Events in 1964 in animation.
Events
January
January 14: The first episode of Hanna-Barbera's The Magilla Gorilla Show airs.
March
March 28: The Incredible Mr. Limpet premieres.
April
April 13: 36th Academy Awards: The Critic by Ernest Pintoff, starring Mel Brooks as narrator, wins the Academy Award for Best Animated Short.
June
June 3: The first animated feature film with Yogi Bear, Hey There, It's Yogi Bear! premieres which is also the first animated film based on a TV cartoon program. June 7: Shōnen Ninja Kaze no Fujimaru is first broadcast on NET.
July
July 18: Robert McKimson's False Hare, the final Bugs Bunny theatrical short and the last original production completed by Warner Bros. Cartoons, is first released.
August
August 27: Robert Stevenson's Mary Poppins is first released, produced by the Walt Disney Company. It is primarily live-action but features some animated segments.
September
September 17: The first episode of Bewitched airs, with an animated intro by Hanna-Barbera. September 18: The first episode of Hanna–Barbera's Jonny Quest airs.
October
October 3: The first episode of Underdog airs. October 4: The first episode of Stingray airs.
December
December 6: The stop-motion animated special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, based on the song of the same name by Johnny Marks, premieres on NBC. It becomes a beloved Christmas tradition, still being shown on television decades later. December 18: Karel Zeman's A Jester's Tale premieres. Friz Freleng and David DePatie's The Pink Phink premieres in theaters which marks the debut of the Pink Panther.
Specific date unknown
Animafilm is founded. Ivan Ivanov-Vano and Vladimir Danilevich's Left-Hander is released. Jan Švankmajer's first animated short The Last Trick is released.
Films released
February - The Heroic Sisters from the Grassland (China) March 28 - The Incredible Mr. Limpet (United States) April 28: Of Stars and Men (United States) The Big Wick (Soviet Union) June 3 - Hey There, It's Yogi Bear! (United States) July 21 - Shounen Ninja Kaze no Fujimaru: Nazo no Arabiya Ningyou (Japan) July 22 - Lefty (Soviet Union) August 27: Attention! The Magician is in the City! (Soviet Union) Mary Poppins (United States) Specific date unknown: Havoc in Heaven (China) Is There Intelligent Life on Earth? (United Kingdom)
Television series
January 14 - Punkin' Puss & Mushmouse, Ricochet Rabbit & Droop-a-Long, and Magilla Gorilla debut in syndication. April 3 - Gusztáv debuts on Magyar Televízió. June 7 - Shonen Ninja Kaze no Fujimaru debuts on NET (now TV Asahi). August 3 - Big X debuts on TBS. September 12: Hoppity Hooper debuts on ABC. The World of Commander McBragg debuts on CBS. September 16 - Breezly and Sneezly, Peter Potamus and his Magic Flying Balloon, and Yippee, Yappee and Yahooey debut in syndication and on ABC. September 18 - Jonny Quest debuts on ABC. September 20 - The Porky Pig Show debuts on ABC . September 26: Linus the Lionhearted, Sugar Bear, Loveable Truly, Rory Raccoon, and So-Hi debut on CBS and ABC. October 3 - Underdog debuts on NBC and CBS. Specific date unknown: Doc Potts debuts on Syncro-Vox. The Big World of Little Adam debuts in syndication. The Magic Roundabout debuts on ORTF and BBC.
Births
January
January 7: Nicolas Cage, American actor (voice of Zoc in The Ant Bully, Dr. Tenma in Astro Boy, Grug in The Croods franchise, Superman in Teen Titans Go! To the Movies, Spider-Man Noir in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse). January 10: Osamu Kobayashi, Japanese animator, animation director and illustrator (Ani*Kuri15, Naruto, Grandia), (d. 2021). January 17: Michelle Obama, American attorney, author, producer (Waffles + Mochi, Ada Twist, Scientist, We the People) and first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017 (voiced herself in the Doc McStuffins episode "Doc McStuffins Goes to Washington"). January 18: Jane Horrocks, British actress (voice of Babs in Chicken Run, The Black Widow/Mrs. Plum in Corpse Bride, Lead Elf in Arthur Christmas, Fairy Mary in the Disney Fairies franchise, Eliza in the Phineas & Ferb episode "My Fair Goalie").