Oscar nominated and Emmy winning animator and director Bill Melendez dies 91

José Cuauhtemoc "Bill" Meléndez (November 15, 1916 - September 2, 2008) is a Mexican-born American character animator, film director, and film producer, known for his cartoons for Warner Brothers and the Peanuts series. Meléndez provided the voice of Snoopy and Woodstock in the latter as well.

Death of Bill Meléndez
Bill Meléndez's cause of death is unknown but he died peacefully
Bill Meléndez was 91 years old at the time of his death.

In 1938, Meléndez was hired by Walt Disney to work on animated short films and feature-length films such as Bambi, Fantasia, and Dumbo.

After a decade Meléndez founded his own production company in 1964. Bill Melendez Productions helped produce the annually broadcast Christmas special A Charlie Brown Christmas, for which he won an Emmy Award and the George Foster Peabody Award despite having to work on short notice and with a tight budget. Meléndez performed the voice of Snoopy, who normally in the specials does not talk.

Meléndez has gone on to do over 75 half-hour Peanuts specials, including the 1989 miniseries This is America, Charlie Brown, as well as four feature-length motion pictures – all with partner Lee Mendelson.