The World Famous Skater
The World Famous Skater is one of Snoopy's alter-egos introduced to Peanuts comic strips in 1967. He first identified himself as the World Famous Figure Skater on December 5, 1967, but shortened it to the World Famous Skater in 1971. Interestingly, Snoopy does not wear skates at all. He glides on his hind paws, while wearing a toque.
This alter ego is first seen on December 4, 1967, skating by himself before stating that he misses skating with Sonja Henie. Over the next several days, he practices for the upcoming Winter Olympic Games in Grenoble, France. Linus van Pelt tries to assist Snoopy by raising money for him while his sister, Lucy, expresses skepticism. When Snoopy leaves for Grenoble on December 16, Charlie Brown angrily blames Linus for encouraging Snoopy by taking up a collection. Snoopy returns home soon after when he realizes that his trek to Grenoble is blocked by an ocean.
Seen again in January 14, 1968, Snoopy is shown attempting to skate with Violet Gray, Lucy van Pelt, and Patty on a frozen pond. After the girls angrily eject him, he skates with Woodstock on a frozen bird bath.
A month later, in a February 18, 1968 Sunday strip, Snoopy is shown again skating on the frozen bird bath, performing jumps. Woodstock compliments Snoopy by telling him that he would have won easily at the Grenoble Olympics. The strip was published on the final day of those Winter Olympics.
In a storyline that began with the January 7, 1969 strip, Snoopy is again shown skating outdoors, boasting that he does so to meet girls, and claiming that he used to skate with Peggy Fleming. He then begins pairs skating with Peppermint Patty, who admires his skating abilities but considers him to be "the funniest looking kid" she has ever seen.
Snoopy begins to fantasize of skating with Peppermint Patty at championship tournaments in Seattle, Oakland and Colorado. When asked about these plans by Charlie Brown, Peppermint Patty ends her partnership with Snoopy. Snoopy approaches Lucy, but she refuses to skate with him, questioning whether he has ever truly skated with the likes of Peggy Fleming.
This alter ego is revisited in a series of strips from December 1971, in which Lucy is practicing figure skating for a role in an upcoming Christmas show at her skating club. When she mentions that she needs a "handsome and graceful" skating partner, Snoopy volunteers himself. Lucy instead approaches Schroeder, who is practicing hockey, about being her skating partner. However, Schroeder declines, stating that hockey players would never be caught dead in figure skates. Snoopy again volunteers himself to Lucy, demonstrating a double axel jump.
After Lucy reluctantly accepts him as her partner, Snoopy is distressed when she wakes him up at 5:00 a.m. to practice. He also proves unable to lift her during their skating routine. However, their practices continue and Lucy becomes confident in their ability to perform.
Strip from December 17, 1971.
The storyline ends badly for Snoopy, as he has an attack of nerves upon discovering that they are to be performing before an audience on the day of the show. Snoopy flees the rink, leaving his understudy, Woodstock, to take his place.
The World Famous Skater would make subsequent appearances, including a series of strips in early January 1975, where he is shown skating on his own, then approaching Lucy van Pelt and Violet Gray individually to ask each of them, "How about a skate, sweetie?" In each case, the girls respond by wrapping his toque around his head. In December of the same year, he is shown training for the upcoming Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, until Lucy informs him that the Olympic Committee considers him to be unqualified. A deflated Snoopy responds, "I'm cute!!"
This alter-ego appears to be unrelated to the World Famous Crabby Skating Pro, a name which Snoopy adopts when he becomes Peppermint Patty's ice skating coach in a storyline from November and December 1974.