The first thing we think of when we hear the name “Butch Hartman” is the theme song from the Nickelodeon show “The Fairly OddParents.” Doesn’t it sound familiar? And, if you ask me, a nostalgic one! I don’t think there’s a single person in this room who didn’t watch this show on Nickelodeon when they were kids. This is one of the most popular shows, and after Spongebob SquarePants, it is the second best series.
So, it’s pretty safe to say that people who have never heard of or watched this show (which is rare) are probably living under a rock. Hartman did more than just write this great series, though. As he also made the popular Nicktoons shows Danny Phantom, Bunsen Is a Beast, and T.U.F.F. Puppy. Because of how popular he became because of these shows, this man is now considered to be one of the most creative animators in Hollywood.
Even though he is known for his creativity, he is also involved in a lot of controversies. That made us sometimes doubt his creative skills and wonder if he was worth the potential. Are you aware of the Butch Hartman scandal?
We’re back with the latest news about everything you might want to know about the animator in question.
Background
- Elmer Earl Hartman IV is the real name of Butch Hartman.
- He was born in the United States, in the city of Highland Park, on January 10, 1965.
- He grew up with his three brothers. Keith, Mike, and Timothy Hartman, to be exact.
- “Butch” was actually a name he was called as a child.
- Later, he decided to go by that nickname in the business world.
- He went to school at New Baltimore’s Anchor Bay High School and got his basic education there.
- After he finished high school in 1983, he went to Valencia, California, to study at the California Institute of the Arts.
Early Work
Early on in his career, he did an internship at the same school and worked as an animator on Don Bluth’s 1986 movie, An American Tail.
He got his first job as an artist and character designer for the movie My Little Pony right after he graduated.
But because he had never written a screenplay before, he couldn’t do his job.
After that, he went to work for Ruby-Spears, where he helped make animated shows like Dink, the Little Dinosaur, and It’s Punky Brewster.
Besides that, he worked on the Pocahontas movie as a member of the video reference team.
In the early 1990s, he also worked as an animator for Hanna-Barbera.
Because of this, he was able to make Chip, Pfish, and Gramps for the animated movie What a Comic.
Besides writing and directing other Cartoon Network shows, he also wrote them. Like “I Am Weasel,” “Johnny Bravo,” and “Dexter’s Laboratory,” among others.
After he left the animation company, he went to work for Nickelodeon and made a show called “Oh Yes! Cartoons.”
Breakthrough in his Career
Butch is a well-known American animator, director, producer, writer, and voice actor.
He is thought to have a net worth of $50 Million USD.
The Fairly OddParents, Danny Phantom, T.U.F.F. Puppy, and Bunsen Is a Beast are all Nickelodeon shows that are known for his work.
He was also an executive producer on the Nickelodeon show The Fairly OddParents for its entire 16-year run. Also, he got his biggest break with that series.
Hartman also owns Billionfold Inc., a company that makes movies.
He makes his own shows with his production company, more or less.
She has also done voice work for “Family Guy” and “Generations,” two animated shows.
In 2017, he also set up a YouTube podcast called Bulle, where he talks about movies, cartoons, and other pop culture things.
Everything You Need to Know About the Butch Hartman Controversy!
Even so, Hartman is definitely a talented writer who has had a lot of success over the years. Butch Hartman was also involved in a number of controversies during those years, which is something we can’t deny.
Controversy Scandal
After working for Nickelodeon for 20 years, Butch decided to leave to follow his own dreams. Because of this, the Nickelodeon show “Bunson is a Best” ended before its time. The said dream was to start his own streaming service called The Oaxis Network that would offer family-friendly entertainment. Which, at first glance, seems like a great idea. I mean, everyone should be able to live their life the way they want. Right?
But, to be honest, this situation was not at all like that. Considering that this is where everything went wrong in the first place. Butch thought it would be a good idea to use his name to raise money for his streaming service, which was a stupid thing to do. And it’s clear that he did. He got a total of $268,000 in donations to fund Oaxis, which was more than his original goal of $250,000.
After the fundraising campaign was a huge success, he also talked about his (somewhat religious) plans for his channel:
“We’ll save families and talk to them in stories. To reach nonreligious people, my stuff has to be cool.”
The donors didn’t like his ideas, which was a shame. Seeing that most of them didn’t believe in God, he thought he was fooling him. Also, the Oaxis Network kept putting off its launch, even though they said many times that they were “almost ready.” After that, they made it sound like the whole plan was a scam.
So, all of these things pretty much led to the Oaxis controversy, which hasn’t gone away yet.
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Controversy over plagiarism:
One of the scandals he’s been in lately is plagiarism. Yes! In February 2021, Butch Hartman was again at the centre of a big fuss. Hartmer was asked to draw Mikasa Ackerman from the anime show “Attack on Titan.” However, it seems that he copied fan art from a Japanese artist on Twitter with more than 35,000 followers who goes by the name @028ton.
Since 2016, the account has been in use. Fans told the original artist about the theft and how Butch stole his work and passed it off as his own. To which he replied the next day through a tweet that they:
I looked at the tweets and found that many of them were about my work.
They also said that Hartman isn’t allowed to use the art.
At this rate, it won’t surprise us if we hear more news like this about him.
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