1940 in animation

Events

January

• January 13: Tex Avery's The Early Worm Gets the Bird is released, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons.

  February

• February 10: Puss Gets the Boot, the first Tom & Jerry cartoon, is released by William Hanna, Joseph Barbera and Rudolf Ising.
• February 23: Walt Disney's Pinocchio is released.
• February 29: 12th Academy Awards: The Ugly Duckling by Walt Disney Animation Studios, directed by Jack Cutting and Clyde Geronimi, wins the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.

  March

• March 2: Chuck Jones' Elmer's Candid Camera is released, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. In this cartoon Elmer Fudd makes his debut, though still looking more like an earlier character Egghead. An unnamed rabbit who is a prototypical version of Bugs Bunny also plays a starring role.

  May

• May 16: Wagorō Arai's Madame Butterfly's Illusion premiers.

  June

• June 7: Jack King's Donald Duck short Mr. Duck Steps Out, produced by the Walt Disney Animation Studios, premiers, in which Donald goes out dancing with Daisy Duck, only to be bothered by Huey, Louie and Dewey.
• June 22: Rudolf Ising's The Milky Way, produced by MGM Animation, makes its debut.

  July

• July 27: Tex Avery's A Wild Hare premiers, which marks the official debut of both Bugs Bunny as well as Elmer Fudd. It's also the first time Bugs asks: "What's up, Doc?" and Elmer asks people to be quiet, because he's hunting "wabbits".

  August

• August 9: Jack King's Donald Duck short Donald's Vacation, produced by the Walt Disney Animation Studios, premiers.

  September

• September 20: Jack King's Donald Duck short Window Cleaners, produced by the Walt Disney Animation Studios, premiers.

  November

• November 1: Clyde Geronimi's Mickey Mouse and Pluto cartoon Mr. Mouse Takes a Trip, produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, premiers.
• November 2: Bob Clampett's The Sour Puss premiers, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. It marks the first time the Acme Corporation running gag is used.
• November 13: Walt Disney's Fantasia is released. It becomes a box office flop, but will gain cult film status decades later.
• November 25: Walter Lantz's animated short Knock Knock premiers, which marks the debut of Woody Woodpecker.

  December

• December 7: Tex Avery's Of Fox and Hounds premiers, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons, in which Willoughby the Dog makes his debut. It also marks the first use of "Which way did he go, George? Which way did he go?" in animated cartoons.

  Specific date unknown

• John Halas and Joy Batchelor establish the animated studio Halas and Batchelor..
• Mary Ellen Bute's Tarantella premiers.
• The Jam Handy Organization makes the live-action educational short A Case of Spring Fever to promote springs and their importance. The film features some animation. Five decades later this picture will gain more cult fame as it is ridiculed in the TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000.
• The Walt Disney Company expands to include more than 1,600 employees
• Barudda è fuggito created by Gino Parenti
• Il vecchio lupo di mare norvegese e il vecchio lupo di mare americano by Roman painter Luigi Giobbe
• Musical Poster Number One, directed by Len Lye
• British radio comedian Harry Hemsley makes an animated advertising short where the characters from his radio show and comic strip Ovaltiney's Concert Party appear, all voiced by himself.

  Deaths

January

• January 21: Otis Harlan, American actor, dies at age 74.

  July

• July 2: Guido Seeber, German film director, cinematographer and animator, dies at age 61.

  September

• September 2: Eddie Collins, American actor, dies at age from a heart attack.
• September 28: Earl Hurd, American animator, film director and comics artist, dies at age 60.