SpongeBob SquarePants is the titular character and protagonist of the American animated television series of the same name. He is voiced by actor and comedian Tom Kenny (pictured in 2008), and first appeared on television in the series' pilot episode "Help Wanted" on May 1, 1999. SpongeBob SquarePants was created and designed by cartoonist and marine biologist Stephen Hillenburg shortly after the cancellation of Rocko's Modern Life in 1996. Hillenburg intended to create a series about an over-optimistic sponge that annoys other characters. Hillenburg compared the concept to Laurel and Hardy and Pee-wee Herman. As he drew the character, he decided that a "squeaky-clean square" (like a kitchen sponge) fits the concept. His name is derived from "Bob the Sponge", the host of Hillenburg's comic strip The Intertidal Zone that he originally drew in the 1980s while teaching marine biology to visitors of the Ocean Institute. SpongeBob is a naïve and goofy sea sponge who works as a fry cook in the fictional underwater town of Bikini Bottom. The character has received positive critical response from media critics and achieved popularity with both children and adults, though he has been involved in public controversy. SpongeBob appeared in a We Are Family Foundation video promoting tolerance, which was criticized by James Dobson of Focus on the Family because of the foundation's link to homosexuality.

• ... that at age 12, Shaylee Mansfield became the first deaf actor to be credited alongside the voice actors for a signed performance in an animated production?
• ... that the interactive cartoon Cat Burglar takes about 15 minutes to watch, but features 90 minutes of animation?
• ... that the Pakistani film Shehr e Tabassum was the first animated cyberpunk film to be made by an Urdu development team?
• ... that Raoul Servais invented a new technique for combining animation and live action for his short film Harpya?
• ... that according to an elaborate 1990s joke, Elmo Aardvark was history's first animated cartoon character?
• ... that, for the animated film Us Again, director and writer Zach Parrish considered a video of an elderly couple dancing to be visceral and ideal inspiration?

James L. Brooks (born May 9, 1940) is an American director, producer and screenwriter. Growing up in North Bergen, New Jersey, Brooks endured a fractured family life and passed the time by reading and writing. After dropping out of New York University, he got a job as an usher at CBS, going on to write for the CBS News broadcasts. He moved to Los Angeles in 1965 to work on David L. Wolper's documentaries. Brooks wrote for several shows before being hired as a story editor on My Friend Tony and later creating the series Room 222. Although he did not intend to do so, Brooks returned to television in 1987 as the producer of The Tracey Ullman Show. He hired cartoonist Matt Groening to create a series of shorts for the show, which eventually led to The Simpsons in 1989. The Simpsons won numerous awards and is still running after 22 years. Brooks also co-produced and co-wrote the 2007 film adaptation of the show, The Simpsons Movie. In total, Brooks has received 47 Emmy nominations, winning 20 of them.

Season Three (Book 3: Fire) of Avatar: The Last Airbender, an American animated television series on Nickelodeon, first aired its 21 episodes from September 21, 2007 to July 19, 2008. The season was created by Michael Dante DiMartino (pictured) and Bryan Konietzko and starred Zach Tyler Eisen, Mae Whitman, Jack DeSena, Jessie Flower, Dante Basco, Dee Bradley Baker, Grey DeLisle, and Mark Hamill as character voices. This third and final season focuses on Aang's quest to defeat the tyrannical Fire Lord. In the season's beginning, protagonist Aang and his friends Sokka, Katara, and Toph are traveling through the Fire Nation, conjuring a plan for invading the Fire Nation and looking for a teacher to teach Aang Firebending. Midway through the season, Aang gathers friends he met in previous episodes and leads a failed invasion into the Fire Nation. The final season features twenty-one episodes, one more than the previous two seasons. The season finale consisted of the four episodes airing together as a two-hour television movie. Season Three received a similar positive critical reception to that of the previous seasons. The season, and especially the finale, received much critical acclaim, with praises from sources such as DVD Talk and IGN. Between October 30, 2007 and September 16, 2008, Nickelodeon released four DVD volumes and a "Complete Box Set". Each of the four volume DVDs consisted of one disc and five episodes, with the exception of volume four, which had six episodes, and the boxed set contained all twenty-one episodes on five discs.

• ...that John Powell's score for the animated film How to Train Your Dragon was nominated for an Academy Award and a BAFTA award, and won an Annie Award and an IFMCA award in 2011?
• ...that the Young Justice episode "Independence Day" introduces a younger version of the DC Universe?
• ...that according to John J. Puccio of Movie Metropolis, the shorts included on Pixar Short Films Collection, Volume 1 are "among the finest cartoons ever made"?

Films released

• 1934 - The China Shop (United States)
• 1934 - Shanghaied (United States)
• 1934 - Buddy the Gob (United States)
• 1939 - Donald's Lucky Day (United States)
• 1940 - The Early Worm Gets the Bird (United States)
• 1942 - All Together (United States)
• 1945 - Herr Meets Hare (United States)
• 1956 - Hill-billing and Cooing (United States)
• 1968 - Hocus Pocus Pow Wow (United States)
• 2006 - Hoodwinked! (computer animation, United States)
• 2012 - Tangled Ever After (United States)

Television series and specials

• 2001 - Disney's House of Mouse, an American animated television series begins airing on ABC
• 2001 - Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, an American animated television series finishes airing on ABC