"Snoopy’s whole personality is a little bittersweet. But he’s a very strong character. He can win or lose, be a disaster, a hero, or anything, and yet it all works out. I like the fact that when he’s in real trouble, he can retreat into a fantasy and thereby escape."
Snoopy is loyal, funny, imaginative and good-natured. He is also a genuinely happy dog. A running gag within the strip is that he does a "happy dance", which annoys Lucy because she believes that nobody can ever be that happy. However Snoopy just thinks Lucy is jealous because she is not capable of being as happy as he is. The only thing that truly upsets him is a lack of supper. Snoopy, being a dog, has a strong hatred of cats, often making rude remarks to the cat next door (Who usually attacks him and destroys his doghouse) and in one series of strips writes stories for a magazine which just point out that cats are stupider than, and inferior to, dogs. However, Snoopy has on occasions tried to be nice to the cat next door, but their relationship always remains antagonistic.
Snoopy loves root beer and pizza, hates coconut candy and listening to balloons being squeezed, gets claustrophobia in tall weeds, and is deathly afraid of icicles dangling over his doghouse. One of his hobbies is reading Leo Tolstoy's epic novel War and Peace at the rate of "a word a day". Snoopy also has the uncanny ability to play fetch with soap bubbles, and can hear someone eating marshmallows or cookies at a distance, or even peeling a banana. He claims to hear chocolate chip cookies calling him. Snoopy is also capable of disappearing, like the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland, as shown in a series of strips ("Grins are easy. Noses are hard. Ears are almost impossible.")
Snoopy also loves sleeping, and being lazy - a trait which often annoys Frieda. Snoopy often lies on top of his doghouse and sleeps, sometimes all day long. In one strip, Charlie Brown refers to him as a "hunting dog", because he always hunts for the easy way out of life.
Snoopy has a broad and vivid fantasy life, often delving into many alter egos.
Snoopy has done many impressions over the years. His earliest impression (that of a bird) was seen on August 9, 1951. Starting on November 17, 1955, his impressions began to be somewhat prominent: He did impressions of Violet, a pelican, Lucy, a moose, Beethoven and Mickey Mouse. He would also pretend to be other animals, including a snake, rhinoceros, lion, and vulture. But his eccentricities did not stop there.
Snoopy first appears as the World War I Flying Ace in the Sunday strip from October 10, 1965.
The most famous of his role plays is The World War I Flying Ace. When assuming this personality, Snoopy dons goggles, a flying helmet and a scarf, and climbs on top of his doghouse (which he claims is a Sopwith Camel). He calls his imaginary enemy the Red Baron.
Another well-known imaginary role is "Joe Cool", in which Snoopy puts on a "cool" look by putting on sunglasses and leaning against a wall doing nothing.
Snoopy has also imagined himself as a self-proclaimed "famous" writer (although his extremely short "novels" are never published, and the two-paragraph one that managed to get published failed to sell), a bow tie-wearing attorney (who once defended Peter Rabbit), a hockey player, an Olympic figure skater (who used to skate with Peggy Fleming before he became "big time"), and as a world famous grocery checkout clerk who operated from the top of his doghouse in an apron. He also imagined himself as an astronaut, claiming to be the first beagle on the moon in his delusional dreams.
Hidden with the permission of The City of Waukesha Parks Department.