Franklin Armstrong, the fictional Black character and friend of Charlie Brown, has finally been invited to the other side of the table in the new special “Snoopy Presents: Welcome Home, Franklin.”
The character of Franklin was first introduced to audiences in 1968 in the comic strip “Peanuts” created by Charles M. Schulz in 1948. The comic strip was later turned into several cartoon specials that aired on CBS, the first being “A Charlie Brown Christmas” in 1965.
Franklin was added as a “Peanuts” character after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968.
According to the creator’s wife, Jean Schulz, the company that syndicated “Peanuts” to the newspapers objected to Franklin, the only Black character, being included. Schulz threatened to quit over the objection and said, “Either you run it the way I drew it, or I quit.”
However, in the 1973 special “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving,” Franklin was segregated from the group as he sat by himself on one side of the table while the other characters, including Sally Brown, Peppermint Patty, Linus, and Charlie Brown’s dog Snoopy, were seated on the opposite side and at the ends of the table.
In the trailer for “Snoopy Presents: Welcome Home, Franklin,” Franklin is finally offered a seat on the same side of the table as Charlie Brown, and social media users noticed.
The new special focuses on Franklin after he moves to Brown’s neighborhood, and the two become best friends. In the trailer, Brown asked what kind of music he liked and Franklin replied “The Godfather of Soul James Brown,” before joking about them being related due to having the same last name.
Nearly 1:10 into the video, Franklin is seen preparing to sit on the other side of the table when Brown yells, “Hey Franklin, we saved you a seat over here!” He happily moves to the other side of the table and sits between Brown and Linus with his rootbeer and slice of pizza.
“Oh my god they fixed it,” noted one X user after seeing the trailer. “Franklin finally gets a proper seat at the table 56 years later. This is how you take steps to right wrongs,” added another.
A third X user replied, “They came through with a special for Franklin. That’s how you honor a Black Peanuts character!”
Franklin and Charlie Brown work together in the new special to build a car for the neighborhood Soap Box Derby race.
Fans can catch up with Franklin, Charlie Brown, Peppermint Patty, Linus, Lucy, Snoopy, Woodstock, Marcie, Schoeder, Sally and Pigpen when the first episode of “Snoopy Presents: Welcome Home, Franklin” streams on Feb. 16 on Apple TV+.