Anecdotes

He met Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz in 1959 when he was making Ford Motor television commercials featuring the Peanuts characters. Melendez became the only artist Schulz authorized to animate the characters.

Being credited in 53 Peanuts related cartoons as the voice of Snoopy, he was the only actor to reprise his original role more times than any other voice actor in a Peanuts related cartoon.

With Lee Mendelson, Melendez produced, directed, or animated about 70 Peanuts television specials, four movies, and hundreds of commercials. He was also the voice of Snoopy.

After working at Walt Disney Studios, he joined Warner Brothers in the 1940s, where he worked on Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Porky Pig cartoons.

He was posthumously awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7201 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on November 2, 2015.

A professional animator for almost seven decades, his career began in 1938 when he was hired by Walt Disney Studios. He worked on classic feature films such as Fantasia (1940) and Pinocchio (1940), as well as Mickey Mouse cartoons.

Had two sons with his wife Helen Huhn: Steven Cuitlahuac Melendez and Rodrigo Cuauhtémoc Melendez (DOB: October 23, 1943), a retired Rear Admiral in the U.S. Navy Dental Corps.

His family moved from Mexico to Arizona in 1928, and then to Los Angeles, where Melendez attended the Chouinard Art Institute.