2003 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
February
March
April
May
- Unknown date of May: Happy Tree Friends Volume 2 - Second Serving was theatrically released for first time with episodes 16 to 27 of the Internet Season 1, and episodes 1 to 5 of Season 2.
- May 7: Ray Harryhausen receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
- May 18:
- During the Cannes Film Festival ', a Japanese-French animated feature film directed by Daisuke Nishio, Hirotoshi Rissen, Kazuhisa Takenouchi and Leiji Matsumoto, set to a soundtrack by Daft Punk, is released.
- King of the Hill concludes its seventh season on Fox with the following episodes:
- "Maid in Arlen", guest starring Amy Hill. Was watched by over 4.8 million viewers.
- "The Witches of East Arlen", guest starring David Cross. Was watched by over 7 million viewers.
- The Simpsons concludes its 14th season on Fox with the following episodes:
- "The Bart of War"; Was watched by exactly 12.1 million viewers.
- "Moe Baby Blues", guest starring Joe Mantegna. Was watched by over 13.4 million viewers.
- May 25: Season 2 of Aqua Teen Hunger Force begins on Adult Swim with the premiere of the episode "Super Birthday Snake".
- May 30: The Walt Disney Company & Pixar release Finding Nemo, directed by Andrew Stanton.
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Specific date unknown
Awards
Films released
Television series debuts
Television series endings
Television season premieres
Television season finales
Births
January
February
April
May
June
July
August
September
- September 3: Jack Dylan Grazer, American actor (voice of Alberto Scorfano in Luca, Barney Pudowski in Ron's Gone Wrong).
- September 5: Philip Solomon, American actor (voice of Craig Williams in Craig of the Creek).
- September 8: Nicolas Cantu, American actor (voice of Rowan Freemaker in ', James in Sofia the First, Dak in ', Paco in Future-Worm!, Leonardo in ', B.O.Y.D. in the DuckTales episode "Happy Birthday, Doofus Drake!", continued voice of Gumball Watterson in The Amazing World of Gumball).
- September 17: Brianna Denski, American actress (voice of June Bailey in Wonder Park).
- September 30:
- Bella Ramsey, English actor (voice of the title character in Hilda, Princess Gizana in Princess Emmy, Molly in ', young Ramona in the Summer Camp Island episode "Ghost Baby Jabberwock").
- Lyric Ross, American actress (voice of Kat Elliot in Wendell & Wild).
Deaths
January
February
- February 24: Imogene Lynn, American singer (singing voice of Red in Tex Avery's cartoons), dies at age 80.
- February 27: Fred Rogers, American television host, author, producer and minister (voiced himself in the Arthur episode "Arthur Meets Mister Rogers"), dies from stomach cancer at age 74.
March
- March 9: Stan Brakhage, American film director and animator (Mothlight), dies at age 70.
- March 12:
- Lynne Thigpen, American actress (voice of Luna in Bear in the Big Blue House, Judge in the King of the Hill episode "Hank's Dirty Laundry"), dies from cerebral hemorrhage at age 54.
- Branco Karabajic, Croatian comic book artist and animator (worked on Veliki Mitting), dies at age 77.
- Thomas Warkentin, American comic book artist, comic book writer and animator (Filmation, Warner Bros. Animation), dies at age 67.
- March 23: Nelda Ridley, American animation checker (Bakshi Animation, Hanna-Barbera, Cartoon Network Studios), dies at age 65.
- March 28: Bob Matz, American animator (Warner Bros. Cartoons, DePatie-Freleng, Peanuts specials), dies at age 90.
- March 30: Michael Jeter, American actor (voice of Smokey and Steamer in The Polar Express, Biederman in The Wild Thornberrys, William Blay in the Duckman episode "Ajax & Ajaxer", Runta in the Aladdin episode "Stinker Belle"), dies at age 50.
April
- April 15: Maurice Rapf, American screenwriter (Walt Disney Animation Studios, Gnomes), dies at age 88.
- April 16: David Brown, American businessman (co-founder of Blue Sky Studios), dies at age 64.
- April 20: Johnny Douglas, English composer (Marvel Productions), dies at age 82.
- April 24: Gary Sperling, American television writer (Disney Television Animation), dies at age 45.
- April 30: Lionel Wilson, American actor (voiced all characters in Tom Terrific, Vincent van Gopher and Possible Possum in Deputy Dawg, Eustace Bagge in Courage the Cowardly Dog), dies at age 79.
May
- May 11: Joe Denton, American background artist (Ghostbusters, ', Warner Bros. Animation) and storyboard artist (Camp Candy, Warner Bros. Animation, Jumanji, ', Family Guy), dies at age 65.
- May 14:
- Dante Quinterno, Argentine animator, comics artist, and publisher, created the first animated color film of Latin America (Upa en apuros), dies at age 93.
- Robert Stack, American actor (voice of Ultra Magnus in ', ATF Agent Fleming in Beavis and Butt-Head Do America, Bob the Narrator in Hercules, Superintendent in ', Stoat Muldoon in Butt-Ugly Martians, General in the Recess episode "A Genius Among Us", Narrator in The Angry Beavers episode "Home Loners", Reynolds Penland in the King of the Hill episode "The Trouble with Gribbles", Gordon/The Silver Shield in the Teamo Supremo episode "The Grandfather Show"), dies from heart failure at age 84.
- May 27: Dave Monahan, American screenwriter (Warner Bros. Cartoons), dies at age 85.
June
July
- July 4: Barry White, American singer and songwriter (voice of Samson and Brother Bear in Coonskin, himself in The Simpsons episodes "Whacking Day" and "Krusty Gets Kancelled"), dies from cardiac arrest at age 58.
- July 24: Irving Dressler, American animator and comics artist (Fleischer Studios, Famous Studios, Hal Seeger), dies at age 90.
- July 27: Bob Hope, English-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer (voiced himself in The Simpsons episode "Lisa the Beauty Queen"), dies from pneumonia at age 100.
- July 31: Guido Crepax, Italian comics artist and animator, dies at age 70.
August
September
- September 6:
- Jules Engel, American sculptor, graphic artist, set designer, animator, film director (Walt Disney Animation Studios, Charles Mintz Studios, UPA) and founder of the Experimental Animation Program at CalArts, dies at age 94.
- Harry Goz, American actor (voice of Mayor Huffenmeier in Buster & Chauncey's Silent Night, Captain Hazel "Hank" Murphy in Sealab 2021), dies from multiple myeloma at age 71.
- September 8: Jaclyn Linetsky, Canadian actress (voice of the title character in Caillou, Meg in Mega Babies, second voice of Lori in What's with Andy?), dies in a car accident at age 17.
- September 11: John Ritter, American actor (voice of Peter Dickinson in The Flight of Dragons, Inspector Gil in Fish Police, Eugene Grandy in King of the Hill, the title character in Clifford the Big Red Dog and Clifford's Really Big Movie, Great Uncle Stew in Stanley's Dinosaur Round-Up, Dr. David Wheeler in the Batman Beyond episode "The Last Resort"), dies at age 54.
- September 12: Johnny Cash, American country singer (voice of the Space Coyote in The Simpsons episode "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer (The Mysterious Voyage of Homer)"), dies at age 71.
- September 25: George Plimpton, American journalist, writer, literary editor, actor and occasional amateur sportsman (voiced himself in The Simpsons episode "I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can"), dies at age 76.
- September 29: Wesley Tuttle, American country singer (did the yodeling in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), dies at age 85.
- September 30: Edwin Gillette, American inventor, cameraman and animator (Cambria Studios, inventor of the Syncro-Vox technique), dies at age 94.
October
- October 3: Florence Stanley, American actress (voice of Mrs. Packard in ' and ', Waitress in A Goofy Movie), dies from a stroke at age 79.
- October 16: Carl Urbano, American animator and director (A Is for Atom, Hanna-Barbera), dies at age 92.
- October 26: Ted C. Bemiller, American animation checker, camera operator (Crusader Rabbit, Hanna-Barbera, The Beatles, MGM Animation/Visual Arts, Filmation, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Simpsons, Looney Tunes), cinematographer (Fritz the Cat) and production manager (Garfield and Friends), dies at age 79.
- October 27: Rod Roddy, American radio and television announcer (voice of Mike the Microphone in House of Mouse, Johnny in the Garfield and Friends episode "Over the Rainbow"), dies from colon cancer at age 66.
November
- November 12:
- Kay E. Kuter, American actor (voice of Grimsby in The Little Mermaid, Santa Claus in Annabelle's Wish, Ego the Living Planet in the Fantastic Four episode "To Battle the Living Planet"), dies at age 78.
- Penny Singleton, American actress and labor leader (voice of Jane Jetson in The Jetsons), dies at age 95.
- Jonathan Brandis, American actor (voice of Mozenrath in Aladdin), dies at age 27.
- November 18: Michael Kamen, American composer, orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, songwriter and session musician (The Iron Giant), dies from a heart attack at age 55.
- November 30: Kin Platt, American caricaturist, radio writer, television writer, comics artist and animation writer (Walt Disney Animation, Hanna-Barbera, Terrytoons, Milton the Monster), dies at age 91.
December
- December 17: Alan Tilvern, English actor (portrayed R.K. Maroon in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, voice of Innkeeper in The Lord of the Rings), dies at age 85.
- December 19: Les Tremayne, English actor (voice of The Ghost of Christmas Present in Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol, Humbug in The Phantom Tollbooth, Chester C. Cricket and Harry Cat in The Cricket in Times Square, A Very Merry Cricket, and Yankee Doodle Cricket, Alexander Graham Wolf, and Santa Claus in Raggedy Ann and Andy in The Great Santa Claus Caper, the title character in Raggedy Ann and Andy in The Pumpkin Who Couldn't Smile, the Wishing Well in ', Orin in Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer, Arthur in ', Gustav in Tis the Season to Be Smurfy), dies at age 90.
- December 22: Wah Chang, Chinese-American designer, sculptor, animator and animation producer (Pinocchio, Bambi), dies at age 86.
- December 27: Pete Alvarado, American comics artist and animator (Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros. Cartoons, DePatie-Freleng, Republic Pictures, Hanna-Barbera, Ruby-Spears Productions, Filmation), dies at age 83.
- December 29: Bob Monkhouse, British actor and writer (voice of Mr. Hell in Aaagh! It's the Mr. Hell Show, Johnny Saveloy in Rex the Runt), dies at age 75.
- Specific date unknown: Oliver Passingham, British comics artist and animator, dies at age 78.
Specific date unknown
See also
References
External links