2018 in animation
2018 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 1: Unikitty! makes its official premiere on Cartoon Network.January 5: The 6th and final season of The Amazing World of Gumball begins on Cartoon Network, with the premiere of the episodes "The Rival/The Lady".January 7: The first episode of Pop Team Epic airs.January 14: Family GuyFebruary
February 3: 45th Annie Awards.February 23:- * Disney Channel greenlights two new serialized animated shows for its network, Amphibia & The Owl House.
- * The upcoming 4th season of Star vs. the Forces of Evil was announced to be also airing on Disney Channel & not just Disney XD.February 26: The first episode of Final Space airs.
March
March 3: 38th Golden Raspberry Awards- * Sony Pictures Animation's The Emoji Movie wins a record four Razzie awards, including Worst Picture, becoming the first animated film to win it.March 4: 90th Academy Awards:
- * Dear Basketball by Glen Keane wins the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.
- * Coco by Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar wins the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and Academy Award for Best Original Song.
- March 19: Season 2 of OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes begins its second season on Cartoon Network with the episodes "Hope This Flies" and "The Perfect Meal". Both episodes were seen by a total of 66 thousand viewers thousand viewers that night.
- March 26: The upcoming Disney XD series Big City Greens was announced to instead be premiering on Disney Channel this summer.March 29: John Kricfalusi is accused by animators Robyn Byrd and Katie Rice of having sexually harassed and groomed them when they were underage.March 30: Craig of the Creek makes its premiere on Cartoon Network.
April
April 6: OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes conMay
May 11: John Kricfalusi issues a personal explanation and apology about the sexual assault allegations against him, though he denies some of the claims.May 17: The upcoming Disney Channel animated series Big City Greens gets renewed for a second season, just a month before the show made its premiere.May 20:- * The Simpsons concludes its 29th season on Fox with the episode "Flanders' Ladder", Jackie Mason returns as Krusty's deceased father, Rabbi Hyman Krustofsky. The season's finale was seen by exactly 2.1 million viewers that night.
- * Family Guy concludes its 16th season on Fox with the episode "Are You There God? Its Me, Peter". The season's finale was seen by over 1.8 million viewers that night.
- * Bob's Burgers concludes its eighth season on Fox with its 150th episode "Something Old, Something New, Something Bob Caters for You". The season's finale was seen by over 1.6 million viewers that night.
June
June 3: The first episode of Fancy Nancy airs.June 11: Nina Paley's animated feature film Seder-Masochism premiers, which analyses the Book of Exodus and evolution of Judaism as a patriarchal religion.June 18: The first episode of Big City Greens premieres on Disney Channel.June 25: Teen Titans Go! concludes its fourth season on Cartoon Network with the episodes "Mo' Money Mo' Problems" & "TV Knight 3" and then begins its fifth season the same day with the episodes "The Scoop!" & "Chicken in the Cradle".June 29:- * Production companies permanently ceased making direct-to-video sequels based on theatrical canon films due to harmed sales as subsequent sequels will be released theatrically and for digital streaming.
- * Harvey Girls Forever! premiered on Netflix.
July
July 7: The first episode of Summer Camp Island airs.July 8: Incredibles 2 surpasses Finding Dory as the highest-grossing animated film in the United States and Canada, with a domestic box-office gross of $500 million.July 20: The first episode of Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles airs.August
August 17: The first episode of Disenchantment airs on Netflix.August 23: The first episode of Wolfoo airs on YouTube.September
September 1: Total DramaRama premiered on Cartoon Network.September 3: Adventure Time airs its final episode on Cartoon Network, after an 8-year run.September 7: Kevin R. Adams and Joe Ksander's Next Gen premiers and becomes the first full-length animated feature film to be released exclusively on Netflix.September 14: Season 5 of BoJack Horseman premiered on Netflix.September 21: The first episode of Hilda airs on Netflix.September 26: Season 22 of South Park begins on Comedy Central with the premiere of the episode "Dead Kids".September 30:- * Season 30 of The Simpsons begins on Fox with the premiere of the episode "Bart's Not Dead", which features the following guest stars: Dave Attell, Emily Deschanel, Gal Gadot, Jonathan Groff, and Pete Holmes. The season's premiere was seen by over 3.2 million viewers that night.
- * Season 9 of Bob's Burgers begins on Fox with the premiere of the episode "Just One of the Boyz 4 Now for Now", which features the following guest stars: Max Greenfield, Rory O'Malley, Josh Gad, Andrew Rannells, and Daveed Diggs. The season's premiere was seen by over 2.4 million viewers that night.
- * Season 17 of Family Guy begins on Fox with the premiere of the episode "Married... with Cancer", Casey Wilson guest stars as Brian's temporary fiancé Jess. The season's premiere was seen by over 2.5 million viewers that night.
October
October 1: The first episode of Bluey premieres on ABC Kids in Australia to universal critical acclaim.October 5: Season 2 of Big Mouth premiered on Netflix.October 7: The Family Guy episode "Dead Dog Walking" premieres on Fox, the episode follows up from the events from Married... with Cancer". The episode was seen by nearly 2.7 million viewers that night.October 19: The rest of the first season of Hilda airs on Netflix.October 26: Film producer Adi Shankar states in an interview with IndieWire that he heard that the character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon will leave The Simpsons following controversy over him potentially being a negative and racially offensive stereotype.October 29: The Simpsons executive producer Al Jean states that Adi Shankar "does not speak for our show".November
November 9: Illumination's The Grinch premieres, receiving mixed to poor attention due to the lack of the original source material.November 13: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is released on Netflix.November 21:- * Ralph Breaks the Internet is released, being the first theatrical Walt Disney Animation Studios sequel since The Jungle Book 2 in 2003, which had since denied subsequent theatrical sequels for 15 years.
- * Let's Go Luna airs its first episode on PBS Kids.
- November 30: Season 3 of F Is for Family premiered on Netflix.
December
December 12:- * Cinderella and Hair Piece: A Film for Nappyheaded People are added to the National Film Registry.
- * South Park concludes its 22nd season on Comedy Central with the episode "Bike Parade". It was seen by only 83 hundred thousand viewers that night, marking another low in the show's viewership premieres.December 14: Sony Pictures Animation's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is released.
Awards
- Academy Award for Best Animated Feature: Coco
- Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film: Dear Basketball
- American Cinema Editors Award for Best Edited Animated Feature Film: Coco
- Annecy International Animated Film Festival Cristal du long métrage: Funan
- Annie Award for Best Animated Feature: Coco
- Annie Award for Best Animated Feature — Independent: Mirai
- Asia Pacific Screen Award for Best Animated Feature Film: Rezo
- BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
- César Award for Best Animated Film: Dilili in Paris
- Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Animated Film: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
- Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Animated Feature: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
- Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Animated Film: Isle of Dogs
- European Film Award for Best Animated Feature Film: Another Day of Life
- Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Animated Film: Mirai
- Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
- Golden Reel Award for Animated Feature Film: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
- Goya Award for Best Animated Film: Another Day of Life
- Hollywood Animation Award: Incredibles 2
- Japan Academy Film Prize for Animation of the Year: The Night Is Short, Walk On Girl
- Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Animated Movie: Incredibles 2
- Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Animated Film: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
- Mainichi Film Award for Best Animation Film: Okko's Inn
- National Board of Review Award for Best Animated Film: Incredibles 2
- New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Animated Film: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
- Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Animated Film: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
- Producers Guild of America Award for Best Animated Motion Picture: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
- San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Animated Film: Isle of Dogs
- San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best Animated Feature: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
- Satellite Award for Best Animated or Mixed Media Feature: Isle of Dogs
- Saturn Award for Best Animated Film: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse ''''
- St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Animated Film: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
- Tokyo Anime Award: In This Corner of the World and Kemono Friends
- Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Animated Film: Isle of Dogs
- Visual Effects Society Award for Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
- Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Animated Feature: ''Isle of Dogs''
Television series debuts
| Date | Title | Channel | Year |
| January 7 | Cleo & Cuquin | Clan | 2018 |
| January 14 | Hot Streets | Adult Swim | 2018–2019 |
| January 15 | The Adventures of Kid Danger | Nickelodeon | 2018 |
| January 19 | Trolls: The Beat Goes On! | Netflix | 2018–2019 |
| January 19 | Constantine: City of Demons | CW Seed | 2018–2019 |
| January 26 | Llama Llama | Netflix | 2018–2019 |
| February 11 | Our Cartoon President | Showtime | 2018–2020 |
| February 19 | Pinkalicious & Peterrific | PBS Kids | 2018–present |
| February 23 | Apple & Onion | Cartoon Network | 2018–2021 |
| February 26 | Final Space | TBS, Adult Swim | 2018–2021 |
| March 2 | B: The Beginning | Netflix | 2018–present |
| March 23 | Muppet Babies | Disney Junior | 2018–2022 |
| March 24 | Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – Ultra Adventures | Disney XD | 2018–2019 |
| March 30 | Craig of the Creek | Cartoon Network | 2018–2025 |
| April 6 | The Boss Baby: Back in Business | Netflix | 2018–2020 |
| April 8 | Ballmastrz: 9009 | Adult Swim | 2018–2020 |
| April 14 | Littlest Pet Shop: A World of Our Own | Discovery Family | 2018–2019 |
| April 20 | Spy Kids: Mission Critical | Netflix | 2018 |
| April 26 | Little Big Awesome | Amazon Prime Video | 2018 |
| May 11 | The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle | Amazon Prime Video | 2018–2019 |
| June 1 | Subway Surfers: The Animated Series | YouTube | 2018–present |
| June 8 | The Hollow | Netflix | 2018–2020 |
| June 18 | Big City Greens | Disney Channel | 2018–present |
| June 29 | Harvey Girls Forever! | Netflix | 2018–2020 |
| July 1 | Pop Team Epic | Adult Swim | 2018 |
| July 1 | Polly Pocket | Universal Kids | 2018–2022 |
| July 7 | Summer Camp Island | Cartoon Network, HBO Max | 2018–2023 |
| July 13 | Fancy Nancy | Disney Junior | 2018–2022 |
| July 13 | The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants | Netflix | 2018–2020 |
| July 20 | Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | Nickelodeon, Nicktoons | 2018–2020 |
| July 27 | Cupcake & Dino: General Services | Netflix | 2018–2019 |
| August 5 | Mega Man: Fully Charged | Cartoon Network | 2018–2019 |
| August 17 | Disenchantment | Netflix | 2018–2023 |
| August 18 | Esme & Roy | HBO/Treehouse TV | 2018–2021 |
| August 21 | 16 Hudson | TVOkids | 2018–present |
| September 1 | Total DramaRama | Cartoon Network | 2018–2023 |
| September 1 | Transformers: Cyberverse | Cartoon Network | 2018–2020 |
| September 14 | The Dragon Prince | Netflix | 2018–2024 |
| September 16 | Human Kind Of | Facebook Watch | 2018 |
| September 21 | Hilda | Netflix | 2018–2023 |
| September 21 | Pete the Cat | Amazon Prime Video | 2018–2022 |
| October 1 | Bluey | ABC Kids | 2018–present |
| October 7 | Star Wars Resistance | Disney Channel | 2018–2020 |
| October 18 | Robozuna | Netflix | 2018–2020 |
| October 18 | Liverspots and Astronots | Facebook Watch | 2018 |
| November 5 | Rainbow Rangers | Nick Jr. | 2018–2022 |
| November 9 | Super Drags | Netflix | 2018 |
| November 12 | Butterbean's Cafe | Nick Jr. | 2018–2020 |
| November 13 | She-Ra and the Princesses of Power | Netflix | 2018–2020 |
| November 16 | Kung Fu Panda: The Paws of Destiny | Amazon Prime Video | 2018–2019 |
| November 20 | Motown Magic | Netflix | 2018–2019 |
| November 21 | Let's Go Luna! | PBS Kids | 2018–2022 |
| December 9 | The Shivering Truth | Adult Swim | 2018–2020 |
| December 11 | 44 Cats | Nick Jr. | 2018–2021 |
| December 21 | 3Below: Tales of Arcadia | Netflix | 2018–2019 |
| December 22 | Watership Down | Netflix | 2018 |
| December 23 | Bakugan: Battle Planet | Cartoon Network, Teletoon | 2018–present |
| December 31 | Abby Hatcher | Nick Jr. | 2018–2022 |
Deaths
January
January 2: Frank Buxton, American actor, dies at age 87.January 7: Doug Young, American actor, dies at age 98.January 27: Jim McLean, American animator and storyboard artist, dies at age 67.January 28:- * Cav Bøgelund, Danish animator and comics artist, drowns at age 39 in mysterious circumstances.January 31: Ann Gillis, American actress, dies at age 90.
February
February 2: Servais Tiago, Portuguese comics artist and animator, dies at age 92.February 4: John Mahoney, English-American actor, dies at age 77.February 9: Reg E. Cathey, American actor, dies at age 59.February 10: Ginger Tam, American musician, dies at age 56.February 24: Bud Luckey, American animator, composer and actor, dies at age 83.February 26: Benjamin Melniker, American film and television producer, dies at age 104.February 27: Bill Lignante, American comics artist, courtroom sketch artist and animator, dies at age 91.March
March 1: Pete Henderson, American comedian, dies at age 79.March 3: David Ogden Stiers, American actor, dies at age 75.March 14: Stephen Hawking, English theoretical physicist, cosmologist and author, dies from ALS at age 76.March 15: Robert Grossman, American painter, caricaturist, sculptor, filmmaker, poster designer, comics artist, cartoonist and animator, dies at age 78.March 17: Mike MacDonald, French-born Canadian actor and comedian, dies from heart complications at age 63.April
April 4: Soon-Tek Oh, Korean actor, dies at age 85.April 5: Isao Takahata, Japanese animator, film director and producer, dies at age 82.April 8: Chuck McCann, American actor, comedian, puppeteer, and television host, dies at age 83.April 12: Giuliano Cenci, Italian film director, dies at age 86.April 15: R. Lee Ermey, American actor and Marine drill instructor, dies from pneumonia at age 74.April 17: Carl Kasell, American radio personality, dies from alzheimer's disease at age 84.April 23:- * Bob Dorough, American jazz musician, songwriter and composer, dies at age 94.
- * Arthur B. Rubinstein, American composer, dies from cancer at age 80.April 24: Susan Shadburne, American screenwriter, director, producer, and filmmaker, dies at age 75.
May
May 7:- * Miki Muster, Slovenian sculptor, illustrator, comics artist and animator, dies at age 92.
- * Søren Hyldgaard, Danish film composer, dies at age 55.May 11: Zlatko Bourek, Croatian animated film director, screenwriter, production designer and cartoonist, dies at age 88.May 13: Margot Kidder, Canadian-American actress, dies at age 69.May 14: Tom Wolfe, American author and journalist, dies at age 88.May 16: Joseph Campanella, American actor, dies at age 93.May 17: Jerry Richardson, American animator, storyboard artist, background artist, prop designer and art director, dies at age 53.May 18: Fred Peters, American animator and comics artist, dies at age 95.May 21: Clint Walker, American actor and singer, dies at age 90.
June
June 1: William Edward Phipps, American actor, dies at age 96.June 2: Nick Meglin, American comics writer, theatre lyricist and animation scriptwriter, dies from a heart attack at age 82.June 8: Anthony Bourdain, American celebrity chef, author and travel documentarian, commits suicide at age 61.June 11: Rumen Petkov, Bulgarian animator, comics artist and director, dies at age 70.June 14: José Castillo, Venezuelan animator, dies at age 94.June 28:- * Denis Akiyama, Japanese-Canadian actor, dies from cancer at age 66.
- * Harlan Ellison, American screenwriter, dies at age 84.June 29: Eugene Pitt, American musician, dies at age 80.
July
July 1: Peter Firmin, English animator, puppeteer and illustrator, co-founder of Smallfilms, dies at age 89.July 4: Darrell McNeil, American animator, writer, editor, publisher, producer and actor, dies at age 60.July 10: Lolee Aries, American television producer and production manager, dies from complications of lymphoma at age 61.July 19:- * Claude Viseur, A.K.A. Clovis, Belgian comic artist and animator, dies at age 72.
- * Jon Schnepp, American animator and television director, dies from a stroke at age 51.July 20: Carlos Vogt, Argentine comic artist and animator, dies at age 85.July 21: Elmarie Wendel, American actress and singer, dies at age 89.July 25: Patrick Williams, American composer, arranger and conductor, dies from cancer at age 79.
August
August 5:- *Charlotte Rae, American actress, comedienne and singer, dies at age 92.
- *David Landsberg, American actor, dies at age 73.August 13: Unsho Ishizuka, Japanese voice actor, dies at age 67.August 15: Kunihiro Abe, Japanese animator, dies at age 59 or 60.August 20: Brian Murray, South African actor and theatre director, dies at age 80.August 21: Stefán Karl Stefánsson, Icelandic actor and singer, dies from bile duct cancer at age 43.August 23: Russ Heath, American comic book artist and animator, dies at age 91 from cancer.August 24: Robin Leach, English entertainment reporter and writer, dies from a stroke at age 76.August 25: Miyoko Asō, Japanese actress, dies from dementia at age 92.August 31: Carole Shelley, English actress, dies at age 79.
September
September 6: Burt Reynolds, American actor, dies at age 82.October
October 4:- * Will Vinton, American animator and film director, dies at age 70.
- * Audrey Wells, American producer, director and screenwriter, dies from cancer at age 58.October 7:
- * Gibba, Italian animator and comics artist, dies at age 93.
- * Michel Lyman, American animator, storyboard artist, sheet timer, lip sync artist, animatic editor, production manager, producer and director, dies at age 67.October 9: Adam Burke, American animator, dies at age 47.October 15: Domingo Rivera, American animator and clean-up artist, dies at an unknown age.October 17: Robert J. Walsh, American composer, dies at age 70.October 27: Stephen Sustarsic, American television producer and writer, dies at age 62.October 30: David Cherkassky, Soviet and Ukrainian animated film director and screenwriter, dies at age 87.