"Ice Age" premieres 2002

Blue Sky Studios premiered their animated comedy Ice Age, March 12, 2002, and released across the US March 15.  The movie follows the adventures of a wooly mammoth Manny (voiced by Ray Romano), a sloth (voiced by John Leguizamo), and a shady saber-toothed tiger (voiced by Denis Leary) as they try to return a human baby to the humans before the pass closes up.

It was well-received, ranking #1 at the box office during its first weekend. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2003.  It has spawned four sequels. 

"Cinderella" released 1950

Walt Disney's animated classic Cinderella was released across the US on March 4, 1950.  Walt Disney Productions had been suffering financial losses after the dismal performances of Pinocchio, Fantasia, and Bambi.  

Cinderella received widespread acclaim and was Disney's biggest box office success since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.  It was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Scoring of a Musical Picture, Best Original Song for Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo, and Best Sound Recording. 

In 2018, Cinderella was selected for preservation in the US National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". 

Disney's "Sleeping Beauty" released 1959

Sleeping Beauty, released by Walt Disney Productions January 29, 1959, is based on a 1697 fairy tale by Charles Perrault.  The movie tells the story of Princess Aurora, who was cursed by the evil Maleficent to die on her 16th birthday by pricking her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel. She is saved by three good fairies and a handsome prince.

It opened to mixed reviews.  Some critics praised its art direction and musical score, but bashed the plot and characters.  The plot?  It's a two-hundred and fifty year old story!  Jeez.

Although it was a box office bomb upon its release it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture.  

Since then, following re-releases, it has become one of Disney's most beloved films and has been selected for preservation in the United States Library of Congress' National Film Registry.

Happy birthday, Pepe Lepew!

Pepe LePew, everyone's favorite lovestruck skunk, made his debut in Odor-able Kitty, January 6, 1945. He joined the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoon lineup with Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig.

He appeared in 18 shorts from 1945-1962.

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"Finding Nemo" released 2003

Walt Disney Studios and Pixar Animation released their classic feature Finding Nemo May 30, 2003. Albert Brooks (Marlin) and Ellen DeGeneres (Dory) provided the voices of the main characters as they go in search of Marlin's son Nemo.

It is one of the top rated movies ranked on imdb.com.  It was nominated for four Academy Awards, winning Best Animated Feature, the first for Pixar.  It was nominated for five Saturn Awards, winning Best Animated Film and Best Supporting Actress for Ellen DeGeneres.  

Finding Nemo was the second highest-grossing film of 2003, behind The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.  But it beat The Matrix Reloaded to become the highest-grossing film of the 2003 summer season. It received overwhelming positive reviews.

"Aladdin" wins 2 Golden Globes 1993

Disney's animated take on Aladdin garnered two Golden Globes at the 50th celebration held January 23, 1993.  Alan Menken won for Best Original Score and A Whole New World won Best Original Song, as performed by Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle.  

Aladdin was nominated for three more awards.  It was nominated for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy.  Two other songs from the soundtrack, Friend Like Me and Prince Ali, both sung by Robin Williams were nominated for Best Original Song.

I like those two songs much better than Whole New World, but I wasn't asked.  

First Pink Panther episode "Pink Phink" airs 1964

The first Pink Panther episode, Pink Phink, aired December 18, 1964.  The animated short would win Best Animated Short at the 37th Academy Awards.

It features the Pink Panther and a painter known as "Little Man" battling for the color of a house.  Little Man wants it blue, but the Pink Panther undoes his hard work by re-painting everything pink.  

The studio DePatie-Freleng Enterprises is the first studio to win the award for their first short. Pink Phink is the only short from the studio that won any Academy Awards. The Pink Panther shorts used the music from Henry Mancini's Academy Award nominated soundtrack to the Pink Panther movie series staring Peter Sellers. 

"Dumbo" released 1941

Walt Disney Studios released its fourth animated feature, Dumbo, across America October 31, 1941.  It became a major hit with audiences, and gave the studio its first success after the failures of Pinocchio and Fantasia.  It has come under fire for its racist stereotyping of African-Americans in recent years.

Despite that, Dumbo won an Academy Award for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture.  The song Baby Mine was nominated for Best Original Song.  It also won Best Animation Design at the Cannes Film Festival.

In 2017, Dumbo was selected for preservation in the US National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

First appearance of Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner 1949

Chuck Jones premiered Fast and Furry-ous, the first appearance of the comic duo Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, September 17, 1949.  Jones meant the couple to be a parody of cartoon characters Tom and Jerry. As of 2020, fifty cartoons have been made feature the characters.

TV Guide listed Wile E. Coyote as one of the 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time in 2013.

"Humorous phases of funny faces" first animated cartoon 1906

Historians agree that Humorous Phases of Funny Faces is the first animated cartoon, which first aired April 6, 1906.  It was directed by James Stuart Blackton and filmed in 1904 but was released in 1906.

"Speedy Gonzales" wins Oscar for Best Animated Short 1956

Speedy Gonzales, the second appearance of the fastest mouse in all of Mexico, won the Academy Award for Best Short Subject - Cartoons at the 28th ceremony March 21, 1956.  It featured Mel Blanc as the voice of Speedy and was directed by Friz Freleng.

Speedy first appeared as a prototype in Cat-Tails for Two in 1953.

I could only find the short film in color without sound, or without color with sound.  I preferred to hear what was going on, so here it is.

"The Lion King" wins three Golden Globe awards 1995

The Lion King, another Disney animated masterpiece, won three Golden Globes at the 52nd ceremony January 21, 1995.  It won for Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy.  Hans Zimmer won for Best Original Score and Elton John won Best Original Song for Can you Feel the Love Tonight.

"Beauty And The Beast" wins three Golden Globes 1992

Disney's blockbuster animated film Beauty and the Beast won three Golden Globe Awards at the 49th ceremony held January 18, 1992.

The movie won Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy, Best Original Score for Alan Menken, and Best Original Song for Beauty and the Beast performed by Peabo Byson and Celine Dion.  

Be Our Guest was also nominated for Best Original Song for Angela Lansbury and Jerry Orbach.

"Coco" wins Golden Globe 2018

Coco, the animated feature from Disney and Pixar, won the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature Film at the 75th ceremony January 7, 2018.  It was nominated for Best Original song.  It won two Academy Awards.  For me, it is one of the best movies ever, in the same company as Wall-E and Up. 

"Song of the South" released 1946

Disney's movie, Song of the South, released in the US November 20, 1946, has become a subject of controversy for its portrayal of African-Americans.  The film, a mix of live-action and animation, is based on a collection of Uncle Remus stories adapted by Joel Chandler Harris.

James Baskett starred as Uncle Remus and provided the voice of Br'er Fox.  Baskett won an Academy Honorary Award for his performance.

The movie won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah.  It was also nominated for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture.  It was one of the top-grossing movies of 1946. 

Disney's "The Jungle Book" released 1967

Disney Studios released their animated version of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, October 18, 1967.  It was the last movie to be personally supervised by Walt Disney and was the first to be released after his death in 1966.

The song The Bare Necessities was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song.  The movie was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Recording for Children.

"Up" released 2009

Up, Disney's animated movie featuring the cranky Mr. Fredericksen, voiced by Ed Asner, in a house carried aloft by balloons, was released May 29, 2009.  Russell is Pixar's first lead Asian character.  Up also introduced us to Dug, the loveable Golden Retriever who can communicate with humans.

It won two Academy Awards: Best Original Score and Best Animated Feature Film of the Year.  It was nominated for three more: Best Motion Picture, Best Writing and Best Sound Editing.

"Ice Age: The Meltdown" released 2006

Ice Age: The Meltdown, the sequel to the wildly popular first Ice Age movie, was released March 31, 2006.  The movie featured the return of the main characters Manny the Mammoth (Ray Romano), Sid the Sloth (John Leguizamo) and Diego the sabre-toothed tiger (Denis Leary).  Scrat returns as well. 

Manny, Sid and Diego realize the Ice Age is coming to an end and must leave the valley before it is flooded.  On the way, they meet another mammoth, Ellie, voiced by Queen Latifah, proving that Manny is not the last one.

It was the first 2006 movie to surpass the $100M mark and is the 66th highest-grossing film of all time.

"The Aristocats" released 1970

Disney's animated film The Aristocats was released December 24, 1970 to positive reviews.  It was also well-received in Europe.  It was the most popular "general release" in Britain for 1971 and the most popular film in France and Germany for 1971.

Eva Gabor voiced the main character Duchess.  Brother Richard and Robert Sherman composed several songs for the movie but only Scales and Arpeggios was included.  The soundtrack features more jazzy sound than previous movies.

"Bambi" released 1942

Everyone's favorite young-deer-growing-up movie, Bambi, debuted in movie theaters August 21, 1942.  At the time, it wasn't a money-maker but subsequent releases have boosted it to blockbuster status and made it one of the most beloved Disney movies ever.

Reading the trivia notes on imdb.com, it appears that the novel from which the movie is based, is totally NOT a children's book.  It is much darker with more deaths and gore.  Fortunately, Disney did not include such aspects and the result is a very G-rated film for all ages.

It was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Sound, Recording; Best Music, Original Song (for Love is a Song); and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedic Picture.