#looking at you butch hartman

[comedi-anne]

hi I just wanted to stop by and say that ur clownsona is absolutely adorable but also I love the aesthetic + the colors

also completely normal question, but if I ate them what would they taste like bc they're giving me black licorice vibes but maybe I'm just uncreative since it's the colors that make me think that sjjsjs (also I mean that as a good thing! it's one of my favorite candies)

Oh my! I love completely normal questions! Thank you, dear @pip-n-chips

I actually based my clownsona off the Perriot breed of clowns. They're a mainly black and white caricature with hints of red. (Tho I did add a few more colors) I used to have a real struggle with color in my art (too many of them, too saturated, etc.), so I tried to give myself some limitations in hopes the outfit would look better than the normal things I make.

Back to your query, hmmmm… what would they taste like? A sona is a bit like its creator, so I wonder if I would taste like black liquorice. If I had a boyfriend I would ask, but alas I am single.

Honestly, I think they'd be like one of those multilayered jawbreakers that you suck on and each layer is a different flavor. So maybe one of those layers is black licorice, yes! <3

Thank you for your compliments and also attention! <3 Uwu!

Please devour my Clownsona.

[thetimelordbatgirl]

Maybe its just me, but maybe its eye-brow raising people in wake of Quiet On Set, are trying to act like Butch Hartman shouldn't be put on Nick's shitty creator's list just because he isn't a predator/creep. Like, well done to him for the bare fucking minimum in not being wtf around kids??? But he literally ended up on those lists because he scammed people for a streaming service that people were led to believe would be just for new animation but in reality Butch had intended for it to be apart of pushing religion onto people...only to fail as he delivered a very breakable website that was quickly deleted and we've heard nothing since on it, let alone for what he's said about stuff like depression and is also an art thief and is literally apart of a church that believes everything can be cured by simply praying, including autism.

[lacystar]

woke up from nap-- absolutely horrific dream

basically I was on a Disney cruise and Disney had bought the rights to dream smp and one of the events on the port side of the deck one night was a sapnap cosplayer in character qna (with a bad costume) and when I watched it get introduced the horror just plummeted in my stomach and fsr I was the only one on board with wifi so I immediately pulled out my phone and started taking pictures and posting them on Tumblr about the horrors I was witnessing. I then essentially became a messenger for Tumblr to the boat and from the port side to the starboard side for those who were "in the know" and I ended up hosting this live debate about whether or not it would have been worse if Taylor swift had come for a qna or if it was this. basically all the Tumblr girlies and a few people on the boat myself included were all horrified that this was happening on a Disney line, it was like having ur panty drawer raided and aired out on a boat for entertainment. and the worst part was I could hear my mom cheering the loudest bc she knows I like the dream smp and she was excited on my behalf and she was trying to text me to tell me to come see and I was just ignoring her texts like a horrible daughter because of all the secondhand embarrassment 😭

[steakout-05]

don't mind me i'm just barryposting... i really like the guy :)

+ additional sketches under the cut

[omegasmileyface]

i love it when ppl point out that a common phic trope doesnt line up with dp canon. like yeah. when has ANYTHING in a phic ever aligned with whats on the show

[draguar144]

Daniel.

[bumbleblurr]

Wait a minute were they really making merchandise of bee when everybody thought he was dead. Or were they already making merch of him during a war

[tortademaracuya]

I'm the first one to say cringe is dead, but if anyone irl actually hears me say or looks at what I want to work as I might actually just die from embarrasment

[shoechoe]

I remember one time I was attempting to talk about celebrities with other people but I kept saying "swift taylor" and it took me a solid minute to realize that I was flipping the name around. If you ever wanted to know my knowledge on celebrities, there you go

[halfagone]

Is it Canon or Fanon?

A little over a week ago, I received a very thought-provoking ask that wondered whether the Fenton parents could be considered good parents after everything they've done throughout the show. I did leave a response to that ask, and you can find the original answer here. But even afterwards, it had me thinking:

Why did we start depicting Jack and Maddie as Bad Parents to begin with?

I aim to answer this question through canon evidence to see where this argument might have come from. Now, something to keep in mind is that we still tend to ignore canon a lot of the time, so there may be some people who won't take this meta to mean all that much anyways. But for the purpose of fanfiction, we have to acknowledge that there needs to be an in-universe explanation to these events and sadly, the 'it's a Butch Hartman show' or 'it's an early 2000s cartoon' excuses don't really cut it.

So let's start with some basic stats. There are 49 episodes to the Danny Phantom cartoon (we will not be using the Graphic Novel, A Glitch in Time, for examples); 20 for the first season, 17 for the second, and 12 for the third. If you looked this up on Google, you might notice that these numbers don't line up with the episode list provided. This is because I counted any two-part episodes as one for convenience's sake. Season 2 has three two-parters: "Reign Storm", "The Ultimate Enemy", and "Reality Trip". Season 3 has "Phantom Planet".

Jack appears for 43 of those episodes, although he does not have any speaking lines in the episode, "Frightmare". Maddie, on the other hand, appears in 40 episodes. The three episodes that Maddie does not appear in, but Jack does, are as follows: "Memory Blank", "Flirting With Disaster", and "Double Cross My Heart".

Let's Start with Season 1:

"Mystery Meat": Jack is shown as dismissive to Danny and his friends' preferences, telling them, "True, I've never seen a ghost, but when I do, I'll be prepared. And so will you, whether you want to be or not." Later on, when Sam and Tucker are visibly shaking and Danny is panting from exhaustion, he doesn't realize something is off about this. When Jazz offers to drive Danny to school, the Fenton parents quickly assume that she's a ghost and go off to track them down... even despite her previous argument that she was mentally an adult (should I be concerned that Jazz called Danny an 'abused, unwanted wretch' to make a point to their parents?) A POINT TO MADDIE, she worried about hurting Jazz if she really wasn't a ghost but Jack quickly dismisses that, as their ghost-hunting device only hurts when gets into human hair (spoiler alert, it gets into Jazz's hair). She also insists that Danny is not a ghost, but unfortunately she ultimately doesn't try to stop Jack when he insist Jazz is a ghost. Standing aside and letting abuse play out does not mean Maddie is innocent of hurting her daughter too.

"Fanning the Flames": When Jazz and Danny are struggling to study for an upcoming test, Jack decides that they should put their kids into the 'Fenton Stockades' which is basically an iron maiden. And yes, the Fentons have an entire floor that is meant to torture people. I feel like that should probably be addressed at some point. A POINT TO MADDIE, she stood her ground and refused to let him put their children inside, and even locks him inside instead.

"Teacher of the Year": After hearing displeasing news about the state of Danny's grades in a parent-teacher conference, Maddie lectures Danny by saying, "Get this straight Danny. You're a Fenton. Fentons get As. Or in your father's case, B minuses." Before this, when Danny tried to explain himself, Jack shuts him up with, "Now that's enough of your sass talk mister." Do a lot of parents act like this? Yes. Does that make this a good, conductive way to help your child improve their grades? No, it does not. In fact, Maddie's response in particular probably reinforces the idea that Danny doesn't fit in with the rest of his family and further proves that Jazz is the favorite child. Not a great parenting moment.

"Fright Knight": In this episode, Jack tells Danny, "If I didn't consider it a sign of weakness, I'd weep with joy!" Not a very promising sign when a parent tells their child that it's wrong to show emotion. It's especially telling, however, when it's crying from joy and not even sadness. Yikes.

"13": This is the episode where Jazz 'dates' Johnny briefly, and we see Danny stalking them on their dates. I've seen people give Danny a decent amount of flack for that as well, so this would be a good time to say that the Fenton parents were there too and even encouraged him to keep stalking his sister. Danny was wrong to ignore Jazz's privacy like that, but he definitely learned it somewhere.

"Public Enemies": Here we see more of the Fenton parents' aggression towards ghosts. We get a line from Jack: "I'm gonna tear that ghost kid apart into a million different-" Notice something here? He recognizes that Phantom is a ghost 'kid' and yet still fully intends to shoot at him with the intent to hurt if not straight-up kill him. The only time Maddie disagrees with him is to insist that she does the dirty work because she has better aim than him. These are not the type of people you should let children stay with.

"Maternal Instincts": Okay, I gotta say it, this is a really cute episode. We get to see Maddie reminiscing over how close she and Danny used to be and wishing they had that bond again. Unfortunately she does get some points docked off for deciding what they should do as a bonding activity instesd of asking what Danny wanted to do and maybe learning more about his interests and who he is as a person now that he's a teenager. But there is this really sweet moment where Maddie tells Danny 'I love you' at the campsite which absolutely melted my heart and then later on when she saves Danny from the ghosts, Danny tells her she's awesome and gives her a hug. So sweet. But then she kinda ruins it by asking her son to act as a distraction and- Please do not ask your teenage children to keep skeevy old guys 'entertained' when you know he's a creep. A POINT TO JACK, while all this is going on he's defending his daughter and even shouts, "Back off, she's a minor!" That's some Dr. Doofenshmirtz energy right there, I respect it. He also talks about making Jazz an action figure, which was a really cute moment amidst the chaos.

"The Million Dollar Ghost": This episode is filled with some great Danny-Jack bonding moments and goes to show how much Danny cares about his father that he's willing to get caught to make Jack feel better about himself. We also get to see how much Jack cares about how Danny views him and he wants to be someone in Danny's eyes. Unfortunately, this is the episode where Danny gets lectured for not doing all his lab chores, such as cleaning the beakers and changing the ecto-filtrator- despite knowing that the portal could blow up if they don't change in time and knowing that Danny is bad at cleaning his own room. And we literally get a scene where Jack knocks something over and tells Danny to clean it up because he was too busy running around to do it himself. Is it important to give children chores? Yes, it teaches them responsibility. You should not be asking them to deal with hazardous, dangerous chemicals that can literally cause an explosion capable of killing people. Something to keep in mind.

Now let's look at Season 2:

"Doctor's Disorders": In this lovely (sarcasm) episode, we have Jack saying to Danny's face: "Poor Jazz. She's always been my favorite." I don't feel like this one needs much more explanation for how horrible this is. Also, this isn't really too relevant to the bad-parent-thing and more to the "they wouldn't take Danny's reveal well under other circumstances" thing, because Maddie literally says to Tucker: "Everybody knows humans can't have ghost powers." Which would technically, probably, dehumanize Danny in their eyes.

"Identity Crisis": There's one line in particular in this episode I wanted to point out, which is from Jack where he says, "Safety features? Why, safety features are for punks." ...I know this is probably supposed to be a joke, but when you think about it, it's even worse than you might think. In fanon we do tend to stress how forgetful the Fentons are when it comes to lab safety, but it's one thing to forget and it's a whole other thing to purposefully dismiss it. I could even argue that we're doing the Fentons a service by characterizing them as simply forgetful.

"The Fenton Menace": This is one of the episodes I referenced in the original ask as well, for its... plethora of concerning material. There are lines such as, "Whether it's air land or sea I won't stop until we capture a ghost and tear it apart. Molecule by molecule." A POINT TO MADDIE, she told her family she loved them by saying, "Nothing like spending quality family time with the people you love." However she immediately loses those points when she and Jack attempt to 'spin the crazy' out of Danny. The episode transcript reveals Danny's reaction to this, which is described by, "Danny screaming, his face and hair flying around. Zoom out to show him strapped to a table, which is attached to a metal arm. Zoom out to show the metal arm connected to a centrifuge-like device on the ceiling." As well as, "Danny is shaking, hair sticking up with bags under his eyes." Is this supposed to be a joke? I wouldn't know because quite frankly, I'm not laughing.

"The Fright Before Christmas": So in this episode we learn why Danny hates Christmas! Which is because he got peed on by a dog. As a baby. What kind of parent lets their baby get peed on by a dog? Again, child neglect is a criminally punishable offense, and if they had left him out, in the cold, with dog piss on him, we could have had a lot bigger problems here. They also ignore both their children for most of this episode due to their arguing, although they go back later on and tell Danny that he shouldn't be alone for Christmas and where was all this concern before?

"Secret Weapons": Ah... This is the episode where it happens. Here we get the infamous interaction. Please note how a ghost is referred to as an 'it'. Not a person, not even a kid. But an 'it' that can feel pain that will go ignored.

Jazz: "Does it hurt the ghost?" Maddie: [laughs] "Oh, Jazz! You know your father and I don't care about that. Jack: "Yeah! If we hear it scream, then we know it's working."

"Micro-Management": At the very end of this episode, Jack makes a comment to Danny, "I'm so proud. Our boy finally has the physical prowess of a 60 year old president. Here's to you son." Clearly it's meant to be a compliment, but I don't know about you guys, but I wouldn't take this as a compliment.

"Masters of All Time": This one takes a more distressing turn, because after Maddie catches Danny for snooping around, she has his strapped down to a table and fires a laser at him to interrogate him, thinking he's a ghost (though the laser doesn't hit him, just threatens him, which... isn't much better). And this is after he's already insisted that he's her son. He is still very clearly a child, and even if she doesn't believe that he's her son (for admittedly understandable reasons, people usually remember when they bear children), the fact that she strapped him to a table at all does not look favorably on her. Especially when he very clearly believed that she was his mother, and he was her son. And she still did this to him. Yes, there were time shenanigans involved, but that doesn't make this any easier on Danny just because he knows the truth.

"Reality Trip": This episode showcases that the Fenton parents can actually be decent parents. While they have a hard time believing the truth at first, they do eventually accept it. However, it is still important to remember that Danny could have never known what their reaction would be, so his fear is understandable and rooted in real concern for his life. Here are some of the best points from this transcript:

Jack: "Imagine, our own son has had ghost powers all this time and has kept them a secret from us. [confused] But we love him! [turning to Maddie] I wonder why he didn't trust us enough to tell us." Jazz: "[sarcastically] Hmm, let me guess. [mimicking Jack] "Hey, Maddie, let's destroy the ghost!" [mimicking Maddie] "No, Jack, let's dissect the ghost." [mimicking Jack again] "I know, let's catch the ghost and rip it apart molecule by molecule!" [normal voice, sarcastic again] You guys are so understanding." [Jack and Maddie drop their gazes, ashamed.]

Moving onto Season 3:

"Eye for an Eye": This is more a passing mention, but Jack seems to be a little obsessed with the GIW and huge fans of their work, and you do see it some more in "Livin' Large" later on in the season as well.

"Girls' Night Out": We see Jack trying to make an effort with Danny in this episode again. I did point out in the original ask reply that Jack was obviously trying to be a good father for Danny, which definitely deserves some points. However, it is still important to point out how generally uninterested Danny was in the bonding activity. It goes back to how Maddie ignored the chance to give Danny a choice, and how dismissive they tend to be towards him. I still want to award Jack a point for looking for advice from 'Father/Son Relationships For Stupids!' but I do so half-heartedly. Their interactions in this episode definitely reek with discomfort, but considering everything that has gone down in between now and "The Million Dollar Ghost", that does make sense.

"Torrent of Terror": This is another instance of extreme lack of safety precautions- the airbags don't deploy? In the GAV??? Somewhere out there, OSHA is crying.

"Forever Phantom": Maddie and Jack show a lot of anti-Phantom rhetoric in this episode. So this tracks how uncomfortable and/or threatened Danny might feel at home. Some examples include:

Jack: "He keeps this up he's liable to make people forget he's nothing but a putrid rancid ball of self-aware protoplasm."

Maddie: "Don't be fooled sweetie. He's up to something. Remember that time he attacked the mayor? Or stole everyone's Christmas presents? Once a filthy ghost always a filthy ghost."

"Livin' Large": Something to remember, the GIW intend to fire a missile into the Ghost Zone after gaining access to the Fentons' portal. While they didn't have the password right away, it cannot be understated that the Fentons basically gave away their house in exchange for wealth. Thankfully the missile was just a fake and not a real weapon of mass destruction, but do not mistake this to mean that- had it been real- the GIW wouldn't have gone through with it. And the Fenton parents would have been just as responsible.

And that concludes our canon research for this argument! Let's wrap things up with some stats. Of the 49 episodes in the show, we have evidence in 21 episodes. That is roughly 43% of the show, and this does not include comments that Danny has made about his parents and how they treat him. Obviously, at the end of the day, human error is possible. There is always a chance that I could have missed another piece of information, or perhaps another thoughtful addition to this list. However, 43% is no laughing matter.

Yes, the Fenton parents had their shining moments, but with all the other evidence presented that overshadows those little gems, can you confidently say that they are good parents? And most of all, if you were in Danny's shoes, would you say the same thing?

It's easy to excuse this as a cartoon. When you're writing in this world, playing with these characters, that excuse instantly evaporates.

Thank you for reading, I hope you all learned something about the Fenton parents like I did.

[mauesartetc]

Alright I know next to nothing about this show, but... I- I just... How does this happen.

Do other characters make fun of this poor dog's mouth like they made fun of Crocker's neck-ear in The Fairly Oddparents? Like why is it placed there. Who signed off on this.

I get that it's a Butch Hartman staple to place characters' mouths on the sides of their faces, but on a character with this face shape, it just looks super odd and uncanny. The mouth looks tacked on rather than connected to the face in any way that makes anatomical sense. In these screenshots, it looks like someone just placed a red leaf sticker under her eye and she actually has no mouth (but she must scream).

I think part of what happened here is that someone told the designer that this character needed to look feminine, and tiny mouths are feminine. Screw anatomical consistency; this is a girl dog that the male lead develops a crush on because girl. What more information could you possibly need? (I actually haven't seen this episode and Becky may or may not have personality traits outside of being the token chick, but I haven't found much more info other than her occupation).

Here's how it would look if her mouth were more believably centered on the face:

Or perhaps bigger if they wanted to fill up that empty space:

Or somewhere in between-?

Like there are so many better options than what they went with.

I can't completely blame the designer as I'm sure they were just trying to work within the absurd requests handed to them. No, I blame whoever was supervising them. The person who insisted on this mouth placement, the person who approved it, the person who was somehow convinced that this looked okay.

Not sure what else to say about it, other than I'm stunned that this aired on national TV. This show was on Nickelodeon. Incredible. But on the plus side, if you're ever feeling bad about your character design skills, this image will probably make you feel a million times better.

[picturejasper20]

Now had bad was DP’s production? what was he doing?

Based on John Fountain's wording and Steve Marmel's, Marmel today talked on twitter about how he wanted the series to be more serialized and become darker in tone overtime but it seems like this wasn't the direction that Butch Hartman wanted to take for Danny Phantom.

¨I’d have done what Marmel wanted and made it darker and given it a continuity. I’d have also used Steve Silver’s original designs, upped the stakes, made the action more intense and abandoned the clunky timing Butch always insisted on.¨ from John Fountain.

This was a response to a question ¨How would you directed Danny Phantom since Butch Hatman doesn't get his own shows?¨

Steve Marmel wanted the Danny and Valerie story to have more episodes/last longer. I wonder if this means that Valerie would have had more episodes after Flirting With Disaster or in Season 3, where she only has one episode that leaves with the cliffhanger of her learning about Vlad Masters' ghost identity, one of the biggest plots in the show and a huge change in status quo.

Another factors that apparently lead to Valerie not showing up much as she should have had to do with the series having to be episodic back then, forcing it to not change the status quo much. So it wasn't only Hartman being a limitation, it was a network limitation as well from what i understand.

However, one thing that raises many questions is why there was a sudden change in the main writers room for Season 3. Steve Marmel only wrote one episode in there (Eye for an Eye), and Sib Ventress wrote two episodes (Eye for an Eye and Torrent of Terror). The rest of the episodes were written by Butch Hartman himself and the new writers.

Why this sudden change of writers? Well, this is based on speculation but if one reads in between the lines, it wouldn't be out of place to say that there was clashing between Marmel, the writer team and Butch in the directions they wanted the series to take.

Hartman probably didn't like that Marmel and the others didn't agree with his vision so he looked for a new team of writers that could do what he wanted and with him having full control of the writing of some episodes.

The issue is that creators of animated shows more often than not let other people be in charge of writing the episodes of their show because they are busy checking everything else in the production. So i believe that Hartman trying to write the episodes on his own made things worse since he had to do multiple jobs at once now, messing up with the production.

In result we have the mess of Season 3 that is now, with lack of almost any proper continuation, half baked ideas, inconsistent characterization (Danny acting like he was on Season 1, Vlad changing goals every episode) and the clusterfuck of finale that is Phantom Planet.

As John Fountain said it Butch Hartman is Danny Phantom's ¨best villian¨, or in this case its worst enemy.

[storm-driver]

hi, i have feelings about cartoon nostalgia and the audience perception of them 20 years on

this is gonna read hyper-specific, but bear with me

i refuse to credit butch hartman for the way danny phantom came out during it's first two seasons, at least outside of the initial pitch and the idea of the protagonist having white hair. i know the majority of enthusiasts for this show are more than aware of hartman's antics at this point. these anctics, i won't get into. other people are far more suited to explain that stuff vs me, a random guy on the internet. but there's very specific topics that i don't often see get brought up in detail, like the production and staff behind this show.

i'll get into it below the cut so as not to clutter your dashboard. but if you're not familiar with the actual production history of danny phantom, this might be interesting to read.

it's common knowledge these days that stephen silver is the one who developed the design for danny based on hartman's original rough sketches. the similarity between each drawing is apparent, but you can see clear as day which design was gonna be more apt for animation and overall audience allure back in 2003.

he also did character designs for hartman's other poster child, Fairly Oddparents. the trend is similar, though far from a huge concern. character design overhauls happen all the time in media production. designs might be too complicated for animation, so they get stripped down. or maybe things aren't complex enough and more nuance needs to be added. that's normal stuff, and i am not dunking on hartman for not nailing danny's design right out the gate. i'm pointing this out in case you've ever looked at butch hartman's recent work and wondered "how are these done by the same artist?"

the answer is they weren't. hartman had to adapt to stephen silver's conceptual designs in order to work on the storyboards. take from that what you will.

onto the actual writing.

butch barely wrote a single episode for this show's first two seasons.

steve marmel helped write at least 28 episodes of the original two seasons, with writers like sib ventress and marty isenberg bringing a good amount of episodes to the table, as well.

butch hartman is credited primarily for directing and storyboarding this show. the episode pitch and writing was by other people almost entirely. the ONLY episodes in the first two seasons that hartman is credited with having written are mystery meat, one of a kind and splitting images. and he's credited with co-writing these episodes alongside steve marmel and mark banker. ie, he did not write these episodes on his own. and allegedly, butch hartman had a tendency to be credited as a writer for an episode, even if he only wrote a few lines of dialogue. again, take from that what you will.

past that in season 3, he wrote infinite realms, torrent of terror, forever phantom, urban jungle, and ofc, phantom planet. which a lot of people know, these episodes in particular weren't the most enjoyable, nor was the overall direction of them very good.

a director's job is to make sure that the overall tone, feel, and message of the show is being kept consistent with intent. that means meeting with producers, who are the ones managing the, y'know, producing part of the whole project. it may sound like the director is the one heading the project if it's their job to keep things in check. which, i will not deny, hartman must've put in a good deal of work to make the show come out as well as it did.

but pile that with some of the off things per episode. the mean-spirited way that characters tend to be taught lessons, the voice direction getting a drastic change in season 3 (you can hear it explicitly with david kaufman suddenly going for higher pitches instead of the usual one he's done so far). there's really only one consistent motif in the entire show's OST. which isn't a bash against the music producer. it's a concern that the director of the show never asked him to change things up, and ONLY stuck to this one motif.

to briefly touch on the mean-spirited thing. there's multiple instances in the show where danny or someone else is seen fighting back against whatever has given them trouble, or they're taking matters into their own hands to ensure they won't be hurt ahead of time. and repeatedly, the show likes to kick these characters back down for trying to stand up. it's a trend in all of butch hartman's shows, and it's treated more like comedy than anything else. it's up to audience perception on how to view it. but for me personally, it starts to feel like an overused gag and turns into something more malevolent after seeing it overused almost every single episode.

okay besides that, i actually wanna look at specific examples of episodes that steve marmel wrote for. again, this is the guy who's more or less responsible for the show's serialization.

the complete list of episodes is as follows:

Mystery Meat, Parental Bonding, One of a Kind, Attack of the Killer Garage Sale, Splitting Images, What You Want, Bitter Reunions, Prisoners of Love, My Brother's Keeper, Shades of Gray, Fanning the Flames, Teacher of the Year, Fright Night, 13(Thirteen), Public Enemies, Memory Blank, Reign Storm, The Ultimate Enemy, The Fright Before Christmas, Secret Weapons, Flirting with Disaster, Micro Management , Kindred Spirits, and Reality Trip.

multiple episodes listed here are from the first season, which a lot of people consider the show's best. and of the handful listed for season 2, he wrote all of the hour-long specials.

i would be here for hours talking about how steve marmel tackles all of these characters and concepts significantly better than hartman does in season 3. but that's a topic best praised elsewhere. point is, if you watched any of these episodes and thought to yourself "wow, that was actually kinda clever," steve marmel is more or less the guy responsible.

butch hartman was in charge of direction, but that does not give him exclusive credit for every single line of dialogue or plot beat. there could be a LOT we just don't know because people on production staff don't want to comment. but the writing consistency taking a dive off the board by season 3, which is the same season that steve marmel departed from the project due to conflicting direction in the story? you might deduce that butch hartman was not the prized writer and artist behind this otherwise beloved cartoon.

to dredge up an easier-to-tackle target, season 3.

my criticisms are 18-year old echoes at this point, you've heard them all. from otherwise pointless episodes that don't develop the characters or world, to completely out-of-touch writing (looking at you, phantom planet) that juxtaposes the characters with everything we've been told about them so far. it became a slog of a season that didn't have any build-up to it's finale. the occasional gem of an episode like frightmare helped in some aspects. or the promise for something later with d-stabilized. but it all gets swept under the rug thanks to a rushed finale with poor build-up, bad writing direction for the characters, and most importantly, an unlasting effect on the viewer. (or a negative lasting effect, which is arguably worse)

for a season that knew it was on its last leg before inevitably needing to give up, there's seldom few episodes dedicated to advancing an overall narrative, and thus give a slimmer of hope for a satisfying conclusion. instead, the show goes all in with villain-of-the-week stories, and even the returning villains are hardly taken seriously or given more to do besides just being there.

of course, we know the reason steve marmel had left the project was because hartman wanted the show not to taken a more story-focused drive. it almost starts to feel like spite that kept the show so horribly grounded, letting it become stagnant before eventually being forgettable.

all this is in service of letting people know, it really wasn't butch hartman that made the show, not alone. death of the author and all that nonsense aside, he pitched the concept. and it takes a lot of love and dedication to make a concept something you can physically see and adore. don't let him swath in all the credit. recognize the others who made the work you can still enjoy.

[sidetable-drawer]

Hey just an FYI that Butch Hartman will still be on board the Fairly Oddparents reboot, A New Wish, as an executive producer.

I don't care if you think the reboot looks good or bad. Don't give Hartman any of your support. If you NEED to watch it, pirate it. This means don't give it any views on Paramount+ OR Nickelodeon. Don't go out of your way to officially hatewatch OR support it. The man is a piece of shit.

[roshambo05]

So the image compressed in a weird wayy apparently and the halftones look kinda weird. Eh. It is what it is.

Anyways, here's my next pride month drawing. I know I said I'd be doing canonically queer characters, but I saw the chance to spit in Butch Hartman's tea and I had to take it.

Here's the speedpaint

[thowawayuntilfurthernotice]

"Like c’mon man, I can’t draw for shit and even I know that Viv’s art style is over complicated."

I think you're confusing "art style" with "character design". The art-style isn't too dissimilar to the kind of style you'd see in a Butch Hartman cartoon, with a slightly more angular look. Viv's issue is that there's too many details on her characters, which I'd say is more of a flaw of the character design rather than the art style specifically. Someone could draw the characters in their own art style and that wouldn't change the fact the character designs are over-complicated for animation.

I don't like Butch Hartman, he's a piece of shit. But I'm not gonna sit here and pretend like Viv's art style is on par with the stuff you see in Hartman shows.

Even Bunsen is a Beast (Which is easily the ugliest looking cartoon Hartman has worked on.) didn't have an animation unfriendly art style like Viv's shows do.

For fuck's sake, Viv's shows don't even have decent character sheets!

Compare the Danny Phantom model sheet to the model sheets you'd find on Helluva Boss.

Character turnarounds sheets help the animators stay on model when it comes to different positions and angles.

Most of the Helluva Boss model sheets I've found consist of the characters standing still. So it's no wonder why the characters constantly keep looking "off" in each episode, it's because the animators don't have a decent character sheet to use as reference.

Add in the fact that they're working with an over complicated art style, and it doesn't take to genius to figure out why so many people end up quitting when it comes to working on this show.