A Visit from the Easter Beagle + Prize Pack Giveaway!

Easter is almost here, and you know it wouldn’t be a Game On Mom holiday unless we included the Peanuts gang–especially our loveable pal Snoopy.  He is one versatile dog, and he doesn’t disappoint when Spring rolls around.  That’s when it’s time for an appearance from the Easter Beagle!  He’s got eggs to deliver and beagle kisses to give, but how did the Easter Beagle tradition begin?  Read on for some fun facts:

A Hopping Debut

• Snoopy first appeared as “the Easter Bunny” on April 14, 1968, but Charles Schulz did not give the character the name “the Easter Beagle” until three years later.
• In that first 1968 strip, Linus was the only one to witness “the Easter Bunny” dancing around the front yard and hiding eggs in the bushes—Lucy was too busy watching television to notice.
• On Sunday, April 11, 1971, the Easter Beagle made his official comic-strip debut. Again, Linus was the first one to interact with him (although it’s Lucy who gets the Beagle kiss!).
• As with the Great Pumpkin, Linus is often the Easter Beagle’s messenger in the comic strips, alerting the other characters to the upcoming appearance of the Easter Beagle.
• During his April 2, 1972 appearance, the Easter Beagle delivers eggs to the members of the Peanuts gang…but discovers his basket is empty when he gets to Charlie Brown. This idea was adapted into the animated television special.
• Fortunately, the following year, on April 22, 1973, Charlie Brown does receive an Easter egg—this time from the Easter Beagle’s assistant: Woodstock!

• After two more Easter Beagle strips in 1975 and 1976, the character made his last appearance on April 7, 1985—when Sally got the Charlie Brown treatment.
• Charles Schulz once said in an interview that the Easter Beagle was his favorite of all of Snoopy’s alter egos.

A TV Star Is Born

• The Easter Beagle made his television debut on April 9, 1974, when CBS first aired It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown.
  

• This was the 12^th animated special to be based on the Peanuts comic strip, and the fourth to be associated with a holiday (the others are A Charlie Brown Christmas, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving).
• Much of the special concerns Peppermint Patty’s disastrous (and hilarious) attempts to make Easter eggs—she tries roasting them, toasting them, and putting them in a waffle maker before trying to boil them (and making egg soup!).
• Linus sounds the alert, letting everyone know that the Easter Beagle is coming. Sally, however, is a little suspicious, since the last time she believed Linus’s reports on a famous holiday character, she missed all the trick or treating while waiting with Linus in a pumpkin patch for the non-arrival of the Great Pumpkin.
• This year, It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown will air on ABC. (Date and time to be announced.)

The Easter Beagle is hopping your way and he’s got some treats just for you!  Enter now to win your very own Easter Beagle porch greeter; an It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown DVD; Peanuts Dog Bone candy; and Nestle Crunch Eggs.  Giveaway ends 3/23/16 at 2 PM ET.  Good luck, Happy Easter, and get ready for some beagle kisses!