HOLLYWOOD (CNS) — A Hollywood Walk of Fame star honoring Snoopy, the world’s most famous fictional beagle, was unveiled today next to the star of Charles M. Schulz, the late creator of the Peanuts comic strip.
Schulz’s son, Craig, a writer-producer of “The Peanuts Movie,” and Paul Feig, a producer of the film, were among those on hand at the ceremony where the Walk of Fame’s 2,563rd star was unveiled. The ceremony came four days before the release of “The Peanuts Movie.”
Snoopy is best known for pondering life from atop his doghouse, being the “World Famous Author” who began a novel by writing, “It was a dark and stormy night,” and his fantasy of being a World War I flying ace who battled the Red Baron.
“Snoopy’s whole personality is a little bittersweet, but he’s a very strong character,” once said the elder Schulz, who died in 2000. “He can win or lose, be a disaster, a hero or anything and yet it all works out. I like the fact that when he’s in real trouble, he can retreat into a fantasy and thereby escape.”
Snoopy joins such animated characters as Bugs Bunny, Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, the Rugrats, Shrek, The Simpsons, Snow White, Tinker Bell, Winnie-the-Pooh and Woody Woodpecker with stars, according to Walk of Fame producer Ana Martinez.
Snoopy will be the first beagle on the Walk of Fame. The other dogs with stars are Lassie, the collie best known for her 1954-71 CBS drama series, and Rin Tin Tin and Strongheart, German shepherds who appeared separately in films in the 1920s and are credited with helping popularize the breed in the United States.