2. Tapioca Pudding
Even more than fifteen years after the last original Peanuts strip was published, Peanuts characters are still among the most licensed fictional characters for clothing, toys, food products, and all other kinds of merchandise. This was also true in Schulzs lifetime, and in the mid-1980s the Peanuts creator seemed to engage in a bit of self-criticism when he introduced Tapioca Pudding to the strip. Tapioca Pudding is a talkative girl whose father works in licensing, which she tells anyone who will listen. She sees herself as the next big star in merchandising, frequently bragging that her unique name and adorable face will land her on t-shirts and lunchboxes. While on a date with Linus - which made Sally very jealous of her - Linus grew tired of her only talking about how licensing will make her rich. Like other minor characters in the Peanuts strip, Tapioca Pudding stopped appearing once Schulz felt the gag had run its course. Now that Peanuts characters are even more licensed for products than ever before (especially because of the movie), its unlike the studio behind The Peanuts Movie would want to self-criticise itself about commercialism quite like Schulz did.
Chris McKittrick
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Chris McKittrick is a published author of fiction and non-fiction and has spoken about film and comic books at conferences across the United States. In addition to his work at WhatCulture!, he is a regular contributor to CreativeScreenwriting.com, MovieBuzzers.com, and DailyActor.com, a website focused on acting in all media. For more information, visit his website at http://www.chrismckit.com.
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