THE MOST WIDELY SYNDICATED comic strip of all time, and a classic property of more than 55 years, Charles Schulz' Peanuts is also a phenomenon on the licensing market.

Appearing in over 2.600 newspapers around the world and reaching 335 million readers in 21 different languages, Charles Schulz' Peanuts characters have also been featured in over 63 award winning television specials, 1.500 book titles, four feature films, and two Broadway musicals. The Peanuts characters are constantly being ranked within the top ten favourite cartoon/comic strip characters year-to-year. With honesty, sensibility, approachability, playfulness, humanity and universal acceptance as key values, Peanuts appeals to audiences of all ages. Primary target groups are mothers with children 2-12, kids 5-11 and women 18-49.

PEANUTS © United Feature Syndicate, Inc.

The merchandising and promotional program is vast also in Plus Licens territories, with a large number of licensees working on the Nordic and Eastern European markets. New creative themed style guides are produced several times a year. Peanuts characters are also available for licensing in the Snoopy By Everhart art program and the Baby Snoopy infant program.

Peanuts animation is available on Cartoon Network Nordic and SVT Barnkanalen. Scanbox is distributing the series on video and DVD throughout the Nordic and Baltic States. The Peanuts Specials have received outstanding critical acclaim, garnering five Emmy Awards, 28 nominations, two Peabody Awards and one Grammy. In the US, the Peanuts series is the longest-running and highest-rated animated specials in the history of television.

The Peanuts characters can be seen in 32 half-hour animated specials, the animated series The Charlie Brown & Snoopy Show, the television mini series This is America, Charlie Brown, 4 hour-long animated specials and 6 anniversary shows

Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1922, Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz began his fascination with comic strips early, reading the Sunday comics from four different newspapers with his father each week. With encouragement from his parents, Schulz enrolled in a correspondence course in cartooning. Peanuts debuted in syndication on October 2, 1950. Charles M. Schulz passed away in 2000, only hours before his last original Peanuts strip appeared in Sunday papers. Reprints of classic strips now ensure that the success of the Peanuts comic strip will continue in newspapers worldwide.

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Dealing with all the anxieties and joys of childhood, the children of Peanuts may appear to live rather ordinary lives in American surburbia. They go to school, they play games and sports, they celebrate holidays and fall in and out of love with each other. But there’s more than this to the picture! All the human characters are very strong personalities - and then there's Snoopy, the imaginative beagle who can bring truly amazing adventures to life in an everyday backyard.

The strip's meek hero, Charlie Brown, is a sample-card of failings and shortcomings, unable to kick a football, win a baseball game, fly a kite or find the courage to approach his beloved, the little red-haired girl. Charlie Brown is the average, mediocre, unpopular, self-doubting innocent character that everyone identifies with, making him a sort of Everyman.

His dog Snoopy, on the other paw, leads an imaginative life that makes him something of an opposite to his oppressed master (whom he simply refers to as "that round-headed kid"). As the world famous beagle, Snoopy excels in sports, lives for food, and always attracts a crowd. When he is not engrossed in one of his fantasies, Snoopy is playing practical jokes and taunting other members of the Peanuts gang, or tracking down the closest chocolate-chip cookie. Appearing in one of his many personas - Joe Cool, the World War I Flying Ace, the Literary Ace or the Beaglescout leader - Snoopy is always the happy-go-lucky warm puppy that everybody loves.

Snoopy's faithful bird sidekick Woodstock is a friend and confidant, but also the butt of Snoopy's practical jokes. Woodstock may be a little inept in his sense of balance, logic, and even flying, but he expresses himself well, interpreted solely by Snoopy.

Linus is best known as the security blanket-toting, thumb-sucking philosopher of the Peanuts gang. He often tries to put life into perspective (especially when leaning on a brick wall with his best friend, Charlie Brown). His saintly patience is constantly tested by the temper of his older sister, Lucy, and the affection of Charlie Brown's sister Sally. Linus explains the true meaning of Christmas and the existence of The Great Pumpkin, all while struggling to cling to his blanket despite Lucy's distaste and Snoopy's fondness for it.

Linus' big sister Lucy is in love with only two people, the foremost being Lucy. She cherishes the crabbiness which has been polished to an art. She is bossy and loud and grouchy and beautiful. Lucy is perfect, at least in Lucy's eyes. She has one weakness, though: her unrequited love for Schroeder.

Schroeder is the musical genius who is content to be left alone with his toy grand piano and his beloved Beethoven. He also plays catcher on Charlie Brown's baseball team. Unfortunately, Schroeder is the object of Lucy's aggressive affection which can distract him from his piano playing.

Peppermint Patty is the bold, brash, chatterbox tomboy who has so much trouble staying awake in school that she is a straight D-minus student, no matter how brilliant her excuses to her teacher. What she lacks in common sense, Peppermint Patty makes up in sincerity, especially when it comes to her love for "Chuck" and her rivalry against her timid but bright friend Marcie for his affections.

Plus Licens represents United Media for merchandising, promotional, publishing, syndication and TV/video rights to Peanuts in the Nordic and Baltic countries, Russia (CIS), Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro.