2006 in animation
2006 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 6: Season 5 of The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy begins on Cartoon Network with the premiere of the episodes "Billy Ocean/Hill Billy".January 29: The Family Guy episode "Patriot Games" premieres on Fox, the sub-plot where Stewie constantly beats up Brian while asking for money became one of the show's most iconic scenes.February
February 4: The 33rd Annie Awards are held.February 24: My Gym Partner's a Monkey premieres after airing its sneak peek on 26 December 2005.March
March 5: 78th Academy Awards:- * Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit directed by Nick Park and Steve Box wins Best Animated Feature.
- * The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation directed by John Canemaker and Peggy Stern wins Best Animated Short Film.March 14: The first episode of Lola & Virginia airs.March 15: Christian Volckman's Renaissance premieres.March 17: Season 2 of Avatar: The Last Airbender begins on Nickelodeon with the premiere of the episode "The Avatar State". The season's premiere was seen by 3.7 million viewers that night.March 22: Season 10 of South Park begins on Comedy Central with the premiere of the episode "The Return of Chef", in which the titular episode character dies.March 24: Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends concludes its third season on Cartoon Network with the episode "Cuckoo for Coco Cards".March 31: Blue Sky Studios releases Ice Age: The Meltdown, directed by Carlos Saldanha.
April
April 9: The Simpsons episode "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore" premieres on, in which the family travels to India.April 11: Winnie the Pooh receives a star at the Hollywood Walk of Fame.April 14:- * Walt Disney Pictures' The Wild premieres. It was universally panned for its improper CG imagery and writing and was explicitly compared to DreamWorks Animation's Madagascar.
- * Paul Laurence Robertson's Pirate Baby's Cabana Battle Street Fight 2006 is released online.
- April 28: Season 4 of Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends begins on Cartoon Network with the premiere of the episode "Challenge of the Super Friends".
May
May 14:- * King of the Hill concludes its tenth season on Fox with the episode "Edu-macating Lucky". The episode was seen by over 5.1 million viewers that night.
- * American Dad! concludes its second season on Fox with the episode "Tears of a Clooney". The episode was seen by over 6.8 million viewers that night.May 19: Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick's Over the Hedge premieres.May 21: The Simpsons concludes its 17th season on Fox with the episode "Marge and Homer Turn a Couple Play". The episode was seen by just over 8.2 million viewers that night.
- The following Family Guy episodes premiere on Fox :
- * "Stewie B. Goode"
- * "Bango Was His Name-O"
- * "Stu and Stewie's Excellent Adventure"
- ** These episodes were originally released altogether on the Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story DVD.May 25: Richard Linklater's A Scanner Darkly premieres.
June
June 9: Disney/Pixar's Cars premieres in theaters to positive reviews from both critics and audiences; praising its stunning visuals, humor, and relatable themes like friendship and humility. June 16: 20th Century Fox's Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties is released. Following its extremely negative reception alongside its unsuccessful predecessor, subsequent Garfield projects would return to animation.June 17: Peter Lord and David Sproxton, founders of Aardman Animations, receive a CBE.June 22: Happy Tree Friends episode "From A to Zoo, part 2" premieres on some MTV channel.June 27: The final episode of Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi airs. The series is confirmed cancelled four months later, leaving 5 episodes unaired.Specific date unknown in June:- *Garrett Gilchrist, filmmaker and artist, released The Thief and the Cobbler: The Recobbled Cut on the internet. It is a fan restoration of Richard Williams' unfinished work and was universally acclaimed over the terrible altered versions that were theatrically released in the 1990s.
- *Lola & Virginia premieres in the US on Animania HD.
July
July 21:- * Columbia Pictures' Monster House premieres. Despite its positive reception, it gained some infamy for its frightening content that was considered too dark for a less-restricted "PG rating".
- * Nickelodeon airs The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour 3: The Jerkinators. This marks the suspension of The Fairly OddParents as Butch Hartman originally ended production of the series until he reconsidered the sixth season after a year hiatus. This also marks the conclusion of The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius due to the closure of DNA Productions. The final remaining episodes of both shows in general air on 25 November this year.
August
August 9: The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy concludes its fifth season on Cartoon Network with the episodes "The Crass Unicorn/Billy & Mandy Begins".August 21: The first episode of Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! airs.August 26: The first episode of Yin Yang Yo! airs.September
September 4: The first episode of Curious George airs and PBS Kids Preschool Block launches.September 9: Qubo launches as NBC's new block.September 10:- * Season 18 of The Simpsons begins on Fox with the premiere of the episode "The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer", which guest stars heavy metal band Metallica. The episode was seen by over 11.6 million viewers that night.
- * Season 3 of American Dad! begins on Fox with the premiere of the episode "Camp Refoogee". The episode was seen by 8.9 million viewers that night.
- * Season 5 of Family Guy begins on Fox with the premiere of the episode "Stewie Loves Lois". The episode was seen by over 9.9 million viewers that night.September 17: The Simpsons episode "Jazzy and the Pussycats" premieres, guest starring the White Stripes.September 23: Tom and Jerry Tales premieres on the Kids' WB block on The CW. This was the first Tom and Jerry series to be produced by Warner Bros. Animation after the closure of Hanna-Barbera studios from 5 years ago.September 25:
- * The Happy Tree Friends TV season premieres on G4 in the United States, with the first three segments of episode 1.September 29: The first feature film produced by Sony Pictures Animation, Open Season, premieres.
October
October 6: The 6th & final season of The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy begins on Cartoon Network with the premiere of the episodes "Everything Breaks/The Show That Dare Not Speak Its Name".November
November 3: Cartoon Network's Class of 3000 premieres.November 5: The Simpsons "Treehouse of Horror XVII" premieres on Fox.November 7: Ryan Krzak releases an animated music video for the song "Albuquerque" by Weird Al Yankovic. It would later gain a cult following by 2024.November 14:- * Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas releases on DVD. It is the second installment in the Looney Tunes franchise to be based off Charles Dickens' novel A Christmas Carol, following Friz Freleng's 1979 short Bugs Bunny's Christmas Carol.
- * 11th Animation Kobe is held.November 15: South Park concludes its tenth season on Comedy Central with the episode "Stanley's Cup".
- November 20: The Peanuts special He's a Bully, Charlie Brown premiered on ABC. It was the last Peanuts special to be aired on ABC and on television until Happiness Is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown on FOX 5 years later in 2011, and the last one to be created by Bill Melendez before his passing in 2008. November 23: Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends concludes its fourth season on Cartoon Network with the premiere of the television movie "Good Wilt Hunting". November 29: EuropaCorp's Arthur and the Minimoys by Luc Besson premieres in France and becomes the highest-grossing movie in its home country. The Weinstein Company would distribute the film as Arthur and the Invisibles two months later. The film was notoriously butchered for the western release, which received extremely negative reviews. Furthermore, Harvey Weinstein was blamed for forcing it to be "American".
December
December 1: Avatar: The Last Airbender concludes its second season on Nickelodeon with the episodes "The Guru" and "The Crossroads of Destiny". The season's finale was seen by 4.4 million viewers that night.December 25: Episode 13 with last three segments of Happy Tree Friends TV season premieres, thus ending the TV series last original debut.December 17: The Family Guy episode "Barely Legal" premieres on Fox, this episode marked the debut of Stewie's iconic Cool Hwhip gag. It was seen by 8.91 million viewers that night.December 27: Early Abstractions is added to the National Film Registry.Specific date unknown
- DNA Productions closes down.
- The pilot episode for Jimmy Two-Shoes was made, but was since refused to make any public appearances as it was deemed too dark and cynical to be marketed for the attended audiences.
Awards
- Academy Award for Best Animated Feature: Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
- Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film: The Moon and the Sun
- Animation Kobe Feature Film Award: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
- Annie Award for Best Animated Feature: Cars
- BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film: Happy Feet
- Goya Award for Best Animated Film: El Ratón Pérez
- Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
- Japan Media Arts Festival Animation Award: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
- Mainichi Film Awards - Animation Grand Award: ''The Girl Who Leapt Through Time''
Films released
- January 7 - Origin: Spirits of the Past
- January 17 - Live Freaky! Die Freaky!
- February 2 - Blood Tea and Red String
- February 7:
- * Bambi II
- * My Little Pony: The Princess Promenade
- February 10 - Curious George
- February 16 - Felix 2 – The Hare and the Verflixte Time Machine
- February 17 - Impy's Island
- February 21 - Ultimate Avengers
- February 23:
- * Fimfárum 2
- * Prince Vladimir
- February 24 - Doogal
- March 4:
- * Dieter – The Film
- * Doraemon: Nobita's Dinosaur 2006
- * Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam: A New Translation III – Love is the Pulse of the Stars
- * One Piece: The Giant Mechanical Soldier of Karakuri Castle
- March 5 - Barbie: Mermaidia
- March 10 - Alexander the Great
- March 11 - VeggieTales: Sheerluck Holmes and the Golden Ruler
- March 15:
- * Dobrynya Nikitich and Zmey Gorynych
- * Renaissance
- March 21 - The Adventures of Brer Rabbit
- March 31 - Ice Age: The Meltdown
- April 8 - Amazing Lives of the Fast Food Grifters
- April 11 - Bratz Genie Magic
- April 12 - Asterix and the Vikings
- April 14 - The Wild
- April 15:
- * Crayon Shin-chan: The Legend Called: Dance! Amigo!
- * Detective Conan: The Private Eyes' Requiem
- April 18 - Wood & Stock: Sexo, Orégano e Rock'n'Roll
- April 21:
- * Free Jimmy
- * A Movie Of Eggs
- April 28 - Manga Latina: Killer on the Loose
- April 30 - Barbie Diaries
- May 5 - Padre Pio
- May 18 - The Blue Elephant
- May 19 - Over the Hedge
- May 26 - Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny: Special Edition I – The Broken World
- June 9 - Cars
- June 16 - Princess
- June 20 - Superman: Brainiac Attacks
- June 23 - Leroy & Stitch
- June 26 - Patoruzito: The Great Adventure
- June 28 - Aachi & Ssipak
- July 7:
- * A Scanner Darkly
- * Shark Bait
- July 8 - Brave Story
- July 12 - The Warrior
- July 13 - Chika: The Rite of Perdition
- July 15:
- * The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
- * Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea
- July 16 - Queer Duck: The Movie
- July 21:
- * Kittu
- * Monster House
- July 27:
- * Dragons: Destiny of Fire
- * Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny: Special Edition II – Respective Swords
- July 28 - The Ant Bully
- July 29:
- * Tales from Earthsea
- * VeggieTales: LarryBoy and the Bad Apple
- August - Especial
- August 4:
- * Barnyard
- * Livin' It Up With Bratz
- August 5 - Naruto the Movie: Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom
- August 8:
- * City of Rott
- * Ultimate Avengers 2: Rise of the Panther
- August 11 - Codename: Kids Next Door: Operation Z.E.R.O
- August 22 - Tom and Jerry: Shiver Me Whiskers
- August 25 - Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles
- August 29 - Brother Bear 2
- September 1:
- * Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex – Solid State Society
- * Lotte from Gadgetville
- September 6 - Franklin and the Turtle Lake Treasure
- September 8 - The Emperor's Secret
- September 10 - Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses
- September 12:
- * Bratz Babyz: The Movie
- * The Legend of Sasquatch
- * My Little Pony Crystal Princess: The Runaway Rainbow
- * Tony Hawk in Boom Boom Sabotage
- September 15:
- * Everyone's Hero
- * Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo
- September 19 - Scooby-Doo! Pirates Ahoy!
- September 21 - The Trip to Panama
- September 26 - Bratz: Passion 4 Fashion Diamondz
- September 29:
- * Krishna
- * Open Season
- October 2 - Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny: Special Edition III – Flames Of Destiny
- October 5 - The Little Bastard and the Old Fart: Death Sucks
- October 6 - The Ugly Duckling and Me!
- October 7 - Strawberry Shortcake: The Sweet Dreams Movie
- October 11 - U
- October 14 - Atagoal: Cat's Magical Forest
- October 17 - John Paul II: The Friend of All Humanity
- October 20 - Casper's Scare School
- October 25 - Azur & Asmar: The Princes' Quest
- October 27 - Romeo & Juliet: Sealed with a Kiss
- October 28 - Hellboy Animated: Sword of Storms
- October 30 - Stonewall & Riot: The Ultimate Orgasm
- November 3 - Flushed Away
- November 4:
- * Cristobal Coolumbus
- * VeggieTales: Gideon: Tuba Warrior
- November 6 - A Christmas Carol: Scrooge's Ghostly Tale
- November 14:
- * Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas
- * PollyWorld
- November 17 - Happy Feet
- November 19 - Desmond & the Swamp Barbarian Trap
- November 25 - Paprika
- November 29 - Arthur and the Invisibles
- December 6 - The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers
- December 8 - Re-Animated
- December 8 - Pretty Cure Splash Star Tic-Tac Crisis Hanging by a Thin Thread!
- December 12 - The Fox and the Hound 2
- December 16:
- * Animal Crossing: The Movie
- * Bleach: Memories of Nobody
- * Happily N'Ever After
- December 20 - Piccolo, Saxo and Company
- December 22:
- * The Magic Cube
- * Tekkonkinkreet
- December 24 - Polar Adventures
- Specific date unknown:
- * The Adventures of Dragon Fruit
- * John Seven Seven
- * Kong: Return To The Jungle
- * Les naufragés de Carthage
- * ''Saint Catherine''
Television series debuts
| Date | Title | Channel | Year |
| January 27 | The Emperor's New School | Disney Channel | 2006–2008 |
| February 6 | Yam Roll | CBC Television | 2006 |
| February 25 | Kappa Mikey | Nicktoons Network | 2006–2008 |
| March 3 | Wonder Pets | Nick Jr. | 2006–2013 |
| April 10 | Pinky Dinky Doo | Noggin | 2006–2011 |
| May 5 | Mickey Mouse Clubhouse | Playhouse Disney, Disney Junior | 2006–2016 |
| May 27 | Squirrel Boy | Cartoon Network | 2006–2007 |
| May 29 | Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman | PBS Kids Go! | 2006–2010 |
| May 30 | Space Ghost Coast to Coast | GameTap | 2006–2008 |
| June 10 | The Adventures of Chico and Guapo | MTV2 | 2006 |
| June 10 | Where My Dogs At? | MTV2 | 2006 |
| July 28 | The Replacements | Disney Channel | 2006–2009 |
| July 28 | Shorty McShorts' Shorts | Disney Channel | 2006–2007 |
| August 6 | Metalocalypse | Adult Swim | 2006–2013 |
| August 21 | Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! | Nickelodeon | 2006–2010 |
| August 26 | Chaotic | 4Kids TV | 2006–2010 |
| August 26 | Biker Mice from Mars | 4Kids TV | 2006–2007 |
| August 26 | Yin Yang Yo! | Jetix | 2006–2009 |
| September 2 | Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes | Cartoon Network | 2006–2010 |
| September 4 | Curious George | PBS Kids | 2006–2022 |
| September 9 | Growing Up Creepie | Discovery Kids | 2006–2008 |
| September 9 | Pokémon: Battle Frontier | Cartoon Network | 2006–2007 |
| September 16 | Handy Manny | Playhouse Disney | 2006–2013 |
| September 16 | Horseland | CBS | 2006–2008 |
| September 25 | Bigfoot Presents: Meteor and the Mighty Monster Trucks | Discovery Kids | 2006–2008 |
| September 25 | Happy Tree Friends | G4 | 2006 |
| September 23 | Legion of Super Heroes | Kids' WB | 2006–2008 |
| September 23 | Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue! | Kids' WB | 2006–2008 |
| September 23 | Tom and Jerry Tales | Kids' WB | 2006–2008 |
| October 4 | Freak Show | Comedy Central | 2006 |
| October 7 | Viva Piñata | 4Kids TV | 2006–2009 |
| October 8 | Eloise: The Animated Series | Starz | 2006 |
| October 16 | Frisky Dingo | Adult Swim | 2006–2008 |
| November 3 | Class of 3000 | Cartoon Network | 2006–2008 |
| November 26 | Assy McGee | Adult Swim | 2006–2008 |
Births
March
March 1: Ramone Hamilton, American actor.April
April 10: Dana Heath, American actress.May
May 20: Thalia Tran, American actress.May 22: Mattea Conforti, American actress.June
June 25: Mckenna Grace, American actress.June 28: Laurel Griggs, American child actress,.June 29: Sam Lavagnino, American voice actor.July
July 17: Lilly Bartlam, Canadian actress.September
September 7: Ian Chen, American actor.September 20: Amir O'Neil, American actor.October
October 1: Priah Ferguson, American actress.October 5: Jacob Tremblay, Canadian actor.October 17: Maxwell Simkins, American actor.December
December 6: Millie Davis, Canadian actress.December 9: Pixie Davies, English actress.Deaths
January
January 6: Lou Rawls, American actor and singer, dies at age 72.January 10: Dennis Marks, American screenwriter, producer, and voice actor, dies at age 73.January 17: Norman McCabe, English-American animator and illustrator, dies at age 94.January 26: Len Carlson, Canadian actor, dies at age 68.February
February 3:- * Walerian Borowczyk, Polish film director and animator, dies at age 82.
- * Al Lewis, American actor, dies at age 82.February 4: Myron Waldman, American animator and comics artist, dies at age 97.February 24:
- * Don Knotts, American actor, dies at age 81.
- * Dennis Weaver, American actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild, dies from prostate cancer at age 81.
March
March 4: David Rose, American animator, dies at age 95.March 8: Rhoda Williams, American actress, dies at age 75.March 19: Brad Case, American animator, dies at age 93.May
May 26: Štěpán Koníček, Czech composer and conductor, dies at age 78. May 27: Alex Toth, American comics artist and animator, dies from a heart attack at age 77.May 30: Bill Kovacs, American animator, dies at age 55.June
June 11: Tim Hildebrandt, American poster artist, and character designer, dies at age 67.June 26: Jeff Winkless, American voice actor, dies at age 65.June 28: Lennie Weinrib, American voice actor, dies at age 71.July
July 8: Peter Hawkins, English actor, dies at age 82.July 13: Red Buttons, American actor and comedian, dies at age 87.July 21: Mako, Japanese-American actor, dies from respiratory arrest caused by esophageal cancer at age 72.July 27: Elisabeth Volkmann, German actress and comedian, dies at age 70.July 28: Volodymyr Dakhno, Ukrainian film director, animator and scriptwriter, dies at age 74.August
August 11: Mike Douglas, American singer, TV host and actor, dies at age 86.August 12: Magdalo Mussio, Italian animator, dies at age 81.August 13: Tony Jay, English actor dies at age 73.August 28: Ed Benedict, American animator, character designer and lay-out artist, dies at age 94.September
September 4: Steve Irwin, Australian zookeeper, conservationist, television personality, wildlife expert and environmentalist, dies at age 44.September 6: Jan Svochak, Czech-American animator, dies at age 81.September 7: Bernard Wolf, American film producer, dies at age 95.September 13: Ann Richards, American politician, dies at age 73.September 22: Edward Albert, American actor, dies from lung cancer at age 55.October
October 16:- * Tommy Johnson, American orchestral tuba player, dies at age 71.
- * Jack DeLeon, American actor, dies at age 81.October 18: Don R. Christensen, American animator, comics artist and writer, scriptwriter, dies at age 90.