Editing Peanuts (section)

==Title==
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 |quote  = ''Peanuts'' was originally sold under the title of ''Li'l Folks'', but that had been used before, so they said we have to think of another title. I couldn't think of one and somebody at United Features came up with the miserable title ''Peanuts'', which I hate and have always hated. It has no dignity and it's not descriptive. [...] What could I do? Here I was, an unknown kid from [[Saint Paul, Minnesota|St. Paul]]. I couldn't think of anything else. I said, why don't we call it ''Charlie Brown'' and the president said "Well, we can't copyright a name like that." I didn't ask them about ''[[Nancy (comic strip)|Nancy]]'' or ''[[Steve Canyon]]''. I was in no position to argue.
 |source = —Charles Schulz, in a 1987 interview with Frank Pauer in ''Dayton Daily News and Journal Herald Magazine''{{sfn|Inge|2000|p=146}}
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''Peanuts'' had its origin in ''[[Li'l Folks]]'', a weekly panel cartoon that appeared in Schulz's hometown newspaper, the ''[[Twin Cities Pioneer Press|St. Paul Pioneer Press]]'', from 1947 to 1950. Elementary details of the cartoon shared similarities to ''Peanuts''. The name "Charlie Brown" was first used there. The series also had a dog that looked much like the early 1950s version of Snoopy.{{sfn|Bang|2004|p=5}}

Schulz submitted his ''Li'l Folks'' cartoons to [[United Features Syndicate]] (UFS), who responded with interest. He visited the syndicate in [[New York City]] and presented a package of new comic strips he had worked on, rather than the panel cartoons he submitted. UFS found they preferred the comic strip.{{sfn|Inge|2000|p=146}}{{sfn|Inge|2000|p=171}} When UFS was preparing to syndicate the comic strip as ''Li'l Folk'', Tack Knight, who authored the retired 1930s comic strip ''Little Folks'', sought to claim exclusive rights to the title being used. Schulz argued in a letter to Knight that the contraction of ''Little'' to ''Li'l'' was intended to avoid this conflict, but conceded that the final decision would be for the syndicate. A different name for the comic strip became necessary after legal advice confirmed that ''Little Folks'' was a registered trademark.{{sfn|Michaelis|2007|p=218}} Meanwhile, the production manager of UFS noted the popularity of the children's program ''[[Howdy Doody]]''. The show featured an audience of children who were seated in the "[[Peanut Gallery]]", and were referred to as "Peanuts". This inspired the decided title that was forced upon Schulz, to his consternation.{{sfn|Michaelis|2007|p=219}}

Schulz hated the title ''Peanuts'', which remained a source of irritation to him throughout his life. He accused the production manager at UFS of not having seen the comic strip before giving it a title, and he said that the title would only make sense if there was a character named "Peanuts".{{sfn|Inge|2000|p=56}} On the day it was syndicated, Schulz's friend visited a news stand in uptown Minneapolis and asked if there were any newspapers that carried ''Peanuts'', to which the newsdealer replied, "No, and we don't have any with popcorn either", which confirmed Schulz's fears concerning the title.{{sfn|Inge|2000|p=87}} Whenever Schulz was asked what he did for a living, he would evade mentioning the title and say, "I draw that comic strip with Snoopy in it, Charlie Brown and his dog".{{sfn|Michaelis|2007|p=221}} In 1997 Schulz said that he had discussed changing the title to ''Charlie Brown'' on multiple occasions in the past but found that it would ultimately cause problems with licensees who already incorporated the existing title into their products, with unnecessary expenses involved for all downstream licensees to change it.{{sfn|Inge|2000|p=216}}