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Butch Hartman

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Butch Hartman
Hartman in 2020
Born
Elmer Earl Hartman IV

(1965-01-10) January 10, 1965 (age 59)
Highland Park, Michigan, U.S.
EducationAnchor Bay High School
Alma materCalifornia Institute of the Arts
Occupation(s)Animator, writer, producer, director, voice actor
Years active1986–present
Spouse
Julieann Hartman
​
(m. 1992)​
Children2
RelativesKeith Hartman (brother)
Timothy Hartman (brother)
Mike Hartman (brother)

Elmer Earl "Butch" Hartman IV (born January 10, 1965) is an American animator, writer, producer, director, author and voice actor, best known for creating Nickelodeon's The Fairly OddParents, T.U.F.F. Puppy, Bunsen Is a Beast, and Danny Phantom. 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;[1] he confirmed that this resulted in the end of production on Bunsen Is a Beast after just one season.[2] Hartman's latest animated program, HobbyKids Adventures, premiered on YouTube in 2019.[3]

Early life

Hartman was born in Highland Park, Michigan.[4] 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.[5] He graduated from Anchor Bay High School in New Baltimore in 1983,[5] and subsequently attended the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California.[6]

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 Square 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.[7] 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.[8] The Fairly OddParents is Nickelodeon's second longest-running animated show behind SpongeBob.

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.[9] To produce the show, in 2004, Hartman founded 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.[10] The series received mixed to positive reviews and ran for 3 seasons before being cancelled.

His fourth 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]

In late February 2018, Hartman revealed in a video released on his YouTube channel that The Fairly OddParents got canceled and renewed five times by Nickelodeon. He said that the reason for the series' back-and-forth cancellation and renewal was because it was not as popular as SpongeBob SquarePants, yet it still performed better in ratings than any other animated show on the network.[11]

Future projects

After Hartman announced that he was leaving Nickelodeon, he said in the same video that he was working on new projects to be released in the future, as they move to Sony Pictures Animation to plan any direct-to-video sequels. He announced that he is working on a show called Elf Detective for his YouTube channel as well as multiple projects with PocketWatch, Inc. On June 18, 2018, he launched a Kickstarter campaign for his own streaming service for family-focused entertainment called OAXIS. It reached its goal of $250,000 on July 18, 2018.[12]

Other works

His other TV work includes voicing various characters on the animated series Family Guy and playing the character Sean Masters on the short-lived series Generations in 1991. He also appeared on the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives during the late 1980s. In 2012, it was announced that Hartman was set to serve as the director on the film adaptation of ALF for Sony Pictures Animation.

in 2005, Hartman was asked to serve as executive producer and screenwriter of Doogal by producer Harvey Weinstein, the US dub of the French/British animated film The Magic Roundabout. Doogal was released on February 24, 2006 by The Weinstein Company. Doogal was poorly received by critics – getting 7% on Rotten Tomatoes – and performed poorly at the box office, grossing only $7 million.[13] Hartman would later reveal in an 2017 interview during the Weinstein scandal that the film was originally supposed to include a live-action frame story similar to The Princess Bride but it was scrapped due to budget costs and therefore replaced with Judi Dench's narration. Hartman even revealed that the original U.S. movie poster had his name and his production company Billionfold Inc. on it, until they were removed in later posters in copyright favor of both Pathé and Action Synthese's credits. He later expressed long-harbored remorse for his involvement where he revealed that most of his actual script was actually rewritten without his consent by producer Harvey Weinstein and his distribution and production company The Weinstein Company with a screenplay by Hoodwinked! co-director Cory Edwards; he also claimed that only 3% of his original script made it into the final film.[14]

In 2015, Hartman launched a "kid-safe network (app) of live shows and cartoons" called the Noog Network.[15][16] In August 2016, Hartman showed on YouTube the short sequences of his Cartoon Network's pilot episode dating back to 2011, called Dynamice!.[17] He's also working on a comic book called "The 3 O'Clock Club", as revealed on a YouTube live stream on his channel.[18][19] A comic was released in 2017.[20]

In October 2017, Hartman started a podcast called Speech Bubble with his co-host Jace Diehl, on which they talk 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.[21][22]

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 his new book Mad Hustle, detailing the ins and outs on how to pitch and sell a show in Hollywood.[23]

Controversies

Hartman has been involved in several incidents which caused backlash, including being accused of minimizing mental health issues while exclusively blaming technology.[24] He also was criticized for claiming through his non-profit organization that religion could cure ailments such as bipolar disorder, autism, heart and kidney failure, fibromyalgia, and multiple sclerosis,[25] as well as misleading backers on Kickstarter regarding both the religious nature and the activities of his start-up OAXIS Entertainment streaming platform following when it reached its fundraising goal.[26] On July 13, 2020, Rob Orpilla, an animator whom worked with Hartman on numerous occasions in his YouTube channel, revealed that Hartman convicted a breach of contract by refusal to compensate him for his involvement on several projects he worked with him on that fell in development as well as his representative try to make accusations of Orpilla working with Hartman in an unsolicited matter or applying extortion during their exchanges.[27] A court case has been settled but the outcome remains yet to be revealed.[28]

Personal life

Hartman currently lives in Bell Canyon, California, with his wife, Julieann, and daughters, Carly and Sophia Hartman.

Hartman's younger brothers are: Mike, Keith and Timothy.[29]

Hartman is an openly devout born-again Christian[30] and young-Earth creationist[31] who converted in 2000 after hearing a sermon by Frederick K. C. Price.[32]

In 2005, Hartman, along with his wife, founded Hartman House, a non-profit organization that travels to developing nations and some of the most poverty stricken areas in the United States.[33] Hartman House has built two homes for families in Guatemala, fed nearly 7,200 families with Thanksgiving meals in the U.S., and is in the midst of funding a school in Uganda. At Hartman House events, Hartman usually draws and autographs items related to his work for children.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1986 An American Tail In between artist
1992 California Hot Wax Eddie
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: United States screenplay (later rewritten without his knowledge by producer Harvey Weinstein, only about 3% of his actual script remained in the final cut)[14]
2011 A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up, Timmy Turner! Waiter Writer
2012 A Fairly Odd Christmas Christmas Caroler Story and screenplay
2014 A Fairly Odd Summer Crazy Guy Writer

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1983 Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour Contestant[34]
1985 Body Language Contestant
1985–1986 It's Punky Brewster Models
1987 Growing Pains Robert Jordan Episode 3.5: "Michaelgate"
1988 Just the Ten of Us Rod Grossman Episode 1.4: "Close Encounters"
Police Academy Models
1988–1989 Days of Our Lives Henry Jake
1989 Dink, the Little Dinosaur Storyboard artist
1990 Piggsburg Pigs! Key model designer
1991–1993 Tom & Jerry Kids Character designer
1993 Droopy, Master Detective Designer
1995 What a Cartoon! Creator: "Pfish & Chip", & "Gramps"; writer/director "Hillbilly Blue"
1996–1997 Dexter's Laboratory Writer/storyboard artist/background designer/layout artist
1996–1998 The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper Storyboard artist
1997–1999 Johnny Bravo Storyboard artist/writer: story/director
1997 Cow & Chicken Models/storyboard artist
1997 I Am Weasel Models/storyboard artist
1998–2001 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 / Additional voices 8 episodes
1999–2002 The New Woody Woodpecker Show storyboard artist 1 episode Temper, Temper
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/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
2013 Big Time Rush Himself Guest star on "Big Time Cartoon"
Guest animator on "Big Time Christmas"
2013 Jinxed Additional artist
2017–2018 Bunsen Is a Beast Fido / Beast Ball / Pete / Memory Pete / Kitten Creator/writer/storyboard artist/executive producer/theme music composer
2019 The Garden Creator/story/writer/storyboard artist/director/executive producer[35]

Internet

Year Title Role Notes
2017 The Fairly Odd Phantom Internet short that reunites characters from all Butch Hartman shows created for Nickelodeon[36]
2019–2020 HobbyKids Adventures SlobbySnake (episode: "The Drawing Board") Creator/executive producer/director/writer/designs/voice actor

Bibliography

Year Title Publisher ISBN Notes Ref
2017 Butch Hartman: Sketchbook 1: Stuff I've drawn or am drawn to. CreateSpace ISBN 978-1975613396 Author and illustrator [37]
3 O'Clock Club Vol. 1: School's Out... of Control! ROAR Comics ISBN 978-1941302583 Co-author with Jordan B. Gorfinkel [38]
2018 Vision: Possible! CreateSpace ISBN 978-1727377453 Co-author with Julieann Hartman [39]
2020 Hannah and the Beanstalk: A True Story of Faith Harrison House Publishers ISBN 978-1680315011 Illustrator [40]
Mad Hustle: How to pitch & sell shows in Hollywood CreateSpace ISBN 979-8639551123 Author [41]

References

  1. ^ a b Hartman, Butch (February 9, 2018). "Why I Left Nickelodeon". Retrieved February 10, 2018 – via SoundCloud.
  2. ^ a b Hartman, Butch (February 8, 2018). "Why I Left Nickelodeon". Retrieved February 9, 2018 – via YouTube.
  3. ^ Spangler, Todd (May 13, 2019). "Pocket.watch Sets Projects With MarMar, Onyx Family and Other YouTube Creators". Variety. Retrieved June 24, 2019.
  4. ^ Walker, Alana (May 16, 2013). "Animation Domination". Hour Detroit Magazine. Hour Media. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  5. ^ a b Larese, Katelyn (July 10, 2014). "With Video: Cartoon creator Butch Hartman leaves his mark". The Voice. Retrieved December 25, 2016.
  6. ^ "'Fairly OddParents' is not just for kids". The Augusta Chronicle. February 12, 2004. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  7. ^ Fletcher, Alex (September 7, 2012). "TUFF Puppy' Butch Hartman interview: 'I want Charlie Sheen character". Digital Spy. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  8. ^ "'The Fairly OddParents' Is Getting A New Character -- And A Tenth Season [Exclusive]". Retrieved November 8, 2017.[permanent dead link]
  9. ^ Ball, Ryan (April 8, 2004). "Butch Hartman Talks Danny Phantom". Animation Magazine. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  10. ^ Lloyd, Robert (October 2, 2010). "Television reviews: 'T.U.F.F. Puppy' and 'Planet Sheen'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  11. ^ Alexander, Julia (March 1, 2018). "Fairly OddParents creator explains why Nickelodeon canceled series five times". Polygon. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  12. ^ "I'M STARTING A NEW NETWORK | Butch Hartman". youtube.com. June 18, 2018.
  13. ^ "Doogal (2006)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
  14. ^ a b "let's talk about DOOGAL". YouTube. November 10, 2017. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
  15. ^ "Animator Butch Hartman Launches the Noog Network | Strange Kids Club". Archived from the original on April 13, 2016. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
  16. ^ "Butch Hartman Launches Noog App". Animation Magazine. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
  17. ^ "Unreleased Cartoon Network Pilot: Dynamice! - YouTube". youtube.com. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
  18. ^ "My First Comic Book!". Retrieved November 8, 2017.
  19. ^ Johnston, Rich (May 22, 2016). "3 O'Clock Club To Keep The Monsters At Bay In August". Bleeding Cool News And Rumors. Retrieved July 2, 2017.
  20. ^ "3 O'Clock Club To Keep The Monsters At Bay In August - Bleeding Cool News And Rumors". Bleeding Cool News And Rumors. May 22, 2016. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
  21. ^ "Speech Bubble by Butch Hartman on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  22. ^ "YouTube". Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  23. ^ "MAD HUSTLE | Butch Hartman". Madhustle. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  24. ^ McMahon, Andrew (July 28, 2016). "Fairly OddParents Creator Addresses Mental Health Comment Controversy". thenerdstash.com. Retrieved July 24, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  25. ^ Orpilla, Rob (June 13, 2020). "Ripping People Off in The Fairly Oddparents Style". YouTube. The Ink Tank. Retrieved July 24, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  26. ^ Baron, Reuben (July 30, 2018). "Cartoon Controversies: 10 Times Fans Were Wrong (And 10 Times Creators Were Wrong)". CBR. Retrieved July 24, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  27. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nrgv0YN9tSw
  28. ^ http://twitter.com/KuroArtist/status/1290645775303823362
  29. ^ Hartman, Butch (September 1, 2015). "Fun Facts About My Shows: Fairly Odd Parents, Danny Phantom, & TUFF Puppy!". Retrieved November 8, 2017 – via YouTube.
  30. ^ Frost, AJ (September 29, 2015). "Noog Network creates safe online place for kids". Jewish News of Greater Phoenix. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
  31. ^ Hartman, Julieann; Hartman, Butch (March 28, 2011). "Where is God". YouTube. thehart2heart. Retrieved July 24, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  32. ^ https://youtube.ca/watch?v=/vGgcq2pjnNU
  33. ^ White, Stefanie (November 24, 2006). "Nickelodeon cartoon creator Butch Hartman visits McKinney". McKinney Courier-Gazette Star. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  34. ^ Butch Hartman [@realhartman] (July 17, 2017). "I was on a game show in the 80's with Vicky Lawrence. Maybe this is where I got the idea for #IckyVicky. #thatsmyrealhair #FairlyOddparents" (Tweet). Retrieved July 16, 2020 – via Twitter.
  35. ^ "Butch Hartman | GospelTruth.TV On Demand". GospelTruth.TV. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
  36. ^ Tracy Brown (February 21, 2017). "'The Fairly Odd Phantom' brings four cartoons together for one giant Nickelodeon crossover". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  37. ^ "Butch Hartman: Sketchbook 1: Stuff I've drawn or am drawn to". Amazon. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  38. ^ "3 O'Clock Club Vol. 1: School's Out... of Control!". Amazon. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  39. ^ "Vision: Possible!". Amazon. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  40. ^ "Hannah and the Beanstalk: A True Story of Faith". Amazon. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  41. ^ "Mad Hustle: How to pitch & sell shows in Hollywood". Amazon. Retrieved July 17, 2020.

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