Bill Melendez

Those who know me know I'm a HUGE fan of the Peanuts. I love its simplicity and down to earth humor. My favorite characters are Charlie Brown and Linus. I watch A Charlie Brown Christmas and other Charlie Brown holiday specials every year. I read on the news today that the Peanuts animator Bill Melendez has died. I was reading his bio and found out that he also did the Pinocchio and other Disney cartoons. I thought it was interesting how he looked so much like Geppetto.

Bill Melendez was the only authorized person to animate the Peanuts characters. I found this to be interesting too:

"The first special was 1965's "A Charlie Brown Christmas." The show reportedly worried CBS because it broke so much new ground for a cartoon: It lacked a laugh track, used real children as voice actors, had a jazz score and included a scene in which Linus recited lines from the New Testament."

I think I'm going to carry on this tradition with my kids.