"Lucy comes from that part of me that’s capable of saying mean and sarcastic things, which is not a good trait to have, so Lucy gives me a good outlet. But each character has a weakness and Lucy’s weakness is Schroeder."
Charles M. Schulz on Lucy van Pelt
Lucy van Pelt
Lucy van Pelt (sometimes referred to as Lucille) is a major female character in the Peanuts comic strip and the animated TV specials and movies based on it. She is the older sister of Linus and Rerun.
History
The first appearance of Lucy from March 3, 1952
Lucy was introduced into the strip on March 3, 1952 as a wide-eyed baby who constantly tormented her parents. Very early on, Schulz eliminated the circles around her eyes and allowed her to mature to the age of the other characters. She soon grew into the familiar bossy, crabby, selfish girl known to Peanuts readers today.
Lucy usually wears white and black saddle shoes and a dress. In the television specials the dress is colored blue. However, in later years, towards the end of the strip's run, she was seen more often in a sweatshirt and pants, until her dress was phased out altogether.
The first strip in which Lucy plays the football gag on Charlie Brown from November 16, 1952.
Perhaps Lucy's most famous gimmick in her long existence as a character is the one in which she pulls the football away from Charlie Brown right as he is about to kick it. The first occasion on which she did this was November 16, 1952, taking over from Violet, who had previously subjected Charlie Brown to this trick on November 14, 1951. Lucy at first pulled the ball away because she was afraid Charlie Brown's shoes were dirty, and she did not want to get her new ball dirty. When Charlie Brown asked her to hold it still again she held it down so tight Charlie Brown tripped over it. Afterwards, Lucy would always intentionally pull the football away from Charles Brown to trick him. The most infamous example of this gag is in the animated special It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown, where her actions cost the football team the Homecoming game, Charlie Brown is blamed by the other players even though he is clearly not at fault. Many viewers wrote to complain about Charlie Brown's unfair treatment in the special. As a result, some scenes of other players criticizing Charlie Brown were edited out in later screenings of the special. Lucy herself cannot kick a football.[1]
Another thing Lucy is very well known for his her psychiatry booth, where she gives people lousy advice for a nickel.
Schroeder is the object of Lucy's unrequited love
For all her crabbiness and bad temper, Lucy does have a romantic side: she is in love with Schroeder, but he does not return her affection. In this Lucy is seen as insecure, as she shows a need for assurance from Schroeder and Charlie Brown that she is pretty (constantly asking them of their opinion of her appearance), and is known to react harshly when she receives an unfavorable, or even hesitant, answer. Indeed, Lucy seems to be rather thin-skinned when it comes to being insulted herself. In one strip Linus counters her statement that he is a terrible brother by saying that she is not such a great sister either, which makes Lucy burst into tears. In another time, her reaction to Charlie Brown telling her that she is not perfect is to storm off angrily without even a word, leaving Charlie Brown to comment, "I've never seen anyone so insulted!"
Lucy appears to be horrible when it comes to playing on Charlie Brown's baseball team. She plays right field, is always misses easy catches when the ball comes to her in the outfield. Then she will give Charlie Brown a lame excuse why she missed it, for instance "The moons of Saturn got in my eyes", or "I think there were toxic substances coming from my glove, and they made me dizzy", or "I was having my quiet time.". Other times, she finds an excuse to have one-sided conversations with Charlie Brown at the pitcher's mound, often over some trivial thing she noticed, which usually result in Charlie Brown blowing his top and yelling at her to "Get back in center field where you belong!". Once, Charlie Brown berated her for letting fly ball drops, and telling her he would not brook any more excuses such as the grass getting in her eyes; Lucy caught the ball cleanly, and tossed it back to him on the mound silently, after which he admitted he was actually looking forward to her next excuse. However, despite Lucy's horrible baseball skills, it should be noted that the first time she is shown playing baseball, on August 24, 1952, she is shown as an amazing baseball player, and she even puts Charlie Brown to shame with her skills.
In many strips, Lucy gets "bonked" on the head with the fly ball. Once, in a 1983 Sunday strip, the ball hits every outfielder's head and most of the infield, and Schroeder says to Charlie Brown, "You're right, I think six bonks is a new record." In a series of strips that later became part of the 2003 TV special Lucy Must Be Traded, Charlie Brown, Charlie Brown traded Lucy to Peppermint Patty's baseball team for Marcie (and a pizza), but once Patty discovered what a terrible player Lucy really was, she traded her back. Even on the diamond, Lucy flirts with Schroeder, who plays catcher on Charlie Brown's team: once she called for a "squeeze play...I'll squeeze the catcher!"and walks away happily while Schroeder and Charlie Brown look on.
Personality
In the early days, Lucy was introduced as a baby with very little personality. She was shown to be a little dumb, and to have a crush on Charlie Brown, although she did not have much more personality than that. In 1953, Lucy started to be known as a "fussbudget" as she fussed a lot, a name which Lucy took as a compliment. Lucy was able to complain about anything, even dumb things, for instance that on Halloween, she received a pumpkin that wasn't blue.
As the years went on, Lucy started developing more of a stubborn and crabby personality. She would get angry very easily, especially when she doesn't get what she wants, or when Linus, Snoopy, or Charlie Brown annoy her.
Lucy will scream and call people very insulting names. However, unlike Violet, Lucy does not use much physical violence on Charlie Brown. Rather, she will only call him names. An exception to this is the famous football gag she does every year. Lucy will also occasionally use physical violence on her brother Linus.
Although she is stubborn and crabby, Lucy does have a soft side when it comes to Schroeder. She tries to impress Schroeder by acting sweet and beautiful, and to do that, she does not act mean to him, unless he tells her that he does not care about her, which sometimes makes her scream.
Charles M. Schulz described Lucy as an outlet to his darker personality.
In the later years of the strip, Lucy begins to soften up, and become nicer.
Relationships
Lucy and Linus in a still from Why, Charlie Brown, Why?
Linus
See main article: Lucy and Linus' relationship
Lucy is often annoyed by her younger brother Linus, and often bosses him around or calls him a blockhead. She hates many of his habits, and always tries to get him to give them up. Though, sometimes, she apologizes for her behavior like when she upset Linus by saying she wanted a sister, not the "stupid" brother she got. Linus cried, until Lucy apologized.
Charlie Brown
See main article: Charlie Brown and Lucy's relationship
Her treatment of Charlie Brown is just as bad. Aside from her infamous football trick, she gives "psychiatric advice" by insulting and belittling him. When Charlie Brown fails at something, Lucy is quick to point it out, as illustrated by the series of strips in early 1964 (later adapted into the script of A Boy Named Charlie Brown) in which she puts together a slide presentation of all of Charlie Brown's faults, and subsequently demands that he pay her a sum of $143 for her services.
In the early days of the strip, however, Lucy is shown to have an innocent crush on Charlie Brown. And even later in the strip she gives hints to marriage with Charlie Brown. For instance, on October 5, 1957, Lucy mentions to Charlie Brown that she may someday be the mother of his children, and on June 8, 1960, she mentions to Charlie Brown that if he would become the president, she would make a good first lady.
In the later years of the strip, however, Lucy has also shown to soften up to Charlie Brown. For example, the two occasionally talk about life at the brick wall.
Schroeder
See main article: Lucy and Schroeder's relationship
Lucy is in love with Schroeder. She has even said that the only reason that she joined Charlie Brown's baseball team is because Schroeder also plays on the team as the catcher. There are some strips in which it appears that Schroeder has some feelings for Lucy but, on the whole, Lucy's love for Schroeder goes unrequited. The love of Schroeder's life is his music and his piano. He seeks to emulate his idol, Ludwig van Beethoven who never married, in every way. Schroeder's rejection of her sometimes causes Lucy to lose her temper. She has taken her anger out on Schroeder's piano, throwing it into the Kite-Eating Tree and throwing it down a sewer, but each time Schroeder orders a replacement piano. In one strip, she smashes the bust of Beethoven that sits on top of the piano but it is then revealed that Schroeder has a closet full of identical busts.
Violet
An early strip of Violet and Lucy talking about Charlie Brown.
Lucy seems to have a rocky, or atleast competitive relationship with Violet Gray, they are sometimes seen fighting each other, verbally in the strip. The two seem to have a friend-enemy relationship, although they both like to harrass Charlie Brown, along with Patty.
Rerun
Rerun and Lucy in I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown.
By contrast, Lucy's relationship with her youngest brother, Rerun (who entered the strip as a baby in the early 1970s but did not become a major character until the mid 1990s), is much less turbulent. Despite her initial dismay over his birth (lamenting that she was experiencing a "rerun" with another baby brother, thus giving him his nickname), Lucy in fact took on something of a mentor role for Rerun, teaching him important things he needs to survive in life, such as how to tie his shoes. In the later years of the strip, Rerun was often shown returning home from kindergarten and reporting on the day's events to Lucy. In his Schulz biography, Schulz and Peanuts, David Michaelis comments that Rerun eventually became "more of a young son to Lucy than a younger brother."
Rerun often shows a knack for getting around Lucy and weakening her defenses, whereas Linus is apt to give up and just let Lucy dominate him. In one strip, Lucy walks up to Rerun building a sand castle in a sandbox, and asks him what he would do if she kicked it down. Rerun responds; "Oh, nothing I guess. But years from now, when you and your husband come over to my house, and ask me to co-sign for a loan for you, I might remember it". Lucy appears to think this over for a moment, and then walks away grinding her teeth in frustration, while Rerun smugly continues building his sand castle.
Snoopy
Snoopy kisses Lucy, much to her disgust, in the Sunday strip from September 7, 1958.
Lucy is terrified of being licked or kissed by Snoopy, and usually runs off screaming whenever he does kiss her. Snoopy is naturally infatuated with her and likes to tease her about it. On several occasions, her flirting with Schroeder has inadvertently resulted in a kiss from Snoopy - Schroeder walks away as soon as Lucy begins flirting, but then Snoopy appears, hears Lucy talking about a kiss, and kisses her, which inevitably results in Lucy running off in hysterics. Schroeder also once had Snoopy kiss Lucy to get out of kissing her himself, by having Snoopy act as his "representative" to deliver a kiss on Beethoven's birthday.
Lucy and Snoopy have also occasionally found themselves in not-so-friendly competition. The two faced off in an arm-wrestling tournament once but the competition ended abruptly after Snoopy kissed Lucy on the nose and she recoiled in horror. More than once in the course of the strip they have resorted to fist-fighting, Snoopy often wins by default by trying to kiss or lick Lucy's face.
On several occasions, Charlie Brown has had Snoopy stay at Lucy's house while he and his family go on vacation, and Lucy usually treats her canine house guest inhospitably (i.e. forcing him to sleep outside in one of her old doll beds).
However, one of the most famous Peanuts strips of all time shows a rare moment of Lucy showing affection towards Snoopy by hugging him and then saying one of the most famous quotes in the strip's history, "Happiness is a warm puppy." Lucy herself acknowledged in another strip that although there were times when Snoopy drove her crazy, there were also times when she felt like hugging him, which she then proceeded to do.
Lucy is often shown reading Snoopy, the World Famous Author's stories, and offering him critical advice on how to improve his writings. Her criticism is often insulting, but sometimes constructive.
In the bed scene in Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown, Lucy admits that when she usually goes to bed, her mother kisses her goodnight first, with Marcie agreeing says that it is hard to go to sleep without a kiss goodnight from someone. Seconds later, Snoopy comes bursting through the door and kisses all the girls except Peppermint Patty. When he kisses Lucy, she does not resist by doing anything and does not react after he kisses her. This is one exception, but normally, Lucy will never let Snoopy kiss her.
Voice actors
- Tracy Stratford (1965)
- Sally Dryer (1966-1968)
- Pamelyn Ferdin (1969-1971)
- Robin Kohn (1972-1973)
- Melanie Kohn (1974-1977)
- Lynn Mortensen (1976)
- Sarah Beach (1976)
- Michelle Muller (1977-1979)
- Kirsten Fullerton (1980-1981)
- Sydney Penny (1981)
- Angela Lee (1983)
- Heather Stoneman (1985)
- Jessica Lee Smith (1984-1985)
- Melissa Guzzi (1985)
- Tiffany Billings (1986-1988)
- Ami Foster (1988)
- Jennifer Banko (1990)
- Marnette Patterson (1992)
- Molly Dunham (1993)
- Jamie Cronin (1995-1997)
- Rachel Davey (2000)
- Lauren Schaffel (2002)
- Serena Berman (2002-2003)
- Ashley Rose Orr (2003)
- Stephanie Patton (2006)
- Michelle Creber (2008)
- Grace Rolek (2011)
Quotes
The Peanuts Sunday strip from March 30, 1952
- (After having eaten a couple of Charlie Brown's records in front of him) "Lucy eat th' three mice mice!"
- "One, one, one, one, one, one..." (Lucy's only words as she jumps rope in her first appearance because she is unable to count up to two)
- "Charles Brown! You! You make me mad!" (from A Boy Named Charlie Brown)
- "I hate it when I get paid in dog food!" (following Snoopy's payment after telling Lucy as the "psychiatrist" of his disappointing family reunion).
- "I'd always get up real early for you." (Schroeder: For what possible reason?) "To fry your coffee!"
- (After Linus' failure in You're Not Elected Charlie Brown) "Oh you blockhead!"
Trivia
Lucy is one of the many Peanuts characters to appear in the video game Snoopy's Street Fair, in which, she operates her psychiatry booth from the comic strip.