''Danny Phantom'' is an American

animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...

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superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

action

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

television series created by Butch Hartman for

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

. It premiered on April 3, 2004, immediately after the

2004 Kids' Choice Awards The 17th Annual Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards was held on April 3, 2004. The event was hosted by Mike Myers and Cameron Diaz to promote '' Shrek 2''. This would be the first time the award show was held at the Pauley Pavilion since 1999. The ...

, and concluded on August 24, 2007. The series follows Danny Fenton, a teenage boy who, after an accident with an unpredictable portal between the human world and the "Ghost Zone", becomes a human-

ghost In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

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 by his two best friends, Sam Manson and Tucker Foley, and later by his older sister Jazz, who for most of the series' run are among the only people who know of his double life. Throughout its run, ''Danny Phantom'' received five

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nominations and positive reviews. In recent years, the series received renewed attention and critical acclaim from critics and audiences, with many considering it to be Hartman's best work. Additionally, ''Danny Phantom'' has spawned video games, home video releases, toys, and various other merchandise. A campaign to revive ''Danny Phantom'' called the Go Ghost Again Movement has spawned in recent years, including a petition on Change.org that has received thousands of signatures.

Premise

Daniel "Danny" Fenton, a 14-year-old boy living in the small town of Amity Park, lives with his

ghost hunting Ghost hunting is the process of investigating list of reportedly haunted locations, locations that are purportedly haunted by ghosts. The practice has been heavily criticized for its dismissal of the scientific method. No scientific study has e ...

eccentric parents, Jack and Madeline "Maddie", and his overprotective but caring 16-year-old sister, Jasmine "Jazz". Upon pressure from his two best friends, Samantha "Sam" Manson and Tucker Foley, Danny decides to explore the Ghost Portal created by his parents in their attempt to bridge the human world and the Ghost Zone (the parallel universe in which ghosts reside), that when plugged in, failed to work. Once inside, he inadvertently presses the "On" button (which his parents naively failed to do), thus activating the Portal and infusing his DNA with ectoplasm, transforming him into a half-ghost. Danny, who calls himself "Danny Phantom" in ghost form, develops the ability to fly, become invisible, intangible, and "overshadow" (possess and control) people after first learning how to switch back and forth at will between his ghost and human forms. Over time, he develops much stronger abilities, such as his Ghost Ray (a concentrated blast of energy he fires from his hand), his Ghostly Wail (an intensely powerful scream with sonic capabilities that knocks back anything caught in its path), 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 evil spirits. Danny turns to the life of a

, using his powers to rid his hometown of the various ghosts and mutant animals which begin to plague it and are almost always brought into the world thanks to the sporadic activation of the Fentons' Ghost Portal. Sam, Tucker, and Jazz are Danny's primary allies in his ghost-fighting activities, and help him keep his ghost-half a secret. Danny's ghost form is a polarization of what he looked like when he first entered the Ghost Portal. When he "goes ghost", his jet-black hair turns snow-white, his sky blue eyes turn neon green, and the black-and-white jumpsuit he had put on before the accident appears in negative color, with the originally white areas of the suit appearing black, and vice versa. In the premiere episode of season two, a ghost grants Sam's inadvertent wish that she and Danny had never met; in consequence, Danny loses not only memories but his ghost powers as well, as Sam had primarily been the one to persuade Danny to investigate the portal in the first place, which led to the accident. Luckily, however, Sam had been protected from the wish by the ghost-hunting technology of Danny's parents, allowing her to persuade the now fully human Danny to regain his powers by re-enacting the accident. This time, before Danny enters the portal, Sam replaces the logo of his father's face on the jumpsuit, which she also had removed the first time (if she hadn't, it would have been part of Danny's ghost form), with her recently designed "DP" fused-letter 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 (voiced by

Cree Summer Cree Summer Francks (born July 7, 1969) is an American-Canadian actress and singer. She is best known for her extensive work in animation, voicing characters such as Elmyra Duff in ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' and related media, Susie Carmichael ...

) who, for a short period of time, becomes his love interest, an enemy half-ghost Vlad Masters, an old college friend of his father's and considered to be Danny's true arch-rival, and even his own parents who, as ghost hunters, view Danny Phantom (as they would and do to any ghosts) as nothing but a menace to human society. Furthermore, Danny tries to keep his secret safe from his classmates, teachers, and family. Throughout the progression of the series, Danny slowly realizes his own potential and purpose, while both worlds slowly begin to accept him as their defender.

Episodes

Broadcast

''Danny Phantom'' premiered on April 3, 2004, at 9:30 p.m. with its first episode airing after the

. The final episode aired on August 24, 2007. Since the series' cancellation, reruns aired occasionally on

Nicktoons Nicktoons is the brand name used by Nickelodeon for their original animated series. All Nicktoons are produced partly at the Nickelodeon Animation Studio and list Nickelodeon's parent company (Paramount Global) in their copyright bylines. Since ...

until March 31, 2021. The series also aired on TeenNick's NickSplat block for the first time in January 2019, but episodes stopped airing on February 1, 2022, due to the discontinuation of NickRewind. The series aired on

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

, YTV, and

in Canada. ''Danny Phantom'' also appeared on CITV in the UK as part of the CITV morning block Action Stations in 2008.

Development

Butch Hartman came up with the idea for the show when he was moving his mother from

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

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Merchandise

Video games

There have been two video games released for the main series. '' Danny Phantom: The Ultimate Enemy'' is a 2D

platformer A platformer (also called a platform game, and sometimes a jump 'n' run game) is a subgenre of action game in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are characterized by levels wi ...

that adapts the events of the TV movie of the same name; it was released for the

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, and to international markets that June. It was later released in mainland China in 2004, under the name iQue Game Boy Advanc ...

on September 8, 2005. '' Danny Phantom: Urban Jungle'' is a

shooter game Shooter video games, or shooters, are a subgenre of action video games where the focus is on the defeat of the character's enemies using ranged weapons given to the player. Usually these weapons are firearms or some other long-range weapons, a ...

loosely based on the episode of the same name, released for the Game Boy Advance and

Nintendo DS The is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens worki ...

on September 19, 2006. Danny is one of the main heroes in the ''Nicktoons Unite!'' series, appearing in all four games: '' Nicktoons Unite!'', '' Nicktoons: Battle for Volcano Island'', '' Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots'', and '' SpongeBob SquarePants featuring Nicktoons: Globs of Doom''. Danny and other characters and locations from the series have also been featured in other Nickelodeon crossover video games, including: ''Nicktoons: Summer Camp'', '' Nicktoons Basketball'', '' Nicktoons: Freeze Frame Frenzy'', '' Nicktoons Movin''', '' Nicktoons Winners Cup Racing'', '' Nicktoons Nitro'', '' Nicktoons MLB'', '' Nickelodeon Super Brawl Universe'', '' Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix'', '' Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl'', ''Nickelodeon Extreme Tennis'', '' Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway'', and '' Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2''. Danny was one of several Nickelodeon-themed character skins released during a limited-time event in '' Smite'' on July 12, 2022

Print media

In October 2005,

Scholastic Corporation Scholastic Corporation is an American multinational publishing, education, and media company that publishes and distributes books, comics, and educational materials for schools, teachers, parents, children, and other educational institutions. P ...

published a Nick Zone chapter book, ''Stage Fright'', with an original ''Danny Phantom'' story written by Erica David and illustrated by Victoria Miller and Harry Moore. ''Danny Phantom'' also made several appearances in '' Nickelodeon Magazine'', including original comics "Brat's Entertainment!" (featuring Youngblood) and "Seeing Red" (featuring Undergrowth). A graphic novel, titled ''Danny Phantom: A Glitch in Time'', was released on July 18, 2023. It was written and illustrated by Gabriela Epstein and published by

Abrams Books Abrams, formerly Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (HNA), is an American publisher of art and illustrated books, children's books, and stationery. The enterprise is a subsidiary of the French publisher Média-Participations. Run by president and CEO Mar ...

. The graphic novel is set after the events of the series finale and features the return of Dark Danny. A sequel, ''Danny Phantom: Fair Game'', will be released November 4, 2025.

Home media

CreateSpace releases

Shout! Factory releases

Toys

Little official merchandise has been produced for ''Danny Phantom.'' In 2005,

Burger King Burger King Corporation (BK, stylized in all caps) is an American multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacks ...

released a line of ''Danny Phantom'' kids' meal toys. In 2012, a company called Jazwares Toys released a 6-inch tall action figure of ''Danny Phantom'' as part of their Nicktoons toy line. In 2020,

Funko Funko Inc. is an American company that manufactures Brand licensing, licensed and limited popular culture, pop culture collectibles, known for its licensed Polyvinyl chloride, vinyl figurines and bobbleheads. In addition, the company produces li ...

Pop released a limited edition Danny Phantom figure for 2020 New York City Comic Con. The figure was also released in Target stores.

Apparel

As of 2020, a line of ''Danny Phantom'' shirts is available at

Kohl's Kohl's Corporation (Kohl's is stylized in all caps) is an American department store retail chain store, chain. currently has 1,165 locations, operating stores in every U.S. state except Hawaii. The company was founded by Polish immigrant Maxwe ...

as part of their licensed Nickelodeon merchandise collection.

Reception

Critical reception

''Danny Phantom'' received critical acclaim by both television critics and audiences, amassing a cult following since its original run. Sean Aitchison from CBR said "''Danny Phantom'' might have a few elements that firmly place it in the 2000s, but the storytelling and design still feel fresh and fun in modern day. The show was full of action and humor, and the characters felt real and layered. If you're looking for an old Nickelodeon cartoon to rewatch, ''Danny Phantom'' should be on your list." Eric McInnis writing for Study Breaks Magazine said, "The show offered fun comedy, memorable characters, and fantastic character designs for the enemies Danny had to fight in each episode."

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{Portal bar, 2000s, Animation, Television, United States, California, Cartoon Danny Phantom 2004 American animated television series debuts 2007 American television series endings 2000s American animated television series 2000s American children's television series 2000s American high school television series 2000s American horror television series 2000s American science fiction television series 2000s American superhero television series 2000s American supernatural television series 2000s Nickelodeon original programming American children's animated action television series American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated horror television series American children's animated science fantasy television series American children's animated superhero television series American children's animated supernatural television series American teen animated television series Animated television series about families Animated television series about ghosts American English-language television shows Nicktoons Teen superhero television series Television series by Rough Draft Studios Television series created by Butch Hartman Television shows adapted into video games Television shows set in Colorado