The advertising surrounding ¡°Ever and Never: The Art of Peanuts¡± focuses on the cutest character from the classic American comic strip. So much so, promotions for this exhibition at the Mori Arts Center Gallery has been dubbed the ¡°Snoopy Exhibit,¡± a title that also graces the Twitter and Facebook accounts associated with ¡°Ever and Never.¡± It¡¯s not a bad strategy. Snoopy is in the same cartoon-icon tier as Mickey Mouse or Bugs Bunny ¡ª and he¡¯s especially popular in Japan.
Thankfully, the world¡¯s most famous beagle is treated as just one part of the ¡°Peanuts¡¯¡± story at ¡°Ever and Never,¡± which offers a well-rounded look at the cartoon¡¯s creator, Charles M. Schulz, and the evolution of the Peanuts gang over the years. It features hundreds of comic strips and personal items from Schulz¡¯ life, curated by the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, California. ¡°Ever and Never¡± is a must-see for any ¡°Peanuts¡± fan in Tokyo, and is an overall great overview of one of the most important cartoons of all time.
Schulz was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1922, and ¡°Ever and Never¡± devotes one-third of its space to his background. This section features objects from Schulz¡¯ youth, ranging from a childhood baseball glove to letters he wrote while serving in World War II. Plenty of space is also devoted to the works that influenced Schulz alongside his pre-Peanuts work, including his Peanuts-in-chrysalis ¡°Li¡¯l Folks¡± strip for the St. Paul Pioneer Press. There¡¯s even a life-size replica of his work office at the show.
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