2003 | 15 Years Ago

Pixar nets its first feature Oscar with Finding Nemo. Disney releases Brother Bear. Warner Bros. Feature Animation’s last hurrah is Looney Tunes: Back in Action. Young trainers in Japan flock to Pokémon: The First Movie. Other international cinema highlights: Sylvain Chomet’s The Triplets Finding Nemo of Belleville (France), Satoshi Kon’s Tokyo Godfathers (Japan), Melnitsa Studio’s first feature Little Longnose (Russia), Kim Moon-saeng’s Sky Blue (S. Korea), José Pozo’s El Cid: The Legend (Spain), Philippe Leclerc’s Rain Children (France), Derek Hayes’ hybrid fantasy Otherworld (Wales) and global collaboration Winter Days (Japan). TV highlights: Klasky-Csupo’s All Grown Up!, Duck Dodgers, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, Moose & Zee, Star Wars: Clone Wars, Teen Titans, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Xiaolin Showdown, John K.’s Ren & Stimpy: Adult Party Cartoon, Stan Lee’s Striperella and Adult Swim’s The Venture Bros. Shorts highlights: Adam Elliot’s Oscar winner Harvie Krumpet, nominees Boundin’ (Bud Luckey), Gone Nutty (Carlos Saldanha & John Donkin) and the long-awaited Disney-Dali collaboration Destino. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King earns a vfx Oscar. Founded: Animation Collective (U.S.), Estudio Haini (Mexico), Lucasfilm Animation, Nitrogen Studios (Canada), Nomad (Japan), Petersburg Animation Studio (Russia), Rooster Teeth Prod. (U.S.); Animateka festival (Slovenia), The Animation Show (U.S.), Hamburg Animation Award