Bill Melendez
Bill Melendez, originally named José Cuauhtémoc Melendez, was a significant figure in the world of animation, best known for his work on the beloved "Peanuts" franchise. Born on November 15, 1916, in Mexico, he moved to the United States during his childhood, where he developed his artistic talents. After studying at the Chouinard Art Institute, Melendez began his career at Disney, contributing to classic films such as "Pinocchio" and "Bambi." He later collaborated with Charles Schulz, the creator of "Peanuts," leading to the production of the iconic television special "A Charlie Brown Christmas," which broke away from traditional children’s programming norms.
Melendez established his own studio, Bill Melendez Productions, and continued to produce numerous "Peanuts" specials, including seasonal favorites like "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown." He provided the voice for several characters, including Snoopy, and was involved in various other animated projects throughout his career. Melendez's work has left a lasting impact on American culture, particularly through his contributions to holiday programming and animation. He passed away on September 2, 2008, in Santa Monica, California, leaving behind a legacy celebrated by audiences of all ages.
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Subject Terms
Bill Melendez
Mexican-born animator of Peanuts cartoons
- Born: November 15, 1916
- Birthplace: Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico
- Died: September 2, 2008
- Place of death: Santa Monica, California
The only person Charles Schulz would permit to animate his Peanuts comic strip characters, Melendez directed, produced, and provided voices for 63 half-hour Peanuts television shows, 5 one-hour specials, 4 feature films, and more than 370 commercials. During a career that spanned seventy years, Melendez won six Emmy Awards and two Peabody Awards and was nominated for an Oscar.
Early Life
The son of a Mexican cavalry officer who gave his children Aztec names, Bill Melendez (meh-LEHN-dehz) was born José Cuauhtémoc Melendez on November 15, 1916, in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. He was twelve years old when his family moved to Arizona so that the children could learn English. Melendez found himself in a kindergarten class, where the embarrassment of having classmates half his age encouraged him to learn English quickly. He demonstrated his artistic ability at an early age and could quickly sketch animals and people. The family soon moved to Los Angeles, where Melendez hoped to become an engineer.
The Great Depression prevented Melendez from achieving his dream, but he was encouraged by a friend to show his drawings to Walt Disney. Disney recognized his talent and advised Melendez to attend art school. Melendez studied at the Chouinard Art Institute, and he was hired by Disney in 1938. The Disney studio was enjoying the success of its first full-length animated feature, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). During his years with the studio, Melendez worked on the films Pinocchio (1940), Fantasia (1940), Dumbo (1941), and Bambi (1942). Melendez wanted his name to appear in credits as Cuauhtémoc Melendez, but Disney said the name was too long and credited him as “Bill” Melendez instead.
One of the few Hispanic animators at Disney, Melendez helped to organize a strike to improve the wages and rights of animators. In 1941, he left the company and went to work for Leon Schlesinger Productions, which was later purchased by Warner Bros. At Warner Bros., Melendez worked on Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig cartoons. In 1948, he left Warner Bros. to work for United Productions of America, a company that was doing innovative work in animation, especially for commercial advertisements.
It was during his work for United Productions of America that Melendez first met Charles Schulz, creator of the classic comic strip Peanuts. Ford Motor Company was interested in featuring the Peanuts characters in its advertising, but Schulz was reluctant to have other artists animate his characters until he saw Melendez’s drawings. Melendez did not try to embellish the Peanuts characters but maintained the same style as Schulz. This initial collaboration eventually led to a string of highly successful television programs, a cartoon series, films, and more commercials, including those for MetLife, an insurance company that began featuring Peanuts characters in 1985.
Life’s Work
His association with Schulz allowed Melendez to open his own studio in 1964, Bill Melendez Productions. In 1965, Melendez, Schulz, and Lee Mendelson created the first Peanuts television special, A Charlie Brown Christmas. Created in eight months, the program, which was sponsored by Coca-Cola and aired by CBS, was a radical departure from traditional primetime programming or children’s programming of its day.
First, Melendez, Schulz, and Mendelson all agreed that the voices of the young characters should be provided by actual children instead of adults imitating children, which was the common practice. Furthermore, Schulz insisted that there be no laugh track. The music for A Charlie Brown Christmas, provided by Brazilian pianist Vince Guaraldi and his trio, was fast-paced, swinging jazz, unlike anything a network had previously chosen for a children’s program. Finally, Schulz argued for the Christmas story in the Gospel of Luke from the King James Bible to be the highlight of the twenty-five-minute program. When CBS executives previewed the rough cut before it aired, they were less than impressed. However, the night it first aired, A Charlie Brown Christmas was viewed in 50 percent of American homes. Reviewers loved the show, and A Charlie Brown Christmas has aired on network television at least once every year since then.
Because Schulz did not believe that Snoopy, a beagle, should speak English, Melendez dubbed nonsense sounds in his own voice and sped them up to represent Snoopy’s “language.” In all subsequent Peanuts productions, Melendez provided the voice of Snoopy, Woodstock, and later Spike, Snoopy’s brother. Melendez received residual payments for his voice work until his death.
In addition to his Peanuts work, Melendez animated television specials such as Jean de Brunhoff’s Babar Comes to America (1971), the C .S. Lewis classic The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (1979), Jim Davis’s Garfield on the Town (1983), and Cathy (1987) based on Cathy Guisewite’s comic strip.
Melendez was married in 1940 to Helen Huhn, and they had two sons: Steven Cuitlahuac, the president of Bill Melendez Productions, and Rodrigo Cuauhtemoc, a retired rear admiral of the United States Navy. Melendez died on September 2, 2008, in Santa Monica, California.
Significance
Melendez was responsible for producing, directing, writing, or animating dozens of Peanuts television shows and specials, including It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966), A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1969), and several specials after Schulz’s death in 2000, including Lucy Must Be Traded, Charlie Brown (2003). The Peanuts characters have been involved in every major American event and holiday, from the nation’s bicentennial and the National Football League’s Super Bowls to programs celebrating Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, Halloween, Valentine’s Day, New Year’s, and even Arbor Day. A Charlie Brown Christmas is one of a handful of seasonal chestnuts that mark the yuletide.
Bibliography
Melendez, Bill. “Maestro of the Acetate, Champion of the Old Style.” Interview by Gloria Goodale. Christian Science Monitor 87, no. 252 (November 24, 1995): 10. Melendez discusses his devotion to a good story and criticizes cartoons that seem to have nothing to say.
Nichols, Bill. “The Christmas Classic That Almost Wasn’t.” USA Today, December 6, 2005, p. 1A. Outlines how A Charlie Brown Christmas differed from the usual children’s programming of its day.
Schulz, Charles, Lee Mendelson, Bill Melendez, and Antonia Felix. “A Charlie Brown Christmas”: The Making of a Tradition. New York: HarperCollins, 2000. This is a behind-the-scenes account includes the story of how the program was developed and includes segments of the original score and production notes.