Time to replace Snoopy?

I work in an elementary school and I see plenty of kids wearing Snoopy and Joe Cool shirts. Most of the kids seem to know who Peanuts are.

The Peanuts brand has a certain timelessness to it that is valuable to Cedar Fair in that multiple generations of park guests can recognize the characters. While other media companies have more current and popular cartoon characters that appeal only to their target demographic, I don't see any of them being recognizable by a majority of people in a decade's time. The Peanuts brand has holiday TV specials that have been re-broadcasted every year for the past 40+ years on free over-the-air TV to keep the characters fresh in the world's collective pop culture.

I'll always remember Rugrats but my parents never cared much for the show and they are too outdated for my 9 year old cousin to enjoy the characters either. The only animated property out there right now that looks like it will have some staying power in name recognition is Spongebob but I bet the copyright pricing/revenue sharing to use the character is obscene.

I think people are just being stubborn because they like it. I asked the kids I nanny for who Woodstock was and they all stared at me like I was crazy. If you live by cedar point, a resort park yeah kids are going to know because they are exposed to it. If you are talking about kids knowing about the shows before going into the park, in the areas where cedar fair isn't part of the culture or usual summer activities, they don't know.

Regardless of Cedar Point, we would've had our kids watch the Peanuts shows because we were raised with them and were always a staple with the holidays. Now they love them even more because of Cedar Point!

I don't see Cedar Fair getting rid of the Peanut characters!

Cedar Fair has spent millions of dollars transitioning the five Paramount parks over to the Peanut franchise. Whether or not the brand is widely recognized (the Christmas special is still one of the most viewed specials on television) doesn't matter. Cedar Fair has put a lot of money into the Peanut brand in the past few years, and the brand isn't going anywhere.

Every major attraction seems to have a mascot, sporting teams -schools-and today even insurance companies (in fact, one uses Snoopy too).

The Peanuts franchise may not be the biggest - or most known out there today, but it is certainly bigger and more popular than some of the others and they seem to get the job done as ambassadors and gift shop items.

Anyone complaining about Geauga Dog (may he RIP), Kenny Kangaroo (@Kennywood), Dexter at (@Knoebels with King Knoebel and Cosmo), Boblo Bear, or the multiple candy bars at Hershey park?

Mickey is a pretty old rodent at Disney, and he still is able to move the mouse ear merchandise even though he hasn't had much publicity for the last few generations. Snoopy isn't that bad of a choice.

When I was younger I didn't associate any mascot with Cedar Point. They had a Bearnstein Bear area for little kids and I knew who they were but I can't say I ever really thought of Cedar Point when I saw their books or cartoons and I didn't think of them when I thought of Cedar Point. I'm not sure a mascot is actually needed. Is anyone seriously going to decide which amusement park they visit based solely on what cartoon character is walking around? I suppose if you're deciding between Universal and Disney then yes but otherwise I doubt it.

A mascot is needed to move merchandise in the stores, rent out premium "themed" rooms in the hotel, and provide an overall atmosphere (common shows etc) to the park that no other chain can claim.
The same can be said about the exclusive rights to Coke, a special brand of ice cream, or hot dog supplier in a park. There are sponsorships and advertising perks the park gets in return for being the "exclusive supplier" or "official brand" of a park. And this really helps the bottom line of a balance sheet because its money thay can count on even if there is a bad year for attendance.

Believe it or not, there's actually a Peanuts movie in the works right now. They will be animated in computer animation. I read about the movie a couple of months ago. I don't know how well it will do or how good it will be, but the characters will be on the big screen in the near future.

913girl said:
I asked the kids I nanny for who Woodstock was and they all stared at me like I was crazy.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that Cedar Fair has probably done a little bit more thorough brand awareness research than asking the two closest children they can find.

djDaemon said:

913girl said:
I asked the kids I nanny for who Woodstock was and they all stared at me like I was crazy.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that Cedar Fair has probably done a little bit more thorough brand awareness research than asking the two closest children they can find.

I think somebody needs to go get a DVD out of the library for a rainy day with the kiddos and they can all enjoy what they've been missing. They may not know Woodstock but did they know Snoopy? The strip is still running in the comics section of many newspapers.

The point made about Mickey Mouse is very relevant to this discussion. The Peanuts characters are as timeless as Mickey Mouse and there is much more activity on TV with the Charlie Brown holiday shows than Mickey Mouse. When was the last time Mickey was actually on TV? CF has a gem with the Peanuts Characters and I think they will be a part of the parks for decades to come.

Pete, Mickey Mouse is always on the Disney Channel. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is the name of the show and the only reason I know this is because my niece is obsessed with it. Haha. But I agree with people in saying that the Peanuts characters are timeless. Hell, I'm twenty two and still watch "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" and his Christmas special every year. The Peanuts characters have a lot more positive values than some of the cartoons on television now and I really think that's what's going to help it last for a very long time.

My seven year old knows the characters and not by any special effort on my part to expose her to them, just what she picked up watching some of the old TV specials.

Comic book characters on the other hand, she doesn't know them, and neither do I. I was never much of a comic book reader and she has been too young for the current crop of action movies and I am too cheap to go to them myself.

I'd hate to see peanuts characters living under a bridge somewhere with Geagua Dog. Not that they'd have to with the residuals and all.

Now get off my lawn, it's my Frisbee now.

Well, that goes to show you how often I watch the Disney Channel! :)

I love the "Great Pumpkin" and "Charlie Brown Christmas" specials also, it's a tradition!

My kids watched the Mickey Mouse shows on Disney Channel quite a lot when they were little but they are much more attatched to Peanuts. My almost 11 year old is a little sad that he is no longer the appropriate size for Snoopy Bounce.

Paisley said:
When I was younger I didn't associate any mascot with Cedar Point. They had a Bearnstein Bear area for little kids and I knew who they were but I can't say I ever really thought of Cedar Point when I saw their books or cartoons and I didn't think of them when I thought of Cedar Point. I'm not sure a mascot is actually needed. Is anyone seriously going to decide which amusement park they visit based solely on what cartoon character is walking around? I suppose if you're deciding between Universal and Disney then yes but otherwise I doubt it.

When I was a kid I don't recall a mascot either nor did I feel one was necessary back then or now because I loved Cedar Point for what it was. Our souvenirs were "Cedar Point" themed but one of my favorites was from the now defunct Blacksmith on the Frontier Trail. My Kings Island souvenir was a miniature of their Eiffel Tower, I couldn't care less about getting anything Hanna Barbera although I watched the cartoons then. Maybe this is anecdotal but when I was a child, I didn't like things dumbed down or cutsied for me and avoided people in fuzzy suits.

However, if Cedar Point feels it needs to have a mascot, they couldn't have picked a better one than the classic Peanuts. My boys watch and enjoy the Halloween and Christmas specials every year which was my only exposure really when I was a kid although I might remember a Thanksgiving special, too, where Snoopy served popcorn.

The only other cartoons I would see having classic appeal are Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies. I wish they'd show those more on TV, they were quite funny and clever compared to much of today's mindless drivel they try to pander to kids. There could be a lot of theming involved with the large variety of Looney Tunes characters.

But then again, I don't see the need to plaster a cartoon on everything. There was a bit of an uproar with Disney adding characters to It's a Small World. Synergy, blech.

The Blacksmith on Frontier Trail is not defunct anymore (well, dunno about during Halloweekends).

Good to know! I never saw one this season, though.

We saw one late in the season.