Franklin Armstrong moved into Charlie Brown’s neighborhood back in 1968, and it was a big deal. Charles Schulz’s Peanuts comic strip featured only white characters at the time, and when he brought in Franklin as a Black friend for Charlie Brown and crew, the Civil Rights Movement was raging, and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., had been assassinated just months before.
Despite some pushback, Schulz, as noted by The Washington Post, stood his ground, and Franklin became a regular character, if not an especially major one. Now, however, he’s starring in his own origin story and TV special, “Snoopy Presents: Welcome Home, Franklin,” which began airing Feb. 16 on Apple TV Plus, midway through Black History Month.
How to watch ‘Welcome Home, Franklin’
You’re going to need Apple TV Plus. If you already have a subscription, perhaps to watch Ted Lasso or Severance, you’re good. Just log in and search for the show.
If you don’t have an Apple TV Plus subscription, you can sign up for the site’s seven-day free trial and either cancel or choose to subscribe when your free week ends.
Franklin’s little-known life — and last name
In the comic strip, Franklin met Charlie Brown at the beach, and they bonded over a beach ball. That meeting is referenced in the special, where Franklin’s family moves into Charlie Brown’s neighborhood. The boys end up partnering for a local soapbox derby race, and if you know anything about Charlie Brown’s skills and luck with any sporting event, you know they face a bumpy road.
The special also delves deeper than the strip ever did into Franklin’s life. Turns out he’s an army kid who has to move often, but he finds strength in a notebook filled with his grandfather’s advice on friendship.
Franklin has a last name now — Armstrong. As noted by NPR, Schulz chose it to honor his friend and fellow cartoonist,…
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