For fifty years and the majority of his life, Charles Schulz brought Charlie Brown and his pals to America via comic strips in newspapers. He is considered to be the example to which many comic artists yearn to reach, with a fresh take on what kind of humor would work in an all-child world. But in the early 1960s, Peanuts had only been around ten years and was simply a popular comic, so you can’t blame Ford for getting the permissions to utilize the Peanuts characters to extol the virtues of the Ford Falcon. Striking a deal with Schulz, Ford licensed the use of the characters from 1959-64, originally for use on The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show as sponsor advertising.

With the voice of Paul Frees as the “spokesman” in the background, any and all of the characters that had been introduced in the strip up to that point would and could be used for advertising purposes. That explains why fan favorites like Peppermint Patty, Marcie, Franklin, and others don’t appear…they hadn’t appeared in the strip yet and wouldn’t until later on in the 1960s. The Falcon seems to be a good fit for the Peanuts gang…simple, low cost, frugal and high on features. Or, at least, because they make Snoopy happy enough to dance.