Events in 1959 in animation.
Events
January
January 29: Clyde Geronimi, Eric Larson and Wolfgang Reitherman's Sleeping Beauty, produced by the Walt Disney Company, premieres.
March
March 9: The first episode of Clutch Cargo is broadcast.
April
April 6: 31st Academy Awards: Friz Freleng's Knighty Knight Bugs wins an Academy Award for Best Animated Short, the only Bugs Bunny cartoon to ever win an Oscar.
September
September 8: The first episode of Bucky and Pepito is broadcast. September 11: The first episode of Noggin the Nog is broadcast. September 19: The first episode of Hanna-Barbera's The Quick Draw McGraw Show is broadcast which also marks the debuts of the segments Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy and Snooper and Blabber. September 25: Jiří Trnka's A Midsummer Night's Dream premieres.
October
October 2: The first episode of Felix the Cat is broadcast. This leads to a revival in popularity for the classic theatrical cartoon character. October 11: The first episode of Matty's Funday Funnies is broadcast.
November
November 7: The first episode of Cartoon Party is broadcast. November 19 The first episode of Rocky and Bullwinkle is broadcast.
December
December 1: Jack Kinney's 1001 Arabian Nights premieres. December 25: Akira Daikubara and Taiji Yabushita's Magic Boy is first broadcast. December 28: The first episode of Ivor the Engine is broadcast.
Specific date unknown
The first episode of Capt'n Sailorbird is broadcast. Yuri Merkulov's I Was a Satellite of the Sun premieres. Ivan Ivanov-Vano, Dmitriy Babichenko and Mikhail Botov's The Adventures of Buratino premieres. Qian Jiajun's Chuang Tapestry premieres. Gene Deitch establishes Gene Deitch Associates, Inc., funded by William L. Snyder's Rembrandt Films.
Films released
January 29 - Sleeping Beauty (United States) February 10 - Hyoutan suzume (Japan) May 5 - I Was a Satellite of the Sun (Soviet Union) September 25 - A Midsummer Night's Dream (Czechoslovakia) December 1 - 1001 Arabian Nights (United States) December 25 - Magic Boy (Japan) December 31 - The Adventures of Buratino (Soviet Union) Specific date unknown - Chuang Tapestry (China)
Television series
March 9 - Clutch Cargo debuts in syndication. September 2 - Herge's Adventures of Tintin debuts on RTB. September 8 - Bucky and Pepito debuts in syndication. September 11 - Noggin the Nog debuts on BBC. September 19 - Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy and Snooper and Blabber debut in syndication. September 27 - The Quick Draw McGraw Show debuts in syndication. October 11 - Matty's Funday Funnies debuts on ABC. November 7 - Cartoon Party debuts on CBC. November 19 - Aesop and Son, Dudley Do-Right, Fractured Fairy Tales, Peabody's Improbable History, and The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show debut on ABC and NBC. December 28 - Ivor the Engine debuts on BBC. Specific date unknown - Capt'n Sailorbird and Mel-O-Toons debut in syndication.
Births
January
January 1: Anthony DeRosa, American animator (Walt Disney Animation Studios). January 6: Clancy Brown, American actor (voice of Lex Luthor in the DC Animated Universe, The Batman, and Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, Mr. Krabs in SpongeBob SquarePants, Officer Frank Horn in Lloyd in Space, Vice Principal Pangborn in All Grown Up!, Gorrath in Megas XLR, Gonta in Pom Poko, Otto in Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!, Mr. Freeze and Bane in The Batman, Dark Dragon in American Dragon: Jake Long, Long Feng in Avatar: The Last Airbender, Mister Sinister in Wolverine and the X-Men, George Stacy and Rhino in The Spectacular Spider-Man, Destro in G.I. Joe: Renegades, Grune in ThunderCats, Silas in Transformers: Prime, Savage Opress in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Taskmaster in Ultimate Spider-Man, Nibiru in Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, Red Hulk in Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., Ryder Azadi in Star Wars Rebels, King Frederic in Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure, the Big Bad Wolf in The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse episode "The Big Good Wolf"). January 26: Herbert Siguenza, American actor, writer, visual artist, and performer (voice of Tios Oscar and Felipe in Coco). January 31: Anthony LaPaglia, Australian actor (voice of Lex Luthor in All-Star Superman, Boss Skua in Happy Feet and Happy Feet Two, Twilight in Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole).