While a primetime commercial Emmy nomination for Coca-Cola’s “It’s Mine” is hard to top, praise of another kind certainly ranks for me personally. In this case the praise comes in the form of a thought that first crossed my mind upon seeing “It’s Mine” during this year’s Super Bowl–that the spirit of the spot was true to the classic Charlie Brown character as captured in TV animation from the great animator, director and producer Jose Cuautemoc “Bill” Melendez.
Melendez died on Sept. 1 at St. John’s hospital in Santa Monica. He was 91.
I met Melendez once, back when he maintained his animation studio, Bill Melendez Productions, on Larchmont Blvd., just blocks from SHOOT’s current West Coast roost on the Raleigh Studios lot in Los Angeles. I also had the occasion to do a couple of phone interviews with him in subsequent years.
He was a warm, sweet, decent man and it struck me that his warmth, sweetness and decency were the same traits that made Charles Schulz’s classic, treasured “Peanuts” cartoon strip so popular and appealing.
Melendez, his studio partner Lee Mendelson and Schulz brought the “Peanuts” characters to life on television, helping to establish the format of the half-hour animated special of which the Charlie Brown shows were a pioneering staple. The very first “Peanuts” special, A Charlie Brown Christmas (originally sponsored by Coke), won both an Emmy and a Peabody Award. It debuted on CBS and is now shown each holiday season on ABC.
Melendez also had a hand in four “Peanuts” theatrical films (A Boy Named Charlie Brown; Snoopy, Come Home; Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown; and Bon Voyage Charlie Brown).
Melendez’s involvement even included his voice for the Snoopy character’s laughs and sobs. According to Melendez’s obituary in the Los Angeles Times, the emergence of Melendez as the voice of Snoopy sprung from fortuitous circumstance. Schulz said that Snoopy couldn’t talk. So Melendez experimented with making sounds that suggested a voice and speeding them up on audio tape. He had assumed a professional voice actor would do a final recording. But time ran short and Melendez ended up serving as Snoopy’s original voice, a role which the animator went on to play in a host of half-hour and hour-long TV specials, the Saturday morning TV show and the four feature films.
Melendez was also a spotmaking artisan. He was a director and producer of more than 1,000 commercials for such studios as United Productions of America (UPA) and Playhouse Pictures. And in 1959, he directed the first animation of the “Peanuts” characters for a series of spots promoting the Ford Falcon.
Melendez’s accomplishments in animation encompassed working at Walt Disney Studios, contributing to Pinnocchio, Bambi and Fantasia, as well as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck shorts.
He later animated Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and other classic Warner Bros. characters.
Melendez is survived by his wife Helen, two sons, six grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren. Donations in Bill Melendez’s memory can be made to Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles, 4650 Sunset Blvd., #29, Los Angeles, Calif., 90027 (www.childrenshospitalla.org).
“Se7en” Turns 30, Gets A Special Restoration From David Fincher For Its Re-Release
For David Fincher, seeing “Se7en” in 4K was an experience he can only describe as harrowing. That or a high school reunion.
“There are definitely moments that you go, ‘What was I thinking?’ Or ‘Why did I let this person have that hairdo’?” Fincher said in a recent interview with The Associated Press.
He’s OK with the film being a product of its time in most respects. But some things just could not stand in high-definition resolution.
“It was a little decrepit, to be honest,” said Fincher. “We needed to resuscitate it. There are things you can see in 4K HDR that you cannot see on a film print.”
Ever the perfectionist, he and a team got to work on a new restoration of the film for its 30th anniversary re-release. This weekend the restored “Se7en” will play on IMAX screens for the first time in the U.S. and Canada, and on Jan. 7, the 4K UHD home video version will be available as well.
The dark crime thriller written by Andrew Kevin Walker and starring Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman as a pair of detectives looking for a serial killer was somewhat of a career-reviver for Fincher, whose directorial debut “Alien 3” had not gone well. “Se7en” was not a sure thing: It was made for only $34 million (and only got that when Fincher managed to persuade studio execs to give up $3 million more). But it went on to earn more than $327 million, not accounting for inflation, and continues to influence the genre.
Fincher has over the years overseen several restorations of the film (including one for laser disc) but decided this needed to be the last. It’s why he insisted on an 8K scan that they could derive the 4K from. He wanted to ensure that it wouldn’t have to be repeated when screens get more... Read More