"Homer's Phobia" is the fifteenth episode of The Simpsons' eighth season, which originally aired on the Fox Network on February 16, 1997. It was the first episode written by Ron Hauge and was directed by Mike B. Anderson. John Waters guest-starred, providing the voice of the new character, John. In the episode, Homer dissociates himself from new family friend John after discovering that John is gay. Homer fears that John will have a negative influence on his son, Bart. "Homer's Phobia" was the first episode to revolve entirely around homosexual themes, with the title being a pun on the word homophobia. Originally, due to the controversial subject, the Fox censors found the episode unsuitable for broadcast, but this decision was reversed after a turnover in the Fox staff. It won four awards, including an Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming One Hour or Less) and a GLAAD Media Award for "Outstanding TV - Individual Episode".

• ... that Paul Dini was a writer for both the animated television series Batman: The Animated Series and the video game series Batman: Arkham?
• ... that the interactive cartoon Cat Burglar takes about 15 minutes to watch, but features 90 minutes of animation?
• ... that Encanto's Isabela Madrigal was animated to be aware that she is "always on stage"?
• ... that the creators of the cartoon Jade Armor filmed live-action martial arts stunts to visualize the show's animated action sequences?
• ... that the first lady of the Ivory Coast created an animated kids' show in 1989?
• ... that the Tuca & Bertie episode "The Jelly Lakes" employs a paper-cutout animation that helps to depict abuse in a way that centers the victim's story?

Seth MacFarlane (born October 26, 1973) is an American animator, writer, producer, actor, singer, voice actor, and director best known for creating the animated sitcoms Family Guy, American Dad! and The Cleveland Show, for which he also voices many of the shows' various characters. A native of Kent, Connecticut, MacFarlane is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, where he studied animation, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree. He was an animator and writer for Hanna-Barbera for several television shows, including Johnny Bravo, Cow and Chicken and Dexter's Laboratory, before creating his own series for 20th Century Fox entitled Family Guy in 1999. MacFarlane would go on to co-create American Dad! in 2005, The Winner in 2007 and The Cleveland Show in 2009 for 20th Century Fox. As a performer, MacFarlane has sung at several venues, including Carnegie and Royal Albert Hall. MacFarlane has won several awards for his work on Family Guy, including two Primetime Emmy Awards, and an Annie Award.

The accolades received by Up, a 2009 computer-animated film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The film, which premiered on May 29, 2009, in North America, became the first animated 3D film to open the Cannes Film Festival. It was directed by Pete Docter (pictured), co-directed by Bob Peterson, and produced by Jonas Rivera. It garnered various awards and nominations, most of them for the "Best Animated Picture" category and for the film's soundtrack. Up was nominated for five Academy Awards at the 2010 Ceremony, winning two, for Best Animated Feature and for Best Original Score. Rivera received the Motion Pictures Motion Picture Producer of the Year Award, for Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures, given by the Producers Guild of America, while Docter, Peterson and Giacchino were honored with British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards for their work on the film. Furthermore the film was nominated at the 2009 Satellite Awards in the categories "Best Animated or Mixed Media Film", "Best Original Screenplay" and "Best Original Score".

• ...that the Sam Sheepdog and Ralph Wolf cartoons Sheep Ahoy, A Sheep in the Deep, and Don't Give Up the Sheep were censored by ABC to remove a dynamite stick, a smoke break scene, and a spanking scene respectively?
• ...that William Hanna claimed that the Tom and Jerry character Jerry Mouse was named Jinx in his first appearance while Joseph Barbera claimed that the mouse went nameless?
• ...that an animation database stores fragments of animations or human movements and can be used to re-assemble new animations?

Films released

• 1933 – The Mad Doctor (United States)
• 1950 – Lion Around (United States)
• 1951 – A Fox in a Fix (United States)
• 1962 – Wet Hare (United States)
• 1966 – Jerry-Go-Round (United States)

Television series and specials

• 1992 – G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, an American animated television series finishes airing in syndication
• 2000 – Now and Then, Here and There finishes airing on WOWOW
• 2004 – Kita e: Diamond Daydreams begins airing on AT-X

Births

• 1920 – DeForest Kelley, American actor (d. 1999)
• 1929 – Arte Johnson, American actor
• 1985 – Marina Inoue, Japanese voice actress

Deaths

• 1938 – Émile Cohl, French caricaturist (b. 1857)