://www.gocomics.com/peanuts/1959/02/22/ In a strip from 1959,]] Lucy puts on one of Charlie Brown's t-shirts and proceeds to mock him, saying, "Nobody likes me! Everybody hates me! Poor, poor me!", while Patty and Violet shriek with laughter. Eventually, Charlie Brown shows up, looks Lucy dead in the eye, and says, "Well hello there, Charlie Brown, you blockhead!" Cue a second round of hysterics from Patty and Violet, and (to complete the [[SwappedRoles role reversal]]) a defeated sigh from Lucy.
41	* During the climax of the obedience school arc, Peppermint Patty learns that she graduated from a dog school, and is so angry that she intends to beat up Snoopy (who had recommended the school to her). While looking for him, she sees the cat who lives next door to Charlie Brown and, mistaking it for Snoopy in a catsuit, starts fighting it. Snoopy comes up and, seeing that Patty is losing, immediately dives in to help her even though she was going to clobber him.
42	* In one short arc, Lucy asks her teacher why they can't learn more about women in their history class. While it starts off as a joke, with Lucy saying, "Well, my grandmother was pretty cute...", it ends on a surprisingly strong, feminist note.
43	-->'''Lucy:''' ''(concluding her presentation)'' We need to study the lives of great women like my grandmother. Talk to your own grandmother today. Ask her questions. You'll find she knows more than peanut butter cookies! Thank you!
44	* ''Any'' time Charlie Brown takes Lucy down a peg. [[https://www.gocomics.com/peanuts/2019/03/17 One Sunday baseball strip]] has Lucy suggest to Charlie Brown that they sell their baseball team to the big city and move. Charlie Brown tells her they should only sell her.
45	* The arc where Linus and Lucy move away has Charlie Brown laying it on Schroeder for the way he treated her.
46	-->'''Charlie Brown:''' Well, what do you care? You never liked Lucy anyway! You were always insulting her!\
47	'''Schroeder:''' But, I didn't understand... I mean, I...\
48	'''Charlie Brown:''' Oh, stop making excuses! Go home and play your ol' Beethoven!
49	* Charlie Brown shows some backbone in a March 1983 story when Peppermint Patty hires him as the mascot for her baseball team and forces him to wear a humiliating costume, with help from Marcie, who goes over to his house behind Peppermint Patty's back and tells him to stand up for himself by refusing to wear the costume. The following day, Peppermint Patty is pleased to see him show up to the game in costume...only to find out he sent Snoopy in his place.
50	* Any moment where Linus actually stands up to Lucy, especially the June 1957 strip where she wrecks his sand castle with her tricycle. What does he do? Walks up to her with a pair of pliers and ''disassembles'' it.
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53	* Linus explaining the TrueMeaningOfChristmas by reciting a passage from the [[Literature/TheFourGospels Gospel of Luke]] in ''WesternAnimation/ACharlieBrownChristmas'' may be one of the best Moments of Awesome ever.
54	** It was a crowning moment for Schulz, as well, who had to fight with the network to get that scene. (And, for that matter, to get a ''lot'' of the special made the way he wanted it).
55	** The special itself was a moment of awesome--not only was it the first Peanuts special, but it was ''supposed'' to fail spectacularly...and, well, look what happened. For that matter, years later the animators were embarrassed about the cheap and rather shoddy animation and wanted to redraw the whole thing, but Schulz was firm--he liked it just the way it was.
56	* In ''WesternAnimation/ItsTheGreatPumpkinCharlieBrown'', Lucy getting up in the middle of the night, walking out to the pumpkin patch, ushering a sleeping, shivering Linus into the house, and tucking him into bed.
57	** Also; Before that scene, Sally's EPIC (and hilarious) dressing-down of Linus over the Great Pumpkin No-Show.
58	--->"YOU OWE ME RESTITUTION!"
59	* In ''WesternAnimation/ACharlieBrownThanksgiving'', when Marcie chastises Peppermint Patty for chewing out Charlie Brown for his hastily-prepared Thanksgiving dinner.
60	-->'''Marcie:''' [[ArmorPiercingQuestion Did he invite you or did you invite yourself?]]
61	** Also; Charlie Brown's grandmother resolving the whole plot (offscreen) by inviting everybody to her condo for the Brown family Thanksgiving dinner.
62	* In ''It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown'', Snoopy gets dressed up and heads out for a fun night on the town while the kids are playing. He meets up with Franklin, the pair of them decide to go clubbing with teenagers, and Snoopy owns the dance floor, impressing everyone, as his alter-ego, 'Flashbeagle'. Snoopy may be a dog but he proves once again that [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBaLzmBfHgA he is a very talented one]]. What adds to the awesomeness is that Joey Scarbury and Desiree Goyette sell the hell out of the Flashbeagle song.
63	* [[https://youtu.be/CQX_T5utogk Schroeder's]] TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to Violet in ''WesternAnimation/BeMyValentineCharlieBrown'' for giving Charlie Brown a Valentine's card out of pity. Which is later broken by Charlie Brown, who accepts the card nevertheless.
64	* In the infamous cancer special ''[[WesternAnimation/WhyCharlieBrownWhy Why, Charlie Brown, Why?]]'', Linus throwing a fit at some random jerk for making fun of his friend Janice, who had leukemia. Had ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' not been a kids' show, there would have been a lot of cussing.
65	** Earlier in the special Lucy insisted Linus would get cancer for being in contact with Janice. Linus storms off saying, "I wouldn't want to catch your crabbiness."
66	* In ''WesternAnimation/ABoyNamedCharlieBrown'', Rod [=McKuen=] singing the title tune after Lucy says, "Welcome home, Charlie Brown!", followed by the images of everyone who worked on the film was a Moment of Awesome and SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic at the same time, as well as Linus' speech that gets Charlie out of bed after an [[EpicFail Epic Fail to end all Epic Fails]]:
67	-->'''Linus:''' Well, I can understand how you feel. You worked hard, studying for the spelling bee, and I suppose you feel you let everyone down, and you made a fool of yourself and everything. But did you notice something, Charlie Brown?\
68	'''Charlie Brown:''' What's that?\
69	'''Linus:''' The world didn't come to an end.
70	* Charlie Brown kicking the football and mocking Lucy at the same time in the special ''WesternAnimation/ItsMagicCharlieBrown''. For extra measure, he kicks the ball, not once, not twice, [[RuleOfThree not even thrice]], but ''four'' times! Now ''that'' was a long time in coming.
71	--> '''Charlie Brown:''' ''(turned invisible, parading the ball around Lucy)'' What's the matter? Did you ''lose'' something? ''Is this'' '''''yours?'''''\
72	''(Charlie Brown shoves the ball into Lucy's hands, then forces her arm out to hold the football, ''then kicks it again'')''\
73	'''Charlie Brown:''' ''(EvilLaugh)''
74	** Sure, he does get turned visible again by Snoopy before he can do a fifth kick and ends up falling back-first, but it was fun while it lasted as he exclaims his success to Lucy while still laying on his back.
75	---> '''Lucy:''' Welcome home, Charlie Brown. \
76	'''Charlie Brown:''' I did it! I finally kicked that football!\
77	'''Lucy:''' [[OhNoYouDidnt Oh no, you didn't!]] I just pulled it away!\
78	'''Charlie Brown:''' I did it when I was invisible! I did it! ''(he gets up)''\
79	'''Lucy:''' You can't prove it, Charlie Brown! No one will believe you!
80	** And let's not forget the ending, where Snoopy uses his magic to have Lucy suspended in the air after telling Charlie Brown he has no proof of him kicking the ball. The music ''sells'' it, not to mention them both happily skipping away. [[LaserGuidedKarma Hey, she deserves it]].
81	---> '''Charlie Brown:''' Snoopy knows I did it. He made it possible!\
82	'''Lucy:''' Why, that stupid dog of yours couldn't disappear himself out of a paper bag!\
83	''(Offended at that remark, Snoopy levitates Lucy into the air)''\
84	'''Lucy:''' Hey, what are you doing? Put me down! Put me down!
85	** The kicker; Lucy stays up there through the entire credits sequence... until Linus walks by at the very end and [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight without batting an eye]] lassos her leg with his blanket to pull her down.
86	* In ''It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown'', the arm-wrestling match between Lucy and the Masked Marvel (another one of Snoopy's alter egos). In various interviews, this was Schulz's all-time favorite piece of animation.
87	* In ''WesternAnimation/ShesAGoodSkateCharlieBrown'', Patty's music is broken, which would normally disqualify her, but Woodstock comes in and pulls a Moment of Awesome and SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic by whistling "O Mia Babbino Caro". Bonus points for them getting the world's best whistler.
88	* ''WesternAnimation/HappinessIsAWarmBlanketCharlieBrown'' was arguably rather dull, and longer than the average ''Peanuts'' special to boot, but Linus pulls out an MOA at the last second with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQZilj7V1q4 a typically Linus-like speech]] in which he defends his SecurityBlanket and calls the others out on ''their'' insecurities. From the ''top of Snoopy's doghouse'', no less. This scene ends with Linus asking if ''anyone'' is without insecurity. Cue a dialogue-less scene that ends with a silent, simple, yet utterly victorious moment for possibly the only Peanuts character who is truly secure. It's ''Pig-Pen!''
89	* ''It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown'' has one, though we don't see it. After Charlie Brown is able to finally kiss the Little Red-Haired Girl, Linus tells him that he danced all the time and was the life of the party. ''Charlie Brown'' was the life of a party.
90	* ''He's a Bully, Charlie Brown''. Upon Rerun losing his marbles to a bully named Joe Agate, Charlie Brown goes into a TrainingFromHell montage by Snoopy in his 'Joe Cool' persona. The end result? He ''beats'' Joe in his own game, using his own shiner to win back every marble he [Joe] stole from Rerun.
91	* ''WesternAnimation/RaceForYourLifeCharlieBrown'' has Snoopy, who had spent the whole movie being intimidated by the bully team's [[CatsAreMean cat, Brutus]], [[BewareTheNiceOnes finally snap and punch out the cat]] [[BerserkButton when he tried to sink Woodstock's raft.]] Snoopy would do it again, this time throttling the cat as well, when he tried to ruin Woodstock's celebration.
92	* ''You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown'' has Charlie Brown in a motocross event. When "The Masked Marvel" (a.k.a. Snoopy) stops for lunch, Charlie Brown valiantly trudges onward through the obstacles. Snoopy gets stuck in a mud trap, while Chuck goes on to actually win the race. Couple that up with some awesome Vince Guaraldi music, and you have one of the most awesome moments in Peanuts history.
93	* ''You're the Greatest, Charlie Brown!'' has Charlie Brown subvert his own moment of awesome by getting distracted and going the wrong way during the final event of the decathlon, but Peppermint Patty reveals in the closing scene who did manage to win the final event, come out in first place, and secure victory at the Junior Olympics for their school: ''Marcie''!
94	* Spike gets one in ''Snoopy's Getting Married, Charlie Brown'', when he wins a dog race against several greyhounds in order to earn enough money to make the trip to Snoopy's wedding.
95	* In ''WesternAnimation/ItWasMyBestBirthdayEverCharlieBrown!'', seeing Mimi sing to Linus and give him a flower and a kiss is very satisfying when you think about it; Linus has spent the last four specials of the 1990s [[WesternAnimation/WhyCharlieBrownWhy almost losing Janice to cancer]],[[WesternAnimation/ItsChristmastimeAgainCharlieBrown dealing with Sally, Woodstock, and Snoopy's stupidity and annoyance throughout Christmas]], losing a baseball game after Leland quits the team, and having Melody-Melody outright betray him and runing off with the Super Bowl tickets, leaving him with a broken heart. In other words, seeing him FINALLY getting a happy ending, even if it was short-lived, couldn't be any more satisfying!
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Context Awesome / Peanuts