The Impossible Dream



Try sleeping in this position. Good luck with that.

Being a man in my early forties, the cadence of holidays during my childhood always included some type of "Peanuts" special. Charles Schultz, the genius that he was, hit a home run when creating the Peanuts universe. With characters as recognizable today as they were fresh in the 50s, Schultz was able to track the evolution America's societal changes using the comic strip's three black and white frames by following the antics of a silent beagle and a host of odd looking (and acting) children.

In the 1965, CBS aired the first Peanuts animimated television holiday special, "A Charlie Brown Christmas." Though other holiday themed specials followed, the Christmas show is universally hailed as the most beloved (with "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" taking a close second). Featuring Charlie Brown's search for the meaning of Christmas amid the orgy of holiday commericalism touted by all his classmates, the show created some iconic images that are recognized instantly by those growing up watching this show every December it aired on CBS. A short list:

• The Charlie Brown Christmas tree, so sad and droopy, representing the simplicity of hope and purity.
• The Christmas play dancing scenes, featuring each character moving to the beat of their own drummer, repeating their moves over and over.
• The cool jazz soundtrack of Vince Guaraldi, especially the classic track "Linus & Lucy."
• Adult voices portrayed by the plunger mute of a trombone instead of human actors, isolating the Peanuts world to kids and silent animals.
• Linus' telling of the Christmas story taken directly from Luke chapter 2, verses 8-14

When the show airs these days (now on ABC after CBS sold the rights upon Schultz's death in 2000), 36DD and I get so excited, our memories from the days of sitting in front of (in my case) a 13in B&W television waiting for the show to begin driving us to get our kids just as excited. They could care less. The only one slightly interested is my six year old son, but if he's balancing on that fine line separating the hyper and the weary, he'll be hypnotized by the colors and the voices.

Anyway, back to the point of my post. In any Peanuts special - and in many other instances of animation and cartoon stills (such as the clipart introducing this post) - when the kids go to bed and are tucked in, their hands are always shown holding the comforter/blanket, each set of grasping fingers parallel with the other.

C'mon. Have you ever tried this? Sadly, I have. I learned early on that this was impossible. As a kid, I tried to emulate exactly the manner of sleeping soundly during a long winter's night as portrayed on "A Charlie Brown Christmas." I learned that it is not only extremely uncomfortable and unnatural, but nearly impossible to acheive and then only for a few moments before the stress on the elbow joints forces the more ergonomic position of elbows out, with both arms outside and on top of the blanket, with hands nearly touching.

From my research, it appears that this unnatural portrait of peaceful sleep is widely used in the cartoon and drawing world.

So, that's my post. It's something I have thought of now and again, and have finally been able to articulate and hopefully bring attention to this impossible dream of peaceful sleep.