Most school mornings, I wake up to the ear-piercing ring of my 7:35. alarm and grab my phone from my nightstand to turn it off. Immediately, the start to my day is brightened by the smiling face of my Snoopy wallpaper — an illustration of the beagle chewing on a chocolate chip cookie while he watches TV.
My obsession with animated characters or comic characters isn’t new. Over the past couple years, I’ve been infatuated with Miffy, a Dutch bunny; Loopy, a Korean beaver; and My Melody, a Japanese rabbit. And although my love for Miffy has remained — I even bought a Miffy-themed white-out recently — my newest cartoon character love has become Snoopy, a character from the “Peanuts” newspaper comics franchise created by Charles M. Schulz in the 1950s.
As an elementary school student, I received my fair share of Snoopy entertainment: I loved watching the “Peanuts” movies in the days before Thanksgiving and Christmas, eagerly sought out Snoopy figurines in boutique windows and even witnessed my dad’s love for the “Peanuts” characters through his collection of related cups and clothing.
However, Snoopy wasn’t of relative importance to me until earlier this year. Since 2023, the loveable dog has risen to influencer status on social media — duly noted by my Instagram feed featuring pictures of Snoopy, even captioned with “esnupi:” the Spanish nickname for Snoopy that quickly became a common meme in late 2023 after the first viral “esnupi” meme being posted in August.
Snoopy’s simply doodled face and innocent smile brightens up my day each time I see a picture of him. In fact, his easy-to-draw body makes it easy to create variations of him, including Snoopy as a snowman and Taylor Swift-inspired Snoopy. Besides his cute demeanor, however, his whimsical attitude makes him even more loveable — whether he’s making ice cream or fighting a lawn chair, his carefree nature brings light into my life.
My Snoopy infatuation isn’t only limited to my phone’s lock screen. My Pinterest features an entire board dedicated to the character, filled with illustrations and doodles of the dog. In fact, I’ve saved Snoopy phone wallpapers that fit with each season, alongside illustrations of Snoopy that I find irresistible.
Dotted all over my AP Chemistry and Art History homework are doodles of Snoopy, decorated with stars and hearts to silently profess my love. My phone widgets are of various other “Peanuts” characters, including Snoopy sleeping while Woodstock brings him a cup of coffee.
Although my Snoopy obsession may be fairly new, I have no doubt Parka Snoopy and Ice Skating Snoopy will be companions for years to come, brightening up each morning with their innocent smiles and seemingly carefree life.
