Charlie Brown and Snoopy Hand Painted Cel & Water ColorHand Signed by Bill MelendezSize: 21 x 20Framed and MattedCertificate of Authenticity Included About The ArtistWith 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.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.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.His family moved from Mexico to Arizona in 1928, and then to Los Angeles, where Melendez attended the Chouinard Art Institute.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.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.AboutHand-painted limited edition cels showcase legendary characters and recreate classic moments from great cartoons, using the same materials and techniques as were used in making the originals. Some limited editions are exact reproductions of frames from the films they represent, while others, such as Chuck Jones€™ limited editions, are based on the artist€™s interpretations of classic animation characters and scenes.In either case, the animator€™s drawing is transferred onto acetate cels, then each is meticulously hand-painted by studio artists. Cel painting is a time-honored, and extremely exacting process requiring that each color be individually applied by hand. Many hand-painted limited edition cels are made up of more than a dozen individual colors, and in some cases several dozen paints are used. It takes the skilled hand of a highly skilled and experienced cel painter to bring these fine art pieces to life.  Each piece is hand-numbered in small edition sizes (generally between 100 and 750) and comes with a studio-issued certificate of authenticity detailing the origins, techniques, and size of the edition. In some cases the finished cels are signed by the animation legends upon whose work they are based. Pieces signed by Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng, Bill Hanna, Joe Barbera, Matt Groening and other animation pioneers are very much in demand by collectors.As the great majority of original production cels from the 1940€™s, 50€™s and 60€™s are no longer in existence, hand-painted limited edition cels allow collectors an unparalleled opportunity to enjoy some of the greatest moments in the history of animation.