2007 in animation is an overview of notable events, including notable awards, list of films released, television show debuts and endings, and notable deaths.
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Events
January January 4: American activist and animator Helen Hill is murdered by an unidentified intruder in her home. January 8: Qubo launches as a 24/7 channel. January 28: Season 11 of King of the Hill begins on Fox with the premiere of the episode "The Peggy Horror Picture Show". The season's premiere was seen by over 7.2 million viewers that night."Weekly Program Rankings (Jan. 22-28, 2007)". ABC Medianet. January 30, 2007. Archived from the original on December 21, 2008. Retrieved June 12, 2023. January 31: The Boston bomb scare occurs and the U.S. Coast Guard and Boston Police shut down parts of Interstate 93, two bridges, and a section of the Charles River after the discovery of suspicious devices placed around the city. However, said devices turned out to be not bombs but rather marketing tools for Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters.
February February 10: The final episode of Catscratch airs. Nickelodeon ceased reruns of the show without public explanation, putting it in obscurity ever since. February 18: Season 4 of Camp Lazlo begins on Cartoon Network with the premiere of the TV movie "Where's Lazlo?". February 19: Season 5 of SpongeBob SquarePants begins on Nickelodeon with the premiere of the episodes "Rise and Shine/Waiting" and "Sing a Song of Patrick". The season's premiere brought in a total of over 5 million viewers that night."Cable Series by Total Households: week of 02/19/07-02/25/07". Zap2it. Tribune Media Services. Archived from the original on March 7, 2007. Retrieved March 24, 2014. February 23: After nearly 8 years, Cartoon Network officially ends its Fridays block. Camp Lazlo concludes its third season on Cartoon Network with the episodes "Scoop of the Century/Boxing Edward". February 25: 79th Academy Awards: Happy Feet by George Miller wins the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. The Danish Poet by Torill Kove wins the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.
March March 5: The first episode of Shaun the Sheep airs. March 7: Season 11 of South Park begins on Comedy Central with the premiere of the episode "With Apologies to Jesse Jackson", where Randy Marsh says the "N-word" uncensored.White, Keith (March 15, 2007). "Worst Cable Content of the Week – South Park and the Sarah Silverman Program on Comedy Central". Parents Television Council. Archived from the original on March 15, 2007. Retrieved July 3, 2007. March 15: Alan Becker releases "Animator vs Animation II" on Newgrounds March 25: Aqua Teen Hunger Force concludes its fourth season on Adult Swim with the episode "Carl Wash". An unfinished version of this episode secretly premiered on December 22, 2006. March 30: The film Meet the Robinsons, co-produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, is released. The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy TV-movie "Billy & Mandy's Big Boogey Adventure" premieres on Cartoon Network.
April April 13: Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters releases in theaters with mixed to highly-polarized reviews from critics."Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Archived from the original on August 5, 2015. Retrieved March 31, 2026."Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters (2007)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on October 11, 2016. Retrieved March 31, 2026. April 20: The second season of Shorty McShorts' Shorts airs on Disney Channel. It only had a limited run before its conclusion. April 28: The Ed, Edd n Eddy half-hour special "A Fistful of Ed" premieres on Cartoon Network. This episode was falsely advertised as the final episode of the series.
May May 4: Season 5 of Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends begins on Cartoon Network with the premiere of the episode "Cheese a Go-Go"."Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Season 5 on iTunes". iTunes. Apple Inc. Retrieved December 15, 2015. It is the first part of the Cartoon Network crossover event titled Invaded. May 5: Tom and Jerry Tales concludes its first season on the Kids' WB block on The CW with the episodes "Piranha Be Loved by You/Spook House Mouse/Abracadumb". May 6: Shrek the Third is released by DreamWorks. It was deemed controversial for some of its adult situations inserted in a children's film and plagiarism regarding a joke used from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. May 11: Ed, Edd n Eddy concludes its fifth season on Cartoon Network with the half-hour special "The Eds are Coming, the Eds are Coming". This is the second part of the Cartoon Network crossover event titled Invaded. May 12: Johnny Test concludes its second season on the Kids' WB block on The CW with the episodes "The Good, the Bad & the Johnny/Rock-A-Bye Johnny". May 20:"Weekly Program Rankings (May 14–20, 2007)". ABC Medianet. May 30, 2007. Archived from the original on May 28, 2010. Retrieved June 12, 2023. King of the Hill concludes its 11th season on Fox with the following episodes: "Bill, Bulk and the Body Buddies" (was watched by over 4 million viewers that night) "Lucky's Wedding Suit" (was watched by over 5.2 million viewers that night) The Simpsons concludes its 18th season on Fox with the following episodes: "24 Minutes" "You Kent Always Say What You Want" (400th episode) Both episodes were watched by over 9.9 million viewers that night. Family Guy concludes its fifth season on Fox with the episode "Meet the Quagmires". The episode was watched by over 9.1 million viewers that night. This was the final episode to have been directed by famed animator Dan Povenmire, as he left the show to go focus on production for his own series Phineas and Ferb (which aired its first episode three months later). Roger Smith from American Dad! makes a cameo at the end. American Dad! concludes its third season on Fox with the episode "Joint Custody". The episode was watched by over 7.6 million viewers that night. May 23: Vincent Paronnaud's Persepolis, based on Marjane Satrapi's eponymous graphic novel, is first released. May 29: Cartoon Network ended its "CN City/Yes!" era and began its "Summer 2007" era.
June June 8: Ash Brannon and Chris Buck's Surf's Up is first released. June 22: Ratatouille, produced by Pixar and the Walt Disney Company, is first released.
July July 8: The Total Drama series premieres on Teletoon with its first season series Total Drama Island. July 21: The Simpsons Movie is first released. It gained much notoriety during the release owing to Bart Simpson's depicted nudity. July 24: The SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Squid Wood" premieres on Nickelodeon, thus concluding the fourth season of the show.
August August 13: American-Canadian animator Paul Boyd was shot and killed after wielding a bicycle chain at officers who came to respond to a disturbance involving him. August 17: The first episode of Phineas and Ferb airs as a sneak peek, following after the world premiere of the Disney Channel Original Movie, High School Musical 2. They both hold the record for being the most watched programs on Disney Channel, with the Phineas and Ferb episode being watched by over 10 million viewers. August 24: The final episodes of Danny Phantom premiere on Nickelodeon."Danny Phantom episode guide". Epguides. Retrieved 8 March 2026.
September September 4: The Scooby-Doo direct-to-video film Chill Out, Scooby-Doo! releases on DVD.Mavis, Paul (September 15, 2007). "Chill Out Scooby-Doo! - Original Movie". DVD Talk. Archived from the original on February 28, 2022. Retrieved February 6, 2026. September 7: The Kim Possible series finale "Graduation" premieres on Disney Channel. September 14: Cartoon Network ended its "Summer 2007" era and began its "Fall" era. The first episode of Upin & Ipin The first episode of Out of Jimmy's Head airs on Cartoon Network, the continuation of Re-Animated. Due to the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike, only 20 episodes were produced. Cartoon Network consequently stopped airing the series on the channel and removed it from the website after its cancellation in 2008 as it met extremely negative reviews. September 21: The third & final season of Avatar: The Last Airbender begins on Nickelodeon with the premiere of the episode "The Awakening". September 22: Season 3 of Johnny Test begins on the Kids' WB block on The CW with the premiere of the episodes "Johnny vs. Bling-Bling 3/Stinkin' Johnny". The second & final season of Tom and Jerry Tales begins on the Kids' WB block on The CW with the premiere of the episodes "More Powers to You/Catch Me Though You Can't/Power Tom". September 23:"Weekly Program Rankings (Sept. 17-23, 2007)". ABC Medianet. September 25, 2007. Archived from the original on March 29, 2012. Retrieved June 10, 2023. Season 19 of The Simpsons begins on Fox with the premiere of the episode "He Loves to Fly and He D'ohs", which guest stars Stephen Colbert and Lionel Richie. The episode was seen by over 9.5 million viewers that night. Season 12 of King of the Hill begins on Fox with the premiere of the episode "Suite Smells of Excess". The episode was seen by over 7.8 million viewers that night. Season 6 of Family Guy begins on Fox with the premiere of the first episode in the Star Wars trilogy parody "Blue Harvest". The episode was seen by just over 10.8 million viewers that night. September 28: The Phineas and Ferb episode "Lawn Gnome Beach Party of Terror" premieres on Disney Channel as another sneak peek, which marks the debut of the major characters: Buford Van Stomm & Stacy Hirano. This was the last episode to air before the show's official premiere in February 2008. September 30: Family Guys 100th episode "Movin' Out (Brian's Song)" premieres on Fox, the episode featured a controversial gag about Quagmire r*ping Marge Simpson from The Simpsons and then shooting her & her entire family after Homer caught them having sex, this gag lead to the executives at Fox to order the crew members of the respective shows to stop feuding with each other.MacFarlane, Seth (executive producer). Family Guy: Volume Six: Commentary for "Movin' Out (Brian's Song)" (DVD). Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. Season 4 of American Dad! begins on Fox with the premiere of the episode "The Vacation Goo". The episode was seen by over 6 million viewers that night."Weekly Program Ratings". ABC. October 2, 2007. Archived from the original on May 1, 2011. Retrieved March 24, 2011.
October October 2: Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale releases on DVD. This was the final installment in the Tom and Jerry franchise to be produced by the cartoon's co-creator Joseph Barbera, due to his death from the previous year. October 18: The Three Robbers, based on a children's book by Tomi Ungerer, is released by Hayo Freitag. October 20: The live-action film with animated sequences Enchanted premiers. October 21: The horror anthology film Fear(s) of the Dark is first released, featured animated sequences by several well-known comics artists.
November November 2: The first episode of Chowder airs on Cartoon Network. Bee Movie by Simon J. Smith and Steve Hickner is first released. November 4: The Family Guy episode "Stewie Kills Lois" premieres on Fox; the episode features Stewie finally achieving his life-long dream of killing Lois once and for all, but the latter's revealed to still be alive at the end of the episode, thus leaving the show on a cliffhanger."Family Guy – Stewie Kills Lois – Yahoo! TV". Yahoo!. Archived from the original on October 17, 2012. Retrieved May 31, 2011. November 9: The final episode of The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy airs on Cartoon Network. November 11: The Codename Kids Next Door & The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy half-hour crossover special, "The Grim Adventures of the KND" premiered on Cartoon Network.