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Charles M Schulz Museum & Research Center
Rating Details »
- Hours:
Mon-Fri. 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sat-Sun. 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
49 reviews for Charles M Schulz Museum & Research Center
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One of Charles M Schulz Museum & Research Center's Favorite Reviews What's This?
This museum is awesome. They switch out their special exhibit areas pretty often, so it's always worth a re-visit. There are two special exhibit sections -- one concentrating on themes in Peanuts, and the other how Peanuts interacts with the wider comics medium and culture.
The last exhibit I went to was Peanuts and Beethoven, and it was great. The San Jose Beethoven Center collaborated with the museum for the show, which included artifacts from Beethoven's time (as well as strands of Beethoven's hair!), a replica forte piano, and Beethoven life mask. An audio tour was included with it, so that you could listen to the music Schroeder plays and talks about. This exhibit absorbed me for two hours. It was very well organized and fascinating!
Comic strips from the museums collection rotate in the other exhibit area, grouped by theme. The baseball theme one over the summer was a lot of fun to look at. I hope they do a Snoopy as a writer theme sometime!
There is a comfortable sitting area where you can browse articles about Charles Schulz, as well as condolence letters to his widow after he died from ordinary and famous people, including President Clinton and Hillary Clinton.
Upstairs is Charles Schulz's studio, transported into the museum, as well as other Schulz artifacts, including a mural he painted on the nursery wall for his children. Outside is a garden with Peanuts-themed sculptures. Adjacent to the museum is a ice skating rink Charles Schulz had built and a little cafe.
This is a great place to visit. I grew up reading collections of Peanuts comics, so it's always exciting to see the originals of strips that I remember from childhood.
After reading Matt G.'s review, I wanted to check out this place for myself. I took some much needed time off work for a day of fun and relaxation. We got to Santa Rosa around 11:00, and it was HOT! It was one of the hottest days in July. Thank goodness for air conditioning!
It was really cool to see all of the old Peanuts memorabilia. I saw the evolution of Snoopy and learned that he originally walked on all four paws. They have some of Charles Schulz's old doodles and a bunch of giant comic strips to look at. I liked the statues that they had outside in the garden and out front.
I wish there was more to see. The museum itself isn't that big, and we saw everything in about an hour. There's also an ice rink and gift shop across the street. I bought a cute Snoopy pirate shirt, and a baby outfit for my friend's nephew. I had to stop the inner child in me from buying stuffed animals and other souvenirs that would just end up sitting in the corner.
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When I went there was an intriguing exhibit by Yoshiteru Otani, combining the Peanuts characters with Japanese writing (Kanji).
It was something of a magical experience in that, while wandering through the gallery taking in each painting I wished someone would explain it to me, as the placards only gave the pieces names and dates. Suddenly, a voice called everyone in the area to attention. We all looked up curiously as a tall, long-haired Japanese man in a white suit stood at the gallery's opening while a shorter fellow introduced him as the artist, at which the man in the white suit turned revealing Snoopy's embroidered face on the back of his coat to our awe and applause.
The artist took us through many of the paintings as the shorter man translated for us. At each piece, Yoshi, the artist, expressed a great love and admiration for "Sparky" (Schulz). The kanji in each painting had the dual purpose of adding meaning to the painting while also working as a set piece within the art, which the characters sat on or interacted with.
It was such a wondrous experience.
The rest of the museum is eye candy for any Peanuts or Charles Schulz fan. Even the drinking fountains in the back are fascinatingly stunning when they catch the light a certain way.
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I visited the Charles Schulz museum while on my week of relaxation nearby. I love to explore little treasures like that and figured it would make for a nice afternoon. I gave myself 3 hours to tour the museum. I probably shouldn't have done that. The museum, gift shop, and items outdoors do not take three hours for someone walking through alone.
I think the price was reasonable for the museum. While I didn't gain any extremely amazing knowledge an insight while I was there, I really appreciated the various Peanuts artwork that was done by other artists. It was scattered throughout the great hall, outdoors, the lobby, and the gift shop. Seeing the different ways people interpreted the Peanuts comic was the most fascinating.
I was a little disappointed in the gift shop and was hoping it would offer more than it did. I walked out with only a magnet.
It was fun going through all the displays and reading through all he snoopy comics. There were some cute statues for us to pose by but if the admission price was lower, it would've been a better experience. I did buy a boutique-ish Woodstock tshirt and a snoopy puzzle since I figure I'll never coming back again. So it was good to pay a visit, but once is probably enough.
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While wife and Jr. are on the other side of the globe, daughter and I decided to celebrate the Father's day weekend together and took a drive up to Santa Rosa.
With traffic going north travelling at a steady pace on Father's Day and listening to Lady Gaga's "Love Game" and "Pokerface", the drive took nearly 1.5 hours.
Like many of you know that I'm a big Peanut's fan. And if you grew up reading and followed the Peanut's comics and still do currently on a daily basis, you must definitely check out the museum and art exhibit, in which he built.
Parking is free. The admission costs to enter the museum are $8.00 for adults and $5.00 for kids under 18. Credit cards to pay the admissions are accepted. As you entered the museum, you're greeted by seeing portraits of Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Snoopy and Woodstock. On the right are the ticket-booth/cashier, mini gift shop corner and a auditorium-theatre, where they show continous cartoons of the Peanuts. And they were showing Charlie Brown and his disfunctional baseball team.
As you entered pass the admission desk, on the left is the temporary gallery where they have various past comic strips of the current month including an monumental first for Snoopy when he became the first beagle to walk on space. One comic also shocked me when Snoopy was in a cask with a broken leg after he slipped on his dog-dish. "That must be painful to watch and read, but painful on the beagle's part as well.
On the right is the courtyard with Woodstock in the Drinking fountain and some of the popular Peanut characters as an outdoor exhibit.
Wait, there's an upstairs too. And that level has his studio, Biographical, another Temporary Gallery that includes a memorial to commemorate D-Day from Mr. Schulz. And that gallery changes every four months.
Across the way in another building, there is a skating ring (aka Redwood Empire Ice Arena), cafe, party-room and more Peanut's Character greeting you with Charlie Brown in his hockey gear and Joe Cool in a tuxedo. The skating ring was being resurfaced with the hockey-zamboni with the cool Peanut's emblem on it. The cafe has your typical American Food. I bought a small cup of coffee(me) and small hot cocoa(daughter) and both drinks have the emblem of Snoopy dressing up as a chef on the cup. The styrofoam coffee cup is very cute, but the $2.00 coffee tasted hella nasty! "Yuck!"
Finally in another building there is a gift shop. And the two level building has the gift shop on the ground-level and the upper level has an art gallery and more stories of the Peanuts and the cartoonist including the Chronological timeline of Peanuts from the debut in 1951 with CB and Snoopy, to more characters debut including Joe Cool's debut in 1970, to Mr. Schulz's final script in 1999. Eventhough cartoonist Charles Schulz is no longer with us, his legacy and cartoons still continues.
Obviously, I bought some "Joe Cool" stuff from the giftshop. And the way I was describing Mr. Schulz's museum, are you anticipated to drive up to Santa Rosa?
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I always tell people that this is the ideal place to take mom or grandma when they come to town, but really the only times I've gone there have been with my girlfriend. Its not really the kind of museum in which you can lose a whole day or afternoon, but its a neat way to spend an hour. Schulz was a pretty complicated individual and the museum does a nice job showing you the dichotomy between his life and art. Plus there's tons of Peanuts strips to read. Also a huge fan of the gift shop. You can buy all the Vince Guaraldi CDs you could want and plenty of Snoopy themed stocking-stuffers.
My only issue with this place....it's a bit on the small side. I went through all of it and I feel like I did so at a reasonably leisurely pace, and I was done in a little over an hour. What's up with that?
I noticed they had one exhibit devoted to Peanuts strips related to medical and health issues, with a little backstory accompanying each strip. A good way to create a bigger museum would be to have more such exhibits (rather than rotating them)...many of us Peanuts fans could look at these all day! More Peanuts memorabilia would also be a good way to go.
Other than that, it's a nice place and a great tribute to the best cartoonist of all time, and the staff is really friendly! That's why the place leaves you wishing for more of a good thing.
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Really enjoyed our experience at the Shulz museum.
The grounds are beautifully landscaped and the architecture of the museum building is very nice looking. Nice open air atmosphere and the flow of foot traffic is designed very well. Really enjoyed the current exhibit and beware that they have a strong photo policy in certain areas. The outdoor area is really neat as well. The older building across the street is unique and has lots of history as well. I really enjoyed learning the history behind the life of Charles Shulz and admiring his work. Highly recommended spot for a day trip out to Santa Rosa.
I never liked the overly monotonous Mickey Mouse or the repetitive antics of Archie. Did everyone notice Scooby-doo has the same plot and story every single time? Are coyotes really smart to catch birds with dynamite? Why do some men run around at night with underwear outside their pants?
Peanuts is how I got entertained when I was young.
It gives you a bit of reality, angst, philosophy and culture. It has some insights on various personalities, artistic comprehension and early feminism (Where else do you see girls who vows vengeance with their fists?) as well as dogs with flying ace syndrome.
We came here on April 11 which is the day before Easter so they had a lot of kids around for an Easter Egg Hunt in the field next to the museum. Kids come in for free. Kind of nice to see a bunch of little kiddies wearing Snoopy ears and running around for plastic eggs.
You can actually finish the whole museum and the gift shop in 2 hours. The high lights for me would be the 2 story mural of Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown made of hundreds of strips, the Snoopy doghouse outside, the huge gift shop, the restroom tiles which were made of strips (Nice!), the outside statues and decors, the Snoopy dolls in display on the 2nd floor of the gift shop and the Warm Puppy Cafe. (Nice touch on the cardboard doggy bowls for serving nachos and hotdogs).
Advice:
The Snoopy Labyrinth should be changed. We had no idea that was a Labyrinth since the plants look like weeds and there was very little of it to form a maze. They could just add more Peanuts statues there, that will probably be a bigger hit than some maze.
It's definitely a place you should visit at least once if you're in the area before heading out for the wineries.
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I heart Snoopy. I really do. One of the few stuffed animals I have left is a small sleeping Snoopy that sits on my desk. What an awesome surprise to find out that there is this wonderful museum in the Bay Area of Snoopy's creator Charles M. Schultz!
While it's not really for kids, it really brought out my childhood love of the Peanuts characters. Lots of wonderful comic strips on display - I read whatever I could today (except for the 35,000 comic strips that make up the gigantic mural in the main hall).
Loved the over-sized character sculptures scattered throughout the grounds and the Snoopy maze. My fave? The mural that Schultz painted for his daughter.
A great museum for any Peanuts fan to bring you straight back to the days when you couldn't wait to watch Linus and the Great Pumpkin on TV.
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Last month we visited the Schulz Museum for the first time. You're not just visiting the museum, you're also seeing Charles Schulz's neighborhood! The museum, the ice skating rink, tennis court, and baseball field are all right next to each other. You get to see Where Charles Walked.
I was impressed by the Snoopy in Space exhibit. Kids will love dressing up as an astronaut and playing in the space ship! That alone was worth the admission fee.
After visiting the museum, we went next door to the ice skating rink. That place is pretty neat also!
Not a fan of museums myself, but this was a nice place to vist. Wish they have more stuff, it wasn't enough for the price. The bad thing is, many of their exhibits were not allowed to take pictures. Overall, a good place for the entire family.
Anytime they have a kids activity at the museum, pack up the kids and GO. Plan on having fun with the kids - it's worth every cent.
Love the gardens and love the staff at both the museum and the Ice Rink.
Great local people who are friendly to everyone.
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Huge Peanuts fan as a kid. Huge. If you were not a Peanuts fan some time in your life, well then just piss-off you ungrateful bastard.
Now that I have that out of the way, this place is quite an impressive museum of Peanuts history, oodles of comic strips, other comic strip authors, and exhibits that are way cool for kids and adults. Admission is only $8; $4 for kids; free for wee ones.
A few Peanuts quotes by Linus, & Charlie Brown:
"My anxieties have anxieties"
"I love mankind - it's people I can't stand"
"There is no problem so big that can't be run away from"
"In all this world, there is no heavier burden than a great potential"
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I love Lucy from Peanuts. People think that's messed up, since she is mean. True, she does pull the football away when Charlie Brown's about to kick it to make him fall, she makes fun of people, she yells at Snoopy, she's full of herself, she has quite a bit of a temper....but she also speaks her mind, is so into Schroeder, offers psychiatric advice for only 5 cents, keeps it real...and that's why she's my favorite!! Haha you know you love her too.
Moving on-this place is FILLED with cuteness. There's so many figurines and statues that your camera will be constantly going off. There's even a voting booth as to who ought to go for president-Snoopy, Charlie, or Lucy (guess who I voted for??), a bunch of comics of course (for you fellow fans out there), and a room where you can draw out the cartoons yourselves (I had some kids make their own comic strips since I was so inspired from this place).
It's fun, it's cheap ($5?), it is quite small but how much more can you do with the place. C'mon now, be reasonable. Btw, there's the warm puppy dog cafe, where you can eat some crappy food but also ice skate like you're with Snoopy on ice. That's a good add on. As for this city, there doesn't seem like much is around so including that piece adds on to its attraction.
Btw this is only a place to go with family. So don't bring your homies or current crush, unless they love the characters like I do with a passion.
So the better half saw the statue of this dood by the entrance
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. - ' ' & ' - .
/ \
: o o ;
( (_ )
: ;
\ __ /
` - . _____ . - '
/ ` " " " ` \
/ \
/ | / \ / \ / \ | \
(_| \ / \ / \ / |_ )
|_______|
__)_ |_ (__
(_____|_____)
and remarked:
OMG he looks like Caillou!! (Kai-You)
http://en.wikipedia.or...
And I'm like, girl, that's an INSULT to the man. It's the other way around!
First of all, the person who created Caillou probably knicked the idea from Charles Schulz (I mean c'mon, a French Canadian character who also wears yellow, is a bald kid, and first name starts with C?)
Anyways, Charles Schulz Museum is a national landmark and must stop for Santa Rosa (that is assuming you're not a wino and fermented sour grapes are not at the top of your list). You can bring the whole family and kids, but as others have stated very clearly, that this is a trip down memory lane for most of us grown up Gen X-er's and older who have read Charlie Brown & Peanuts gang comic strips in books, newspapers, or watched a show on TV (e.g. the Charlie Brown Christmas Special) since childhood. To us target market folk, a visit to the museum is inevitable and immensely inspriational and educational.
But if you never were exposed to Peanuts and Charlie Brown, came from the old world where you were somehow sheltered from it (how that can be possible I don't know), then this place might not be for you.
Here you will also learn how Snoopy and Mr Schulz's transformation of the dog shot his Peanuts comic strip and characters popularity to great heights (thanks to the likes of World War 1 Flying Ace, Joe Cool), and I guess no thanks to sparking the frenzy years later in the 80s/90s amongst GROWN UP ASIAN WOMEN who for some reason have an obsession with collecting EVERYTHING Snoopy. OK I take that back, Hello Kitty GROWN UP infatuated fanatics are by far the worst kind. (The mere thought already makes one's rear end hairs erect.) My friend once remarked that if he was dating a girl and found out she was into Hello Kitty, he'd dump her at the dinner table, nuff said.
Oh yeah if you've got your student ID, then flaunt it for an admission ticket di$count.
Make sure you visit every part of the museum on your trip, including the mini movie theater that plays some old school footage of The Man himself, his thinking, the history behind his work, his family, and the people around him, and how some of the characters came to life and evolved through the years. When you're a kid you don't appreciate the effort, time, blood, sweat and tears, that people put in to bring your favorite characters to life. Truly amazing to witness what really went on behind the scenes.
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To the MOON: Snoopy soars with NASA
Members only event celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 10 mission and to officially open their Snoopy in space exhibit.
It was awesome to meet Capt Chuck Smiley and Lt. Wes Chesser. They paved the way for the moon landing of Apollo 13 and are the people who have traveled the fastest speed ever - 28.5 thousand miles per hour (or 8 miles per second). It was great to hear their stories, thoughts and experiences. This event was history in the making.
The exhibit itself - good stuff and very interesting. It consumes about 35% of the museum. It runs for 6 months. Did you know that Snoopy was brought into NASA to implement a safety program? It turns out to be one of the best marketing ideas in history that brought a nation together. It takes about an hour to check it out. No pics allowed, but theres a toddler spaceship kids can play in. Make sure you visit the gift shop (they wont be fully stocked until April) across the street when done, even grab a snack at the Ice Rink.
You'll want to be a space cadet after your visit...if youre not already one.
I hate to admit it but I've never been a fan of the Peanuts. I was just born more of a Far Side kind of guy, I guess.
Personal taste in comics aside, this is a cool place to visit if you have time. I was there on opening day and I thought their 17'x22' mural was worth my ticket price alone. It's comprised of 3,588 black and white comic strips printed on tiles that you can read up close but when you stand back, it makes the iconic image of Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown.
The other stuff kind of uninteresting to me but if you're a Snoopy fan, I imagine you'll dig this place.
I love the Peanuts. I think Mr. Schulz's work is nothing short of genius, so it was truly a pleasure to visit this comic strip mecca! The museum had a baseball exhibit going on; I couldn't have been more pleased!
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Would it surprise you to know I played Linus in my middle school production of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown"? I wanted to play Snoopy, but my teacher didn't think I had the essential canine quality. I kept my notices...wanna read them? OK, well, here's the song I led with my "unparalleled voice of Sinatra-like clarity" according to the Trojan Trumpet (I wrote reviews back then, too)...oh, BTW, I altered the lyrics for this review:
You're a good man, Charlie Schulz
You're the kind of reminder we need
You have humility, nobility and a sense of honor that is very
Rare indeed.
(--Snoopy goes "Woof!"-- )
You're a good man, Charlie Schulz
And we know you will go very far
Yes it's hard to believe
Almost frightening to conceive
What a good man you are!
Thank you...thank you. No, please sit down. I have to admit I've been meaning to come for several years but always forget it's up there. What prompted me this time was reading David Michaelis' recently published biography of Charles "Sparky" Schulz. It's a bit of a shame that Sparky didn't live to see this museum....it's a nice building, and admission is only $8. The main challenge in building a museum around the creator of Peanuts is to make something visually interesting from a million little comic strip panels.
I think they did a great job with lots of artwork inspired by the Peanuts strips. For instance, there's a huge mural by Yoshiteru Otani made up of 3,500 tiles, each with a Peanuts strip. All together, they form the iconic picture of Lucy taking the football away before just before Charlie Brown kicks it. It's quite impressive (see my photo). Otani also designed the bas-relief sculpture overhead called "Morphing Snoopy". And there's also the colorful impressionistic painting by Tom Everhart of a Red Baron-chasing Snoopy at the dinner table (see my photo). Naturally, there's an entire room of strips from various years to show how the strip evolved.
Go upstairs to see a complete recreation of Schulz's office, Sparky's Studio, as well as other related items like a wrapped doghouse by Cristo and a mural Schulz painted for his infant daughter that has somehow been salvaged from a Colorado home. You can also see works by other cartoonists inspired by Schulz.
Outside in the back are some nice figurines of Charlie Brown and Linus, a characteristic kite stuck up in a tree, and even a Woodstock birdbath with holographic images as you walk around it. In front is a low-level labyrinth shaped like Snoopy's head. And of course, there is a little gift nook in the entry area. I couldn't help myself. I bought a Snoopy plush for $14. No, I don't have a niece or a nephew or any child in mind. I bought it for me, dammit. Stop judging me.
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OK, I'm not the biggest fan of Peanuts. It was never the comic strip for me. The Charles Schulz Museum is a fine little place for folks who loved the strip, and there's stuff there for folks like me too, which is nice.
A large chunk of the museum is dedicated to the large versions of Peanuts comics, with themes that rotate. The theme was Baseball the time I went (late July, 2008) and it was an OK exhibit. The ones that were earlier which much cooler to see than the later ones, and it also so just how many times Charles went to the same well.
There was a great exhibit about politics and cartoons, featuring a lot of cartoonists, including my man Mr. Breathed and Bloom County, the greatest strip in history. That was a fun one.
I loved the part where you got to vote for either Lucy, Charlie Brown or Snoopy for President. I voted Snoopy, like everyone else.
There's some great large-scale installations, such as a mural of CHarlie trying to kick the football made up of strips from the 1960s, and there's an awesome version of Snoopy's House that's been built and then wrapped by Christo.
There are things that are obviously heart-string pullers, like the recreation of his office, and there's a nice timeline of his life and the awards he won. I'd say it was one of the nicer history things in the entire museum.
Is it good for kids? Those that can read. It's aimed a little higher than grade-school, which is admirable.
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I can be a sucker for Americana.
If you are 55 or younger you grew up watching and anticipating the Charlie Brown TV specials. And, if you were alive during the 20th century you, at least once, read the Peanuts strip in your local newspaper. Snoopy, Charlie Brown and the gang are simply part of the American fabric.
As we eagerly anticipate Bush's last day in office and wait for the Clinton/Obama battle to be decided, it was really refreshing to experience something that can make you say "Yeah, I'm glad to be an American!"
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Despite my best efforts to appear heartless and snarky, I've been known to still tear up watching a "Charlie Brown Christmas" . Peanuts played a formative part of my childhood years, and this museum has always been on my list. I wasn't disappointed.
There is an impressive selection of exhibits in this space, and an extensive array of comic strips. I was there for a conference, so our group had the museum - and its adorable elderly docents - to ourselves. It was like having your grandparents with you, only they were just *so* excited to talk to you about Charles Schultz and the arcane facts that most of us have no idea about. Truly adorable. I'm still trying to find the snarky heartless me, which I think withered up and died somewhere in this museum.
Plus I came away with a Lucy for President button, and that, to me, is priceless.
Overall a definite must-visit for even the most heartless of folks.
I came here just after it opened and i thought i was a great tribute to this special, homegrown character and man.
I love Linus and Charlie :)
Such a fun place to spend an afternoon! Be sure to go across the street to the skating rink and cafe and pick up lunch in a dog dish!!!!
I can't think of a Sunday in my childhood that didn't involve reading Peanuts. I remember waking up to the smells of my dad's garlic fried rice and then running outside to pick up the Sunday LA Times off the driveway. These memories suddenly came rushing back to me when we visited the Charles Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa before heading over to Yountville. I'd forgotten how much joy Snoopy, Woodstock, Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus and the rest of Charles Schulz's other family brought to my life.
The bottom floor of the museum is reserved for temporary exhibitions, but also contains a huge mosaic that's made up entirely of Peanuts comic strips, as well as an evolution of Snoopy carved into a large piece of wood. The top floor contains a lot of Schulz history, spanning his entire career, and even includes a recreation of the studio where he worked daily to create his beloved strip.
But the most impressive peace in the museum is a mural Schulz painted for his daughter Meredith in 1951 on a wall in their Colorado Springs home. The mural depicts Snoopy, Patty, and Charile Brown in their earliest stages, long before they evolved into the Peanuts strip. After Schulz and his family moved out of the house, the wall was painted over numerous times over the years. The current owners of the home, the Travincek family, bought the house knowing the mural existed and went through the painstaking process of removing the multiple layers of paint until the original mural was visible again. The wall became an important part of their family's history, as well, but in 2001, they had the wall removed from the house and donated it to the Schulz Museum so they could share it with the rest of the world.
You were a good man, Charles Schulz, and this museum is a wonderful and fitting tribute to man who brought so much joy to the world.
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If you're a huge Peanuts fanatic, then this is the right place for you! I made a special trip to Santa Rosa a while back just to visit this museum dedicated to cartoonist Charles M. Schulz and his works.
The museum has huge displays, exhibits, and murals of Charles Schulz's works and his life. I spent a good amount of time here reading lots of old Peanuts comic strips on display and learning more about the history of Schulz's life. In the Great Hall, the huge tile mural of Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown is made up of almost 3,600 Peanuts comic strips printed on 2"x8" ceramic tiles. How cool is that!
On the second floor, be sure to visit Schulz's Studio, a recreated studio & office with bookcases, desk, drawing board, and personal memorabilia. The outside courtyard and garden has a few cool colorful Peanuts character figures and other statues on display. The Crossword Linus and Under Construction Brown were my favorites. The Museum Store on the main floor is stocked with souvenirs, postcards, apparel, and collectibles.
After you're done with the Museum, take a stroll over to Snoopy's Home Ice (Redwood Empire Ice Arena) where there's the Warm Puppy Cafe and Snoopy's Gallery & Gift Shop, a larger gift shop stocked with lots of Peanuts merchandise.
Visit the website for museum information at: http://www.schulzmuseu.../
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This is a MUST for Peanuts lovers! We knew of the museum before it opened and were promptly there on Opening Day. It's really a nice place to enjoy Peanuts cartoon. Some of the exhibition we really enjoyed were the Tom Everhart and Tribute to Sparky. Other than he exhibits, you'll find Peanuts in film throughout the day as well as an Education Room where you can learn to draw comics. We were fortunate enough to visit the Research Center, which house a large collection of Peanuts collectibles.
I find the space there to be open, comfortable and serene. If Sparky is still alive, he'd be proud of this place.
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If you are a Peanuts fan and ever in Santa Rosa, you must visit this museum at least once.
The first floor has a different exhibit every few months and also a huge mural, composed of comic strips in the shape of Charlie Brown. The second floor is dedicated to Charles Schultz's life (his real study with the original furniture donated by his wife and a time line of his life coinciding with various comics).
The part of the museum that most people miss is right across the street at the Ice Rink and Warm Puppy Cafe. The ice rink was where Charles came to have his hot cocoa and write his strips. There was and still is a table reserved just for him. For any ice skating fans, outside of the rink contains many concrete tiles with famous ice skaters' autographs (Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill, Scott Hamilton, & Robin Cousins -- to name a few!).
Overall, a very good museum that even Lucy would have to be happy about!
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It took me awhile to get to this review although I've been to this museum several times. The first time I went, even though I have fond memories of reading my dad's Peanuts collections from the 1960s (back when they were truly hilarious), I wasn't even sure why exactly this museum was there. But they really did it right.
The space is gorgeous and surprisingly modern, including the furniture. It's not very large, but the rotating exhibits are extremely well-thought-out and interesting, exploring themes in Schulz's work -- for instance, how he was the first cartoonist to allude to racism and therapy. There is also a space dedicated to rotating exhibitions of work from other cartoonists, all somehow related to Peanuts. And because the museum isn't huge, you can get a good sense of it even if you don't have a long time to spare.
When you're done, cross the street and at least take a look at Snoopy's Home Ice, the skating rink where Schulz ate lunch at the Warm Puppy Cafe every single day. The food's kind of crappy, but the staff is nice, and where else are you going to get a "Beagle Burger"?
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I've been chasing the Peanuts gang for 3 years now and finally I made it to the Charles Schultz Museum. This place is really neat. The building is modern, airy, air conditioned, and does a brilliant job of commemorating the work of Charles Schulz. Walking through the museum is like walking down memory lane from reminiscing about the Great Pumpkin to shedding tears for that sad little tree in a Charlie Brown Christmas.
Aside from all of the cartoon strips, there are some great art pieces displayed in the front hall. Take a moment to appreciate the giant wood carving of the evolution of Snoopy and the larger than life ceramic tile mural.
The outdoor garden is nicely kept with a kite eating tree, a giant hat, sparkly drinking fountains, and of course a Charlie Brown statue. The upstairs is filled with more Charles Schulz and Peanuts memorabilia along with an Emmy and Charles Schulz' transplanted studio. Occassionally there are guest speakers and cartoonists present. There is plenty for kids to be entertained here. Who knows, your little one could discover their love for cartooning here since there is an open studio for the kids to draw.
My only complaint about the museum is that I was not able to get an aeriel view of the Snoopy labyrinth. Is there a balcony or access to the roof top that I don't know about?
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First, I have to admit that I kind of laughed when my sister asked me to take her all the way to Santa Rosa during her most recent visit from Michigan to go to the Charles Shulz Museum. Santa Rosa ain't my cup of tea and I didn't think I had that much of an affinity for Peanuts.
Now, I have to admit that I absolutely loved this place and am thankful she made us go. (Granted we started the day in Sonoma for a few wine tastings on the way, it was totally worth the trek.)
I had no idea what an interesting, giving and cool person Charles Shulz was. I had no idea what an art cartooning actually is. And I had no idea how famous and well-recognized Peanuts have become all over the world. Not only is this place extremely fun and entertaining but its amazingly informational and interesting as well.
Give yourself about two hours to peruse the two levels, read through dozens and dozens of Peanut comic strips, and watch at least one full length Peanuts cartoon in the theater.
Honestly, this is probably the coolest museum I've ever been to.
I have to deduct one star though because the staff started lurking and closing things up at 4:50 PM and then they seriously about chased us out right at 5:00 PM (closing time). I understand where they're coming from but just chill out for 5 extra minutes!
If you are an adult Peanuts fan...by all means, this museum is 5 star. It is not however geared towards young Charlie Brown fans.
I was hoping for more interactive displays to engage the interest of my 6 yr old. They do have a nice art room for self-directed projects. And he liked the little Snoopy-shaped zen walking path. Also...the size is right to easily see everything in a couple of hours.
Next door, the ice rink, where you can "dine" on cafeteria food and watch the zamboni do its thing is a good spot for a kiddie lunch. Overall though...we'll wait a few years before we return.
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I'm not here to ruin the good ratings or make people feel bad (just a bonus if I do), but Peanuts is complete rubbish. I can't even irk out a smile to this 'family circus' level humor. Do they have a family circus museum and 'research center'? I guess they should.
For awhile I thought I was naive and just didn't get something, but I've come to the conclusion that it's just not funny.
How many times will I have to watch Charlie Brown get the football taken out from under him? The Press Democrats official answer: Forever.
This is Santa Rosa's claim to fame, a boring cartoonist. They aren't going to let you forget it.
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If you, or your children, are Peanuts fans, you will like this place. Even if you think it's excessive to celebrate a cartoonist, you will be won over.
Now, if you don't get it, don't bother. Lucy pulling back the football at the last moment, and Charlie Brown's delusional hopefulness, are all you need to know about life, right there in one series of panels. Of course, you could write a long novel about it. People have. It has been called "The Great Gatsby" and "Anna Karenina" and "Lolita." I just don't want to read them in the Sunday funnies.
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Great Peanuts museum in Honor of the great Charles Schultz, great place to visit every so often.
The recent exhibit on Beethoven and Schroeder was well worth the admission. Though, as with most tourist-attraction exhibits, some of the pieces were rather arbitrary, as a whole, it illuminated this brilliant and often under-recognized thread throughout his work.
Mr. Schulz would be honored to have a museum of such quality bestowed in his name. I have been a founding member for 6 years and an always brought back to my childhood each time I visit.
I have loved Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts gang since I was a child with cancer. I wish I had the honor of meeting Mr. Schulz to thank him for what happiness he brought to my life when I was ill.
It doesn't matter where you live or how old you are, if you're a fan of Peanuts, you have got to visit this place at least once in your lifetime. This is one of the best museum's dedicated to an artist that I've ever been to. It's a complete blast to the past for anyone that's grown up on the characters created by the Legendary "Sparky".
I was fortunate enough to visit this sanctuary on the "Joe Cool Day's of Summer" festival. It was an incredible sight as 92 creatively painted six foot tall ceramic Snoopy's were on display at the ball field. I guess they do this once a year, every summer. It's a wondrous sight to see.
In addition to that Tom Everhart made a guest appearance and gave a memorable seminar on his inspiration behind his art and his relationship with Sparky.
The museum has a great exhibit of Schulz's work, commemorative pieces done by other artists, an incredible wood engraved mural of the transformation of Snoopy throughout the years, and artwork throughout the building. The campus consists of a nice big ice rink that you can skate at (bring your own or rent there). The Puppy Farm cafe is also a place to get a quick bite to eat if you encounter a case of the munchies.
I really can't describe all the great intricacies this place has. There are statues of the characters throughout the campus that will make you go "awww", comic strip tiles in the bathrooms (which are exceptionally clean btw.), etc.
It is about an hour drive north of SF, but it's worth a weekend day trip to experience it, and to get some neat souvenirs from the Snoopy Gift Shop.
