The Trusted Pen Behind 'Peanuts' Dies

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SANTA MONICA, Calif. (Sept. 4) - Bill Melendez, the only animator Charles Schulz trusted to put the pen to Snoopy, Charlie Brown and other "Peanuts" characters, has died at the age of 91.
Melendez died of natural causes Tuesday at St. John's HealthCenter, according to publicist Amy Goldsmith.
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Melendez's nearly seven decades as a professional animator beganin 1938 when he was hired by Walt Disney Studios and worked onMickey Mouse cartoons and classic animated features such as"Pinocchio" and "Fantasia."
He went on to animate TV specials such as "A Charlie BrownChristmas" and was the voice of Snoopy, who never spokeintelligible words but issued expressive howls, sighs and sobs.
Melendez was born in 1916 in Hermosillo in the Mexican state ofSonora. He moved with his family to Arizona in 1928 and then to LosAngeles in the 1930s, attending the Chouinard Art Institute.
Melendez took part in a strike that led to the unionization ofDisney artists in 1941, and later moved to Warner Bros., where heworked on Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig and Daffy Duck shorts.
In 1948, Melendez left Warner Bros. and over the next 15 yearsworked as a director and producer on more than 1,000 commercialsand movies for United Productions of America, Playhouse Picturesand John Sutherland Productions.
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Melendez's 'Peanuts' Contributions

'A Charlie Brown Christmas'

Snoopy Compilation


At UPA, he helped animate "Gerald McBoing-Boing," which wonthe 1951 Academy Award for best cartoon short.
Melendez met "Peanuts" creator Charles M. Schulz in 1959 whilecreating Ford Motor Co. TV commercials featuring Peanutscharacters.
The two became friends and Melendez became the only personSchulz authorized to animate his characters.
Melendez founded his own production company in 1964 and with hispartner Lee Mendelson went on to produce, direct or animate some 70"Peanuts" TV specials, four movies and hundreds of commercials.
The first special was 1965's "A Charlie Brown Christmas." Theshow reportedly worried CBS because it broke so much new ground fora cartoon: It lacked a laugh track, used real children as voiceactors, had a jazz score and included a scene in which Linusrecited lines from the New Testament.
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However, the show was a ratings success and has gone on tobecome a Christmastime perennial.
Melendez created Emmy-winning specials based on the cartooncharacters Cathy and Garfield, and was involved in animatedversions of the Babar the elephant books and the C.S. Lewis book,"The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe."
He also was co-nominee for an Academy Award in 1971 for themusic for "A Boy Named Charlie Brown."
In all, his productions earned some 19 Emmy nominations,including six awards.
Melendez is survived by his wife Helen; sons Steven Melendez and(Ret.) Navy Rear Adm. Rodrigo Melendez, six grandchildren and 11great-grandchildren.
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2008-09-04 09:28:31
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