Charlie Brown is excited for his final year of summer camp, but his little sister Sally has her hesitations as she enters her first year. Ahead of the new Apple TV+ special Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical, Risa Bolash chats with director Erik Wiese and executive producer/writer Craig Schulz, son of the original Peanuts comic strip creator, Charles M. Schulz. They discuss the public pressure of the franchise, their inspiration for the story, and which Peanuts character they most identify with.

Listen or read below! Risa’s full review of the special can be found here.

Risa: What is it like to work with a world and characters that are so iconic and hold a lot of different expectations from the fans?

Craig: Well, for me, it’s a privilege number one to be able to do this and carry it on. And number two, it’s a tremendous responsibility. Not only for the fans, but from a family perspective, because we have a big family, and you don’t want to do anything that’s going to offend them, because I’d be the first one to hear about it. So, it brings in a lot of respect and a lot of fear.

Erik: Yeah, I mean, for me, it’s the same thing. It’s such an honor and, you know, I grew up with Peanuts, as we all did, starting with the Melendez specials, and then getting into the comics as I was entering being a teenager. And it’s such a special thing for me, and you want to honor it, and you do the best that you can. And I think we made something pretty cool, right, Craig?

Craig: Yeah, and the line we always hear, because many directors said the same to me, like, they tell their friends, “Oh, I’m working on a Peanuts special.” And the line they always say back is, “Don’t screw it up.”

Erik: Yeah, yeah, there were definitely a lot of sweat beads for that.

Risa: Well, I think you can rest peacefully knowing it was a great success. I loved the special!

Erik: Oh, thank you!

Risa: In the musical, I loved the themes of environmentalism and preserving sacred spaces for future generations. Is there a special place in your lives that Cloverhill Ranch reminds you of? Or any people or experiences in your own lives that you saw manifest themselves in the special?

Craig: Well, I actually went to what was called Cloverleaf Ranch, right down the road from where I am right now. And we just renamed it Cloverhill, but it was a special place. It’s still open today. I went there in the 1960s, had a terrible experience. But it’s still there, it’s still going on, and kids still love it.

Risa: That’s awesome!

Erik: For me, you know, I love to go camping. I go up to Oregon almost every summer, and there are little zigzag waterfalls, ironically enough, for Charlie Brown—zigzag. And, you know, Trillium Lake. And the other thing that’s weird is that you’re seeing Mt. Hood, which is where The Shining was filmed. But, it’s so beautiful to me, and I’m so lucky that these places exist. And so that was something that was in me when I came to this project. In fact, a lot of the backgrounds are inspired by those places. And so, I think things like that, to me, need to be protected all over the world.

Risa: Absolutely, that’s so cool that you both have those experiences. Kind of a more funky question, which member of the Peanuts gang do you most identify with?

Craig: Well, for me, that’s an easy one. Because I grew up riding dirtbikes, k-bikes, and playing in the dirt, so I relate to Pigpen. Not only because he’s dirty, and I’m a dirty kid, and my wife still calls me Pigpen—but mainly because of Pigpen’s personality. He’s one of the few people in the cast who doesn’t have some kind of issue. He’s happy with himself, he’s happy in his skin, or dirt, as you might say. And, so, I think mentally he’s one of the more stable people in the group.

Risa: That’s very well put.

Erik: I’m gonna have to say it’s Charlie Brown. You know, as you get older, there are a lot of times when you miss that football. But, like Snoopy, he does succeed quite a lot, and also he’s just funny, and weird, and silly, and, you know, he’s the thing that kind of will motivate me to be fearless and to go into new territory. But also as a cartoonist, there’s the eight-year-old in me that’s silly, and that’s how it all comes out. I just love how ridiculous these places [are] that Snoopy can go!

Risa: I love that, that’s great. So, what would you say sets Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical apart from other Peanuts projects?

Craig: Well, I think it elevates the brand and the storytelling beyond what anyone has done—and I’ll go all the way back to Bill Melendez, Lee Mendelson, and my dad [Charles M. Schulz]. I think this just sets the bar at a new level, you know, between having Ben Folds do the music, and the directing, and the style of the animation, and the skill of the animators. I think it’s really at a level as high as it can get, next to what we did in The Peanuts Movie, which had the unlimited budget. So, that does make a difference.

Risa: For sure.

Erik: I think I’m going to just leave that with Craig’s, because I love that answer.

Risa: There you go, that’s great! And what are each of your favorite parts of the special?

Erik: Mmm. My favorite part turned out to be “Look Up, Charlie Brown.” I think that with everything that they’ve gone through, and they think they’re not going to succeed, and it looks like it’s the darkest moment for him, and he doesn’t want to let go—and so, part of that is he doesn’t want to face up to the reality of it. And in some ways, that persistence to keep on keepin’ on is what makes things happen. It’s almost a magical quality. 

But I think the other thing is that it allowed me to visualize how he was feeling. His internal, we got to make external—his reflection in the hat, and how he looks into the darkness, and we played in darkness. And then, as he sings, he refuses to look up. And little by little, through the power of persistence, not giving up brings everybody back, and everyone comes out. And for him to succeed, and for him to have his friends and family to be there for him, I thought was very touching. 

And even in doing it with Ben’s music, like that just sort of informed me with what needs to happen as far as direction. Sometimes the story, those moments tell you what it wants, and that’s what happened there. And, to see how it’s affected people—and that song ended up being something that really sticks with a lot of people, so I’m very proud of that sequence. I think it’s one of my favorites.

Craig: Yeah, and I would say that I can agree. I love that song, and it brings tears to my eyes every time. But I think, for me, the boldest part of this whole special was tying in together, you know, “When We Were Light,” and taking the animation style back to the 1950s where we create the kids from the 1950s and we see Charlie Brown and the tree both evolve from his first time at camp, till he basically becomes a senior and times out.

You know, that had never, ever been done in any Peanuts animation anywhere to show those characters from those early days. And the reason I was thrilled with that was because in the Marcie special we did, we had the four kindergarteners, and the little caddie kid named Carlin, and everybody just totally loved that character. And I thought, think how great it’s gonna be if we bring these 1950s characters in? And as much fear as I had, my son Bryan said, “Dad, we need to do it this way. That’s an important storytelling point.” So, he convinced me to go with it. And, even though I was scared to death, that’s become my favorite scene in the whole film.

Risa: That’s great, I was definitely moved to tears in that song, and I loved—my jaw dropped when I saw little Charlie! It was great. And, in the Marcie special, too, the little kids were so cute! 

I think I’m pretty much out of time, so I’m just going to wrap it up. But, thank you so much for meeting with me, I think you guys did a great job!

Interview Courtesy of Risa Bolash

Feature Image: Snoopy and Peppermint Patty in “Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical,” premiering August 15, 2025 on Apple TV+.