The year was 2007. I was visiting my grandparents for a few days that summer. While watching Disney Channel, I kept seeing advertisements for a sneak peek of a new show. It looked interesting enough, so I stayed up late to see it, something I wouldn’t have been able to do at home. I was intrigued by what I saw. So I waited for the show to officially premier. And waited. And waited. I waited so long, I thought I had imagined the whole thing. But then, one day, when watching Disney Channel, I saw commercials for the show I watched at my grandparents’ house. I was so excited that the show was real. The show was as weird as I remembered, but I loved it. Even though the show has been off the air for a few years now, the catchphrases, the songs, and the characters are forever engraved into the minds of all who watched it. These are my thoughts on Phineas and Ferb.
The plot of this show is very formulaic. In fact, it’s so formulaic that it makes fun of itself multiple times. Something happens and gives Phineas an idea for the invention of the day, causing him to say, “Ferb, I know what we’re going to do today.” Isabella will come over and say, “Whatcha doing?” and join in on the fun. Candace will try to bust her brothers. Someone will say, “Where’s Perry?” and we cut to Perry’s (far more interesting) daily battle with Dr. Doofenshmirtz. Dr. D plans on using one of his inators to do something that will allow him to take over the Tri-State Area. It always backfires and usually ends up getting rid of whatever Phineas and Ferb invented that day, meaning they’re not busted. Perry will go home, where someone will say, “Oh, there you are, Perry.” And Ferb might say a line at the end of the episode. This is definitely not a show that you can impart logic on, because the second you do, everything just falls apart. Also the chance of a fourth wall break, especially in later episodes, is fairly high.
One of the things that makes this show so entertaining are the songs. There are way too many songs for me to review every single one of them. I did the math. There are 222 episodes and 341 songs in the series. A grand total of 5 episodes do not have any songs in them. That’s still an average of 1.54 songs per episode. I did not include any songs from Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension in my calculation, but the movie has 8 songs. You can find most of them on YouTube, along with various Top 10 lists. All I will say is, some songs are better than others. With that said, in no particular order, here are some of my personal favorite Phineas and Ferb songs: Busted, Gitchee Gitchee Goo, E.V.I.L. B.O.Y.S., Evil Love, Ain’t Got Rhythm, I Really Don’t Hate Christmas, Weaponry, and Brand New Best Friend.
Phineas Flynn, voiced by Vincent Martella, is a very imaginative boy. He will come up with a crazy scheme in a matter of seconds and have a plan for how to make it work. In a matter of hours, he and Ferb will have built something in their backyard. It could be a rollercoaster, a tower to the moon, a stadium, or anything else he can dream up. He loves his family dearly, especially his pet platypus. Many fans thought that Phineas’ real dad could be Dr. Doofenshmirtz because Linda and Heinz went on one date years ago. This doesn’t make any sense, since, in that same flashback, Doof says that the date didn’t end well, and he never saw her again. Also, the creators of the show have debunked this myth, so there’s that. In the first few episodes, his voice was slightly higher pitched. He is totally oblivious to the crush Isabella has on him. Phineas is always the one to come up with the idea of the day, and he loves building a new project every day. If he cannot build something, then he will be off until he is able to build something. He very rarely becomes angry with anyone, but when he does, it’s usually Candace. He does love his sister and will go out of his way to help her if she needs it. His goal is simply to have the best summer ever.
Ferb Fletcher, voiced by Thomas Sangster, is the British stepbrother of Phineas and Candace. He doesn’t talk very much, saying maybe one line per episode. Although he did have a monologue once. Nothing is known about his real mom, other than she was most likely British. I’m assuming he got the green hair from her. Either that or he dyes it, which we’re never told he does. Ferb has a huge crush on Vanessa, and in “Act Your Age,” they are shown as a couple. I know I shouldn’t rip too much into the six year age difference between them, especially since my parents are six years apart, but I don’t know a single twenty-four-year-old who would want to date an eighteen-year-old college freshman. Even my parents didn’t start dating until after my mom graduated college. But the way Ferb and Vanessa act implies that they’ve been dating for a while, which means that she dated a minor. A quick Google search tells me that this can be illegal, especially depending on how far they go physically. It varies state to state. Although she is the daughter of an evil scientist and the niece of the mayor, so I doubt she cares. And his parents are so inattentive he can and does get away with anything. Ferb is short for something, but it’s never stated what, and not even his family (or at least Candace) knows what Ferb is short for. However, since he was named after Frank Leisure, it could be Frank. However, a Tweet was sent out by Dan Povenmire saying his name was Ferbs. I’m not sure if I believe this, since Twitter is not really official in my opinion. Even though he rarely speaks, Ferb, like most characters in the show, is proficient in many instruments and can sing. A lot. He sings more than he speaks. He’s a quiet kid, but give him a microphone and he becomes a totally different person.
Candace Flynn, voiced by Ashley Tisdale, is the older sister of Phineas and Ferb. She is constantly trying to bust her brothers and always failing. She loves her brothers deep down, she just wants some justice, since she could never get away with what the boys do. I can sympathize. Growing up, my younger brother was constantly getting away with stuff I never would’ve been able to do. But I never went so far as to try and bust him to get him in trouble. When she’s not trying to bust Phineas and Ferb, she can be seen either hanging out with her best friend, Stacy, or she will be talking with Stacy on the phone. Or she will be stalking her crush and later boyfriend, Jeremy. They make a good couple, but I don’t know if they stay together after the series ends. She always wanted to name her kids Xavier and Amanda, and in the episode “Phineas and Ferb’s Quantum Boogaloo,” the boys discovered that Candace got married and had three kids of her own, named Amanda, Xavier, and Fred. According to the episode “Act Your Age,” she becomes a lawyer when she grows up. This suits her very well, especially given her obsessive and driven personality. She can be annoying at times, but overall she’s harmless and she just wants what’s fair.
Perry the Platypus aka Agent P, voiced by Dee Bradley Baker, is an agent for the Organization Without A Cool Acronym, or O.W.C.A. He is a platypus who pretends to be a mindless pet when he is not on duty. He never speaks and only makes whatever noise this is. If his family finds out that he’s really a secret agent, then he will be relocated and fight someone other than Doofenshmirtz. The movie was a what-if scenario of what would happen if the boys found out the truth and what would happen if Perry lost a fight to Dr. D. He doesn’t always stop Doof, but since Doofenshmirtz never really wins (in the sense that everything works out for him in the end) Perry never really loses to the man. It’s more like 98% of fights end in a win and 2% ends in a draw. I can only think of one fight where Perry had to walk away before Doofenshmirtz got his comeuppance. The Perry-Doof plots are always more interesting than whatever everyone else is doing. Perry is arguably the most competent agent at O.W.C.A., but since we hardly ever see the other agents in action, it’s not really a fair comparison. He is the only known agent with his own theme song though.
Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz, voiced by Dan Povenmire, is an evil scientist who tries to take over the Tri-State Area on a daily basis. He grew up in Gimmelshtump, Drusselstein, a Germanic country which is somewhere in Eastern Europe. He had a miserable childhood, as told through his many tragic backstories. But with all of the backstories that are shown, we never see him learn how to play guitar, but he must’ve picked it up at some point in his life. He sings his evil plans to Perry a lot, complete with backup singers. Doofenshmirtz used to have a YouTube channel called Doof’s Daily Dirt, even though videos were uploaded once a week. He would talk about random topics, like One Direction, The Hunger Games, or Platypus Day. The channel was taken down, but another channel was set up and at least some of the videos re-uploaded. I don’t think all of the original videos were uploaded onto the new channel. However, no new videos are being added. Because he wears a lab coat, everyone always thinks he’s a pharmacist, and he bought his doctorate degree off the internet. He can’t ever recognize Perry without his hat on, even if Perry puts it on and/or takes it off right in front of him. Since he was raised by ocelots, he was briefly employed by O.W.C.A. However, because of his incompetence, he was fired. One theorist suggests that Doofenshmirtz is being used by O.W.C.A. as their R&D department. Doof is a brilliant inventor who is years ahead of his time, however, he is a terrible scientist who manages to get basic things wrong. He built a giant robot named Norm once, and Norm considers Heinz to be his father and will often try to win his father’s affection, even though Doof can barely stand Norm. As much as he hates Norm, I don’t understand why he hasn’t deactivated the squirrel powered robot yet. He lives off of the alimony check he gets every month from his ex-wife, and he spends most of it on parts for his various inators. He is a part of the League Of Villainous Evildoers Maniacally United For Frightening Investments in Naughtiness or L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. for short. His schemes involve taking over the Tri-State Area, making people hate Roger so he won’t be mayor anymore, or both. In the last episode, he vowed to give up evil for his daughter. Doofenshmirtz is definitely my favorite character, and I think this is true for many people.
Isabella Garcia-Shapiro, voiced by Alyson Stoner, lives across the street from Phineas and Ferb. She is from a Jewish-Mexican family, her chihuahua, Pinky, is also an agent of O.W.C.A., and her voice is so high pitched and annoying it will make your ears bleed if you listen to her talk for too long. She has a huge crush on Phineas, which literally everyone but Phineas knows about. She is always eager to help Phineas and Ferb out with their latest scheme. She is the Type A leader of her local Fireside Girls Troop 46231, and she is known for going to extreme lengths to obtain every single patch. In the episode “Phineas and Ferb’s Quantum Boogaloo,” Candace’s daughter implies that she marries either Phineas or Ferb. Based on her obvious crush, and the ending of “Act Your Age,” we can guess that she and Phineas get married. She will do anything to be close to Phineas, and she loves it when he gives her attention.
Buford van Stomm, voiced by Bobby Gaylor, is the local bully and Baljeet’s best friend, sort of. He speaks French and Latin. He acts like a tough guy, but deep down he can be a real softie. He bullies everyone to an extent, but he bullies Baljeet the most and considers Baljeet to be his nerd. The two are actually friends, it’s just hard to tell at times. He has a soft spot for animals, especially his pet goldfish. Despite his gruff exterior, he is terrified of Little Suzy Johnson to the point that he dressed up as her when Phineas asked him to dress up as something terrifying. Even though he is a bully, he follows his own personal code of conduct. This includes being a servant to anyone who saves his life. If the guys need anything strange, there is a strong possibility that Buford will have whatever random object they require. Doofenshmirtz once employed Buford to bully anyone and everyone, but Buford decided that he only wanted to bully those he cared about.
Baljeet Tjinder, voiced by Maulik Pancholy, is an Indian boy who is a nerd and is bullied by Buford. Even so, he and Buford are best friends. He is super smart and he loves learning so much that he will take summer classes for fun. He is obsessed with getting good grades and will panic if he believes that he might not get an A on a project. I’m not sure who’s supposed to be smarter, Baljeet or Ferb. They both know a lot of trivia, they’ve both had smart/nerdy kid moments, and they seem to be on the same level as each other academically speaking. However, in “Act Your Age,” Baljeet was shown to have graduated high school and college early, while Ferb did not. That is not to say Ferb couldn’t have graduated early, but maybe he chose not to graduate early so he could graduate with his brother and friends. Baljeet, unlike Ferb, speaks more than one sentence per episode, and he definitely plays into the smart kid stereotype more than Ferb. Baljeet is not my favorite character, and I’m not really sure why they felt the need to add him in halfway through the first season. He’s not my least favorite character, that award goes to Irving, but he’s not high up on my list either. Personally, I feel like he doesn’t add much in terms of contributing to the building project of the day. If anything, he’s often the reason that Phineas and Ferb build anything at all some days.
Jeremy Johnson, voiced by Mitchel Musso, is Candace’s love interest and eventual boyfriend. He has a little sister named Susie who is an absolute terror to anyone she’s not related to, so much so that even Buford is afraid of her. Mostly though she’s a terror to Candace, but of course, Jeremy and his family don’t see that side of Susie. Jeremy is a good big brother to her, and will often take her places in his free time. When he’s not working at Mr. Slushy Burger/Mr. Slushy Dawg, he’s the lead singer in a band. It took a while for him to work up the courage to confess his feelings to Candace, but he did and they’ve been together ever since. We don’t know if Candace and Jeremy end up getting married or not, however, given the odds on the number of high school sweethearts who stay together forever, more likely than not the two break up at some point and go their separate ways. Jeremy is a year older than Candace and goes into college before her. The creators said at the 2015 Comic-Con that Jeremy and Candace would get married, but it was never stated in the show, so it’s not canon.
Vanessa Doofenshmirtz, voiced by Olivia Olson, is the goth daughter of Heinz and Charlene. She is mostly embarrassed by her dad since he treats her like a little girl and not like the sixteen-year-old she is. She knows Doof is evil, and she sometimes tries to convince her mom that Heinz is an evil scientist, but her mom never believes her. After a while, Vanessa appears to have given up trying to bust her father. Vanessa lives with her mom, but she visits her dad frequently. In the last episode, she was accepted into O.W.C.A.’s internship program and convinced her dad to give up his evil ways. She was in a relationship with Johnny for a while, then with Monty Monogram- Major Monogram’s son- for a little bit. She was shown to be in a relationship with Ferb in “Act Your Age,” and she might be aware of Ferb’s crush on her. At the very least, she is okay with just being friends with him. Given the fact that Ferb is around ten years old, anything more than just friends would be cause for concern.
Linda Flynn-Fletcher and Lawrence Fletcher, voiced by Caroline Rhea and Richard O’Brien respectively, are the parents of Candace, Phineas, and Ferb. They never see what the boys were up to that day, although they have seen the results a couple of times. Like when the boys reunited the band Love Händle for their anniversary in “Dude, We’re Getting the Band Back Together.” Actually, Lawrence is more likely to see what the boys are up to, but he doesn’t care what they do as long as no one gets hurt. Linda would care, but she never sees them. As such, she thinks Candace has an overly active imagination, and will often give snarky remarks in response to Candace's claims. Linda appears in most episodes while Lawrence appears in less. Linda used to be a pop star under the name Lindana, but she only had one hit song. She and her husband now run an antique store in Danville.
Major Francis Monogram and Carl, voiced by Jeff “Swampy” Marsh and Tyler Alexander Mann, run O.W.C.A., a spy organization that employs animals instead of humans. Monogram and Carl may be the only human employees in the entire company, or at least in that branch. Pinky the Chihuahua reports to Admiral Acronym instead of Monogram, so he may be in a different branch of O.W.C.A. from Perry. Carl is an unpaid intern. He mostly runs the camera and other technical things, but he ultimately does whatever Monogram tells him to. Monogram is hard on Carl, but he does sort of respect the kid. They keep a close eye on Doofenshmirtz, and Doofenshmirtz knows it. Heinz will actively mock Monogram and Car, and he can call O.W.C.A. anytime he wants to, like when he is sick and can’t do anything that day. Like I said earlier, it’s possible O.W.C.A. is using Heinz as their R&D department, but I don’t know how likely it is.
Charlene Doofenshmirtz, voiced by Allison Janney, is Heinz’s ex-wife and Vanessa’s mother. She is very similar to Linda, right down to the sarcastic personalities. The two are even in a cooking class together. I don’t know why she would marry someone who claims to be evil (though she never sees his evil schemes). Maybe Heinz hadn’t gone full-blown evil when he married Charlene. After all, Vanessa tries to convince her multiple times that Heinz is in fact evil, but Charlene never believes her. She is wealthy and gives Heinz a generous alimony check every month. Charlene states the reason she and Heinz divorced was because they wanted different things. The one thing they seem to have in common is they both care for Vanessa. The two seem to have a relatively civil relationship.
Roger Doofenshmirtz, voiced by John O’Hurley, is the younger brother of Heinz. He was the favorite child growing up, and he knew it. He was spoiled by his parents (or at least by his mother), and everyone who meets him loves him, which is how he was elected mayor. He seems to be the best mayor in the history of Danville, even though he is often shown shirking his duties. Roger does not speak with a Drusselsteinian accent. He knows Heinz wants to be in charge of the Tri-State Area, and if it looks like he will get in trouble for something that's happening, he will let Heinz appear to be the guy in charge, so no one will hate him. Despite the sibling rivalry, Roger does at the very least respect Heinz.
Stacy Hirano, voiced by Kelly Hu, is Candace’s best friend. She is the older sister of Ginger, who is in the Fireside Girls and has a crush on Baljeet. Stacy can often be seen talking on the phone with Candace. She will often try to help Candace bust Phineas and Ferb, but there is a strong likelihood that she will be sucked into the coolness and fail at her mission. In the episode “Phineas and Ferb’s Quantum Boogaloo,” it is said that she became the president of Uruguay. She does know that Perry is a secret agent, but since she is not family, her memory was not erased. She is in a relationship with Jeremy’s friend and bandmate, Coltrane, but this relationship isn’t explored as much as Candace and Jeremy’s relationship. All in all, Stacy is a typical teenage girl who loves spending time with her BFF at the mall.
This show has the rare distinction of being something that my entire family will sit down and watch together. Usually, this only happens with something like Star Wars or Indiana Jones. We all have different opinions on what we like to watch, and my brother is dead set against cartoons, calling them childish and dumb, among other things. Yet he enjoys Phineas and Ferb as much as I do. My parents also enjoy this show and will sit down and actively watch it with us, even though again it's not in their wheelhouse.
Like the plot, the animation and backgrounds are really simple. Many backgrounds are just a plain wall with a lighter shade of triangles on it. However, the designs of all the characters and inventions are unique. It’s bright and colorful, so little kids will enjoy it, but there’s enough character depth and creativity to keep older kids and adults interested. The show was never to be about how it looked. It was always about the characters. The simple backgrounds force you to focus on what the characters are doing. And the characters are always doing something. They’re never still for more than a few seconds at a time. (Seriously, it was so hard for me to get good pictures of them because they’re never still. Add in the craziness of the holidays and that’s why this post took me forever.) They’re always with other people, either talking about what they’re going to do or doing it. There are no quiet moments in this show.
What I really enjoyed about this review was finally having an excuse to go back and watch the episodes from the last season. I didn’t get to watch them on TV when they aired because of college. Oh well. Better late than never. It did get a little weird in the last season, but it was ending, so the writers were able to get away with it. And it never felt like it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility, because of how the show is set up. Overall, this is a good show when you just want mindless entertainment at the end of a long day. There’s really only one question that they never answered: Where did the Giant Floating Baby Head come from?
I’m SJ, and these are my real thoughts on Phineas and Ferb.