Company type | Privately held |
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Industry | Animation Film |
Founded | 1962 (as Bill Melendez Productions) |
Founder | Steven C. Melendez Bill Melendez |
Headquarters | London, England, United Kingdom Burbank, California, United States Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico |
Key people | J.C. Melendez Steven C. Melendez Kaj Melendez Mirza-Javed Melendez |
Products | Animated feature films |
Number of employees | 70 (at peak) |
Divisions | Mendelson/Melendez Productions |
Website | Bill Melendez Inc |
Melendez Films (formerly Bill Melendez Productions and Melendez Features, Inc.) is a film animation studio. It was founded in 1962 by Steven C. Melendez, the son of Peanuts animator Bill Melendez.
The studio produced the ambitious animated feature film Dick Deadeye , based on the operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan. In 1979 the company produced a one-and-a-half-hour television special based on the C.S. Lewis classic book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe , and the film subsequently won two Emmy Awards for "best animated film" and "script adaptation". Melendez Films has also produced many series for television including "Fred Basset" and "The Perishers", as well as educational mini films like Molly and the Skywalkerz for PBS, which were not rebroadcast for a couple of decades and did not surface on home media until after the 1998 VHS debut.[ citation needed ]
The company continues to create commercials in France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, Greece and Sweden as well as the UK and the U.S. working for clients such as Scandinavian Airlines, Schick, British Rail, Colgate, Ferrero, and the British Government.
Formerly | Lee Mendelson/Bill Melendez Productions |
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Predecessor | Playhouse Pictures |
Founded | 1965 |
Founders | Lee Mendelson Bill Melendez |
Defunct | 2006 |
Fate | Retirement of co-founder Bill Melendez |
Successor | Film Roman Lee Mendelson Film Productions Bill Melendez Productions |
Products | Peanuts Garfield (until 1983) The Fantastic Funnies No Man's Valley |
Owner | Lee Mendelson Film Productions Bill Melendez Productions |
Mendelson/Melendez Productions (sometimes credited as Mendelson-Melendez Productions and formerly as Lee Mendelson/Bill Melendez Productions.) was an American animation studio founded in 1965 and was active until 2006. It was mostly famous for its Peanuts animated specials.
Limited animation is a process in the overall technique of traditional animation that reuses frames of character animation.
A Charlie Brown Christmas is a 1965 animated television special. It is the first TV special based on the comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz, and features the voices of Peter Robbins, Christopher Shea, Kathy Steinberg, Tracy Stratford, and Bill Melendez. Produced by Lee Mendelson and directed by Melendez, the program made its debut on the CBS television network on December 9, 1965. In the special, Charlie Brown (Robbins) finds himself depressed despite the onset of the cheerful holiday season. After Lucy van Pelt (Stratford) suggests he direct a neighborhood Christmas play, his best efforts are ignored and mocked by his peers when he chooses a puny Christmas tree as a centerpiece.
Charles "Charlie" Brown is the principal character of the comic strip Peanuts, syndicated in daily and Sunday newspapers in numerous countries all over the world. Depicted as a "lovable loser", Charlie Brown is one of the great American archetypes and a popular and widely recognized cartoon character. Charlie Brown is characterized as a person who frequently suffers, and as a result, is usually nervous and lacks self-confidence. He shows both pessimistic and optimistic attitudes: on some days, he is apprehensive to even get out of bed because he is unable to face the world, but on others, he hopes for the best and is determined to accomplish things. Charlie Brown is easily recognized by his round head and trademark zigzag patterned shirt. His catchphrase is "Good Grief!"
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is a 1966 American animated Halloween television special based on the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. The third Peanuts special, and the second holiday-themed special, to be created, it was written by Schulz along with director/animator Bill Melendez and producer Lee Mendelson. The cast included Peter Robbins as Charlie Brown, Christopher Shea as Linus Van Pelt, Sally Dryer as Lucy Van Pelt, and Melendez as Snoopy. The special features music composed by jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi, whose contributions include the theme song "Linus and Lucy". It aired on broadcast television every year from its debut in 1966 until 2020 when it became an Apple TV+ exclusive.
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.
Film Roman, LLC, is an American animation studio currently based in Woodland Hills, California and formerly in Burbank. It was previously owned by Starz Inc., which is now a division of Lionsgate, and currently by Waterman Entertainment, the production company of producer Steve Waterman.
Snoopy Come Home is a 1972 American animated musical comedy-drama film directed by Bill Melendez and written by Charles M. Schulz based on the Peanuts comic strip. The film marks the on-screen debut of Woodstock, who had first appeared in the strip in 1967. The main story was based on a storyline from August 1968. It was the only Peanuts film during composer Vince Guaraldi’s lifetime that did not have a score composed by him. Its music was composed by the Sherman Brothers, who composed the music for various Disney films like Mary Poppins (1964), The Jungle Book (1967), and Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971).
It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown is the sixth prime-time animated television special based on the comic strip Peanuts, created by Charles M. Schulz. It was directed by Bill Melendez and originally aired on CBS on September 27, 1969.
You're in Love, Charlie Brown is the fourth prime-time animated television special based upon the comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. It originally aired on CBS on June 12, 1967. This was the second non-holiday-oriented Peanuts special, following Charlie Brown's All Stars!.
You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown is the 14th prime-time animated television special based on the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. It originally aired on the CBS network on October 28, 1975. In this special, Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and Peppermint Patty participate in a motocross race.
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.
I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown is the 43rd prime-time animated television special based upon the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. The special first aired on ABC on December 9, 2003. The special is about Linus and Lucy's younger brother, Rerun, wanting a pet dog for Christmas.
It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown is the 36th prime-time animated television special based on the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. It originally aired on CBS on November 27, 1992.
You're in the Super Bowl, Charlie Brown is the 37th prime-time animated television special based on Charles M. Schulz's comic strip Peanuts. It premiered on January 18, 1994, on NBC. It was the last new Peanuts special to air on television until A Charlie Brown Valentine in 2002, and the last before Schulz's death in 2000.
Steven Cuitlahuac Melendez is an American film and television director, producer and animator. He is the second son of Peanuts animator Bill Melendez.
Leland Maurice Mendelson was an American animation producer and executive producer of many Peanuts animated specials.
Lee Mendelson Film Productions is an American animation studio situated in Burlingame, California founded by Lee Mendelson. The studio is best known for the Peanuts animated film productions including Snoopy Come Home and A Boy Named Charlie Brown.
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.
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.
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.