William Charles "Bill" Littlejohn (January 27, 1914 – September 17, 2010) was an American animator and union organizer. Littlejohn worked on animated shorts and features in the 1930s through to the 1990s. His notable works include the Tom and Jerry shorts, Peanuts television specials, the Oscar-winning short, The Hole (1962), and the Oscar-nominated A Doonesbury Special (1977). He was inducted into the Cartoon Hall of Fame and received the Winsor McCay Award and garnered lifetime achievement awards from the Annie Awards and the UCLA Film and Television Archive. Director Michael Sporn has called Littlejohn "an animation 'God'."
Littlejohn co-founded and served as the first president of the Screen Cartoonists Guild Local #852 in 1938. He led the effort to gain recognition for the union at the major Hollywood animation studios. When Walt Disney refused to negotiate with the union and fired 16 pro-union artists, Littlejohn led the union in the 1941 Disney animators strike. The strike lasted nine weeks and resulted in Disney's recognition of the union, substantial salary increases, a 40-hour work week and screen credits. The Disney strike has been recognized as a watershed moment in the movement to unionize the animation industry.
Littlejohn was an active advocate for the art of animation, becoming a co-founder of ASIFA-Hollywood in 1957 and of the International Tournée of Animation in the mid-1960s. He also served on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Board of Governors representing short films and animation from 1988 to 2001.
Scenes of Peanuts TV specials and films:
- A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965): where Snoopy dances on the piano while Schroeder plays a jazz riff
- It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966): the World War I Flying Ace-Red Baron section
- It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown (1969): Snoopy is juggling for exercise and dancing and Snoopy is the wrestling arms championship with Lucy to kiss
- A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1969): Snoopy skates in the Rockefeller Center with the sequence of the World Famous Figure Skater and the World Famous Hockey Player.
- Snoopy, Come Home (1972): the Snoopy-Lucy prizefight and which Clara ties up Snoopy, changes his name to "Rex" and gives him a bath.
- A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973): Snoopy fights the chair.
- It's a Mystery, Charlie Brown (1974): Woodstock in the rain storm in the bird bath, Snoopy as Sherlock Holmes with Woodstock visit to the houses of Charlie Brown, Lucy and Linus, Marcie, "Pig-Pen", and Peppermint Patty and the "Cops and Robbers" scenes.
- It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown (1974): The scenes of Snoopy used the gumballs and sees the bunny in the egg to dance with them and Snoopy tossed the Easter Eggs to dance around the yards.
- What a Nightmare, Charlie Brown (1978): Snoopy dances on the stage.
- Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (And Don't Come Back!!) (1980): Snoopy at the tennis scenes, Snoopy and Woodstock walked on the street to the cafe with the sequence of Root Beer dance with the jukebox music and Woodstock playing the violin.
- Life Is a Circus, Charlie Brown (1980): Snoopy is riding on the unicycle at the circus rehearsal.
- Snoopy!!! The Musical (1988): Snoopy dances in the scenes of Big Bow Wow song.
Scenes of Peanuts TV series and TV mini-series:
- The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show (1983-1985)
- This Is America, Charlie Brown (1988-1989)