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Lee Mendelson, Executive Producer, all 70 of the "Peanuts" specials and 4 animated "Peanuts"
movies. Born in San Francisco in 1933 (3rd generation San Franciscan). Second favourite city:
London. Have visited at least 25 times.
2. How did you get started with the Peanuts series, and why choose to work in cartoons?
I was a documentary film maker. I produced a network special on the greatest baseball player
of all time, Willie Mays. Then I decided to do a documentary on the world's worst baseball player,
Charlie Brown. I met Charles Schulz in 1963 to do the documentary, which eventually lead to our
37-year partnership with Bill Melendez in the animated shows.
3. Why is it called "Peanuts"?, since that's not the name of any character in the series.
Mr.Schulz never liked the title "Peanuts" but United Feature Syndicate insisted it was a good title.
We used to call little kids "little peanuts" in the old days.
4. What was it like working with Charles Schulz?
It was a wonderful 37 year relationship. We never had any disagreements. He was always a pleasure to
be with. He was at once a great artist, writer, philosopher, and comic genius.
5. Do you have a favourite moment in "It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown"?
My favourite moment in Easter Beagle was when Snoopy dances with the bunnies.
6. How do you choose to celebrate Easter?
Colouring eggs and hiding eggs with my grandchildren.
7. Do you have a favourite Peanuts cartoon out of them all?
My favourite is "A Charlie Brown Christmas" because if it hadn't been a great success,
it would have be the first and last special.
8. Was Charlie Brown's object of desire, the Little Red-Haired Girl, based on anyone in particular?
(please also tell me the same for any other key characters if they hold a special memory)
Charles Schulz had a red-haired girl friend in his early adult days in Minnesota but she decided
to marry someone else and so that's where that character came from.
Charlie Brown and Linus got their names from friends of Charles Schulz back in Minnesota. I was happy
when Peppermint Patty came along in the late 60s as she added a freshness to the strip and to our shows.
Likewise, Marcie.
9. You've also worked on a number of Garfield cartoons. What do you think the prospects are
for the summer 2004 live-action movie compared to the original?
I did produce many of the "Garfield" shows but we have nothing to do with the movie coming out.
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Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.