The successful comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz, has been adapted into 51 animated specials since 1965, most of them released on television. This article describes the history of these programs, including notable sponsors, directors, and voice actors.

In the strip, adult voices are heard, though conversations are usually only depicted from the children's end. To translate this aspect to the animated medium, the sound of a trombone with a solotone mute, created by Vince Guaraldi^[1] and played by Dean Hubbard.^[2]

Eight Peanuts-based specials have been made posthumously. Of these, three are tributes to Peanuts or other Peanuts specials, and five are completely new specials based on dialogue from the strips and ideas given to ABC by Schulz before his death. He's a Bully, Charlie Brown, was telecast on ABC on November 20, 2006, following a repeat broadcast of A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. Airing 43 years after the first special, the premiere of He's a Bully, Charlie Brown was watched by nearly 10 million viewers, winning its time slot and beating a Madonna concert special.^[3]

In October 2007, Warner Home Video acquired worldwide home video rights to the Peanuts TV specials from Paramount Home Entertainment and other distributors. The deal would also allow Warner Bros. to produce new direct-to-video Peanuts content and short-form digital content for release under the Warner Premiere label.^[4]

Accordingly, the streaming rights to Peanuts media are scattered across multiple platforms. The Peanuts Movie, distributed by 20th Century Fox, became part of The Walt Disney Company library and is on Disney+.^[5][6]

• Peanuts filmography

Checklist