Butch Hartman developing new SVOD service Oaxis

[Fone Bone]

Out of everything that came from this video, his comment about suicide was by far the worst. The whole "kids just toughed it out instead of committing suicide back in my day" is just awful. Either he has forgotten what it can feel like to be a kid or his life was so well off that he didn't go through any difficult challenges as a child. Both are sadly good possibilities. I absolutely hated being told to just tough it out/deal with it, so that response to problems won't work for a lot of kids. There are also plenty of reasons why kids would be driven to suicide. Schools are awful, there are plenty of terrible teachers, bullies exist and there are emotionally/physically abusive parents out there. Not to mention just having depression in itself can push people to suicide.

All of that existed before television came around. We just didn't have the kind of understanding of mental health issues back then as we do now. It is dangerously close, if not identical, to the whole notion that autism didn't exist before vaccines and thus people think vaccines cause autism, which might be another reason why it bothers me so much.

Now I don't have a problem with wanting his streaming platform to be Christian based. I'm not particularly religious myself, but as long as he isn't being disrespectful towards other people, then there shouldn't be an issue with putting out Christian values in his Oaxis channel. The issue comes from not being upfront about it because, as he put it in the video, he needed to get the non-religious people into the concept. He has made pretty blatant click bait before with his videos, but I thought it wouldn't mean that he'd try to misdirect people for his Kickstarter since that actually required getting people's money. That's a huge problem because it makes him come off as dishonest. I wouldn't blame anyone who backed him up on Kickstarter to be upset because they gave their money to a project that he wasn't completely upfront about.

And most of his other comments just confused me. He doesn't like that kids spent hours on their tablets, so he's going to make a streaming service where they can watch on their tablets even more? I know that he wants shows that are only family friendly with Christian values on Oaxis, which would mean that they're watching wholesome content, but it still doesn't change that they'll be spending more time on their devices. And the thinks that cable destroyed television, or at least the ability for families to watch TV shows together, even though there are plenty of family friendly shows throughout the last few decades and his success has come from working with Nickelodeon, which is a cable channel, for years? I know that there are a lot of non-family friendly shows that are popular nowadays, but I don't think that there aren't any shows out there that kids can watch with their parents. Even the notion that kids were becoming more suicidal because of television is strange on top of being insulting because I don't think kids just started to commit suicide after seeing more violent on TV. Mental health issues are more complicated than that.

I already thought he had a huge ego after the last couple of videos, but he was saying how Oaxis is going to save families and lives. When this was first announced, I just thought he was passionate for what he wanted to do, which may still be true to a certain degree, but he also just thinks too much of himself, brushes off anyone who disagrees with him as being a bully when in fact he is the one using bully tactics and comes off as an absolute terrible person. I feel even worse for giving him the benefit of the doubt with the other video because his true colors are really starting to show here. I wasn't actively hoping that his Oaxis platform would fail, but now I kind of do after showing himself to be a dishonest person who would rather blame television for kids committing suicide instead of understanding anything about mental health problems.

As a person who has attempted suicide, this guy is a piece of work. I won't be giving a cent to this Kickstarter or even watching him dumb pious channel.

 

[Nick Mick]

OK, I know this guy has been brutally dishonest, disguisting, scummy and manipulative, and that he refuses to give a complete image of what he's doing, against his initial statements that in this company we will know who's running it and how, but I still refuse to believe that he's egotistical enough to go on with this (unless he has no heart, or he has an actual plan). This kickstarter will eventually fail (due to its illogical idea of actually getting glued on the computer screen as much as with whatever streaming service you can find) and he will apologize to us for whatever he has done, thus taking a small, but useful dose of reality. Though there are sometimes he needs to apologize about, no mateter what the circumstances are.

Anyway, until another evidence comes out, I'm done with this.

-------------------------------------------------

 

[DeanBurrito25]

Ooooh, yikes. Yowzers. Yowch. It only took Butch Hartman a fews days to sabotoge his reputation and give Christians a bad name (we're not all like this, I promise. A cliché sentiment but it's still worth noting.)

As I was reading up on the situation on Twitter, I saw a user parallel the Oaxis situation to Fred Rogers, who devoted his life to give them a wholesome environment to children while exemplifying love and care through his revolutionary PBS show. The irony is that Rogers was studying to become a Lutheran pastor way before he considered diving into the television industry, and even so, he was still driven by his Christian faith to develop Mister Roger's Neighborhood - his message never changed, nor did he ever compromise his beliefs. The beauty is that his program transcended cultural or ideological differences. That's how much influence his show held.

Butch Hartman is no Fred Rogers. Obviously. Disregarding his faith, his approach to criticism is beyond childish and baffling from a professional of his stature. His views about media consumption are misguided (though not surprising given his age) while his statement about suicide is appalling, especially since I personally have had family and friends who have taken their own lives. If anything, Butch has successfully transcended beyond his "goofy dad trying to be cool on da webz" facade and fully settled into "out of touch middle aged man" status. So, kudos to that, I guess.

Originally, I had no opinion of Hartman developing his own platform (if anything, I commended that he was trying something different after his departure from Nick), but it's unfortunate that this has spiraled into what it has become now.

 

[Mandouga]

HOLD IT!!!

Okay, let's back up a little bit. When did the whole "Christian" thing come up? He never anything about Oaxis being a Christian service.

Now, is there any actual, real proof that that's what he was planning to do from the start; proof that he left this part out? Or is it just part of some anti-Butch thing that the critics are doing?

 

[RainbowCupcake]

Not to regurgitate what every else is saying, but I'd like to share my slice of the cake while the situation is in its current state.

I liked Butch Hartman. He seemed like a kind, wholesome guy who wanted to create family-friendly content, whether in be on Nickelodeon or his YouTube channel. I really admired him for this and quickly became a huge fan in recent months. I even sent in a package to try and get featured on Fan-Mail Fridays (which was a waste of $60, as he just sent it back to my house). However, this entire thing is beginning to change my perspective on him. Where do I even begin?

I completely agree with everyone who is saying that it's okay for him to create a Christian streaming service, but it's NOT okay to hide it from everyone until it gets the funding it needs. Family-friendly doesn't automatically equal Christian; they can have similarities but they are certainly not the same thing. I hope that this doesn't lead everyone to believe that all Christians are narrow-minded or total prudes that hate everything that isn't 1000% family-friendly. Like someone mentioned earlier, this is a prime example of the bait and switch tactic.

I also think his ego has gotten way too big for his britches. Yes, he has been successful in many regards, but he is no Walt Disney. To say things to his critics (which, by the way, are mostly non-mean-spirited people who are just giving constructive feedback) like, "Do you know who you're dealing with?" is just so juvenile and makes him come off as someone who is extremely full of themself. He is definitely influential in the animation industry, but legendary? No.

Then there's all the other crap, like him begging for money at the end, the likely possibility for him to ask for more money in the future, him being too vague on his plan for the service, and much more. So yeah. This whole thing is just a mess. I highly doubt that Butch will be able to redeem himself after all that has been said and done. I'm not quite ready to unsubscribe from his channel just yet because I'm curious to see how this unfolds, especially if the service fails later on.

 

[Fone Bone]

Ooooh, yikes. Yowzers. Yowch. It only took Butch Hartman a fews days to sabotoge his reputation and give Christians a bad name (we're not all like this, I promise. A cliché sentiment but it's still worth noting.)

Gandhi: "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ."

As I was reading up on the situation on Twitter, I saw a user parallel the Oaxis situation to Fred Rogers, who devoted his life to give them a wholesome environment to children while exemplifying love and care through his revolutionary PBS show. The irony is that Rogers was studying to become a Lutheran pastor way before he considered diving into the television industry, and even so, he was still driven by his Christian faith to develop Mister Roger's Neighborhood - his message never changed, nor did he ever compromise his beliefs. The beauty is that his program transcended cultural or ideological differences. That's how much influence his show held.

Oh, my God! I freaking LOVE Fred Rogers! This guy was as religious and God-loving as you could ever imagine, but not ONCE did he shove that down a single child's throat. It boggles the mind to realize the world once contained people like Fred Rogers. Maybe Fred Roger's amazingness is quite unusual. That's true. But it didn't use to be a huge trial to find a kids show producer not looking to shove a political or religious agenda down your throat. Butch Hartman, like much of the rest of our modern politics, is not freaking normal.

Butch Hartman is no Fred Rogers. .

Speaking of not living up to amazing standards, I hear John Kricfalusi wants to switch careers. Is Hartman keen on becoming the Most Hated Man In Animation? Because I think Kricfalusi wouldn't mind handing off that particular title. Hartman's already halfway there. Another YouTube rant should do it.

 

[Nick Mick]

HOLD IT!!!

Okay, let's back up a little bit. When did the whole "Christian" thing come up? He never anything about Oaxis being a Christian service.

Now, is there any actual, real proof that that's what he was planning to do from the start; proof that he left this part out? Or is it just part of some anti-Butch thing that the critics are doing?

Well, he said once in a livestream, that this platform will be based on christian values.

And don't get me wrong; yes, PieGuyRulz can be overreacting when talking about him converting kids into christianity, BUT on the other hand, Butch (who think we're trollers, just because we try to make our own theories, make a complete picture of the case, and rightfully criticize him) hasn't done any sort of video explaining what are his plans.

 

[sasq]

His plan of converting kids into christianity won't work when you allow user-generated content, don't think your platform is 100% safe, Butch.

 

[DeanBurrito25]

Looks like this isn't the first time Butch Hartman has been callous about depression. Apparently he "jokingly" claimed to blame Tara Strong...the voice actor of Timmy Turner on Hartman's own TV show, mind you...that she was to blame for the suicide of the late Mary Kay Bergman.


Is it possible to feel such strong second hand embarrassment for someone you've never met in your life

 

[D-nice is the man.]

Okay, so after I got some intel, on what's going on... ever since Butch left Nickelodeon, he hasn't been himself. I don't think his Oaxis streaming service will be successful either. Plus he criticized someone because of his artwork or something which is kind of insensitive, and a bit harsh. Like, everyone is entitled to constructive criticism. I hope he gets his life straight and realizes his mistakes.

 

[ToonsJazzLover]

That moment when you realize Desperate without Housewives was written by a woman, probably as revenge for Love Struck (similar concept, written by 3 men, including Hartman).

What Butch Hartman did the few past months is unacceptable. The transphobia, the conning out people's money in Oaxis, not able to take criticism like a 53 year old man. I think we all should take a break leashing at him. It's comic con week and I don't want him to overshadow the other cartoons news we're getting.

 

[Nick Mick]

Looks like this isn't the first time Butch Hartman has been callous about depression. Apparently he "jokingly" claimed to blame Tara Strong...the voice actor of Timmy Turner on Hartman's own TV show, mind you...that she was to blame for the suicide of the late Mary Kay Bergman.


Is it possible to feel such strong second hand embarrassment for someone you've never met in your life

Proof he has lost his taste on humor (I mean Tuff/Bunsen weren't as good, but this right here is terribly unfunny, and insulting).

 

[Light Lucario]

That's a really big eye opener and I'm slightly surprised it didn't come up before that other video did. Suicide is one of those concepts that you just don't joke about as far as I'm concerned and telling a person that it's their fault that someone else committed suicide, even "jokingly", is downright cruel and awful.

 

[superkeegan9100]

Why did Nickelodeon keep this jerk for so long?

 

[Toon4Thought]

Why did Nickelodeon keep this jerk for so long?

Probably because his ego hadn't fully surfaced yet. I get a strong impression that he just really let the fame get to his head, and after he left, he thought he was on top of the world.

 

[Peter Paltridge]

Anyway, while I agree with most stuff Pieguy said in this video, I think that this "converting kids into christianity" theory, is a bit lazy. For me, this speech he made at a seminar, gives me the impression that this guy has no plans for his streaming service, and that he tries to be as manipulative as possible. And granted, manipulative and terribly shameful things include always blaming television for natural feelings like depression and suicide, and telling people that this service will be for everyone, when it's really just based on christian values and he wants money, but converting kids into christianity comes as kid of an overreaction of Pieguyrulz.

Overreacting sells these days, especially on YouTube. And yeah, it kinda worries me everyone is being taught to attack everyone else, as if this is the best way to behave. No more Pieguy stuff in this thread, please, unless it's a podcast where he interviews Greg.

 

[Light Lucario]

Probably because his ego hadn't fully surfaced yet. I get a strong impression that he just really let the fame get to his head, and after he left, he thought he was on top of the world.

That would explain a lot about his behavior, especially making comments about how he created people's childhoods. He made at least two successful series, but that isn't the same thing as creating people's childhoods. Not to mention I'm not sure how his Christian values are presented in all of his shows.

As bad as this situation turned out, I don't think he was trying to convert children into Christianity through Oaxis. The whole saving lives and families does kind of give off that implication, but I think he wanted to just put out more family friendly programming with Christian values behind it. That in itself isn't a bad thing. Like I said before, as long as he isn't insulting other people by doing so, that is a fine thing to do, but he just needed to be upfront about it. The fact that he wasn't heavily implies that he wouldn't get the funding in time.

 

[ToonJay723]

Overreacting sells these days, especially on YouTube. And yeah, it kinda worries me everyone is being taught to attack everyone else, as if this is the best way to behave. No more Pieguy stuff in this thread, please, unless it's a podcast where he interviews Greg.

Eh, I think Rise and Fall of Nickelodeon is the worst offender. At least PieGuy doesn't want to keep talking about Butch Hartman anymore, and he did apologize about saying Butch was homophobic in the video, as it was suspicion rather than concrete evidence. The Rise and Fall of Nick however is just digging though Butch's history and making unfunny memes just to get retweets. Before we were just taking about OAXIS, but thanks to this guy everyone ended up talking about these other stuff.

 

[Toon4Thought]

Eh, I think Rise and Fall of Nickelodeon is the worst offender. At least PieGuy doesn't want to keep talking about Butch Hartman anymore, and he did apologize about saying Butch was homophobic in the video, as it was suspicion rather than concrete evidence. The Rise and Fall of Nick however is just digging though Butch's history and making unfunny memes just to get retweets. Before we were just taking about OAXIS, but thanks to this guy everyone ended up talking about these other stuff.

I think Trafon is posting all this stuff as much as he does specifically to make sure the word spreads and that Butch suffers some much-needed hubris for his actions. It's easy and in a sense kind of fun to dig through history just to find more dirt on an infamous personality - heck, just look at the John K thread on this forum - but I agree that if not kept in check, it can get to a point where it comes off as personal and bordering on cherry-picking. And yeah, he's definitely reaching that point IMO. And yeah, I'm not a fan of his meme posts either, especially given a lot of them are of easy sources like pre-movie Spongebob (which I think is the single most overquoted piece of animation in existence, but I digress).

I'm definitely not going to say any more on Butch as of this point. I've more than added my share already.

 

[RainbowCupcake]

At this point, I feel that people are finding literally anything they can to further prove how awful Butch is, even if it doesn't directly relate to the situation. The Tara Strong podcast and even the video with the suicide remark were both available for viewing before, the latter being uploaded in February, but now they're getting attention solely because of Oaxis. While I agree both quotes were extremely distasteful and inappropriate, I wonder how people would have reacted to the Kickstarter if the clips had surfaced before June.

Butch has already proven his actions and personality to be scummy; I don't think we need any more loose evidence to further make this statement true.