Bill Melendez Productions (partially found non-Peanuts media of animation studio; 1968-2005)

The studio's logo as seen on Frosty Returns.

Status: Partially Found

This article has been tagged as Needing work due to its potential for better references.

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Bill Melendez Productions (also known as Melendez Films or Melendez Features, Inc.) was an animation studio founded in 1962 by Bill Melendez and his son Steven Melendez . The studio is best-known for adapting the Peanuts comics to TV; an effort worth celebrating until its final special in 2006 with He's a Bully, Charlie Brown. Alongside the Peanuts TV specials, the studio also produced content that doesn't remotely relate to Peanuts, some of which are either lost or remain mysterious.

Please note that this page lists obscure non-Peanuts content from the studio, so their Garfield specials as well as Frosty Returns and The Romance of Betty Boop will not be listed.

List of non-Peanuts Material

Babar (1968, 1971)

Status:
Lost (The Story of Babar the Elephant, Babar's Strange Planet);
Partially Found (Babar Comes to America);
Existence Unconfirmed (Babar III)

Before Nelvana adapted the books to animation, Bill Melendez Productions was one of the first to adapt Babar the Elephant into animation. The Babar specials were also the studio's first attempt at producing specials that are not related to the Peanuts comic strip and were one of the first animated pieces of Babar media. There were three Babar specials: The Story of Babar the Elephant, Babar the Elephant Comes to America and Babar's Strange Planet. The former two were produced in 1968 and 1971, respectively, and both specials were released in out-of-print VHS tapes. While The Story of Babar the Elephant remained unseen, the opening and closing credits to Babar the Elephant Comes to America can be seen on YouTube. Babar's Strange Planet, on the other hand, was the rarest and most mysterious of the Babar specials, and outside of a mention on Bill Melendez's website, remained completely lost forever, and unlike the other two Babar specials Melendez did, it never received a home release.

Babar III

Babar III was the name given to a mysterious Babar special from the studio. Outside of a mere mention on the Bill Melendez website, whether or not it was a production title for Babar's Strange Planet or a different special entirely remains a complete mystery and completely unknown.

Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus (1974)

Status: Found

Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus was a 1974 animated Christmas special based on the poem Is There a Santa Claus?, first airing on ABC. The special won a 1975 Emmy award for outstanding children's special, Like with the Babar specials, the special's only home release was in VHS. The special is viewable on the Internet Archive in rather poor quality and in Dailymotion.

Molly and the Skywalkerz (1985, 1989)

Status:
Found (Happily Ever After, Two Daddies?);
Existence Unconfirmed (Molly)

Note: See Molly and the Skywalkerz (found made-for-TV films from Bill Melendez Productions; 1985-1989) for more information.

Molly

Like with Babar III, the Bill Melendez website lists a strange, additional Molly and the Skywalkers film, simply titled Molly. It's unknown what the film is since there were only two films produced.

No Man's Valley (1981)

Status: Found

No Man's Valley was an animated special produced in collaboration with Frank Fehmers Productions and the Rights Company of North America first airing on CBS in 1981. In this special, a rare Californian condor named Elliot finds a hideaway for endangered animals before the humans drive them into extinction. Unlike the other specials listed, this, alongside the three Cathy specials, never received a VHS release despite doing well in the ratings. The special as originally aired can be viewable on YouTube and the Internet Archive. The special is also the last notable film role of Joe E. Ross before passing away in 1982, a year after the special aired.

Cathy (1987-1989)

Status: Found

See Cathy (found animated specials based on comic strip series; 1987-1989) for more information

Casey and the Comics (unknown year)

Status: Existence Unconfirmed

Casey and the Comics was a very mysterious special that only got a mention on the Bill Melendez Productions website, which is the only source of existence the special has. It's unknown what's the plot of the special, what year it was made, who composed the music, and who were the voices. It's also unknown what channel the special aired. No footage for the special is available and wasn't even released on home media.

Jasper: The Story of a Mule (2005)

Status: Found (locked behind a paywall)'

Jasper: The Story of a Mule is the first installment in the Jasper the Mule series based on the character created by Meredith Hodges, the daughter of Peanuts creator Charles Schulz. This special is notable for being the final non-Peanuts special produced by Bill Melendez, and along with He's a Bully, Charlie Brown released a year later, was one of the final specials from Bill Melendez Productions before shifting its focus away from producing animated specials to producing commercials for business clients. The special was released on DVD and can be viewed on video on demand.

Fred Basset and The Perishers (1976, 1979)

Status: Partially Found (both Fred Basset and The Perishers)

In the 70's, Bill Melendez Productions (alongside Clover for Fred Basset and FilmFair for The Perishers) and its U.K. arm produced a series of cartoon shorts featuring British comic strip characters Fred Basset and The Perishers. The cartoons were released in 1976 and 1979 as interstitial material for the BBC. 20 cartoon shorts were produced for each series. Half of the Fred Basset cartoons were found in full via an out-of-print VHS tape and uploaded to YouTube, while the Perishers have their first minutes of two cartoons; The Magic Mirror and The Skateboarding Champion uploaded to YouTube, and unlike Fred Basset, the cartoons were released on DVD by Abbey Home Media. It's unknown if more cartoons could be found from their respective series.

Videos

The first few minutes of The Perishers cartoon "The Skateboard Champion".

The full Fred Basset VHS tape (The Hound that's Almost Human!), which contains half of the 20 cartoon shorts produced.

The opening and closing to "Babar the Elephant Comes to America".

External Links

• The studio's official website (needs Ruffle to access the site)