How To Become a Cartoon Creator with Butch Hartman

What if God could use creativity in your family to spark faith, purpose, and discipleship in your everyday life?

On this episode of the Collide Kids Podcast, host Christen Clark sits down with legendary animator, writer, and pastor Butch Hartman—creator of The Fairly OddParents, Danny Phantom, and most recently, The Garden Cartoon. Hear how Butch’s journey from a chaotic childhood to Hollywood success and Christian parenting led him to inspire families through cartoons. 

Resources:

• Show: gardencartoon.com
• Website: butchhartmanstudies.com
• Instagram: @butchhartman
• Website: collidekidspodcast.com
• Instagram: @collidekidspod

Clip Finder:

Kids’ Cartoons and Faith: "And the Garden Cartoon teaches kids all about the Bible and Jesus Christ. And it's like, I looked at the Christian marketplace and I realized that there's some cool cartoons out there, but there's not enough."

— Butch Hartman [00:04:15 → 00:04:24]

Nostalgic TV Moments: "So if I used to love the Charlie Brown Christmas special and things like that, but if they only showed it once a year, you had to be right in front of that TV when it came on and you couldn't see it anyway."

— Butch Hartman [00:06:32 → 00:06:41]

Imposter Syndrome in the Animation Industry

"I got to the animation world and everybody is incredible. Like, my gosh, I could never, how do these people do this? So I, I either had two choices. I could run away or I could stay."

— Butch Hartman [00:08:40 → 00:08:50]

Viral Topic: The True Meaning Behind "Apple of My Eye": "What it means is you're so close to someone, you could see your own reflection in their eye."

— Butch Hartman [00:10:05 → 00:10:11]

Viral Origins of Fairly OddParents: "If I could just create my own show, I would have a job, right? So I came up with a show about a little boy, uh, who had two fairy godparents, and I sold it to Nickelodeon as one cartoon, one episode."

— Butch Hartman [00:15:13 → 00:15:24]

Hidden Christian Themes in Danny Phantom: "I love this show because there's a huge Christian theme running through it. You'll never see it when you watch the show unless you know what to look for. Danny's the light coming into the darkness and he's fighting all these, you know, A lot of Christians will miss out on fun stories sometimes. Oh, you can't watch that, they'll turn it off. Sometimes there might be a message in there you might want to see."

— Butch Hartman [00:15:39 → 00:15:57]

The Power of Christian Cartoons for Kids: "Had I had a Christian cartoon to watch at that time, I might have thought differently. I might have learned differently. I might have understood things differently and not let so many things scare me or upset me."

— Butch Hartman [00:19:03 → 00:19:13]

Viral Topic: The Power of Practice in Artistic Growth

"And by the way, All your drawings aren't going to be great, but as you get, as you practice, they're going to get better and they're going to, and they're, you're going to see improvement, but you got to practice."

— Butch Hartman [00:20:27 → 00:20:37]

Bark proactively works to monitor, detect, and alert you to potential issues on your kids' devices. Visit bark.us to learn more about how you can keep your kids safe online. Use the code COLLIDEKIDS to get 15% off Your Bark Technologies Plan !

Transcript

Christen Clark [00:00:31]:

Hey y'all, welcome back to the Collide Kids Podcast. I'm your host, Christen Clark. The Collide Kids Podcast is a show for kids and families where we learn together how life and faith collide. I am so glad to be back for this new season. Like I said last one, we took some time off in January, and so thank you for your patience while we did that. But I'm honestly so excited that we get to share it with you now because today's conversation is so good. Before we jump in though, I want to just give a quick shout out to my other podcast, 7 Minute Devotions for Busy Parents. I've actually had a few of you reach out recently and share how meaningful the podcast has been for you as a parent.

Christen Clark [00:01:09]:

And seriously, that just means so much to me, just that you're listening, but then you would take the time to just let me know. I really appreciate that. So if you haven't checked it out yet, I just want to invite you to go listen. It's only 7 minutes long. We're walking through identity statements from the book of Ephesians and talking about who we are in Christ. It's super practical, it's, it's encouraging, it's only 7 minutes, so I think you'll really enjoy it. So be sure to listen to that if you have not already. Okay, today's guest is someone that many of you may already know and love, and I'm so excited I get to sit down with Butch Hartman.

Christen Clark [00:01:43]:

Butch is an animator, cartoon creator, writer, director, producer. He's a songwriter, he's a husband, a father, and he's a pastor. He's best known for creating some of your favorite shows and my favorite shows like The Fairly OddParents, Danny Phantom, Tough Puppy, and Bunsen Is a Beast. Most recently, he created The Garden Cartoon, which teaches kids all about the Bible and Jesus. You can find that available on Angel Studios. He and his wife Julianne co-pastored the New Branch Family Fellowship in Woodland Hills, California, and they're also brand new grandparents. So congratulations, I think that's so awesome. I just loved getting to meet Butch and talk with him today.

Christen Clark [00:02:25]:

Not only is he an incredibly accomplished artist and creative person, but he's also a pastor. And so our conversation today was fascinating and it was filled with Scripture. It was— he just had so many Scriptures to share, and I just love that. So whether you're a kid who loves cartoons or a parent who's trying to disciple your family, I think you're really going to be encouraged by today's episode. So here is my conversation with Butch Hartman. Well, Butch Hartman, I am so honored to have you on the Collide Kids podcast today.

Butch Hartman [00:03:05]:

Well, gosh, thank you so much. I was just sitting here in this studio and you guys showed up. What a coincidence.

Christen Clark [00:03:10]:

What? We just happened to bump into each other right here.

Butch Hartman [00:03:13]:

Yeah, I know. I spend a lot of my time just hanging around podcast studios hoping somebody will interview me. So I'm so glad you guys showed up.

Christen Clark [00:03:20]:

That's great. I love that. Thank you for being here. Would you just introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do?

Butch Hartman [00:03:26]:

Well, first of all, grateful to be here. Thank you for having me. First and foremost, I'm a Christian and I'm a pastor. I pastor a church in Woodland Hills, California called New Branch Family Fellowship because John 15:5 says Jesus is the vine, we are the branches. I spent the majority of my career— I'm an animator and a show creator and a writer and producer primarily. Spent the majority of my career at Nickelodeon where I created a show called The Fairly OddParents. Yeah. And then Danny Phantom, that guy right there.

Butch Hartman [00:03:56]:

And then a whole bunch of other characters. I did about 4 shows for Nickelodeon over 20 years. And my wife and I, Julianne, I've been married to for 33 years. We now created and produced a cartoon called The Garden Cartoon. That's our movie that came out called The Greatest Thing Ever. And that just came out over the summer. And the Garden Cartoon teaches kids all about the Bible and Jesus Christ. And it's like, I looked at the Christian marketplace and I realized that there's some cool cartoons out there, but there's not enough.

Butch Hartman [00:04:24]:

We have to, we have to do more as Christian people, especially Christian people that are creative. We have to do more to entertain children. And so that's what I want to do. And so that's what we're doing now. And I just love entertaining kids and I love drawing and I love writing and making funny little characters come to life. And that's what I do.

Christen Clark [00:04:41]:

I love that. And you do a great job at that. I've seen, I've seen your work. I've seen your work. It's so fun.

Butch Hartman [00:04:46]:

Thank you. By the way, guys, aren't her glasses amazing? Those are, those are, those glow in the dark. They look like they're very, like you.

Christen Clark [00:04:51]:

Can see in the dark. They actually do, which I didn't know until one night they were sitting on my nightstand and I was like, what is that? And I found out they glow in the dark. So either they glow in the dark.

Butch Hartman [00:04:59]:

Or they're made of candy. They look like they're made of candy.

Christen Clark [00:05:02]:

Could be. I haven't tasted them yet, but yeah.

Butch Hartman [00:05:04]:

Well, please don't.

Christen Clark [00:05:05]:

Not right now. Well, I am excited to get into your story today because I have a lot of questions. But before we do that, because this is a show for kids, I always make my guests tell me a joke. So do you have a joke for us today?

Butch Hartman [00:05:17]:

I have two jokes.

Christen Clark [00:05:18]:

Okay.

Butch Hartman [00:05:19]:

Where does a snowman keep his money?

Christen Clark [00:05:23]:

Oh, I don't know.

Butch Hartman [00:05:25]:

In a snow bank.

Christen Clark [00:05:27]:

A snow bank.

Butch Hartman [00:05:29]:

That's one. Here's the other one. How do scientists get rid of their bad breath? What do scientists take to get rid of bad breath?

Christen Clark [00:05:38]:

I haven't heard this one. I don't know.

Butch Hartman [00:05:40]:

Experimints.

Christen Clark [00:05:42]:

Oh, that's good.

Butch Hartman [00:05:43]:

See, right there.

Christen Clark [00:05:45]:

That's a good one.

Butch Hartman [00:05:46]:

The comedy is already started.

Christen Clark [00:05:48]:

Those are good. Experimints.

Butch Hartman [00:05:49]:

We'll bring in the Fairly OddParents to make— there's a Fairly OddParents character. He'll make you laugh right there. See?

Christen Clark [00:05:54]:

Yes. Okay, so let's get into this because I'm interested to know how you became an artist, a cartoonist. Was that something you loved to do as a kid?

Butch Hartman [00:06:04]:

Yeah. When I was a kid, I grew up in the 1970s. I was born in 1965, which was an ancient time long ago.

Christen Clark [00:06:10]:

The 1900s.

Butch Hartman [00:06:11]:

Yes. Yeah, I know. I have a 19 in front of my birthday. And back then, it's hard to believe there was no internet and there weren't even ways to stop your television. You could— you could— I mean, I say stop. I mean, you could watch a program, but you couldn't freeze the image. You couldn't record anything, right? You couldn't. You had to just watch whatever was on.

Butch Hartman [00:06:29]:

And if you missed the show, you couldn't see it till they aired it again, right? So if I used to love the Charlie Brown Christmas special and things like that, but if they only showed it once a year, you had to be right in front of that TV when it came on and you couldn't see it anyway. I grew up loving cartoons and comic books and movies and things like that. And, uh, when I was a kid, I was in, uh, I was in kindergarten. I never forget this memory. I was our teacher. I'm like 6 years old. Our teacher asked us all to draw a picture of her. Okay, class, draw a picture of me.

Butch Hartman [00:06:55]:

And everybody drew a picture and I didn't care. I just went off and I drew the picture and started playing with blocks or whatever. And then, um, everyone started tapping me going, hey, the teacher really likes your drawing. And I look up and she's like raving about my drawing. She's like, oh my gosh, this is so good. She goes down the hall to get other teachers to show them the drawing.

Christen Clark [00:07:13]:

Wow.

Butch Hartman [00:07:14]:

And I'll never forget that memory, uh, like, wow, I could get attention from adults if I do this drawing thing.

Christen Clark [00:07:21]:

Yeah.

Butch Hartman [00:07:21]:

And so I I, kept, I, I was encouraged right at that moment. And so I thought I could really do this. And so as as I, I started learning, Uh, I started learning more about it. You know, as you, as you're a kid, you start copying other things and stuff like that. So I just really loved it and started growing up with it. But I grew up in Michigan and, uh, Michigan, there's not a real big entertainment industry.

Christen Clark [00:07:39]:

Yeah.

Butch Hartman [00:07:39]:

And how's a kid from Michigan gonna get to Hollywood? Right. So I didn't even know how to do that. And, uh, I, I wasn't a Christian at the time, but I can see how God had his hand in my life because God hooked me up with some other guys in Michigan, some young high school kids who had the same dream I did was to work for Walt Disney Studios. As I grew up, I wanted to work for Disney and I didn't know how to even do that. And, but, uh, we found a school in California called CalArts, California Institute of the Arts. And I flew out from Michigan to go to that school. I went there when I was 18, all by myself, started learning animation. And the good thing I learned about that was I immersed myself in what I loved.

Butch Hartman [00:08:16]:

I got into a school where everybody did what I did. And so we talked about it, we immersed ourselves, we learned. And so from that point on, as I got older, it was either go back to Michigan or stay in the industry. And I had to work really hard. 'Cause when you get into the animation industry professionally, like any industry, like let's say you're a baseball player and you're really good kind of playing with your friends, but you get into the major leagues, everybody's unbelievable. And so the, I got to the animation world and everybody is incredible. Like, my gosh, I could never, how do these people do this? So I, I either had two choices. I could run away or I could stay.

Butch Hartman [00:08:50]:

And again, still not a Christian at this point, but there was something inside me that told me to stay and work extra hard. So I did.

Christen Clark [00:08:56]:

You know what I love about your story is, and I've heard this, I've interviewed lots of different people from different professions, and I hear this a lot, that there was a teacher in your life that encouraged you, and because of that, you're doing what you do today, you know? And so I think if you are a teacher or if that's something you aspire to do, who knows who you could be encouraging in these kids. So that's beautiful that you shared that.

Butch Hartman [00:09:20]:

Amen. And by the way, you don't have to be employed as a teacher. Like maybe, maybe you are, maybe you're employed as like a school teacher. That's your job. That's wonderful. But you could teach anybody anything as an older person 'cause you have something that's extremely valuable. It's called wisdom. And the Bible says that we're to search out wisdom like silver, search it out like silver.

Butch Hartman [00:09:41]:

If I told you right now, hey, Christen, there's a silver coin somewhere under your chair, you would stop what you're doing and you'd look for the silver coin 'cause it's valuable. You look for value. And Jesus puts value on all of us. He, he, we are the apple of his eye. You know, I learned the other day, I thought it was really cool. Somebody pointed this out and it was so neat. When, when you say, when someone's the apple of your eye, like, what does that mean? You're the apple of my eye. What it means is you're so close to someone, you could see your own reflection in their eye.

Butch Hartman [00:10:12]:

And that's how close Jesus wants to be with you. can, He you want, you've got to be so close to him. You can see your own reflection in his eye, and isn't that touching? And isn't that amazing?

Christen Clark [00:10:21]:

Yeah.

Butch Hartman [00:10:22]:

My career right now, I would be nothing without Jesus Christ. He's my, my everything. Of course, I love my wife and my daughters. I have two daughters and I have a granddaughter, but I can't love anyone more than the Lord because he's the best thing for me.

Christen Clark [00:10:33]:

I'd love to hear how you became a Christian because you said you were in California, you had not become a Christian yet. So how did you learn about Jesus and how did that become a part of your life?

Butch Hartman [00:10:43]:

Yeah, well, I was 30. I'm 60 years old now, which I can't believe I'm even saying that word, that, that sentence. I'm 60. But, um, I was 35 years old. My wife was around 37. She's a couple years older than me. Neither one of us are Christians. We had two daughters, and we both grew up in very chaotic households, and we didn't have Christ in our houses at all growing up.

Butch Hartman [00:11:02]:

And I don't say this to disparage anybody, but we just didn't have Jesus in our house. So we were just kind of going by our wits. That's what everybody goes by. You go by your own wits. Because the Bible says also in Proverbs, there's a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. So the way it seems right to a man is what culture dictates. It's like, well, this culture we do this, and in this culture we do this. Same with your house.

Butch Hartman [00:11:25]:

In this house we do this. In this house we do this. We we were, were both chaotic households. We were married for 7 years and fighting all the time. And we didn't want our kids to have a house of chaos like we did.. And we thought, how do we do this? And someone suggested, hey, why don't you go to church? And we're like, church? What are you kidding? Crazy. I can't do that. Now, this is an older man.

Butch Hartman [00:11:47]:

I'm 35 at this time, you know, 35 years of not going to church. And so we're like, well, I guess we could try going to church. I mean, I, anything for peace in the house, right?

Christen Clark [00:11:56]:

Yeah.

Butch Hartman [00:11:56]:

We finally found a church that really touched us and really started speaking to our hearts. It was called Crenshaw Christian Center. It was in, uh, South Central Los Angeles. Pastored by a guy named Frederick K.C. Price. And Frederick Price was the first pastor that ever really ministered to my heart where he said, follow along in the Bible with me. Didn't just preach at us, made us go along with him. And that really opened up the scripture to me.

Butch Hartman [00:12:19]:

And I started understanding it. My spiritual eyes were opened. It's like Paul on the road to Damascus says something like scales fell from his eyes because he was— and he could see the the spiritual— spiritual understanding came. And I started realizing, you know, in order to have peace, I need to trust Him more than myself. I need to listen to Him more than me.

Christen Clark [00:12:38]:

Yeah.

Butch Hartman [00:12:38]:

So that was around the year 2000 when we got saved. And now I've been saved 25 years and we're pastors now. My wife and I dove in headfirst. We're like, we got to learn this. We have to learn this. And so my prayer closet became my car. I drive to and from work. I should say my car became my prayer closet.

Butch Hartman [00:12:57]:

I'd be listening to CDs, tapes, everything I could to learn the Word in my car, going to church. Bible studies, the whole thing. And, um, yeah, I really, really, um, have a— I, again, I'll never have all the understanding I need, but I have a lot more understanding than I used to.

Christen Clark [00:13:11]:

Yeah, that's so good. And, you know, like, the Bible also says that when we were still sinners, Christ died for us, and he loved us first. And that's hard to think about sometimes because I think a lot of times when we think about our relationship with God, we think of all the things we have to do in order to get to that relationship, but he already loved us before we did anything.

Butch Hartman [00:13:30]:

So Yeah, and that's the great thing about the Lord is everybody that Jesus ministered to in the Bible weren't Christians. They were random Jewish people and Gentiles, and he forgave all these people and loved all of them as they were. He didn't even want the Pharisees to be around him because he would— every time they came around, they would accuse him of stuff and he'd call them a brood of vipers. These are the professional religious people. And Jesus wanted nothing to do with them because he said, you strain out a gnat to swallow a camel, meaning you're looking at these little law things these little nitpicky things in the law, you're forgetting the big picture of the Lord. I'd rather have these smelly fishermen over here come along with me because the Bible says, the Bible says after they got their nets filled with fish, they immediately dropped their nets and followed him. They still smell like fish.

Christen Clark [00:14:19]:

That's right.

Butch Hartman [00:14:19]:

When they went with him, he didn't, he didn't say go shower, go clean.

Christen Clark [00:14:23]:

Up, put on a suit.

Butch Hartman [00:14:24]:

Yeah, he didn't say anything. He's just, you come now. You go, he wants you. Jesus wants you right now.

Christen Clark [00:14:30]:

That's right.

Butch Hartman [00:14:31]:

And by the way, there, and, and, and even if you don't come right now, he's still gonna be there waiting for you when you're ready.

Christen Clark [00:14:35]:

That's so beautiful. I love that about the Lord. Now you're a pastor and you're, you've been creating all of these shows. Let's first, let's talk about the shows you've created. I'm very familiar with Fairly OddParents.

Butch Hartman [00:14:47]:

Yes.

Christen Clark [00:14:48]:

That's a fun show. Tell us a little bit about the other shows you've created and how you came to, to putting that or getting those amazing jobs.

Butch Hartman [00:14:55]:

Well, I'm first of all super grateful you asked. Um, real quick, I sold Fairly OddParents. I was working at Cartoon Network. I was working on the Johnny Bravo show as a writer and director. The show was going to end, and in Hollywood what happens is when a show ends, you go on and you got to find another job. I'd already been working in the animation industry about 11 years at that point. I'm so tired of looking for jobs. If I could just create my own show, I would have a job, right? So I came up with a show about a little boy, uh, who had two fairy godparents, and I sold it to Nickelodeon as one cartoon, one episode.

Butch Hartman [00:15:25]:

And the one episode did so well, the audience liked it so much, they agreed to make a full series out of it. So that became a series in 2001. And based on the success of that, uh, I was able to create this show, Danny Phantom, a superhero who fights ghosts. And, uh, I love this show because there's a huge Christian theme running through it. You'll never see it when you watch the show unless you know what to look for. Danny's the light coming into the darkness and he's fighting all these, you know, A lot of Christians will miss out on fun stories sometimes. Oh, you can't watch that, they'll turn it off. Sometimes there might be a message in there you might want to see.

Butch Hartman [00:15:58]:

And so I'm not saying watch everything, but do your research before you just don't watch it at all.

Christen Clark [00:16:02]:

Yeah.

Butch Hartman [00:16:03]:

Danny Phantom is one of my most popular shows, got a great fan base. Fairly OddParents has been running for, um, since 2001, it's been running for 24 years. Danny Phantom's been running for 20 years. Tough Puppy, my other show, was a show about a secret agent dog, that fights crime in a city called Petropolis. It's all animals. I had it before Zootopia, so there we go.

Christen Clark [00:16:23]:

There you go. You were first.

Butch Hartman [00:16:24]:

I was first. And then, uh, we have my, my last show is called Bunson is a Beast. And, uh, that was on for one season on Nickelodeon about a little beast. He's the first beast to ever go to a human school and he doesn't want to scare anybody. So he makes friends with Mikey Monroe and they become best pals. And it was so much fun to make. So yeah, I made those four shows and now we're making the garden cartoon. Yes.

Christen Clark [00:16:45]:

Tell us about that.

Butch Hartman [00:16:46]:

This is where I left Nickelodeon in 2018. And in 2021, I started making the garden cartoon about Lenny the Lion and Lucy the Lamb. Now this is a full-on Christian show. Christian, uh, values, Christian scriptures, everything. It's really funny. We started with the funny first because if kids aren't laughing, they're not going to pay attention.

Christen Clark [00:17:03]:

That's right.

Butch Hartman [00:17:04]:

But Lenny the Lion and Lucy the Lamb, they live and work in a miraculous garden where anything can grow. And then God comes down as a rainbow and talks to them every day and gives them an assignment to do. They call him the boss because they work for him. Hi, boss. And uh, so, again, he gives them a job and they normally don't do it right. So it's through a scripture or an original song. They have to learn how to do it better. And so that now you can see that on Angel Studios.

Butch Hartman [00:17:27]:

Uh, we're on Apple TV, we're on Amazon, we're all over the place. And so please check it out. If you want to support us, go to thelionandlamfoundation.org and you can support us there. Or go to gardencartoon.com.

Christen Clark [00:17:40]:

Yes, well, and we'll put all those links in the show notes so our listeners can check that out because I think it's It's such a fun show and it's so colorful. Is it more for like, what age group would you say is, is it a really good show for?

Butch Hartman [00:17:53]:

We originally started it out as ages 5 to 8.

Christen Clark [00:17:56]:

Okay.

Butch Hartman [00:17:56]:

Uh, and I, but it's actually got a little bit of an older audience too because it's not, we don't talk down to the kids. Older kids can watch it too.

Christen Clark [00:18:03]:

So what was it that made you want to start a Christian show like this? Like you left Nickelodeon and you're like, this is needed. Why did you feel that?

Butch Hartman [00:18:11]:

I just always had an inkling to do that. I mean, ever since I became a Christian in 2000, the year 2000, working at Nickelodeon for 18 years or 20 years, you learn very quickly that there's not a lot of shows out there that talk about the Lord. There's really not, you know. And as kids, you have a great opportunity as a filmmaker and as a TV maker, a showmaker, show creator, to reach children in a great way. And So many people out there are making a lot of stuff that reaches children in a negative way or in a bad way.

Christen Clark [00:18:42]:

Right.

Butch Hartman [00:18:43]:

I believe as filmmakers, when you have access to that screen, when you have access to an opportunity to touch children's hearts, the Lord was very, very, very clear with me. I want you to make a show for me and make a show for teaching kids the word. Because when I was a kid, as I explained earlier, I grew up in a house of chaos, but I watched cartoons a lot. Had I had a Christian cartoon to watch at that time, I might have thought differently. I might have learned differently. I might have understood things differently and not let so many things scare me or upset me.

Christen Clark [00:19:13]:

Right.

Butch Hartman [00:19:13]:

That was my chance to do exactly that. Put a cartoon out there that kids could learn from.

Christen Clark [00:19:18]:

Okay. I'd love to know, I'm thinking about there's kids listening right now and they love to draw. Maybe they're like you and they, they could draw when they're a kid. What encouragement will you give for those kids that love to create and draw and do art?

Butch Hartman [00:19:31]:

Man, I'll tell you, you know, as an artist, I have pens around me all the time. I have pencils around me all the time. I got my, I got my iPad right here, right here to draw on my iPad. I mean, I would find any way I could to draw. And I would say, if you're an artist, you have to love it. You have to really love it. Don't do it if you're forced. Don't do it because someone else is making you do it.

Butch Hartman [00:19:54]:

I mean, if you love it, if you love anything, you'll do it all the time. I tell people, I always tell people, like I say, where's Christen? Oh, you can always find her doing blank, you know, whatever it is. You're baking cookies, you're on the trampoline. I don't know what it is you like to do all the time, but maybe you do it on the trampoline. You bake cookies on a trampoline.

Christen Clark [00:20:11]:

That sounds fun.

Butch Hartman [00:20:12]:

Which, whatever it is you do all the time that no one has to ask you to do, that's what you should do for a living. I always tell people. So if you love to draw, you'll do it all the time. So I would say if you're an artist, practice, practice, practice, practice. And by the way, All your drawings aren't going to be great, but as you get, as you practice, they're going to get better and they're going to, and they're, you're going to see improvement, but you got to practice. It's like anything, you know, I told you I'm 60 years old. There's things I can draw now I never realized I could draw when I was 20, when I was 25. I thought I could never do that.

Christen Clark [00:20:46]:

Yeah.

Butch Hartman [00:20:47]:

But I kept practicing. You know, the Bible says walk by faith, not by sight. Now that's in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 7. Even though it seems like this drawing isn't good, I know down the road it's gonna get better. So I can see it in my mind. I'm gonna keep drawing this and working on it. So I would just keep plugging away and keep doing it. But if you love it, you'll do it.

Christen Clark [00:21:06]:

That's great advice. And I think that's good advice for anybody. If there's whatever that thing is you love, keep practicing, keep trying. Even if you fail, even if you don't think it looks the best, you could still— Oh man.

Butch Hartman [00:21:16]:

See, we live in a society where everybody wants everything like that. Everybody wants everything now.

Christen Clark [00:21:20]:

Yeah.

Butch Hartman [00:21:20]:

But there's things in the you have to, you have world to, it has to bake a little bit. It has to, the process is where the learning comes in.

Christen Clark [00:21:27]:

Well, thank you so much for being on the show today and sharing your story.

Butch Hartman [00:21:30]:

And hope I didn't bore you. Did I bore you?

Christen Clark [00:21:32]:

No, this was so fun. And I've loved learning about your shows and I'm excited for our listeners to check out The Garden.

Butch Hartman [00:21:37]:

And we'll show our Fairly OddParents.

Christen Clark [00:21:39]:

Yeah, Fairly OddParents. And now I want to go back and watch Danny Phantom and like look for the Christian themes.

Butch Hartman [00:21:45]:

Oh, you'll like Danny Phantom. I should check it. I think you'll dig it. Yeah. And it's in there. It's, it's in there. And, um, Here's, uh, oh, this is the garden right there.

Christen Clark [00:21:52]:

There you go.

Butch Hartman [00:21:53]:

Now this is our first movie. It's called The Greatest Thing Ever, and it came out over the summer. And our second movie, it's coming out this Christmas. It's called The Christmas King, and that's coming out on Angel Studios really, really soon. So check that out. It's already out on Yippee TV as well.

Christen Clark [00:22:07]:

Very cool. We'll definitely put information about that in the show notes so our listeners can check that out. Butch, thank you so much for your time today. Before I let you go, I always ask my guests to tell me a memory from when they were a kid. So what memory do you want to share with us today?

Butch Hartman [00:22:21]:

Well, I got to meet Spider-Man when I was a kid. I got to meet Spider-Man, but, but wait, this is like in the '70s, right?

Christen Clark [00:22:27]:

Okay.

Butch Hartman [00:22:28]:

It was 1974. I was 9 years old. And keep in mind, there were no Spider-Man movies back then. There was only the comic books and the cartoon on TV. No one had ever really seen a man walking around in a Spider-Man costume before, like a live-action person, right? Like a real person. So someone said Spider-Man's going to be appearing down at Kmart down the street. I'm like, Kmart? This is an older store. Older people will know this.

Butch Hartman [00:22:49]:

But, um, so I go down there with my friends. My friends and I walk down to Kmart. This is back in the days you'd walk down to Kmart. We walk down to Kmart and I'm 9 years old. I'm really short and I'm looking and I couldn't see over the heads of the kids. And finally this guy stood up in the Spider-Man costume above the kids and it was Spider-Man. He was right in front of me. So I got to stand in line and meet Spider-Man.

Butch Hartman [00:23:08]:

And when I got up to him, he was, he was crouched on a desk. He was like on a desk, like in the middle of the room. And I'm like, hi, Spider-Man. And he goes, hi, Butch. And I said, can you swing around the ceiling? And he goes, well, I would. But the manager said he doesn't want my webs all over the ceiling, so I got to keep the— I got to keep the ceiling clean. And I went, okay, Spider-Man, that makes total sense. That was a real fun memory for me.

Butch Hartman [00:23:32]:

I even did a little animation of that on my YouTube channel where I got to meet Spider-Man. It's a fun memory.

Christen Clark [00:23:36]:

Oh, that's really cool. I love that. And now you get to know, or claim that you know, Spider-Man.

Butch Hartman [00:23:41]:

Oh my gosh, I know. And to this day, I am dying to know who that man was in that costume. I want to know who that person was. So someday If you're out there and you were in Michigan in 1974 in Roseville, Michigan, and you were Spider-Man, let me know.

Christen Clark [00:23:55]:

At the Kmart.

Butch Hartman [00:23:56]:

At the Kmart.

Christen Clark [00:23:57]:

That's great. Well, thank you for sharing that. Thank you so much for being on the show today.

Butch Hartman [00:24:01]:

I had a great time. You guys have a blessed day. I'm gonna pray for you. Lord, I thank you that this podcast reaches people far and wide. And I thank you that Christen is prosperous as she moves forward with her career in broadcasting and her podcasting career. Lord, I just thank you that you bless this podcast, make it prosperous, I bless everybody that sees it. I pray they get your word in their hearts like a mustard seed, and it grows and sprouts up amazing, amazing fruit. In Jesus' name, amen.

Christen Clark [00:24:28]:

Amen. How cool that he got to meet Spider-Man, right? That was so amazing. And I always just appreciate when guests pray over me. I think that's so special. So I Thank you, Butch, for doing that. I love when he said that Christian people need to be doing more creative things, especially if you have these creative talents. We need to be using those to create really good content that people enjoy to watch and that will encourage people in their faith. I also love that part of his testimony is just the way he could see God working in his life even before he became a Christian.

Christen Clark [00:25:10]:

He could see God moving and guiding him in different ways even though he hadn't made a decision to follow the Lord. Until later in his life, but God was still working, and he can look back now and see how God was ordering his steps. He also shared that him and his wife wanted to have peace in their home, and so they started going to church, and that's when they learned that the only way they could have peace, true peace, was through following Jesus. They had to die to themselves, and I love this quote. He said, "In order to have peace, I need to trust more in Jesus than myself." And that's so true. We've gotta give everything over to him. And he had great advice for any of the artists that are listening right now. He said, "Whatever it is you love to do that no one has to ask you to do might be what you should do for a living or for your career someday." So think about that.

Christen Clark [00:25:58]:

What's that thing that you love to do all the time and no one has to ask you to do it? That might be something that God's put in you to give back to him in another way. So I'm so excited for you guys to check out the Garden show and the Garden movie that just came out this past year. These are great shows for kids. Kids, especially if you have that younger elementary, they're really going to enjoy this. But like he said, it's really fun for the whole family. So check that out. We'll be sure to include all the links in our show notes for his content and those cartoon shows. I think you're going to love them.

Christen Clark [00:26:29]:

Before we wrap up, I don't know if you and your family are obsessed with the Olympics like mine is, but we've been enjoying watching that. And I was reminded that when I first started this show, I had the opportunity to interview Scott Hamilton, who was an Olympic champion ice skater. He had an incredible story. And so I just want to put this in there. If you've never listened to that episode because it was a few years ago, it's episode number 44. I highly recommend you go back and listen to Scott Hamilton's story. It was so inspiring and it just got me excited again about thinking about the Olympics and all that. So check that out.

Christen Clark [00:27:04]:

Thank you so much for listening today and being a part of this. Thank you for your encouragement when you guys reach out or when you message me or when you just share the show. It's— it means so much. So thank you for being a part of this and for listening today. I hope you have an incredible week, and remember, God loves you so much. If you love today's episode, share it with a friend and follow us on social media at Collide Kids Pod so you don't miss what's next. You can find more episodes and resources collidekidspodcast.com and leave a quick rating and review. That really helps other families find out about the show.

Christen Clark [00:27:39]:

Thanks so much for being a part of the Collide Kids Podcast. And in case no one has told you today, God loves you so much. See you next time.