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09-04-2008 12:48 AM |
It's A Mad Mad Mad RIP
You probably don't know his name but you know his work all to well if you're an animation geek.
RIP
From www.cartoonbrew.com
Quote:
Bill Melendez, the Mexican-born American character animator, film director, and film producer, best known for his animation for Warner Bros, UPA and the Peanuts specials and feature films, has passed away.
In 1938, Melendez was hired by Walt Disney to work on animated short films and feature-length films such as Bambi, Fantasia and Dumbo. Three years later, he joined Leon Schlesinger’s team at Warner Bros. studios, where, as a member of the Bob Clampett and Art Davis units, he animated on a number of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck shorts. Among the classic Warner Bros. shorts he animated on are Book Revue, The Great Piggy Bank Robbery, Baby Bottleneck, and The Big Snooze. UPA put him on their payroll in 1948 to work on many television commercials, as well as the Gerald McBoing Boing and Madeline shorts.
After a decade working on commercial and industrial films at studios like John Sutherland Productions and Playhouse Pictures, Melendez founded his own production company in 1964. Bill Melendez Productions helped produce the annually broadcast Christmas special A Charlie Brown Christmas, for which he won an Emmy Award and the George Foster Peabody Award despite having to work on short notice and with a tight budget.
Melendez has gone on to do over 75 half-hour Peanuts specials, including the 1989 miniseries, all with partner Lee Mendelson. In 1979, he directed a made-for-TV animated version of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
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And some comments from www.newsfromme.com
Quote:
Bill was, of course, known for his work on the Charlie Brown specials, for which he won eight Emmy Awards, 17 nominations and a shelf full of other awards. Even before that gig came into his life, he was a legend in the cartoon business, having animated for Disney, Warner Brothers and other studios, and on a vast amount of acclaimed commercials. As I noted here, Bill animated (and hid his name in) the opening titles for the movie, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World — one of many films he worked on.
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