The origin story for one of Peanuts’ most beloved characters, Franklin, follows how he approaches making new friends in Snoopy Presents: Welcome Home, Franklin for AppleTV+.
Franklin, first introduced in the 1960’s, was always on the move with his dad’s military job, and therefore his family always finds themselves in new situations. So when Franklin tries his usual strategies for friendship with the Peanuts gang, he has trouble fitting in. That’s until he learns about the neighborhood Soap Box Derby race and he’s sure that winning the race will also mean winning over some new friends.
We talk with Craig Schulz (Charles Schulz’ son and also co-writer and executive producer), Robb Armstrong (co-writer and Franklin Armstrong Namesake) as well as director Raymond S. Persi about legacy, the franchise and friendship.
Interviewed for Family Entourage
Family Entourage: We are big Peanuts fans in our household, so I got the family all together and we watched “Welcome Home, Franklin” and we all absolutely loved it. So thank you so much for sharing this origin story. And Robb, let’s maybe start with you as the namesake. Talk to me a little bit about how that came about and then writing this story.
Robb Armstrong: It’s very interesting. It happened a while ago. Charles Schultz brought Franklin into the cast. As you may know, back in the sixties. I was a child. I was six years old. He named him Franklin Armstrong in the nineties when I was a 26-year-old man. His decision to do that, I don’t know. I don’t know why. When he asked me my permission and I thought he might’ve been off his rocker, to be honest with you, I just thought, I don’t deserve it. It’s so huge. But I accepted it with grace. I told Schultz it was an honor, Sparky, I called him Sparky. It was an honor. But the pressure is on when that happens. I mean, this is an iconic character. The whole world knows Franklin. So when this opportunity came about, it was time to put meat on the bone. It was time to bring this character to life. And thank you Craig, for including me, because I’m not trying to claim credit for Franklin’s existence, but I am trying to increase Sparky Schultz’s character, enhance him, make people aware of him, have children know who he is, and improve his image, which took a hit in the age of the internet. So it’s been just an amazing opportunity. I’m just so thankful to Craig for.
FE: Craig, one of the things that I love with this comic strip that’s then turned into films that your father created and that now you have been able to carry forward in so many different fantastic ways, is the idea of legacy and what that looks like for families. And we’re even hearing Robb talk about it now and how that’s being created within Franklin. Talk to me a little bit about that and kind of how you look at legacy.
Craig Schulz: Well, I look at it with a lot of responsibility, number one, and you flashback what Robb said prior to 1968 when Harriet Glickman called my dad and said, you need to put a black character comic strip. There really were no black characters in the comic strips. It just didn’t exist. Robb was six years old, like he said, and Harriet was kind of fed up that no one did that. So she contacted my dad and then he was, it’s a quandary for him because number one, he always wanted to do that, but he had no idea how to write it. He didn’t know how to write for a black character. He didn’t want to offend the black community in any way. So when you see Franklin throughout the years, he becomes kind of a linear character because again, along the way, he didn’t want to offend anybody.
So Franklin becomes a really kind of neutral character. He’s very intellectual, he’s kind of in his own world. He gets along with everybody, which is really nice. And in the specials we created for AppleTV+ our one objective was really try to explore more of each of the characters. So we did the Marcy one previously, I don’t know if you saw Marcy or not. And now we roll into Franklin. And Franklin, we treated with kid gloves we knew was going to be looked at under our microscope. And we spent a lot of time crafting the story. And that’s why we brought Robb on board.
On another notice, if you look at the Macy’s Day parade, for example, I suggested this year we have Franklin in the Macy’s Day parade. The Macy’s Day parade has been going on for I don’t know how many hundreds of years. It seems like there has only been one black balloon and the whole history of Macy’s Day parade. And I told him, I said, this year we need to put Franklin Balloon in there and I will pay for it. It may not happen, but I think that would be as groundbreaking as Franklin coming into the comic store in 68 would be to have Franklin in the Macy’s Day parade. So I’ve got my fingers crossed.
FE: Raymond, talk to me, you’re no stranger to animation. I mean Wreck It Ralph, Frozen, a couple of our favorites here… talk to me about bringing this story to audiences in that way.
Raymond S. Persi: So when I’ve started working on these Snoopy Presents specials, it was about trying to visually keep it authentic to the strip and really trying to make it almost feel like it was drawn by Charles Schultz’s hand in a way. What I love about these specials and Franklin in particular is that so many shows for families or for kids are really fast paced. And that’s not how life works. Life especially when you’re a kid is slower. You have a lot of time to get to know someone and just to hang out with someone. You get to become best friends with someone just because you happen to be wearing the same shoes. And so when I first read the script that these guys had written, I was so excited to see a friendship develop in real time in a way that it really does. Where just by being close and talking, suddenly you feel more connected. And that Franklin gets to learn that he gets to learn to be himself. He doesn’t have to be nice all the time. He can show that his friends that he’s frustrated or angry and his friends are still going to care about him and still be his friend because that’s what friends do for each other. And I love that we got to show that in his special.
FE: I love the topic of friendship and the way that it was approached, whether that be through a book and cues, or the last kid picked, even down to the idea that if I can do something amazing, then they’ll want to be my friends… but at the end it’s really just about being there for each other and putting others first. I know we don’t have too much time, but Robb or Craig, maybe talk a little bit about the story and how friendship was able to be developed so that we all felt this way.
CS: Well, I just jumped back on my childhood growing up and the idea of building something together with a friend, where now you’re so distracted with what you’re building that the typical just conversation just kind of flow and you invariably start discovering the inner workings of the other child.
RA: Friendship is tough. I appreciate Franklin’s struggle. I had the same thing. I had so many things that were similar to Franklin that at times it was complicated writing for him because I talk about myself and Craig would keep me on track with that. He said, what are you talking about right now? I’d say Franklin or you, I’m going to, who knows? But he has to learn not to try to win friends over. It’s not a childhood thing grownups me and you. We have to not do that. We are not here to win people over. We’re not trying to wave our resumes in front of people and get a friend that way. And Franklin comes into this trying to do that by the end of this special, he sacrifices for others. And by doing that gains friendship, it’s one of the most poignant messages I’ve ever seen. Forget about cartoons I’ve never seen. This is a poignant message you don’t see in media that much, but that’s a Peanuts thing. Charles Schultz put the Lord Jesus Christ in a Christmas special. And even CBS thought, well, there goes that. And guess what, it became a classic. I think we messed around and made another classic.
FE: I think you did. We absolutely loved it. And it translates the message from kids to adults. Thank you guys so much for taking the time and I cannot wait for audiences to see this.
Snoopy Presents: Welcome Home, Franklin streams on AppleTV+ February 16
REVIEW: Surprised at the depth and emotion in this Snoopy Presents. Welcome Home Franklin is fantastic. The Peanuts gang gets friendship right. The way the cartoon is able to visually showcase the desire to win friends over (which we all do at any age – not just kids) to understanding it’s not about being the best but rather about serving, putting others first, and just being there. Sure to become an instant classic and a show BOTH kids and adults need to see.
