Peanuts Now on iTunes

In a batch of 20 new webisodes, Charlie Brown and the Gang have been brought back to animated life, much in the style of their classic holiday TV specials. But Lucy, Snoopy and others have been remade for the Web in 3- to 4-minute videos taken directly from classic 1964 comic strips.

The videos are all new, made with Flash animation and new voices for the characters. But even though it's new technology, attention has been paid to maintaining the integrity of both the strip and its beloved animation specials.

"You're not trying to change it," said Jeannie Schulz, widow of Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz. "You're trying to keep it the same and freshen it." The score, for example, is reminiscent of Vince Guaraldi's famous jazz that accompanied the Peanuts television specials.

Two bundled episodes are available for 99 cents each, or the full season for $7.99 on Apple's iTunes. The videos were made by Warner Bros.' Motion Comics and were done with the involvement of the Schulz family and estate, which monitored the adaptation.

But what would the Peanuts creator—who died in 2000 at the age of 77—think of his old strips showing up decades later, fully animated on laptops and cell phones?

"I'm sort of glad that Sparky—Mr. Schulz—isn't alive (to see it)" laughs his wife. "But even though he would not understand why people wanted to look at things on their telephone, he understood stories and telling stories."

[for full story: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/artandlife/1404ap_tv_peanuts_online.html]

Peanuts Animator Bill Melendez Dies at 91

Animator, director, and producer Jose Cuautemoc "Bill" Melendez, whose television programs and theatrical films featuring Charles Schulz's Peanuts characters earned four Emmy Awards, an Oscar nomination, and two Peabody Awards, died Tuesday at St. John's hospital in Santa Monica, according to publicist Amy Goldsmith. He was 91.

Melendez's career extended over nearly seven decades, including stints at Walt Disney Studios, Leon Schlesinger Cartoons (which later was sold to Warner Bros.), United Productions of America, and Playhouse Pictures. In 1964, he established Bill Melendez Productions, where he created his best-known works, including the holiday classic A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965). Over the years, his films were honored with two additional prime-time Emmys, three National Cartoonist Society awards, a Clio Award, and 150 awards for commercials.

"Bill Melendez brought his special warmth, charm and directness to the Charles Schulz characters and brought them to life," animation historian and Oscar-winning filmmaker John Canemaker said Wednesday.

Melendez also oversaw the first specials based on the comic strips Garfield (1982) and Cathy (1987), two adaptations of the Babar books, and an animated version of C.S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1979). Through the London branch of his studio, he directed Dick Deadeye, or Duty Done (1975), rewritten fragments of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas with designs by illustrator Ronald Searle.

Born in Sonora, Mexico, Nov. 15, 1916, Melendez moved with his family to Arizona in 1928, then to Los Angeles, where he attended the Chouinard Art Institute. He was one of the few Latinos working in animation when he began his career at Walt Disney Studios in 1939, contributing to the features Pinocchio, Fantasia, Bambi, and Dumbo, as well as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck shorts.

Melendez is survived by his wife of 68 years, Helen; two sons, Steven Melendez and retired Navy Rear Adm. Rodrigo Melendez; six grandchildren; and 11 great grandchildren. Memorial services will be private. Donations can be made in Melendez's name to Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.

[for full story: http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-melendez4-2008sep04,0,148485.story]

Peanuts Fans to Rock the Vote in Mock Election

New Partnership Between Peanuts and Rock the Vote Offers Americans a Chance to Flex their Voting Muscles Before November Elections
It may well be the most historic presidential campaign since the first U.S. presidential election of 1789, featuring candidates who have never before reached such political heights. Who would ever have thought that one day voters could cast their ballots for…a brazen beagle who plays multiple roles?  A lovable loser who never quits?  Or a contemplative intellectual who craves security?  An online mock election debuting in early August will invite Peanuts fans to vote for Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy, or Sally for President.

Peanuts has a long and memorable history with elections. Charles Schulz endured twelve presidential campaigns during his 50 years of creating Peanuts, and the presidential election years of 1960, 1964, 1968, and 1990 all found the Peanuts Gang contemplating a run for office or actively involved in an election of one kind or another in the strip.  Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz even foresaw the excitement over the first serious female candidate—by having Lucy bemoan the fact that another woman would probably beat her to the presidential slot before Lucy was old enough to run!

It’s Time to Vote, Charlie Brown
A first-ever partnership between Peanuts and Rock the Vote offers fans a chance to flex their voting muscles by casting their ballots in an online Peanuts election at PeanutsRocksTheVote.com. Voters in the mock election can review the candidates’ bios, read their platforms, cast a vote—and even register to vote in the actual 2008 election using Rock the Vote’s custom online voter registration tool.

Candidates include:

Charlie Brown: The good ol’ candidate who never stops trying to succeed—and who’s guaranteed to win the wishy-washy vote.

Lucy: The outspoken female candidate—a little bossy, but happy to give you her five cents’ worth of advice.

Linus: The thoughtful candidate who places a high value on security—in the form of a warm blanket.

Sally: The precocious candidate who would certainly find a place in her administration for her “Sweet Babboo” (a/k/a Linus).

Snoopy: The first beagle in a national election, Joe Cool, the World War I Flying Ace and the Easter Beagle is a virtuoso at every endeavor—at least in his daydreams atop his doghouse.

For nearly 20 years, Rock the Vote has been using music, popular culture and new technologies to engage and incite young people to register and vote. Rock the Vote gives young people the tools to identify, learn about, and take action on the issues that affect their lives—empowering the 45 million young people in America who want to step up, claim their voice in the political process, and change the way politics is done.

"A mock election campaign allows Peanuts fans of all ages to have some fun and take a break from the serious side of politics,” said Jeannie Schulz, widow of the cartoonist Charles M. Schulz. “We hope this partnership with Rock the Vote will encourage all citizens of voting age to go out and take part in the electoral process.”

Peanuts Celebrates 50 Years with NASA

Celebrate 50 years of the space program with NASA in 2008-09! Snoopy will be on hand at NASA’s Gala event celebrating 50 years in space. The event will take place on September 24th at the National Air & Space Museum. Snoopy will also be on hand at several events (dates yet to be determined) including:
• Smithsonian Institution-sponsored Folk Light Festival in Washington D.C.
• Launch Events at Kennedy Space Center

The Schulz Museum will be joining the celebrations with our own exhibition, To the Moon: Snoopy Soars with NASA (January 31 to July 6, 2009).

It's the Great eBay Fashion Auction, Charlie Brown

A sexy Isaac Mizrahi dress featuring Charlie Brown’s signature zig-zag, a bright yellow-feathered Woodstock cocktail dress by Project Runway’s Laura Bennett, a bedazzled Sally frock designed by Tony Award-winner Kristin Chenoweth—these and dozens of other Peanuts-inspired designs by the leading names in fashion will be auctioned off on eBay through the end of October, with 100% of the proceeds being donated to Dress for Success.

The designs were unveiled at MetLife Snoopy in Fashion, the first-ever Peanuts runway show, held September 7 in New York’s Bryant Park during the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.  The witty and elegant couture fashions also include outfits by such pre-eminent designers as Betsey Johnson, Liz Claiborne, Pamella Roland, Heatherette, actress-comedienne Whoopi Goldberg, and The View co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

Security Blankets is Looking for Your Stories!

Don Fraser (a former Peanuts licensee, co-founder of Aviva Enterprises, and founder of Inetics, Inc.), and Derrick Bang (author of 50 Years of Happiness: A Tribute to Charles M. Schulz and Charles M. Schulz: Li’l Beginnings), have embarked on a new project…and they need your help.

Security Blankets: How Charles M. Schulz Touched Our Lives (a working title), to be published by Andrews & McMeel, will be a collection of heartwarming, poignant, uplifting, and celebratory tales of how Schulz and his Peanuts characters have made an impact on us all.