2019 in animation is an overview of notable events, including notable awards, list of films released, television show debuts and endings, and notable deaths.
January 13: The Family Guy episode "Trump Guy" first airs, in which the Griffin family meet U.S. President Donald Trump. The episode became controversial for satirizing Trump and his administration.[2][3][4]
Urbanus, De Vuilnisheld, an animated film based on the Flemish comic strip Urbanus, premieres.[6]
March
March 7: The Loud House concludes it's third season on Nickelodeon with the episode "Antiqued Off". The season's finale was seen by over 1.2 million viewers that night.
March 8: Following the release of the controversial 2019 documentary film Leaving Neverland, which details allegations against the late pop singer Michael Jackson of child sexual assault, The Simpsons producer James L. Brooks announces that the Simpsons episode "Stark Raving Dad", which guest starred Jackson, will be pulled from circulation.[7] He explains to The Wall Street Journal: "This was a treasured episode. There are a lot of great memories we have wrapped up in that one, and this certainly doesn't allow them to remain. I'm against book-burning of any kind. But this is our book, and we're allowed to take out a chapter."[7]Simpsons showrunner Al Jean says he believed Jackson had used the episode to groom boys for sexual abuse.[8]
March 11: Craig of the Creek concludes it's first season on Cartoon Network with the episode "Alone Quest", the season's finale was seen by a total of 414 thousand viewers that night.[9]
Season 2 of Craig of the Creek begins on Cartoon Network with the premiere of the episodes "Memories of Bobby" and "Jacob of the Creek", the season's premiere was seen by a total of 477 thousand viewers that night.[11]
April 1: Anime series adaptation of Ultraman premiered on Netflix.
April 8: American Dad! concludes its 15th season on TBS with the episode "The Future Is Borax". The season's finale was watched by only 749 thousand viewers that, marking another low in the show's viewership.[13]
April 15: Season 16 of American Dad! begins on TBS with the premiere of the episode "Fantasy Baseball". The season's premiere was watched by only 768 thousand viewers that, marking another low in the show's viewership.[14]
April 28: The Simpsons episode "D'oh Canada" premieres, where the family travels to Canada. The episode caused controversy among New Yorkers because of a satirical parody song mocking the city.[15]
Bob's Burgers concludes its ninth season on Fox with the episode "Yes Without My Zeke". The season's finale was seen by over 1.4 million viewers that night.
Family Guy concludes its 17th season on Fox with the episode "Adam West High", the episode marks the death of the beloved character Mayor West due to his voice actor & real-life inspiration having actually passed away 2 years prior. The season's finale was seen by 1.7 million viewers that night.
May 23: Music video for "Starlight Brigade", by TWRP featuring Dan Avidan, was released on YouTube.
May 27: Season 4 of The Loud House begins on Nickelodeon with the premiere of the half-hour special "Friended! with the Casagrandes".[19] This episode marks the debut of Ronnie Anne's best friend Sid Chang, who would go on to become a major character in the upcoming spin-off series The Casagrandes.
June 10-20: New episodes of The Loud House focusing on Ronnie Anne, Bobby, & their extended family all premiere on Nickelodeon.[19] These episodes serve as the backdoor pilots to the upcoming spin-off series The Casagrandes.
June 24: The final episode of the original The Amazing World of Gumball series, "The Inquisition", premieres on Cartoon Network to mixed reviews due to the series ending on an unresolved cliffhanger. However, a feature film based on the series was announced in 2021, but is still shelved as of 2025, but a revival of the show premiered that same year.
June 30: OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes concludes it's second season on Cartoon Network with the half-hour special "Dark Plaza". The season's finale was seen by a total of 29 thousand viewers that night.[21]
July 7: The third & final season of OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes begins on Cartoon Network with the premiere of the episodes "We Are Heroes" & "K.O., Rad, and Enid!". The season's premiere was seen by a combined total of 705 thousand viewers that night.[22]
September 21: The SpongeBob SquarePants episode "SpongeBob in RandomLand" airs. This episode originally included the famous image based on creepypasta's Squidward's Suicide, which was attended to make fun of "try-hard edgy fanfiction" before quickly replacing it with Squidward as an infant for subsequent runs.[42]
The first episode of Bless the Harts, titled "Hug N' Bugs", premieres on Fox. The series premiere was seen by over 1.8 million viewers that night.
Season 10 of Bob's Burgers begins on Fox with the premiere of the episode "The Ring (But Not Scary)". The season's premiere was seen by over 1.8 million viewers that night.
Season 18 of Family Guy begins on Fox with the premiere of the episode "Yacht Rocky". The season's premiere was seen by over 1.8 million viewers that night.
October
October 4:
South Park is banned in China after the premiere of the episode "Band in China", which mocked the country and its government.[45][46][47] Parker and Stone issued a sarcastic apology in response.[48]
Season 6 of Teen Titans Go! begins on Cartoon Network (despite still being in its fifth season) with the premiere of the episode "Butt Atoms".[49]
October 28: The Hazbin Hotel pilot "That's Entertainment" was released on YouTube to critical acclaim.[52] The pilot ended up getting its own series on Prime Video 4 years later.
November 24: The Simpsons episode "Thanksgiving of Horror" premieres, guest starring Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker. This was also the last episode featuring Russi Taylor as Martin Prince recorded before her death on July 26, 2019, although Grey DeLisle already took over that character a few episodes prior due to "Thanksgiving of Horror" being a leftover episode from the previous season.
November 25: The pilot episode of Vivienne Medrano's independent web series Helluva Boss was released on YouTube. Medrano later confirmed that the pilot was non-canon to the series, a canon remake of the show's pilot titled "Mission: Zero" was released 6 years later.[54]
December
December 7:
Television series Kingdom Force premiered in Canada.
South Park concludes its 23rd season on Comedy Central with the Christmas special "Christmas Snow". The episode was seen only by only 810 thousand viewers that night, marking another low for the show's episode viewership.[56] This was also the last episode to premiere in the 2010s.
December 21: The second episode of Michael Pitts' independent webseries Sheriff Hayseed, titled "Boomerang in a Gun Fight", is released on YouTube.
December 26: Beastars airs its first-season finale episode in Japan.
Specific date unknown
Beginning this year, Disney begin editing several older films, including A Goofy Movie,[57]Toy Story 2,[58] and Lilo & Stitch,[59] to remove scenes that are considered harmful or suggestive to young children in today's standards.
August 22: Dwi Koendoro, Indonesian comics artist, animator (made an animated series based on his comics series Legenda Sawung Kampret) and film producer (head of Indonesian Animation Association), dies at age 78.[148]
August 27: Pedro Bell, American illustrator, animator and comics artist (once made an animated short starring his character Larry Lazer), dies at age 69.[149]