Animation in the United States in the television era was a period in the history of American animation that gradually started in the late 1950s with the decline of theatrical animated shorts and popularization of television animation, reached its peak during the 1970s, and ended around the late 1980s. This era is characterized by low budgets, limited animation, an emphasis on television over the theater, and the general perception of cartoons being primarily for children.
Modern animation in the United States from the late 1980s to 2004 is frequently referred to as the renaissance age of American animation. During this period, many large American entertainment companies reformed and reinvigorated their animation departments, following the dark age, and the United States had an influence on global and worldwide animation.
Klasky-Csupo, Inc. is an American animation studio located in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1982 by producer Arlene Klasky and her then-husband, Hungarian animator Gábor Csupó in a spare room of their apartment and grew to 550 artists, creative workers and staff in an animation facility in Hollywood.
Mainframe Studios is a Canadian animation studio owned by Wow Unlimited Media and based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Founded in 1993 as Mainframe Entertainment Inc. by Christopher Brough, Ian Pearson, Phil Mitchell, Gavin Blair and John Grace, the company established itself as a leading contributor to the introduction of computer-generated imagery (CGI) live action in animation, film and television.
Cel shading or toon shading is a type of non-photorealistic rendering designed to make 3D computer graphics appear to be flat by using less shading color instead of a shade gradient or tints and shades. A cel shader is often used to mimic the style of a comic book or cartoon and/or give the render a characteristic paper-like texture. There are similar techniques that can make an image look like a sketch, an oil painting or an ink painting. The name comes from cels, clear sheets of acetate which are painted on for use in traditional 2D animation.
José Cuauhtémoc "Bill" Melendez 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.
Frederator Studios is an American animation television production studio founded by Fred Seibert in January 1997. It is a division of Frederator Networks, Inc., itself apart of Kartoon Studios' Canadian holding company Wow Unlimited Media. The studio's slogan is "Original Cartoons since 1998."
Philip Roman is an American animator and the director of the Peanuts and Garfield animated specials. He is the founder of the animation studios Film Roman and Phil Roman Entertainment.
Happy Birthday, Charlie Brown is a prime-time animated TV special based upon the comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. It was originally aired on the CBS network on January 5, 1979.
This Is America, Charlie Brown is an eight-part animated television miniseries that depicts a series of events in American history featuring characters from the Charles M. Schulz comic strip Peanuts. It aired from 1988 to 1989 on CBS. The first four episodes aired as a weekly series in October and November 1988; the final four episodes aired monthly from February to May 1989.
Melendez Films is a film animation studio. It was founded in 1962 by Steven C. Melendez, the son of Peanuts animator Bill Melendez.
Starz Distribution, formerly IDT Entertainment from 2003 to 2006 and Starz Media from 2006 to 2013, is an American television production, distribution, and syndication company and the distribution arm of Starz Inc., a subsidiary of Lionsgate, established in 2003. It develops, produces and acquires original programming content branded as Starz Originals, feature films and other audiovisual programming for distribution across television, home video and streaming media.
Happy Anniversary, Charlie Brown is an animated TV documentary that celebrates 25 years of the Peanuts comic strip. The special first aired January 9, 1976 on CBS. The special includes clips from the previous 14 Peanuts specials and interview segments with creator Charles M. Schulz, with narration by Carl Reiner. The cast in this special reprised their roles in a Peanuts movie in 1977.
John W. Hyde is a veteran producer whose credits span feature film, television, and animation. Hyde is married to Kate Morris Hyde and lives in both Los Angeles and Badger, California.
A Boy Named Charlie Brown is an unaired television documentary film about Charles M. Schulz and his creation Peanuts, produced by Lee Mendelson with some animated scenes by Bill Melendez and music by Vince Guaraldi.
Jam Filled Entertainment is a Canadian animation studio based in Ottawa, Ontario, and a division of Boat Rocker Media. The company is best known for animating Thomas & Friends and Nicktoons.
Bill Schultz is an animation producer. He was born in New York City and grew up in River Forest, a suburb near Chicago, Illinois, moving to Los Angeles after graduating from the University of Illinois Champaign - Urbana Campus. He has worked on television shows such as Jim Henson's Muppet Babies, The Transformers, and produced others, notably The Simpsons andKing of the Hill and now the founder and CEO of Home Plate Entertainment. Schultz started Home Plate Entertainment in 2010, after stepping down from his 12-year partnership with Splash Entertainment.
Happiness Is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown is the 45th Peanuts animated television special, released in 2011. It was the final network TV special based on the comic strip, before the franchise moved to Apple TV+ in 2020. The special is the first one produced without Bill Melendez on the production team, following his death in 2008. It is also the first special without the direct involvement of Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz, Lee Mendelson Productions or Bill Melendez Productions. In addition, it is the first Peanuts special produced in part under Warner Bros. Television, which holds the home media distribution rights to the Peanuts specials.
No Man's Valley is an animated TV special written by Christopher Brough and Frank Buxton. It was originally aired on the CBS network November 23, 1981. It was executive produced by Lee Mendelson and Phil Howort, produced and directed by Bill Melendez, and co-directed by Phil Roman.
The Garfield television specials are a series of twelve half-hour long American animated television specials based on the Garfield comic strip of the same name created by Jim Davis. Most specials were directed by Phil Roman, written by Davis, and featuring the voice of Lorenzo Music as the character. The specials were originally broadcast on CBS from 1982 to 1991. Although the first two specials were produced by Lee Mendelson Films, this boutique studio was fully committed to the production of the Peanuts animated specials and could not allocate resources for the Garfield specials. All of the remaining Garfield specials were produced by Roman's own production company and namesake Film Roman.
