Bill Melendez

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

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. He later attended the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles (which would later become California Institute of the Arts).

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 worked once as an animator for a Donald Duck short, The Flying Jalopy. 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 starting with Wagon Heels. After Clampett's departure in 1946, the unit was given to Arthur Davis. When the number of animation units at Warner Bros. was reduced from four to three in 1949, Melendez along with Emery Hawkins moved to Robert McKimson's unit for a time.

After animating a several shorts for McKimson, 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 John Sutherland Productions and Playhouse Pictures. 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. In addition to animation, Melendez was once a faculty member at the University of Southern California's Cinema Arts Department.

Melendez would also be referenced in the 1961 Looney Tunes short The Pied Piper of Guadalupe, where his name was used for a music instructor for Sylvester to learn how to play the flute. At that point, Melendez has been away from Warner Bros. for 10 years.

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." 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).

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.

Death

On September 2, 2008, Bill Melendez died at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California at the age of 91. No cause of his death was made public, but he had been in declining health after a fall a year earlier. 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. 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	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No		Assistant animator
	Fantasia	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
1941	Dumbo	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
1942	Bambi	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
1943	The Flying Jalopy	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	A Corny Concerto	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No		Assistant animator
	Falling Hare	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	An Itch in Time	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
1945	Draftee Daffy	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	Wagon Heels	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	The Bashful Buzzard	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
1946	Book Revue	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	Baby Bottleneck	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	Kitty Kornered	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	The Great Piggy Bank Robbery	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	The Big Snooze	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
1947	The Goofy Gophers	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	The Foxy Duckling	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	Doggone Cats	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	Mexican Joyride	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	Catch as Cats Can	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
1948	Two Gophers from Texas	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	What Makes Daffy Duck	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	A Hick a Slick and a Chick	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	Nothing But the Tooth	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	Bone Sweet Bone	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	The Rattled Rooster	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	Dough Ray Me-ow	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	The Pest That Came to Dinner	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	Odor of the Day	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	The Stupor Salesman	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	Riff Raffy Daffy	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
1949	Holiday for Drumsticks	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	Porky Chops	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	Bowery Bugs	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	Bye, Bye Bluebeard	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	A Ham in a Role	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
1950	Punchy de Leon	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	Boobs in the Woods	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	Spellbound Hound	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	The Leghorn Blows at Midnight	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	The Miner's Daughter	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	An Egg Scramble	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	What's Up Doc?	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	It's Hummer Time	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	Giddyap	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	Trouble Indemnity	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	A Fractured Leghorn	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	Pop 'im Pop!	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	Gerald McBoing-Boing	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	Bushy Hare	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	Dog Collared	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	Albert in Blunderland	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
1951	Hare We Go	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	Bungled Bungalow	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	A Fox in a Fix	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	Corn Plastered	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	Georgie and the Dragon	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	The Wonder Gloves	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
1952	The Oompahs	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	Willie the Kid	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	Madeline	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
1953	Little Boy with a Big Horn	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	Christopher Crumpet	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	Gerald McBoing-Boing's Symphony	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
1954	Ballet-Oop	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
	It's Everybody's Business	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
1957	Energetically Yours	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:Yes	Template:No
1963	It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
1969	A Boy Named Charlie Brown	Template:No	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Snoopy
1970	The Rainbow Bear	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:Yes	Template:No
1972	Snoopy Come Home	Template:No	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Snoopy, Woodstock
1975	Dick Deadeye, or Duty Done	Template:No	Template:No	Template:Yes	Template:No
	Escape to Witch Mountain	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
1977	Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown	Template:No	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Snoopy, Woodstock
1978	Tooth Brushing	Template:No	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Snoopy
1980	Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don't Come Back!!)	Template:No	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Snoopy, Woodstock
1985	Template:Ill	Template:No	Template:No	Template:Yes	Template:No		Television film for PBS, later, VHS video
1989	Molly and the Skywalkerz: Two Daddies?	Template:No	Template:No	Template:Yes	Template:No		Television film for PBS, later, VHS video
1992	Cool World	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
2015	The Peanuts Movie	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No	Template:Yes	Snoopy, Woodstock	archival recordings

Television

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

Video games

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

External links

• Template:IMDb name
• Bill Melendez Productions Inc.
• Bio of Bill Melendez on Chuck Jones site
• Interview of Melendez (August '06)
• Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the gang flowed with good grief from his pen
• The Washington Post: Bill Melendez, 91; Award-Winning 'Peanuts' Animator
• Los Angeles Canyon News: Peanuts" Animator Bill Melendez Dies At Age 91
• Variety Magazine: Animator Bill Melendez dies at 91
• Template:EmmyTVLegends name
• The Independent: Bill Melendez: Animator who worked on Disney classics and adaptations of the 'Peanuts' cartoons