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Miss Othmar-Be My Valentine

Miss Othmar appears in silhouette when driving a car in Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown.

Another strong character who never appears is Linus’s teacher, Miss Othmar. Linus denies that he loves her, insisting he is simply “very fond of the ground on which she walks.”
~ Charles M. Schulz on Miss Othmar[1]


Miss Othmar is an unseen character (like all adults) in Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts comic strip. She is Linus van Pelt's schoolteacher. She was first mentioned in 1959, shortly after Linus was shown to be in school. Almost immediately, Linus developed a crush on her, which lasted for many years.

Miss Othmar is named as the teacher in some of the Peanuts animated TV specials and in the 2015 animated film The Peanuts Movie.

History[]

Miss Othmar was first mentioned on October 5, 1959 and, from the start, Linus had a big crush on her.

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Linus' love of Miss Othmar is first referred to in the strip from October 5, 1959.

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Miss Othmar is named in the strip from October 6, 1959.

After an extended sequence where Linus repeatedly forgets to bring in egg shells for a class project, Miss Othmar quits her job to get married in the strip from February 5, 1960  (Linus announces that he is going to give her the egg shells as a wedding present in the following day's strip).[2] Now named "Mrs. Hagemeyer", she writes to Linus telling him that she misses all her students, but misses him most of all. Linus floats on air upon reading this.[3]

Miss Othmar returns to teaching a little over a year later. Although she is presumably still married, she uses her maiden name professionally. As Linus puts it, in the strip from September 2, 1961, "In real life, she's Miss Othmar!"

In a series of strips starting on February 24, 1969, Miss Othmar goes on a teacher's strike. Exhausted from several days' picketing, she falls to her knees. Linus rushes to her side and picks up her sign. The next day, she is fired. Her replacement, Miss Halverson, meets with some resistance from Linus, who remains very loyal to Miss Othmar.

19690226

Strip from February 26, 1969.

Oddly, despite having been fired in 1969, Miss Othmar is used as the teacher's name (both times by Linus) in strips on September 11, 1973 and November 16, 1990.

Apparently, Miss Othmar goes on to teach music, because, in a strip from October 4, 1979, Marcie mentions that she is getting organ lessons from Mrs. Hagemeyer (once again using her married name).

In the Peanuts television cartoons, Miss Othmar is voiced by a trombone, as are many of the adults. In an episode of The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show, her red-sleeved arm can be seen while handing a paper to Sally Brown. Other than that, the closest the audience has ever come to seeing her is a shot of her from behind in the animated version of Snoopy!!! The Musical.

Miss Othmar is often assumed to be Charlie Brown's teacher. In a strip from the mid-1960s, it is revealed that Charlie Brown's teacher's name is "Mrs. Donovan". However, Charlie Brown sometimes shows up in Miss Othmar's classroom (usually sitting behind Linus) in strips from the late 1960s onwards. In one series of strips, Miss Othmar continually selects Charlie Brown to pound the chalkboard erasers, filling his lungs with so much chalk dust that he exhales it for days afterward.

Relationship with Linus[]

Linus has a big crush on Miss Othmar. In the strip from October 8, 1959, he says he does not worship her, but is fond of the ground she walks on.[4]

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Strip from October 15, 1959.

Linus loves pretty much everything Miss Othmar does. One exception to this is, he does not like her opinion of his security blanket. When he finds out that she does not like his blanket, Charlie Brown says to Lucy, "This means Linus is going to have to choose between his blanket and Miss Othmar, doesn't it?" Just then Linus walks by holding his blanket and says, "Who's Miss Othmar?"[5] so it is clear which one he chose. However, when Miss Othmar is not talking about his blanket, Linus really likes her.

In The Peanuts Movie[]

MissOthmar

Miss Othmar's credit.

In The Peanuts Movie, Miss Othmar teaches Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy, Schroeder, Shermy, Violet, Patty, "Pig-Pen", 5, Heather, Frieda, Cormac, Franklin, Peppermint Patty, Marcie and one unnamed child.

References[]

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