- This page is for Danny Phantom (series), the series. For other uses, see Danny Phantom (disambiguation).
Danny Phantom is an American animated television show created by Butch Hartman for Nickelodeon, produced by Billionfold Studios. It originally ran from April 3, 2004 to August 24, 2007. The show is about Danny Fenton, a teenage boy who gained ghost powers through an accident in his parents' lab, who takes on the alter ego of Danny Phantom to save his town and the world from ghost attacks, all while struggling through school and his teenage life. It is distributed outside the United States by the Canadian animation company, Nelvana, the same as The Fairly OddParents (also created by Hartman).
Plot
Danny Phantom centers on the life and adventures of 14-year-old Danny Fenton, an unpopular 9th-grade boy attending Casper High. He lives with his eccentric ghost-hunting parents, Jack and Maddie, and his overbearing older sister, Jazz. He wanders inside his parents' ghost portal and accidentally triggers its activation, infusing his DNA with ectoplasm. This transforms him into a half-ghost, half-human hybrid, and gives him an array of ghostly powers like the ability to walk through walls, turn invisible, and fly. Danny struggles to learn to control these powers, but when ghosts start coming out of the newly-activated ghost portal, Danny realizes that he can use his powers to protect his town from the evil ghosts coming out of the portal. Danny's best friends, technophile Tucker Foley and Goth-minded Sam Manson, support Danny and help him in his adventures.
Throughout his adventures, Danny faces a variety of ghostly enemies from the Ghost Zone. He also faces enemies from Earth, such as vengeful ghost hunter Valerie Gray, rival half-ghost Vlad Masters, and even his own ghost-hunting parents. Throughout it all, Danny slowly realizes his own potential and his purpose, while both worlds, the Ghost Zone and Earth, begin to accept him as their defender. Over time, Danny becomes more confident both as a superhero and as a teenager.
Production
In February 2001, Butch Hartman found out that Nickelodeon was looking for a boys' animated action show, and developed the concept for Danny Phantom. His original idea for the show was called Danny Phantom and the Specter Detectors, which was about a teenage boy and his friends who would use gadgets to hunt ghosts. However, Hartman later thought it would be cooler if the boy was a ghost with superpowers, and shortened his concept's name to Danny Phantom.
For the character designs, Hartman had help from veteran character designer Stephen Silver. Most of the stories were written by Steve Marmel, with input from Mark Banker, Butch Hartman, Marty Isenberg, and Sib Ventress. As with Hartman's other popular show, The Fairly OddParents!, the music for Danny Phantom was written by Guy Moon.
Nickelodeon originally purchased 40 episodes (two seasons), and later purchased another 13, for a total of 53 episodes, including four double-length made-for-TV movies. On January 24, 2006, Nickelodeon announced that it had ended support for new episodes of the series. Fans of the show expressed outrage at the cancellation, citing Hartman's admission on his forums that he wished to create more episodes. Hartman has stated on his personal forum that he would be willing to make more episodes if the show were to be picked up again.
Cast
- Main article: List of Danny Phantom characters
Protagonists
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| David Kaufman | Danny Phantom |
| Grey DeLisle | Sam Manson |
| Ricky D'Shon Collins | Tucker Foley |
| Colleen O'Shaughnessey | Jazz Fenton |
| Rob Paulsen | Jack Fenton |
| Kath Soucie | Maddie Fenton |
Major Characters
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Cree Summer | Valerie Gray |
| Ron Perlman | Mr. Lancer |
| S. Scott Bullock | Dash Baxter |
| Maria Canals Barrera | Paulina |
| James Sie | Kwan |
| AnnaSophia Robb | Dani Phantom |
| Tara Strong | Star |
Villains
Episodes
- Main article: List of Danny Phantom episodes
Theme song
- Main article: Danny Phantom Opening
The Danny Phantom theme song introduces Danny and explains how he got his ghost powers. The lyrics were written by Guy Moon, who also did the vocals. Hartman did the background vocals.
Two versions of the Danny Phantom theme song were recorded. Originally, the theme song did not include Danny's backstory because there would be an episode showing how Danny got his powers. They later decided against it, and instead changed the theme song to include Danny's origin story. The original theme song can be found on Hartman's website.
Hartman mentioned in an interview that the theme song was inspired by Queen's 1989 song "The Invisible Man."
Video games
Two Danny Phantom video games have been published:
- Danny Phantom: The Ultimate Enemy (Game Boy Advance)
- Danny Phantom: Urban Jungle (Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS)
Danny Phantom characters have also made appearances in other Nickelodeon video games:
- Nicktoons: Summer Camp (TV plug-and-play game)
- Nicktoons Basketball (PC)
- Nicktoons Movin' (PlayStation 2 EyeToy)
- Nicktoons Winners Cup Racing (PC)
- Nicktoons Freeze Frame Frenzy (Game Boy Advance)
- Nicktoons Unite! (Nintendo GameCube, Play Station 2, Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance)
- Nicktropolis (internet)
- Nick Video Jigsaw Jam! (internet)
- Nicktoons: Battle for Volcano Island (Nintendo GameCube, Play Station 2, Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance)
- Nicktoons HoverZone (internet)
- Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots (Wii, Play Station 2, Nintendo DS)
- Nicktoons Superstuffed: Mini Game Mania (internet)
- Nicktoons Superstuffed: Mini Game Mania 2 (internet)
- Nicktoons Slimeball Multiplayer (internet)
- Nicktoons: Globs of Doom (Wii, Play Station 2, Nintendo DS)
- Nicktoons Nitro (arcade)
- Jingle Brawl (internet)
- Super Brawl (internet)
- Super Brawl Summer (internet)
- Super Fall Brawl (internet)
- Super Brawl 2 (internet)
- Super Mini Puzzle Heroes (internet)
- Nicktoons: Dance Off, Clash On! (internet)
- Nicktoons Mini Golf (mobile)
- Nicktoons: Android Invasion (LeapFrog Didj)
- Nick's Not So Ultimate Boss Battles (internet)
- Super Brawl World (internet)
- Super Brawl Universe (Android, IOS)
- Nick Football Champions (Android, IOS)
Reception
Critical reception
Danny Phantom was well-received by both television critics and audiences. The series gathered a cult following. Many audiences described the series as one of Butch Hartman's best shows, with Hartman acknowledging so as well.
Awards and nominations
| Award | Category | Nominee | Result | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 BMI Film/TV Awards | BMI Cable Award | Butch Hartman Guy Moon |
Won | [1] |
| 33rd Annual Annie Awards | Storyboarding in an Animated Television Production for "Identity Crisis" | Ben Balistreri | Nominated | [2] |
| 34th Annual Annie Awards | Character Design in an Animated Television Production for "King Tuck" | Ben Balistreri | Nominated | [3] |
| Storyboarding in an Animated Television Production for "Urban Jungle" | Ben Balistreri | Nominated | [3] | |
| Storyboarding in an Animated Television Production for "Reality Trip" | Shaunt Nigoghossian | Nominated | [3] | |
| 35th Annual Annie Awards | Storyboarding in an Animated Television Production for "Torrent of Terror" | Ben Balistreri | Nominated | [4] |
Trivia
Fans protesting the show's cancellation in New York
- Some Danny Phantom characters and themes have cameoed in The Fairly OddParents. In addition, the The Fairly OddParents characters Crash Nebula, the Crimson Chin, and Francis have made cameos in Danny Phantom.
- When Nickelodeon announced the show's cancellation, Danny Phantom fans in New York City protested to save the show.
- Danny Phantom is the only show of Butch Hartman's to not move to Nicktoons for new episodes.
- On February 21st, 2017, Nickelodeon released a three-minute short called "The Fairly Odd Phantom," which featured Danny Phantom, TUFF Puppy, The Fairly Odd Parents, and Bunsen Is a Beast. This marked the first new Danny Phantom animation released by Nickelodeon in nearly ten years. David Kaufman, Ricky D'Shon Collins, Grey Griffin, and Colleen Villard reprised their roles respectively.
Gallery
Click here to view the gallery.
External Links
- Danny Phantom at the Internet Movie Database
- Danny Phantom at TV.com
- The Official Danny Phantom Twitter
- Nick | Danny Phantom