Line #18 Creator/ButchHartman


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/butchchloe.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Just your [[WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents average cartoonist, that no one understands]].]]
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4	Elmer Earl "Butch" Hartman IV (born January 10, 1965) is an American animator, writer and actor, best known for the many, many shows he has created for Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} from 1998 to 2018.
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6	Like many great animators from UsefulNotes/TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation, Hartman is a graduate of the California Institute of The Arts. He managed to snag his first animation job between his first and second years as an inbetweener on ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail''.
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8	After graduation, he was hired as a storyboard artist on ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePony''... then [[GeorgeJetsonJobSecurity fired six weeks later]]. He spent a few years at Creator/RubySpears before moving on to Creator/HannaBarbera, a studio he was a huge fan of. Starting as a model designer, Hartman quickly rose through the ranks to being a director on four of Creator/CartoonNetwork's first five original shows, eventually becoming one of the key staff writers on ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyBravo'' alongside a young Creator/SethMacFarlane (Dr. Elmer Hartman on ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' was named after him). He also worked on multiple shorts for the ''WesternAnimation/WhatACartoonShow'', one of which, ''Phish and Chip'', was one of the only shorts not spun off into it's own show to receive a sequel short (Hartman also voiced Chip).
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10	Hartman moved on to Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} as soon as his contract with HB expired to work on [[DuelingShows a slightly similar show]], ''WesternAnimation/OhYeahCartoons''. There, he created several shorts that would eventually become ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents'', one of the station's longest running shows (the ''Oh Yeah!'' shorts were retroactively named "Season Zero"). In fact, something else Hartman and [=MacFarlane=] have in common: their animated shows are the only ones to ever get UnCanceled ''twice''. Hartman has since produced three more shows for the station, ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'', ''WesternAnimation/TuffPuppy'' and ''WesternAnimation/BunsenIsABeast'', making him second to Creator/KlaskyCsupo as Nick's most prolific creator. In 2018, he parted ways with the company after twenty years of employment, assuring fans that he was still hard at work on new shows while making videos for his Website/YouTube channel. He would also make a return to Creator/CartoonNetwork for the action comedy ''Dynamice!''... or at least attempted to. [=CN=] changed a lot since he last worked there and the pilot wasn't picked up, leaving him in a bit of limbo for the time being. At the current he makes Youtube vids talking about his career and topics of animation in general (read more on that below).
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12	Hartman's cartoons are instantly recognizable: visually, his character designs tend to be angular and have [[ThickLineAnimation thick outlines]]. Most notable is that his are the few characters in TV animation to have ''colored'' eyes rather than black circles. Writing wise, expect the characters to be so self-aware that you might be asking them if they are [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall holding up the fourth wall]], as well as including a healthy dose of [[ShoutOut pop culture references]], both modern and [[ParentalBonus not so modern]].
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14	In February 2021, Hartman returned to Nickelodeon as a producer for ''Series/TheFairlyOddParentsFairlyOdder'', a live-action/animated SequelSeries to ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents''. It was released on Creator/ParamountPlus on March 31st, 2022.
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16	Unlike many of his contemporaries, Hartman is admittedly one of the few who isn't at all interested in [[AnimationAgeGhetto creating cartoons for adults]], and has often expressed his disappointment in other animators for implying that there is anything wrong with cartoons that are exclusively for children. He even has a pet project ''Noog Network'', an app which hosted exclusively "kid safe" shows. Regardless of one's agreement with him, it is clear that the career path he has chosen suits him.
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18	Hartman has also had a fairly steady career as an actor, both in voices and live-action. In addition to some one-shot characters on [[WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy his friend Seth's show]], he was a regular on ''Series/DaysOfOurLives'' in the late '80s, and starred in the short-lived ''Series/{{Generations}}'' as Sean Masters, as well as a smattering of small roles in late 80s/early 90s comedy films and shows. He was also part of the video reference cast for Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}''.
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20	Hartman has also been a regular web presence in the second half of TheNewTens, with semi-regular videos on [=YouTube=] giving career advice, doing live drawing sessions and interviewing fellow talents he's worked with. He is also producing a WebAnimation series spin-off of the children's [=YouTube=] channel [=HobbyKidsTV=], ''[[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzDMAGLsSlZoqawfhlgRNRfZqo7copzjC HobbyKids Adventures]]''.
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22	Since 2005, Butch and his wife Julieann have been running a Christian non-profit organization called [[https://www.hartmanhouse.org/ourstory Hartman House]], which funds housing for the most poverty-stricken parts of the United States and provides homeless families with dinners during Thanksgiving. Butch has attended many of these events, doing personal drawings and autographs for charity.
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24	And last but not least, he's the {{Trope Namer\|s}} for HartmanHips (although this is a slight misnomer: it's actually Steven Silver who designed many of the characters who are classified as such).
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26	No relation to Creator/PhilHartman, by the way.
27	----
28	!Tropes related to Butch Hartman:
29	* AdamWesting: Not Butch himself, but he and Creator/SethMacFarlane were the {{Trope Codifier}}s in bringing Creator/AdamWest and his [[TropeNamer titular trope]] to animation, first is the ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyBravo'' episode "Johnny Bravo Meets Adam West" and later on their [[WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents individual]] [[WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy shows]] as Mayor West and Catman, respectively.
30	* AuthorAppeal: Absolutely loves superheroes and the comic books they came from, which is visible by how many references he makes to them in his cartoons.
31	* BetterThanABareBulb: The humor in his earlier cartoons is extremely self-aware, with characters frequently acknowledging the absurdity of the situation they're in.
32	* BreakthroughHit: ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' is what sent his career into high gear, starting 20 years of influence on childhoods everywhere.
33	* ContractualObligationProject: Inverted. Rather than being under contract to do another cartoon while he was working on ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'', Hartman willingly pitched his idea for ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' to the execs when he heard they were looking for a boys' action cartoon.
34	* CreativeDifferences: Such issues in ''Danny Phantom'' caused him and his longtime companion, Steve Marmel, to stop working together.
35	* CreatorBacklash:
36	** He doesn't have much nice to say about the SameLanguageDub he wrote for ''[[WesternAnimation/TheMagicRoundabout2005 Doogal]]'', if his answer to [[WebVideo/RebelTaxi Pan Pizza]] is any indication.
37	--->"They hired me to fix that movie, it could not be fixed."
38	** He and most of the staff for ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' have gone on record saying they agree with fans who hated the episode "It's a Wishful Life" that it was needlessly cruel. Hartman eventually got the episode pulled from rotation.
39	** He's very open about his disdain on his role as a storyboard artist for the original ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePony'' series, though he's more than willing to [[SelfDeprecation poke fun at himself]] for being so bad at drawing ponies that he was fired after six weeks.
40	* CreatorCameo: He often lends his voice to minor characters on the shows he created.
41	* CreatorsOddball: Many are surprised to learn of Butch's voice role as the [[CampGay flamboyant]] Mr. Weed in the early episodes of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''; despite his own shows being aimed primarily towards children. He reportedly voiced the character as a favor from his friend Creator/SethMacFarlane.
42	* DeadpanSnarker: He comes across as one in some of his videos.
43	* EndOfAnAge: His departure from Nickelodeon after working there for over 20 years marks the end of his overall style and influence on the channel, [[FranchiseKiller effectively killing off]] ''Fairly [=OddParents=]'' and ''Bunsen is a Beast'' in the process as well as ending any chances of the long-discussed ''Danny Phantom'' revival[[note]]Unless he buys the show back from Nick[[/note]]. It also came at roughly the same time as Creator/DanSchneider, which signaled a similar end for Nick's {{Kid Com}}s.
44	* HeAlsoDid: Provided early concept art for ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot'' during his time at Creator/HannaBarbera.
45	* KidHero: His two most [[WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents successful]] [[WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom shows]] have school-aged boys as the protagonist.
46	** Can also apply to ''WesternAnimation/BunsenIsABeast'' to a lesser extent.
47	* LetsSeeYouDoBetter: Being a borderline workaholic (see RenaissanceMan below), Butch has often been at odds with fans who don't find him very sympathetic to anything less than his level of dedication to their art and not very accepting of their criticisms of him.
48	* MeaningfulName: The name of his production company "Billionfold Inc" comes from the biblical term ''hundredfold''.
49	* MythologyGag: In his speed-drawing video ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52i_r1_ZQuw ADULT CARTOONS as KIDS' CARTOONS]]'', one of the requests was for WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman as a ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'' character. He chuckles halfway through when he mentions that he worked on the original cartoon, though he draws it in the ''Friendship Is Magic'' style.
50	* OddFriendship: With Creator/SethMacFarlane, as the two are close friends in real life, yet have drastically different views in terms of religion, politics, and even their taste in animation.
51	* JustForFun/OneOfUs: A ''very'' major geek when it comes to other franchises outside his own, be they from other cartoons, video games, and even anime. His Twitter account is chock-full of examples of everything he likes drawn in his ''Fairly [=OddParents=]!'' style.
52	* ProductionPosse: Voice actors that have been involved consistently in his cartoons include Creator/GreyDelisle, Creator/RobPaulsen, Creator/TaraStrong, Creator/DaranNorris, Creator/KevinMichaelRichardson, Creator/CarlosAlazraqui, and Creator/JeffBennett.
53	* RageAgainstTheAuthor: Once when he was describing how to create a cartoon character, he was getting doodled on by Cosmo, "WesternAnimation/DuckAmuck" style.
54	* RealMenLoveJesus: As stated before, Butch is a practicing Christian and many of his motivational tweets have vague Christian undertones. This actually got him in a bit of trouble when his crowdfunded app, OAXIS Entertainment, was accused of using dishonest tactics to get fans to fund Christian propaganda for him (Butch's pitch for it, once it had been funded, just happened to be in a church and he later assured founders that this had not been the case).
55	* RenaissanceMan: Outside of animation and his personal life as a husband and father; Butch is also a painter, cartoonist, vlogger, podcast host, web personality, live-action actor, voice actor, occasional composer, scriptwriter/editor, comic book author, philanthropist, creator of the kid-friendly app "The Noog Network", and is currently planning to develop a family streaming network called [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/oaxisentertainment/oaxis-entertainment OAXIS Entertainment]]. It's enough to make people like [[Creator/FrederatorStudios Fred Seibert]] wonder if the man even sleeps at night.
56	* RuleThirtyFourCreatorReactions: Simply put, it's [[BerserkButton not positive]]. He accuses those who draw porn of ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' characters and shippers in general of not being true fans. He even went as far as to accuse a toon porn artist on his forum of [[PaedoHunt attempting to seduce an underage female user]].
57	* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism: Mostly on the idealistic end of the scale, with a generous helping of BlackComedy.
58	* TakeThat:
59	** This passive remark in his [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhIOFyewAh0 Powerpuff Girls 10 Years Later]] video.
60	--->'''Butch:''' Ember is fighting Bubbles, Bubbles is fighting Ember, and what I hear about the new Powerpuff Girls is that the show fights off comedy.
61	** [[https://twitter.com/realhartman/status/954122197462786049 On Twitter, he took a shot at Logan Paul.]] The internet proceeded to respond appropriately.
62	** He also doesn't hide his disdain for amateur artists with non-traditional work ethics. See LetsSeeYouDoBetter
63	* ThatCameOutWrong: In 2018, shortly after leaving Nickelodeon, his crowdfunded app, OAXIS Entertainment, was the subject of a minor scandal when fans and non-fans alike latched onto some tactless comments he made giving a speech about it. In addition to the typical MoralGuardian jargon of too much violence in the media resulting in real-world violence, depression and suicide, and how such things "didn't exist" when he was younger, some unfortunate wording and body language made it sound like he blamed Creator/TaraStrong for Creator/MaryKayBergman's suicide in 1999. He was also accused of deleting any criticisms of him via copyright claims.
64	* TrollingCreator: Hartman repeatedly tends to tease the idea of a ''Danny Phantom'' revival even after he left Nickelodeon. Despite being the creator, he does not have the copyright to the series and even if Nickelodeon decided to do one they're free to not work with him on it.
65	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
66	** At one point, he was in talks to direct a live-action movie of ''Series/{{ALF}}''.
67	** He was offered to be a storyboard writer for ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'', but declined when ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' became successful enough to become a full series.
68	** According to art by Stephen Silver, Butch Hartman attempted another superhero cartoon after ''Danny Phantom'' called "Triple Threat", which detailed a family of African American superheroes.
69	** For a time, he was planning to make an {{Animesque}} series called ''Elf Detective'', which was meant to be a more serious series compared to his previous works. However, the OAXIS kickstarter happened and work on ''Elf Detective'' was cancelled since it wouldn't fit the more family friendly tone of the platform.
70	** He pitched an action-comedy series to ''Cartoon Network'' called ''Dyna Mice''. The network executives were only willing to pick it up [[ExecutiveMeddling if it were a comedy only series]]. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJzTSD-I-RQ The pilot]] that was produced didn't exactly win people over.

Context Creator / ButchHartman