My Niche Obsessions #209: Snoopy’s Family

If you know me, you know I have the most random hyperfixations, and that includes the relatives of famous characters (anyone remember Uncle O’Grimacey who used to come out around St. Patrick’s Day to promote Shamrock Shakes? Was that a fever dream?)

For some reason, I have long been obsessed with Snoopy’s siblings from the “Peanuts” comic strip (which really should be called “Charlie Brown” or “Snoopy” but for the record, Schulz had the name forced upon him) and tried to acquire all of them in figurine or plush form. Well it turns out the Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa is doing an exhibit on Snoopy’s Family through September so did I drive 7 hours up to see it? Yes, yes I did.

Anyway, part of what cracks me up is how all the main siblings look like first drafts/foreign knockoffs of the real Snoopy, except for Molly and Rover who they clearly just threw in there. . Left to Right you have Spike (Skinny Snoopy), Belle (Girl Snoopy), Marbles (Spotted Snoopy), Andy (Fuzzy Snoopy), and Olaf (Fat Snoopy.) Snoopy also has a Mom and Dad but they barely put any thought into it - they just slapped a mustache on Dad and a “Dr. Zhivago” hat on Mom and were done with it.

Controversial take: Snoopy has 7 siblings. People will say there are only 5 because 5 appeared in the PEANUTS comic but I consider Molly and Rover, who only appeared in the TV special “Snoopy’s Reunion” as canon.

Purists will argue it’s not comic canon BUT WAIT!!!! This is reinforced by a Father’s Day card his dad receives in the comic strip signed with EIGHT paw prints! EVIDENCE!

Unfortunately, this means my collection will always be incomplete because nobody makes figurines for those two. But I was at last able to acquire all the plush toys of the main siblings.

Note: Snoopy also has a nephew, which opens a whole Pandora’s Box of questions I’d rather not unpack.

Anyway, if you’ve never been to the Schulz Museum, it’s simply wonderful. You can learn all about Charles M. Schulz and outside of his comic achievements, he did wonderful things for the town of Santa Rosa - including bringing hockey to the town by building an ice skating rink and sponsoring teams. Look at all the cute little touches!

You can visit the rink and the cafe (I had a Peppermint Patty hot chocolate and it was delicious and made my question my sexuality.)

The gift shop is incredible and I got a lot of SWAG - I even found Snoopy Sibling pajamas!

There’s also an area for kids where you can color drawings and make a Snoopy origami house. When I was there four years ago, I tried and ended up giving up, it was so hard. I promised myself this time I would do it, that I would have my satisfaction and revenge. After two hours of folding and cursing, I gave up and rethought my life choices.

Anyway, there’s never a bad time to visit the museum (except Tuesdays when they’re closed) but if your niche obsession includes Snoopy’s Family, get there before Sept. 16!