Phil Roman is one of the most important folks in animation in the last half-century, animating on many respected projects before launching his own studio, Film Roman. Many of the projects I worked on with Lee Mendelson were animated (and animated well) by Phil's studio, and so have an awful lot of popular shows involving neither Lee nor Yours Truly.
Phil's studio succeeded in part because of the support and patronage he got from Lee and the day after Lee passed, Phil posted this remembrance on Facebook. I got his permission to repost it here…and note where Phil says, "Lee was the most fair and honest person I ever met." Told ya so…
I woke up this morning to learn that Lee Mendelson, a very dear friend, passed away on December 25th.
Lee was very instrumental in helping me establish Film Roman after I left Bill Melendez Productions, where I had been directing the Charlie Brown specials as well as two Garfield specials.
Around October, 1983, I had decided to leave Bill Melendez and to open my own studio. I had always dreamed of having my own studio and decided that if I didn't make the move at that time, I probably never would. I would rather try and fail than not try at all. I talked to Bill Melendez, explained how I felt and gave him a two week notice that I was leaving.
Towards the end of my last week, Lee Mendelson flew in from Northern California and walked into my office. He said "I hear you are leaving the studio." I explained that I was going to open my own studio and give it a shot. He asked me whether I had any projects and I replied I would concentrate on that after I left. He said, "How would you like to do Garfield?" I replied: "But Bill is producing Garfield." He said that Sparky was not very happy with Bill doing Garfield and wanted him to concentrate fully on Peanuts.
Phil Roman
So I said I definitely would be interested as I enjoyed working on Garfield with Jim Davis. I told him that I would be going to a vacation to Europe with my wife for three weeks. He told me to go on vacation and meanwhile he would talk to the network, the syndicate, and Jim Davis. He said to call him when I came back. We left it at that.
When I returned from our vacation, I called Lee and he told me that everybody had approved, that I should find some office space and work up a budget and schedule, as Jim Davis was already working on a new storyboard for the next Garfield special.
In the first week of January, 1984, I opened a small studio in Toluca Lake with a couple of employees. Within a month we started production of Garfield in the Rough with freelance animators we had used in the Peanuts shows. Lee's confidence in me paid off as I delivered the show on budget, on schedule, and it won an Emmy. Everybody was very happy and we continued producing Garfield specials.
I found working with Lee was a very pleasant experience. He had great work ethics and a good humor. Without him, who knows what Film Roman would have been. He played such an important role in my life and will be terribly missed.
Lee also deserves credit for partnering with two animation producers, Bill Melendez and I, both Mexican-Americans. He judged us not for our ethnicity but for our ability to deliver quality animation. All the shows that Bill and I produced were the highest-rated in their time slots and almost every show was nominated for an Emmy. Lee was the most fair and honest person I ever met. A big contrast to some of the Hollywood egos.
I always remember Lee warmly for the risk he took in helping me establish myself as a producer. All the gains the studio made, are directly attributable to his taking a chance on me. R.I.P.
