Schroeder (Peanuts) were the best of friends, with the exception of one argument from the mid-1950s (when the two were fighting over who was greater: Beethoven or Davy Crockett) where Charlie Brown insulted his "yellow hair" and "plink, plink, plink all day long [on his piano]" and Schroeder countered with a barb at Charlie's coonskin cap and "round head." During conferences on the pitcher's mound, the two engage in unusual conversations, mostly about Beethoven and hand signals. Schroeder also often encourages Charlie Brown during games, while the rest of the team says, "Don't let us down by showing up!" In the animated
Peanuts strip as one panel, partly for experimentation, but also to combat the dwindling size of the comics page. Later in the '90s, Schulz abandoned the characters Patty, Violet, Pigpen and Franklin. Schulz drew the strip for nearly 50 years, with no assistants, even in the lettering and coloring process. In the late 1970s, during Schulz's negotiations with United Feature Syndicate over a new contract, syndicate president William C. Payette hired superhero comic artist Al Plastino to draw a backlog of "Peanuts" strips to hold in reserve in case Schulz left the strip. When Schulz and the syndicate reached a successful