"They say opposites attract... She's really something and I'm really nothing... How opposite can you get?
Charlie Brown, 1963
The Little Red-Haired Girl, Heather, as she appeared in It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown. The character remained unseen and unnamed in the comic strip.
The Little Red-Haired Girl is an unseen character in the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. She is the object of Charlie Brown's affection, although he never dares to go near her. Whether or not she has any feelings towards Charlie Brown has never been revealed.
History
The only known Schulz drawing of The Little Red-Haired Girl was drawn sometime in 1950, long before she was referred to in the strip. Why Schulz did not introduce her into the strip when it started is unknown. She bears a strong resemblance to Patty, a character who was prominent in the early years of the strip.
Charlie Brown first pines for the Little Red-Haired Girl during lunch at school in the strip from November 19, 1961. He continued loving her until the end of the strip in 2000. In a series of strips from July 1969, the Little Red-Haired Girl moves away, causing Charlie Brown sheer grief. He sees her again during a ski trip a few months later , and Peppermint Patty and Marcie run into her at summer camp in 1972. On May 30, 1978 Charlie Brown says that he thinks about the Little Red-Haired Girl constantly, suggesting that she has moved back to the neighborhood. It is confirmed that she has returned in the strip from December 27, 1978, in which Charlie Brown stands outside her house. Even though she is often referred to in the comic strip, the Little Red-Haired Girl is never seen, except for one strip from 1998, in which she is seen in silhouette.
The only known Schulz sketch of the Little Red-Haired Girl.
One reason Schulz never drew the Little Red-Haired girl in the strip, is to show Charlie Brown's hopeless longing for her. Schulz also admitted in 1997, "I could never draw her to satisfy the readers' impression of what she's probably like."
The character was based on Donna Johnson, a red-haired woman who Charles M. Schulz proposed to but who turned him down. This is where Schulz got the idea for Charlie Brown's unrequited love years later.
Depiction in animation
The Little Red-Haired Girl has been shown on television in It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown, Happy New Year, Charlie Brown!, A Charlie Brown Valentine, the second season opening of The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show, and makes a brief appearance in Snoopy!!! The Musical, during the song "Poor Sweet Baby".
In It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown, and in Happy New Year, Charlie Brown, it is said that her name is Heather and that name has also been used in subsequent television specials. However, that name has never been used in the Peanuts comic strip.
Francesca Capaldi (the Little Red-Haired Girl's voice actor in The Peanuts Movie) appeared on The Today Show with Rebecca Bloom (Marcie) and Mar Mar (Franklin).
According to USA Today, the Little Red Haired Girl is said to be having a very important part in the upcoming film The Peanuts Movie. She will be voiced by Francesca Capaldi in this movie, marking the first time the Little Red Haired Girl has actually had a speaking part.
