Events in 1949 in animation.
Events
January January 15: Friz Freleng's Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd cartoon Hare Do premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons.Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 60–61. . Retrieved June 6, 2020. January 22: Tex Avery's cartoon Bad Luck Blackie premieres, produced by MGM. It marks the debut of a prototypical version of Butch Dog. January 29: Chuck Jones' Porky Pig cartoon Awful Orphan premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. Also starring Charlie Dog.Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pg. 126. . Retrieved June 6, 2020. January 30: The first episode of Adventures of Pow Wow is broadcast.
February February 11: Jack Hannah's Donald Duck cartoon Donald's Happy Birthday premieres, produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. Also starring Huey, Dewey, and Louie.Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pg. 75–76. . Retrieved June 6, 2020. February 12: Arthur Davis' Porky Pig cartoon Porky Chops premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. February 26: William Hanna and Joseph Barbera's Tom and Jerry cartoon Polka-Dot Puss, produced by MGM's Cartoon Studio, premieres. It is the first cartoon to use the classic Tom and Jerry theme music as its intro, composed by Scott Bradley. Chuck Jones' Bugs Bunny cartoon Mississippi Hare premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons.
March March 12: Robert McKimson's Porky Pig cartoon Paying the Piper premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. March 24: 21st Academy Awards: The Tom and Jerry cartoon The Little Orphan wins the Academy Award for Best Animated Short (just a month before the short premiered in theaters). March 26: Robert McKimson's cartoon Daffy Duck Hunt premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. Starring Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, & Barnyard Dawg.
April April 8: Jack Hannah's Donald Duck cartoon Sea Salts premieres, produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. April 9: Robert McKimson's Bugs Bunny cartoon Rebel Rabbit premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. April 30: William Hanna and Joseph Barbera's Tom and Jerry cartoon The Little Orphan, produced by MGM's Cartoon Studio, releases.Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The encyclopedia of animated cartoons. Internet Archive. New York : Facts on File. . Friz Freleng's Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam cartoon High Diving Hare premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons.
May May 13: Dallas Bower's Alice in Wonderland premieres which has stop-motion sequences by Lou Bunin. May 14: William Hanna and Joseph Barbera's Tom and Jerry cartoon Hatch Up Your Troubles, produced by MGM's Cartoon Studio, premieres. May 21: Friz Freleng's Porky Pig cartoon Curtain Razor premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons.
June June 3: Jack Hannah's Donald Duck cartoon Winter Storage premieres, produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. Also starring Chip 'n' Dale. June 4: Arthur Davis' first & only Bugs Bunny cartoon Bowery Bugs premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. June 11: Tex Avery's classic short The House of Tomorrow premieres, produced by MGM's Cartoon Studio. Friz Freleng's cartoon Mouse Mazurka premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. Starring Sylvester.Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pg. 141. . Retrieved June 6, 2020. June 25: Chuck Jones' classic Bugs Bunny short Long-Haired Hare premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons.
July July 2: Robert McKimson's Foghorn Leghorn cartoon Henhouse Henery premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. Also starring Henery Hawk & Barnyard Dawg. It is the first short in the series to use the song "Camptown Races" which became Foghorn's theme. July 9: William Hanna and Joseph Barbera's Tom and Jerry cartoon Heavenly Puss premieres, produced by MGM's Cartoon Studio. This reel gained notoriety during the theatrical release for its subjects of damnation in Hell. Despite its infamy upon the release, it became a cult classic and was later adapted into a video game in 2003. July 16: Friz Freleng's Bugs Bunny cartoon Knights Must Fall premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. July 23: Friz Freleng's third Tweety and Sylvester cartoon Bad Ol' Putty Tat premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. July 30: Tex Avery’s Doggone Tired premieres, produced by MGM.
August August 5: Jack Hannah's Donald Duck cartoon Honey Harvester premieres, produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. August 6: Robert McKimson's Bugs Bunny cartoon The Grey Hounded Hare premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. August 13: Chuck Jones' Porky Pig cartoon Often an Orphan premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. This is the final short where Porky gets paired up with Charlie Dog. August 27: Robert McKimson's The Windblown Hare premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons, which stars Bugs Bunny, the Big Bad Wolf, and the Three Little Pigs.
September September 1: Crusader Rabbit becomes the first animated series directly made for television. September 2: Jack Hannah's Donald Duck cartoon All in a Nutshell premieres, produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. Also starring Chip 'n' Dale. Friz Freleng's Porky Pig cartoon Dough for the Do-Do premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. It is a colored remake of Bob Clampett's 1938 short Porky in Wackyland (with some elements from Clampett's 1943 short Tin Pan Alley Cats). September 3: William Hanna and Joseph Barbera's Tom and Jerry cartoon The Cat and the Mermouse, produced by MGM's Cartoon Studio, premieres. September 17: Chuck Jones' Fast and Furry-ous premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons, which marks the debuts of Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. September 29: John Hubley's The Ragtime Bear premieres produced by UPA which marks the debut of Mr. Magoo
October October 1: William Hanna and Joseph Barbera's Tom and Jerry cartoon Love That Pup, produced by MGM's Cartoon Studio, is first released. It marks the debut of Tyke the pup. October 5: The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, produced by the Walt Disney Company, premieres. October 8: Chuck Jones' Bugs Bunny cartoon Frigid Hare premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. Voice actor Mel Blanc loses a trial against animation producer Walter Lantz, whom he had sued for unauthorized use of his voice and laugh for the character Woody Woodpecker. Blanc had voiced the character in his three first cartoons, before Warner Brothers took an exclusivity contract on him. However, Lantz had kept using audio recordings of Woody's laugh and had other actors imitate the voice. The judge rules that Blanc has no case since he did not copyright Woody's voice. However, Lantz does settle the case out of court and pays him some compensation afterwards. October 14: Jack Hannah's Donald Duck cartoon The Greener Yard premieres, produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. October 22: Arthur Davis' Porky Pig cartoon Bye, Bye Bluebeard premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. This was Davis' last short for Warner Bros. until he returned 12–13 years later to direct the Daffy Duck cartoon Quackodile Tears. William Hanna and Joseph Barbera's Tom and Jerry cartoon Jerry's Diary, produced by MGM's Cartoon Studio, is first released. The short features footage from the previous Tom and Jerry cartoons: Tee for Two, Mouse Trouble, Solid Serenade, and The Yankee Doodle Mouse.
November November 12: Chuck Jones' For Scent-imental Reasons premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons which marks the debut of Pepé Le Pew's long term significant other Penelope Pussycat. November 19: Robert McKimson's cartoon Hippety Hopper premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. Starring Sylvester and the titular character Hippety Hopper. November 25: Jack Hannah's Donald Duck cartoon Slide, Donald, Slide premieres, produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios.
December
December 3: Friz Freleng's Bugs Bunny cartoon Which Is Witch premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. This short has never been re-released due to its negative depictions of African-Americans.Cohen, Karl F. (2004), "Racism and Resistance:Stereotypes in Animation", Forbidden Animation: Censored Cartoons and Blacklisted Animators in America, McFarland & Company, p. 54, December 10: William Hanna and Joseph Barbera's Tom and Jerry cartoon Tennis Chumps, produced by MGM's Cartoon Studio, premieres. December 16: Jack Hannah's Donald Duck cartoon Toy Tinkers premieres, produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. Also starring Chip 'n' Dale. December 24: Chuck Jones' Bugs Bunny cartoon Rabbit Hood premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons.
Specific date unknown Karel Zeman's Inspiration premieres.
Films released
April 15 - The Emperor's Nightingale (Czechoslovakia) May 13 - Alice in Wonderland (France) August 22 - The Dynamite Brothers (Italy) October 5 - The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (United States) December 22 - The Singing Princess (Italy) December 26 - Adventures of Esparadrapo (Spain)
Television series debuts
January 30 - Adventures of Pow Wow debuts on WNBT-TV. August 1 - Crusader Rabbit debuts in syndication. September - Jim and Judy in Teleland debuts in syndication.
Births
January January 1: Daniel Goldberg, Canadian producer and screenwriter (Space Jam, Heavy Metal, Mummies Alive!, Extreme Ghostbusters, Alienators: Evolution Continues), (d. 2023).Daniel Goldberg Dies: 'The Hangover' Trilogy Producer, 'Late Shift' Emmy Nominee & 'Stripes' Co-Writer was 74 January 7: George Buza, Canadian actor (voice of Beast in X-Men: The Animated Series and X-Men '97, Grandpa Fantootsie in Franny's Feet, Chief Chirpa in Ewoks). January 10: George Foreman, American boxer (voice of George Fisticuff in the Garfield and Friends episode "Food Fighters", himself in the King of the Hill episode "Boxing Luanne"), (d. 2025).Heavyweight boxing legend George Foreman dies aged 76, says family Thomas Chase Jones, American composer (Mister T, Disney Television Animation, Bionic Six, Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light, DIC Entertainment, Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland, A Wish for Wings That Work, Hanna-Barbera, Captain Simian & the Space Monkeys, Salty's Lighthouse, The New Woody Woodpecker Show, ChalkZone, Warner Bros. Animation). January 26: David Strathairn, American actor (voice of Milton Lynxley in Zootopia 2, the title character in the Axe Cop episode "Night Mission: The Extincter", Chet in the Fairfax episode "Chernobylfest").
February February 2: Brent Spiner, American actor (voice of Puck in Gargoyles, Conan O'Brien in South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, Dr. Gabriel Rylander in Generator Rex, Joker in Young Justice, Coach Mackey in Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey, Dr. Noonien Soong, Gondola Jack, and Medic in Robot Chicken, Gall Trayvis in Star Wars Rebels, Silver Surfer in the Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. episode "Fear Itself", Riddler in the Justice League Action episode "E. Nigma, Consulting Detective", Purple Man in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes episode "Emperor Stark", Robots in The Simpsons episode "Them, Robot", himself in the Family Guy episode "Not All Dogs Go to Heaven"). February 5: Bill Steinkellner, American screenwriter (The Lion King 1½, co-creator of Teacher's Pet). February 8: John Swartzwelder, American novelist and screenwriter (The Simpsons). February 9: Judith Light, American actress (voice of Zuleika in Joseph: King of Dreams, Mrs. Wright in the Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero episode "My Mischievous Son", herself in the Family Guy episode "The Griffin Family History"). February 10: Valri Bromfield, Canadian actress and comedienne (voice of Mary Hartless in Tiny Toon Adventures and Animaniacs, Molly in Camp Candy).