Events in 1955 in animation.
Events
January January 14: Jack Hannah's Donald Duck cartoon No Hunting premieres, produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios.Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pg. 76. . Retrieved June 6, 2020. Bambi and his mother make a cameo in this short. January 15: Robert McKimson's Foghorn Leghorn cartoon Feather Dusted premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. Also starring Egghead Jr. & Miss Prissy.Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 81–82. . Retrieved June 6, 2020. January 29: The pilot episode of Art Clokey's Gumby airs. It will become a full series a year later.
February February 12: Chuck Jones' Beanstalk Bunny premieres, starring Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. February 19: Robert McKimson's Foghorn Leghorn cartoon All Fowled Up premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. Also starring Barnyard Dawg & Henery Hawk. February 26: Friz Freleng's Daffy Duck cartoon Stork Naked premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons.Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pg 72. . Retrieved June 6, 2020. Also starring The Drunk Stork.
March March 12: Robert McKimson's Sylvester and Hippety Hopper cartoon Lighthouse Mouse premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons.Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pg. 141. . Retrieved June 6, 2020. Hanna-Barbera's Tom and Jerry short Southbound Duckling, produced by MGM's Cartoon Studio, premieres.Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The encyclopedia of animated cartoons. Internet Archive. New York : Facts on File. p. 150. . March 26: Friz Freleng's Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam cartoon Sahara Hare premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. Daffy Duck makes a cameo appearance at the end of the short. March 30: 27th Academy Awards: The Mr. Magoo short film When Magoo Flew, produced by UPA and directed by Pete Burness, wins the Academy Award for Best Animated Short.
April April 2: Friz Freleng's Tweety and Sylvester cartoon Sandy Claws premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. Also starring Granny.Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pg. 152. . Retrieved June 6, 2020. This was Bea Benaderet's final performance as Granny, June Foray would soon take over as the elderly woman. April 9: Tex Avery's Field And Scream for MGM premieres. April 11: Tex Avery's The Legend of Rockabye Point premieres, produced by Walter Lantz. April 16: Robert McKimson's The Hole Idea is first released, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons, an animated short he directed and animated almost entirely on his own. April 26 - May 10: 1955 Cannes Film Festival: Jiří Trnka's The Good Soldier Schweik premieres. April 30: Hanna-Barbera's Tom and Jerry short Pup on a Picnic, produced by MGM's Cartoon Studio, premieres. Chuck Jones' Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner short Ready, Set, Zoom!, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons, premieres.Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pg. 129. . Retrieved 6 June 2020 – via Archive.org.
May May 7: Friz Freleng's Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd cartoon Hare Brush premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. This short features Bugs & Elmer having reversed roles. May 21: Hanna-Barbera's Tom and Jerry short Mouse for Sale, produced by MGM's Cartoon Studio, premieres. Chuck Jones' Pepé Le Pew cartoon Past Perfumance premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. Also starring Penelope Pussycat.Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. p. 117. . Retrieved June 6, 2020.
June June 4: Friz Freleng's Tweety and Sylvester cartoon Tweety's Circus premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. June 6: Tex Avery's animated short Sh-h-h-h-h-h is first released, produced by Walter Lantz Productions. It is the final theatrical animated short made by him before his retirement. June 11: Chuck Jones' Rabbit Rampage premieres starring Bugs Bunny, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. The short is a spiritual successor to Jones' Daffy Duck cartoon Duck Amuck. Elmer Fudd is revealed to be the animator at the end of the short. June 22: The Walt Disney Company releases Lady and the Tramp, directed by Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson and Hamilton Luske, It was the first animated film to be filmed in the CinemaScope widescreen film process.
July July 9: Friz Freleng's This Is a Life? premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. Starring Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, Daffy Duck, & Granny (voiced by June Foray for the very first time). The short features footage from Freleng's previous Bugs Bunny cartoons such as A Hare Grows in Manhattan, Hare Do, and Buccaneer Bunny. July 17: Disneyland opens in Anaheim, California.
August August 5: Karel Zeman's Journey to the Beginning of Time premieres. August 6: Chuck Jones' Porky Pig and Sylvester cartoon Jumpin' Jupiter premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons.Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. p.126. . Retrieved 6 June 2020. This is the final pairing of Porky and Sylvester in the Golden Age of Animation. August 19: Jack Hannah's Donald Duck cartoon Bearly Asleep premieres, produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. Also starring Humphrey the Bear. August 20: Friz Freleng's cartoon A Kiddies Kitty premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. Starring Sylvester and Hector the Bulldog. August 27: Friz Freleng's cartoon Hyde and Hare premieres starring Bugs Bunny, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons.
September September 2: Jack Hannah's Donald Duck cartoon Beezy Bear premieres, produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. Also starring Humphrey the Bear. Hanna-Barbera's Tom and Jerry short Designs on Jerry, produced by MGM's Cartoon Studio, premieres. September 3: Robert McKimson's Porky Pig and Daffy Duck cartoon Dime to Retire premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. This is the final short to feature Porky as an annoyed victim, following cartoons would star him as the more successful sidekick to Daffy's highly egoistical character. September 9: Hanna-Barbera's Tom and Jerry short Tom and Chérie, produced by MGM's Cartoon Studio, premieres. September 16: Vladimir Polkovnikov and Aleksandra Snezhko-Blotskaya's The Enchanted Boy premieres, an animated feature based on Nils Holgersson by Selma Lagerlöf. September 17: Speedy Gonzales, who was earlier created by Robert McKimson, appears in a remodeled version in the Friz Freleng cartoon Speedy Gonzales, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. It launches the character as the star of a long-running series. Sylvester also appears in the short as the main antagonist. September 23: Jack Hannah's Donald Duck cartoon Up a Tree premieres, produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. Also starring Chip 'n' Dale.
October October 1: Chuck Jones' Knight-mare Hare premieres starring Bugs Bunny, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. October 3: The first episode of The Mickey Mouse Club airs on television. October 14: Hanna-Barbera's Tom and Jerry short Smarty Cat, produced by MGM's Cartoon Studio, premieres. October 15: Chuck Jones' Pepé Le Pew cartoon Two Scent's Worth premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. Also starring Penelope Pussycat. October 28: MGM releases Deputy Droopy, a cartoon starring Droopy, directed by Tex Avery. Avery left the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio in 1953, but the cartoon was only finished and released after he left. October 29: Friz Freleng's Tweety and Sylvester cartoon Red Riding Hoodwinked premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. Also starring Granny.
November November 11: The Tom and Jerry short film Pecos Pest, produced by MGM's Cartoon Studio, premieres. This was the last Tom and Jerry Cartoon to be produced in the Academy format ratio, all following shorts would be produced in the CinemaScope format. November 12: Friz Freleng's Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam short film Roman Legion-Hare, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons, is first released. November 19: Hanna-Barbera's Tom and Jerry short That's My Mommy, produced by MGM's Cartoon Studio, premieres. November 25: MGM releases Cellbound, a cartoon starring Spike the bulldog, directed by Tex Avery. Avery left MGM in 1953, but the cartoon was only finished and released after he left. November 26: Friz Freleng's Sylvester and Elmer Fudd cartoon Heir-Conditioned premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. Tweety makes a cameo at the beginning of the short.
December December 10: Chuck Jones' Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner short Guided Muscle, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons, premieres. The first episode of Mighty Mouse Playhouse airs. December 15: The first episode of A Rubovian Legend airs. December 17: Friz Freleng's Sylvester cartoon Pappy's Puppy premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. Also starring The Drunk Stork. December 31: Chuck Jones' One Froggy Evening, premieres, produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. It marks the debut of Michigan J. Frog.
Specific date unknown Belvision Studios creates several animated television shorts for Belgian television, based on Suske en Wiske and Till Eulenspiegel by Willy Vandersteen, which are broadcast during the children's show Kom Toch Eens Kijken. Alberta Siegel conducts a study on the effect of cartoon violence on young children, under the title: Film-Mediated Fantasy Aggression and Strength of Aggressive Drive. She shows the Ub Iwerks cartoon The Little Red Hen and Woody Woodpecker cartoon Ace in the Hole as test subjects and notices the children play more aggressively after watching the Woody Woodpecker cartoon. A year later the test will cause debate and concern among moral guardians.
Films released
June 22 - Lady and the Tramp (United States) September 16 - The Enchanted Boy (Soviet Union) December 23 - The Enchanted Village (Canada) Specific date unknown - The Devil and Kate (Czechoslovakia)
Television series
October 3: Captain Kangaroo debuts on CBS. The Mickey Mouse Club debuts on ABC, on Disney Channel, and in syndication. December 10 - Mighty Mouse Playhouse debuts on CBS. December 15 - A Rubovian Legend debuts on BBC.
Births January January 2: Tex Brashear, American actor (voice of Tony the Tiger from Frosted Flakes, Sonny the Cuckoo Bird from Cocoa Puffs, Lucky the Leprechaun from Lucky Charms, Charlie the Tuna from StarKist). January 3: Hal Rayle, American voice actor (voice of Deep Six in G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, Pipes, Snarl, and Shrapnel in The Transformers, Raphael in the European side season of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther, Lieutenant Commander Steele in Swat Kats: The Radical Squadron, Doyle Cleverlobe in Galaxy High, Bonehead and Dr. Bender in Toxic Crusaders). January 6: Rowan Atkinson, English actor, comedian and writer (voice of Zazu in The Lion King, Mr. Bean in Mr. Bean: The Animated Series). January 9: J. K. Simmons, American actor (voice of J. Jonah Jameson in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes episode "Along Came a Spider...", Ultimate Spider-Man, Avengers Assemble, Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and The Simpsons episode "Moe'N'a Lisa", White Knight in Generator Rex, Ford Pines in Gravity Falls, Yellow M&M from M&M, General Wade Eiling in Justice League Unlimited, Martin Smarty in Kim Possible, J.B. & Napoleon in Phineas and Ferb, Tenzin in The Legend of Korra, Omni-Man in Invincible, Kai in Kung Fu Panda 3, Mayor Lionheart in Zootopia, the title character in Klaus, Captain Putty in Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, Conductor Maestro Mackerel in the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Snooze You Lose").