Molly Volley

From Peanuts Wiki

Molly Volley was a minor character in the comic strip Peanuts created by Charles M. Schulz.Snoopy's Mixed Doubles partner

Molly Volley was a female tennis player who made her first appearance on May 9th, 1977, as she became Snoopy's mixed doubles partner. She replaced The Garage, whom, in Snoopy's imagination was his partner. Molly, who often wore a two toned tennis dress and a floppy tennis hat, was notorious for her hair-trigger temper (which contributed to her beating up her former partner, two linesmen and a ball boy, during a previous mixed-doubles tournament) her aversion to losing, (she hated to lose), her constant arguing with her opponents, and her constantly furrowed brows.

Her biggest rival (who was introduced a year and two months after Molly herself was introduced) was a little girl named "Crybaby" Boobie, known for her crying and complaining about absolutely everything. "Crybaby" was obviously a nickname, as her real first name was never mentioned or even revealed. "Crybaby", who wore a polka-dotted tennis dress, and was always shown with her mouth wide open, often drove Molly crazy with her constant complaining, and this would often cause her to continually tell her to shut up and serve!

Molly, however, had no complaint, however, with Bobby Boobie, her brother who obviously was more subdued and quiet than his sister, but she had just as many complaints about their stage-door mother, who sat in her car and every time, "Crybaby" made a good shot, she honked the horn. This drove Molly to distraction, exasperation, and anger, even going so far as to threaten to go to the car and tear the wheel off the steering column, if Mrs. Boobie's infernal honking didn't stop.

Another episode of where she could and would lose her temper was when she was called "Fat Legs" which was her major pet peeve (and her sore spot, as she had a tendency to gain weight), by an opponent named "Bad-Call" Benny (so named because he called everything out, and when he was disproved, would get upset about it). He sauntered up to her and said, "Well, if it isn't Fat-Legs Volley!"

Momentarily stunned then thoroughly angered, she hit her insulting opponent in the mouth, which set off "Crybaby", who wailed about her partner getting hit in the mouth. This caused Molly to tell her eternal rival, again, to Shut up, "Crybaby"!

Usually, at her matches, Charlie Brown and Linus van Pelt were the only ones watching her and Snoopy. When Linus suggested, during the Snoopy/Volley vs. Crybaby/Bad Call Benny match that they play a let; Crybaby, as usual, screamed Who's he? One of your relatives?! At one point, the ball landed and stayed on the edge of the net, both teams looked at one another, and "Crybaby" yelled, Someone's cheating!

Molly did manage to get on with Charlie Brown, who let him know, "how it is" in the world of tennis. She felt comfortable enough to confide to him that champions weren't made at Wimbledon or Forest Hills as everyone seemed to think, that they were made in the local neighborhood tennis courts, where you called your own lines and kept your own score. She also measured all her line calls in centimeters, which annoyed some of her opponents.

However, as was evident with Snoopy's substandard tennis playing, Volley usually ended up on the loser's side of the bracket, which made her get mad at Snoopy, and eventually, she got so fed up with him and his losing ways, that she refused to be his partner ever again. Molly had been written out of the strip soon after that, so she made good on that threat.

[edit] Quotes

   * [To Charlie Brown and Snoopy upon her first meeting] "Hi, I'm Molly Volley!"

   * [To "Bad-Call" Benny after she hit him for making an insult about her legs] "Nobody calls me "FAT LEGS", kid!!!"

   * [To "Crybaby" Boobie, all the time] "SHUT UP 'CRYBABY' BOOBIE AND SERVE!!!"

   * [To Snoopy, as she questioned an ace] "I think that was an ace, Partner. Or was it 'A" Ace? Do you call it an ace, or "A" Ace?"

   * [What she called Snoopy} "Partner"

   * [After Mrs. Boobie honks her car horn] "All right, 'Crybaby', tell your mother to cut it out! She sits there in her car, and every time you make a good shot, she honks the horn! The next time she does that I'm gonna tear off a wheel!"

   * [After more of Mrs. Boobie's car horn honking] "Will you cut that out?!" (Wherein 'Crybaby' howls, "You don't like my mother!")

   * [in rare praise of Snoopy for how he would ignore "Crybaby", by letting it go in one ear and out the other, by spreading his ears open.] "That's the spirit, Partner!"

   * [to an off-stage opponent who was forever questioning her calls] "Out!" "You heard me!! I said it was out!! You want me to spell it for ya?! Every ball you guys have hit has been out! Every ball we've hit has been in!"

   * [to Charlie Brown, who praised her playing] "I'm in the zone, kid!"

   * [to Charlie Brown, whom she was telling it how is really is with Tennis] "You know where champions are made? Well, they're not made at Wimbledon or Forest Hills, I'll tell you that! They're made right here on these dirty, bumpy, miserable courts where you call your own lines and keep your own score! You get what you go for, kid!"

   * [to the same off-stage opponent, who still questioned her calling an out!] "Out! Waddya mean are we sure? We called it out, didn't we? You call your side, and we'll call ours! Out is out! Quit stalling! Hit the ball!"

   * [to the same opponent] "It was out! It was out by forty feet! What is it with you? Can't y'see?!" (Wherein Charlie Brown said at the end, "At least they've won all the arguments!")