Danny Phantom

Danny Phantom
Series title card for Danny Phantom
Genre	Superhero Science fantasy Comedy-drama
Created by	Butch Hartman
Developed by	Steve Marmel
Voices of	David Kaufman Grey DeLisle Rickey D'Shon Collins Colleen O'Shaughnessey Rob Paulsen Kath Soucie Cree Summer Martin Mull
Theme music composer	Guy Moon and Butch Hartman
Opening theme	"Danny Phantom", performed by Deric Battiste and Guy Moon
Ending theme	"Danny Phantom" (instrumental)
Composer(s)	Guy Moon
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	53 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Butch Hartman Steve Marmel (season 1-2) Mark Banker Marty Isenberg (season 1-2) Kevin Sullivan (season 3)
Running time	22 minutes
Production company(s)	Billionfold Inc. Nickelodeon Animation Studios
Distributor	Paramount Television Nelvana
Release
Original network	Nickelodeon
Picture format	4:3 SDTV
Audio format	Dolby Digital 5.1
Original release	April 3, 2004 – August 24, 2007

Danny Phantom is an American animated television series created by Butch Hartman for Nickelodeon. It was produced by Billionfold Studios and distributed by Nelvana, a Canadian animation company, and Paramount Television. The series follows a teenage boy who, after an accident with an unpredictable portal between the human world and the "Ghost Zone", becomes a human-ghost hybrid and takes on the task of saving his town (and the world) from subsequent ghost attacks using an evolving variety of supernatural powers. He is aided in his quest by his two best friends, and later, his older sister, who for most of the series' run are among the only people who know of his double life.

The series premiered on April 3, 2004 and ended on August 24, 2007, totalling 53 episodes and three seasons. The first two seasons consists of 20 episodes each, whereas the third season consists of 13 episodes. Danny Phantom has received critical and audience acclaim, with praise primarily directed at its ensemble cast and comic book-influenced themes and storyline. Hartman himself has noted that the series is arguably his most popular and acclaimed work, despite its relatively short production life compared to The Fairly OddParents.^[1] Danny Phantom has spawned video games, home video releases, as well as toys and various other merchandise.

Premise

Danny Phantom centers on the life and adventures of 14-year-old Danny Fenton, a shy and quiet high school student living in the small town of Amity Park, implied to be in Ohio. He lives with his eccentric ghost-hunting parents, Maddie and Jack, and his overprotective but caring 16-year-old sister, Jazz (short for Jasmine). Upon pressure from one of his best friends, wealthy goth girl Samantha "Sam" Manson, Danny decides to explore the Ghost Portal that his parents had created in a failed attempt to bridge the real world and the Ghost Zone (the parallel universe in which ghosts reside). Once inside, he accidentally presses the "On" button (which his parents failed to do), activating the Portal, which infuses his DNA with ectoplasm, transforming him into a half-ghost.^[2]

Danny, who calls himself "Danny Phantom" in ghost form, develops the ability to fly, become invisible, become intangible, and the "overshadow" ability (which allows him to possess and control people) after first learning how to switch back and forth between his ghost and human forms. Over time he develops much stronger abilities; such as his Ghost Ray (a concentrated blast of kinetic energy he fires from is hand), his Ghostly Wail (an intensely powerful scream with sonic capabilities that knocks back anything caught in its path), telekinesis and even cryokinesis. Danny is initially frightened by his new abilities and has little control over them, but he soon learns to use them to protect his town from malevolent ghosts. Danny turns to the life of a superhero, using his powers to rid his hometown from the various ghosts that plague it, who are almost always brought into the world thanks to the sporadic random activation of the Fenton's Ghost Portal. Sam, fun-loving technophile Tucker Foley and eventually Jazz are Danny's primary allies in his ghost-fighting activities.^[3]

Danny's ghost form is a polarization of what he looked like when he entered the Ghost Portal. When he "goes ghost", his black hair turns white, his blue eyes turn green and the white jumpsuit he was wearing during the accident is now in negative color, with the white areas of the suit becoming black and vice versa, and the black boots he was wearing fused into the suit and turned white. In the second season, a ghost grants Sam's inadvertent wish that she and Danny had never met, and, in consequence, Danny loses his ghost powers, as Sam had been the one who had persuaded Danny to investigate the Portal in the first place, which then led to the accident. Sam persuades Danny (now fully human) to regain his powers by re-enacting the accident, this time wearing the jumpsuit with her newly designed "DP" logo on the chest, so that it appears when he goes ghost from then on.

Danny faces threats of many kinds, including vengeful ghost hunter Valerie Gray, who, for a short period of time, becomes his love interest,^[4] an enemy half-ghost Vlad Masters/Plasmius, an old friend of his father's and considered to be Danny's true arch-rival,^[5] and even his own parents who, being ghost hunters, view Danny Phantom (and any other ghosts) as a menace to society. In addition, Danny tries to keep his secret safe from his classmates, teachers, and family. Throughout it all, Danny slowly realizes his own potential and his purpose, while both worlds slowly begin to accept him as their defender.^[6]

Characters

Clockwise from top: Jack Fenton, Maddie Fenton, Tucker Foley, Danny Fenton/Phantom, Sam Manson, Jazz Fenton, and Dani Phantom. All depicted (except for Dani) make up the main cast of Danny Phantom.

• Daniel "Danny" Fenton/"Danny Phantom" (voiced by David Kaufman) is the series' titular protagonist. Danny and his friends are the "unpopular" kids, having "jock" bullies and quaint teachers. A freshman in high school along with his friends, Danny is a clumsy 14-year-old who gained ghost powers from a lab accident when he stepped into his parents' ghost portal. He later chooses to use these powers to fight against malevolent ghosts, which have begun to regularly escape the mysterious Ghost Zone and plague his hometown of Amity Park.^[3] An ongoing arc is his constant struggle to use his powers for the benefit of others rather than abuse it for his own selfishness. Danny can be benevolent and decisive. Since he is half-ghost, Danny's struggles, hardships faced by teenagers in his world, are unusually topped with deadly villains from the ghost zone; but in the end, with the help of his friends, he determinedly acts on the right decision. His love interests include Valerie Gray, Paulina, and Samantha Manson.^[6][7][8]
• Samantha "Sam" Manson (voiced by Grey DeLisle) is Danny's female best friend, and eventually girlfriend at the end of the series, who is also responsible for the accident that gave Danny his powers. Though wealthy, she chooses to hide her family's monetary success (for quite some time) in favor of being liked for who she is. A strident individualist (although she often demonstrates authoritarian tendencies), Sam is a practitioner of an overly dramatized form of vegetarianism called "Ultra Recyclo-Vegetarianism"^[3] (often generalized as "not eating anything that had a face"), a frequent protester for such things as animal rights,^[7] and a self-proclaimed goth. In the beginning, she was only Danny's close best friend. But, over time, her feelings for Danny began getting stronger; eventually, she fell in love with him and couldn't bring herself to tell him out of fear of ruining their friendship. Her patience paid off, as Danny had secretly fallen in love with her as well, and they eventually shared their true feelings with each other and became a couple.^[6][9][10]
• Tucker Foley (voiced by Rickey D'Shon Collins) is a lighthearted teenager who is obsessed with technology, getting a girlfriend, and meat. He has been Danny's best friend "since forever". When not obsessing over gadgets, he obsesses over girls.^[11] Like Sam, he shares in Danny's secret and often helps battle ghosts back into the Ghost Zone. He generally provides comic relief.^[12] Tucker's inventions sometimes seem redundant, but ironically, they will work well in the Ghost Zone, or against ghosts. Tucker and Sam frequently handle the pros and cons of aiding Danny, especially when he's "going ghost."^[13]
• Jasmine "Jazz" Fenton (voiced by Colleen O'Shaughnessey) is Danny's somewhat overprotective and perhaps overly helpful older sister; a smart and highly sociable overachiever who also thinks of herself as an adult. Jazz considers her parents' obsession with ghosts a sign of needing psychological help.^[3][14] She eventually learns about Danny's powers,^[15] but chooses not to reveal her knowledge until he is ready to talk about them with her.
• Jack Fenton (voiced by Rob Paulsen) is Danny and Jazz's father and Maddie's husband. Jack expresses an obsession with destroying ghosts, blindly going by the belief that all ghosts are evil and must be destroyed, including Danny Phantom.^[16] He is generally incompetent in nature, but can be an effective fighter when provoked.^[16][17][18] Jack cares about his family but does not know about Danny's powers.^[3][14] He is almost never seen without his orange jumpsuit.
• Maddie Fenton (voiced by Kath Soucie) is Danny and Jazz's mother, and Jack's wife. She is a gifted genius and dedicated hunter of ghosts, though she usually aims to dissect and study them rather than destroy them.^[14] She is an excellent, competent fighter, from whom Danny probably inherited his own talent for combat.^[17][19] Like her husband, she is almost never seen without her blue jumpsuit.

Marketing

DVDs

Danny Phantom first appeared on DVD in the Nick Picks DVD sets, appearing in all five volumes^[20][21][22] and the Christmas special.^[23] Nickelodeon and Amazon.com later struck a deal to produce DVDs of various Nickelodeon shows. Amazon made the discs, cover art and disc art, and released Danny Phantom Season One and Two on Sept 16.^[24]

Despite its claim, each set only contained thirteen episodes each—the first set including the first thirteen episodes; the second set carrying on with the next thirteen. The third Danny Phantom DVD was released on June 9.^[25] This set contains the entirety of Season Three, rather than the previous thirteen episode sets, skipping over the rest of Season Two. Later editions of the first two seasons contained the entire first and second seasons of Danny Phantom and was released in Nov. 2009. Those, and all the other episodes, can be found on iTunes.

Amazon has now discontinued the Create Space DVD releases with the announcement of Shout! Factory releasing their own DVD sets.

On March 22, 2011, it was announced that Shout! Factory had secured the home video rights to the series from Nickelodeon.^[26] They released Season 1 in a 4-disc set on September 13, 2011.^[27] Season 2: Part 1 was released in a 2-disc set on April 3, 2012.^[28] Season 2: Part 2 was released on August 28, 2012.^[29]

Shout Factory Releases	Release Date	Discs	Episodes
Season 1	September 13, 2011	4	20
Season 2: Part 1 Season 2: Part 2	April 3, 2012 August 28, 2012	2 2	10 10
Season 3	October 14, 2014[30]	2	13
The Complete Series	January 28, 2014[31]	9	53

Video games

There have been two video games released for the series. Danny Phantom: The Ultimate Enemy (for the Game Boy Advance) was made to promote the then upcoming special "The Ultimate Enemy" with the main gameplay consisting of events from the TV movie. It is a 2D platformer and was released in Sept. 8, 2005.^[32] Danny Phantom: Urban Jungle for both the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS was to promote the Danny Phantom episode "Urban Jungle". It is loosely based on the episode and is strictly a shooter game. It was released Sept. 19, 2006.^[33]

Danny plays one of the main heroes in the Nicktoons Unite! series, appearing in all four games across multiple platforms, Nicktoons Unite!, Nicktoons: Battle for Volcano Island, Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots, and SpongeBob SquarePants featuring Nicktoons: Globs of Doom.

Danny and other characters have also been featured in other Nickelodeon crossover video games: Nicktoons MLB, Nicktoons: Summer Camp, Nicktoons Basketball for the PC, and Nicktoons Movin' Eyetoy for the (PlayStation 2). He is a playable character in the kart racer Nicktoons Winners Cup Racing (PC) and the latter Nicktoons Nitro developed by Raw Thrills for the arcade.^[34] Nicktoons: Freeze Frame Frenzy for the (Game Boy Advance), and Nicktoons: Android Invasion (Leapfrog).

Danny Phantom has appeared in two mobile games, Nicktoons Mini Golf (USA, www.nick.com) and Danny Phantom: El secuestro de Jazz, available only in Chile.

Cast

Main cast

• David Kaufman as Daniel "Danny" Fenton/"Danny Phantom"
• Grey DeLisle as Samantha "Sam" Manson, Star (1st voice), Valerie Gray (1st voice)
• Rickey D'Shon Collins as Tucker Foley
• Colleen O'Shaughnessey as Jasmine "Jazz" Fenton
• Rob Paulsen as Jack Fenton, Nicolai Technus, The Box Ghost
• Kath Soucie as Maddie Fenton, The Lunch Lady Ghost (2nd voice), Box Lunch, Grandma Ida Manson
• Martin Mull as Vladimir "Vlad" Masters/Vlad Plasmius

Additional cast

• June Angela as Principal Ishiyama and Shelly Makamoto
• Will Arnett as the Ghost Writer
• Dee Bradley Baker as Wulf, Observant#1, Prince Aragon, Mikey, Gregor
• William Baldwin as Johnny 13
• María Canals Barrera as Paulina
• Susanne Blakeslee as Dora Mattingly (Dorethea the Dragon Ghost)
• Dave Boat as Vortex
• Kimberly Brooks as Mrs. Foley
• S. Scott Bullock as Dash Baxter, Klemper, Mr. Jeremy Manson, Hotep Ra
• David Carradine as Clockwork
• Brian Cox as Pariah Dark
• Jon Cryer as Freakshow
• Michael Dorn as Fright Knight
• Peri Gilpin as Desiree
• Mark Hamill as Undergrowth
• Patricia Heaton as The Lunch Lady Ghost (in "Mystery Meat")
• Bob Joles as Frostbite
• James Garrett as Nocturn
• Phil LaMarr as Mr. Maurice Foley
• Taylor Lautner as Youngblood
• Peter MacNicol as Sidney Poindexter
• Danny Mann as Amorpho
• Krista Swan as Dani Phantom (in D-Stabilized)
• Phil Morris as Damon Gray, Observant#2
• Laraine Newman as Mrs. Tetslaff, Mrs. Pamela Manson
• Daran Norris as Bullet
• Mathew St. Patrick as Skulker (in "One of a Kind", "Bitter Reunions", and "Prisoners of Love")
• Ron Perlman as Mr. Lancer
• Dat Phan as Kwan (1st voice)
• Chynna Phillips as Kitty
• Kevin Michael Richardson as The Dragon Ghost, Skulker (2nd voice)
• AnnaSophia Robb as Dani Phantom (in "Kindred Spirits")
• Eric Roberts as Dark Danny
• James Sie as Kwan (2nd voice)
• April Stewart as Pandora
• Tara Strong as Ember, Penelope Spectra, Tiffany Snow, Star (2nd voice)
• Cree Summer as Valerie Gray (2nd voice)
• James Arnold Taylor as Walker
• Jim Ward as Bertrand

See also

• List of ghost films

References

1. "DANNY PHANTOM IS GOIN' GHOST! BUTCH TELLS ALL ABOUT DANNY PHANTOM!". YouTube. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
2. "Memory Blank. Director: Butch Hartman, Ken Bruce, Gary Conrad; Writer: Steve Marmel.". Danny Phantom. Season 2. Episode 21. 2005-06-24. Nickelodeon.
3. "Mystery Meat. Director: Butch Hartman; Writer: Butch Hartman, Mark Banner, Steve Marmel.". Danny Phantom. Season 1. Episode 01. 2004-04-03. Nickelodeon.
4. "Shades of Gray. Director: Butch Hartman, Wincat Alcala, Juli Hashiguchi; Writer: Sib Ventress.". Danny Phantom. Season 1. Episode 10. 2004-09-24. Nickelodeon.
5. "Bitter Reunions. Director: Butch Hartman, Wincat Alcala, Juli Hashiguchi; Writer: Steve Marmel, Sib Ventress.". Danny Phantom. Season 1. Episode 07. 2004-05-08. Nickelodeon.
6. "Reign Storm. Director: Butch Hartman, Wincat Alcala, Kevin Petrilak; Writer: Steve Marmel.". Danny Phantom. Season 2. Episode 24/25. 2005-07-29. Nickelodeon.
7. "Splitting Images. Director: Butch Hartman, Wincat Alcala, Richard Bowman; Writer: Marty Isenberg.". Danny Phantom. Season 1. Episode 05. 2004-04-24. Nickelodeon.
8. "The Ultimate Enemy. Director: Butch Hartman, Wincat Alcala, Kevin Petrilak; Writer: Marty Isenberg, Steve Marmel, Sib Ventress.". Danny Phantom. Season 5. Episode 28/29. 2005-09-16. Nickelodeon.
9. "Lucky in Love. Director: Butch Hartman, Gary Conrad, Ken Bruce; Writer: Sib Ventress.". Danny Phantom. Season 1. Episode 17. 2005-02-11. Nickelodeon.
10. "Flirting with Disaster. Director: Butch Hartman, Wincat Alcala, Kevin Petrilak; Writer: Steve Marmel.". Danny Phantom. Season 2. Episode 32. 2006-01-13. Nickelodeon.
11. "Parental Bonding. Director: Butch Hartman, Wincat Alcala, Sean Dempsey; Writer: Steve Marmel, Sib Ventress.". Danny Phantom. Season 1. Episode 02. 2005-04-07. Nickelodeon.
12. "Torrent of Terror. Director: Butch Hartman, Wincat Alcala, Gary Conrad; Writer: Butch Hartman, Sib Ventress.". Danny Phantom. Season 3. Episode 44. 2007-07-11. Nickelodeon.
13. "Kindred Spirits"
14. "One of a Kind. Director: Butch Hartman; Writer: Butch Hartman, Mark Banner, Steve Marmel.". Danny Phantom. Season 1. Episode 03. 2004-04-10. Nickelodeon.
15. "My Brother's Keeper. Director: Butch Hartman, Wincat Alcala, Juli Hashiguchi; Writer: Sib Ventress.". Danny Phantom. Season 1. Episode 09. 2004-06-25. Nickelodeon.
16. "The Million Dollar Ghost. Director: Butch Hartman, Ken Bruce, Gary Conrad; Writer: Sib Ventress.". Danny Phantom. Season 1. Episode 19. 2005-06-03. Nickelodeon.
17. "Maternal Instincts. Director: Butch Hartman, Gary Conrad, Juli Hashiguchi; Writer: Sib Ventress.". Danny Phantom. Season 1. Episode 16. 2005-02-18. Nickelodeon.
18. "Girls' Night Out. Director: Butch Hartman, Wincat Alcala, Gary Conrad; Writer: Kevin Sullivan.". Danny Phantom. Season 3. Episode 43. 2007-07-10. Nickelodeon.
19. "Public Enemies. Ghost Director: Butch Hartman, Wincat Alcala, Juli Hashiguch; Writer: Steve Marmel, Sib Ventress.". Danny Phantom. Season 1. Episode 14. 2005-02-04. Nickelodeon.
20. Amazon.com: Nick Picks Boxed Set (Vol, 1-3): Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Rodger Bumpass, Clancy Brown, Dee Bradley Baker, Mr. Lawrence, Carolyn Lawrence, Sirena Irwin, Jill Ta...
21. Amazon.com: Nick Picks, Vol. 4: Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Rodger Bumpass, Clancy Brown, Dee Bradley Baker, Mr. Lawrence, Carolyn Lawrence, Sirena Irwin, Jill Talley, Mary Jo...
22. Amazon.com: Nick Picks, Vol. 5: Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Rodger Bumpass, Clancy Brown, Dee Bradley Baker, Mr. Lawrence, Carolyn Lawrence, Sirena Irwin, Jill Talley, Mary Jo...
23. Amazon.com: Nick Picks - Holiday: Elizabeth Daily, Christine Cavanaugh, Nancy Cartwright, Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Rodger Bumpass, Clancy Brown, Dee Bradley Baker, Mr. Lawr...
24. Site News DVD news: Amazon and Nickelodeon/Paramount Strike Deal for Burn-on-Demand Titles | TVShowsOnDVD.com
25. Danny Phantom DVD news: Release Date for Danny Phantom - Season 3 | TVShowsOnDVD.com
26. The Wild Thornberrys DVD news: Press Release for The Wild Thornberrys - Season 1 | TVShowsOnDVD.com
27. Danny Phantom DVD news: Announcement for Danny Phantom - Season 1 (general retail) | TVShowsOnDVD.com
28. Amazon.com: Danny Phantom: Season 2, Part 1: Movies & TV
29. Danny Phantom DVD news: Announcement for Danny Phantom - Season 2, Part 2 | TVShowsOnDVD.com
32. Search Reviews, Articles, People, Trailers and more at Metacritic - Metacritic
33. Danny Phantom: Urban Jungle for DS Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More - Metacritic
34. Games | Raw Thrills, Inc

External links

• Danny Phantom at the Internet Movie Database
• Danny Phantom at TV.com
• Danny Phantom at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• Danny Phantom on Twitter