The Score of ‘It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown’ Was Lost — Now It’s Found, and Better Than Ever
Halloween has a soundtrack. It’s the shrieks, howls, and moans of a spooky sounds cassette. It’s the novelty songs from the era of late, late shows mingling with more straight-faced pop that dips a toe into the macabre and the supernatural. It’s the instrumentals that set the tone for the hauntings, possessions, and/or slashings of a favorite horror movie.
Yet, for decades, this seasonal backdrop was incomplete. The Halloween canon lacked one of its most vital recordings, its esprit de fall confined to annual television airings, home video releases, and one hard to find read-along storybook and record. You couldn’t add it to a costume party mixtape, couldn’t load it onto a playlist for a drive to the pumpkin patch. Which is a shame, because unlike so many of the pop hits retroactively adopted as Halloween standards, jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi’s score for...
Yet, for decades, this seasonal backdrop was incomplete. The Halloween canon lacked one of its most vital recordings, its esprit de fall confined to annual television airings, home video releases, and one hard to find read-along storybook and record. You couldn’t add it to a costume party mixtape, couldn’t load it onto a playlist for a drive to the pumpkin patch. Which is a shame, because unlike so many of the pop hits retroactively adopted as Halloween standards, jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi’s score for...
- 10/31/2022
- by Erik Adams
- Indiewire
Lee Mendelson, the prolific Emmy-winning producer of more than 50 animated Peanuts TV specials, including A Charlie Brown Christmas, has died. He was 86.
Mendelson died on Christmas Day in Hillsborough, California, following a protracted battle with lung cancer, his family told the Palo Alto Daily Post.
Mendelson imported comic strip characters Cathy and Garfield to television success but his signature career moment came in December 1965 when he brought Charles Schulz’s legendary Peanuts characters to the small screen in A Charlie Brown Christmas. The half-hour animated special with the $96,000 budget aired originally on CBS and would become a beloved touchstone of the holiday season, yield a bestselling jazz album, and win the Emmy and Peabody awards.
Mendelson also wrote the lyrics to the 1965 special’s ethereal Christmas Time Is Here, with music composed by Vince Guaraldi and performed by the Vince Guaraldi Trio.
Mendelson died on Christmas Day in Hillsborough, California, following a protracted battle with lung cancer, his family told the Palo Alto Daily Post.
Mendelson imported comic strip characters Cathy and Garfield to television success but his signature career moment came in December 1965 when he brought Charles Schulz’s legendary Peanuts characters to the small screen in A Charlie Brown Christmas. The half-hour animated special with the $96,000 budget aired originally on CBS and would become a beloved touchstone of the holiday season, yield a bestselling jazz album, and win the Emmy and Peabody awards.
Mendelson also wrote the lyrics to the 1965 special’s ethereal Christmas Time Is Here, with music composed by Vince Guaraldi and performed by the Vince Guaraldi Trio.
- 12/27/2019
- by Geoff Boucher
- Deadline Film + TV
Lee Mendelson, the six-time Emmy winner who produced more than 60 TV specials, films and other projects featuring Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the Peanuts gang, has died. He was 86.
Mendelson died on Christmas Day of congestive heart failure at his home in Hillsborough, California, after a long battle with cancer, his son Jason Mendelson told The Hollywood Reporter.
Working often with the late Bill Melendez (the only animator permitted by Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz to work with the iconic characters), Mendelson collected his first Emmy in 1966 for A Charlie Brown Christmas — he wrote the lyrics to "...
Mendelson died on Christmas Day of congestive heart failure at his home in Hillsborough, California, after a long battle with cancer, his son Jason Mendelson told The Hollywood Reporter.
Working often with the late Bill Melendez (the only animator permitted by Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz to work with the iconic characters), Mendelson collected his first Emmy in 1966 for A Charlie Brown Christmas — he wrote the lyrics to "...
- 12/27/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Lee Mendelson, the six-time Emmy winner who produced more than 60 TV specials, films and other projects featuring Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the Peanuts gang, has died. He was 86.
Mendelson died on Christmas Day of congestive heart failure at his home in Hillsborough, California, after a long battle with cancer, his son Jason Mendelson told The Hollywood Reporter.
Working often with the late Bill Melendez (the only animator permitted by Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz to work with the iconic characters), Mendelson collected his first Emmy in 1966 for A Charlie Brown Christmas — he wrote the lyrics to "...
Mendelson died on Christmas Day of congestive heart failure at his home in Hillsborough, California, after a long battle with cancer, his son Jason Mendelson told The Hollywood Reporter.
Working often with the late Bill Melendez (the only animator permitted by Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz to work with the iconic characters), Mendelson collected his first Emmy in 1966 for A Charlie Brown Christmas — he wrote the lyrics to "...
- 12/27/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Not all financings are created equal. This is especially true when you factor in the different stages that your company will evolve through over its lifetime. Each financing stage--seed, early, mid, and later stage--has different key issues to focus on.
Seed Deals
While seed deals have the lowest legal costs and usually involve the least contentious negotiations, seed deals often allow for the most potential mistakes. Given how important precedent is in future financings, if you reach a bad outcome on a specific term, you might be stuck with it for the life of your company. Ironically, we've seen more cases where the entrepreneur got too good a deal instead of a bad one.
What's wrong with getting great terms? If you can't back them up with performance when you raise your next round, you may find yourself in a difficult position with your original investor. For example, assume you...
Seed Deals
While seed deals have the lowest legal costs and usually involve the least contentious negotiations, seed deals often allow for the most potential mistakes. Given how important precedent is in future financings, if you reach a bad outcome on a specific term, you might be stuck with it for the life of your company. Ironically, we've seen more cases where the entrepreneur got too good a deal instead of a bad one.
What's wrong with getting great terms? If you can't back them up with performance when you raise your next round, you may find yourself in a difficult position with your original investor. For example, assume you...
- 7/20/2011
- by Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson
- Fast Company
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