Series creator Butch Hartman came up with the idea for the show while he was moving his mother from Las Vegas to Los Angeles.

The series premiered on April 3, 2004, airing immediately after the 2004 Kids' Choice Awards.

Danny's ghost form is a color-inverted, polarized version of his human appearance: his black hair turns white, his blue eyes turn neon green, and his jumpsuit's colors reverse.

In the season two premiere, a ghost grants Sam's wish that she and Danny had never met, causing Danny to lose his memories and his ghost powers since Sam had originally persuaded him to explore the portal.

When Danny re-enacts the portal accident to regain his powers, Sam replaces the Fenton logo on his jumpsuit with her own newly designed fused-letter "DP" logo, which becomes part of his ghost form from then on.

A campaign called the Go Ghost Again Movement has emerged to push for a revival of the series, including a Change.org petition that has gathered thousands of signatures.

A graphic novel sequel titled Danny Phantom: A Glitch in Time, written and illustrated by Gabriela Epstein, was released in 2023 and is set after the series finale, featuring the return of the villain Dark Danny.

For more than fifteen years after its premiere, only a minimal amount of official Danny Phantom merchandise was produced, before a resurgence of toys and apparel through partnerships like BoxLunch and Kohl's in the 2020s.