Butch Hartman developing new SVOD service Oaxis

Ghostbuster

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Golden Geek

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I'm a little disappointed. When I started the video I thought it was going to be a Cartoon Hangover-esque channel/service, but instead, it seems like its focus is being on as squeaky-clean and wholesome as possible. Also, it seems overly ambitious with the amount of original content Hartman wants to launch with.
 

jaylop97

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Butch has been more outgoing these days after he left Nick. I know Butch is a veteran in the terms of animation, but even still I feel his goal is way to high, his quality of work isn't the best out there and trying to create a network might be something he might accomplish or might not because I'm sure there are more steps that he still hasn't really brought up, sure he has gotten the ideas of what he wants the network to be about but so far it seems like a lot more will need to be brought up or this Kickstarter might not go farther.
 

Dudley

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I don’t think this a good idea. He’s pitching a SVOD service filled with content he deems family friendly, while also allowing people to upload content, that will all have to be moderated.
On top of that, he wants to hear from his viewers exactly what they’d like to see. What if they don’t want something family friendly?

And what the heck happened to the Noog Network? He couldn’t even make that successful. What makes him think this will be different?


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Mandouga

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I imagine he wants to hear from people who watch family shows, and not anyone who doesn't. At any rate:

I thought it was going to be a Cartoon Hangover-esque channel/service, but instead, it seems like its focus is being on as squeaky-clean and wholesome as possible.

Well, he did say it was going to be a family-oriented service.

As for those who think it will never catch on, let's just see what happens. At least he's actually listening everyone...as far as everyone knows, anyway...
 

Daikun

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I'm feeling skeptical here. I remember the last time a Nicktoons creator Kickstarted his own network--Joe Murray's KaboingTV. We got a total of three shorts, it barely updated at all, and it died in less than a year. Also, Butch already has his own network. He'll have quite a lot to juggle.

I get that Butch is a nice guy and he has the best intentions in mind, but we've been down this rabbit hole before.

P.S. That fundraiser looks disproportionate. $250,000 seems like a rather meager goal for what appears to be a squeaky-clean YouTube competitor. At least Murray kept his expectations realistic. He had a website which was a small hub for a few cartoonists' shorts. That's it.
 

Toon4Thought

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There's a lot of elements in here that would frankly be serviceable - great, even - on its own. A family-friendly uploading service would work if done right. A provider of original animated kid-friendly content would also have potential on its own. But the two simply don't go hand-in-hand, at least not in the sense they're trying to go for. How can he accomplish this much on his own? How can he get people together to produce content worth watching? Does he even know how to make all this content? It seems like it's all concept and no execution.

Not long ago, Butch posted a Tweet asking "Why don't cartoonists get to run cartoon networks?". Odds are, you get where he's coming from, but anyone who knows how business works probably knows at least the simple answer to that question. And to me, this speaks a good amount about how little he seems to know about running an entertainment company.

If you want to launch something this ambitious, you need to have a clear and detailed business plan. Particularly, the specific demographic they aim to reach, the type of content they will predominantly feature, and how they aim to make all this come to fruition. But with how vague Hartman makes all that seem, along with how it aims to be a sort of "jack of all trades" content-wise, it kind of gives off the impression that they are funding this off the idea alone and that they don't really have all this fully planned out.

Besides, as incredibly good-hearted and wholesome as his intentions are, how exactly will this aim to bring the family back together? It's not like there aren't platforms that are full of wholesome content; Netflix has a kids feature, and networks like Disney Channel and Cartoon Network exist. As for giving what the fans want... it's sadly not as simple as it seems on paper either. Some would argue the Hub Network did just that, and that went under in a mere four years.

Again, I love the ideas behind this, but I sadly don't see this working. It feels like one of those things that came in a dream and sounds incredible at first, but then when you really think about it the more you realize how bad it really is.
 

DonTrashRoom

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Besides, as incredibly good-hearted and wholesome as his intentions are, how exactly will this aim to bring the family back together? It's not like there aren't platforms that are full of wholesome content; Netflix has a kids feature, and networks like Disney Channel and Cartoon Network exist. As for giving what the fans want... it's sadly not as simple as it seems on paper either. Some would argue the Hub Network did just that, and that went under in a mere four years.
Another good point to make is that the cable TV market is overloaded, and the SVOD market is growing increasingly crowded. On top of that, Oaxis won't have the same name recognition as Netflix, Hulu, or even smaller, more niche SVODs like Noggin and Boomerang.
 

Nick Mick

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I'm sorry, but I can't support this idea. As already a lot of people have cleverly stated, this seems more like developing an idea, rather than an actual plan, or a carefully planned idea. Which is expected as Butch in his entirety, has only done a few failed pilots, and 3-4 shows for Nickelodeon (Bunsen is a Beast was so short-lived, no one really mentions is, though it's underrated from my point of view). And that's not to say I hate him: he's always seemed to be a gentle, nice guy, and has also helped from Oh Yeah! Cartoons shorts people like Seth MacFarlene find their own path into the animation industry. Even if his channel at times, looks too uncharacteristicly trendy and clickbait-like....

Also, the kickstarter itself isn't to be enough seriously taken to be successful. I mean, seriously, OAXIS???? That sounds like an insurance company. Who will ever guess that this comes from the words "Oasis" and "Axis"? Also, the description is incredibly telltale (at a point I started hysterically laughing; this looks like something Butch himself would parodize), and the features in this streaming service are too much for an animator to handle. Like seriously, dramas (I know the last time I saw Magnificent Century my family was happily reconnected), live-action, documentaries, sitcoms, animation, kids shows, home and garden shows, fitness shows, video games.... Tell me if you'd think the creator of the project had any sort of coherent plan, when he says he can handle the creation/distribution of HOME AND GARDEN SHOWS. REALLY, THINK ABOUT IT. Oh, and there's an user upload featurette, which is YouTube, except there's a "family-friendly" filter that I'm 100% users will eventually find a way to bypass. Jesus, even companies with family-friendly content that ended up being scummy (at least from a business perspective) like CINAR, at least had a certain genre of content they were relying to. Mr. Weinberg wasn't like "Hey, we'll reconnect families, we'll be the ultimate poineers of children's entertainment, and soon all of our cartoons will be airing around the world. Now, that's not to say Hartman declares himself as a god there, but here's the thing: I don't want to see his career getting worse, only because he had an good-hearted idea that works mostly on paper (and is partly actually, really good: I WISH newborn and old companies could have way better ways of communicating with its audiences).

Also, that's not to say, this can be technically impossible. Who knows, maybe he knows people that have the luxury to help him with creating shows with a different genre each one, which will be quite satisfying for me.

But overall, on the other hand, it's quite harsh to say "this project will fail". So many kickstarters have failed or turned out to be hoaxes, that nowadays, seeing a kickstarter like this fail, will be a tragedy for a lot of bankers who have already donated money for the utilization of it. I don't say this one might be a hoax, but we can't determine whether or not it will be successful either, when having pointed out so may things wrong with it.

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BTW, doesn't Butch ALREADY have a network (I think it's called Noog Network, and is quite mediocre). I want to believe that his decision for the creation of another streaming service wasn't because of ego, but to rather make something that this time, will be servicable and successful.
 

RainbowCupcake

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Don't know if any of you have seen Pieguyrulz's video yet, but he makes some good points about this.


Anyway, as much as I'd like for this to work in the perfect, imaginary world that I wish to live in, I know in my logical brain that this will crash and burn. Butch seems like a nice guy and I think his intentions to create a completely "family-friendly" outlet are nice because, let's face it, in this day and age it seems like nothing is "family-friendly" anymore. However, it's going to be immensely difficult for a project this big to get started. I mean, Butch isn't just talking about creating more animation aimed towards children, like the Noog Network. He mentions that Oaxis will have "Sitcoms! Drama Series! Animation! Home & Garden shows! Reality shows! Fitness! Feature Films! Documentaries!" etc. Do Netflix and Hulu even have all of these things (I'm honestly not familiar with either one). Also, $250,000 in ONE month? Really? That's A TON of money and as of right now, it's only raised $18,732 through 331 people. What happens if (and more probably, when) they don't raise $250,000 by July 18th? Do they just keep begging for more money? Sorry to say, but I don't think many will be interested in this, especially when other current (and future ones like Disney's upcoming service) streaming outlets exist. The only thing that differentiates Oaxis and something like Netflix is that Oaxis is (in theory) 100% family friendly.
 

Dudley

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I haven’t looked, but Netflix and Hulu have all of those except maybe Fitness programming, and Reality Shows (except as reruns).
And the Noog Network did have some live-action shows there.

Another reason I doubt this will work is because not only has Noog Network failed to take off, so has Yoo Toons
https://www.cartoonbrew.com/busines...h-online-animation-channel-yootoon-59757.html


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Zeether

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$250,000 isn't enough to open a streaming service with that much content. Someone here a while back described Hartman's creative process as something haphazard and trying to open 3 different streaming services, including one he seems to not know about running costs for, is proof of that.

Also, "Oaxis" is already taken by a smartphone case company. Enjoy the impending lawsuit, Butch. That is, if your platform takes off.
 
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Light Lucario

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Butch Hartman is definitely ambitious with this project and he does seem like a really nice person, but it does seem like it's a bit too much. Getting $250,000 in just a month alone is a hard goal to reach and having all of that content available starting sometime next year is a huge stretch. Maybe if he didn't have to have one month to get the startup cash and didn't already plan for the streaming service to be available by next year, it might sound more plausible, but it just doesn't sound likely to actually happen.

The goal itself is admirable in a way. Wanting to have some family friendly content and human moderators to look over what other people submit sounds nice, but it doesn't sound like it's likely to happen, or at least that the way he's going about with his Kickstarter program seems a bit off. Hopefully, it works out for him since he does sound passionate about the project and he does come off as friendly in all of the videos I've seen him in.
 

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Butch has detailed three of the new animated series that will be on Oaxis:


- Dyna Mice, a TMNT-esque show about three superhero mice that fight crime;

- Imaginathan, a "Danny Phantom-esque" animated show about a kid named Nathan whose father invents a device that allows thoughts to become reality. It will be animated anime style, feature a over-arcing story, and is based on a show from the Noog Network;

- Splatapus, a part FOP, part SpongeBob super-cartoony Bugs Bunny-esque show following a little guy name Splat.
 

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