One of the most respected names in animation, Bill Melendez, passed away Tuesday at the age of 91. It was not a surprise to those who knew him — he'd been in poor health for several years now — but it still comes as a jolt.
Bill was, of course, known for his work on the Charlie Brown specials, for which he won eight Emmy Awards, 17 nominations and a shelf full of other awards. Even before that gig came into his life, he was a legend in the cartoon business, having animated for Disney, Warner Brothers and other studios, and on a vast amount of acclaimed commercials. As I noted here, Bill animated (and hid his name in) the opening titles for the movie, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World — one of many films he worked on.
Obits like this one can give you more details on his amazing career so I'll just add a personal note. I worked with Bill on a few occasions, including once producing a TV special in which we cast him as an actor...to play an animation director. He was fairly convincing in the role.
I don't know anyone who didn't love Bill, both as a person and as a maker of cartoons. He was delightful, funny and very much dedicated to producing the best possible work. Once again, too damn many of the good guys are dying on us.
I only caught brief excerpts from the speeches at last night's Republican Convention so I don't have much to say about what went on there...but could it possibly be true what some websites are now claiming? That George W. Bush and all the others spoke about John McCain's prisoner-o'-war days and the agony he endured but were careful not to use the "t" word?
I can understand them hiding Cheney (even they don't like Cheney) and configuring Bush's appearance so there'd be no expectation of a standing ovation, either when the tape started or concluded. But to avoid the word "torture" in telling McCain's story? Next thing you'll be telling me is that no one mentioned Afghanistan.
Oh, well. I'll bet America didn't hear the word "values" more than two or three thousand times. That's fast becoming one of those words that suggests one is listening to a snake oil vendor. There's nothing wrong with it, per se...but when it's used, someone is probably trying to say something they don't want to spell out and therefore have to defend. "He shares your values" means "He supports all your prejudices, even the irrational ones, but can't afford to be specific." This may apply to Democrats even more than it does to Republicans but it applies to both.
I'm going to tune in or at least TiVo Sarah Palin's speech. Judging from all the reports, she's apparently going to come onstage and prove she's qualified for the job by killing a moose.
You get the feeling I have an obsession with baby pandas? This is a slide show of photos of one's first few months. Nowhere on the web do I see any info that explains where these pics were taken but it may be the Giant Panda Breeding Research Base in Chengdu, China. I also don't see any explanation as to why the baby was apparently raised in an incubator and not by its mama. One possibility: When a mother panda has twins, she often neglects one baby and it dies unless someone else swoops in to take care of it. Perhaps that's what happened here.
In any case, you're going to enjoy the following two minutes of panda growing. If you do, I may assemble a similar video out of my baby pictures. I was equally adorable.
David Letterman gave an interview to Rolling Stone which is not yet online and which probably will only be excerpted, not available in full, on their site when it is up. In it, he expressed bafflement at Mr. Leno's exit over at NBC, suggested it would be great to have Jay guest on Late Show, and hinted that his days of doing that show may be coming to an end. I suspect the latter is overstated; that CBS will let Dave stay right where he is as long as he wants, and that gig won't end until he wants it to. That might change if some superstar potential replacement emerged but for now, I think that's just Letterman being Letterman. He talked like that his last years at NBC, too.
September 4, 2008
