2006 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 6: Season 5 of The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy begins on Cartoon Network with the premiere of the episodes "Billy Ocean/Hill Billy". January 29: The Family Guy episode "Patriot Games" premieres on Fox, the sub-plot where Stewie constantly beats up Brian while asking for money became one of the show's most iconic scenes."Family Guy: Patriot Games". TV Squad. Archived from the original on August 20, 2007. Retrieved September 27, 2009.
February February 4: The 33rd Annie Awards are held. February 24: My Gym Partner's a Monkey premieres after airing its sneak peek on 26 December 2005.
March March 5: 78th Academy Awards: Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit directed by Nick Park and Steve Box wins Best Animated Feature. The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation directed by John Canemaker and Peggy Stern wins Best Animated Short Film. March 14: The first episode of Lola & Virginia airs. March 15: Christian Volckman's Renaissance premieres. March 17: Season 2 of Avatar: The Last Airbender begins on Nickelodeon with the premiere of the episode "The Avatar State". The season's premiere was seen by 3.7 million viewers that night."Prime-time Nielsen ratings". USA Today. McLean, Virginia. March 22, 2006. p. 41. March 22: Season 10 of South Park begins on Comedy Central with the premiere of the episode "The Return of Chef", in which the titular episode character dies. March 24: Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends concludes its third season on Cartoon Network with the episode "Cuckoo for Coco Cards"."Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Season 3 on iTunes". iTunes. Apple Inc. Retrieved December 15, 2015. March 31: Blue Sky Studios releases Ice Age: The Meltdown, directed by Carlos Saldanha.
April April 9: The Simpsons episode "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore" premieres on, in which the family travels to India. April 11: Winnie the Pooh receives a star at the Hollywood Walk of Fame. April 14: Walt Disney Pictures' The Wild premieres. It was universally panned for its improper CG imagery and writing and was explicitly compared to DreamWorks Animation's Madagascar. Paul Laurence Robertson's Pirate Baby's Cabana Battle Street Fight 2006 is released online. April 28: Season 4 of Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends begins on Cartoon Network with the premiere of the episode "Challenge of the Super Friends"."Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Season 4 on iTunes". iTunes. Apple Inc. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
May May 14:"Weekly Program Rankings (May 8–14, 2006)". ABC Medianet. May 16, 2006. Archived from the original on May 28, 2010. Retrieved June 12, 2023. King of the Hill concludes its tenth season on Fox with the episode "Edu-macating Lucky". The episode was seen by over 5.1 million viewers that night. American Dad! concludes its second season on Fox with the episode "Tears of a Clooney". The episode was seen by over 6.8 million viewers that night. May 19: Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick's Over the Hedge premieres. Decode Entertainment and the Halifax Film Company merge to form DHX Media. May 21:"Weekly Program Rankings (May 15–21, 2006)". ABC Medianet. May 23, 2006. Archived from the original on February 29, 2012. Retrieved June 10, 2023. The Simpsons concludes its 17th season on Fox with the episode "Marge and Homer Turn a Couple Play". The episode was seen by just over 8.2 million viewers that night. The following Family Guy episodes premiere on Fox (thus concluding the fourth season of the show): "Stewie B. Goode" (watched by 8.2 million viewers) "Bango Was His Name-O" (watched by over 7.8 million viewers) "Stu and Stewie's Excellent Adventure" (watched by over 8.1 million viewers) These episodes were originally released altogether on the Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story DVD. May 25: Richard Linklater's A Scanner Darkly premieres.
June June 9: Disney/Pixar's Cars premieres in theaters to positive reviews from both critics and audiences; praising its stunning visuals, humor, and relatable themes like friendship and humility. Danny Phantom concludes its second season on Nickelodeon with the extended two-part special "Reality Trip". June 16: 20th Century Fox's Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties is released. Following its extremely negative reception alongside its unsuccessful predecessor, subsequent Garfield projects would return to animation. June 17: Peter Lord and David Sproxton, founders of Aardman Animations, receive a CBE. June 22: Happy Tree Friends episode "From A to Zoo, part 2" premieres on some MTV channel. June 27: The final episode of Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi airs on Cartoon Network. The series is confirmed cancelled four months later, leaving 5 episodes unaired. Specific date unknown in June: Garrett Gilchrist, filmmaker and artist, released The Thief and the Cobbler: The Recobbled Cut on the internet. It is a fan restoration of Richard Williams' unfinished work and was universally acclaimed over the terrible altered versions that were theatrically released in the 1990s. Lola & Virginia premieres in the US on Animania HD.
July July 21: Columbia Pictures' Monster House premieres. Despite its positive reception, it gained some infamy for its frightening content that was considered too dark for a less-restricted "PG rating". Nickelodeon airs The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour 3: The Jerkinators. This marks the suspension of The Fairly OddParents as Butch Hartman originally ended production of the series until he reconsidered the sixth season after a year hiatus. This also marks the conclusion of The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius due to the closure of DNA Productions. The final remaining episodes of both shows in general air on 25 November this year. July 29: Johnny Test concludes its first season on The WB (as part of the Kids' WB block) with the episodes "Johnny Dodgeball/Johnny & the Attack of the Monster Truck". This is the last episode to premiere on The WB as the network would go defunct on September 17, the show would move over to The CW for the premiere of its second season.
August August 9: The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy concludes its fifth season on Cartoon Network with the episodes "The Crass Unicorn/Billy & Mandy Begins". August 21: The first episode of Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! airs. August 22: The Tom and Jerry direct-to-video film Tom and Jerry: Shiver Me Whiskers releases on DVD. August 26: The first episode of Yin Yang Yo! airs.
September September 4: The first episode of Curious George airs and PBS Kids Preschool Block launches. September 9: Qubo launches as NBC's new block. September 10:"Weekly Program Rankings Report (Sept. 4-10, 2006)". ABC Medianet. September 12, 2006. Archived from the original on March 29, 2012. Retrieved June 10, 2023. Season 18 of The Simpsons begins on Fox with the premiere of the episode "The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer", which guest stars heavy metal band Metallica. The episode was seen by over 11.6 million viewers that night. Season 3 of American Dad! begins on Fox with the premiere of the episode "Camp Refoogee". The episode was seen by 8.9 million viewers that night. Season 5 of Family Guy begins on Fox with the premiere of the episode "Stewie Loves Lois". The episode was seen by over 9.9 million viewers that night. September 17: The Simpsons episode "Jazzy and the Pussycats" premieres, guest starring the White Stripes. September 19: The Scooby-Doo direct-to-video film Scooby-Doo! Pirates Ahoy! releases on DVD. September 23: Tom and Jerry Tales premieres on the Kids' WB block on The CW.Baisley, Sarah. "Kids' WB! on The CW 2006-2007 Saturday AM Schedule Launches Sept. 23". Animation World Network. Retrieved February 17, 2020. This was the first Tom and Jerry series to be produced by Warner Bros. Animation after the closure of Hanna-Barbera studios from 5 years ago. September 25: The Happy Tree Friends TV season premieres on G4 in the United States, with the first three segments of episode 1. September 29: The first feature film produced by Sony Pictures Animation, Open Season, premieres.
October
October 6: The 6th & final season of The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy begins on Cartoon Network with the premiere of the episodes "Everything Breaks/The Show That Dare Not Speak Its Name". October 9: The 3rd & final season of Danny Phantom begins on Nickelodeon with the premiere of the episode "Urban Jungle". October 28: Season 2 of Johnny Test begins on The CW (as part of the Kids' WB block) with the premiere of the episodes "Hoist the Johnny Roger/Johnny's Turbo Toy Force".
November November 3: Cartoon Network's Class of 3000 premieres. November 5: The Simpsons "Treehouse of Horror XVII" premieres on Fox."Archived News: November 2006". Simpsons Channel. Archived from the original on May 8, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2024. November 7: Ryan Krzak releases an animated music video for the song "Albuquerque" by Weird Al Yankovic. It would later gain a cult following by 2024. November 14: Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas releases on DVD. It is the second installment in the Looney Tunes franchise to be based on Charles Dickens' novel A Christmas Carol, following Friz Freleng's 1979 short Bugs Bunny's Christmas Carol. 11th Animation Kobe is held. November 15: South Park concludes its tenth season on Comedy Central with the episode "Stanley's Cup"."Watch South Park Episodes Online Season 10 (2006)". TV Guide. Archived from the original on August 13, 2019. Retrieved September 13, 2019. November 20: The Peanuts special He's a Bully, Charlie Brown premieres on ABC. It was the last Peanuts special to be aired on ABC and on television until Happiness Is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown on FOX 5 years later in 2011, and the last one to be created by Bill Melendez before his passing in 2008. November 23: Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends concludes its fourth season on Cartoon Network with the premiere of the television movie "Good Wilt Hunting". November 29: EuropaCorp's Arthur and the Minimoys by Luc Besson premieres in France and becomes the highest-grossing movie in its home country.Luc Besson et ses Minimoys plombent EuropaCorp , Libération, 30 juin 2011 The Weinstein Company would distribute the film as Arthur and the Invisibles two months later. The film was notoriously butchered for the western release, which received extremely negative reviews. Furthermore, Harvey Weinstein was blamed for forcing it to be "American".
December December 1: Avatar: The Last Airbender concludes its second season on Nickelodeon with the episodes "The Guru" and "The Crossroads of Destiny". The season's finale was seen by 4.4 million viewers that night."Prime-time Nielsen ratings". USA Today. McLean, Virginia. December 7, 2006. p. 41. December 25: Episode 13 with last three segments of Happy Tree Friends TV season premieres, thus ending the TV series last original debut. December 17: The Family Guy episode "Barely Legal" premieres on Fox, this episode marked the debut of Stewie's iconic Cool Hwhip gag. It was seen by 8.91 million viewers that night.Calabria, Rosario T. (January 29, 2007). "Broadcast TV Ratings for Sunday, January 28, 2007". Your Entertainment Now. Retrieved June 13, 2023. December 27: Early Abstractions is added to the National Film Registry.
Specific date unknown DNA Productions closes down. The pilot episode for Jimmy Two-Shoes was made, but was since refused to make any public appearances as it was deemed too dark and cynical to be marketed for the attended audiences.
Awards Academy Award for Best Animated Feature: Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film: The Moon and the Sun Animation Kobe Feature Film Award: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time