Inside Snoopy Mania: Why the 74-Year-Old Beagle Is More Popular Than Ever, Especially at the Holidays (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

He’s white with black ears, he can’t talk and he’s one of the most beloved cartoons in the whole world. He’s Snoopy.

Charles M. Schulz(who widely used the nickname “Sparky”) began writing and drawingPeanutsas a daily cartoon strip in 1950, starring a boy named Charlie Brown. In the third-ever strip, readers were introduced to Charlie’s dog, Snoopy, a Beagle who could be fun-loving, cunning, sharp, comforting, self-obsessed, considerate and everything else in between.

Schulz would add an array of characters to the Peanuts gang, but all these decades later, it’s Snoopy who has the loudest, proudest fan base. And while some parts of the past have struggled to adapt to the Internet age, Snoopy is more popular than ever.

Dance scene from ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ in 1965.Alamy

Alamy

In the winter of 2023, Snoopy went viral thanks toa plush sold at CVS of the pup in a puffer jacket and hat. Soon, puffer jacket Snoopy was everywhere — onsocks,sweaters,backpacksand more. The character is generally a major hit online, withdedicated meme pagesand 2 million followers onhis own TikTok account. In 2023, he even brought some levity toBradley Cooper’s movieMaestro.

And though Snoopy is popular year-round, Melissa Menta, senior vice president of marketing and communications for Peanuts Worldwide, tells PEOPLE that if you most associate the Peanuts gang with the end of the year, that’s not surprising. The company calls the time from Halloween — andIt’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown— through Christmas the “Super Bowl of Peanuts.”

Snoopy and Woodstock in the 2024 Thanksgiving Day Parade.John Angelillo/UPI/Shutterstock

John Angelillo/UPI/Shutterstock

But why Snoopy, and why is he so big now?Roy Schwartz, a pop culture historian and journalist, tells PEOPLE in an email, “Snoopy never really went anywhere. He’s stilla Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Paradeballoon, still found in every toy store, still (after a break) a mascot for MetLife.” But as for his newly charged popularity, he credits social media and its ability to spread something far and wide: “And Snoopy has always been versatile, with a variety of moods, expressions, outfits and scenarios over the decades, which makes him perfect for memes and GIFs.”

“I also think that, as a cute but irreverent dog, he fits the Kawaii culture that’s mainstreamed among Gen Zers,” he explains. “And if you want to dig deeper, I’d also say that he’s an icon of nostalgia, of a comforting yesteryear, which is a big part of current Gen Z and millennial culture.”

The Snoopy Thanksgiving balloon in 2023’s ‘Maestro.’ From left: Carey Mulligan and Bradley Cooper.Netflix

Netflix

Harold Buchholz, a cartoonist and the co-host of theUn-Packing Peanuts podcast, explains that Snoopy’s meme-ability is in part because of how Schulz would draw the canine hero. He and the otherPeanutscharacters are drawn in really simple shapes that help make them “iconic.” But he points out that if you look closely at Snoopy, Schulz would draw him differently in different situations. “When he’s lying on the dog house, lying on his back, he’s massive, and then if he’s sitting down, he’s tiny … What Schulz seemed to instinctively know is that we know it’s Snoopy no matter how he’s drawn. He chooses the most appealing, iconic drawing he can. He breaks all the rules of Snoopy’s physics. I’m sure he drove all the animators crazy.”

Buchholz says some of Snoopy’s appeal boils down to the way Schulz drew him. “It’s a lot easier for us, strangely, to identify with something that is so simply boiled down to the little nose and eyes and ears. Snoopy is potentially open to anybody to experience instantly and relate to.”

Linus, Sally and Snoopy in 1966’s ‘It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown’.Courtesy Everett Collection

As for Snoopy’s relevance with Gen Z, Buchholz notes, “Snoopy is in a world of humans, and he’s reliant on humans because he’s a dog. And he finds his own path through imagination and and individuality in that world. Maybe Gen Z identity with feeling small in a world that doesn’t feel like your own or doesn’t always make sense.”

Snoopy pouches from Baggu.Baggu

Baggu

Schulz, he adds, “had the amazing ability to address the big questions of life through small children, to make intelligent points with humor and deceptive simplicity.”

And, when it comes to Gen Z’s affection for Snoopy and his friends, some of it comes just from having the specials and comics and stuffed animals passed from generation to generation. Kathleen McConnaghy, a 26-year-old Snoopy fanatic, tells PEOPLE that her parents instilled a love forPeanutscomics and specials when she was a kid.

From left: Shermy, Sally Brown (front), Violet Gray, Charlie Brown, Lucy van Pelt, Linus van Pelt, Peppermint Patty, Schroeder, Frieda, Pig-Pen and Snoopy in 1965’s ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’.Courtesy Everett Collection

Courtesy Everett Collection

“When I was younger, I was like, ‘This is dumb.’ And then I got older, I was like, ‘Wait a second, Snoopy is really cute.’ ” Snoopy also serves as a shorthand between people, she says. “If you see someone with something Snoopy in the wild, you’re like, ‘Oh they’re cool. They get it.’ ”

Snoopy (right) in 1966’s ‘It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown’.Courtesy of Apple

Courtesy of Apple

Menta says that Schulz always said in interviews, “I’m a little bit of every character, but everybody wants to be Snoopy.” Snoopy has been an astronaut, a hockey player, a chef, a construction worker, a baseball player, a dentist, an artist, a rock star, a writer, a cowboy and everything in between. Of course he’s a beloved icon, too.

source: people.com