2009 in animation


2009 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 11: Total Drama second season series Total Drama Action premieres on Teletoon.January 15: Adam Eliot's Mary and Max premiers.January 16: Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf: The Super Snail Adventure is released, the first film based on the Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf TV series.January 18: The first episode of Masha and the Bear is broadcast.January 25: The Simpsons episode "Lisa the Drama Queen" premieres on Fox, this was the last episode to be produced in Standard-definition. It was seen by over 5.7 million viewers that night.January 30: During the Gérardmer Film Festival Tomm Moore's The Secret of Kells premiers.

February

February 2: Season 3 of Upin & Ipin premiered on TV9.February 5: Henry Selick's Coraline, based on Neil Gaiman's eponymous novel, is first released.February 6: Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder, based on the TV series Futurama, premieres at the New York Comic Con; it would later be generally released on August 30. February 12: Sergey Seryogin's Alice's Birthday is released.February 13: Toon Disney and Jetix relaunched as Disney XD.February 15: The Simpsons episode "Take My Life, Please" premieres on Fox, this was the first episode to be produced in High-definition. It was seen by over 6.7 million viewers that night.February 18: Phineas and Ferb concluded its first season on Disney XD with the premiere of the episode "Unfair Science Fair Redux ".February 19: Season 2 of Phineas and Ferb begins on Disney XD with the premiere of half-hour special "The Lake Nose Monster".February 22: 81st Academy Awards:

March

March 3: Lauren Montgomery's Wonder Woman is released direct-to-DVD to positive reviews.March 5: Jiří Barta's Toys in the Attic is released. March 11: Season 13 of South Park begins on Comedy Central with the premiere of the episode "The Ring". It was seen by just over 3.4 million viewers that night. March 17: The Simpsons episode "In the Name of the Grandfather" is first broadcast, in which the family travels to Ireland.March 27: Conrad Vernon and Rob Letterman's Monsters vs. Aliens premieres in theaters. It is the first DreamWorks Animation film to be released in 3D.March 28: The Penguins of Madagascar made its official premiere on Nickelodeon with the episodes "Launchtime/Haunted Habitat". Its premiere brought in a total of 6.1 million viewers.

April

April 1: The first episode of The Amazing Spiez! is broadcast, though it had aired on March 15 on Disney Channel (Asia) before.April 20: The first episode of Fishtronaut is broadcast.

May

May 1–3: The Fairly OddParents trilogy film series Wishology airs on Nickelodeon. It received mixed to positive attention.May 3: The last 5 episodes of Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends air on Cartoon Network.May 10: The Simpsons episode "Four Great Women and a Manicure" premieres on Fox, guest starring Jodie Foster.May 13–24: Up and A Town Called Panic premiere at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.May 17:

June

June 10: Paul Fierlinger's My Dog Tulip premieres.June 17: Cartoon Network suspends the original animated programs as they instead launch the live-action block "CN Real". The block was cancelled the following year as it is declared a "bad promotion" on the network dedicated to cartoons.

July

July 1: Blue Sky Studios releases Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, directed by Carlos Saldanha. This was 20th Century Studios' first film to be released in 3D.July 2: Andrei Khrzhanovsky's Room and a Half is released.July 21: Luke and Lucy: The Texas Rangers is released, the first CGI-animated feature film made in Belgium. It is also the first animated film based on the Belgian comics series Suske en Wiske, and the most expensive Flemish movie of the time.July 22: Totally Spies! The Movie premiers, the first film based on the eponymous TV series.July 23: The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack concludes its first season on Cartoon Network with the episode "Tee Hee Tummy Tums".July 30: Season 2 of The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack premieres on Cartoon Network with the episodes "Jar She Blows!/Behind the Curtain".

August

August 31: The first episode of Kabouter Wesley is broadcast.

September

September 3: 66th Venice International Film Festival: Tarik Saleh's Metropia premieres.September 7: The first episodes of Dinosaur Train and Wibbly Pig both aired.September 8: Season 2 of The Mr. Men Show premieres on Cartoon Network with the episodes "Picnics/Driving".September 9: Shane Acker's 9 premiered.September 12: Phil Lord and Christopher Miller's Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs makes it's premiere at the Mann Village Theater.September 13: King of the Hill's original series finale "To Sirloin with Love" premieres on Fox, it was seen by over 6 million viewers that night.

October

October 2: The first episode of Kung Fu Dino Posse airs. October 5: The first episode of Les Mistigris is broadcast.October 8: Chowder concludes its second season on Cartoon Network with the premiere of the episode "Tofu-Town Showdown".October 12: The first episode of Fanboy & Chum Chum is broadcast as a preview; it would later officially premiere on November 6.October 14: Wes Anderson's stop-motion film Fantastic Mr. Fox, based on Roald Dahl's eponymous children's book, premieres at the London Film Festival. October 15: The 3rd & final season of Chowder begins on Cartoon Network with the premiere of the episode "Hands on a Big Mixer". October 26: The first episode of Have a Laugh! airs.

November

November 3: Robert Zemeckis' A Christmas Carol, starring Jim Carrey as Ebenezer Scrooge, premiers.November 6: SpongeBob SquarePants celebrated its 10th anniversary with a television special titled SpongeBob's Truth or Square that premiered on Nickelodeon to mixed and negative reviews.November 8: Ed, Edd n Eddy's Big Picture Show premiered on Cartoon Network, the movie serves as the series finale to the show. November 9: Glenn Martin, DDS was moved to air late nights on Nick@Nite due to complaints from parents after regarding the show's adult content, sparking controversy when it aired evenings after SpongeBob SquarePants.November 14: Jorge Blanco's Planet 51 premieres.November 18: South Park concludes its 13th season on Comedy Central with the episode "Pee". It was seen by over 2.8 million viewers that night. This was the final episode to premiere in the 2000s.Specific date unknown: The first episode of The Samsonadzes was broadcast.

December

December 11: The Princess and the Frog is released, directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, the first Walt Disney Company production with an African-American lead character. This marks Disney's first theatrical hand-drawn animated feature since Home on the Range in 2004.December 30: Little Nemo, Quasi at the Quackadero, The Red Book and Scratch and Crow are added to the National Film Registry.

Specific date unknown

  • Michael P. Heneghan's The Romantic is released.
  • Pebbles commercials, animated by Rick Reinert, broadcast during commercial breaks. These were Reinert's latest works, his last was Cupcake Pebbles commercial in 2010, before quietly quit working for advertisements after Post got sued for plagiarism against Hulk Hogan.

Awards

Films released

Television series debuts

DateTitleChannelYear
January 3Huntik: Secrets & SeekersTheCW4Kids, Nicktoons, Rai2009–2011
January 23Wolverine and the X-MenNicktoons2009
January 26OliviaNick Jr., Channel 52009–2013
February 7RollBotsTheCW4Kids2009
February 13Jimmy Two-ShoesDisney XD, Teletoon2009–2011
March 5League of Super EvilYTV2009–2012
March 15The Amazing Spiez!TF1, Teletoon, Disney Channel Asia2009–2012
April 4Special Agent OsoPlayhouse Disney2009–2012
April 6Timmy TimeCBeebies2009–2012
April 19Sit Down, Shut UpFox2009
April 20FishtronautDiscovery Kids (Latin America)2009–2015
April 24Iron Man: Armored AdventuresNicktoons, France 2, France 42009–2012
May 9Pokémon: DP Galactic BattlesCartoon Network2009–2010
June 15DJ & the FroMTV2009
July 16StokedTeletoon2009–2013
August 17Glenn Martin, DDSNick at Nite2009–2011
August 29Hot Wheels Battle Force 5Cartoon Network, Teletoon2009–2011
September 7Dinosaur TrainPBS Kids2009–2020
September 12Angelina Ballerina: The Next StepsPBS Kids2009–2010
September 17ArcherFX, FXX2009–2023
September 19Noonbory and the Super SevenCookie Jar TV, EBS2009
September 19PearlieYTV, Network Ten2009–2011
September 27The Cleveland ShowFox2009–2013
September 27PopzillaMTV2009
September 27Titan MaximumAdult Swim2009
October 5Casper's Scare SchoolCartoon Network2009–2012
October 5Jungle JunctionPlayhouse Disney2009–2012
October 12Fanboy & Chum ChumNickelodeon2009–2012
October 26Have a Laugh!Disney Channel2009–2012
November 2The Garfield ShowCartoon Network2009–2016
November 9Guess with JessQubo2009–2013
November 9Johnny TestCartoon Network2009–2014

Births

February

February 22: Archie Yates, English child actor.

June

June 4: Antonio Raul Corbo, American child actor.

July

July 18: Jahzir Bruno, American child actor.

October

October 8: Gordon Cormier, Canadian actor.

November

November 5: Trinity Bliss, American actress.November 10: Christian Convery, American-Canadian child actor.

Deaths

January

January 13: Patrick McGoohan, Irish-American actor, director, screenwriter and producer, dies at age 80.January 14: Ricardo Montalbán, Mexican actor, dies at age 88.January 23: Hisayuki Toriumi, Japanese animator, and film director and producer, screenwriter and novelist, dies at age 67.January 27: John Updike, American novelist, poet, short-story writer, art critic and literary critic, dies from lung cancer at age 76.

February

February 4: Lux Interior, American singer, dies from aortic dissection at age 62.February 5: Albert Barillé, Polish-French animator, screenwriter and film producer, dies at age 88.February 7: Blossom Dearie, American jazz singer and pianist, dies at age 84.February 13: Johnny Hawksworth, English musician and composer, dies at age 85.

March

March 10: Jack Grimes, American actor, dies at age 82.March 14: Millard Kaufman, American screenwriter, dies at age 92.March 16: Jack Lawrence, American songwriter, dies at age 96.

April

April 25: Bea Arthur, American actress and comedian, dies from lung cancer at age 86.

May

May 4: Dom DeLuise, American actor, dies at age 75.May 6: Vincent Davis, Australian-American animator, storyboard artist, character designer, lip sync artist, sheet timer, art director, production designer, writer, director and producer, dies at age 65.May 7: Linda Dangcil, American actress, dies from throat cancer at age 67.May 19: Wayne Allwine, American actor, dies at age 62.May 21: Joan Alexander, American actress, dies at age 94.

June

June 3:

July

July 6: Alfons Figueras, Spanish animator and comics artist, dies at age 86.July 14: Dallas McKennon, American voice actor, dies at age 89.July 17: Walter Cronkite, American broadcast journalist, dies from cerebrovascular disease at age 92.July 21:
  • * Heinz Edelmann, German graphic designer, illustrator, animator, cartoonist and comics artist, dies from heart disease at age 75.
  • * Yoshinori Kanada, Japanese animator, dies from a heart attack at age 57.July 22: John Ryan, English comics artist and animator, dies at age 88.

August

August 15: Virginia Davis, American actress, dies at age 90.August 25: Ted Kennedy, American lawyer and politician, dies from brain cancer at age 77.

September

September 2: Tibor Kristóf, Hungarian actor, dies at age 67.September 11: Yoshito Usui, Japanese manga artist, dies in a mountain climbing accident at age 51.September 14:
  • * Henry Gibson, American actor, dies at age 73.
  • * Patrick Swayze, American actor, dancer, choreographer, singer, songwriter and film producer, dies from pancreatic cancer at age 57.September 24: Robert Sahakyants, Armenian animator and film director, dies at age 59.

October

October 14: Lou Albano, Italian-American wrestler and actor, dies from a heart attack at age 76.October 20:
  • * Attila Dargay, Hungarian animator, film director and comics artist, dies at age 82.
  • * Sultan Pepper, American television writer, dies at age 47.October 22: Soupy Sales, American comedian, actor, radio/television personality and jazz aficionado, dies from cancer at age 83.

November

November 3: Carl Ballantine, American magician, comedian, and actor, dies at age 92.

December

December 16: Roy E. Disney, American businessman, dies from stomach cancer at age 79.
  • December 20:
  • * Arnold Stang, American actor dies at age 91.
  • * Brittany Murphy, American actress and singer, dies at age 32.
  • December 30: Dana Landsberg, American animator, writer and designer, dies at age 45.