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Danny Phantom

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Danny Phantom
Danny Phantom Show Title Card
Intertitle
Created byButch Hartman
Developed byNickelodeon Studios
StarringDavid Kaufman
Colleen O'Shaughnessey
Rob Paulsen
Kath Soucie
Rickey D'Shon Collins
Grey DeLisle
Ron Perlman
Cree Summer
Martin Mull
Opening theme"Danny Phantom" by Butch Hartman and Guy Moon
Ending theme"Danny Phantom" (instrumental)
Country of originUnited States
Canada
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes53 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersButch Hartman
Steve Marmel (season 1-2)
Mark Banker
Marty Isenberg (season 1-2)
Kevin Sullivan (season 3)
ProducersBillionfold Studios (2004-2007)
Nelvana (2004-2007)
Running time22 minutes
Original release
NetworkNickelodeon (2004-2007)
YTV
ReleaseApril 3, 2004 (2004-04-03) –
August 24, 2007 (2007-08-24)

Danny Phantom is an American animated television series created by Butch Hartman for Nickelodeon, produced by Billionfold Studios. The show is about a teenage half-ghost boy, who frequently saves his town and the world from ghost attacks, while attempting to keep his ghost half a secret. It is distributed outside the United States by the Canadian animation company, Nelvana.

Production

Danny Phantom was first conceived by Butch Hartman as a response to Nickelodeon's then desire for a "boy's action show" during February, 2001. He settled on making the main hero a teenage boy to expand on opportunities his other leading character, Timmy Turner (Fairly Oddparents), cannot express. The original premise was entitled "Danny Phantom and the Specter Detectors" where normal teenager Danny would combat ghosts with superpowered sidekicks.[1] Hartman presented his idea to Nickelodeon executives Albie Hecht and Kevin Kay on October, 2001, selling a pilot for the series on the same night. Kevin Kay claimed they had intentions to say "yes" to anything Hartman would have proposed.[2][3]

Stephen Silver, Bob Boyle, and Shannon Tendall were hired as lead artists. Steve Marmel remained the head writer for the first two seasons. Guy Moon composed the music. Danny Phantom's beginning bass beat was inspired by Queen's "The Invisible Man" and has been rewritten twice to explain the origin of his super powers on request by the executives.[4] Butch Hartman describes the series as a little bit like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Ghostbusters.[5]

The first season premiered in April. 3, 2004 with twenty episodes[5]. The second aired on June. 24, 2005 with another twenty, and the third and final season on October. 9, 2006, airing the sixth episode out of Season Three for promotional purposes.[6]

Premise

Danny Phantom centers on the life and adventures of 14-year-old Danny Fenton, an unpopular boy attending Casper High School. He lives with his eccentric ghost hunting parents, Maddie and Jack, and an overbearing 16-year-old sister, Jazz. Upon pressure from his best friends, Sam and Tucker, he wanders inside his parent's Ghost Portal. He accidentally presses a button that zaps his entire body, infusing his DNA with ectoplasm, transforming him into a half ghost boy.[7] Danny, who calls himself 'Danny Phantom' in ghost form, develops the ability to fly, become invisible, and turn his body intangible. Danny panics over his ghost powers at first, but he soon realizes that he can use his powers to protect his town from ill-meaning ghosts. After the defeat of a Lunch Lady Ghost, Danny turns to the life of a superhero, using his powers to rid his hometown of Amity Park from the various ghosts (either entities/monsters or spirits of the deceased from another dimension)[8] that plague it[9]. Danny's best friends, technophile Tucker Foley and goth-minded ultra-recyclo vegetarian Samantha (Sam) Manson support Danny and help him with his ghost fighting.

Aside from a variety of ghosts, Danny faces threats of many calibers, including vengeful ghost hunter Valerie Gray[10], other half ghost/rival Vlad Masters/Plasmius[11], and even his own parents—being ghost hunters, they view Danny Phantom (and any ghosts) as a menace to society. In addition, Danny tries to keep his secret safe from his classmates, teachers, and family. Throughout it all, Danny slowly realizes his own potential and his purpose, while his worlds - both the Ghost Zone and Earth - slowly begin to accept him as their defender.[12]

Characters

Protagonists

Main article: List of characters in Danny Phantom
  • Daniel "Danny" Fenton/"Danny Phantom" (voiced by David Kaufman) The titular character of the show. A freshman in high school along with his friends, Danny is a shy, clumsy 14-year-old boy who gained ghost powers from a lab accident. He later chooses to use these powers to fight against malevolent ghosts, which have begun to regularly escape the mysterious Ghost Zone and plague his hometown of Amity Park.[9] An ongoing arc is his constant struggle to use his powers for the benefit of others than abuse it for his own selfishness.[12][13][14]
  • Tucker Foley (voiced by Rickey D'Shon Collins): A lighthearted teenager obsessed with technology, getting a girlfriend, and meat, he has been Danny's best friend "since forever".[15] When not obsessing over gadgets, he obsesses over girls.[16] Like Sam, he shares in Danny's secret and often helps battle ghosts back into the Ghost Zone. He generally provides comic relief.[17]
  • Samantha "Sam" Manson (voiced by Grey DeLisle): Danny's other best friend. Though wealthy, she chooses to hide her family's monetary success (for quite some time), in favor of being liked for who she is. A strident individualist, Sam is a practitioner of an overly dramatized fictional form of vegetarianism called "Ultra Recyclo-Vegetarianism"[9], a frequent protester for such things as animal rights[13], and a self-proclaimed goth. She has a secret crush on Danny.[12][18][19]
  • Jasmine "Jazz" Fenton (voiced by Colleen O'Shaughnessey): Danny's know-it-all (and somewhat overprotective and perhaps overly helpful) older sister; a smart and highly sociable overachiever who also thinks herself as an adult. Jazz considers her parents' obsession with ghosts as a sign of needing psychological help.[9][20] She discovers that Danny has ghost powers in the episode later on,[21] but she does not reveal her knowledge until later, in favor of waiting until he is ready to talk about it with her.[14]
  • Jack Fenton (voiced by Rob Paulsen): Danny and Jazz's father. Maddie's husband. Jack has an obsession with destroying ghosts and expresses hate for them. He blindly goes by the belief that all ghosts are evil and not worth living, even Danny Phantom.[22] He is generally incompetent in nature, but when provoked, can be an effective fighter.[22][23][24] Jack cares about his family but is oblivious to Danny's powers.[9][20] He is almost never seen without his orange jumpsuit.
  • Maddie Fenton (voiced by Kath Soucie) is Danny and Jazz's mother. Like her husband, she is a gifted genius and dedicator of destroying ghosts, though she usually aims to dissect and study them.[20] She is an excellent, competent fighter.[23][25] Like her husband, she is rarely seen without her blue jumpsuit.

Antagonist

Main article: List of Danny Phantom villains and ghosts
  • Vladimir "Vlad" Masters/Vlad Plasmius (voiced by Martin Mull): Danny's arch-enemy and a multi-billionaire. An old acquaintance of Jack and Maddie Fenton and the other known human-ghost hybrid. Vlad's ghost powers were thrust upon him by an accident with a Ghost Zone Portal prototype, which hospitalized him for many years with ecto-acne. He blames Jack and is resentful that his old "friend" married the love of his life, Maddie.[11][26] Unlike Danny, his ghost powers are considerably more developed, and he has used them for personal gain to obtain his rich status.[27]

Episodes

Main article: List of Danny Phantom episodes

Merchandises

DVDs

Danny Phantom first appeared on DVD in the Nick Picks DVD sets, appearing in all five volumes[28][29][30] and the Christmas special.[31] Nickelodeon and Amazon.com later struck a deal to produce DVDs of various Nickelodeon shows. Amazon made the discs, cover art, and disc art themselves. It is currently only available in Amazon.com. Danny Phantom Season One and Two were released on Sept 16th.[32].

Despite its claim, each set only contained thirteen episodes each—the first set including the first thirteen episodes; the second set carrying on with the next thirteen. The third Danny Phantom DVD was released on June. 9th.[33] This set contains the entirety of Season Three, rather than the previous thirteen episode sets, skipping over the rest of Season Two. Later editions of the first two seasons contained the entire first and second seasons of Danny Phantom and was released in Nov. 2009. Those, and all the other episodes, can be found on iTunes.

Video games

There have been two video games released for the series. Danny Phantom: The Ultimate Enemy for the (Game Boy Advance) was made to promote the then upcoming special "The Ultimate Enemy" with the main gameplay consisting of events from the TV movie. It is a 2D platformer and was released in Sept. 8, 2005.[34] Danny Phantom: Urban Jungle for both the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS was to promote the Danny Phantom episode "Urban Jungle". It is loosely based on the episode and is strictly a shooter game. It was released Sept. 19, 2006.[35]

Danny and other characters have also been featured in other Nickelodeon video games: Nicktoons: Summer Camp, Nicktoons Basketball for the PC, and Nicktoons Movin' Eyetoy for the (PlayStation 2). He is a playable character in the kart racer Nicktoons Winners Cup Racing (PC) and the latter Nicktoons Nitro developed by Raw Thrills for the arcade.[36] Nicktoons: Freeze Frame Frenzy for the (Game Boy Advance), and Nicktoons: Android Invasion (Leapfrog). Danny plays a key role as one of the main heroes in the Nicktoons Unite! series, appearing in all four games and their subsequent handheld counterparts. Danny Phantom has appeared in two mobile games, Nicktoons Mini Golf (USA, www.nick.com) and Danny Phantom: El secuestro de Jazz, available only in Chile.

Voice Actors

Main cast

Additional cast

References

  1. ^ Interview with Butch Hartman, March. 30, 2006
  2. ^ "Not Just Cartoons: Nicktoons. Writer: Jerry Beck.". {{cite episode}}: Missing or empty |series= (help)
  3. ^ Interview with Butch Hartman, March. 30, 2006
  4. ^ Interview with Butch Hartman, March. 30, 2006
  5. ^ a b Butch Hartman Talks Danny Phantom - Animationmagazine.net, April. 8, 2004
  6. ^ Danny Phantom Phreeze, October 9, 2006
  7. ^ "Memory Blank. Director: Butch Hartman, Ken Bruce, Gary Conrad; Writer: Steve Marmel.". Danny Phantom. Season 2. Episode 21. 2005-06-24. Nickelodeon. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ DPOFPA, "Interview with Butch Hartman"[dead link], March 30, 2006.
  9. ^ a b c d e "Mystery Meat. Director: Butch Hartman; Writer: Butch Hartman, Mark Banner, Steve Marmel.". Danny Phantom. Season 1. Episode 01. 2004-04-03. Nickelodeon. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ "Shades of Gray. Director: Butch Hartman, Wincat Alcala, Juli Hashiguchi; Writer: Sib Ventress.". Danny Phantom. Season 1. Episode 10. 2004-09-24. Nickelodeon. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ a b "Bitter Reunions. Director: Butch Hartman, Wincat Alcala, Juli Hashiguchi; Writer: Steve Marmel, Sib Ventress.". Danny Phantom. Season 1. Episode 07. 2004-05-08. Nickelodeon. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ a b c "Reign Storm. Director: Butch Hartman, Wincat Alcala, Kevin Petrilak; Writer: Steve Marmel.". Danny Phantom. Season 2. Episode 24/25. 2005-07-29. Nickelodeon. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ a b "Splitting Images. Director: Butch Hartman, Wincat Alcala, Richard Bowman; Writer: Marty Isenberg.". Danny Phantom. Season 1. Episode 05. 2004-04-24. Nickelodeon. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ a b "The Ultimate Enemy. Director: Butch Hartman, Wincat Alcala, Kevin Petrilak; Writer: Marty Isenberg, Steve Marmel, Sib Ventress.". Danny Phantom. Season 5. Episode 28/29. 2005-09-16. Nickelodeon. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ "What You Want. Director: Butch Hartman, Rick Bowman, Wincat Alcala; Writer: Sib Ventress.". Danny Phantom. Season 1. Episode 06. 2004-05-01. Nickelodeon. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ "Parental Bonding. Director: Butch Hartman, Wincat Alcala, Sean Dempsey; Writer: Steve Marmel, Sib Ventress.". Danny Phantom. Season 1. Episode 02. 2005 04-7. Nickelodeon. {{cite episode}}: Check date values in: |airdate= (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  17. ^ "Torrent of Terror. Director: Butch Hartman, Wincat Alcala, Gary Conrad; Writer: Butch Hartman, Sib Ventress.". Danny Phantom. Season 3. Episode 44. 2007-07-11. Nickelodeon. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ "Lucky in Love. Director: Butch Hartman, Gary Conrad, Ken Bruce; Writer: Sib Ventress.". Danny Phantom. Season 1. Episode 17. 2005-02-11. Nickelodeon. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ "Flirting with Disaster. Director: Butch Hartman, Wincat Alcala, Kevin Petrilak; Writer: Steve Marmel.". Danny Phantom. Season 2. Episode 32. 2006-01-13. Nickelodeon. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  20. ^ a b c "One of a Kind. Director: Butch Hartman; Writer: Butch Hartman, Mark Banner, Steve Marmel.". Danny Phantom. Season 1. Episode 03. 2004-04-10. Nickelodeon. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  21. ^ "My Brother's Keeper. Director: Butch Hartman, Wincat Alcala, Juli Hashiguchi; Writer: Sib Ventress.". Danny Phantom. Season 1. Episode 09. 2004-06-25. Nickelodeon. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  22. ^ a b "The Million Dollar Ghost. Director: Butch Hartman, Ken Bruce, Gary Conrad; Writer: Sib Ventress.". Danny Phantom. Season 1. Episode 19. 2005-06-03. Nickelodeon. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  23. ^ a b "Maternal Instincts. Director: Butch Hartman, Gary Conrad, Juli Hashiguchi; Writer: Sib Ventress.". Danny Phantom. Season 1. Episode 16. 2005-02-18. Nickelodeon. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  24. ^ "Girls' Night Out. Director: Butch Hartman, Wincat Alcala, Gary Conrad; Writer: Kevin Sullivan.". Danny Phantom. Season 3. Episode 43. 2007-07-10. Nickelodeon. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  25. ^ "Public Enemies. Ghost Director: Butch Hartman, Wincat Alcala, Juli Hashiguch; Writer: Steve Marmel, Sib Ventress.". Danny Phantom. Season 1. Episode 14. 2005-02-04. Nickelodeon. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  26. ^ "Masters of All Time. Director: Butch Hartman, Gary Conrad, Juli Hashiguchi; Writer: Sib Ventress.". Danny Phantom. Season 2. Episode 36. 2006-03-23. Nickelodeon. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  27. ^ "Kindred Spirits. Director: Butch Hartman, Daniel De La Vega, Gary Conrad; Writer: Steve Marmel, Sib Ventress.". Danny Phantom. Season 2. Episode 40. 2006-04-07. Nickelodeon. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  28. ^ [1]
  29. ^ [2]
  30. ^ [3]
  31. ^ [4]
  32. ^ [5]
  33. ^ [6]
  34. ^ [7]
  35. ^ [8]
  36. ^ [9]
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