An Underrated Icon Shines in Snoopy Presents: One-of-a-Kind Marcie

Peanuts Comics’ Peppermint Patty, despite being a tertiary character and often uncritical to the bigger plots within the Peanuts universe, has been the subject of highly contested debate for some time now. Her gender and sexuality, although irrelevant to children’s media and its young viewers, are a bit bemusing: Peppermint Patty is officially recognized as a girl in canon, but her androgynous fashion choices, low voice, and mystifying relationship with Marcie are all fodder for the bigger questions at hand. 

Despite the uncertainty, one thing that all fans of Peanuts can agree on would be Patty’s bossiness, especially when it comes to her friendship (I use this term loosely) with Marcie. The mere fact that Marcie refers to Patty as “sir” on a regular basis instead of her friend’s actual name is telling enough. If Peppermint Patty is somewhat of a background character in the world of Snoopy and friends, Marcie is even more so a wallflower; one whom, despite being around since July 1971, we hardly know anything about other than the fact that she wears glasses and trails Patty around like a dog to do her bidding. (Marcie wasn’t even given a name until October of 1971, first introduced as Patty’s nameless friend from camp.) 

52 years after her inception, Apple TV+ is finally shining a spotlight on Peppermint Patty’s BFF/frenemy/personal assistant. After this summer’s earlier release of The Snoopy Show’s knockout third season, Snoopy Presents: One-of-a-Kind Marcie brings this underrated character to the forefront. It follows Marcie, the (overly) kind, introverted wallflower and companion to Peppermint Patty, as she navigates an unexpected challenge thrown her way in school: being elected class president. How does she manage to share her ideas when she’s never been granted a platform before? The special poses this very question, exploring ideas of introversion, anxiety, and confidence throughout its runtime. 

At first, I was unsure of how Apple TV+ could turn a character that Peanuts fans knew virtually nothing about into a forty minute-long special captivating enough for people to stick with it all the way through. Yet it was a pleasant surprise when forty minutes had passed feeling like fifteen. Marcie quickly became one of my new favorite Peanuts characters, and although no one will ever beat Snoopy for the top spot, she is delightfully endearing. She’s introduced to us as little more than Peppermint Patty’s caddy, but when she is elected class president out of the blue, she finally seems to be getting the attention she deserves. 

The only problem is? She doesn’t want it. The perpetual spotlight shining upon her wire-rimmed glasses is the last thing she ever wanted or expected for herself; it doesn’t matter that she has excellent ideas that make sense for the greater good of her classmates, or that she is finally being treated better as little more than a shrinking violet. Marcie would rather retreat back to her comfortable spot in Peppermint Patty’s shadow, but no one will let her because she’s doing too much good, with the others selfish in not wanting to let that go. 

Speaking of her BFF: It’s refreshing to see Marcie have a semi-symbiotic relationship with Peppermint Patty, who is (seemingly) for once supportive of her friend, and not trying to make it all about herself. Although in past iterations Marcie may have seemed like a pushover, One-of-a-Kind Marcie is here to show that she’s not and never has been! If Peppermint Patty asks her to do something she doesn’t want to, she’ll make it known, and there’s no peer pressure to do otherwise. It’s a good lesson to young viewers that you’re allowed to hold your own, even with your friends; sometimes it can be scary to stand up to them, but good friends should always be willing to listen.