Butch Hartman

Elmer Earl Hartman IV, better known as Butch Hartman (born January 10, 1965), is an American animator, writer, director, producer, illustrator and actor, best known for creating the Nickelodeon shows The Fairly OddParents, Danny Phantom and T.U.F.F. Puppy. Hartman also owns his own production company, Billionfold, Inc., for which he uses primarily to produce his shows. Hartman remains an executive producer on Fairly OddParents ever since its debut in 2001.

His next show, Bunsen Is a Beast!, is set to premiere in 2017.

Early life

Hartman was born in Highland Park, Michigan on January 10th, 1965 to Elmer Earl Hartman III and Carol Davis. 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 teen years in New Baltimore, Michigan. He graduated from Anchor Bay High School in New Baltimore in 1983. He subsequently attended the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California.^[1]

Career

Early career

While still attending CalArts, Hartman received the chance to intern as an in-between animator on the Don Bluth film An American Tail. Shortly after graduating from CalArts, Hartman was hired as a character designer and storyboard artist for an unidentified My Little Pony animated series. It was the first time he had worked with storyboards, and because of this, he was soon fired from the job.^[2] Afterwards, Hartman 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 onto 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.

The Fairly OddParents, Danny Phantom and T.U.F.F. Puppy

His biggest success came in 1997, when he created The Fairly OddParents. The series originally started out as a series 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 Jimmy Neutron crossover The Timmy-Jimmy Power Hour, 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, and new episodes continue to be produced to this day. A tenth season was eventually ordered in 2015.^[3] 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.^[4] 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 is perhaps the best of his programs. Danny Phantom ended production in 2007, however, Hartman has stated that he would be interested in doing a revival for the show if Nickelodeon asked him to.

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.^[5] The series received mixed reviews and ran for 3 seasons before being cancelled.

His fourth show, Bunsen Is a Beast!, is currently in production. The show will premiere on Nickelodeon in 2017.

Doogal

Hartman was asked to serve as executive producer and screenwriter of Doogal, the Americanized dub of the British/French animated film The Magic Roundabout. Under his own assumption that the movie itself was lacking, Hartman proposed that in addition to dubbing, extra scenes be filmed in live action to fill up empty spaces in the story. While the idea was originally received with praise and was essentially given the okay, budgeting was pulled from it at the last minute and the only changes made were in the dubbing.

The film was then dubbed by The Weinstein Company, and was released on February 24, 2006. Doogal was poorly received by critics, and did poorly in the box-office, grossing $7 million and getting 8% on Rotten Tomatoes.^[6]

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 2015, Hartman launched a "kid safe network (app) of live shows and cartoons" called the Noog Network.^[7][8] In August 2016, Hartman showed on YouTube the short sequences of his Cartoon Network's pilot episode dating back to 2011, called Dynamice!.^[9]

Personal life

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

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.^[10] Hartman House has built two homes for families in Guatemala, fed nearly 7200 families with Thanksgiving meals in the U.S., and is in the midst of funding a school in Africa. At Hartman House events, Hartman usually draws and autographs things related to his work for children.

Filmography

Film

Television

Others

• Crash Bandicoot
• Dave and Knight
• Buglies
• The Green Weenie & Pooch Patrol

References

External links

• Butch Hartman on Facebook
• Butch Hartman at the Internet Movie Database
• Hartman House Foundation