How We Find God In the Highs and Lows of Life: Butch Hartman & Matt Cooper

2026-07-30

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This week, we’ll hear from Butch Hartman, the animator and creator behind Nickelodeon’s biggest shows, including The Fairly OddParents and Danny Phantom. Butch grew up in a chaotic household in Michigan, where television and comic books served as his primary escape. This early passion eventually led him to California’s top animation school and then to a long career at Nickelodeon. Today, we’ll hear why he walked away after nearly twenty years at the network to start his own studio. Later in the episode, we’ll hear from Matt Cooper, a...

This week, we’ll hear from Butch Hartman, the animator and creator behind Nickelodeon’s biggest shows, including The Fairly OddParents and Danny Phantom. Butch grew up in a chaotic household in Michigan, where television and comic books served as his primary escape. This early passion eventually led him to California’s top animation school and then to a long career at Nickelodeon. Today, we’ll hear why he walked away after nearly twenty years at the network to start his own studio.

Later in the episode, we’ll hear from Matt Cooper, a country artist from Jacksonville, Florida who turned the worst year of his life into a number one radio single. After losing his mother to cancer, Matt found himself white-knuckling his grief, until a late night group therapy session cracked something open and sent him home to write a song in a single hour that would change everything.

Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned:

Jesus Calling Podcast

Jesus Calling

Jesus Always

Jesus Listens

Past interview: Jimi Cravity

Upcoming interview: Sarah Jakes Roberts

Butch Hartman

CalArts

The Garden - Cartoon created by Butch Hartman

Matt Cooper

“Good God” - song by Matt Cooper

“Highs and Lows” - song by Matt Cooper

Interview Quotes:

“I was [at Nickelodeon] for a lifetime, and I thought it’s time to go build a new life somewhere else with my own way to do this.” - Butch Hartman

“There are millions of people out there that will never go into a church, but they’ll hold a screen in their hand and they’ll watch something. So it’s my job as a producer and a showrunner and a studio head to make sure that whatever goes on that screen is uplifting and is good for people’s souls and their spirit.” - Butch Hartman

“There are kids out there I will never meet, but I know that the content I’m producing is going to somehow affect their life in a positive way for the Lord.” - Butch Hartman

“We have to be very wise about the decisions we make, especially when it comes to entertainment, because it lives forever.” - Butch Hartman

“I think it’s really hard, especially as a man, to deal with grief, because you try to white knuckle everything as a dude.” - Matt Cooper

“I’m a big believer in therapy. It was really, really great for me. It was a way for me to talk through the emotions that I had just been hiding a lot.” - Matt Cooper

“I wrote my song 'Highs and Lows' in one hour. It was the fastest song I ever wrote. And that was the first sense of like finding music as a way of dealing with my grief.” - Matt Cooper

“I think the biggest thing that I’ve taken away from grief is that I understand more of the love of the Father than I ever had in my life.” - Matt Cooper

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Enjoy watching these additional videos from Jesus Calling YouTube channel!

Audio Episodes: https:/bit.ly/3zvjbK7

Bonus Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3vfLlGw

Jesus Listens: Stories of Prayer: https://bit.ly/3Sd0a6C

Peace for Everyday Life: https://bit.ly/3zzwFoj

Peace in Uncertain Times: https://bit.ly/3cHfB6u

What’s Good? https://bit.ly/3vc2cKj

Enneagram: https://bit.ly/3hzRCCY

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