Bill Melendez, 91; Award-Winning 'Peanuts' Animator

Bill Melendez, 91, an Emmy Award-winning animator who transformed the two-dimensional drawings of the "Peanuts" comic strip into some of the most beloved cartoon characters on television and film, died Sept. 2 at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif. The cause of death was not reported.

Mr. Melendez, who began his career at the Hollywood animation studios of Walt Disney and Warner Bros., found his greatest renown as the animator of "A Charlie Brown Christmas," "The Great Pumpkin" and dozens of other Peanuts presentations.

With producer Lee Mendelson, Mr. Melendez formed a 43-year partnership that has generated more than 70 "Peanuts" productions, including four feature films. He also animated more than 370 commercials using "Peanuts" characters and remains the only animator Charles M. Schulz trusted to bring his famous comic strip figures to life.

"We had a wonderful relationship, the three of us, Schulz, Bill and I," Mendelson said yesterday in an interview. "Bill moved the characters off the page. He didn't do anything too elaborate. By keeping that simplicity, that caused a seamless transition. I think that was the key to our success."

Success was hardly assured when the first Peanuts special, "A Charlie Brown Christmas," was broadcast by CBS in 1965. Network executives feared it would be a colossal flop, with no laugh track, a jazz musical score by pianist Vince Guaraldi and a religious message that Mr. Melendez thought at first was too overt.

Schulz later told him, according to the Los Angeles Times, "Bill, if we don't do it, then who will?"

Much to everyone's surprise, the show was a huge hit and garnered Emmy and Peabody awards. Cartoonist Robert Smigel called it "the greatest half-hour American TV has ever produced."

In addition to animating every "Peanuts" film and TV special, Mr. Melendez provided the wordless voice of Snoopy, Charlie Brown's irrepressible beagle. Mr. Melendez spoke gibberish into a tape recorder, then played the tape at high speed. (He used the same method to record the chirping voice of the bird Woodstock.) ...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...8090401641.html

(...AdamSmith upon Andre's return!)

(...AdamSmith upon Andre's return!)

I really must meet this boy!

Thanks for the post, Adam. I love the Peanuts characters and have all of the feature films on DVD.

RIP, Bill Melendez

...Hoover

(...AdamSmith upon Andre's return!)