And This Blog Loves Bill Melendez

Is there anyone in the animation business not named Charley Bowers, Tex Avery, Bob Clampett or Frank Tashlin who has crushed a wider range of genres than Bill Melendez (November 15, 1916 - September 2, 2008)?



Can't think of another artist or filmmaker who excelled in more avenues of storytelling than Bill Melendez.



Bill was one of the all-time greats!



Over a six decade career, Bill Melendez was an ace animator, filmmaker and ultimately a producer/director supreme. His work was all over the map, including everything from WB and UPA cartoons to the Peanuts adaptations to a 1982 Stan Freberg PBS special to George Schlatter Productions' experimental TV show Turn-On (1969) to a successful animated adaptation of C.S. Lewis.



After beginning his career at Walt Disney Productions, Bill Melendez worked on cartoons by Warner Brothers and UPA, before directing and producing numerous Peanuts specials. Matt Zoller Seitz from Roger Ebert.com elaborates here:



Here's documentary footage of Bill Melendez Productions.



Fortunately, as Bill lived to be 92, there are lots of interviews with Mr. Melendez. Here, Jerry Beck of Cartoon Research and numerous books about animation interviews Mr. Melendez and fellow brilliant animator Bill Littlejohn.





We at Way Too Damn Lazy To Write a Blog are enthusiastic fans of the Foundation Interviews from Television Academy Foundation a.k.a. EmmyTVLegends.org.









Bill was also the voice of Snoopy.



While Bill Melendez is primarily remembered for the Peanuts specials he directed and produced, he was a key animator at Warner Brothers and worked on a slew of outstanding cartoons, including some spectacular ones directed by Bob Clampett.

In the intrepid crews helmed by the aforementioned Bob Clampett, Arthur Davis and Bob McKimson, Bill worked, credited as "J.C. Melendez," on quite a few of the greatest cartoons ever produced by Warner Brothers.

Bill Melendez was among the few to animate for both Warner Brothers Animation and UPA (United Productions of America), the creators of Mr. Magoo and the 1950's animation style known as "Cartoon Modern."






The gang here has a soft spot for Gerald McBoing-Boing.





One of the lesser known but marvelous movies from the 1970's is the Melendez adaptation of C.S. Lewis' The Lion The Witch & The Wardrobe.



Bill Melendez Productions captured the essence of Charles M. Schulz' comic strip and successfully brought it to animation. With Lee Mendelson, Melendez produced, directed, or animated 70 Peanuts television specials, numerous commercials and four feature films.

In closing, here, in glorious 16mm, is Bill's very entertaining 1970 short subject The Rainbow Bear.



Acknowledgements:
Foundation Interviews - Bill Melendez
A Letter From Bill Melendez by Christopher Lehman