Butch Hartman
Encyclopedia
Elmer Earl "Butch" Hartman IV (born January 10, 1965) is an American animator
Animator
An animator is an artist who creates multiple images that give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence; the images are called frames and key frames. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, video games, and the internet. Usually, an...

, executive producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...

, animation director
Animation director
An animation director is the director in charge of all aspects of the animation process during the production of an animated film or animated segment for a live-action film...

, storyboard artist
Storyboard artist
Storyboard artist is a profession specialized in creating storyboards for advertising agencies and film productions.A storyboard artist is able to visualize any stories using quick sketches on paper at any moment...

, voice actor, occasional singer, producer
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...

, and creator of the animated series The Fairly OddParents
The Fairly OddParents
The Fairly OddParents is an American-Canadian animated television series created by Butch Hartman about the adventures of Timmy Turner, who is granted fairy godparents named Cosmo and Wanda. The series started out as cartoon segments that ran from September 4, 1998 to March 23, 2001 on Oh Yeah!...

, Danny Phantom
Danny Phantom
Danny Phantom is an American animated television series created by Butch Hartman for Nickelodeon, produced by Billionfold Studios. The show was 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...

and T.U.F.F. Puppy
T.U.F.F. Puppy
T.U.F.F. Puppy is an American animated television series created by Butch Hartman for Nickelodeon. It premiered on October 2, 2010 on Nickelodeon after the premiere of Planet Sheen. The series' main character is a dim-witted but determined dog named Dudley Puppy , who works as a secret agent for an...

.

Childhood

Hartman was born in Highland Park, Michigan
Highland Park, Michigan
- Geography :According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land.- Demographics :As of the census of 2000, there were 16,746 people, 6,199 households, and 3,521 families residing in the city. The population density was 5,622.9 per square mile . There were 7,249...

 to Elmer Earl Hartman III and Carol Davis. He received the nickname "Butch" as a youth and continues to use the name professionally as an adult. Hartman spent his childhood in Roseville, Michigan
Roseville, Michigan
Roseville is a city in Macomb County in the U.S. state of Michigan, and is a part of the Metro Detroit area. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 47,299...

 and his teen years in New Baltimore, Michigan
New Baltimore, Michigan
New Baltimore is a city and coastal resort community in Macomb County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 7,405 at the 2000 census. The 2008 Census Bureau Estimate places the population at 11,346. New Baltimore is in Metropolitan Detroit....

. He graduated from Anchor Bay High School in New Baltimore in 1983. He subsequently attended the California Institute of the Arts
California Institute of the Arts
The California Institute of the Arts, commonly referred to as CalArts, is located in Valencia, in Los Angeles County, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the United States created specifically for students of both the visual and the...

 in Valencia, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

.

Early career

While still attending the California Institute of the Arts, Hartman received the chance to intern as an in-between animator on the Don Bluth
Don Bluth
Donald Virgil "Don" Bluth is an American animator and independent studio owner. He is best known for his departure from The Walt Disney Company in 1979 and his subsequent directing of animated films such as The Secret of NIMH , An American Tail ,The Land Before Time , and All Dogs Go to Heaven ,...

 film, An American Tail
An American Tail
An American Tail is a 1986 American animated adventure film directed by Don Bluth and produced by Sullivan Bluth Studios and Amblin Entertainment. The film tells the story of Fievel Mouskewitz and his family as they immigrate from Russia to America for freedom. However, Fievel gets lost and must...

. Shortly after graduating for the California Institute of the Arts Hartman was hired as a character designer for the animated series My Little Pony
My Little Pony
My Little Pony is a brand of toy ponies marketed primarily to girls produced by the toy manufacturer Hasbro. These ponies can be identified by their colorful bodies and manes and a unique symbol on one or both sides of their flanks...

. Instead, they had him working on storyboards (which he had not done before) and as quickly as he was hired, he was fired. Soon after Hartman found work with Ruby-Spears, where he worked on It's Punky Brewster
It's Punky Brewster
It's Punky Brewster is an animated spin off of the live action television show Punky Brewster. The show was animated by Ruby-Spears Productions.-Synopsis:...

and Dink, the Little Dinosaur
Dink, the Little Dinosaur
Dink, the Little Dinosaur is an animated series produced by Ruby-Spears Productions. The series originally aired on the CBS Kids block on CBS from 1989 to 1991. The series was developed for television by Karen Willson and Chris Weber....

. He was also a video reference crew for the Disney movie, Pocahontas
Pocahontas (1995 film)
Pocahontas is the 33rd animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. It was produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and was originally released to selected theaters on June 16, 1995 by Walt Disney Pictures...

. Later, he became a writer, television director and storyboard artist for several Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...

 shows, including Dexter's Laboratory
Dexter's Laboratory
Dexter's Laboratory is an American animated television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky and produced by Cartoon Network Studios . The show is about a boy named Dexter who has an enormous secret laboratory filled with an endless collection of his inventions...

, Johnny Bravo
Johnny Bravo
Johnny Bravo is an American animated television series created by Van Partible for Cartoon Network. The series stars a muscular beefcake young man named Johnny Bravo who dons a pompadour hairstyle and an Elvis Presley-like voice and has a forward, woman-chasing personality...

and Cow and Chicken
Cow and Chicken
Cow and Chicken is an American animated series, created by David Feiss. The series shows the surreal adventures of a cow, named Cow, and her chicken brother, named Chicken. They are often antagonized by "The Red Guy", who poses as various characters to scam or hurt them...

. After his contract with Hanna-Barbera finished up he went to work with former co-worker Fred Seibert
Fred Seibert
Frederick "Fred" Seibert is a television and film producer and entertainment entrepreneur who owns Frederator Studios, and who has held leading positions with MTV Networks, Hanna-Barbera, and Next New Networks; he owns Frederator Studios...

 on the Oh Yeah! Cartoons
Oh Yeah! Cartoons
Oh Yeah! Cartoons is an American animation showcase that appeared on the Nickelodeon cable channel. Oh Yeah! was an animation project guided by Fred Seibert, former Creative Director of MTV Networks and President of Hanna-Barbera...

show.

He is also a friend of Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...

creator Seth MacFarlane
Seth MacFarlane
Seth Woodbury MacFarlane is an American animator, writer, comedian, producer, actor, singer, voice actor, and director best known for creating the animated sitcoms Family Guy, American Dad! and The Cleveland Show, for which he also voices many of the shows' various characters.A native of Kent,...

 and designed and directed on MacFarlane's animated short "Zoo Mates." MacFarlane also has a character on Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...

named after him: Dr. Elmer Hartman. Hartman currently lives in Bell Canyon, California
Bell Canyon, California
Bell Canyon is a census-designated place in Ventura County, California. Bell Canyon is a residential unincorporated community located near West Hills and the western San Fernando Valley in the Simi Hills. Although only minutes from the Los Angeles city limits, Bell Canyon is a Horse Community. ...

, with his wife, Julieann, and daughters, Carly and Sophia.

The Fairly OddParents and Danny Phantom

His biggest success came in 1997, when he created The Fairly OddParents
The Fairly OddParents
The Fairly OddParents is an American-Canadian animated television series created by Butch Hartman about the adventures of Timmy Turner, who is granted fairy godparents named Cosmo and Wanda. The series started out as cartoon segments that ran from September 4, 1998 to March 23, 2001 on Oh Yeah!...

. (The idea came to him during the drive from Hanna-Barbara to Nickelodeon to pitch an idea to Fred Seibert
Fred Seibert
Frederick "Fred" Seibert is a television and film producer and entertainment entrepreneur who owns Frederator Studios, and who has held leading positions with MTV Networks, Hanna-Barbera, and Next New Networks; he owns Frederator Studios...

.) It was originally a series of made for TV shorts on the anthology show, Oh Yeah! Cartoons
Oh Yeah! Cartoons
Oh Yeah! Cartoons is an American animation showcase that appeared on the Nickelodeon cable channel. Oh Yeah! was an animation project guided by Fred Seibert, former Creative Director of MTV Networks and President of Hanna-Barbera...

. In 2001, Nickelodeon picked it up as a full series. The Fairly OddParents became a huge hit, second only in the ratings to SpongeBob SquarePants. Due to the success of "OddParents", Hartman was asked to create another cartoon 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 a contract.) Danny Phantom
Danny Phantom
Danny Phantom is an American animated television series created by Butch Hartman for Nickelodeon, produced by Billionfold Studios. The show was 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...

, in 2004.

The Fairly OddParents ceased production in 2006, but it was announced on Hartman's website on February 2, 2007 that 20 more episodes will be produced. On July 11, 2007, the first new episode of Danny Phantom was aired on the Nicktoons Network. Danny Phantom ended production on August 24, 2007 though it's possible that the show may return. The 6th Season of The Fairly OddParents aired on February 18, 2008, starting with the 1-hour special Fairly OddBaby. On May 1, 2009 to May 3, 2009, the brand new special Wishology aired.

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
The Magic Roundabout (film)
The Magic Roundabout, , is a 2005 British computer-animated film based on the television series of the same name...

. Seeing 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
The Weinstein Company
The Weinstein Company is an American film studio founded by Bob and Harvey Weinstein in 2005 after the brothers left the then-Disney-owned Miramax Films, which they had co-founded in 1979...

, and was released on February 24, 2006. Doogal was poorly received by critics, and did poorly in the box-office, grossing $7 million dollars and getting 7% on Rotten Tomatoes.http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1156283-doogal/

T.U.F.F. Puppy

Hartman's newest show, T.U.F.F. Puppy
T.U.F.F. Puppy
T.U.F.F. Puppy is an American animated television series created by Butch Hartman for Nickelodeon. It premiered on October 2, 2010 on Nickelodeon after the premiere of Planet Sheen. The series' main character is a dim-witted but determined dog named Dudley Puppy , who works as a secret agent for an...

, premiered on October 2, 2010, after the premiere of Planet Sheen
Planet Sheen
Planet Sheen is an American CGI animated television series. It is the 2010 spin-off of the 2002 series The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius as well as the 2001 Oscar-nominated film Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. The show was created by John A. Davis, Keith Alcorn and Steve Oedekerk and based on...

. It is about the adventures of a dim-witted mutt named Dudley Puppy (voiced by iCarly
ICarly
iCarly is an American sitcom that focuses on a girl named Carly Shay who creates her own web show called iCarly with her best friends Sam and Freddie. The series was created by Dan Schneider, who also serves as executive producer. It stars Miranda Cosgrove as Carly, Jennette McCurdy as Sam, Nathan...

star Jerry Trainor
Jerry Trainor
Gerald William "Jerry" Trainor is an American actor, comedian and voice actor, widely known for playing Spencer Shay on iCarly. He is also known as Crazy Steve on Drake & Josh and the title character, Dudley Puppy, on T.U.F.F. Puppy...

) who joins a secret agent force known as the Turbo Undercover Fighting Force or T.U.F.F. to fight against the Diabolical Order Of Mayhem or D.O.O.M.. The series has been picked up for 60 episodes to air.

Other works

His other TV work includes voicing various characters on the animated series Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...

and playing the character Sean Masters on the short-lived series Generations in 1991. He also appeared on the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 soap opera Days of Our Lives
Days of our Lives
Days of our Lives is a long running daytime soap opera broadcast on the NBC television network. It is one of the longest-running scripted television programs in the world, airing nearly every weekday in the United States since November 8, 1965. It has since been syndicated to many countries around...

during the late 1980s.

Hartman House

Hartman also founded a non-profit organization in 2005, Hartman House along with his wife, Julieann Hartman, who is the Co-Founder of the organization. Hartman House travels to developing nations and some of the most poverty stricken areas in the United States.

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. Hartman uses his talent to draw and autograph pictures of his animated shows for hundreds of children at these events.

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1986 An American Tail
An American Tail
An American Tail is a 1986 American animated adventure film directed by Don Bluth and produced by Sullivan Bluth Studios and Amblin Entertainment. The film tells the story of Fievel Mouskewitz and his family as they immigrate from Russia to America for freedom. However, Fievel gets lost and must...

inbetween artist
1992 California Hot Wax Eddie
1995 Pocahontas
Pocahontas (1995 film)
Pocahontas is the 33rd animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. It was produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and was originally released to selected theaters on June 16, 1995 by Walt Disney Pictures...

video reference cast
1997 Annabelle's Wish
Annabelle's Wish
Annabelle's Wish is a 1997 animated Christmas film that revolves around a young calf who aspires to learn to fly and become one of Santa Claus' reindeer. It is narrated by Randy Travis and stars veteran voice actress Kath Soucie...

storyboard artist
Direct-to-video film
1998 Adventures in Odyssey: Baby Daze
Adventures in Odyssey
Adventures in Odyssey , or simply Odyssey, is an Evangelical Christian-themed radio drama/comedy series created by Focus on the Family in 1987. The show's daily audience averages around 1.2 million within North America. The Odyssey series also includes several spin-off items, including a home-video...

storyboard artist
Adventures in Odyssey: A Stranger Among Us
Adventures in Odyssey
Adventures in Odyssey , or simply Odyssey, is an Evangelical Christian-themed radio drama/comedy series created by Focus on the Family in 1987. The show's daily audience averages around 1.2 million within North America. The Odyssey series also includes several spin-off items, including a home-video...

storyboard artist
2004 Channel Chasers
Channel Chasers
Channel Chasers is the second television film of the animated series The Fairly OddParents. It first aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on July 23, 2004. The film centers on the series' main character 10-year-old Timmy Turner with his fairy godparents Cosmo and Wanda who grant his wishes....

animator for "Channel 297" scene
2005 The Magic Roundabout
The Magic Roundabout (film)
The Magic Roundabout, , is a 2005 British computer-animated film based on the television series of the same name...

writer: United States screenplay
2011 A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up, Timmy Turner!
A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up, Timmy Turner!
A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up, Timmy Turner! is a live action television film based on the animated series The Fairly OddParents. It first aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on July 9, 2011 to celebrate the series's tenth anniversary. Unlike the previous animated films of the series, this film...

Waiter writer: series and characters

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1985-1986 It's Punky Brewster
It's Punky Brewster
It's Punky Brewster is an animated spin off of the live action television show Punky Brewster. The show was animated by Ruby-Spears Productions.-Synopsis:...

models
1987 Growing Pains
Growing Pains
Growing Pains is an American television sitcom about an affluent family, residing in Huntington, New York, with a working mother and a stay-at-home psychiatrist father raising three children together, which aired on ABC from September 24, 1985 to April 25, 1992.-Synopsis:The show's premise is based...

Robert Jordan Episode 3.5: "Michaelgate"
1988 Just the Ten of Us
Just the Ten of Us
Just the Ten of Us is an American sitcom starring stand-up comedian Bill Kirchenbauer as Coach Graham Lubbock, a teacher and the head of a large Catholic family with eight children living in Eureka, California. The series was a spin-off of Growing Pains, in which Kirchenbauer portrayed the same...

Rod Grossman Episode 1.4: "Close Encounters"
Police Academy
Police Academy (TV series)
Police Academy, also known as Police Academy: The Animated Series, is a 1988 American animated television series based on the Police Academy series of films. The show was produced by Ruby-Spears Productions for Warner Bros. Television. It aired on Saturday mornings and lasted two seasons for a...

models
1988-1989 Days of Our Lives
Days of our Lives
Days of our Lives is a long running daytime soap opera broadcast on the NBC television network. It is one of the longest-running scripted television programs in the world, airing nearly every weekday in the United States since November 8, 1965. It has since been syndicated to many countries around...

Henry
Jake
1989 Dink, the Little Dinosaur
Dink, the Little Dinosaur
Dink, the Little Dinosaur is an animated series produced by Ruby-Spears Productions. The series originally aired on the CBS Kids block on CBS from 1989 to 1991. The series was developed for television by Karen Willson and Chris Weber....

storyboard artist
1990 Piggsburg Pigs!
Piggsburg Pigs!
Piggsburg Pigs! was a Fox Kids animated comedy series from Ruby-Spears Productions, which aired in 1990.On July 23rd, 2001, Piggsburg Pigs! and other properties of Saban Entertainment were sold to The Walt Disney Company.-Plot:...

key model designer
1990-1991 Generations Sean Masters
1991-1993 Tom & Jerry Kids character designer
1993 Droopy, Master Detective
Droopy, Master Detective
Droopy, Master Detective was an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera in association with Turner Entertainment. The show is a spin-off from Tom & Jerry Kids....

designer
1994 Yogi the Easter Bear
Yogi the Easter Bear
Yogi the Easter Bear is an animated TV special from Hanna-Barbera first aired on syndication on April 3, 1994 starring Yogi Bear. This was the last time Don Messick voiced both Boo Boo and Ranger Smith . Messick died in 1997.-Plot:Ranger Smith is nervous...

designer
TV special
Scooby-Doo! in Arabian Nights character designer
1995-1997 The Cartoon Cartoon Show
The Cartoon Cartoon Show
What a Cartoon! , is an American animation showcase project created by Fred Seibert for Hanna-Barbera Cartoons to be run on Cartoon Network...

Chip creator: "Pfish and Chip"
1996-1997 Dexter's Laboratory
Dexter's Laboratory
Dexter's Laboratory is an American animated television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky and produced by Cartoon Network Studios . The show is about a boy named Dexter who has an enormous secret laboratory filled with an endless collection of his inventions...

storyboard artist/background designer/layout artist
1997-1999 Johnny Bravo
Johnny Bravo
Johnny Bravo is an American animated television series created by Van Partible for Cartoon Network. The series stars a muscular beefcake young man named Johnny Bravo who dons a pompadour hairstyle and an Elvis Presley-like voice and has a forward, woman-chasing personality...

writer/director
1997 Cow and Chicken
Cow and Chicken
Cow and Chicken is an American animated series, created by David Feiss. The series shows the surreal adventures of a cow, named Cow, and her chicken brother, named Chicken. They are often antagonized by "The Red Guy", who poses as various characters to scam or hurt them...

models
1998-2001 Oh Yeah! Cartoons
Oh Yeah! Cartoons
Oh Yeah! Cartoons is an American animation showcase that appeared on the Nickelodeon cable channel. Oh Yeah! was an animation project guided by Fred Seibert, former Creative Director of MTV Networks and President of Hanna-Barbera...

creator: "The Fairly OddParents" and "Dan Danger"
1999-2002 Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...

additional voices
2001- The Fairly OddParents
The Fairly OddParents
The Fairly OddParents is an American-Canadian animated television series created by Butch Hartman about the adventures of Timmy Turner, who is granted fairy godparents named Cosmo and Wanda. The series started out as cartoon segments that ran from September 4, 1998 to March 23, 2001 on Oh Yeah!...

Dr. Rip Studwell creator/executive producer
2003 Pet Star
Pet Star
Pet Star was a show on Animal Planet hosted by Mario Lopez.The show is a contest between owners and their trained pets who perform tricks. The tricks are graded by three celebrity judges on a scale of one to 10....

Judge Episode 1.11
2004-2007 Danny Phantom
Danny Phantom
Danny Phantom is an American animated television series created by Butch Hartman for Nickelodeon, produced by Billionfold Studios. The show was 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...

creator/executive producer
2010- T.U.F.F. Puppy
T.U.F.F. Puppy
T.U.F.F. Puppy is an American animated television series created by Butch Hartman for Nickelodeon. It premiered on October 2, 2010 on Nickelodeon after the premiere of Planet Sheen. The series' main character is a dim-witted but determined dog named Dudley Puppy , who works as a secret agent for an...

Agent Weaselman
Agent Rodentski
creator/executive producer

External links

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