Butch Hartman knows how to make successful children’s entertainment. As the creator of Nickelodeon’s most successful animated children’s series, “The Fairly OddParents,” he’s now focusing on making as much Christian content for children and families as possible. Hartman and his wife recently launched the 40-episode cartoon “The Garden,” which also has an app and a companion Bible that includes illustrations of the characters from the series.
“The Garden” centers around the characters Lenny the lion and Lucy the lamb. Together they live in a garden where everything that’s beautiful grows and they get to talk to God daily. God, whom they refer to as “the boss,” comes down as a rainbow, talks to them and gives them an assignment or task, which they usually do not do well until they reflect on Scripture which teaches them how to best accomplish their goal. Bible verses are shared through song, which helps children memorize the verses.
Hartman and his wife, Julieann, recently released the first six episodes on PureFlix, Yippee and Christian Cinema.
Their goal is to get Scripture into the hearts of children as early as possible.
Julieann explained that because of the show, “kids are learning how to go to God and to talk to God themselves.” She likened setting the scriptures to music to how many Gen Xers memorized important facts about U.S. history and civics by watching “Schoolhouse Rock!” which were educational short films that aired during children’s programming on Saturday mornings.