“Charlie Brown has a big head, a little body and little feet. Normally, a human takes a step every 16 frames — about two-thirds of a second. But [Charles Schulz‘s] characters would look like they were floating at that pace. After several experiments, I had them take a step every six frames — one-fourth of a second… It was the only way that worked.”
Bill Melendez, the animator who brought Charlie Brown and Snoopy to life in A Charlie Brown Christmas, has died at age 91.
The Los Angeles Times has the full story.
Who knew? He was born José Cuauhtemoc Melendez in Mexico in 1916. He came to America with his family at age 12, and then somehow ended up working for Walt Disney.
Here’s a nifty 2006 interview with Melendez about A Charlie Brown Christmas.