'Peanuts' animator Bill Melendez dies at 91

[Bluebear]

Source: Mercury News

SANTA MONICA, Calif.—Bill Melendez, the animator who gave life to Snoopy, Charlie Brown and other Peanuts characters on scores of movies and television specials, has died. He was 91.
Melendez died Tuesday at St. John's Hospital, according to publicist Amy Goldsmith.

Melendez's nearly seven decades as a professional animator began in 1938 when he was hired by Walt Disney Studios and worked on Mickey Mouse cartoons and classic animated features such as "Pinocchio" and "Fantasia."

He went on to animate Peanuts specials such as "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and was the voice of Snoopy, who never spoke intelligible words but issued expressive howls, sighs and sobs.

Melendez was born in 1916 in Hermosillo in the Mexican state of Sonora. He moved with his family to Arizona in 1928 and then to Los Angeles in the 1930s, attending the Chouinard Art Institute.




Read more: http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_10373201

[brentspeak]

1. RIP, Bill

:(

[maseman]

2. Man Peanuts brings back some memories

My first introduction to the newspaper as a kid.

[DarthDem]

3. RIP

Are there many better ways to spend one's days than by bringing joy to children (and plenty of adults, too!)? May all those who mourn him find comfort.

[Botany]

4. Lights Please

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKk9rv2hUfA

[Bluebear]

22. Perfect.

[bluestateguy]

5. All of those Peanuts people were just brilliant

It was the greatest cartoon strip of all time.

[AndreaCG]

6. How sad, but 91 years is a good long time. I hope they were all happy and lucid.

[Journeyman]

7. Wah wah wah wah waaah.

Rest easy, good fellow. You made this adult smile often as a child.

[Bunny]

8. Peanuts - it's good stuff. RIP Bill Melendez. Here's the Christmas cartoon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZmsx8Vzq64&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJSBqsNodiM&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75RLaWXGigI&feature=related

[Jack Rabbit]

9. Musical Interlude

Please click here.

[Faygo Kid]

15. Thanks for that. RIP, Bill, and thanks.

[Dem2theMax]

10. "A Charlie Brown Christmas" - makes this 52 year old woman cry

like a five year old, every time I watch it.

Rest in peace Bill. And know that your work will live on for generations to come.

[Botany]

12. My son is now 14 .....

.... 3 years ago a light snow was falling and my son snuggled w/ me on the couch ...
as we watched it. I felt like the richest man in the world.

[Dem2theMax]

14. That made my heart smile.

Amazing how something as simple as a cartoon can touch us all so deeply.
And it can give us the gift of memories, like the one you'll be carrying of your son for the rest of your life. (I bet he will too.) :)

[AwakeAtLast]

18. That brought a tear to my eye

My 6 y/o loves snuggling with us while watching Peanuts - I hope she still does when she's 11!

:pals:

[KatyaR]

17. Me, too.

I'm not much for Christmas anymore, but I absolutely refuse to miss that show every year. I've seen it every year since 1965, and it's always amazing to watch.

Thank you, Bill, for making our lives that much more joyful.

[Bluebear]

21. me too.

[HughBeaumont]

11. RIP, Sparky and Bill

These are characters and specials that have been with me literally since my birth. Snoopy and Charlie Brown were the first comic strips I remember seeing as a baby.

[NEOBuckeye]

13. RIP Bill

Thanks for the memories.

[Blue_Tires]

16. r.i.p.

longtime peanuts fan...reading that strip got me into baseball, made me want a dog, and i even had a security blanket of my own....

[Release The Hounds]

19. The Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas

shows are yearly staples. RIP, Bill Melendez

:(

[K8-EEE]

20. Oh no!!! He gave my husband his first job in the animation business

A great and larger than life personality....WE WILL MISS YOU BILL!