Melendez Films
Melendez Films (formerly Bill Melendez Productions and Melendez Features, Inc.) is a film animation studio. It was founded in 1962 by Steven C. Melendez, the son of Peanuts animator Bill Melendez.
| Type | Privately held |
|---|---|
| Industry | Animation, Film |
| Founded | 1962 (As Bill Melendez Productions) |
| Founder | Steven C. Melendez Bill Melendez |
| Headquarters | London, England, United Kingdom Burbank, California, United States Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico |
Key people | J.C. Melendez Steven C. Melendez Kaj Melendez Mirza-Javed Melendez |
| Products | Animated feature films |
Number of employees | 70 at peak |
| Divisions | Mendelson/Melendez Productions |
| Website | Bill Melendez Inc |
The studio produced the ambitious animated feature film Dick Deadeye, based on the operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan. In 1979 the company produced a one-and-a-half-hour television special based on the C.S. Lewis classic book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and the film subsequently won two Emmy Awards for "best animated film" and "script adaptation". Melendez Films has also produced many series for television including "Fred Basset" and "The Perishers", as well as educational mini films like Molly and the Skywalkerz for PBS, which were not rebroadcast for a couple of decades and did not surface on home media until after the 1998 VHS debut.
The company continues to create commercials in France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, Greece and Sweden as well as the UK and the U.S. working for clients such as Scandinavian Airlines, Schick, British Rail, Colgate, Ferrero, and the British Government.
Mendelson/Melendez Productions
| Formerly | Lee Mendelson/Bill Melendez Productions |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | Playhouse Pictures |
| Founded | 1963 |
| Founders | Lee Mendelson Bill Melendez |
| Defunct | 2006 |
| Fate | Retirement of co-founder Bill Melendez |
| Successor | Film Roman Lee Mendelson Film Productions Bill Melendez Productions |
| Products | Peanuts Garfield (until 1983) The Fantastic Funnies No Man's Valley |
| Owner | Lee Mendelson Film Productions Bill Melendez Productions |
Mendelson/Melendez Productions (sometimes credited as Mendelson-Melendez Productions and formerly as Lee Mendelson/Bill Melendez Productions.) was an American animation studio founded in 1965 and was active until 2006. It was mostly famous for its Peanuts animated specials.