1937 in animation


Events in 1937 in animation.

Events

January

January 9: The first solo Donald Duck cartoon, Don Donald premieres, directed by Ben Sharpsteen and produced by Walt Disney Productions. It launches the Donald Duck series.January 24: Georg Woelz' Die Schlacht um Miggershausen premieres.

February

February 6: David Hand's Mickey Mouse cartoon Magician Mickey premieres, produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios.February 20: Ben Sharpsteen's Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy cartoon Moose Hunters premieres, produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios.February 27: Tex Avery's Picador Porky premieres, produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions. This cartoon marks Mel Blanc's first voice acting role in a cartoon.

March

March 4: 9th Academy Awards: The Country Cousin, produced by The Walt Disney Company, wins the Academy Award for Best Animated Short.March 12: The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio is established.March 26; In Crystal City, Texas, spinach growers erect a statue of Popeye.

April

April 3: Frank Tashlin's Porky Pig cartoon Porky's Romance premieres, produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions, where Petunia Pig makes her debut, It's also the last time Joe Dougherty voiced Porky.April 17: The animated short Porky's Duck Hunt, produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions and directed by Tex Avery, is first released. It marks the debut of Daffy Duck.April 27: The Mickey Mouse cartoon Mickey's Amateurs, directed by Pinto Colvig, Erdmann Penner and Walt Pfeiffer, premieres.

May

May 7: Workers at Fleischer Studios go on strike over pay and working conditions. The strike ends several months later on October 12.May 15: David Hand's Little Hiawatha premieres, produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. It marks the debut of Hiawatha who will later become a popular comics character.May 22: Friz Freleng's Clean Pastures premieres, produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions.May 29: Jack King's Donald Duck cartoon Modern Inventions premieres, produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios.

June

June 5: Tex Avery's Uncle Tom's Bungalow premieres, produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions.

October

October 9: Bob Clampett's Porky Pig cartoon Rover's Rival premieres, produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions. This was the first Looney Tunes short to feature both the iconic "Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" theme song and the iconic end card with Porky appearing out of a drum and saying "Th-th-that's all, folks!" to the audience.October 15: Ben Sharpsteen's Clock Cleaners, produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, starring Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy, is first released.

November

November 5: Wilfred Jackson's The Old Mill premieres, produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. It marks the first use of the multiplane camera.November 26: The Popeye cartoon Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves premieres, produced by Fleischer Studios.

December

December 2: Ferdinand Diehl, Paul Diehl and Hermann Diehl's The Seven Ravens premieres, which is notable for being an animated feature film, several weeks before Disney's own animated feature film Snow White premieres. However, The Seven Ravens is done in stop-motion, while Snow White features pencil animation. December 10: Jack King's Donald Duck cartoon Donald's Ostrich premieres, produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. December 21: Walt Disney's first animated feature, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs premieres, co-directed by David Hand, William Cottrell, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce and Ben Sharpsteen. It becomes a global box office hit.December 24: Burt Gillett's Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy film Lonesome Ghosts premieres, produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios.

Films released

Births

January

January 1:

February

February 1: Garrett Morris, American actor and comedian.February 2: Tom Smothers, American comedian and musician,.February 8: Joe Raposo, American composer, songwriter, pianist, singer and lyricist,.February 15: Ron Dias, American animator and painter,.February 17: Benjamin Whitrow, English actor,.

March

March 1: Eugen Doga, Moldovan composer,.March 3: Bobby Driscoll, American actor,.March 10: Robert Abel, American visual effects artist,.March 12: Carlo Bonomi, Italian voice actor and clown,.

April

April 6: Billy Dee Williams, American actor.April 20: George Takei, American actor, author and activist.April 24: Otmar Gutmann, German TV producer, animator and director,.April 27: Patricia Hamilton, Canadian actress,.

May

May 1: Nelda Ridley, American animation checker,.May 2: Lorenzo Music, American actor .May 8: Thomas Pynchon, American novelist.May 11: Takashi Inagaki, Japanese voice actor,.May 12: George Carlin, American comedian, actor, author and social critic,.May 16: Yvonne Craig, American actress,.May 24: Bill Exter, American animator, production manager, animation checker and director.May 26: Monkey Punch, Japanese manga artist,.

June

June 1: Morgan Freeman, American actor.June 2: Sally Kellerman, American actress, singer and author,.June 3: Edward Winter, American actor,.June 11: Johnny Brown, American actor and singer,.June 15: Waylon Jennings, American singer, songwriter and musician,.June 17: Arthur Schmidt, American film editor,.June 20: Antanas Janauskas, Lithuanian film director, designer and writer,.June 27: Kathryn Beaumont, English-American former actress.June 28: Tom Magliozzi, American radio host and television writer,.

July

July 2:

August

August 4: David Seidler, British-American screenwriter,.August 8: Dustin Hoffman, American actor and filmmaker.August 21: Masako Sugaya, Japanese actress,.

September

September 2: Len Carlson, Canadian actor,.September 6:
  • * Jo Anne Worley, American actress and comedian.
  • * Sergio Aragonés, Spanish-born Mexican cartoonist and writer.
  • * Joe Denton, American background artist and storyboard artist,.September 10: Brian Murray, South African actor and theater director,.September 13:
  • * Don Bluth, American animator and film director.
  • * Fred Silverman, American television executive and producer,.September 15: Anatoly Petrov, Russian film director and animator,.September 21: Ron Cobb, American cartoonist, animator, director and screenwriter,.September 28: Rod Roddy, American radio and television announcer,.

October

October 11: Ron Leibman, American actor,.October 15: Linda Lavin, American actress and singer,.October 17: Paxton Whitehead, English actor,.October 20: Jonas Rodrigues de Mello, Brazilian actor,.

November

November 4: Loretta Swit, American actress,.November 6: Eugene Pitt, American musician,.November 12: Mills Lane, American boxing referee,.

December

December 1:

Deaths

April

April 10: Ralph Ince, American cartoonist, animator, actor, film director and screenwriter, dies at age 50.

July

July 4: Georg Jacob, German orientalist and Turkologist,, dies at age 75.July 20: Elmer Wait, American animator, dies at age 23.

October

October 17: George R. Tweedie, English businessman,, dies at age 79–80.