Lee Mendelson, the producer behind more than 50 animated TV specials featuring Charlie Brown and the “Peanuts” gang, died on Christmas Day at his home in Hillsborough, Calif., after a long battle with cancer. He was 86.
Mendelson also wrote the lyrics to “Christmas Time Is Here,” a song featured in “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” the 1965 special that turned “Peanuts” into a TV staple. “Charlie Brown Christmas” brought Mendelson the first of his 12 Emmys. The last came in 2015 for “It’s Your 50th Christmas, Charlie Brown.” Mendelson’s work with animator Lee Melendez also brought him four Peabody Awards, an Oscar nomination and two Grammy noms.
A lifelong fan of jazz, Mendelson had the inspiration to hire musician Vince Guaraldi to create original music for “Charlie Brown Christmas,” a touch that helped make the specials stand out with viewers young and old. Over the years Mendelson worked with other notable musicians such as Dave Brubeck,...
Mendelson also wrote the lyrics to “Christmas Time Is Here,” a song featured in “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” the 1965 special that turned “Peanuts” into a TV staple. “Charlie Brown Christmas” brought Mendelson the first of his 12 Emmys. The last came in 2015 for “It’s Your 50th Christmas, Charlie Brown.” Mendelson’s work with animator Lee Melendez also brought him four Peabody Awards, an Oscar nomination and two Grammy noms.
A lifelong fan of jazz, Mendelson had the inspiration to hire musician Vince Guaraldi to create original music for “Charlie Brown Christmas,” a touch that helped make the specials stand out with viewers young and old. Over the years Mendelson worked with other notable musicians such as Dave Brubeck,...
- 12/27/2019
- by Variety Staff
- Variety Film + TV
Cathy Guisewite is one of the most famous female cartoonists, and she is best known as the creator of the comic strip Cathy. This comic strip was the center of her career for 34 years, but after a break from her career, Cathy Guisewite has made a comeback with an exciting new venture. Although she studied English at the University of Michigan, Cathy Guisewite did not initially intend to enter a career in a creative field. In fact, her career began in advertising, following in her father’s footsteps. She worked for several companies before joining W.B. Doner & Co., where
Appreciating the Comic Career of Cathy Guisewite...
Appreciating the Comic Career of Cathy Guisewite...
- 4/16/2019
- by Liz Flynn
- TVovermind.com
Above you'll find the first comic that artist Bill Watterson has created since he retired Calvin & Hobbes in 1995. It is actually a poster that he created for a documentary film called Stripped. The doc explores the creation of these comic strips and their transition from newspapers to digital. It features interviews with the creators of Garfield, Cathy, For Better or For Worse, The Oatmeal, Penny Arcade, and even Watterson himself, who rarely gives interviews.
Watterson spoke to The Washington Post and explained the poster he did for the movie:
“Given the movie’s title and the fact that there are few things funnier than human nudity, the idea popped into my head largely intact. The film is a big valentine to comics, so I tried to do something really cartoon-y. I had thought of having it colored with off-registered printing dots like newspaper comics, but Dave asked if I’d paint it instead,...
Watterson spoke to The Washington Post and explained the poster he did for the movie:
“Given the movie’s title and the fact that there are few things funnier than human nudity, the idea popped into my head largely intact. The film is a big valentine to comics, so I tried to do something really cartoon-y. I had thought of having it colored with off-registered printing dots like newspaper comics, but Dave asked if I’d paint it instead,...
- 2/27/2014
- by Joey Paur
- GeekTyrant
Last year, Calvin & Hobbes and the comic strip's creator Bill Watterson got their own documentary called Dear Mr. Watterson. Now a new documentary called Stripped goes a little more broad by focusing on Jim Davis, Cathy Guisewite, Mort Walker, Mike & Jerry, Matt Inman and Jeff Keane, the names behind comic strips like Garfield, Cathy, Beetle Bailey, Penny Arcade, The Oatmeal and Family Circus respectively. And there's plenty more cartoonists interviewed in this documentary looking into the art of comic strips. We love how it spans from the oldest newspaper strips to today's online comics. In addition, the poster below is the first comic strip illustration Watterson has made in 18 years. Check it out! Here's the first trailer for Dave Kellett and Frederick Schroeder's Stripped via The Film Stage: And here's the poster for the documentary, created and illustrated by Bill Watterson: Stripped is written and directed by Dave Kellett and Frederick Schroeder.
- 2/27/2014
- by Ethan Anderton
- firstshowing.net
As I arrived at the Nokia Theater in downtown Los Angeles for the 2010 Emmy Awards, the first thing I saw stepping out of the car was Dr. Horrible. There he was, bigger than life, soundlessly sermonizing above the Emmys red carpet on one of the several dozen jumbo-screens populating the L.A. Live complex that plays home to the Nokia. The moment turned out not to be a fortuitous prognostication of Neil Patrick Harris’ Emmy fortunes; it was simply part of a replay of last year’s Emmys, when Dr. Horrible (Nph) and Capt. Hammer (Nathan Fillion) did a little...
- 8/30/2010
- by Adam B. Vary
- EW.com - PopWatch
Everyone loves the comic strip Cathy, right? No? Well, if that’s the case then you won’t be too upset to hear that after 34 years the series is coming to an end. Your mom might be upset about it, so be nice in these trying times.
"After almost 34 years of meeting newspaper deadlines," series creator Cathy Guisewite said in a statement. "I'm facing some personal deadlines whose requirements simply exceed my ability to procrastinate any longer.”
If you happen to be a member of our readership that actually enjoyed the strip, I suggest you familiarize yourself with the real-life, funnier version of Cathy that is 30 Rock’s Liz Lemon. No one does that shtick quite as well as Tiny Fey.
...
"After almost 34 years of meeting newspaper deadlines," series creator Cathy Guisewite said in a statement. "I'm facing some personal deadlines whose requirements simply exceed my ability to procrastinate any longer.”
If you happen to be a member of our readership that actually enjoyed the strip, I suggest you familiarize yourself with the real-life, funnier version of Cathy that is 30 Rock’s Liz Lemon. No one does that shtick quite as well as Tiny Fey.
...
- 8/12/2010
- by Wejo
- GeekTyrant
Reports CNN: Creator Cathy Guisewite says she is ending the comic strip in October in order to spend more time with her family and pursue new creative ventures . Too bad! I don’t necessarily keep up with my Cathy (it’s no Gil Thorp or Rex Morgan, MD!), but it is near and dear to me in that I read it every day as a child, not really understanding why this woman would be so upset by bathing suit shopping. And now that I finally get it, she is leaving us. No matter how many people might maybe mock it, the strip has definitely been an important part of the cultural landscape, most recently inspiring an SNL impression and a shout out on 30 Rock. And, with all of those books and merch purchased either sincerely or ironically, money is money and Cathy Guisewite’s laughing all the way to the...
- 8/12/2010
- by Sarah Walker
- BestWeekEver
Comic strip queen Cathy Guisewite has announced that she’ll end her iconic Cathy strip this October after 34 years, reports CNN. Somebody pass the chocolate! The strip — which spawned over 30 books and an Emmy winning animated TV special in the ’80 — was never really a big part of my life. But I have enjoyed seeing it spoofed by some of my favorite comedians. Remember when Andy Samberg did Cathy as a Weekend Update character with an occasional assist from Justin Timberlake? (If you don’t, check out the clip below.) Or on 30 Rock, when Wesley (Michael Sheen) tells Liz (Tina Fey...
- 8/12/2010
- by Adam Markovitz
- EW.com - PopWatch
When Wil Wheaton first appeared on The Big Bang Theory last fall as an odiously underhanded version of himself, I predicted the former Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation would return to the show as Sheldon Cooper's official Worst Enemy. I had no idea, however, that Evil Wil Wheaton would be this evil, widening his path of destruction to include not just Sheldon, but Penny and Leonard's fragile romance as well. Yes, it's official: Penny and Leonard's season-long courtship is seriously on the rocks. After Penny managed to pull off an unambiguous, post-coital reference to The Empire Strikes Back...
- 4/13/2010
- by Adam B. Vary
- EW.com - PopWatch
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