Daughter of 'Peanuts' creator pitches talking mule"
The Denver Post

Monday, November 18, 2002 - Meredith Schulz Hodges has a thing for mules.

She hopes a lot of 2- to 8-year-olds will too since she is investing more than a half-million dollars to produce an animated story with a talking mule as the central character.

Hodges, the daughter of late "Peanuts" creator Charles Schulz and a Loveland resident, is shepherding the Colorado-based production of her brain child, "Jasper: the Story of a Mule." The animated tale of a mule and its impact on people is also her tribute to her father, who encouraged her to turn her love for mules into a children's story.

"In my mind and in my heart he is in the story," Hodges said, while taking a break from production at Media Tech Productions in Fort Collins earlier this month.

"There is a place (in the show) where the little dog Moxie does a beagle boogie," she said. "It's a Snoopy thing and that was my way of slipping my dad, who is mostly urban, into a rural situation as a tribute to him."

Slated for summer

Hodges, along with actor Lee Horsley, animator Bill Melendez and young singer Mindy Ellis, were in Fort Collins to lay down the voices for the television pilot, which Hodges anticipates will reach the airwaves in July.

Hodges and the producers hope Jasper the mule can become a franchise, which, like her father's beloved characters, finds its way to DVDs, dolls and pajamas. Jasper's first spin-off product will be a book slated for January publication. Mules have yet to inspire children's empires, with the possible exception of the early '50s film star Francis the talking mule, but Hodges thinks the animal's time has come.

Hodges has been training mules since 1973 and has created four books, 10 video tapes and 27 1/2 hours worth of television shows on mule training. The donkey/horse half breed is often overlooked or maligned, perhaps because of its bad rap as the animal kingdom's model for stubbornness and an uncooperative disposition. For all those reasons, it is an unusual artistic choice. But Hodges has a remarkable affection for them.

"They are so humanlike, personal and affectionate. They are durable, resistant to parasites ..., cost less and eat less than horses," she said. "They have a tremendous sense of humor. They laugh. They smile."

Mule-power origins

The Jasper character originated in 1990 when Hodges wrote a letter that was published in "Mules and More" and "The BRAYER" magazine, published by American Donkey and Mule Society. The letter, written from a fictional mule named Jasper, lamented how people treated mules unfairly and urged readers to consider the animal's standpoint, she said.

Hodges' video has a similar moral. The story of Jasper and his new owner, Mr. Cheney, is about relationships and how people act and react to each other and learn to cooperate to get things done, said Bonnie Shields. She is another mule aficionado and the show's illustrator, the person who does all the still drawings that are later converted into animation.

"I hope people take away the things that are important in life," said Hodges. "The biggest thing is to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Respect people, love people and you will get that in return," she said.

Shields shares Hodges' affection for the long-eared equine.

"Mules are characters. I'm not quite sure if people are mules in disguise or if mules are people in disguise. The horse is a slave. The mule is your partner. He is a voting partner and sometimes he votes against your program so you have to make sure that you treat your mule fairly," she said.

Big-series hopes

Maury Dobbie runs MediaTech Productions, which is serving as executive producer for the project. The team is currently pitching the show to broadcast networks as a pilot with the hope that it will be picked up as a series. They also expect to produce a separate Christmas special for Christmas 2003, she said. She and Hodges have high expectations for Jasper.

"Our goal is to create a very large series," she said. "We're not throwing away all this money to have it sit there."

Some of that money is being spent on top talent like Bill Melendez, who animated 70 half-hour "Peanuts" specials. Melendez worked with Hodges' father for 44 years. Though Melendez made his mark with "Peanuts," he isn't looking to duplicate that same success.

"You can't imitate or copy something as successful as 'Peanuts.' It's different because it's about a different subject."

In addition to being produced in Colorado, the show's narrator, Lee Horsley, is a local who attended Englewood High School and the University of Northern Colorado. He visited Hodges' ranch in Loveland before he and the other voice talent traveled to Fort Collins to lay the audio tracks. While at the ranch, he rode a mule for the second time in his life.

"I had a ball. I love them. I think they're great," he said.

With all the enthusiasm from Jasper's real-life Colorado handlers, it could be that soon, to paraphrase Lucy van Pelt's motto, audiences will agree that "the mule is in."

Originally published Monday, November 18, 2002