2014 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 12: The Simpsons episode "Married to the Blob" is first broadcast, in which the couch gag is animated by Bill Plympton, the third time he has done so. In the same episode, the long-time single Comic Book Guy marries manga artist Kumiko Nakamura. January 20: A standalone half-hour CG-animated special based on The Powerpuff Girls titled "Dance Pantsed" premiered on Cartoon Network.
February February 1: The 41st Annie Awards are held. February 7: The Lego Movie, by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, is released. February 22: During the 86th Academy Awards, Frozen by Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee and Peter Del Vecho wins the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. The song "Let It Go" from the same movie, written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, wins the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Mr. Hublot by Laurent Witz and Alexandre Espigares wins the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.
March March 9: The Simpsons episode "Diggs" is first broadcast, in which the couch gag is animated by Sylvain Chomet. The same evening, another episode, "The Man Who Grew Too Much", is first broadcast, featuring the last new speaking appearance of Edna Krabappel after Marcia Wallace's death on October 25, 2013. The character was retired after this episode. March 24-25: The Scooby-Doo direct-to-video film Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery releases on DVD, Blu-ray, & UltraViolet."Scooby-Doo: WrestleMania Mystery on Amazon.co.uk". Amazon UK. March 24, 2014. Archived from the original on January 22, 2020. Retrieved February 6, 2026."Scooby-Doo: WrestleMania Mystery on Amazon.com". Amazon. March 25, 2014. Archived from the original on January 22, 2020. Retrieved February 6, 2026.
April April 1: Cav Bøgelund's Våbenbrødre (Brothers in Arms), an animated short aimed at mature audiences about Danish soldiers during the Afghan War, premieres. April 27: The Simpsons episode, "What to Expect When Bart's Expecting", is first broadcast, in which the couch gag is animated by Michael Socha. Nickelodeon celebrates its 35th anniversary.
May May 4: The Simpsons 550th episode "Brick Like Me" premieres on Fox, in which large parts of the episode are animated in the style of Lego. May 11: The Family Guy episode "He's Bla-ack!" premieres on Fox, which marks the return of Cleveland Brown (along with his current family) after the cancellation of his spin-off from the previous year. May 18:Kondolojy, Amanda (May 20, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'The Amazing Race' & 'American Dream Builders' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on May 21, 2014. Retrieved May 20, 2014. Bob's Burgers concludes its fourth season on Fox with the episode "World Wharf II: The Wharfening (or How Bob Saves/Destroys the Town – Part II)". The season's finale was seen by over 1.9 million viewers that night. American Dad! concludes its tenth season on Fox with the episode "The Longest Distance Relationship". The season's finale was seen by over 2.3 million viewers that night. The Simpsons concludes its 25th season on Fox with the episode "The Yellow Badge of Cowardge", guest starring Olympian Edwin Moses. The season's finale was seen by over 3.2 million viewers that night. Family Guy concludes its 12th season on Fox with the episode "Chap Stewie", which features the following English guest stars: Cary Elwes, Isaac Hempstead-Wright, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and David Thewlis. The season's finale was seen by over 3.8 million viewers that night.
June June 5: Teen Titans Go! concludes its first season on Cartoon Network with the episode "Puppets, Whaaaaat?". Season 3 of The Amazing World of Gumball begins on Cartoon Network with the premiere of the episodes "The Kids/The Fan". Jacob Hopkins and Terrell Ransom Jr. replace Logan Grove and Kwesi Boakye as the voices of Gumball and Darwin due to the latter actors going through puberty. June 12: Season 2 of Teen Titans Go! begins on Cartoon Network with the premiere of the episode "Mr. Butt". June 16: Cartoon Network announced that a reboot of The Powerpuff Girls is currently in development, and will premiere in 2016. Specific date unknown in June: In Belgium, Karolien Raeymaekers makes an animated short, Oma, about her deceased grandmother, as her final exam for the KASK film school in Ghent. The film would be posted on Cartoon Brew later that year and win several awards.
July
July 25: Cartoon Network announces the following at this year's San Diego Comic-Con:Goldberg, Lesley (July 25, 2014). "Comic-Con Exclusive: Cartoon Network Renews 'Adventure Time,' 'Regular Show,' 3 More". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved June 13, 2026. 7th Season renewals for Adventure Time & Regular Show. Second season renewals for Uncle Grandpa & Steven Universe. Clarence was renewed for 13 additional episodes. July 26: Phineas and Ferb: Star Wars premiered on Disney Channel. It brought in a total of over two million viewers that night.Kondolojy, Amanda (July 29, 2014). "Saturday Cable Ratings: 'Phineas and Ferb: Star Wars' Leads Night + 'Attack on Titan', NASCAR Coverage & More". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on May 14, 2015. Retrieved November 3, 2014.
August August 1: The second and final season of Gravity Falls begins on Disney Channel with the premiere of the episode "Scary-oke", episode premieres would soon switch over to Disney XD 3 days later. August 2: Paw Patrol concludes its first season on TVO in Canada with the episodes "Pups Save a Super Pup/Pups Save Ryder's Robot". August 5: The Scooby-Doo direct-to-video film Scooby-Doo! Frankencreepy releases on Digital services; later released on DVD & Blu-ray on August 19th.Gallagher, Brian (July 13, 2014). "Comic-Con 2014 Schedule for Sunday, July 27th". MovieWeb. Archived from the original on July 29, 2014. Retrieved February 6, 2026. August 13: Season 2 of Paw Patrol begins on Nickelodeon in the US with the premiere of the episodes "Pups Save the Space Alien/Pups Save a Flying Frog"."Paw Patrol Episode Listings". The Futon Critic. Retrieved March 22, 2018. August 18: Paw Patrol concludes its first season on Nickelodeon in the US with the half-hour special "Pups and the Pirate Treasure". August 27: Season 2 of Paw Patrol begins on TVO in Canada with the following episodes: "Pups Save the Penguins/Pups Save a Dolphin Pup" "Pups Save Jake/Pups Save the Parade" August 22: BoJack Horseman premiered on Netflix.
September September 14: Season 11 of American Dad! begins on Fox with the premiere of the episodes, "Roger Passes the Bar" and "A Boy Named Michael". Both episodes were seen by over 2.6 million viewers that night.Bibel, Sara (September 16, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'Big Brother', 'Miss America Pageant' & 'Countdown to Miss America' Adjusted Up & Final Football Numbers". The Futon Critic. Archived from the original on September 17, 2014. Retrieved September 22, 2014. September 21: American Dad! concludes its 11th season on Fox with the episode "Blagsnarst, a Love Story". The season's finale was seen by over 3 million viewers that night.Kondolojy, Amanda (September 23, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'The Good Wife' & 'American Dad' Adjusted Up; '60 Minutes' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on September 24, 2014. Retrieved September 23, 2014. This was the final episode to air on Fox as the show would switch over to TBS next month for the premiere of its 12th season. September 24: Season 18 of South Park begins on Comedy Central with the premiere of the episode "Go Fund Yourself". It was seen by exactly 2.4 million viewers that night. September 25: The two-part Steven Universe episodes "Mirror Gem/Ocean Gem" premiere on Cartoon Network, which mark the debut of the beloved character Lapis Lazuli. The episode was seen by over 2.3 million viewers that night.Kondolojy, Amanda (September 26, 2014). "Thursday Cable Ratings: Thursday Night Football on NFL Network Tops Night + Black Jesus, College Football, Project Runway & More". TV by the Numbers. Gracenote. Archived from the original on September 28, 2014. Retrieved September 29, 2014. September 27: My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Rainbow Rocks is released. September 28: Fox replaces its Animation Domination block with a new block called Sunday Funday, which contained an hour of live-action shows and no longer fully had animated shows on its lineup, Animation Domination would return in 2019. Season 26 of The Simpsons begins on Fox with the premiere of the episode "Clown in the Dumps", with the couch gag being animated by Don Hertzfeldt. It had been announced months earlier that a recurring character would die. This character's identity is revealed: Hyman Krustofsky, father of Krusty the Clown. Season 13 of Family Guy begins on Fox with the premiere of the episode "The Simpsons Guy", which is crossover with The Simpsons.
October October 2: Alan Becker releases "Animator vs Animation IV" on YouTube. October 5: Season 5 of Bob's Burgers begins on Fox with the premiere of the episode "Work Hard or Die Trying, Girl". The season's premiere was seen by over 3.1 million viewers that night. October 13: Hub Network is rebranded as Discovery Family; Hasbro remains a minority partner and programs the network's daytime lineup with children's animated programs carried over from Hub Network, while its primetime lineup was replaced with reruns of non-fiction programs from Discovery Channel's library. October 20: Season 12 of American Dad! begins on TBS with the premiere of the episode "Blonde Ambition". Starting with this season, the show begins airing on TBS after airing on Fox for its 11 previous seasons. October 30: The Amazing World of Gumball's 100th episode "The Man" premieres on Cartoon Network.
November November 7: Disney releases Big Hero 6. November 9: "Simpsorama", a crossover episode between The Simpsons and Futurama, is first broadcast. Specific date unknown in November: Three animated programs, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, Fatherhood, and Little Bill, are pulled from syndication due to actor Bill Cosby facing allegations of sexual assault. Little Bill is one of the programs to be regretted by Nickelodeon as books based on the show were ceased from circulation. Distractify responded "Perhaps Little Bill should be left in the past."
December December 4: Wander Over Yonder concludes its first season on Disney XD with the premiere of the episode "The Gift 2: The Giftening"."Wander Over Yonder episodes". Disney-ABC Press. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved September 1, 2015. December 10: South Park concludes its 18th season on Comedy Central with the episode "#HappyHolograms", this was the show's first Christmas-themed episode in 10 years since Season 8's "Woodland Critter Christmas". December 17: Luxo Jr. and Moon Breath Beat are added to the National Film Registry. December 25: Johnny Test airs its final episodes on Cartoon Network.
Awards Academy Award for Best Animated Feature: Frozen Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film: Mr. Hublot Animation Kobe Feature Film Award: Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Rebellion Annecy International Animated Film Festival Cristal du long métrage: The Boy and the World Annie Award for Best Animated Feature: How to Train Your Dragon 2 Asia Pacific Screen Award for Best Animated Feature Film: The Tale of the Princess Kaguya BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film: The Lego Movie César Award for Best Animated Film: Minuscule: Valley of the Lost Ants European Film Award for Best Animated Film: The Art of Happiness Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film: How to Train Your Dragon 2 Goya Award for Best Animated Film: Mortadelo and Filemon: Mission Implausible