The Big Cartoon DataBase
website
The Big Cartoon DataBase (or BCDB for short) was an online database of information about animated cartoons, animated feature films, animated television shows, and cartoon shorts.
The BCDB project began in 1997 as a list of Disney animated features on creator Dave Koch's local computer. In response to increasing interest in the material, the database went online in 1998 as a searchable resource dedicated to compiling information about cartoons, including production details such as voice actors, producers, and directors, as well as plot summaries and user reviews of cartoons. In 2003, BCDB became a 501(c) nonprofit corporation. By 2009, the site had 100,000 titles.
Due to system issues that have been unable to be resolved, all cartoon information on the site is non-existent after 2019. Users have ceased to contribute to the site due to the issue. Since the creator is no longer active and the moderators are not in charge of this site anymore, the error still persists as of 2026. In January 2024, the whole website became inaccessible. As of 2026 the main website domain is for sale, while its forum redirects to a personal website.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “The Big Cartoon DataBase” is website. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Cartoon, DataBase and website, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “website” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1208798. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1997, 1998, 2003 and 2009.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
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- Expand the search: follow The Big Cartoon DataBase primary sources, The Big Cartoon DataBase archive and Cartoon research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “The Big Cartoon DataBase” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.