Snoopy as WW1 Flying Ace
12/15/09 - 4/30/10

From December 15, 2009 to April 30, 2010, the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum will present “Snoopy as the World War I Flying Ace.” This traveling exhibit includes 29 high-resolution iris prints of Schulz’s original designs for Snoopy as a World War I ace. The exhibition showcases Snoopy’s most exciting adventures in his transformed doghouse—now a Sopwith Camel airplane—from the time he faced a deadly bout of influenza to his aerial battles with the Flying Ace’s archenemy, the Red Baron. “Snoopy as the World War I Flying Ace” is organized by the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center and toured by ExhibitsUSA.


For more than 50 years, the comic strip Peanuts has been an icon of American culture. Created by Minnesota artist Charles M. Schulz (1922–2000), Peanuts explored life’s challenges through the eyes of a group of children and a black-and-white dog named Snoopy. In 1965, Snoopy first stepped into an exciting fantasy world that allowed him to transcend his dog’s life. Snoopy imagined that he was a World War I flying ace who battled the Red Baron in the skies over Europe. Snoopy’s Flying Ace adventures continued over the decades. Schulz explained, “Like Snoopy, most people turn to fantasy for fun and refuge. I have always believed that his flights of fancy are what help him survive, and we must admit that a dog’s life is not an easy life.”

While Schulz was drawing scenes of Snoopy as a flying ace, Intrepid crew members were creating their own original artwork featuring the Peanuts gang. Aboard the Intrepid, crew members personalized their living and working spaces, creating paintings directly on the ship’s steel walls. Peanuts characters were especially popular subjects for this “sailor art,” and numerous images of Charlie Brown and his friends survive throughout the ship. In conjunction with the showing of “Snoopy as the World War I Flying Ace,” the Intrepid Museum will showcase Peanuts characters as they appear in the ship’s sailor art. Original examples of sailor art taken from the walls and doors of the Intrepid will be on view. In addition, visitors will have the opportunity to browse through a digitized copy of the ship’s 1961-62 cruise book, which features illustrations of Peanuts characters at work aboard the Intrepid.


"Snoopy As The World War I Flying Ace” is a program of ExhibitsUSA, a national division of Mid-America Arts Alliance and The National Endowment for the Arts

Snoopy as the World War I Flying Ace is supported by: Brad & Barbara Evans, Susan & Elihu Rose Foundation

With additional support from: The Hoerle Foundation

Charles Schulz, Peanuts, first published June 21, 1967, high-resolution digital print from original drawing, 11 x 30 5/8 inches; PEANUTS © United features Syndicate, Inc., Reproduced by permission of United Features Syndicate, Inc. Courtesy of the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center. Image courtesy of ExhibitsUSA.

Charles Schulz, Peanuts, first published October 21, 1985, high-resolution digital print from original drawing, 11 x 27 inches; PEANUTS © United features Syndicate, Inc., Reproduced by permission of United Features Syndicate, Inc. Courtesy of the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center. Image courtesy of ExhibitsUSA.