{"id":1252,"date":"2024-02-03T17:35:24","date_gmt":"2024-02-03T17:35:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/entertainment\/new-peanuts-special-will-finally-let-franklin-sit-by-white-friends\/"},"modified":"2024-02-03T17:35:24","modified_gmt":"2024-02-03T17:35:24","slug":"new-peanuts-special-will-finally-let-franklin-sit-by-white-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ventil.rs\/blog\/entertainment\/new-peanuts-special-will-finally-let-franklin-sit-by-white-friends\/","title":{"rendered":"New \u2018Peanuts\u2019 special will finally let Franklin sit by White friends"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Franklin\u2019s isolated seat at the dinner table in \u201cA Charlie Brown Thanksgiving\u201d riled viewers of the classic that aired 50 years ago. But a new TV special coming out this month about the first Black \u201cPeanuts\u201d character literally gives him a better seat at the table.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cSnoopy Presents: Welcome Home, Franklin,\u201d premiering Feb. 16 on Apple TV Plus, will focus on Franklin\u2019s origin story. The trailer, released Friday, shows that after moving to a new neighborhood, Franklin Armstrong initially struggles to fit in, with kids passing him by as he tries to strike up conversations. He vows to make new friends and win the town\u2019s Soap Box Derby race with his partner, Charlie Brown.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In a lighthearted part of trailer, Charlie asks Franklin about his music taste, to which Franklin gushes about James Brown: \u201cYou\u2019re not related, are you?\u201d Franklin asks, comparing James Brown\u2019s face to Charlie\u2019s.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The special was co-written by Robb Armstrong \u2014 the \u201cJumpStart\u201d creator who inspired Franklin\u2019s surname<\/a> \u2014 along with Charles M. Schulz\u2019s son and grandson \u2014 Craig and Bryan Schulz, respectively \u2014 and \u201cThe Peanuts Movie\u201d executive producer Cornelius Uliano.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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With the \u201cPeanuts\u201d characters animated once again, one particular moment of the special\u2019s trailer struck a chord with fans of the comic strip. Franklin is again settled in a controversially placed chair \u2014 but this time, he\u2019s given an upgrade.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cHey Franklin! We saved you a seat over here!\u201d Linus says, referring to an empty seat between him and Charlie Brown on the opposite side of the table.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Some viewers of \u201cA Charlie Brown Thanksgiving\u201d criticized Franklin\u2019s spot in its dinner scene in recent years, posting on social media that it was unfair for the character to sit alone on a long side of the table in a lawn chair while his White friends sat together on the other sides of the table in sturdier chairs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Robin Reed, who voiced Franklin in the 1973 animation, told MSNBC<\/a> in 2021 that despite his character\u2019s seat position drumming up controversy more recently, that wasn\u2019t the focus when it was first aired.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s so very easy to get offended or upset,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we have to remember that at that time, that actually represented progress.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Many who commented on the Franklin special\u2019s trailer said they considered the reimagined version to be a win, especially during Black History Month. Fans applauded Franklin\u2019s new chair<\/a> on social media, noting how the move symbolically honored the character that effectively <\/b>integrated \u201cPeanuts\u201d in an era where racial segregation was still <\/b>commonplace.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Franklin was introduced into the \u201cPeanuts\u201d comic universe in 1968, after the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. spurred retired teacher Harriet Glickman<\/a> to ask Charles Schulz and other prominent comic artists to racially integrate their work.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Schulz initially told Glickman in a letter he was hesitant because he didn\u2019t want to come off as patronizing to Black people. But after support from Glickman\u2019s friends, who were Black parents, and after Schulz stood his ground when questioned by the syndicate, Franklin was printed in papers. In his first appearance, which is also recreated in the \u201cWelcome Home, Franklin\u201d trailer, he hands Charlie Brown\u2019s beach ball back to him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n