Half-human, half-ghost DANNY PHANTOM has materialized on Nickelodeon with comic adventures as he straddles two worlds as a shy freshman at Casper High and a heroic phantom-fighter with ghostly superpowers -- courtesy of creator Butch Hartman (THE FAIRLY ODDPARENTS) in an all-new animated series airing Fridays in primetime. The series saw a special premiere on April 3, 2004 at 9:30 pm and features back-to-back episodes on April 9 on its regular night and time at 8:30 pm.
Of course high school is tough enough for shy freshman Danny Fenton (voiced by David Kaufman) without having parents who wear orange jumpsuits and Hazmat outfits and a beautiful, brilliant 16-year-old sister named Jazz (Colleen OShaughnessey) who can be overbearing despite good intentions. Danny was a bit of an outcast and practically invisible at school before acquiring superpowers that enabled him literally to vanish.
The son of zealous ghost hunters Jack (Rob Paulsen) and Maddie (Kath Soucie) who are clueless their teen is half-ghost Danny got his powers when his folks explosive experiment in their high-tech lab merged his DNA with ghostly goo, while releasing dangerous ghost villains into the world. Now he is determined to stop evil forces on the loose in his home town of Amity Park: ghosts like Penelope Spectra, who feeds off teen misery, and cunning Vlad Plasmius, the only other human-ghost hybrid. In doing so, he uses his newfound paranormal gifts to fly, become invisible and fire ectoplasmic blasts of energy.
In Parental Bonding, the first of two back-to-back episodes on April 9, Danny uses his overshadowing power to take control of his dad during a parent-teacher conference, but the plan backfires when Jack is invited to chaperone the school dance. At the same time a ghostly amulet turns the girl with whom Danny is smitten into a dragon. Danny must alternately control his dad and fight the ghost dragon. In the subsequent episode titled, One of a Kind (9:00 pm), Skulker, a legendary predatory ghost hunter who fancies himself a collector of all things rare and unique, has set his sights on Danny, the worlds only half-ghost/half-human hybrid.
DANNY PHANTOMs bright visual style with strong effects and good graphic staging demonstrates how far limited animation has come and how much more can be accomplished with new computer-assisted 2D techniques. Fans of ODDPARENTS and POWERPUFF GIRLS style and character scale should enjoy this new entry. The stories are engaging for youngsters and parents or caregivers watching with them.
Creator/exec producer Hartman wrote and directed episodes of DEXTERS LABORATORY, COW & CHICKEN and JOHNNY BRAVO before moving to Nickelodeons OH YEAH! CARTOONS! and creating the networks mega-hit series THE FAIRLY ODDPARENTS. He has directed many of the DANNY PHANTOM episodes he also exec produces. Other directors include Wincat Alcala and Sean Dempsey while Bob Boyle is producer/art director and Steve Marmel is producer/story editor. Deidre Brenner is line producer with music by Guy Moon for the series produced at the Nickelodeon Animation Studio in Burbank, California.
Nickelodeon (www.nick.com), which is celebrating its landmark 25th anniversary this year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films. Nickelodeons U.S. television network is seen in more than 86 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for more than eight consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.
