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Butch Hartman

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This article is about the American animator. For the American stock car racing driver, see Butch Hartman (racing driver).

Elmer Earl "Butch" Hartman IV (born January 10, 1965) is an American animator, illustrator, writer, producer, director, and actor. He is best known for creating the animated television series The Fairly OddParents, Danny Phantom, T.U.F.F. Puppy, and Bunsen Is a Beast for Nickelodeon. He founded the company, Billionfold Inc. in 2003, to produce the shows. Hartman was an executive producer on The Fairly OddParents for the entirety of its 16-year run.

Butch Hartman
Hartman in 2023
Born
Elmer Earl Hartman IV

(1965-01-10) January 10, 1965 (age 59)
Highland Park, Michigan, U.S.
Alma materCalifornia Institute of the Arts (BFA)
Occupations
  • Animator
  • illustrator
  • writer
  • producer
  • director
  • actor
Years active1984–present
Known forThe Fairly OddParents
Danny Phantom
T.U.F.F. Puppy
Bunsen Is a Beast
Spouse
Julieann Hartman
​
(m. 1992)​
Children2

In February 2018, Hartman announced his departure from Nickelodeon after almost 20 years;[1] this resulted in the end of production on Bunsen Is a Beast after one season.[2] In 2021, he returned to the studio to produce The Fairly OddParents: Fairly Odder, a live-action Fairly OddParents reboot which premiered on Paramount+ the following year and aired for one season. In 2023, his first non-secular animated program, The Garden, premiered on the Christian streaming service Pure Flix.

Early life

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Hartman was born in Highland Park, Michigan.[3] He received the nickname Butch as a young boy and continued to use it as an adult. Hartman spent his childhood in Roseville, Michigan, and his teenage years in New Baltimore, Michigan.[4] He graduated from Anchor Bay High School in New Baltimore in 1983,[4] and subsequently attended the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California.[5] He graduated in 1987 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.[6] As a young student, he appeared on The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour; he won close to $3,000.[7]

Career

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Early career

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While still attending CalArts, Hartman interned as an in-between animator on the Don Bluth film An American Tail. Before graduating, he was a contestant on the Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour for three episodes and shortly after graduating, he was hired as a character designer and storyboard artist for an unidentified My Little Pony animated series. As he had no previous experience with storyboards, he was soon fired.[8] Afterwards, he found work with Ruby-Spears, where he worked on It's Punky Brewster and Dink, the Little Dinosaur. He was also a member of the video reference crew for the Disney film Pocahontas.

In the early 1990s, he was hired as an artist in the model department at Hanna-Barbera, and was eventually contacted by studio president Fred Seibert to create the shorts Pfish and Chip and Gramps for his animated incubator series What a Cartoon!. Eventually, he became a writer, director and storyboard artist for several of the early Cartoon Network shows, including Dexter's Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, Cow and Chicken, and I Am Weasel. After his contract with Hanna-Barbera expired, he went to work with Seibert at his newfound Frederator studio, on his successor incubator series, Oh Yeah! Cartoons for Nickelodeon.[9]

During his time working at Hanna-Barbera, he became acquainted with future Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane. The two would later go on to make the short Zoomates together for Oh Yeah! Cartoons. The character Dr. Elmer Hartman in Family Guy was named after Hartman. He also voiced various characters in the show's first seasons.[10]

Working at Nickelodeon

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Hartman at a Fairly OddParents panel during Comic-Con 2009

His biggest success came in December 1997, when he created The Fairly OddParents. The series originally started out as a series of shorts on the anthology show Oh Yeah! Cartoons. Eventually, Nickelodeon decided to pick the shorts up as a full series. Premiering in 2001, the adapted series ended up becoming a huge hit, second only in the ratings to SpongeBob SquarePants (and it briefly even passed SpongeBob's ratings).[11][12] Following the third The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius crossover The Jimmy-Timmy Power Hour 3: The Jerkinators, the series ceased production in 2006, but it was announced on Hartman's forum on February 2, 2007, that 20 more episodes would be produced; the 6th season of Fairly OddParents aired on February 18, 2008, starting with the one-hour special Fairly OddBaby. From May 1, 2009, to May 3, 2009, the three-part special Wishology aired;[13] although that too was originally intended as a series finale[citation needed], the series was renewed for another season. A tenth season was eventually ordered in 2015.[14] The Fairly OddParents is Nickelodeon's second longest-running animated show behind SpongeBob.[15]

Due to the success of The Fairly OddParents, Hartman was asked to create another show for Nickelodeon; Hartman says the President of Nickelodeon asked him if he had an idea, and before he could say the title he was given the greenlight. The show would later become Danny Phantom.[16] To produce the show, Hartman founded his own production company Billionfold Inc. in 2003, which he also used to produce his other projects. Danny Phantom received his furthest critical acclaim throughout his career, with Hartman himself acknowledging it as perhaps the best of his programs while acknowledging its cult following. Danny Phantom ended production in early 2007.[17]

Around 2008–2009, Hartman began production his third show for Nickelodeon, T.U.F.F. Puppy, which premiered in 2010 alongside the Jimmy Neutron spin-off Planet Sheen.[18] The series received mixed to positive reviews and ran for three seasons before being cancelled.

His final show, Bunsen Is a Beast, aired on Nickelodeon and Nicktoons from January 16, 2017, to February 10, 2018. On February 8, 2018, Hartman announced on his Twitter and YouTube accounts that he had left Nickelodeon as of February 2 after a 20-year run.[1][2]

Other works

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In 2015, Hartman launched a "kid-safe [online] network of live shows and cartoons" called The Noog Network.[19][20]

In October 2017, Hartman launched the podcast Speech Bubble, on which he talks about pop culture. Several voice actors have appeared on the podcast, including Rob Paulsen, Tara Strong, Jerry Trainor, Grey Griffin, and Vic Mignogna. After initially posting excerpts on his primary YouTube channel, the podcast videos were later moved to its own dedicated YouTube channel, now including full episodes.[21][22]

In June 2018, Hartman started a Kickstarter campaign for OAXIS Entertainment, a "family-friendly" streaming service. After the fundraising goal had been reached, it was revealed that OAXIS was planned to be a Christian-themed network, which was not disclosed during the fundraiser.[23] However, Hartman later claimed that, while faith would continue to be a part of his personal life, OAXIS would not be a faith-based service.[24] As of 2024, Hartman has yet to give any updates on OAXIS.

On June 22, 2019, Hartman released the animated web series HobbyKids Adventures. This series, produced by PocketWatch Inc., was created for YouTube channel HobbyKidsTV.[25] On 13 July, Hartman released a book, Mad Hustle, which details the ins and outs of pitching and selling a show in Hollywood.[26]

In 2019, Hartman created the Christian animated web series The Garden, which he co-produced with his wife Julieann. Hartman has planned at least two seasons of the series and plan to launch a subscription-based app for The Garden in late 2022. Hartman's further plans for the property include creating a VBS curriculum for churches and illustrating a children's Bible published by Thomas Nelson, titled The Garden Children's Bible, which stars the characters from The Garden and is scheduled to release in 2023.[27][28][29] The series premiered on Pure Flix on January 1, 2023.[30]

In February 2021, Hartman was accused of plagiarism when he published his commissioned artwork of Attack on Titan character Mikasa Ackerman, in which similarities were noted to a 2018 artwork of a Japanese artist. The artist confirmed Hartman did not receive permission.[23]

Hartman was credited as an executive producer on The Fairly OddParents revival series The Fairly OddParents: Fairly Odder[31][32] and The Fairly OddParents: A New Wish.

Personal life

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As of 2024, Hartman lives in Bell Canyon, California, with his wife, Julieann, and daughters, Carly and Sophia Hartman.[33] He also has three younger brothers.[34] Hartman is an openly devout born-again Christian[35] and young-Earth creationist,[36] converting in 2000 after hearing a sermon by Frederick K. C. Price.[37]

In 2005, Hartman, along with his wife, co-founded Hartman House, a non-profit organization which supports those in developing nations, as well as poverty stricken areas in the United States.[38] By 2017, Hartman House has built two homes for families in Guatemala, fed nearly 7,200 families with Thanksgiving meals in the U.S., and funded aid projects for orphanages in Uganda and Haiti.[39][40] At Hartman House events, Hartman usually draws and autographs items related to his work for children.[41]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1986 An American Tail In between artist
1992 California Hot Wax Eddie Credited as "Shiloh Pettibone"
1994 Scooby-Doo! in Arabian Nights Character designer
1995 Pocahontas Video reference cast
1997 Annabelle's Wish Storyboard artist
Direct-to-video
1998 Adventures in Odyssey: Baby Daze Storyboard artist
Adventures in Odyssey: A Stranger Among Us Storyboard artist
2006 Doogal Writer and Voice Director
2011 A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up, Timmy Turner! Waiter Writer and executive producer
2012 A Fairly Odd Christmas Christmas Caroler, GingerFred, GingerEd, GingerNed and GingerJed Writer and executive producer
2014 A Fairly Odd Summer Crazy Guy Writer and executive producer

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1984 Match Game Hollywood Squares Hour Contestant
1985 Body Language Contestant
1985–1986 It's Punky Brewster Models
1987 Growing Pains Robert Jordan Episode: "Michaelgate"
1988 Just the Ten of Us Rod Grossman Episode: "Close Encounters"
Police Academy Models
1988–1989 Days of Our Lives Henry Jake 7 episodes
1989 Dink, the Little Dinosaur Storyboard artist
1990 Piggsburg Pigs! Key model designer
1990–1991 Generations Sean Masters 16 episodes
1991–1993 Tom & Jerry Kids Character designer
1993 Droopy, Master Detective Designer
1995 What a Cartoon! Creator: "Pfish & Chip", & "Gramps"; writer/director "Hillbilly Blue"
1996–1999 Jumanji Storyboard artist: 3 episodes
1996–1997 Dexter's Laboratory Storyboard artist/background designer/layout artist
1996–1998 The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper Storyboard artist
1996 Timon & Pumbaa Storyboard artist: "Beast of Eden", 1 episode, credited as Elmer Hartman
1997–1999 Johnny Bravo Storyboard artist/writer: story/director
1997 Cow & Chicken Models/storyboard artist
1997 I Am Weasel Models/storyboard artist
1997 101 Dalmatians: The Series Character/storyboard design
1997 The Weird Al Show Pizza delivery guy Episode: "Bad Influence"
1998–2002 Oh Yeah! Cartoons Creator: "The Fairly OddParents" and "Dan Danger"; director/producer: "Terry and Chris"; director/storyboard artist: "Zoomates"
1999–2002 Family Guy Jonathan Weed (pilot pitch only) / Additional voices 8 episodes
1999–2002 The New Woody Woodpecker Show Storyboard artist: "Temper, Temper", 1 episode
2001–2017 The Fairly OddParents Dr. Rip Studwell / Additional voices Creator/story/writer/director/storyboard artist/voice actor/theme music composer/executive producer
2002 The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius Writer: "See Jimmy Run"
2004–2007 Danny Phantom Football Announcer 1
(episode: "What You Want") 		Creator/story/writer/storyboard artist/voice actor/director/theme music composer/executive producer
2010–2015 T.U.F.F. Puppy Agent Weaselman / Agent Rodentski / Escape Goat / TV Voice Creator/story/music composer/voice actor/executive producer/writer/storyboard artist/director
2010–2013 Big Time Rush Himself Episode: "Big Time Cartoon"
Guest animator on "Big Time Christmas"
2017–2018 Bunsen Is a Beast Fido / Beast Ball / Pete / Memory Pete / Kitten Creator/writer/storyboard artist/executive producer/theme music composer
2022 The Fairly OddParents: Fairly Odder Executive producer[42][43]
2024–present The Fairly OddParents: A New Wish Executive producer

Internet

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Year Title Role Notes
2017 The Fairly Odd Phantom Internet short that reunites characters from all Butch Hartman shows created for Nickelodeon[44]
2019–2020 HobbyKids Adventures SlobbySnake (episode: "The Drawing Board") Creator/executive producer/director/writer/designs/voice actor
2019 The Garden Miniseries; Creator/story/writer/storyboard artist/director/executive producer[45]
2023–present The Garden Mr. Toothacher / Cuckoo Charlie / Employee #101 / Various Animals Creator/executive producer/director/story editor/writer/voice actor[46]
2024 The Big Blue Book Oven Mitt Executive producer/director/writer/lyrics by/background designer/set designer[47]

Written works

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Year Title Publisher ISBN Notes Ref.
2017 Butch Hartman: Sketchbook 1: Stuff I've drawn or am drawn to. CreateSpace 978-1975613396 Author and illustrator [48]
3 O'Clock Club Vol. 1: School's Out... of Control! ROAR Comics 978-1941302583 Co-author with Jordan B. Gorfinkel [49]
2018 Vision: Possible! CreateSpace 978-1727377453 Co-author with Julieann Hartman [50]
2020 Hannah and the Beanstalk: A True Story of Faith Harrison House Publishers 978-1680315011 Illustrator [51]
Mad Hustle: How to pitch & sell shows in Hollywood CreateSpace 979-8639551123 Author [52]
2023 The Garden Children's Bible Thomas Nelson 978-0785241812 Illustrator [29]

References

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  1. ^ a b Hartman, Butch (February 9, 2018). "Why I Left Nickelodeon". Archived from the original on April 23, 2020. Retrieved February 10, 2018 – via SoundCloud.
  2. ^ a b Hartman, Butch (February 8, 2018). "Why I Left Nickelodeon". Archived from the original on February 9, 2018. Retrieved February 9, 2018 – via YouTube.
  3. ^ Walker, Alana (May 16, 2013). "Animation Domination". Hour Detroit Magazine. Hour Media. Archived from the original on May 3, 2021. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  4. ^ a b Larese, Katelyn (July 10, 2014). "With Video: Cartoon creator Butch Hartman leaves his mark". The Voice. Archived from the original on August 18, 2019. Retrieved December 25, 2016.
  5. ^ "'Fairly OddParents' is not just for kids". The Augusta Chronicle. February 12, 2004. Archived from the original on September 27, 2013. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  6. ^ "CalArts Alum's 'Fairly OddParents' Nominated for Daytime Emmy". May 19, 2014. Archived from the original on November 23, 2022. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
  7. ^ Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour. January 3, 1984. NBC.
  8. ^ Fletcher, Alex (September 7, 2012). "TUFF Puppy' Butch Hartman interview: 'I want Charlie Sheen character". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  9. ^ Milligan, Mercedes (February 21, 2017). "Nick Short 'The Fairly Odd Phantom' Is a Butch Hartman Reunion". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on February 26, 2017. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
  10. ^ Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 190. ISBN 978-1538103739. Archived from the original on July 18, 2023. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  11. ^ Ryan, Suzanne C. (August 19, 2003). "'OddParents' soaks up 'SpongeBob' spot". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on June 10, 2020. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  12. ^ "'Fairly OddParents' is not just for kids". Today. August 5, 2010. Archived from the original on July 12, 2018. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  13. ^ "Kiss Get Animated in "Fairly Oddparents" Movie "Wishology"". Rolling Stone. May 1, 2009. Archived from the original on August 31, 2018. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  14. ^ Grant, Stacey (August 18, 2015). "'The Fairly OddParents' Is Getting A New Character -- And A Tenth Season [Exclusive]". MTV News. Archived from the original on October 25, 2017. Retrieved November 8, 2017.
  15. ^ Venable, Nick (July 29, 2016). "The Hilarious Number Of Times The Fairly OddParents Has Been Cancelled". CinemaBlend. Archived from the original on August 1, 2016. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
  16. ^ Ball, Ryan (April 8, 2004). "Butch Hartman Talks Danny Phantom". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on March 1, 2014. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  17. ^ Perlmutter 2018, p. 144.
  18. ^ Lloyd, Robert (October 2, 2010). "Television reviews: 'T.U.F.F. Puppy' and 'Planet Sheen'". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 11, 2012. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  19. ^ "Animator Butch Hartman Launches the Noog Network | Strange Kids Club". Archived from the original on April 13, 2016. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
  20. ^ "Butch Hartman Launches Noog App". Animation Magazine. July 23, 2015. Archived from the original on February 20, 2016. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
  21. ^ "Speech Bubble by Butch Hartman on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Archived from the original on May 1, 2018. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  22. ^ "YouTube". Archived from the original on December 14, 2006. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  23. ^ a b Asarch, Steven (February 22, 2021). "'Fairly Odd Parents' creator accused of plagiarizing from Japanese Twitter artist for commissions". Insider. Insider Inc. Archived from the original on May 3, 2021. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  24. ^ Hartman, Butch [@realhartman] (July 25, 2018). "(no text)" (Tweet). Retrieved November 5, 2020 – via Twitter.
  25. ^ Spangler, Todd (May 13, 2019). "Pocket.watch Sets Projects With MarMar, The Onyx Family and Other YouTube Creators". Variety. Archived from the original on May 13, 2019. Retrieved June 24, 2019.
  26. ^ "MAD HUSTLE | Butch Hartman". Madhustle. Archived from the original on May 3, 2021. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  27. ^ Milligan, Mercedes (May 25, 2022). "Butch Hartman Launching Pre-K Bible Toon 'The Garden'". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on November 24, 2022. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  28. ^ "The Garden website". Archived from the original on November 24, 2022. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  29. ^ a b Nelson, Thomas (March 7, 2023). ICB, The Garden Children's Bible, Hardcover: International Children's Bible. Thomas Nelson. ISBN 978-0785241812.
  30. ^ Butch Hartman [@butchhartman] (January 1, 2023). "My new Christian cartoon "THE GARDEN" just dropped on @pureflix TODAY!". Retrieved January 2, 2023 – via Instagram.
  31. ^ White, Peter (February 24, 2021). "Nickelodeon's Dora The Explorer & The Fairly OddParents Get Live-Action Series Remakes On Paramount+". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 4, 2021. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  32. ^ Gelman, Samuel (April 20, 2021). "Fairly OddParents Live-Action Reboot Gets Summer Filming Date". CBR. Archived from the original on November 21, 2021. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  33. ^ "About | Vision Possible". Archived from the original on October 24, 2020. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
  34. ^ Hartman, Butch (September 1, 2015). "Fun Facts About My Shows: Fairly Odd Parents, Danny Phantom, & TUFF Puppy!". Archived from the original on September 2, 2015. Retrieved November 8, 2017 – via YouTube.
  35. ^ Frost, AJ (September 29, 2015). "Noog Network creates safe online place for kids". Jewish News of Greater Phoenix. Archived from the original on February 9, 2018. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
  36. ^ Hartman, Julieann; Hartman, Butch (March 28, 2011). "Where is God". YouTube. thehart2heart. Archived from the original on May 3, 2021. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  37. ^ "- YouTube". Archived from the original on May 3, 2021. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
  38. ^ White, Stefanie (November 24, 2006). "Nickelodeon cartoon creator Butch Hartman visits McKinney". McKinney Courier-Gazette Star. Archived from the original on February 19, 2020. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  39. ^ "Butch Hartman Talks About His New Nickelodeon Show "Bunsen is a Beast"".
  40. ^ Pompa, Amber (July 28, 2009). "Singing & sweeping". Herald-Banner. Archived from the original on July 12, 2022. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  41. ^ "About". Hartman House. Archived from the original on November 9, 2022. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  42. ^ White, Peter (February 24, 2021). "Nickelodeon's Dora The Explorer & The Fairly OddParents Get Live-Action Series Remakes On Paramount+". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 4, 2021. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  43. ^ Romano, Nick (February 23, 2022). "New 'Fairly OddParents' series shows live-action Timmy all grown up". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  44. ^ Brown, Tracy (February 21, 2017). "'The Fairly Odd Phantom' brings four cartoons together for one giant Nickelodeon crossover". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 26, 2021. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  45. ^ "Butch Hartman | GospelTruth.TV On Demand". GospelTruth.TV. Archived from the original on July 6, 2020. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
  46. ^ "You are being redirected..." www.animationmagazine.net. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  47. ^ "THE BIG BLUE BOOK! - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
  48. ^ Hartman, Butch (September 20, 2017). Butch Hartman: Sketchbook 1: Stuff I've drawn or am drawn to. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 978-1975613396.
  49. ^ Hartman, Butch; Gorfinkel, Jordan B. (October 24, 2017). 3 O'Clock Club Vol. 1: School's Out... of Control!. Oni Press. ISBN 978-1941302583.
  50. ^ Hartman, Butch; Hartman, Julieann (October 9, 2018). Vision: Possible!. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 978-1727377453.
  51. ^ Terradez, Carlie (May 19, 2020). Hannah and the Beanstalk: A True Story of Faith. Harrison House Publishers. ISBN 978-1680315011.
  52. ^ Mad Hustle: How to pitch & sell shows in Hollywood. July 12, 2020. Archived from the original on May 3, 2021. Retrieved July 17, 2020 – via Amazon.
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