Fifteen years ago today, a group of passionate animation fans launched this site! A lot has changed on the world wide web since then. In 2003, Internet Explorer was the browser of choice for over 90% of users. YouTube didn’t exist yet. Social media was in it’s infancy. And the most popular cell phone in the world looked like this!

And things are a bit different around here too. A couple of the same guys are hanging on, but we’ve got some newer faces as well. We changed a few letters in our name. We’ve had a facelift or two. And we’ve widened our focus dramatically. But other than that, we’re doing the same thing we did back then: sharing our love of animation with fellow fans!

Our recent site wide revamp was a huge part of the anniversary celebration. But we also have a couple of fun features to kick off today’s festivities!

First up, those of you who have been with us the longest may remember the site we were descended from: Animated-Movies.com, run by Olivier Mouroux. Besides news updates, Olivier also kept a popular database of facts and figures on past, current, and upcoming films. When he left the site in 2003, all that information went with him. We’re very pleased to announce that as a special birthday present, Olivier has graciously allowed us to rehost the original files here at Animated Views! You’ll find tons of interesting info on old classics (facts that never made it to the then nascent Wikipedia!), learn about major changes to films you thought you knew since released in the 2000s, and discover details on titles that you may have never heard of that were eventually shelved. Be prepared to get sucked back down this old internet rabbit hole! (Please keep in mind that these files are being posted as they were when last published on the internet in 2003, with no updates since.)

We also have a history of the website told via the milestones and highlights of the last fifteen years. Be sure to check out this timeline, where you can revisit key posts and images from our past.

As always, thanks to you our readers, how ever long you’ve been on this journey with us. Without you there’s no way we would be where we are today doing what we love. We hope to see you all many, many times over the next five years to our next anniversary!