Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and their many friends are the stars of the Peanuts franchise, which has graced TVs and newspaper strips all around the world for three-quarters of a century. Now, the loveable group of friends is changing hands. Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) have announced that they are moving into the final stages of purchasing the 41% stake in Peanuts Holdings LLC held by WildBrain. Along with the approximate 39% stake that SMEJ already owns, that will make the two Sony branches will have a combined total of 80% of Peanuts Holding LLC, with the remaining 20% still held by the Charles M. Schulz family.
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This purchase, set for CAN $630 million, or around $457 million USD, will make Sony the majority shareholder of Peanuts Holding LLC. Aside from projects that WildBrain has already set in stone, this would mean that Sony can decide how and why to handle the Peanuts franchise. Peanuts is already one of the largest and most ubiquitous comic strips of all time, and has countless adaptations in just about every media imaginable. With Sony’s resources fully backing this franchise, it could mean that they are taking everything to the next level.
A New Day for Snoopy and Charlie Brown
Shunsuke Muramatsu, president and group CEO, Sony Music Entertainment (Japan), has already announced that “We are deeply committed to carrying forward the legacy of Charles Schulz and the Schulz family. Together with SPE, and backed by WildBrain’s continued partnership, we will continue to embrace new opportunities to ensure that ‘Peanuts’ remains a relevant and beloved presence across generations—reaching new audiences and sharing the timeless charm of the ‘Peanuts’ gang for years ahead.”
Previous entries into the Peanuts franchise carry a lot of cultural weight. The various Charlie Brown specials continue to be some of the most popular holiday watches for millions of people around the world, from A Charlie Brown Christmas to It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. This deal would let Sony decide where these beloved animated classics can be streamed and in what capacity, and while that alone is easily enough to justify the deal, it also makes Sony the ones in charge of any future adaptations.
The past decade has seen a major uptake in Charlie Brown and Snoopy-related animated shows. Three different series have been released in the past six years alone, and WildBrain is developing a brand new feature-length film. With their brand new majority creative control, Sony is put squarely in charge of any potential new versions of this classic IP. Sony obviously has a very storied history with animation, especially animation geared towards classic series and children. This could easily signal a brand new era of Snoopy entertainment, where Sony produces more Snoopy content than ever before seen. This could be a brand new day for Snoopy and Charlie Brown in the animation department, and it all goes down very soon.
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Image courtesy of Universal Pictures.
