Butch Hartman

American animator (born 1965)Template:SHORTDESC:American animator (born 1965)[[Category:**Script error: No such module "pagetype".** with short description]]**Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".****Expression error: Unexpected < operator.****Script error: No such module "SDcat".**

This article is about the American animator. For the American stock car racing driver, see Butch Hartman (racing driver).
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**Elmer Earl** "**Butch**" **Hartman IV** (born January 10, 1965) is an American animator, writer, producer, director, and voice actor. He is best known for creating Nickelodeon's *The Fairly OddParents*, *Danny Phantom*, *T.U.F.F. Puppy*, and *Bunsen Is a Beast*. Hartman also owns a production company, Billionfold Inc., which he uses primarily to produce his shows. Hartman was an executive producer on *The Fairly OddParents* for the entirety of its 16-year run.

On February 8, 2018, Hartman announced in a YouTube video that he had left Nickelodeon on February 2 after having worked at the studio since December 1997; he confirmed that this resulted in the end of production on *Bunsen Is a Beast* after just one season. Hartman's latest animated program, *HobbyKids Adventures*, premiered on YouTube in 2019.

## Early life

Hartman was born in Highland Park, Michigan. He received the nickname Butch as a young boy and continued to use the name professionally as an adult. Hartman spent his childhood in Roseville, Michigan and his teenage years in New Baltimore, Michigan. He graduated from Anchor Bay High School in New Baltimore in 1983, and subsequently attended the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California. As a young student he appeared on *The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour* winning close to $3,000.**Script error: No such module "Unsubst".**

## Career

### Early career

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. 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 make the shorts *Pfish and Chip* and *Gramps* for the *What a Cartoon! Show*. 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 on the *Oh Yeah! Cartoons* show for Nickelodeon.

During his time working at Hanna-Barbera, he became friends 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 few seasons.

### Working at Nickelodeon

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). 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 1-hour special *Fairly OddBaby*. From May 1, 2009 to May 3, 2009, the 3-part special *Wishology* aired; although that too was originally intended as a series finale, the series was renewed for another season. A tenth season was eventually ordered in 2015. *The Fairly OddParents* is Nickelodeon's third longest-running animated show behind *SpongeBob* and *Rugrats*.

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*. To produce the show, in 2003, Hartman founded his own production company **Billionfold Inc.**, which he also used, and still uses today, to produce his other projects. *Danny Phantom* received critical acclaim and is considered Hartman's best show, with Hartman himself acknowledging it as perhaps the best of his programs. *Danny Phantom* ended production in early 2007.

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*. The series received mixed to positive reviews and ran for 3 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.

### Other works

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

In October 2017, Hartman started a podcast called *Speech Bubble*, on which he talks about cartoons, movies, pop culture, and various other topics. 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.

On June 22, 2019, Hartman's latest animated series, *HobbyKids Adventures*, premiered. This series, produced by PocketWatch, Inc., was created for YouTube channel HobbyKidsTV. On 13 July, Hartman released a book, *Mad Hustle*, which details the ins and outs on pitching and selling a show in Hollywood.

Hartman started a Kickstarter campaign for OAXIS Entertainment, a streaming service stated to be a "family-friendly" alternative. After the fundraising goal had been reached, it was then revealed the network was meant to be specifically a Christian one, which was never disclosed on the page. However, he later claimed that while faith would continue to be a part of his life, OAXIS would not be a faith-based service.

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

## Personal life

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

In 2005, Hartman, along with his wife, founded Hartman House, a non-profit organization that supports those in developing nations, as well as some of the most poverty stricken areas in the United States.

## References

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1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Why I Left Nickelodeon (February 9, 2018).
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Why I Left Nickelodeon (February 8, 2018).
3. ↑ Spangler, Todd (2019-05-13). Pocket.watch Sets Projects With MarMar, The Onyx Family and Other YouTube Creators (en).
4. ↑ Animation Domination. Hour Media (16 May 2013).
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
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7. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
8. ↑ Grant, Stacey (August 18, 2015). 'The Fairly OddParents' Is Getting A New Character -- And A Tenth Season [Exclusive].
9. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
10. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
11. ↑ Animator Butch Hartman Launches the Noog Network | Strange Kids Club.
12. ↑ Butch Hartman Launches Noog App (en-US) (July 23, 2015).
13. ↑ Speech Bubble by Butch Hartman on Apple Podcasts (en).
14. ↑ YouTube (en).
15. ↑ MAD HUSTLE | Butch Hartman (en).
16. ↑ Baron, Reuben (30 July 2018). Cartoon Controversies: 10 Times Fans Were Wrong (And 10 Times Creators Were Wrong) (en-US). Valnet Inc..
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 'Fairly Odd Parents' creator accused of plagiarizing from Japanese Twitter artist for commissions. Insider Inc. (22 February 2021).
18. ↑ **Script error: No such module "cite tweet".**
19. ↑ Archived copy.
20. ↑ Hartman, Butch (September 1, 2015). Fun Facts About My Shows: Fairly Odd Parents, Danny Phantom, & TUFF Puppy!.
21. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
22. ↑ Where is God (March 28, 2011).
23. ↑ Archived copy.
24. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
25. ↑ Butch Hartman | GospelTruth.TV On Demand (en-US).
26. ↑ Peter White (February 24, 2021). Nickelodeon's *Dora The Explorer* & *The Fairly OddParents* Get Live-Action Series Remakes On Paramount+. *Deadline Hollywood*.
27. ↑ Samuel Gelman (April 20, 2021). Fairly OddParents Live-Action Reboot Gets Summer Filming Date. *CBR*.
28. ↑ Tracy Brown (February 21, 2017). 'The Fairly Odd Phantom' brings four cartoons together for one giant Nickelodeon crossover. *Los Angeles Times*.
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## External links

* Template:Facebook
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