Lee Mendelson Film Productions (LMFP) is an American production company based in Burlingame, California. Founded by Lee Mendelson in 1963, the company is best known for producing animated television specials and feature films based on Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts comic strip, including A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965), It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966), and A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1969).
In addition to its work on Peanuts, the company has produced Garfield television specials and series, documentaries, live-action specials, music-related programming, and other television productions. Its work has been recognized by major entertainment and broadcasting organizations, including the Emmy Awards, Peabody Awards, Academy Awards, and Grammy Awards, with much of that recognition connected to children's television, animation, and music-related recordings.
Contents
Background
Lee Mendelson began his television career producing documentary and public affairs programming in the San Francisco Bay Area. His early work included San Francisco Pageant, a KPIX-TV documentary series that received a Peabody Award in 1962.
Mendelson's association with the Peanuts franchise began in 1963 when he approached Charles M. Schulz about producing a documentary on the comic strip entitled A Boy Named Charlie Brown. That project led to a collaboration with animator Bill Melendez and ultimately to A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965), which received both a Peabody and Emmy Award. The success of the special launched a decades-long partnership with Schulz and Melendez spanning television specials, feature films, and music recordings.
In the 1980s, the company expanded into the Garfield franchise, producing a series of television specials and series that earned several Emmy Awards and nominations.
Copyright enforcement litigation
In May 2026, the company received national media attention after filing four copyright infringement lawsuits over alleged unauthorized uses of music associated with the Peanuts franchise, including compositions by Vince Guaraldi. The lawsuits targeted a variety of defendants, including the United States Department of the Interior, video game publisher GameMill Entertainment, and operators of social media accounts for Heritage Auctions and Buckle-Down, Inc., that had allegedly incorporated Peanuts music into online content. The complaints alleged that the Interior Department used Guaraldi's arrangement of "O Tannenbaum" in social media posts and a digital holiday card; that Heritage Auctions used "Linus and Lucy" in social media posts promoting collectibles auctions; that Buckle-Down used copyrighted Peanuts music in social media posts promoting its merchandise; and that music created for GameMill Entertainment's 2025 video game Snoopy and the Great Mystery Club was substantially similar to Guaraldi's compositions "Linus and Lucy" and "Skating," despite neither composition having been licensed.
The lawsuits received widespread media coverage and highlighted the company's continuing efforts to protect intellectual property associated with the Peanuts television specials and their music catalog.
Stephen Colbert licensing dispute
The copyright enforcement campaign became the subject of a comedic segment during the final episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, in which host Stephen Colbert joked that house band Louis Cato and the Great Big Joy Machine would perform "Linus and Lucy" without first obtaining a license. Colbert remarked that the performance might "cost CBS money" because the music had not been cleared for broadcast. LMFP later reached a licensing agreement with CBS for the use of the composition, with the payment amount undisclosed. LMFP chairman Jason Mendelson said the company found the segment "funny and entertaining", while emphasizing the need to secure licenses for commercial uses of copyrighted music. Proceeds from the agreement were donated by LMFP to World Central Kitchen.
The agreement involved companies with a long shared history through the Peanuts franchise, as CBS had originally broadcast most Peanuts television specials produced by LMFP between 1965 and 2000.
Awards and recognition
LMFP has received awards and nominations from several major awards organizations, mainly for its television productions. The company's Peabody Award-winning programs include San Francisco Pageant, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Hot Dog (1970), and What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown? (1983).
The company also received Emmy recognition for animated and children's programming, including Peanuts productions, Garfield specials, and retrospective programs. Its Emmy-recognized productions include Life Is a Circus, Charlie Brown, Garfield on the Town, Garfield in the Rough, Garfield's Halloween Adventure, Cathy, Garfield's Babes and Bullets, Here's to You, Charlie Brown: 50 Great Years, and It's Your 50th Christmas, Charlie Brown!.
The company's theatrical work includes a 1970 Academy Award nomination for A Boy Named Charlie Brown for Best Original Song Score, losing to The Beatles' Let It Be. Its music-related recognition includes Grammy Award nominations for Flashbeagle (1984) and a book-and-record adaption of You're in Love, Charlie Brown (1979), both in children's recording categories.
Filmography
Television
Direct-to-video/special format releases
Music
Peanuts soundtrack discography
After Lee Mendelson's death in December 2019, his sons Jason and Sean Mendelson began reviewing the company's music archives, including materials related to Vince Guaraldi's scores for the Peanuts television specials. During the COVID-19 lockdowns, they located a cache of long-unavailable Guaraldi session tapes, which became the basis for a continuing series of archival soundtrack releases issued by LMFP (owner of the music publishing since 1990), occasionally in association with Craft Recordings. The series has included expanded or premiere soundtrack albums for several Peanuts specials, including A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, It Was a Short Summer..., You're Not Elected..., Be My Valentine..., It's the Easter Beagle..., You're a Good Sport..., and a combined release of It's Arbor Day... and Charlie Brown's All Stars!.
These releases marked the first time many of Guaraldi's original television recordings had been made commercially available as standalone soundtrack albums. In addition to standard digital and physical releases, the series has included limited vinyl editions and compilation formats, such as Record Store Day selections and the CD box set The Peanuts Collection, Vol. 1.