José Cuauhtémoc "Bill" Melendez (November 15, 1916 – September 2, 2008)[1][2] was an American animator, director, producer, and voice actor.

[4] Following the 1941 Disney strike, Melendez was hired by Leon Schlesinger Productions, later known as Warner Bros. Cartoons, where he served as animator on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series.

Melendez also produced and directed thousands of television commercials, first at UPA, then John Sutherland Productions and Playhouse Pictures.

Melendez would also be referenced in the 1961 Looney Tunes short The Pied Piper of Guadalupe, where his name was used for a music instructor for Sylvester to learn how to play the flute.

In 1959, Melendez was hired to do some animated television commercials featuring characters from the comic strip Peanuts for the Ford Motor Company.

Melendez was the only person Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz trusted to turn his popular comic creations into television specials.

"Schulz would not countenance the idea of a beagle uttering English dialogue, Mr. Melendez recited gibberish into a tape recorder, sped it up and put the result on the soundtrack.

[9][10] On September 2, 2008, Bill Melendez died at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California at the age of 91.