Bill Melendez

Bill Melendez
Bill Melendez
Born	José Cuauhtémoc Melendez; November 15, 1916; Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico
Died	September 2, 2008 (aged 91); Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Other names	C. Melendez ; J.C. Melendez; William Melendez
Occupations	Animator; film director; producer; voice actor;
Years active	1938–2006
Employers	Walt Disney Animation Studios (1935–1941); Warner Bros. Cartoons (1941–1952); UPA (1950–1963);
Notable work	Peanuts animated specials
Spouse	Helen Melendez (m. 1940)
Children	2; including Steven C. Melendez

José Cuauhtémoc "Bill" Melendez (November 15, 1916 – September 2, 2008)[1][2] was an American character animator, voice actor, film director and producer. Melendez is known for working on the Peanuts animated specials. Before Peanuts, he previously worked as an animator for Walt Disney Productions, Warner Bros. Cartoons, and UPA. Melendez provided the voices of Snoopy and Woodstock in the latter as well.

In a career spanning over 60 years, he won six Primetime Emmy Awards and was nominated for thirteen more. In addition, he was nominated for an Oscar and five Grammy Awards. The two Peanuts specials, A Charlie Brown Christmas and What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown?, which he directed, were each honored with a Peabody Award.

Early life

A native of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, Melendez was educated in American public schools in Douglas, Arizona.[1] He later attended the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles (which would later become California Institute of the Arts).[1]

Early animation work (1935–1961)

On completion of his studies, Melendez found his first job at a lumber mill. After watching Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, he gained employment at Disney in 1938, where he worked as an assistant animator to Hawley Pratt whom he befriended and worked together to developed a Naval Game with toy ships. He worked on what are now considered classics: Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, and Bambi and he did worked once as an animator for a Donald Duck short, The Flying Jalopy.[3] Following the 1941 Disney strike, Melendez was hired by Leon Schlesinger Productions, later known as Warner Bros. Cartoons, where he served as animator on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series. He worked in Bob Clampett's unit, first as an assistant animator for Rod Scribner, and then as a full animator. After Clampett's departure in 1945, he moved to the Arthur Davis unit. When the number of animation units at Warner Bros. was reduced from four to three in 1947, Melendez along with Emery Hawkins moved to Robert McKimson's unit for a time.

After animating a few shorts under McKimson's belt, Melendez was fired by producer Edward Selzer. Afterwards, he moved over to United Productions of America (UPA), where he animated on cartoons such as Gerald McBoing-Boing (1950). Melendez also produced and directed thousands of television commercials, first at UPA, then Playhouse Pictures and John Sutherland Productions.[4] In 1963, Melendez founded his own studio in the basement of his Hollywood home. Bill Melendez Productions is still active and is currently run by his son Steven C. Melendez.[5] In addition to animation, Melendez was once a faculty member at the University of Southern California's Cinema Arts Department.

Melendez was referenced in the 1961 Looney Tunes short The Pied Piper of Guadalupe, directed by Friz Freleng. In it, Sylvester tries to learn how to play the flute by getting music lessons in order to lure the mice from a small Mexican town. He was referenced as J.C. Melendez, alluding to the name he was credited with in a few dozen Warner Bros. shorts during the mid '40s to early '50s (excluding his first few cartoons where he was credited as C. Melendez).

Peanuts franchise (1959–2006)

In 1959, Melendez was hired to do some animated television commercials featuring characters from the comic strip Peanuts for the Ford Motor Company. These animations were seen by documentary producer Lee Mendelson, and Mendelson hired Melendez to do some interstitial animations for a film he was producing about the comic strip entitled A Boy Named Charlie Brown.

Melendez was the only person Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz trusted to turn his popular comic creations into television specials. He and his studio worked on every single television special and direct-to-video film for the Peanuts gang and Melendez directed the majority of them. He provided the vocal effects for Snoopy and Woodstock in every single production, voice acting the characters in the studio by uttering gibberish, and the voices were mechanically sped up at different speeds to represent the two different characters, although some later specials had Snoopy speaking in a clear voice, reflecting how he would be thinking to himself in the comics.

According to an article in The New York Times published shortly after his death, Melendez did not intend to do voice acting for the two characters. "Schulz would not countenance the idea of a beagle uttering English dialogue, Mr. Melendez recited gibberish into a tape recorder, sped it up and put the result on the soundtrack."[1] He also directed, did the animation for, and provided voice acting in the first four Peanuts theatrical films, A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1969), Snoopy, Come Home (1972), Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown (1977), and Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (1980), as well as the video games Get Ready for School, Charlie Brown! (1995) and Snoopy's Campfire Stories (1996).[6]

The last Peanuts-related production he worked on was He's a Bully, Charlie Brown (2006). Melendez and Lee Mendelson, who also worked on the Peanuts specials, films, and TV shows, formed their own production team and did other animated specials. They were responsible for the first two Garfield animated specials, Here Comes Garfield (1982) and Garfield on the Town (1983), as well as Frosty Returns (1992), the pseudo-sequel to Rankin/Bass' Frosty the Snowman (1969).

National Student Film Institute

During the 1980s and 1990s Melendez served on the advisory board of the National Student Film Institute.[7][8]

Death

On September 2, 2008, Bill Melendez died at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California at the age of 91.[9] He had been in declining health after a fall a year earlier. No cause of his death was made public.[1] Melendez was cremated and his ashes were given to his family.

Posthumous return to Peanuts

Archive recordings of his work as Snoopy and Woodstock were used for the film The Peanuts Movie.[10] This makes him the only member of the film's cast to have been involved in a previous Peanuts project, save for Kristin Chenoweth, who won a Tony Award for her performance as Sally Brown in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown on Broadway. Melendez also has archival recordings on the film's game, Snoopy's Grand Adventure.

Related companies

Melendez Films – Animation division : United Kingdom, video and interactive entertainment

Filmography

Films

Year	Film	Animator	Producer	Director	Actor	Role	Notes
1940	Pinocchio	Yes	No	No	No		Assistant animator
1940	Fantasia	Yes	No	No	No
1941	Dumbo	Yes	No	No	No
1942	Bambi	Yes	No	No	No
1943	The Flying Jalopy	Yes	No	No	No
	A Corny Concerto	Yes	No	No	No		Assistant animator
	Falling Hare	Yes	No	No	No
	An Itch in Time	Yes	No	No	No
1945	Draftee Daffy	Yes	No	No	No
	Wagon Heels	Yes	No	No	No
	The Bashful Buzzard	Yes	No	No	No
1946	Book Revue	Yes	No	No	No
	Baby Bottleneck	Yes	No	No	No
	Kitty Kornered	Yes	No	No	No
	The Great Piggy Bank Robbery	Yes	No	No	No
	The Big Snooze	Yes	No	No	No
1947	The Goofy Gophers	Yes	No	No	No
	The Foxy Duckling	Yes	No	No	No
	Doggone Cats	Yes	No	No	No
	Mexican Joyride	Yes	No	No	No
	Catch as Cats Can	Yes	No	No	No
1948	Two Gophers from Texas	Yes	No	No	No
	What Makes Daffy Duck	Yes	No	No	No
	A Hick a Slick and a Chick	Yes	No	No	No
	Nothing But the Tooth	Yes	No	No	No
	Bone Sweet Bone	Yes	No	No	No
	The Rattled Rooster	Yes	No	No	No
	Dough Ray Me-ow	Yes	No	No	No
	The Pest That Came to Dinner	Yes	No	No	No
	Odor of the Day	Yes	No	No	No
	The Stupor Salesman	Yes	No	No	No
	Riff Raffy Daffy	Yes	No	No	No
1949	Holiday for Drumsticks	Yes	No	No	No
	Porky Chops	Yes	No	No	No
	Bowery Bugs	Yes	No	No	No
	Bye, Bye Bluebeard	Yes	No	No	No
	A Ham in a Role	Yes	No	No	No
1950	Punchy de Leon	Yes	No	No	No
	Boobs in the Woods	Yes	No	No	No
	Spellbound Hound	Yes	No	No	No
	The Leghorn Blows at Midnight	Yes	No	No	No
	The Miner's Daughter	Yes	No	No	No
	An Egg Scramble	Yes	No	No	No
	What's Up Doc?	Yes	No	No	No
	It's Hummer Time	Yes	No	No	No
	Giddyap	Yes	No	No	No
	Trouble Indemnity	Yes	No	No	No
	A Fractured Leghorn	Yes	No	No	No
	Pop 'im Pop!	Yes	No	No	No
	Gerald McBoing-Boing	Yes	No	No	No
	Bushy Hare	Yes	No	No	No
	Dog Collared	Yes	No	No	No
	Albert in Blunderland	Yes	No	No	No
1951	Hare We Go	Yes	No	No	No
	Bungled Bungalow	Yes	No	No	No
	A Fox in a Fix	Yes	No	No	No
	Corn Plastered	Yes	No	No	No
	Georgie and the Dragon	Yes	No	No	No
	The Wonder Gloves	Yes	No	No	No
1952	The Oompahs	Yes	No	No	No
	Willie the Kid	Yes	No	No	No
	Madeline	Yes	No	No	No
1953	Little Boy with a Big Horn	Yes	No	No	No
	Christopher Crumpet	Yes	No	No	No
	Gerald McBoing-Boing's Symphony	Yes	No	No	No
1954	Ballet-Oop	Yes	No	No	No
1954	It's Everybody's Business	Yes	No	No	No
1957	Energetically Yours	Yes	No	Yes	No
1963	It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World	Yes	No	No	No
1969	A Boy Named Charlie Brown	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Snoopy
1970	The Rainbow Bear	Yes	No	Yes	No
1972	Snoopy Come Home	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Snoopy, Woodstock
1975	Dick Deadeye, or Duty Done	No	No	Yes	No
1975	Escape to Witch Mountain	Yes	No	No	No
1977	Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Snoopy, Woodstock
1978	Tooth Brushing	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Snoopy
1980	Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don't Come Back!!)	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Snoopy, Woodstock
1985	Molly and the Skywalkerz: Happily Ever After	No	No	Yes	No		Direct-to-video film
1989	Molly and the Skywalkerz: Two Daddies?	No	No	Yes	No		Direct-to-video film
1992	Cool World	Yes	No	No	No
2015	The Peanuts Movie	No	No	No	Yes	Snoopy, Woodstock	archival recordings

Television

Year	Film	Animator	Producer	Director	Actor	Role	Notes
1956	The Gerald McBoing-Boing Show	Yes	No	No	No		1 episode: The Election/The Fifty-First Dragon/Twirlinger Twins in the Ballet Lesson
1960	The Bugs Bunny Show	Yes	No	No	No		classic cartoons
1963	A Boy Named Charlie Brown	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Snoopy
1965	A Charlie Brown Christmas	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Snoopy
1966	Charlie Brown's All Stars!	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Snoopy
1966	It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Snoopy
1967	You're in Love, Charlie Brown	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Snoopy
1968	He's Your Dog, Charlie Brown	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Snoopy
1968	The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour	Yes	No	No	No		classic cartoons
1969	Turn-On	Yes	No	No	No		1 episode
1969	It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Snoopy
1971	Play It Again, Charlie Brown	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Snoopy
1971	Babar Comes to America	No	Yes	Yes	No
1972	You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Snoopy, Woodstock
1973	There's No Time for Love, Charlie Brown	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Snoopy
1973	A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Snoopy, Woodstock
1974	It's a Mystery, Charlie Brown	No	Yes	No	Yes	Snoopy, Woodstock
	It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown	No	Yes	No	Yes	Snoopy, Woodstock
	Yes Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus	No	Yes	Yes	No
1975	Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown	No	Yes	No	Yes	Snoopy, Woodstock
1975	You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown	No	Yes	No	Yes	Snoopy, Woodstock
1976	It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown	No	Yes	No	Yes	Snoopy, Woodstock
1976	The Sylvester & Tweety Show	Yes	No	No	No		classic cartoons
1977	A Glee Cartoon	No	Yes	No	Yes	Prince Mac, Princess Marjorie
1977	It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown	No	Yes	No	Yes	Snoopy, Woodstock
1978	What a Nightmare, Charlie Brown!	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Snoopy
1979	You're the Greatest, Charlie Brown	No	Yes	No	Yes	Snoopy, Woodstock
1979	The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe	No	No	Yes	No		Also credited for story adaptation
1980	She's a Good Skate, Charlie Brown	No	Yes	No	Yes	Snoopy
1980	Life Is a Circus, Charlie Brown	No	Yes	No	Yes	Snoopy
1981	It's Magic, Charlie Brown	No	Yes	No	Yes	Snoopy, Woodstock
	Someday You'll Find Her, Charlie Brown	No	Yes	No	Yes	Snoopy, Woodstock
	No Man's Valley	No	Yes	Yes	No
1982	Princess Marjorie: A Glee Special	No	Yes	No	Yes	Prince Mac, Princess Marjorie, Mr. Penguin
	A Charlie Brown Celebration	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Snoopy, Woodstock
	Here Comes Garfield	No	Yes	No	No
1983	Is This Goodbye, Charlie Brown?	No	Yes	No	Yes	Snoopy, Woodstock
	It's an Adventure, Charlie Brown	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Snoopy, Woodstock
	What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown?	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Snoopy, Woodstock
	Garfield on the Town	No	Yes	No	No
1983–1985	The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Snoopy, Woodstock
1984	It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Snoopy, Woodstock
1985	Snoopy's Getting Married, Charlie Brown	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Snoopy, Woodstock, Spike
	The Romance of Betty Boop	No	Yes	Yes	No
	It's Your 20th Television Anniversary, Charlie Brown	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Snoopy
	You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown	No	Yes	No	Yes	Snoopy (non-speaking), Woodstock
1986	Happy New Year, Charlie Brown!	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Snoopy, Woodstock
1987	Cathy	No	Yes	No	No
1988	Snoopy: The Musical	No	Yes	No	Yes	Snoopy (non-speaking), Woodstock
	It's the Girl in the Red Truck, Charlie Brown	No	Yes	No	Yes	Spike
	Cathy's Last Resort	No	Yes	No	No
1988–1989	This Is America, Charlie Brown	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Snoopy, Woodstock	Also credited as writer for 4 episodes
1989	Cathy's Valentine	No	Yes	No	No
1990	You Don't Look 40, Charlie Brown	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Himself
	Why, Charlie Brown, Why?	No	Yes	No	Yes	Snoopy, Woodstock
	Merrie Melodies: Starring Bugs Bunny and Friends	Yes	No	No	No		classic cartoons
1991	Snoopy's Reunion	No	Yes	No	Yes	Snoopy, Snoopy's Siblings
1992	It's Spring Training, Charlie Brown	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Snoopy, Woodstock
	It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Snoopy, Woodstock
	Frosty Returns	No	Yes	Yes	No
1994	You're in the Super Bowl, Charlie Brown	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Snoopy, Woodstock
1995	That's Warner Bros.!	Yes	No	No	No		classic cartoons
1997	It Was My Best Birthday Ever, Charlie Brown	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Snoopy, Woodstock
2000	Here's to You, Charlie Brown: 50 Great Years	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Snoopy, Woodstock
2000	It's the Pied Piper, Charlie Brown	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Snoopy
2002	A Charlie Brown Valentine	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Snoopy
2002	Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales	No	Yes	No	Yes	Snoopy, Woodstock
2003	Lucy Must Be Traded, Charlie Brown	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Snoopy
2003	I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Snoopy, Woodstock, Spike
2006	He's a Bully, Charlie Brown	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Snoopy, Woodstock
2008	Peanuts Motion Comics	No	No	No	Yes	Snoopy	archival recordings

Video games

Year	Film	Animator	Producer	Director	Actor	Role	Notes
1995	Get Ready for School, Charlie Brown!	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Snoopy, Woodstock
1996	Snoopy's Campfire Stories	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Snoopy, Woodstock
2015	The Peanuts Movie: Snoopy's Grand Adventure	No	No	No	Yes	Snoopy, Woodstock	archival recordings

References

Fox, Margalit (September 4, 2008). "Bill Melendez, 'Peanuts' Animator, Dies at 91". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 30, 2018. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
"Peanuts' animator Melendez dies". BBC. September 4, 2008. Archived from the original on September 6, 2008. Retrieved September 4, 2008.
"Bill Melendez, Comics Creator, Businessman and Peanuts Animator". thecartoonists.ca.
Solomon, Charles (September 4, 2008). "Animator of 'Peanuts' TV specials and voice of Snoopy". The Los Angeles Times.
"Bill Melendez Prod. Inc". billmelendez.tv.
"Bill Melendez at Moby Games". Retrieved October 29, 2017.
National Student Film Institute/L.A: The Sixteenth Annual Los Angeles Student Film Festival. The Directors Guild Theatre. June 10, 1994. pp. 10–11.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Los Angeles Student Film Institute: 13th Annual Student Film Festival. The Directors Guild Theatre. June 7, 1991. p. 3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
"'Peanuts' animator Bill Melendez dies at 91". TODAY.com. September 4, 2008. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
Russ Fischer (March 17, 2014). "New 'Peanuts' Movie First Look: Charlie Brown and Snoopy Head Back to the Big Screen". Slashfilm.

External links

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[NYT-1] Fox, Margalit (September 4, 2008). "Bill Melendez, 'Peanuts' Animator, Dies at 91". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 30, 2018. Retrieved October 6, 2021.

[BBC-2] "Peanuts' animator Melendez dies". BBC. September 4, 2008. Archived from the original on September 6, 2008. Retrieved September 4, 2008.

[3] "Bill Melendez, Comics Creator, Businessman and Peanuts Animator". thecartoonists.ca.

[4] Solomon, Charles (September 4, 2008). "Animator of 'Peanuts' TV specials and voice of Snoopy". The Los Angeles Times.

[5] "Bill Melendez Prod. Inc". billmelendez.tv.

[6] "Bill Melendez at Moby Games". Retrieved October 29, 2017.

[7] National Student Film Institute/L.A: The Sixteenth Annual Los Angeles Student Film Festival. The Directors Guild Theatre. June 10, 1994. pp. 10–11.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

[8] Los Angeles Student Film Institute: 13th Annual Student Film Festival. The Directors Guild Theatre. June 7, 1991. p. 3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

[9] "'Peanuts' animator Bill Melendez dies at 91". TODAY.com. September 4, 2008. Retrieved May 20, 2020.

[10] Russ Fischer (March 17, 2014). "New 'Peanuts' Movie First Look: Charlie Brown and Snoopy Head Back to the Big Screen". Slashfilm.

Winsor McCay Award (1970s)
1972	Max Fleischer Dave Fleischer
1973	Walter Lantz
1974	Tex Avery Friz Freleng Chuck Jones Art Babbitt Winsor McCay
1975	Walt Disney John Hubley Faith Hubley Norman McLaren
1976	Robert Cannon Hugh Harman Rudolf Ising Mike Maltese George Pal Ward Kimball
1977	Bill Hanna Joe Barbera Mel Blanc Oskar Fischinger Bill Scott Milt Kahl
1978	Jay Ward Ub Iwerks Dick Huemer Carl Stalling Hans Conried
1979	Clyde Geronimi Bill Melendez Mae Questel Otto Messmer
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