Phineas and Ferb

Published on: 11th April, 2009

Phineas and Ferb is a Disney Channel animated television series that centers on two stepbrothers and their beyond-the-impossible adventures in their backyard during summer vacation. The series premiered on February 1, 2008 as the first Disney Channel Original Series to premiere simultaneously worldwide. The show’s official U.S. premieres were marketed as Phineas and Ferb-uary, due to new episodes being shown every day during the month of February. A sneak peak of the second season was shown January 23, 2009, as the episode “Tip of the Day,” on Toon Disney. The series uses a classic-Disney formula by putting musical numbers in each episode. The show uses cutaway gags like the show Family Guy.

Origins

Creators Dan Povenmire and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh met while working on The Simpsons in the mid-1990s, where they sat across from each other as layout artists on that series. They bonded over a shared sense of humor and were eventually paired as a writing team on Rocko’s Modern Life for Nickelodeon where they learned more and more aspects of the animation production business.[1]

It was during this time that the pair started to develop a show that would allow them to continue working together as writers.[1] At the Wild Thyme restaurant in South Pasadena, California, where they have butcher paper over the tables and crayons for you to draw with, Povenmire was sharing a meal with his wife when he drew the first sketch of a triangle-headed kid. Povenmire called Marsh that evening and told him the news: he had Phineas.[2]

All the other characters grew from that simple triangle-headed kid. Phineas is a triangle, Ferb is a rectangle, and Candace is a half-circle. Then they decided to work geometric shapes into the background to tie the whole thing together. Marsh describes this homage to legendary Looney Tunes animator/director Tex Avery, “There’s a little bit of Tex Avery in there — he had that very graphic style [in his later cartoons]. A lot of what I see now is borrowed from Tex.”[2]

Characters
Main article: List of Phineas and Ferb characters

* Phineas Flynn – Phineas is a friendly and creative boy, inspired to make the summer as great as it can be by coming up with ideas for unusual, exciting, huge, and sometimes impossible activities from things of his everyday life: from TV commercials to random conversation topic. Phineas is also shown to have a wide array of musical abilities such as singing and songwriting and can play many different instruments. His stepbrother, Ferb, is his partner in their activities. He loves his sister Candace, and often tries to please or help her, by putting her face on Mount Rushmore for her birthday, making her tree house better, or helping her learn how to drive. However, he usually accidentally upsets her with his schemes. He has a normal relationship with his mom and his step-dad. He often wonders about the whereabouts of his pet platypus Perry, unaware of his pet’s double life. He is very nice to his friends, and met Isabella in the past (how they met is unknown). She has a really big crush on him, but whether or not he returns her feelings is unknown. It is sure that he does not know of the crush. A recurring theme is when people ask if he is too young to be working on his current project, to which he almost always responds, “Yes, yes I am.” with pure honesty.

* Ferb Fletcher – Ferb is Phineas’s intelligent but laconic stepbrother from Britain. Ferb is a very quiet boy, but he is not shy at all. He is incredibly brilliant and has a great sense of mechanics and electronics. He built a roller coaster and a giant track, a real radio-controlled race car, a lot of arenas and stadiums, a space ray, a monster truck, a rocket ship, and a time machine. He is always willing to help Phineas in his incredible plans, no matter what the circumstances are. In the series, Ferb almost always speaks at the end of each episode for a few seconds. Whenever the usually reticent Ferb talks, it is most often a one-liner. Ferb is talented at changing his voice, usually using a deep voice while singing. Like Phineas, Ferb is also talented and can play a large variety of instruments, which include trumpet, guitar, keyboards, rock ‘n’ roll drums, harmonica, and Jamaican drums. Ferb is also shown to have a knack for rollerskating.

* Candace Flynn/Kevin – Candace is 15 years old, entering the 10th grade and the main antagonist. She is always aware of the boys’ plans. She is generally a spoil-sport and always attempts to get the boys in trouble with their mom by “busting” them, but when she finally gets her mother’s attention to see what they are doing, they appear innocent and normal on account of the unaccounted doings of Perry the Platypus and Dr. Doofenshmirtz. Candace nurtures a permanent crush on Jeremy Johnson. In a sense, she is the exact opposite of her brothers, being terribly afraid of heights and easily getting sick or dizzy. She has a “Panic Room” in their basement to hide in when she freaks out on account of her brothers’ tricks, as seen in “i Brobot”. While Candace is constantly angry at her brothers, there are indications that underneath she loves them. In “Traffic Cam Caper” she saves Phineas at the expense of losing the evidence (though that was only after she had lost the evidence anyway), and in the episode “Dude, We’re Getting the Band Back Together”, she gives Phineas a big smile and a hug. In “It’s A Mud, Mud, Mud World” she cannot tell on her brothers, presumably because they were helping her, maybe because her stepfather was present. Candace is good at singing, as seen in “flop stars” (even when her voice changes due to an allergic reaction to wild parsnips) and numerous other episodes. She can play a number of instruments, all of which begin with the letter “B” (bass, bongos, basoon, etc). She is also the only character that has seen Perry as a secret agent but at the time believed to be under the effect of wild moss. In “Phineas And Ferb Get Busted” she finally succeeds in busting her brothers, but misses her brothers and decides to rescue them from reform school which was actually her dream, then shown it was Perry’s dream. She has a very long neck, which is pointed out many times during the series, and is allergic to dairy (stated in “Candace Loses Her Head”) and wild parsnips (stated in “Jerk De Soleil”). Candace has her own little theme song, reminiscent of that of the Wicked Witch of the West and is often seen riding a bicycle.She is somtimes called Kevin by a talking Zebra.

* Linda Flynn – Mother to Phineas and Candace, stepmother to Ferb. She is married to Lawrence Fletcher, but she seems not to use his last name as most other characters call her “Ms. Flynn”, except for one time when she was referred to as “Mrs. Fletcher” by Isabella in “Candace Loses Her Head”. Linda is portrayed as a regular American mother, although she plays in a free-form jazz band with Isabella and Jeremy’s mother, and was once a one-hit wonder pop star under the name ‘Lindonna (a reference to Madonna)as seen in “flop stars”. She is generally busy or trying to relax, when her daughter tries to get her to see that the boys are up to some crazy plan. She seems to think Candace is crazy and needs professional help. When the boys reveal their schemes and accomplishments, she thinks they have an “overactive”, yet “adorable”, imagination.

* Lawrence Fletcher – The father of Ferb, stepfather of Phineas and Candace. He has the last name Fletcher, though he was once called “Mr. Flynn” by Isabella. Lawrence is an archaeologist from the United Kingdom. He keeps his treasured memories in a toolbox. It has been shown how he agrees to follow Phineas’s instructions and even forces Candace to cooperate, as if he considers Phineas’s and Ferb’s skills normal.

* Perry the Platypus – Phineas’s and Ferb’s pet, who lives a double life as a secret agent under Major Monogram, combating Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz. He often makes a purring noise during significant

moments. The Flynn-Fletcher family are not aware of Perry’s double life, thinking of him as a mindless, domestic pet.

* Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz – Doofenshmirtz is a (usually) unhappy German American man, also a mad scientist. He is the head of his own single-person company, Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated. All his evil plans tend to be thwarted by Perry the Platypus. The Doctor has turned evil because of his unhappy, unprovided and sad childhood in an unknown European town named “Druselstein,” perhaps the state he lived in, where his family were poor farmers and he was forced to be a lawn gnome. Coming from this background, presently he attempts to wreak havoc across the entire tri-state area. His ex-wife, Charlene, pays him alimony. He has a teenage daughter named Vanessa who is less-than-thrilled with him or his schemes. She sometimes tries to “bust” her father, like Candace tries to bust her brothers. His elder brother Roger—the favorite of their mother—is a respected politician in Danville and holds the mayoral post. Heinz is not really a doctor, as pointed out by his daughter, as his Doctorate Degree has a $15 price tag on it. When Perry the Platypus defeats Dr. Doofenshmirtz, Doofenshmirtz usually says “Curse you, Perry the Platypus!” Almost all of Dr. Doofenshmirtz’s inventions have the suffix “-inator.” His first invention as a child was simply “Inator” that he entered into a science fair. He has a tatto of the word EVIL on his upper arm as seen in Cheez Platapus.

* Major Monogram- He is Perry the Platypus’s boss and gives him missions to stop Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz’s endless reign of terror upon the Tri-State Area. Major Monogram usually appears on a giant screen giving Perry instructions for his next mission, but it is revealed that he never wanted to be a major. He usually isn’t wearing pants when he gives Perry his missions, but hides it by using close-ups. In “Unfair Science Fair”, he was seen without his wig on. Phineas, Ferb, Dr. Doofenshmirtz, and Lawrence Fletcher are the only people who have accidentally seen Major Monogram

* Isabella Garcia-Shapiro – Best friend of Phineas and Ferb. She’s also the leader of the Fireside Girls. She can change her voice as Ferb can, usually higher, not lower and often assists the boys in their plans, enlisting the whole troop of girls in the process (often to obtain new badges or other credits related to the girl scouts). In the episode ‘One Good Scare Ought to Do It!’ it is revealed that her biggest fear is losing Phineas (not suprisingly). She has a really big crush on him, which can be seen in the very first episode. She always enters into the scene with the catchphrase “What’cha doin’?” and usually offers help from the Fireside Girls. She sings well, as demonstrated in the episodes “Flop Starz”. She can do a very loud finger whistle, as seen in S’winter. She also has a swimming pool in her backyard.

* Jeremy Johnson – Candace’s crush. Jeremy has an affection for Candace but every time he sees her, something embarrassing happens to Candace. Jeremy works at “Mr. Slushy Burger”, sometimes called “Mr. Shlushy Dawg” at the mall.

* Stacy Hirano- Candace’s very enthusiastic best friend. She rarely appears in person in the series, since most of the time she’s talking by phone, but is usually Candace’s companion when something very exciting happens. She is one of the few persons who knows the truth about the boys, although is never concerned about it. She usually convinces Candace to participate and enjoy the moment instead of trying to bust her brothers; in fact, in “Put That Putter Away” she was dispatched by an bed-ridden Candace to bust Phineas & Ferb, but wound up having so much fun with them that she forgot her mission and joined the boys.

* Vanessa Doofenshmirtz – Vanessa is Dr. Doofenshmirtz’s 16 year old teenage daughter. She is very sarcastic and mild-mannered. Her dad and mom are divorced. Vanessa is aware that Doofenshmirtz is an evil scientist and knows her father’s enemy, Perry The Platypus. Her character’s relationship to Dr. Doofenshmirtz is like that of Candace’s relationship to Phineas and Ferb as they both want “bust” their brothers/father. A curious detail to note about her is that Perry and Vanessa seem to be completely invisible to each other, despite the fact that Dr. Doofenshmirtz constantly introduces her as his “evil assistant”. Vanessa is shown not to care for Perry’s presence in any way. By coincidence, Candace often crashes, lands, yells or even travels next to Vanessa, but have only met twice. Though she does try to reveal her father, she still loves him deep down. Vanessa has a close friend named Lacey (coincidentally rhyming with Stacy, Candace’s friend). In the episode “Dude, We’re Getting The Band Back Together” Vanessa thanks Perry the Platypus for fixing her 16th birthday by having Doofensmirtz shoot all the decorations with a ray gun. Ferb appears to have a crush on Vanessa, as revealed in the episode “I Scream, You Scream.”

* Buford Von Stom – He has a noticeable Mid-Atlantic accent. He likes tough stuff, but is afraid of the most trivial things, as shown in “Raging Bully,” in which ice-cream falls on his pants and he screams. It is frequently mentioned that everybody is afraid of him, but he really does not hurt anyone on-screen. He is present in the series more often as a good guy than as a bully, and for this reason receives frequent invitations from Phineas to join them in the fun. Buford owns a fish named Biff, after his mother.

* Baljeet Patel- A boy of Indian decent, he is often portrayed as an insecure kid, especially around Buford. For some reason, he usually ends up teaming with him, which increases his constant nervous shakes. He’s very smart, but most of his personality is eclipsed by the extreme terror he feels when Buford is around. He stated in “Unfair Science Fair” that his worst grade would be an A- if he failed on his Portal to Mars.

* Grandma Betty Jo Flynn and Grandpa Clyde Flynn- They are the Flynn-Fletcher kids’ maternal grandparents and they invite them, along with the neighborhood kids, to a lake house every summer. Though they are old, they sometimes like to get the best of the kids and often participate in their capers. Betty Jo has an identical twin sister, called Lauren, who lives in a wardrobe and only comes out once.

* Carl- Major Monogram’s Intern. Carl is usually un-seen in person in most episodes, however his voice or face (somewhat like Major Monogram) is frequently seen. He is known for ‘messing things up’ in most episodes.

* Jenny- Candace’s 2nd best friend. She has only made 3 notable appearances, (on Phineas and Ferb’s ‘backyard beach’, making jelloton models with Stacy, Candace and with Jeremy, and a person who avoids Candace (known as “The Unknown Guy”) on the sidewalk in “Unfair Science Fair”)

Phineas and Ferb

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