Lee Mendelson

Producer

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation Presents

02:26

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About

About this interview

In his over two-hour interview, Lee Mendelson (1933-2019) speaks about his early work in television as a writer-producer at San Francisco's KPIX, including a Peabody Award-winning documentary on the history of California. He discusses other documentaries he produced for television, including A Man Named Mays (about baseball player Willie Mays) and Charlie Brown and Charles Schulz. He explains how this latter show led to Mendelson's long association with Charles M. Schulz as the producer of the Peanuts specials, including such classics as A Charlie Brown Christmas, It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. Mendelson reminisces about the casting, music, and creation of the specials by Schulz, animator Bill Melendez, and himself. He also describes his later documentary work, including the Emmy-winning NBC special John Steinbeck's America and Americans. He discusses other programming he was responsible for, such as the acclaimed children's series Hot Dog. Additionally, Mendelson talks about the television adaptations of the comic strip characters "Garfield" and "Cathy," which he produced. B-roll consists of photos related to the Peanuts specials, Hot Dog, and his documentary work. Karen Herman conducted the interview on June 11, 2003 at Mendelson's home in Northern California.

All views expressed by interviewees are theirs alone and not necessarily those of the Television Academy.

"I'm going to be remembered for 'A Charlie Brown Christmas.' And that's a great thing to be remembered for... 'Charlie Brown' was Charles Schulz to a certain extent. And he hated bulliness. I think all those 50 years was an attack on bulliness... He left words in the dictionary like 'security blanket' and 'great pumpkin'... And the sense of loss, first when he retired and then when he passed away... was phenomenal. Because whole generations grew up with this guy -- his legacy was deep."

People Talking About ...

Lee Mendelson

Highlights

Lee Mendelson on the initial creation of A Charlie Brown Christmas, and on hiring Vince Guaraldi to compose the jazz score

04:16

Lee Mendelson on winning and being nominated for several Emmys for his various animated works

01:56

Full Interview

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Chapter 1

On his early life and influences; on his favorite comic strips growing up; on going to work at KPIX in San Francisco, and on the first time he saw television

On starting his own production company, and producing a documentary about Charles M. Schulz, Charlie Brown & Charles Schulz; on the initial creation of A Charlie Brown Christmas, and on hiring Vince Guaraldi to compose a jazz score; on the initial network reaction to A Charlie Brown Christmas

Chapter 2

On working with Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz on A Charlie Brown Christmas; on coming up with the story for A Charlie Brown Christmas, and on the religious aspect of the show; on sponsor Coca-Cola's involvement with A Charlie Brown Christmas

On the production of the Charlie Brown Specials, and on his responsibilities as producer; on how the storylines of the Charlie Brown Specials have evolved over the years, and on the decision to exclude adults from the "Peanuts" world; on the casting process of the Charlie Brown Specials, and on the decision to use children to voice the characters

On the business aspect of the Charlie Brown Specials, and on dealing with the network and the merchandising; on producing It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown; on the character of "Charlie Brown" on the Charlie Brown Specials

On various Charlie Brown Specials; on his favorite Charlie Brown Special: A Charlie Brown Christmas, and other favorites; on the "Charlie Brown" feature films

Chapter 3

On The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show and This is America, Charlie Brown; on the death of Charles M. Schulz; on the legacy of Charles M. Schulz

On producing the documentary specials The Magic of Broadcasting and The Fantastic Funnies, and on creating the "entertainment documentary"; on producing the documentary special John Steinbeck's America and Americans, featuring Steinbeck and Henry Fonda; on producing The Story of Babar, the Little Elephant, Cathy, and Garfield, and on being nominated for and winning several Emmy Awards

On the challenges of producing Garfield, and on working with creator Jim Davis; on producing The Cathy Specials, based on the comic strip by Cathy Guisewite; on producing the Saturday morning children's show Hot Dog

Chapter 4

On producing various shows, documentaries, and specials; on then-current projects, including producing new Charlie Brown Specials, and on working with the Charles M. Schulz estate; on then-current projects, and on how producing television documentaries has changed over the years

On how animation for television has changed over the years, and the then-new digital way of doing animation, and on doing work that impacts American life; on his favorite projects over the years; on advice to aspiring television producers and animators

On how television animation has changed since he began; on career highlights and regrets; on how he'd like to be remembered

Chapter 5

On b-roll pictures from his career; interviewing Joe DiMaggio; with Bing Crosby; Magic of Broadcasting ad; with David Niven; with Charles M. Schulz; recording a Charlie Brown Special; "Peanuts" album; with George C. Scott; with Olivia de Havilland and Butterfly McQueen; with John Steinbeck; with Butterfly McQueen; with Gene Kelly; Woody Allen on the set of Hot Dog; Jonathan Winters on the set of Hot Dog; "Charlie Brown" on the cover of "San Francisco Magazine"; with Steven Spielberg and Richard Dreyfuss; with Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward; with Muhammad Ali; with Mr. T; with Telly Savalas; Emmy winning cartoons Charlie Brown, Cathy, and Garfield; the hosts of his shows; his Emmy Awards collection

Shows

Cathy Specials, The

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Lee Mendelson on producing The Cathy Specials, based on the comic strip by Cathy Guisewite

01:24

Charlie Brown Specials

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Lee Mendelson on the initial creation of A Charlie Brown Christmas, and on hiring Vince Guaraldi to compose the jazz score