1992 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 27: During a rally of the Republican Party, President George H. W. Bush states that "the American Family (...) needs to be a lot more like The Waltons and a lot less like The Simpsons."Brooks, James L. (2004). "Bush vs. Simpsons", in The Simpsons: The Complete Fourth Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox. January 30: At the start of the next The Simpsons episode, a short video is shown in which the Simpson family watches Bush's speech on television. In response to it, Bart Simpson says: "Hey, we're just like the Waltons: we pray for an end to the depression too".
February February 24: Tiny Toon Adventures concludes its second season in Syndication with the episode "Take Elmyra Please".
March March 7: The first episode of Sailor Moon airs in Japan. March 11: Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation releases on VHS & LaserDisc. March 30: 64th Academy Awards: Beauty and the Beast becomes the first animated feature film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture during the 64th Academy Awards. It loses to The Silence of the Lambs, but wins the Academy Award for Best Original Score and the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Manipulation by Daniel Greaves wins the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. Ray Harryhausen wins the Gordon E. Sawyer Award (also known as the Lifetime Achievement Academy Award).
April April 10: Bill Kroyer's FernGully: The Last Rainforest premieres. This film received positive attention and was given a direct-to-video sequel 5 years later. April 20: The first episode of Goof Troop airs. April 27: Golden Films's Aladdin is released. Disney, who would release its own Aladdin theatrical film, sued GoodTimes Home Video for copyright infringement before dismissing the suit on the grounds that Aladdin is a public domain work, which differs from the then-upcoming Disney film.
June June 26: Erotic anime series La Blue Girl airs in Japan. This anime received serious censorship when it was released outside its Japanese home country and its classification was refused in the United Kingdom for its pornographic exploits of underage women.
July July 10: Ralph Bakshi's Cool World, which mixes live-action with animation, premieres, but flops at the box office. July 18: Hayao Miyazaki's Porco Rosso premieres. July 25: NBC cancels its Saturday morning lineup due to low ratings from the mandated Children's Television Act as several programs, including Space Cats, Super Mario World, and ProStars, have met social issues and intolerance. It was soon replaced by TNBC following the success of Saved By the Bell. July 31: Bruce W. Smith's Bebe's Kids is first released.
August August 14: Ben Kingsley's Freddie as F.R.O.7 premieres. It flopped at the box office. The film was originally going to be rated G, but the rating was changed to PG by the MPAA after reviewing the film's sensitive depictions of Ku Klux Klan and Nazi-based antagonists and sexual innuendo. It was re-released by MCA/Universal Home Video under the title Freddie the Frog three years later, with several of its inappropriate fragments removed or changed. August 15: The Ren & Stimpy Show episode "Powdered Toast Man" premieres, guest starring Frank Zappa as the Pope. August 20: Friz Freleng receives a star at the Hollywood Walk of Fame. August 27: The Simpsons concludes its third season on Fox with the episode "Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?".Groening, Matt (October 28, 2010). Richmond, Ray; Gimple, Scott M.; McCann, Jessie L.; Seghers, Christine; Bates, James W. (eds.). Simpsons World: The Ultimate Episode Guide: Seasons 1–20 (1st ed.). HarperCollins. .
September September 4: Bill Plympton's The Tune premieres. September 5: The first episode of Batman: The Animated Series premieres on Fox Kids. September 7: The Batman: The Animated Series episode "Heart of Ice" premieres, the episode is acclaimed for reinventing Mr. Freeze into a tragic villain. September 11: The Batman: The Animated Series episode "Joker's Favor" premieres, in which Harley Quinn makes her debut. She will become so popular that she will be added to the regular cast of the Batman franchise. The first episode of The Little Mermaid premieres on CBS. September 12: The first episode of Eek! The Cat airs. The first episode of Fievel's American Tails premieres on CBS, the first cartoon series based on one of Don Bluth's franchises and the continuation of An American Tail: Fievel Goes West. It was stored away over five years after the initial broadcast until NBCUniversal recovered it in 2020. September 13: Season 2 of Rugrats begins on Nickelodeon with the premiere of the episodes "Chuckie vs. the Potty/Together at Last"."Rugrats, Season 2". iTunes Store. Apple, Inc. August 11, 1991. Archived from the original on June 21, 2019. Retrieved September 21, 2022. September 14: The third & final season of Tiny Toon Adventures begins on Fox Kids with the premiere of the episode "Thirteen Something". September 17: The first episode of Noddy's Toyland Adventures airs. September 19: Season 5 of Garfield and Friends begins on CBS with the premiere of the following episodes: "Home Away from Home/Rainy Day Robot/Odie the Amazing" "The First Annual Garfield Watchers Test/Stark Raven Mad/The Record Breaker" September 21: The Ren & Stimpy Show creator John Kricfalusi is fired by Nickelodeon due to him failing to meet production deadlines. This leads to him and his animation studio, Spümcø, being replaced by Nickelodeon's own animation studio, Games Animation Inc., for the remainder of the series. September 22: The animated short Frog Baseball first airs on television. It marks the debut of Beavis and Butt-Head, who will receive their own series a year later. September 24: Season 4 of The Simpsons begins on Fox with the premiere of the episode "Kamp Krusty". September 25: The first episode of Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki is released.
October October 1: Cartoon Network is launched in the United States by Turner Broadcasting System. The film Tom and Jerry: The Movie premieres in Germany, which marks the first full-length film featuring Tom and Jerry. It became a box office bomb when it premiered in the US the following year and still remains unfavorable decades later. October 14: A Bunch of Munsch makes its official premiere on Showtime in the US with the episode "The Paper Bag Princess" for the Showtime's Fall 1992 lineup opposite during the "Family Hour" block of children's program. based on Robert Munsch's 1980 classic children's book. The first episode of American Heroes & Legends airs. October 29: The Little Punker premieres. The Simpsons' "Treehouse of Horror III" premieres on Fox. October 31: The first episode of X-Men: The Animated Series airs. Specific date unknown in October: The animated advertisement for Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins featuring Mario's nemesis Wario airs during commercial breaks, which will later become an Internet meme.
November November 7: Garfield and Friends concludes its fifth season on CBS with the following episodes: "Ghost of a Chance/Roy Gets Sacked/Revenge of the Living Lunch!" "Super Sonic Seymour/A Mildly Mental Mix-Up/The Garfield Rap" November 25: Aladdin by Ron Clements and John Musker, produced by the Walt Disney Company, premieres. November 27: The Peanuts Holiday special It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown premieres on CBS."Peanuts - Aired Order - All Seasons - TheTVDB.com". thetvdb.com. Retrieved 2025-10-12. This was the final Peanuts TV special to premiere on CBS, as ABC would later air new specials & re-runs of older ones, but NBC would air one Peanuts special two years later before ABC ended up taking over.
December December 6: Tiny Toon Adventures final episode "It's a Wonderful Tiny Toons Christmas Special" premieres on Fox Kids. December 7: Chuck Jones' Bugs Bunny cartoon What's Opera, Doc? is added to the National Film Registry. December 8: Trey Parker and Matt Stone make the animated short Jesus vs. Frosty, which features embryonal versions of the characters that will later appear in South Park.
Specific date unknown Film Roman takes over production of The Simpsons from Klasky Csupo. Jan Švankmajer's Food is first released. The Spanish film The Legend of the North Wind premieres. The first episode of Cococinel airs.
Films released
January 8 - Evil Toons (United States) January 25 - Sangokushi (dai 1-bu): Eiyū-tachi no Yoake (Japan) February 4 - Kkulbeorui chingu (South Korea) February 11 - Boyfriend (Japan) February 14 - The Magic Voyage (Germany) March 7: Doraemon: Nobita and the Kingdom of Clouds (Japan) Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler (Japan) Magical Taruruto: Good Good Hot Grilled Octopus! (Japan) March 11 - Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation (United States) March 14 - Soreike! Anpanman Tsumiki-jō no Himitsu (Japan) April 10 - FernGully: The Last Rainforest (United States and Australia) April 21 - Joker - Marginal City (Japan) April 25 - The Tune (United States) April 27 - Aladdin (United States) May 1 - The Jungle Book (United Kingdom) May 2 - Midori (Japan) May 4 - Beauty and the Beast (United States) May 10 - Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama (India and Japan) May 11 - Pinocchio (United States) May 18 - Sinbad (United States) June 1 - The Three Musketeers (United States) June 3 - Spirit of Wonder: Miss China's Ring (Japan) June 8 - Thumbelina (United States) July 1: Seikima II: Humane Society -Jinruiai ni Michita Shakai- (Japan) Shiritsu Tantei Toki Shozo no Trouble Note - Hard & Loose (Japan) July 4 - The Elephant Train Has Arrived (Japan) July 10 - Cool World (United States) July 11: Dragon Ball Z: Super Android 13! (Japan) Senbon Matsubara: Kawa to Ikiru Shōnen-tachi (Japan) July 18: Porco Rosso (Japan) Silent Möbius 2 (Japan) The Weathering Continent (Japan) July 21: Iron Virgin Jun (Japan) Mikeneko Holmes: The Lord of Ghost Castle (Japan) July 22 - Hōkago no Tinker Bell (Japan) July 24: Lupin III: From Russia with Love (Japan) Raven Tengu Kabuto: The Golden-Eyed Beast (Japan) July 25 - Run Melos! (Japan) July 31 - Bebe's Kids (United States) August 1 - Yawara! Go Get 'Em, Wimpy Kids!! (Japan) August 8 - Comet in Moominland (Japan) August 14 - Freddie as F.R.O.7 (United Kingdom) August 21 - Delinquent in Drag (Japan) August 22 - Tottoi (Japan) August 29 - Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: The Last Blitz of Zeon (Japan) September 17 - Blinky Bill: The Mischievous Koala (Australia) October 1 - Tom and Jerry: The Movie (Germany) October 8 - The New Adventures of Little Toot (United States and Canada) October 29 - The Little Punker (Germany) November 16 - Aladdin (United Kingdom) November 21 - Fūma no Kojirō Saishushou: Fuma Hanran-hen (Japan) November 25 - Aladdin (United States) December 11 - Oishinbo: Kyūkyoku Tai Shikō, Chōju Ryōri Taiketsu!! (Japan) December 12: The Appleland Story (Japan) Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Golden Wings (Japan) December 19 - Chibi Maruko-chan: My Favorite Song (Japan) December 23: Beyond the Mind's Eye (United States) Fatal Fury: Legend of the Hungry Wolf (Japan) Specific date unknown: Beauty and the Beast (United Kingdom) Cinderella (United Kingdom) The Legend of the North Wind (Spain) Mitki-Mayer (Russia) The New Adventures of Robin Hood (Australia) The New Adventures of William Tell (Australia) The Pied Piper of Hamlin (Australia) Tomcat's Big Adventure (Japan)
Television series debuts