2017 in animation

• February 19: In The Simpsons episode The Cad and the Hat Seth Green, creator of Robot Chicken, was a special guest voice.[1]
• February 26: 89th Academy Awards:
  • Piper by Alan Barillaro and Marc Sondheimer wins the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.[2]
  • Zootopia by Byron Howard, Rich Moore, and Clark Spencer wins the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.[2]

• March 12: The couch gag of The Simpsons episode 22 for 30 is animated by Bill Plympton. This is the fifth time he receives this honour.[3]

• April 2: In The Simpsons episode The Caper Chase scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson is special guest voice.[4]

• July 23: Tony Leondis' The Emoji Movie, produced by Sony Pictures Animation is released. It grossed more than $217 million, but was widely panned by critics and audiences alike for its poor scripting, blatant product placement, lack of originality and plot, and was named by several major outlets as one of the worst films of 2017.

• September 9: Sprout rebrands to Universal Kids which caters to children aged 2–11 in primetime, and features content from NBCU-owned DreamWorks Animation as well as child-specific reality TV shows. However, Sprout's preschool-specific programming will remain a major part of the schedule, as a programming block airing from 3:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET.

• October 17: Animator Chris Savino is suspended by Nickelodeon due to multiple allegations of sexual harassment against him. Rumors of Savino's inappropriate behavior had existed for "at least a decade".[5]

• December 13: Dumbo and The Sinking of the Lusitania are added to the National Film Registry.[6]

• January 1: Alfonso Wong, Chinese comics artist and animator (Old Master Q), dies at the age of 93.[7]
• January 13: Dick Gautier, American actor, comedian, singer and caricaturist (voice of Rodimus Prime in Transformers), dies at age 85.[8]
• January 19: Miguel Ferrer, American actor and voice actor (Shan Yu in Mulan, Agent Hopkins in the American Dad! episode American Dream Factory), dies at age 61.[9][10][11]
• January 25: John Hurt, British actor (voice of Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings, Hazel in Watership Down, Snitter in The Plague Dogs), dies at age 77.[12]

• March 10: Tony Haygarth, British actor (Mr. Tweedy in Chicken Run), dies at age 72.[13]

• April 6: Don Rickles, American comedian and actor (voice of Mr. Potato Head in Toy Story), dies at age 90.[14]
• April 9: Carolyn Kelly, American comics artist, animator and book designer (Channel Umptee-3), passes away from cancer.[15]

• May 31: Tino Insana, American actor (voice of Mr. Grouper in Bubble Guppies, Uncle Ted in Bobby’s World, Pig on Barnyard (film) and Back at the Barnyard), dies at the age of 69.

• June 2: Peter Sallis, British actor (voice of Wallace in Wallace and Gromit), dies at age 96.[16]
• June 9: Adam West, American actor (voiced himself in The Simpsons episode Mr. Plow and two Johnny Bravo episodes, the mayor of Quahog in Family Guy, Simon Trent in the Batman: The Animated Series episode Beware the Gray Ghost, Mayor Grange in The Batman, Thomas Wayne in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Batman in The New Adventures of Batman, Batman: New Times, Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders, Batman vs. Two-Face, Captain Blasto in the Rugrats episode Superhero Chuckie, Spruce Wayne in the Animaniacs episode Boo Wonder, Catman in The Fairly OddParents, young Mermaid Man in the SpongeBob SquarePants episode Back to the Past and Uncle Art in Meet the Robinsons), dies at age 88.[17]
• June 16: Stephen Furst, American voice actor (voice of Fanboy in Freakazoid!), dies at age 63. [18]

• July 15: Martin Landau, American actor (voice of Scorpion in Spider-Man, Mr. Rzykruski in Frankenweenie), dies at age 89.[19]
• July 18: Harvey Atkin, Canadian actor (voice of Alien/Henchman in Heavy Metal, King Koopa in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!), dies at age 74.

[20] [21]

• July 26: June Foray, American voice actress (voice of Lucifer the cat in Cinderella, Granny and Witch Hazel in Looney Tunes, Knothead and Splinter in Woody Woodpecker, Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Natasha Fatale and Nell Fenwick in Rocky and Bullwinkle, Jokey Smurf in The Smurfs, Grammi Gummi in Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears, Magica De Spell and Ma Beagle in DuckTales, Grandmother Fa in Mulan), dies at age 99.[22][23]

• August 20: Jerry Lewis, American comedian and actor (voice of Professor Frink's father in The Simpsons episode Treehouse of Horror XIV), dies at age 91.[24]

• September 5: Hansford Rowe, American actor (voice of Thunderer on Spider-Man: The Animated Series), dies at age 93. [25] He was 93 years old.[26][25] He donated his body for scientific study.[26]
• September 10: Xavier Atencio, American animator and lyricist (Walt Disney Company), dies at age 98.[27][28][29][30]
• September 15: Harry Dean Stanton, American actor, musician and singer (voice of Balthazar in Rango), dies at age 91. [31]
• September 27: Hugh Hefner, American magazine editor (voiced himself in The Simpsons episode Krusty Gets Cancelled and the Family Guy episode Airport '07), dies at age 91.[32]
• September 28: Benjamin Whitrow, British actor (voice of Fowler in Chicken Run), dies at age 80.[33]

• October 24: Robert Guillaume, American actor and singer (voice of Rafiki in The Lion King), dies at age 89.[34]

• November 17: Earle Hyman, American voice actor (voice of Panthro in ThunderCats), dies at age 91.[35]
• November 21: David Cassidy, American actor and singer (voice of Roland Pond in the Kim Possible episode Oh Boyz), dies at age 67. [36]
• November 29: Heather North, American actress (voice of Daphne Blake in Scooby-Doo, Where Are You), dies at age 71. [37]

• December 8: Josy Eisenberg, French animated film producer (À Bible Ouverte), dies at age 83.[38]
• December 9: Grant Munro, Canadian animator and film director (Neighbours), passes away at age 94.[39]
• December 14: Bob Givens, American animator, character designer and lay-out artist (Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros. Cartoons, Hanna-Barbera, DePatie-Freleng Enterprises), dies at age 99.[40][41][42]