Bill Meléndez

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Bill Meléndez (born November 15, 1916 as José Cuauhtemoc Meléndez in Hermosillo , Mexico , † September 2, 2008 in Santa Monica , California ) was a Mexican-born American animator . In a career that spanned more than 60 years, Meléndez worked as an animator in the animation studios of Walt Disney , Leon Schlesinger and United Productions of America (UPA). But best known was his collaboration with Charles M. Schulz on the Peanuts films.

biography

Meléndez was born in Hermosillo in the northern Mexican state of Sonora . His family emigrated to the United States in 1928 . He attended school in Douglas , Arizona , and studied art at the Chouinard Art Institute , now part of the California Institute of the Arts .

In 1938, Bill Meléndez was hired by Walt Disney as a draftsman. Meléndez worked on the feature- length films Pinocchio , Fantasia , Dumbo and Bambi , as well as on several Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck films. After the strike in 1941, which paralyzed work at Disney Studios for five weeks, Meléndez was fired and switched to Leon Schlesinger's animation production at Warner Bros.

At Warner, Meléndez first worked in Bob Clampett's team , and after his departure under the direction of Arthur Davis and Robert McKinsom . Under the name JC Melendez, Meléndez animated numerous Bugs Bunny , Daffy Duck and Piggy Dick cartoons from the Looney Tunes series.

In 1948 Meléndez moved to the UPA, where he worked as an animator on the Oscar-winning cartoon Gerald McBoing-Boing . Meléndez began producing commercials for the first time at UPA . He then left UPA and produced more than 1,000 industrial films and commercials. Meléndez has won numerous awards for his work in this area. In 1964, Bill Meléndez finally founded his own production company, Bill Meléndez Production, Inc.

Already in 1959, Meléndez worked with Charles M. Schulz to a realization of his Peanuts - Comic books into an animated film after the automobile company Ford had shown interest in the use of cartoon characters for an advertising campaign. In 1965, Meléndez produced the first Peanuts television film with the half-hour Christmas special Die Peanuts - Merry Christmas ( A Charlie Brown Christmas ) . The television film, based on a screenplay by Schulz, won an Emmy Award and became a television classic that is repeated every Christmas on American television.

Charles M. Schulz decreed that only Meléndez could produce films with his Peanuts characters. In the following 40 years, around 75 half-hour specials, five one-hour television films, four feature films (including the Oscar-nominated film Charlie Brown and his friends ) and more than 370 commercials were made. Meléndez was not only active as a director and producer, but also spoke the original voices of Snoopy and Woodstock.

In addition to working on the Peanuts films, Meléndez also remained active in the advertising industry. In 1970 he opened a studio in London. In 1979 the cartoon The King of Narnia was produced in this studio based on CS Lewis' novel The King of Narnia , for which Meléndez won another Emmy award.

Meléndez produced the first Garfield cartoons for television in the 1980s . In addition, the Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show and the miniseries "This Is America, Charlie Brown" were other television productions in collaboration with Charles M. Schulz.

Bill Meléndez died at the age of 91 on September 2, 2008 in St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California. He was active in the film business to the end, his last Charlie Brown special was released in 2006. The production companies in Hollywood and London are continued after his death by his son Steven C. Melendez.

Filmography (selection)

  • 1940: Pinocchio (draftsman)
  • 1940: Fantasia (draftsman)
  • 1941: Dumbo (draftsman)
  • 1942: Bambi (draftsman)
  • 1943: Falling Hare (Animator)
  • 1946: Book Revue (Animator)
  • 1946: The Great Piggy Bank Robbery (Animator)
  • 1947: The Goofy Gophers (Animator)
  • 1948: The Pest That Came to Dinner (Animator)
  • 1950: What's Up Doc? (Animator)
  • 1951: Gerald McBoing-Boing (Animator)
  • 1952: Madeline (animator)
  • 1953: Christopher Crumpet (animator)
  • 1965: The Peanuts - Merry Christmas ( A Charlie Brown Christmas ) (director and producer)
  • 1966: The Great Pumpkin (director and producer)
  • 1969: Charlie Brown and Friends (A Boy Named Charlie Brown) (Director and Producer)
  • 1972: Snoopy (Snoopy Come Home) (Director and Producer)
  • 1977: Run for Your Life, Charlie Brown (Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown) (Director and Producer)
  • 1979: The King of Narnia (Director)
  • 1980: Gute Reise, Charlie Brown (Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don't Come Back !!)) (Director and Producer)
  • 1986: Happy New Years, Charlie Brown! (Happy New Year, Charlie Brown ! , short film) (director and producer)
  • 1988: This Is America, Charlie Brown (Director and Producer)

Awards

  • 1966: Emmy Award for A Charlie Brown Christmas (Outstanding Children's Program)
  • 1971: Oscar nomination for A Boy Called Charlie Brown (Best Score)
  • 1975: Emmy Award for Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus (Outstanding Children's Special)
  • 1976: Emmy Award for You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown (Outstanding Children's Special)
  • 1979: Annie Awards : Winsor McCay Lifetime Achievement Award
  • 1981: Emmy Award for Life Is a Circus, Charlie Brown (Outstanding Animated Program)
  • 1984: Emmy Award for Garfield on the Town (Outstanding Animated Program)
  • 1987: Emmy Award for Cathy (Outstanding Animated Program)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Mike Barnes: 'Peanuts' animator Bill Melendez dies . In: The Hollywood Reporter , September 3, 2008.
personal data
SURNAME Meléndez, Bill
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Meléndez, José Cuauhtemoc (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American animator
DATE OF BIRTH November 15, 1916
PLACE OF BIRTH Hermosillo , Mexico
DATE OF DEATH September 2, 2008
Place of death Santa Monica , California