1991 in animation

1991 in animation is an overview of notable events, including notable awards, a list of films released, television show debuts and endings, and notable deaths.

Events

January

January 10: The Simpsons episode "Bart Gets Hit by a Car" first airs, with Dr. Nick Riviera and Lionel Hutz making their debuts.January 24: The Simpsons episode "One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish" first airs, guest starring Larry King and George Takei. January 31: The Simpsons episode "The Way We Was" first airs, being the first flashback episode of the series.

February

February 7: The Simpsons episode "Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment" first airs, with Troy McClure making his debut, voiced by Phil Hartman.February 14: The Simpsons episode "Principal Charming" first airs, with Groundskeeper Willie, Hans Moleman and Squeaky Voiced Teen making their debuts.February 21: The Simpsons episode "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" first airs, with Herb Powell and Mona Simpson making their debuts.

March

March 7: The Simpsons episode "Bart's Dog Gets an "F"" first airs, guest starring Tracey Ullman. After the episode, the music video for Deep, Deep Trouble is first broadcast.March 20: The animation studio Rough Draft Studios is founded.March 26: 63rd Academy Awards:

* Creature Comforts by Nick Park wins the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.March 28: The Simpsons episode "Old Money" first airs, with Professor Frink making his debut.March 29: Tiny Toon Adventures concludes it's first season in Syndication with the episode "High Toon".March 31: The first episode of Darkwing Duck, broadcast by the Walt Disney Company, airs.

April

April 11: The Simpsons episode "Brush with Greatness" first airs, guest starring Ringo Starr. April 25: The Simpsons episode "Lisa's Substitute" first airs, guest starring Dustin Hoffman, who is credited as Sam Etic. The episode is further notable for fleshing out Lisa Simpson's character.

May

May 1: The Peanuts TV special Snoopy's Reunion premieres on CBS.May 2: The Simpsons episode "The War of the Simpsons" first airs, with Snake Jailbird making his debut.May 8: The final Garfield TV special Garfield Gets a Life premieres on CBS.May 9: The Simpsons episode "Three Men and a Comic Book" first airs, with Comic Book Guy and Radioactive Man making their debuts.

July

July 11: The Simpsons concludes its second season on Fox with the episode "Blood Feud".July 26: The American film studio Animal Logic is founded. Specific date unknown in July: Pee-wee's Playhouse was pulled from its Saturday morning scheduling on CBS due to Paul Reubens' arrest for indecent exposure at an adult movie theater. This program would later air on Adult Swim in 2006 as a "childhood comeback for adults" owing to this issue.

August

August 2:

* Don Bluth's film Rock-a-Doodle premieres in the United Kingdom. This became one of the five lesser Bluth's works and his first lesser film overall. It had some release difficulties after its completion in 1990. It was delayed in the US until April 1992 to avoid competition with Disney's Beauty and the Beast and the first Bluth-less sequel An American Tail: Fievel Goes West.
* The film Rover Dangerfield, which features a dog modeled after and voiced by comedian Rodney Dangerfield, premieres.August 11
* Nickelodeon introduces its new original cartoon brand titled Nicktoons, with the premiere of its first 3 shows: Doug, Rugrats, & The Ren & Stimpy Show.
** Rugrats ended up becoming the first longest-running Nicktoon series. The program gained generally positive attention and popularity, as well as becoming an adult interest.August 23: After the three-year delay, Felix the Cat: The Movie makes a public marketing, but only as a direct-to-video movie due to financial issues. Following the negative reception in North America, the movie is only available through European markets as of 2011.

September

September 3:

* The first episode of The Legend of Prince Valiant airs, based on the comics series Prince Valiant.
* The first episode of Little Dracula airs.September 7:
* Hammerman, an animated TV series based on popular rapper M.C. Hammer, premieres, but is cancelled after only one season.
* The first episode of Rupert airs, an animated TV series based on the British comics character Rupert Bear.
* The first episode of Taz-Mania airs, starring the Looney Tunes character Tasmanian Devil. September 14:
* Premiere of Back to the Future: The Animated Series, the television adaptation of the 1985 film. It introduces a darker and slightly mature tone for a Saturday-morning cartoon of its time. CBS ended the series after the second season, as it was not as successful as the films of the Back to the Future franchise.
* Season 4 of Garfield and Friends begins on CBS with the premiere of the following episodes:
** "Moo Cow Mutt/Big Bad Buddy Bird/Angel Puss"
** "Trial and Error/An Egg-Citing Story/Supermarket Mania"
* The first episode of ProStars airs and features the animated versions of real-life sports players, Michael Jordan, Bo Jackson, and Wayne Gretzky.
*The first episode of Super Mario World airs. This third installment of Super Mario Bros. by DIC Entertainment was made under regulations of the Children's Television Act by inserting moral and educational values while eliminating instances that are closer to the 16bit game due to promotional restrictions for children. This attempt was not successful. The third season of Captain N: The Game Master, which paired with the Mario episodes, have suffered some limits as well, but was cancelled after 7 episodes.
September 16: Season 2 of Tiny Toon Adventures begins in Syndication with the premiere of the episode "Pledge Day".September 19: Season 3 of The Simpsons begins on Fox with the premiere of the episode "Stark Raving Dad", guest starring Michael Jackson, who is credited as John Jay Smith.September 26:
* The first episode of Spider! airs.
* The Simpsons episode "Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington" first airs.September 28: The first episode of Mr. Bogus airs, an adaptation of a series of French-Belgian claymation shorts, here done in traditional animation.

October

October 2: Nelvana's critically acclaimed adaptation of Hergé's comics series Tintin, The Adventures of Tintin is first broadcast.October 3: The Simpsons episode "When Flanders Failed" first airs.October 10: The Simpsons episode "Bart the Murderer" first airs, where Fat Tony, Legs and Louie make their debuts.October 11: Gertie the Dinosaur is added to the National Film Registry.October 17: The Simpsons episode "Homer Defined" first airs, guest starring Magic Johnson and Chick Hearn. October 24: The Simpsons episode "Like Father, Like Clown" first airs, where Krusty the Clown is revealed to be Jewish; it also guest stars Jackie Mason.October 28: The first episode of Once Upon a Time... The Americas airs.October 31: The Simpsons episode "Treehouse of Horror II" first airs.

November

November 7: The Simpsons episode "Lisa's Pony" first airs.November 9: Garfield and Friends concludes its fourth season on CBS with the following episodes:

* "The Pizza Patrol/The Son Also Rises/Rolling Romance"
* "The Automated, Animated Adventure/It's a Wonderful Wade/Truckin' Odie"November 14: The Simpsons episode "Saturdays of Thunder" first airs. November 16: The infamous Super Mario World episode "Rock TV" broadcast, gaining much notoriety for its depictions of television addiction.November 21: The Simpsons episode "Flaming Moe's" first airs, guest starring the band Aerosmith.November 22:
* The Walt Disney Company releases Beauty and the Beast.
* Universal Pictures releases An American Tail: Fievel Goes West, a sequel to An American Tail. It became a cult film in the 2010s.November 30:
* The first episode of Æon Flux airs.
* The first episode of Liquid Television airs.

December

December 5: The Simpsons episode "Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk" first airs.December 7:

* The first episode of A Bunch of Munsch airs in Canada as a winter special. In the United States, the series premiered on December 17, 1991, an animated TV series based on the children's books by the American–Canadian children's author Robert Munsch. However, the series will later air regularly until the following year.
* Super Mario World's final episode "Mama Luigi" airs, it was also the final episode of a Super Mario cartoon. While most of the series met negative attention at the time as its originality was grounded by the mandated Children's Television Act, this episode became a legacy following as it was one of the main sources for YTP's in the late 2000s. A remake was released on YouTube in 2017, dedicating the memories of Tony Rosato and Harvey Atkin.
December 22: Rugrats concluded its first season on Nickelodeon with the premiere of the episodes "Graham Canyon/Stu Maker's Elves".December 26: The Simpsons episode "I Married Marge" first airs.

Specific date unknown

The animation studio Dong Woo Animation is founded.
Turner Broadcasting purchases animation studio Hanna-Barbera.

Films released

January 1 - The Adventures of the Magic Globe or Witch's Tricks
January 18 - The Sensualist
January 25 - Vampire Wars
February 21 - Wizardry
February 22 - Psychic Wars
March 1 - To Want to Fly
March 9:
* Doraemon: Nobita's Dorabian Nights
* Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug
* Magical Taruruto
* Who's Left Behind?
March 12 - Okama Hakusho
March 16 - Mobile Suit Gundam F91
March 21 - Burn Up!
April 5 -
May 5 - Jang Dok-dae
May 22 - Free! Whale Peek
May 25 - Robinson and Company
June 7 - Il Giornalino di Gian Burrasca
June 16 - Beyond the Tide of Time
June 21 - The Seventh Brother
June 29 - Nadia of the Mysterious Seas
July 20:
* The Adventures of Gamba and Otters
* Dragon Ball Z: Cooler's Revenge
* Magical Taruruto: Burn! Magic War of Friendship
* Only Yesterday
* Soreike! Anpanman Tobe! Tobe! Chibigon
July 21 - Urotsukidōji II: Legend of the Demon Womb
August 2 - Rover Dangerfield
August 9 - Lupin III: Napoleon's Dictionary
August 16 - Huckleberry no Bōken
August 17 - Silent Möbius: The Motion Picture
August 18 - Urusei Yatsura: Always My Darling
September 6:
* Darkwing Duck: Darkly Dawns the Duck
* Hisaichi Ishii's Great Political World
September 11 - The Christmas Tree
September 14 - Roujin Z
September 19 - The Magic Riddle
October 11 - Sebastian Star Bear: First Mission
November 2 - Ranma ½: Big Trouble in Nekonron, China
November 21 - Christmas in January
November 22:
* An American Tail: Fievel Goes West
* Beauty and the Beast
* Ninja Ryūkenden
December 10 - Heukkkokdujanggun
December 14:
* Charlie Strapp and Froggy Ball Flying High
* Gekkō no Pierce: Yumemi to Gin no Bara no Kishi-dan
December 19 - The Pirates of Dark Water: The Saga Begins
December 20 - The Princess and the Goblin
December 28 - Dark Cat
December 29 - The White Camel
Specific date unknown:
* Ali Baba
* The Count of Monte-Cristo
* The Emperor's New Clothes
* Eneida
* Filemon i przyjaciele
* Frank Enstein
* Goldilocks and the Three Bears
* Hans and the Silver Skates
* The Holiday of the New Year Tree
* The Legend of Zorro
* Ness and Nessy
* Robin Hood
* Underwater Berets
* ''White Fang''

Television series debuts

Date	Title	Channel	Year
February 25	The Pirates of Dark Water	ABC, Syndication	1991–1993
March 1	Toxic Crusaders	Syndication	1991
August 11	Doug	Nickelodeon	1991–1994
August 11	Rugrats	Nickelodeon	1991–1994, 1996–2004
August 11	The Ren & Stimpy Show	Nickelodeon, MTV	1991–1996
September 3	The Legend of Prince Valiant	The Family Channel	1991–1993
September 3	Little Dracula	Fox Kids	1991–1999
September 7	Little Shop	Fox Kids	1991
September 7	Taz-Mania	Fox Kids	1991–1995
September 8	Darkwing Duck	The Disney Channel, Syndication, ABC	1991–1992
September 8	Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Wars	Syndication	1991
September 14	Super Mario World	NBC	1991
September 14	Wish Kid	NBC	1991
September 14	Space Cats	NBC	1991
September 14	Yo Yogi!	NBC	1991
September 14	ProStars	NBC	1991
September 14	Hammerman	ABC	1991
September 14	Mother Goose and Grim	CBS	1991–1992
September 14	Where's Wally?	CBS	1991
September 14	Back to the Future	CBS	1991–1992
September 15	Young Robin Hood	Syndication	1991–1992
September 16	James Bond Jr.	Syndication	1991–1992
September 28	Mr. Bogus	Syndication	1991–1993
November 30	Liquid Television	MTV	1991–1995
November 30	Æon Flux	MTV	1991–1995
December 7	A Bunch of Munsch	CTV, Showtime	1991–1992
December 7	-	CTV, Showtime	1991–1992

Births

January

January 14: Jeanine Mason, American actress and dancer.January 18: Britt McKillip, Canadian actress and singer.January 25:

* Ariana DeBose, American actress, dancer, and singer.
* Rupert Simonian, British actor.January 28: Calum Worthy, Canadian actor, writer, and producer.

February

February 10: Emma Roberts, American actress.

March

March 5: Emi Lo, American voice actor.March 9: Brenna O'Brien, Canadian actress and artist.March 26: Ramy Youssef, American stand-up comedian, actor, screenwriter, and director.March 28: Amy Bruckner, American actress.

April

April 7: Anne-Marie, English singer-songwriter.April 10: AJ Michalka, American actress, musician and singer-songwriter.April 27: Darren Barnet, American actor.

May

May 29: Saori Hayami, Japanese voice actress and singer.

June

June 1: Zazie Beetz, German-American actress.June 9: Abe Groening, American television writer and production assistant.June 26: Natsuki Hanae, Japanese voice actor and YouTuber.June 29:

* Tajja Isen, Canadian writer, editor and voice actress.
* Danielle Weisberg, American television writer and production assistant.

July

July 8: Thuso Mbedu, South African actress.July 9: Mitchel Musso, American actor and singer.July 12: Erik Per Sullivan, American former actor.July 26: Alice Isaaz, French actress.July 28: George Webster, English actor.

August

August 13: Nikita Hopkins, American actor.August 14: Charlotte Nicdao, Australian actress.August 28:

* Kyle Massey, American actor and rapper.
* Brian Hull, American actor, impressionist and internet personality.

September

September 7: Jennifer Veal, English actress and internet personality.September 9: Adam Paloian, American animator, character designer, storyboard artist, writer and director.

October

October 2: Antony Del Rio, American actor.October 7: Kody Kavitha, Indian-American actress.October 10: Vico Ortiz, Puerto Rican actor, drag king and activist,.October 18:

* Ely Henry, Canadian-American actor.
* Tyler Posey, American actor.

November

November 1: Anthony Ramos, American actor and musician.November 20: Lily Ki, American voice actress

December

December 17: Daniel Tay, American actor.December 19:

* Libe Barer, American actress.
*Sumire Uesaka, Japanese voice actress and singer.December 20:
*Jason Szwimer, Canadian voice actor.
*Jillian Rose Reed, American actress.
*Sarah-Nicole Robles, American actress.December 26: Eden Sher, American actress.December 31: ND Stevenson, American cartoonist and animation producer.

Deaths

January

January 12: Keye Luke, Chinese actor, dies at age 86.January 30: John McIntire, American actor, dies at age 83.

February

February 1: Jimmy MacDonald, Scottish-American animator, actor, musician and sound effects maker, dies at age 84.February 2: Franco Latini, Italian voice actor, dies at age 63.February 3: Nancy Kulp, American actress, dies at age 69.

March

March 4: Vance Colvig, American clown and voice actor, dies at age 72.March 14: Howard Ashman, American playwright and lyricist, dies at age 40.March 26: Lechosław Marszałek, Polish film and television director, dies at age 69.

April

April 10: Natalie Schafer, American actress, dies at age 90.April 19: Frederik Bramming, Danish animator and comics artist, dies at age 79.April 25: Carl Brandt, American musician, dies at age 76.April 28: Ken Curtis, American singer and actor, dies at age 74.April 30: Roy Seawright, American special effects maker and animator, dies at age 85.

May

May 14: Joy Batchelor, English animator, film producer and director, dies at age 77.

August

August 4: Don DaGradi, American writer, dies at age 80.

September

September 3: Frank Capra, Italian-born American director, producer and writer, dies at age 94.September 14: Lisa Michelson, American voice actress, dies in a car accident at age 33.September 24: Dr. Seuss, American children's novelist, illustrator, animator and comics artist, dies at age 87.September 27: Floyd Huddleston, American songwriter, dies at age 73.September 29: Ed Barge, American animator, dies at age 81.

October

October 26: Henry Wilson Allen, aka Heck Allen, American novelist and animation writer, dies at age 79.

November

November 11: Morton Stevens, American composer, dies from pancreatic cancer at age 62.November 18: Reg Parlett, English cartoonist and comic book artist,, dies at age 87.November 25: Eleanor Audley, American actress, dies at age 86.November 27: Harry Everett Smith, American experimental filmmaker, dies at age 68.

December

December 29: Tony Strobl, American animator and comics artist, dies at age 76.

Specific date unknown

David Hamilton Grant, English pornographic producer and convicted criminal, dies at age 52 of an alleged contract killing.