Published at: Sept. 3, 2008, 9:51 p.m. CST by hercules
I am – Hercules
The voice of Snoopy is gone.
The great Bill Melendez, who animated everybody from Mickey Mouse and Bambi to Bugs Bunny and Charlie Brown, passed away Tuesday at age 91.
An Oscar nominee and 8-time Emmy winner, Melendez was the only filmmaker Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz allowed to oversee the animated versions of Charlie Brown and Snoopy --- in 68 TV specials, four feature films and more than 372 commercials.
His Warner Bros. work included such classics as “Wabbit Twouble,” “Mouse Menace,” “What Makes Daffy Duck,” “What’s Up, Doc” and “Gerald McBoing Boing.”
His first directorial effort was 1965’s “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” His last was 2006’s “He’s A Bully, Charlie Brown.”
Audiences should especially revere Melendez, the only adult among the Peanuts voice cast, because his vocalizations for Charlie Brown’s famous beagle (who managed to “talk” without words) were always so inspired.
Read more about Melendez’s life and career here.
Look again upon the perfect floating hearts above Sally Brown's head:
Hear Melendez as Snoopy:
