Events in 1964 in animation.
Events January January 14: The first episode of Hanna-Barbera's The Magilla Gorilla Show airs. January 18: Gerry Chiniquy's Bugs Bunny cartoon Dumb Patrol is released, it marks the final appearance of Yosemite Sam in the Golden Age of American Animation. Porky Pig makes a cameo appearance in the beginning of the short.
February February 8: Robert McKimson's Speedy Gonzales and Sylvester cartoon A Message to Gracias premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons.Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. p. 137. . Retrieved June 6, 2020. February 25: Chuck Jones' Tom and Jerry cartoon The Cat Above and the Mouse Below premieres.
March March 24: Chuck Jones' Tom and Jerry cartoon Is There a Doctor in the Mouse? premieres. March 28: The Incredible Mr. Limpet premieres. Robert McKimson's Bugs Bunny and Tasmanian Devil cartoon Dr. Devil and Mr. Hare premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons.Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 61-62 . Retrieved June 6, 2020. This was Taz's final appearance in the Golden Age of Animation.
April April 13: 36th Academy Awards: The Critic by Ernest Pintoff, starring Mel Brooks as narrator, wins the Academy Award for Best Animated Short. April 14: Chuck Jones' Tom and Jerry cartoon Much Ado About Mousing premieres. April 25: Friz Freleng's Speedy Gonzales and Sylvester cartoon Nuts and Volts premieres, this was the final Speedy Gonzales short to be produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons.
May
May 12: Chuck Jones' Tom and Jerry cartoon Snowbody Loves Me premieres. May 16: Phil Monroe and Maurice Noble's Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck cartoon The Iceman Ducketh premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. This is the last time where Bugs & Daffy appear with each other in the Golden age of American animation.Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 71. . Retrieved June 6, 2020.
June June 3: The first animated feature film with Yogi Bear, Hey There, It's Yogi Bear! premieres which is also the first animated film based on a TV cartoon program. June 6: Chuck Jones and Maurice Noble's Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner cartoon War and Pieces premieres, it was the final Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner short to be produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons & the final one to be directed by Chuck Jones until 1979's Freeze Frame (which aired as part of Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales).Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pg. 129 . Retrieved 6 June 2020 – via Archive.org. June 7: Shōnen Ninja Kaze no Fujimaru is first broadcast on NET. June 27: Gerry Chiniquy's Tweety and Sylvester cartoon Hawaiian Aye Aye premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. Also starring Granny. This was Tweety's final appearance in the Golden Age of Animation.Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pg. 152. . Retrieved June 6, 2020.
July July 18: Robert McKimson's False Hare, the final Bugs Bunny theatrical short and the last original production completed by Warner Bros. Cartoons, is first released. Foghorn Leghorn makes a cameo at the end of the short, also marking his final appearance in the Golden Age of Animation.
August August 1: Hawley Pratt's Señorella and the Glass Huarache is released, it's the final cartoon released by the original Warner Bros. Cartoons studios. August 27: Robert Stevenson's Mary Poppins is first released, produced by the Walt Disney Company. It is primarily live-action but features some animated segments.
September September 17: The first episode of Bewitched airs, with an animated intro by Hanna-Barbera. September 18: The first episode of Hanna–Barbera's Jonny Quest airs.
October October 3: The first episode of Underdog airs. October 4: The first episode of Stingray airs. October 24: Friz Freleng and Hawley Pratt's Speedy Gonzales cartoon Pancho's Hideaway premieres, this was the first Speedy Gonzales short to be produced by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises. The cartoon features a Yosemite Sam lookalike named Pancho Vanilla.
December December 6: The stop-motion animated special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, based on the song of the same name by Johnny Marks, premieres on NBC. It becomes a beloved Christmas tradition, still being shown on television decades later. December 8: Chuck Jones' Tom and Jerry cartoon The Unshrinkable Jerry Mouse premieres. December 18: Karel Zeman's A Jester's Tale premieres. Friz Freleng and David DePatie's The Pink Phink premieres in theaters which marks the beginning of the Pink Panther series of shorts. December 26: Friz Freleng and Hawley Pratt's Speedy Gonzales and Sylvester cartoon Road to Andalay premieres, produced by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises.
Specific date unknown Animafilm is founded. Ivan Ivanov-Vano and Vladimir Danilevich's Left-Hander is released. Jan Švankmajer's first animated short The Last Trick is released.
Films released
February - The Heroic Sisters from the Grassland (China) March 28 - The Incredible Mr. Limpet (United States) April 28: Of Stars and Men (United States) The Big Wick (Soviet Union) June 3 - Hey There, It's Yogi Bear! (United States) July 21 - Shounen Ninja Kaze no Fujimaru: Nazo no Arabiya Ningyou (Japan) July 22 - Lefty (Soviet Union) August 27: Attention! The Magician is in the City! (Soviet Union) Mary Poppins (United States) Specific date unknown: Havoc in Heaven (China) Is There Intelligent Life on Earth? (United Kingdom)
Television series
January 14 - Punkin' Puss & Mushmouse, Ricochet Rabbit & Droop-a-Long, and Magilla Gorilla debut in syndication. April 3 - Gusztáv debuts on Magyar Televízió. June 7 - Shonen Ninja Kaze no Fujimaru debuts on NET (now TV Asahi). August 3 - Big X debuts on TBS. September 12: Hoppity Hooper debuts on ABC. The World of Commander McBragg debuts on CBS. September 16 - Breezly and Sneezly, Peter Potamus and his Magic Flying Balloon, and Yippee, Yappee and Yahooey debut in syndication and on ABC. September 18 - Jonny Quest debuts on ABC. September 20 - The Porky Pig Show debuts on ABC . September 26: Linus the Lionhearted, Sugar Bear, Loveable Truly, Rory Raccoon, and So-Hi debut on CBS and ABC. October 3 - Underdog debuts on NBC and CBS. Specific date unknown: Doc Potts debuts on Syncro-Vox. The Big World of Little Adam debuts in syndication. The Magic Roundabout debuts on ORTF and BBC. The Enchanted Pencil premieres, starting with Na podwórzu (Polish for In the Yard)
Television specials
February 9 - Return to Oz debuts on NBC. December 6 - Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer debuts on NBC.
Births
January January 7: Nicolas Cage, American actor (voice of Zoc in The Ant Bully, Dr. Tenma in Astro Boy, Grug in The Croods franchise, Superman in Teen Titans Go! To the Movies, Spider-Man Noir in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse). January 10: Osamu Kobayashi, Japanese animator, animation director and illustrator (Ani*Kuri15, Naruto, Grandia), (d. 2021). January 17: Michelle Obama, American attorney, author, producer (Waffles + Mochi, Ada Twist, Scientist, We the People) and first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017 (voiced herself in the Doc McStuffins episode "Doc McStuffins Goes to Washington"). January 18: Jane Horrocks, British actress (voice of Babs in Chicken Run and Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, The Black Widow/Mrs. Plum in Corpse Bride, Lead Elf in Arthur Christmas, Fairy Mary in the Disney Fairies franchise, Eliza in the Phineas and Ferb episode "My Fair Goalie", the title character in Little Princess).
February February 12: Raphael Sbarge, American actor (voice of Tom Piper in Babes in Toyland, Deadman in the Justice League Unlimited episode "Dead Reckoning", Professor Zei in the Avatar: The Last Airbender episode "The Library"). February 13: Dominic Polcino, American animator, storyboard artist (Film Roman, The Cleveland Show, Family Guy), art director (HarmonQuest), sheet timer (Rugrats), writer (The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat) and director (Film Roman, Rick and Morty, Animals, HarmonQuest, The Freak Brothers, Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe). February 18: Matt Dillon, American actor (voice of Trey in Rock Dog, Louie in The Simpsons episode "Midnight Towboy"). February 20: French Stewart, American actor and comedian (voice of Icarus in Hercules, Bob Alman in God, the Devil and Bob, Oble in Bartok the Magnificent, Gaston in the Phineas and Ferb episode "Run Away Runway"). February 23: Vincent Chalvon-Demersay, French producer (Marathon Media).
March March 3: Teddy Newton, American animator and voice actor (Pixar, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, Smallfoot, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Osmosis Jones, Histeria!, The Iron Giant). March 7: Wanda Sykes, American actress, comedienne and writer (voice of Sister Moon in The Adventures of Brer Rabbit, Stella in Over the Hedge, Bessy in Barnyard and Back at the Barnyard, Innoko in Brother Bear 2, Chloe in Rio, Granny in the Ice Age franchise, Shirley B. Awesome in Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero, Gregoria in Vampirina, Wage in UglyDolls, Tsaritsa/Queen of Fables in Harley Quinn, Nuritza in Tig n' Seek, Deb in Q-Force, the Witch in the Bubble Guppies episode "Bubble Puppy's Fin-tastic Fairytale Adventure", Bev in the Futurama episode "The Bots and the Bees", School Therapist in The Simpsons episode "What Animated Women Want", Sofa Queen in the Bob's Burgers episode "Sacred Couch", Thea in the Doc McStuffins episode "The Emergency Plan", Mary-Beth in the BoJack Horseman episode "INT. SUB", Mona the Mayor in The Bravest Knight episode "Cedric & the Pixies", Ethel in the Summer Camp Island episode "The Great Elf Invention Convention", Harriet Tubman's Ghost in the Big Mouth episode "Duke"). Andy Ezrin, American composer (Courage the Cowardly Dog, Arthur's Missing Pal, Space Racers). March 8: Bob Bergen, American actor (voice of Tim in Sabrina: The Animated Series, Lama Su in the Star Wars franchise, Winter Soldier in the Avengers Assemble episode "Ghosts of the Past", Scoutmaster in the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes episode "Sidekick Scouts", continued voice of Porky Pig and Tweety Bird). March 13: Keiko Nobumoto, Japanese screenwriter (Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Wolf's Rain, Tokyo Godfathers), (d. 2021). March 15: Leah Ryan, American television writer (Arthur), (d. 2008). March 16: Gore Verbinski, American film director, screenwriter, producer and musician (Rango). Victor Wilson, American television writer (Nickelodeon Animation Studio), producer (The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius) and actor (voice of Phuepal in Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, Bing in The Angry Beavers, Announcer in Rocket Power, Mr. Ward in As Told by Ginger), (d. 2015). March 18: Michael Camarillo, American animator (Bebe's Kids, The Swan Princess, Quest for Camelot, The Road to El Dorado, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, The Powerpuff Girls Movie), background artist (The Simpsons) and prop designer (Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Sym-Bionic Titan), (d. 2021). March 20: Melanie Kohn, American former child actress (voice of Lucy Van Pelt in It's a Mystery, Charlie Brown, It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown, Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown, You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown and Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown). March 30: Ian Ziering, American actor (voice of Vinnie in Biker Mice from Mars, Gludge in Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, Wildwing Flashblade in Mighty Ducks: The Animated Series, Harry Osborn in Spider-Man: The New Animated Series, Dr. Nick Tatopoulos in Godzilla: The Series, Mason Forrest in the Batman Beyond episode "The Winning Edge", Chase Huffington in the Drawn Together episode "Drawn Together Babies").
April April 4: