1997 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 7: The U.S. animation studio Frederator Studios is founded. January 12: The first episode of King of the Hill is broadcast.
February February 8: The final episode of the Sailor Moon, anime airs. February 9: The Simpsons episode "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show" is first broadcast, with the series breaking the record of The Flintstones as the longest-running U.S. primetime animated TV series.
March March 3: Daria, a spin-off series of Beavis and Butt-Head airs its first episode. March 15: Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death & Rebirth premieres, the first film in the Neon Genesis Evangelion series. March 24: 69th Academy Awards: Quest by Tyron Montgomery and Thomas Stellmach wins the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. March 26: Mark Dindal's Cats Don't Dance premieres.
April April 1: As an April Fools' Day joke, Cartoon Network reruns Tex Avery's Screwy Squirrel cartoon Happy-Go-Nutty for 12 hours straight. The Pokémon anime first airs in Japan. April 2: The first episode of Hikarian is broadcast. April 7: The first episode of The Kindaichi Case Files airs. April 17: The first episode of Blake and Mortimer, based on the eponymous comics series Blake and Mortimer by Edgar P. Jacobs, is broadcast. April 19: The first episode of The Angry Beavers airs. April 21: Matt Groening founded the animation production company The Curiosity Company, which would later produce Futurama.
May May 11: King of the Hill concludes its first season on Fox with the episode "Plastic White Female". The season's finale reeled in a total of over 13.2 million viewers that night. May 16: Todd McFarlane's Spawn, based on the comic series Spawn, is first broadcast. May 18: The Simpsons concludes its eighth season on Fox with the episode "The Secret War of Lisa Simpson".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. .
June June 5: The Japanese animation studio Bee Train is founded. June 14: The first episode of The Adventures of Paddington Bear is broadcast, based on the eponymous children's book series. June 15: The Walt Disney Company releases Hercules, directed by Ron Clements and John Musker.
July July 12: Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke premieres. Now-former Miramax chairman Harvey Weinstein responded with the infamous "no-cuts" policy by Toshio Suzuki as Weinstein nearly gave up wanting to distribute the film for the United States release. He instead hired Neil Gaiman to work on the English dub for the film. July 14: The first episode of Johnny Bravo airs. Because of its infamy for frequent suggestive humor, it became an adult interest. July 15: The first episode of Cow and Chicken is broadcast. One of Cartoon Network's earliest queer coded animated programs. July 19: Hideaki Anno and Kazuya Tsurumaki's The End of Evangelion premieres. July 22: The first episode of I Am Weasel is broadcast. July 26: A Chinese Ghost Story: The Tsui Hark Animation premieres.
August August 5: The Peanuts special It Was My Best Birthday Ever, Charlie Brown released exclusively for VHS & VCD."Peanuts - Aired Order - All Seasons - TheTVDB.com". thetvdb.com. Retrieved 2025-10-12. August 13: The first episode of South Park premieres on Comedy Central. It marks the debut of Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, his baby brother Ike, Eric Cartman, Kenny McCormick, Mr. Garrison, Wendy Testaburger, Butters Stotch, Bebe Stevens, Token Black, Liane Cartman, Officer Barbrady and Chef. August 24: The first episode of Franklin airs. August 31: The first episode of Space Goofs is broadcast.
September September 1: The first episode of 101 Dalmatians: The Series, produced by the Walt Disney Company, is broadcast. September 3: DIC Entertainment's The Wacky World of Tex Avery airs. It was brutally panned by critics, who declared it an "insult" to Tex Avery's legacy. September 5: The first episode of Kipper airs. September 8: Bill Plympton's I Married a Strange Person! premieres. September 13: The first episode of Pepper Ann is broadcast. The first episode of Recess, produced by the Walt Disney Company, is broadcast. The first episode of Science Court (later renamed Squiggle Vision) is broadcast. September 15: The first episode of Caillou is broadcast in Canada. It was televised in the United States three years later. This cartoon received intense criticism for the titular character's negative behavior. It was described as "the world's most universally reviled children's program.", despite some positive reviews. September 21: Season 9 of The Simpsons begins on Fox with the premiere of the episode "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson". This episode was pulled off from syndication & streaming services years later due to it featuring the World Trade Center, which would end up being destroyed 4 years later. Season 2 of King of the Hill begins on Fox with the premiere of the episode "How to Fire a Rifle Without Really Trying". September 28: The Simpsons episode "The Principal and the Pauper" is first broadcast, where Principal Skinner is revealed to be an impostor, an episode which will prove to be controversial among long-time fans. Many fans believed that this episode is when the show jumped the shark. September 29: The first episode of Noah's Island airs.
October October 13: The first episode of Fennec is broadcast. October 17: Teletoon is launched in Canada. The first episode of Ned's Newt is broadcast on Teletoon. The show would eventually air on Fox Kids in the United States in 1998. October 23: Milan Blažeković' Lapitch the Little Shoemaker premieres. This is Blažeković's third film produced from Croatia Film and the second to perceive the United States release. October 24: The first episode of Freaky Stories airs. October 26: The Simpsons' "Treehouse of Horror VIII" premieres on Fox.
November November 14: Don Bluth and Gary Goldman's Anastasia premieres. This marks Bluth's first well-regarded film since All Dogs Go to Heaven in 1989 and the only film to be at its best from Fox Animation Studios overall. November 18: Motion Painting No. 1 and Tulips Shall Grow are added to the National Film Registry. November 19: The final episode of Dragon Ball GT, airs ending an 11-year run of shows based on the Dragon Ball franchise until the premiere of Dragon Ball Super in 2015. November 22: Rugrats concludes its fourth season on Nickelodeon with the premiere of the episodes "Angelica Nose Best/The Pirate Light"."Rugrats: The Complete Series". iTunes Store. Apple, Inc. August 11, 1991. Retrieved August 13, 2025. November 28: The final episode of Beavis and Butt-Head is broadcast on MTV.
December December 2: Anime producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki is arrested for drug possession with 50g of stimulants, 7g of morphine, 9g of marijuana. While on bail he goes to the Philippines on his English-registered cruiser the Ocean Nine; returning to smuggle in an M16 with M203 grenade launcher, a Glock 17, and a large amount of ammunition.「宇宙戦艦ヤマトプロデューサー 覚せい剤所持容疑で逮捕」『朝日新聞』1998年1月17日 December 6: The final episode of Aaahh!!! Real Monsters airs. December 16: The airing of the Pokémon episode "Dennō Senshi Porygon" causes photosensitive epileptic seizures among more than 600 viewers in Japan, prompting the series to have a four-month hiatus. December 17: The South Park episode "Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo" first airs, in which Mr. Hankey, Mr. Mackey and Father Maxi make their debut. December 25: Adarna: The Mythical Bird premieres in the Philippines, becoming the first feature-length animated Filipino film.
Specific date unknown Hanna-Barbera closed its studio doors in Hollywood, California, one year after Time Warner purchased Turner Broadcasting System. Ray Nowland's Go to Hell!! premieres, an animated feature animated completely by one person.
Awards Mainichi Film Award for Best Film: Princess Mononoke Japan Academy Prize for Picture of the Year: Princess Mononoke
Films released
January 10 - Deep Sea Fleet: Submarine 707 (Japan) January 24: Alien from the Darkness (Japan) The Quest for the Key to Heaven (Sweden) February 4 - VeggieTales: Very Silly Songs! (United States) February 11: Droids: The Pirates and the Prince (United States and Canada) Ewoks: The Haunted Village (United States and Canada) Hercules (United States) February 18 - Underground Adventure (United States and Canada) March 6 - The Little Bastard (Germany) March 8: Doraemon: Nobita and the Spiral City (Japan) Jigoku Sensei Nūbē: Gozen 0 toki Nūbē Shisu (Japan) March 11 - Journey Beneath the Sea (United States and Canada) March 15: The Dog of Flanders: The Movie (Japan) Evangelion: Death and Rebirth (Japan) March 26: Cats Don't Dance (United States) Dragon Ball GT: A Hero's Legacy (Japan) March 28: Mondo Plympton (United States) Spy of Darkness (Japan) March 29 - Kikansha Sensei (Japan) April 8 - Mighty Ducks the Movie: The First Face-Off (United States) April 12 - Hermes – Winds of Love (Japan) April 19: Case Closed: The Time-Bombed Skyscraper (Japan) Crayon Shin-chan: Pursuit of the Balls of Darkness (Japan) Tiny Heroes (Hungary, Germany, and United States) April 22 - VeggieTales: Larry-Boy! and the Fib from Outer Space! (United States) April 25 - City Hunter: The Motion Picture (Japan) May - Tom and Fluffy (Estonia) May 11 - Jiang de Kailaban jue (China and Germany) May 15 - The Count of Monte Cristo (Canada and United States) May 20: Anastasia (United States and Japan) The Brave Little Toaster to the Rescue (United States) May 21 - Psycho Diver: Soul Siren (Japan) June 23 - Lapitch the Little Shoemaker (Croatia and Germany) June 27 - Hercules (United States) July 5 - Elmer's Adventure: My Father's Dragon (Japan) July 10 - Dibu: The Movie (Argentina) July 12 - Princess Mononoke (Japan) July 13 - Beauty and the Beast (United States) July 18 - The Swan Princess: Escape from Castle Mountain (United States) July 19 - The End of Evangelion (Japan) July 22: The Day the Earth Moved (Japan) Fujimi Orchestra (Japan) July 26 - A Chinese Ghost Story: The Tsui Hark Animation (Hong Kong) July 28 - Soreike! Anpanman Niji no Piramiddo (Japan) August 1: Jungle Emperor Leo (Japan) Lupin III: Island of Assassins (Japan) August 2: Slayers Great (Japan) Tenchi the Movie 2: The Daughter of Darkness (Japan) August 5: Perfect Blue (Japan) Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin (United States) August 22 - Pippi Longstocking (Sweden, Germany, and Canada) September 8 - I Married a Strange Person! (United States) September 12 - Licca-chan to Yamaneko Hoshi no Tabi (Japan) September 13: Spur to Glory: The Igaya Chiharu Story (Japan) The Ugly Duckling (United Kingdom) September 20 - Spacibo at the End of the Edo Period (Japan) October 2 - The Fearless Four (Germany, United States, and United Kingdom) October 4 - The Batman/Superman Movie: World's Finest (United States) October 11 - A Christmas Carol (United States) October 14 - Babes in Toyland (United States) October 21 - Annabelle's Wish (United States) October 25 - Kigyō Senshi Yamazaki: Long Distance Call (Japan) November 11: Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (United States and Canada) Twilight of the Dark Master (Japan) November 18 - VeggieTales: Josh and the Big Wall! (United States) November 21 - Anastasia (United States) December 4 - Benjamin Bluemchen (Germany and Luxembourg) December 9 - The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island (United States) December 25: Adarna: The Mythical Bird (Philippines) The Secret of Anastasia (United States) Specific date unknown: Go to Hell!! (Australia) Home of Acorns (Japan)