Saturday, April 11, 2026

Nickelodeon Once Stopped a 'Fairly OddParents' Crossover with 'SpongeBob SquarePants', Butch Hartman Reveals

In a new video, The Fairly OddParents creator Butch Hartman reveals that Nickelodeon once stopped a crossover between The Fairly OddParents and SpongeBob SquarePants, two of Nickelodeon's biggest shows at the time, despite SpongeBob SquarePants creator Stephen Hillenburg saying that it was a good idea. Butch also reveals that the late creator of SpongeBob also approached him to work in an animator position on SpongeBob before Fairly OddParents was sold.


Specifically, Hartman said, “I was pretty good friends with Steve Hillenburg (creator of SpongeBob SquarePants), and I said, ‘we should probably do a crossover.’ He was very open to the idea and he thought it would be a great idea. I took the idea to the heads of Nickelodeon, and they said, ‘You’re not doing that.’ I asked them why not and they said, ‘We want to keep SpongeBob on his own, and we want to keep you on your own,’ which was strange because I did a crossover with Jimmy Neutron.” You can see the video for yourself below.

Hartman then explained his thoughts as to why Paramount initially decided to shoot down the crossover concept, “They wouldn’t let me touch SpongeBob, they just wouldn’t let me do it. I think because SpongeBob, in their eyes, was their premier character. I think it would have been awesome.”. Hartman takes the opportunity in the video to spitball crossover ideas, while drawing all the characters who would have been involved.

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Additional source: ComicBook.com.

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