Butch Hartman

“I learned early that I could get attention from adults with my drawings.”

“When you're designing a monster, there's kind of no rules.”

“I think a lot of guys think they can do voice acting, but when you hear the pros and they are so great... that's a little intimidating.”

“I thought about 'Johnny Quest' and how I loved that cartoon and what a cool name he has. I tried to come up with other names and thought 'Johnny Phantom' would be cool, a superpowered kid who was a ghostbuster.”

“I kind of never stop. I never sleep.”

“You should almost always draw in pen. It forces you to be confident. You can never erase, so it makes you really focus on your line and not wimp out.”

“I just like to draw and put ideas down. And every idea that Nickelodeon doesn't buy I put on the Noog Network.”

“I just love the sound of my own voice. But I don't think mine is as funny as other people's.”

“I write about what I know.”

“Life is full of challenges, but I always have the Three Ps: Passion, patience and persistence. And the fourth one is pizza.”

“I've been in the industry for 15 years, and I knew all the pieces that needed to be included to make a series. It wasn't just about writing characters, it wasn't just about writing a funny joke.”

“I'm a parent, and my kids think I'm an idiot.”

“When kids are kids, everything a parent does seems goofy.”

“I was working on 'My Little Pony' in the '80s, but I got fired because I couldn't draw the ponies well enough. It was a horrible show.”

“We write stories that we like and hope the kids like them, too. But we definitely make sure that they skew toward a kid audience.”

“I get so many kids coming up to me now, saying, 'Oh, Mr. Hartman, I love your show, I grew up with it; I understand all the jokes now!'”

“Like any good business, I think Nickelodeon waits to see results.”

“When 'Johnny Bravo' was going to end, I thought, 'I really need to sell something. I need a job.' So, I sat down and just sketched this little boy with a fairy godmother. I was going to do a boy version of 'Cinderella.'”

“I never played sports. I was always drawing.”

“I want adults to be the last ones to switch off a cartoon on TV.”