Lately, I've been thinking about the works of a certain individual. Someone whose presence was prominent during the last decade, and even now he's still the talk among town. Today I want to talk about a squinty-eyed cartoonist by the name of Elmer Earl Butch Hartman IV. For those who aren't familiar with Butch Hartman (though who isn't at this point), he's had a prominent career in the animation industry for 3 decades. But what he's best known for is his own TV shows on Nickelodeon, such as 'Fairly Odd Parents', 'Danny Phantom', 'TUFF Puppy' and more recently 'Bunsen is a Beast'. Anyone who was a child in the 2000s would probably have seen one of his shows at one point and chances are you might have enjoyed them. Some of you might find it hard to believe, but I always had a fondness for his body of work. Butch would take any concept and do wonders with it. He would mix up the subject matter with his own distinctive drawing style and brand of gag-related humour. Whether you liked his shows or not, you cannot deny that he had made a name for himself. Like Dan Schneider, he even had his own production studio. His shows weren't meant to be totally thought-provoking or complex, you came for them because they were fun. I certainly followed and respected the man.
However, there are aspects of him that I cannot get by. Whether it's his interest in gratuitous action, how he depicts women as nags or men as morons and the fact that he ran his most well-known creation Fairly Odd Parents to the ground. Even nowadays, he has a tendency to appear hip to the young crowd on social media sites. Even I can admit that his work has become played out since he became more mainstream, that even the most die-hard of fans are noticing these shortcomings. It got to the point where I questioned if he was ever even talented in the first place, that the reason why his projects worked before is because of the team who helped him. Let's not forget his recent agenda to start his own streaming service 'Oaxis Entertainment', which he claims to show "family-friendly" content and stand for Christian and wholesome values. I don't have any moral objection to that, but what he did to get the funds was sneaky and underhanded. As of now, this streaming service is still going through the maintenance stage.
However, it's not just his creative output that's become questionable, but his behaviour as well. Not on the same level as others, but still. In recent years, I've noticed that Butch refuses to listen to people's criticism. He believes just because he's been the industry that means he's above anyone who isn't a professional. The man really has a swelled head, as he has also berated people who are also introverted. And to top it all of, he had the audacity to blame Tara Strong for the demise of the former voice of Timmy Turner, Mary Kay Bergman. When it comes to Fairly Odd Parents, he and the executives at Nick seemed to have thought as long as people were still watching it; they can still milk every last drop of it regardless of how it comes out. Even though, the show had run its course. Now I've never been in charge of a long-running series, so I'm not one to judge; I also don't want to disrespect the production crew who ever worked on the last season. If Butch had any once of integrity than I would have had more respect for him, but he let his inflated ego get the better of him.
Butch, maybe watching your shows was fun while it lasted, but for now, I'm through with you. I can tolerate your less savoury quirks but I've come to accept that you have this idiosyncrasy that you don't work on. The bigger you became, the harder you’ve fallen from grace. Throughout my teen years, I've seen people who taught me either let me down or have their lives tragically cut short. Your instances is one cautionary tale that you could have amended, but you choose not to. Now that I've come to see the bigger picture, I'm so totally done with you for a while. Maybe you might win me back someday, but you got to accept that you don't have the magic touch to make this go away.
