[2] Mendelson's career in television began in 1961, when he started working at San Francisco's KPIX-TV, where he created public service announcements.

Shortly after the documentary aired, Mendelson came across a Peanuts comic strip that revolved around Charlie Brown's baseball team.

[4] While Mendelson was attempting to find a market for the Schulz documentary, he was approached by The Coca-Cola Company, who asked him if he was interested in producing an animated Christmas special for television.

Mendelson also hired jazz composer Vince Guaraldi after hearing "Cast Your Fate to the Wind", a Guaraldi-composed song while driving across the Golden Gate Bridge.

The show won both an Emmy and a Peabody award and was the first of over 40 animated Peanuts specials created by Mendelson, Melendez and Schulz.