J.R.R. Tolkien placed at #5 on Forbes’ annual list of the top-earning dead celebrities, released this week.  Tolkien didn’t place in 2008, but did this year behind the money the estate accrued from the settlement of litigation surrounding the Lord of the Rings movie rights (see “LOTR Lawsuit Settled”). 

Charles Schulz, the only cartoonist on the list, slipped from #2 to #6 this year, but still had an estimated $35 million in revenue.  The biggest impact to Peanuts revenue was the sale and re-release of the Peanuts TV specials on DVD.