2001 in animation

• January 1: The first episode of Horrible Histories airs, which features occasional animated sequences.[1]
• January 12: The first episode of Lizzie McGuire airs.[2]
• January 13: The first episode of Disney's House of Mouse airs.[3]
• January 23: Richard Linklater's Waking Life premiers.[4]

• February 2: John Callahan's Quads!, based on John Callahan's cartoons, is first broadcast.
• February 11: In The Simpsons episode Tennis the Menace Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Venus Williams and Serena Williams are special guest voices.[5]
• February 23: Henry Selick's Monkeybone, which combines animation with live-action, is released, but to bad reviews and low audience attendances.[6]

• March 25: 73rd Academy Awards: Father and Daughter by Michaël Dudok de Wit wins the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.[7]
• March 30:
  • The first episode of The Fairly OddParents airs.[8]
  • The first episode of Invader Zim airs.[9]

• April 1: The Simpsons episode Simpsons Safari is broadcast, in which the family travels to Africa.[10]
• April 4: The first episode of Titeuf airs, based on the eponymous comics series.[11]
• April 19: Bill Plympton's Mutant Aliens is released.[12]
• April 29: The Simpsons episode Trilogy of Error is first broadcast, in which three connected stories from different viewpoints are told, inspired by the film Lola Rennt, all based around Homer Simpson accidentally cutting off his thumb.[13]

• May 18: The film Shrek premiers and becomes an unexpected box office hit.[14]
• May 26: Rintaro's Metropolis is first released, based on Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis.[15]

• June 2: The first episode of Braceface is broadcast.[16]
• June 3: Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise's Atlantis: The Lost Empire, produced by the Walt Disney Company, is released. It is a box office flop, but becomes a cult film later.[17] During its 25-week theatrical run, Atlantis: The Lost Empire grossed over $186 million worldwide ($84 million from the United States and Canada).[18] Responding to its disappointing box-office performance, Thomas Schumacher, then-president of Walt Disney Feature Animation, said, "It seemed like a good idea at the time to not do a sweet fairy tale, but we missed."[19]
• June 8: The first episode of Time Squad airs.[20]
• June 27: In the South Park episode Cripple Fight Jimmy Valmer makes his debut.[21]
• June 28: The Rugrats receive a star at the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[22]
• June 30: The first episode of What's with Andy? is broadcast.[23] and ended on March 4, 2007.[23]

• July 20:
  • The Portuguese film The Happy Cricket is released.[24]
  • Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away premiers.[25]

• August 7: Osmosis Jones is first released.[26]
• August 8: In the South Park episode Towelie Towelie makes his debut.[27]
• August 10: The first episode of Samurai Jack airs.[28]
• August 24: The first episode of Grim & Evil airs.[29]

• September 2: The adult oriented block Adult Swim is launched and debuts on Cartoon Network.[30] The first episodes of two long-running series air the same day:Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law [31] and Sealab 2021.[32][33]
• September 3: The first episode of The Legend of Tarzan, produced by the Walt Disney Company, is broadcast.[34]
• September 9: The first official episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force airs, almost over a year after airing the pilot episode.[35]
• September 14: The film The House of Morecock is released, the first gay pornographic adult animated feature film. It is directed by comics artist Joe Phillips.[36]
• September 15: The first episode of Stanley is broadcast.

[37]

• September 15: The first episode of The Proud Family is broadcast, produced by the Walt Disney Company.[38]
• Hanna-Barbera is absorbed into Warner Bros. Animation.

• October 14: The first episode of the animated TV show 2DTV is broadcast, which ridicules celebrities.[39]
• October 20: The first episode of Mary-Kate and Ashley in Action! airs, an animated version of TV actresses Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen (voicing themselves) which is cancelled after only one season.[40]
• October 25: The film Die Abrafaxe - Unter schwarzer Flagge is released, based on Lona Rietschel and Lothar Dräger's comic strip Die Abrafaxe.[41]
• October 28: The film Monsters, Inc. by Pixar and the Walt Disney Company is released.[42]

• November 3: The first episode of Totally Spies! airs.[43]
• November 7: The South Park episode Osama bin Laden Has Farty Pants first airs, famous for referencing the September 11 attacks and ridiculing Osama bin Laden in the style of World War II propaganda cartoons.[44]
• November 17: The first episode of Justice League is broadcast.[45]
• November 18: In The Simpsons episode Homer the Moe, the rock band R.E.M. perform as special guest voices.[46]

• December 9: The film Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius is released.[47]
• December 15: The Hong Kong film My Life as McDull is released.[48]
• December 16: In The Simpsons episode She of Little Faith Lisa Simpson becomes a Buddhist. Richard Gere is special guest voice.[49]
• December 18: The Tell-Tale Heart is added to the National Film Registry.[50][51]
• December 21: The film Momo alla conquista del tempo, an adaptation of Michael Ende's Momo is first released.[52]
• December 23: The first episode of Cédric, an animated series based on the comics series Cédric airs.[53]

• January 2: Alison de Vere, British animator, background designer (worked for Halas and Batchelor, The Beatles, Yellow Submarine, The Animals of Farthing Wood) and director (The Black Dog, Psyche and Eros), dies at age 73.[57]
• January 25: Sam Singer, American animated film director and producer (The Adventures of Pow Wow, The Adventures of Paddy the Pelican, Bucky and Pepito), dies at age 89.[58]

• February 17: John Sutherland, American animator (Walt Disney Company, voice actor (voice of Bambi in Bambi) and animated film producer (Daffy Ditties), dies at age 90.

• March 1: Torsten Bjarre, Swedish animator and comics artist, passes away at age 85.[59]
• March 9: Richard Stone, American composer (Animaniacs, Tiny Toon Adventures, Pinky and the Brain), dies at 47.[60]
• March 16: Norma MacMillan, Canadian voice actress (voice of Sweet Polly Purebred in Underdog, continued the voices of Gumby, Davey in Davey and Goliath and Casper the Friendly Ghost), dies at age 79.[61]
• March 22: William Hanna, American animator, director, producer, and cartoonist (Tom & Jerry, The Flintstones, Yogi Bear, The Jetsons, Wacky Races, Scooby-Doo,...), co-founder of Hanna-Barbera, dies at age 90.[62]

• April 3: Ray Osrin, American cartoonist, animator and comics artist, dies at age 72.[63]

• May 18: Maurice Noble, American animator, film director, background, lay-out and animation designer (Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros. Animation, Chuck Jones), dies at age 90.[64]

• June 1: Hank Ketcham, American comics artist and animator (Walt Disney Company, Walter Lantz), dies at age 81.[65]
• June 19: Lee Mishkin, American animated film director and animator (Is It Always Right to Be Right?) dies at age 74.[66]
• June 26: Paul Berry, British animator and director (The Sandman, worked for Cosgrove Hall and Henry Selick), dies at age 40.[67]
• June 27: Joan Sims, British actress (Mrs. Cratchit in A Christmas Carol, the Witch in The Thief and the Cobbler), dies at age 71.

• July 7: Toni Pagot, Italian comics artist, cartoonist and animator (Calimero), dies at age 79.[68]
• July 15: Ted Berman, American animator, film director and screenwriter (Walt Disney Company), dies at age 81.
• July 16: Morris, Belgian comics artist and animation director (co-director of Daisy Town and The Ballad of the Daltons), dies at age 77.[69]

• August 16: Dave Barry, American radio host and voice actor (celebrity impersonations in Mother Goose Goes Hollywood and various Looney Tunes cartoons, voice of Bluto in the Popeye cartoon Seein' Red, White 'N' Blue, voice of Elmer Fudd in Pre-Hysterical Hare), dies at age 82.[70]

• September 30: Bjørn Frank Jensen, Danish animator and comics artist (co-founder of Ring, Frank & Jensen, worked for Marten Toonder's animation department), dies at age 81.[71]

• October 5: Jan Lenica, Polish graphic designer, cartoonist, poster illustrator and animator (Dom, A, Adam 2, Ubu et la grande gidouille), dies at age 73.

• November 21: Seymour Reit, aka Sy Reit, American animator (Fleischer Studios, creator of Casper the Friendly Ghost), writer, screenwriter, comics writer and comics artist, dies at age 83.[72]
• November 29: George Harrison, British rock singer and film producer (voiced himself in The Simpsons episode Homer's Barbershop Quartet), dies at age 58.[73]

• December 2: Chase Craig, American animator, scriptwriter and comics writer (Warner Bros. Cartoons, Walter Lantz Productions), dies at age 91.[74]
• December 7: Faith Hubley, American animator, storyboard artist (Mr. Magoo co-founder of Storyboard Studios), dies at age 77 from breast cancer.[75]
• December 11: Beverly Hope Atkinson, American voice actress (voice of Carol in Heavy Traffic), dies at age 66.[76][77]
• December 26: Nigel Hawthorne, British actor (voice of Captain Campion in Watership Down, Dr. Boycott in The Plague Dogs, Fflewddur Fflam in The Black Cauldron, Professor Porter in Tarzan), dies at age 72.
• December 31: David Swift, American writer, animated film director and producer (Walt Disney Company), dies at age 82.[78]