26 Years Later, Snoopy's Very Last Peanuts Line Proves Why He's Still The Most Iconic Comic Character

Published Sep 11, 2026, 8:30 PM EDT An experienced Editor representing Canada via ScreenRant's Team Anime, J.R. has been reading manga since the first printing of Shonen Jump in North America. This passion drove him to write about anime, manga, and manhwa since 2022, having recently served as Lead Anime Editor for ComicBook.com. His favorite moments in media coverage include reviewing the series premieres of Zom 100 and Bleach: TYBW Part 2 back-to-back and briefly meeting Junji Ito at a VIZ gallery event in 2023. Sign in to your ScreenRant account For the greatest comic characters in the pop culture zeitgeist, their greatest qualities show them just as much a state of mind as their individual traits, and such is especially true for Snoopy of Peanuts fame. An adorable beagle gradually anthropomorphized into an increasingly expressive, creative foil to Charlie Brown's anxiety and insecurity, Snoopy quickly climbed the ranks of the top dogs in comic strip history. But even in his final days in Peanuts, Snoopy retained his adorable, resourceful personality across the final original installments of Charles M. Schulz's untouchable 50-year run. The final unreleased Peanuts strip featuring original Snoopy lines, not including the modified farewell shown following Schulz's passing on February 13, 2000, hardly felt like a goodbye despite being his last published original words. Rather than going down the fantastical route or playing things out with his signature Happy Dance, Snoopy's antics on January 23, 2000 were very much business as usual as he bamboozled Charlie Brown into topping off his beloved supper dish one last time. In a feat of calligraphy and lateral thinking, Snoopy did his World-Famous Author persona some true justice in this underrated Peanuts moment. Snoopy's Final Line Came After Swindling Charlie Brown While Lucy van Pelt is the resident prankster of Peanuts when it comes to exploiting Charlie Brown's trust, Snoopy showed his cleverness one last time on the January 23 Peanuts strip. The fourth-last original Peanuts strip as part of a group of previously-unreleased Sunday editions, Snoopy's story here is in keeping with his usual antics, up to and including him manually editing a gift certificate to swap in a bowl full of his food. Charlie Brown's uncritical acceptance of this is arguably a much softer form of being tricked than the usual football gag, and he gets the benefit of feeling like he's doing Snoopy a service. After all, he's just feeding his dog, with Snoopy merely saying to himself: I can't believe it took me three years to think of that. It's a brilliant last line because it has no hints of finality, thus taking away the sting for another week and letting the joy linger a bit longer. After all, Schulz originally put Snoopy at his typewriter for the momentous strip delivering his retirement notice, and ultimately his final letter to the fans both on January 3 and again on February 13. This moment, where it's wholly Snoopy's voice in play, strongly reflects a better state of mind for Schulz. Given Sunday strips typically got several weeks of lead time, it'd be unsurprising, given how only several months prior to his announcement, Schulz wouldn't have found out about his condition. Schulz did, after all, make a truly heartbreaking farewell when the occasion called for it, so in this last strip, Snoopy retains his usual spirits, and that's totally fine. The Final Peanuts Strips Largely Don't Feel Like Endings Despite one making its way into the February 13, 2000 set of memory panels for the final Peanuts goodbye strip, each of the previous final five Peanuts Sunday installments had virtually no finality to them. While Schulz himself was understandably sad at times about what he couldn't wind up adding to the comic, it'd be largely out of character for the Peanuts gang to suddenly be wistful knowing the end is near. Instead, Rerun van Pelt and Snoopy get one last laugh together. Charlie Brown got to dish out some advice about love letters despite never getting one. Snoopy got one last flight of fancy with Woodstock, and one more delicious meal. October 2, 1950 – February 13, 2000 · 17,897 Strips How Well Do You Know Peanuts? “Good grief!” ⚾Charlie BrownGood Ol’ Chuck 🐕SnoopyThe Flying Ace 🧣LinusSecurity Blanket 🏈LucyPsychiatric Help 🐥WoodstockBest Friend PLAY BALL → 01 Before Peanuts launched in 1950, Charles M. Schulz drew a weekly cartoon panel for the St. Paul Pioneer Press. What was it called? ALi’l Folks BSmall Fry CThe Sandlot DJust Kids ✓ Correct! Li’l Folks ran from 1947 to 1950. When the syndicate renamed the new strip “Peanuts,” Schulz hated the title for the rest of his life. ✗ Not quite! It was Li’l Folks — and Schulz never forgave United Feature for rechristening his strip “Peanuts.” NEXT → 02 Which member of the gang is almost never seen without his security blanket — and waits every year in the pumpkin patch for the Great Pumpkin? ASchroeder BLinus van Pelt CPig-Pen DShermy ✓ Correct! Linus — Lucy’s little brother, the strip’s resident theologian, and the reason “security blanket” entered the dictionary. ✗ Not quite! It’s Linus van Pelt, whose blanket gave the English language the term “security blanket.” NEXT → 03 Schroeder hammers away at his toy piano in devotion to a single composer — whose bust sits on top of it. Who? AJohann Sebastian Bach BWolfgang Amadeus Mozart CLudwig van Beethoven DFrédéric Chopin ✓ Correct! Beethoven. Schroeder even observes Beethoven’s birthday every December 16 — while ignoring Lucy entirely. ✗ Not quite! It’s Beethoven — the one thing in the world Schroeder loves more than tuning out Lucy. NEXT → 04 When Snoopy climbs onto his doghouse in goggles and a scarf, he becomes the World War I Flying Ace — forever hunting which nemesis? AThe Cat Next Door BThe Head Beagle CThe Great Pumpkin DThe Red Baron ✓ Correct! The Red Baron — and the Sopwith Camel doghouse always goes down in flames, sending the Ace off to curse him in a French café. ✗ Not quite! It’s the Red Baron. Snoopy’s doghouse is a Sopwith Camel, and it never once wins the dogfight. NEXT → 05 Lucy runs a curbside psychiatric help booth out of a lemonade stand. What does she charge per session? A1¢ B5¢ C10¢ D25¢ ✓ Correct! Five cents, please. The nickel never went up in 50 years — and the advice was never once worth it. ✗ Not quite! It’s 5¢ — “The doctor is in.” Lucy held that price for half a century. NEXT → 06 Snoopy’s tiny yellow best friend went unnamed for years before Schulz finally christened him. What was he named after? AA brand of birdseed BSchulz’s hometown in Minnesota CThe 1969 Woodstock music festival DA character from a Beethoven opera ✓ Correct! Woodstock got his name in 1970, borrowed straight from the music festival held the summer before. ✗ Not quite! He’s named for the 1969 Woodstock festival — Schulz gave the bird the name in 1970, years after he first appeared. NEXT → 07 The jazz score for A Charlie Brown Christmas — including the immortal “Linus and Lucy” — was written by which musician? AVince Guaraldi BDave Brubeck CHenry Mancini DDuke Ellington ✓ Correct! Pianist Vince Guaraldi scored the 1965 special, and network executives were sure the jazz soundtrack would sink it. It became a permanent holiday fixture. ✗ Not quite! It’s Vince Guaraldi, whose trio gave Peanuts its unmistakable sound. NEXT → 08 Schulz drew every Peanuts strip himself for nearly 50 years. What made the final original Sunday strip — February 13, 2000 — so haunting? ACharlie Brown finally kicked the football BThe Little Red-Haired Girl was shown at last CIt was the only strip Schulz left unfinished DIt ran the morning after Schulz died ✓ Correct! Schulz died the evening of February 12, 2000 — and his farewell strip, signed off with “Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, Lucy... how can I ever forget them,” appeared in papers the very next morning. ✗ Not quite! Schulz died on February 12, 2000 — hours before his own farewell strip ran in the Sunday papers. SEE YOUR SCORE → The Doctor Is In · Five Cents, Please Your Peanuts Report Card ⚾ / 8 Good grief — or good ol’ Charlie Brown? Either way, the football is still there. Wanna try again? ⤴ ONE MORE KICK These strips don't reflect the more melancholic aspects of other Peanuts strips near the end, such as the final Peppermint Patty and Marcie strip just ahead of Schulz's letter to the fans. They instead show the usual joy and individual traits of each of these characters as almost more of a salve for the wounds just around the corner. With Schulz establishing Peanuts and its stars over the course of 50 years, and the series still getting additional adaptations, readers never needed to say goodbye like Schulz did. Instead, he left behind a wonderful gift, a cast of characters that'll weather the test of time, with the Browns' iconic cartoon dog standing tall against all other comic strip pets of their kind. TV Show(s) The Snoopy Show, Peanuts by Schulz First Film The Peanuts Movie Cast Christopher Shea, Kathy Steinberg, Bill Melendez, Sally Dryer, Peter Robbins, Noah Schnapp, Hadley Belle Miller, Mariel Sheets, Lisa DeFaria, Venus Omega Schultheis Created by Charles M. Schulz Movie(s) The Peanuts Movie, A Charlie Brown Christmas, A Boy Named Charlie Brown, Charlie Brown's All Stars!, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown Character(s) Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy van Pelt, Linus van Pelt, Sally Brown, Pig-Pen, Marcie (Peanuts), Peppermint Patty, Woodstock