Visitors and regular Ice Arena patrons are all having fun taking their photos in the new Peanuts crosswalk at Snoopy’s Home Ice, which is a take on the classic Beatles’ Abbey Road album cover. They enjoy figuring out just the right position in the crosswalk to stand in to appear to be walking with Marcie, Lucy, Charlie Brown, and Snoopy.

A similar 3D optical illusion was a feature at Universal Studios Japan. The artwork captured the imagination of Craig Schulz when he visited the venue, and he wanted to re-create the playful image here in Santa Rosa.

The question has been asked, ‎ “Why was Marcie chosen for the crosswalk, rather than one of the more prominent Peanuts characters?” One of our Japanese visitors, who happens to work with Peanuts licensing,‎ posited that Marcie is the most Japanese looking of all the characters with her short, straight black hair and glasses. That seems as good an explanation as any other…

Here I am posing in the crosswalk with our visitors from Japan, including Daisuke Kusakari from Snoopy Museum Tokyo. The red umbrella looks like a Chinese hat on my head!

Here is the Museum’s cartooning instructor for the week of July 24, Jess Smart Smiley. He is here from Utah with his wife, Mikelle, and his children, Noah, Evelyn, and Grace. Jess is at the Museum teaching a week-long class in cartooning for kids entering grades 4 and up. He is also offering a special cartooning seminar just for kids ages 12 – 15. Jess’s classes delve into the world of captions, panels, gutters, character and story development as students learn to write, draw, and create their own comics! By the time you read this he will be back in Utah, but check the website for more classes during the holidays and next summer.

Paige Braddock and our visitors from Hallmark joined in the picture fun. They seem to have the positioning right!

Scott from Snoopy’s Home Ice got in the act and showed us how to make it look like you’re patting Charlie Brown’s head.

Here are Alex and Faith from the Museum figuring out where to place their hands to pat Lucy and Charlie Brown on the head.

Three young visitors had fun posing with some of their favorite characters.

A family visiting the Ice Arena carefully posed their arms and legs to make it appear as if they were walking.

I’m sure many more photos have been shared on Facebook by our Ice Arena visitors…

—Jean Schulz