2004 in animation


2004 in animation is an overview of notable events, including notable awards, list of films released, television show debuts and endings, and notable deaths.

Events

January

January 4: The King of the Hill episode "Rich Hank, Poor Hank" premieres on Fox, this was the final episode to be produced entirely in cel animation, the show officially switches over to digital ink and paint afterwards. The episode was seen by over 7.5 million viewers that night.January 5:

February

February 1: Futari wa Pretty Cure, the first installment of the Pretty Cure franchise, first airs.February 7: The 31st Annie Awards are held. February 11: Jean-François Laguionie's Black Mor's Island premieres..February 29: 76th Academy Awards:

March

March 4: The first episode of Tripping the Rift airs.March 6: Mamoru Oshii's Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence premieres.

April

April 2: Home on the Range, produced by the Walt Disney Company, is released. It flops at box office as Disney would focus working on CG animated feature films while suspending the traditional hand-drawn animated films for 5 years.April 3: The first episode of Danny Phantom airs.April 12: The first episode of Peep and the Big Wide World airs to positive acclaim.April 17: Bill Plympton's Hair High is first released.April 18: The Simpsons episode My Big Fat Geek Wedding is first broadcast, guest starring creator Matt Groening.April 28: The earliest known Eddsworld animation goes online.

May

May 7: The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius and The Fairly OddParents hour-long crossover special event, "Jimmy Timmy Power Hour" premieres on Nickelodeon, reeling in a total of nearly five million viewers for its premiere.May 10: Voice actor Greg Burson is arrested after barricading himself inside his home, holding three female roommates hostage while being drunk and carrying a gun.May 11: The pilot for Invader Zim makes its debut on DVD.May 12–31: 2004 Cannes Film Festival: Jonas Geirnaert, a young Belgian film student, sends in an unfinished animated short, Flatlife, to the festival, which promptly wins the Jury Prize for Best Short Film. This launches his media career in Flanders.May 15: Shrek 2 premiers during the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.May 17: The Simpsons episode Bart-Mangled Banner premieres on Fox, and became controversial in the United States for satirizing the U.S. Patriot Act.May 23:
  • * King of the Hill concludes its eighth season on Fox with the episode "Talking Shop". The episode was watched by over 6.1 million viewers that night.
  • * The Simpsons concludes its 15th season on Fox with the episode "Fraudcast News". The episode was watched by over 9.4 million viewers that night.May 24: The first episode of Kikoriki aired.May 31: The first episode of Peppa Pig aired.

June

June 11: Season 2 of The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy begins on Cartoon Network with the premiere of the episodes "Spider's Little Daddy/Tricycle of Terror". This was the first season of the show to not be related to its parent series Grim & Evil.June 14: Cartoon Network ends it's "Powerhouse" era and begins it's "CN City" era, the channel's logo was also rebranded for the first time, giving it the "CN" look. Both eras are considered by fans to be the Golden Age of Cartoon Network.June 17: Kim Jun-ok's Tentacolino, a sequel to the notorious animated film The Legend of the Titanic, was released.June 19: The first episode of Winx Club airs.

July

Unknown date in July: Happy Tree Friends Volume 3 - Third Strike makes its first theatrical debut with episodes 8 to 18 of Season 2.July 2: The Fairly OddParents half-hour special "Crash Nebula" premieres on Nickelodeon, this was the first episode from Season 5 to premiere.

August

August 1: The final episode of Rugrats airs.August 9: Donald Duck receives a star at the Hollywood Walk of Fame.August 13: Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends makes its premiere on Cartoon Network with the TV movie "House of Bloo's".August 16: The first episode of LazyTown airs.August 29: The first episode of Atomic Betty airs.

September

September 5: Hayao Miyazaki's Howl's Moving Castle was first released.September 6: The first episodes of The Tofus airs.September 7: The first episode of Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends airs.September 9: SIP Animation and the newly rebranded Jetix Europe announce the work of a new co-production tentatively titled The Insiders. The show would eventually premiere as A.T.O.M. - Alpha Teens on Machines in 2005.September 11: The first episode of The Batman airs.September 13: The first episode of Higglytown Heroes airs.September 19: Laura's Star by Piet De Rycker and Thilo Graf Rothkirch premieres.September 22: The first episode of Bro'Town airs.September 25: Samurai Jack airs its final episode of its original run.

October

October 1:

November

November 5:

December

December 1: The first episode of Poko aired.December 9: Áron Gauder's The District! premiered.December 12: Happy Tree Friends - Winter Break movie premiered on MTV. It adds episodes 22 to 24 of Season 2. The current release date of episode 24 is wrong, because its written January 4, 2004, the current is December 15th 2003.December 15: South Park concludes its eighth season on Comedy Central with the Christmas special "Woodland Critter Christmas". This would be the final Christmas special of the show until Season 18's "#HappyHolograms".December 25: 20th Century Fox's Fat Albert, the live action/animated adaptation of Filmation's Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids and the last Fat Albert project to date, premiered. It was a box office failure.December 28: Duck and Cover and Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor were added to the National Film Registry.December 31: After 32 years, the final episode of Loeki de Leeuw aired. It was a series of stop-motion shorts which served as bumpers before and after commercial breaks on Dutch television.

Specific date unknown

  • The animated Kotex commercial with the infamous Red Dot, used as the referred "period", gained notoriety for its exploits in front of children owing to their limited understanding, which caused damaging sells to the product as Kimberly-Clark would eliminate the slogan from their marketing campaign to avoid further verbal abuse.

Awards

Films released

Television series debuts

DateTitleChannelYear
January 18Whoopi's LittleburgNickelodeon2004
January 19The Koala BrothersPlayhouse Disney2004–2007
January 23Dave the BarbarianDisney Channel2004–2005
January 31Transformers: EnergonCartoon Network2004–2005
February 16Witch Hunter RobinAdult Swim2004
February 27Duel MastersCartoon Network2004–2006
March 4Tripping the RiftSyfy2004–2005
March 10Game OverUPN2004
April 3Danny PhantomNickelodeon2004–2007
April 12Peep and the Big Wide WorldDiscovery Kids2004–2007
April 24Wolf's RainAdult Swim2004
April 28Shorties Watchin' ShortiesComedy Central2004
May 1Megas XLRCartoon Network2004–2005
May 31Peppa PigNick Jr.2004–2018
June 19Winx ClubFox Box, Nickelodeon2004–2019
June 20FatherhoodNick at Nite2004–2005
July 30O'GradyThe N2004–2006
July 31Justice League UnlimitedCartoon Network2004–2006
August 1Stroker & HoopAdult Swim2004–2005
August 13Foster's Home for Imaginary FriendsCartoon Network2004–2009
August 21Brandy & Mr. WhiskersDisney Channel2004–2006
August 31Father of the PrideNBC2004–2005
September 6Atomic BettyTeletoon2004–2008
September 7Miss Spider's Sunny Patch FriendsNickelodeon2004–2008
September 11The BatmanKids' WB2004–2008
September 11Da Boom CrewKids' WB2004–2005
September 11Pokémon: Advanced ChallengeKids' WB2004–2005
September 13Higglytown HeroesPlayhouse Disney2004–2008
September 16Video ModsMTV2004–2005
September 18F-Zero: GP LegendFox Box2004–2005
September 18One PieceFox Box, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, TVoD2004–2009; 2013–2017; 2020–present
September 18Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!Jetix2004–2006
October 11The BackyardigansNickelodeon2004–2013
October 11Maya & MiguelPBS Kids2004–2007
October 11Postcards from BusterPBS Kids2004–2012
October 24Nicktoons Film FestivalNicktoons2004–2009
October 27Drawn TogetherComedy Central2004–2007
November 5Cartoon AlleyTurner Classic Movies2004–2007
November 6Fullmetal AlchemistAdult Swim2004–2009
November 6Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone ComplexAdult Swim2004–2006
November 7Perfect Hair ForeverAdult Swim2004–2007
November 7The Super Milk Chan ShowAdult Swim2004–2005
November 76teenCartoon Network2004–2010
November 8ToddWorldDiscovery Kids2004–2008
November 14Tom Goes to the MayorAdult Swim2004–2006
November 19Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumiCartoon Network2004–2006
December 18W.I.T.C.H.ABC Family2004–2006
UnknownThis Just In!Spike TV2004

Births

January

January 7: Sofia Wylie, American actress.January 10: Kaitlyn Maher, American actress.January 28: Zaris-Angel Hator, English actress.

March

March 1: Izabella Alvarez, American actress.March 8: Kit Connor, English actor.

May

May 1: Charli D'Amelio, American social media personality and dancer.May 13: Ava Acres, American actress.May 22: Peyton Elizabeth Lee, American actress.

June

June 8: Francesca Capaldi, American actress.

July

July 15: Hayden Rolence, American actor.July 17: Shamon Brown Jr., American actor.

August

August 4: Noah Bentley, American actor.August 5:

September

September 23: Anthony Gonzalez, American actor.

October

October 3: Noah Schnapp, Canadian-American actor.

November

November 17: Andre Robinson, American actor.November 27: Jet Jurgensmeyer, American actor.

December

December 18: Isabella Crovetti, American actress and voice actress.

Deaths

January

January 1: Yevgeniy Migunov, Russian film director, caricaturist, illustrator, and animator, dies at age 82.January 8: Eddy Ryssack, Belgian comics artist and animator, dies from a heart attack at age 75.January 10: Sidney Miller, American actor, dies at age 87.

February

February 1: James Simpkins, Canadian animator and comics artist, dies at age 93.February 3: Jason Raize, American actor and singer, commits suicide at age 28.February 5: John Hench, American animator, designer and creative director, dies at age 95.February 11: Tony Pope, American actor, dies at age 56.February 12: Anthony Rizzo, Italian-American film director, dies at age 85.

March

March 1: Barbara Frawley, Australian actress, dies at age 68.March 6: Peggy DeCastro, American singer, dies at age 83.March 7: Paul Winfield, American actor, dies from a heart attack at age 64.March 8: Robin Klein, American casting director, dies at age 43.March 12: William Moritz, American animation film historian, dies at age 62. March 14: René Laloux, French animator and film director, dies at age 74 from a heart attack.March 28: Peter Ustinov, English actor, dies at age 82.Specific date unknown: John Grace, English television writer, dies at an unknown age.

April

April 1: Sándor Reisenbüchler, Hungarian film director, animator and graphic artist, dies at age 69.April 14:

May

May 3: Volus Jones, American animator, dies at age 90.May 7: Diana Chesney, British-American actress, dies at age 87.May 9: Robert Naylor, American animator and comics artist, dies at age 94.May 15: Jack Bradbury, American animator and comics artist, dies at age 89.

June

June 10: Ray Charles, American singer, songwriter and pianist, dies from liver failure at age 73.June 13: Danny Dark, American voice actor, dies from a pulmonary hemorrhage at age 65.June 17: Todor Dinov, Bulgarian animator and comics artist, dies at age 84.

July

July 7: Vlado Kristl, Yugoslavian-Croatian film director and animator, dies at age 81.July 9: Isabel Sanford, American actress and comedian, dies at age 86.July 16: Andy Engman, Swedish-Finnish-American animator, dies at age 92.July 21: Jerry Goldsmith, American composer and conductor, dies at age 75.July 26: Oğuz Aral, Turkish comics artist, animator, and film director and producer, Direkler Arası, Bu Şehr-i İstanbul, Ağustos Böceği ile Karınca, dies at age 68.July 28:

August

August 13: Peter Woodthorpe, English actor, dies at age 72.August 18: Elmer Bernstein, American composer and conductor, dies at age 82.

September

September 8: Frank Thomas, American animator and pianist, dies at age 92.September 15: Johnny Ramone, American musician and member of the Ramones, dies from prostate cancer at age 55.

October

October 5: Rodney Dangerfield, American comedian, dies at age 82.October 10: Christopher Reeve, American actor, director, and activist, dies at age 52.October 25: John Peel, English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist, dies from a heart attack at age 65.

November

November 9: Ed Kemmer, American actor, dies at age 83.November 11:
  • * Dayton Allen, American comedian and actor, dies at age 85.
  • * Zvonimir Lončarić, Croatian animator, sculptor and painter, dies at age 77.November 12: Harry Hargreaves, English comics artist, illustrator and animator, dies at age 82.November 30: Carmen D'Avino, American painter, sculptor and film director, dies at age 86.

December

December 8: Dimebag Darrell, American musician and member of Pantera, was murdered at age 38.December 15: Alma Duncan, Canadian painter, graphic artist and film director, dies at age 86.December 22: Ben van Voorn, Dutch comics artist and animator, dies at age 67.December 28: Jerry Orbach, American actor, dies at age 69.