2003 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 1: Happy Tree Friends Volume 1 - First Blood renews its theatrical release, by adding its pilot (Banjo Frenzy) and the Special Popcorn episode (of Spin Fun Knowin' Ya) for the first time. January 7: The first episode of Little Robots is broadcast. January 9: The first episode of Bounty Hamster is broadcast. January 20: The Fairly OddParents concludes its second season on Nickelodeon with the half-hour special "Information Stupor Highway". The season's finale was seen by over 4.2 million viewers that night.Fitzgerald, Toni (February 5, 2003). "Fox's smart stage-mothering of 'Idol'". Media Life Magazine. Archived from the original on February 10, 2003. Retrieved March 11, 2016. January 21: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment initially releases 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure, directed by Jim Kammerud and Brian Smith.
February February 2: The Simpsons' 300th episode "The Strong Arms of the Ma" premieres on Fox, featuring the return of Pamela Reed as Ruth Powers, the former neighbor of The Simpsons. The episode was seen by over 15.3 million viewers that night."National Nielsen Viewership (Jan. 27-Feb. 2, 2003)". Los Angeles Times. February 5, 2003. Archived from the original on May 17, 2023. Retrieved June 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. February 8: The first episode of the reboot of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is broadcast. February 9: The first episode of Monkey Dust is broadcast. February 14: The Jungle Book 2, the sequel to the 1967 film, premieres. February 16: The first episode of The Venture Bros. is broadcast. February 20: Anime producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki is sentenced to two years and eight months in prison for the illegal possession of firearms, a case which happened in 1999. He is released on 9 December 2007. February 21: The first episode of Watch My Chops is broadcast. February 24: The first episode of The Save-Ums! is broadcast.
March March 4: Scooby-Doo! and the Legend of the Vampire, the fifth direct-to-video movie of Scooby-Doo, is released. March 5: The first episode of Odd Job Jack is broadcast. March 9: The Simpsons episode "Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington" premieres, in which Krusty the Clown becomes a Republican. It became controversial for satirizing Fox News's news ticker. March 11: The first two episodes of the reboot of Strawberry Shortcake are released on DVD and VHS. March 18: Charlotte's Web 2: Wilbur's Great Adventure is released. March 19: Season 7 of South Park begins on Comedy Central with the premiere of the episode "Cancelled". It was seen by over 2.3 million viewers that night.Comedy Central Ratings Report (March 17–23, 2003). Nielsen Media Research (Report). March 21: The Walt Disney Company releases Piglet's Big Movie, directed by Francis Glebas. The SpongeBob SquarePants half-hour lost episode special "The Sponge Who Could Fly" premieres on Nickelodeon. Its premiere was a cable-ratings success, reeling in a total of over 7.6 million viewers that night (and with it only being watched by 4.3 million viewers in household homes).Nickelodeon Ratings Report (March 17–23, 2003) (Report). Nielsen Media Research. March 23: 75th Academy Awards: Spirited Away, directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli, wins the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Miyazaki boycotts the event because of the U.S. involvement in the Iraq War and stays at home. The ChubbChubbs!, directed by Eric Armstrong and produced by Sony Pictures Imageworks, wins the Academy Award for Best Animated Short.
April April 6: The Futurama episode "The Why of Fry" premieres, guest starring actor and comedian Bob Odenkirk. It reveals that Fry's cryogenic freezing and arrival in the 31st century was not an accident, but a calculated plot by Nibbler to save the universe. April 7: Noggin was rebranded. Moose and Zee make their debuts. The first episode of the stop-motion version of Miffy and Friends is broadcast to critical acclaim. April 9: South Parks 100th episode "I'm a Little Bit Country" premieres on Comedy Central, Norman Lear guest stars as Benjamin Franklin. April 12: The first episode of the Rugrats spin-off, All Grown Up! is broadcast on Nickelodeon. before its regular run began on November 9, 2003.
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 Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem, 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:"National Nielsen Viewership (May 12–18, 2003)". Los Angeles Times. May 21, 2003. Retrieved June 12, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. "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 June 1: The Futurama episode "The Sting" premieres, in which a mission to collect space honey from deadly space bees leads to Fry's apparent death from bee stings. June 10: Larryboy: The Cartoon Adventures releases its final episode. June 11: Sylvain Chomet's The Triplettes of Belleville premiers. June 13: Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon release Rugrats Go Wild. It became a commercial failure and because of this, Nickelodeon ceased production on The Wild Thornberrys and Rugrats, but continue to focus on the spinoff series All Grown Up!. The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy spins off from Grim & Evil and into its own show on Cartoon Network. Despite being its own show now, episodes from the second season of Grim & Evil would air as part of the show. June 15: The Futurama episode "Three Hundred Big Boys" premieres, guest starring actress and comedian Roseanne Barr. June 25: Philippe Leclerc's The Rain Children premiers. June 26 – July 24: Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon", a darker-toned revival of The Ren & Stimpy Show, is broadcast. However, its negative reception caused it to be cancelled after only a few episodes.
July July 2: Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, the final traditionally animated DreamWorks film, premieres but becomes a massive flop which almost caused DreamWorks to shut down. July 11: The first episode of Spider-Man: The New Animated Series is broadcast. Evil Con Carne spins off from Grim & Evil and into its own show on Cartoon Network. Despite being its own show now, episodes from the second season of Grim & Evil would air as part of the show. Because of its mild viewership over its sister show The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, it was cancelled the following year. July 12: The Fairly OddParents' first TV movie "Abra-Catastrophe!" premieres on Nickelodeon. Its premiere was a cable-ratings success, reeling in a total of over 4 million viewers that night.Fitzgerald, Toni (July 23, 2003). "Gigli effect: Ben and J. Lo do 'Dateline'". Media Life Magazine. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved August 15, 2017. July 19: The first episode of Teen Titans is broadcast. It will become a cult classic. July 26: SpongeBob SquarePants concludes its second season on Nickelodeon with the premiere of the episode "Gary Takes a Bath". The episode originally premiered on Nicktoons on June 17, 2002."SpongeBob SquarePants - Episode List". Nickandmore!.com. 2006. Retrieved August 13, 2025.
August August 1: The first episode of My Life as a Teenage Robot premieres on Nickelodeon. August 10: Futurama was abruptly cancelled after four seasons on Fox. It would later have a revival on Comedy Central in 2010. August 23: The first episodes of Funky Cops and Duck Dodgers are broadcast. August 25: The first episode of Martin Morning is broadcast.
September Unknown date of September/October: Happy Tree Friends Volume 2 - Second Serving renews its theatrical release by adding episodes 6 and 7 of the Internet Season 2, Intimate Spotlight and the first Buddhist Monkey episode (Enter the Garden). September 1: The first episodes of Clifford's Puppy Days, The Koala Brothers, My Dad the Rock Star and Kid Paddle are broadcast. Alt URL September 2: The first episode of Rubbadubbers is broadcast. September 3: The first episodes of Code Lyoko and Chilly Beach are broadcast. September 5: The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius concludes its first season on Nickelodeon with the half-hour special "Sorry, Wrong Era". September 7: The first episode of Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks is broadcast. September 8: The first episode of Connie the Cow is broadcast. September 15: The first episode of The Secret World of Benjamin Bear is broadcast. September 16: The first episode of Auld Ones is broadcast. September 19: Season 2 of The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius begins on Nickelodeon with the premiere of the half-hour special "Beach Party Mummy". September 21: The first episode of Ratz is broadcast. September 28: The first episode of JoJo's Circus is broadcast. September 30: The Scooby-Doo direct-to-video film Scooby-Doo! and the Monster of Mexico releases on VHS and DVD."Scooby-Doo and the Monster of Mexico". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved February 6, 2026.
October October 1: The first episode of Martin Mystery is broadcast. The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy Halloween special "Billy & Mandy's Jacked-Up Halloween" premieres on Cartoon Network. This was the series finale to Billy & Mandy's parent series Grim & Evil, but a stand-alone episode related to Grim & Evil titled "Five O' Clock Shadows" premiered the following year. October 10: Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill: Volume 1 is released, which features an anime sequence, directed by Kazuto Nakazawa and produced by Production I.G.
November November 1: The Walt Disney Company releases Brother Bear, directed by Aaron Blaise and Robert Walker. It became Disney's unique animated film for being formatted in two different aspect ratios. While Disney was trying to "bring back" the G-rating for their cartoons regularly starting with Jungle Book 2 this February owing to the majority of releasing PG-rated cartoons last year, this was not a successful approach due to compromising character deaths in this film. The first episodes of Xiaolin Showdown, Kenny the Shark, and Tutenstein are broadcast. November 2:"National Nielsen Viewership (Oct. 27-Nov. 2, 2003)". Los Angeles Times. November 5, 2003. Retrieved June 12, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Season 8 of King of the Hill begins on Fox with the premiere of the episode "Patch Boomhauer". The episode was watched by over 12.2 million viewers that night. Season 15 of The Simpsons begins on Fox with the latest Treehouse of Horror installment "Treehouse of Horror XIV". The episode was watched by over 16.2 million viewers that night. November 7: The first episode of Star Wars: Clone Wars premieres on Cartoon Network. Season 4 of The Fairly OddParents begins on Nickelodeon (ahead of its third season finale) with the premiere of the episodes "Miss Dimmsdale/Mind Over Magic".