Phineas and Ferb
| Phineas and Ferb | |
|---|---|
| File:P and F Logo.jpg The series logo. | |
| Created by | Dan Povenmire Jeff "Swampy" Marsh |
| Starring | Vincent Martella Thomas Sangster Ashley Tisdale Alyson Stoner Dee Bradley Baker Dan Povenmire Mitchel Musso Caroline Rhea Richard O'Brien Jeff "Swampy" Marsh Olivia Olson Tyler Alexander Mann |
| Opening theme | "Today is Gonna Be a Great Day" (Variation) by Bowling for Soup |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 59 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 22 min. (11 min. per episode) |
| Original release | |
| Network | Disney Channel Disney XD (United States) Family (Canada) |
| Release | August 17, 2007 – Present (United States) February 1, 2008 – Present (Worldwide) |
Phineas and Ferb (labeled as Disney's Phineas and Ferb) is a two-time[1] Emmy award nominated[1] Animated television series. Originally broadcasted as a preview on August 17, 2007 on Disney Channel, the series follows two Suburban[2] step-brothers[3] whose imagination brings them to create large and almost impossible plans and inventions. The series follows a particular plot system, in which running gags occur every episode and the B-Plot always consists of the boys' pet platypus living life as a secret agent, fighting an evil Druelseltsteinien[4] scientist.
Creators Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh met as layout artists on The Simpsons,[3] and later moved on to work on the Nickelodeon series Rocko's Modern Life.[3] The two had began an idea for a series, Dan creating a small drawing on a piece of paper in crayon of a triangular boy, who would later become the titular character Phineas. As they continued, they developed the concept of the series, and after 16 years[3] of pitching, landed the series on Disney Channel.[3]
The series has had a musical number in every episode since the song Gitchi, Gitchi, Goo from the episode "Flop Starz" was written and pitched to Disney, who loved it so much to ask the creators if one could be included in each episode.[5] Recording and writing are done by the creators, and the speed differs depending on the song.[4]
Production history
Early inspirations
As a child, co-creator Dan Povenmire lived in Mobile, Alabama. There, his mom always told him to never waste a day in the summer, and to do exciting things everyday. He would do several activities, such as digging a hole and more memorably, making home movies. Povenmire says, "My mom let me drape black material all the way across one end of our living room to use as a space field. I would hang little models of spaceships for these little movies I made with a Super 8 camera." Dan states that this is the inspiration for Phineas and Ferb.[6][5][7]
Conception
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.[3]
It was during this time that the pair started to develop a show that would allow them to continue working together as writers.[3] 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.[8]
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."[8]
Pitching and pickup
Povenmire and Marsh were no longer working together. Marsh had moved to London to work on an assortment of films and series including Postman Pat and Bounty Hamster. Povenmire had started animating and directing Family Guy episodes, but continued to shop the show around to Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, and Fox Kids.[3]
Studios were worried about the complexity of the plots for the time allowed. At Fox, there were a few meetings, but negotiations fizzled out. Nickelodeon kept sending it up higher and higher in the production personnel ranks, but it was eventually deemed too complicated to pull off. Their stubbornness and persistence paid off when Povenmire finally got a meeting with Disney.[3] According to Povenmire, "Disney was the first to say, 'Let's see if you can do it in 11 minutes.' We did it in the pilot and they said, 'Let's see if you can do it for 26 episodes.'"Cite error: The <ref> tag has too many names (see the help page).
Disney Channel's Senior VP of Original Series Adam Bonnet was a fan of Family Guy and wasn't scared off by Povenmire's work on the series. In fact, it was because of his connections to the primetime Fox animated sitcom known for its gross-out gags and raunchy humor that Bonnet wanted to see whatever Povenmire was working on. Povenmire recalls about Bonnet, "He called me for a meeting when I was working on a different pilot for them just to tell me how much he liked Family Guy. When I came back to pitch my own show, I think he was more open to it."[5]
Povenmire brought "some of that primetime animation timing without any of the raunch" to Phineas and Ferb. In fact, many of the blank stares and sight gags have a primetime and Tex Avery charm to them. "People think Family Guy is a success because of how raunchy the gags are. I don't think it would have been a success at all if the timing wasn't absolutely crystal pitch perfect – if there wasn't just the right amount of pause before or after the line. Comedy is all about timing and I think that's what people are responding to."[5]
Unlike non-animated series, Povenmire and Marsh didn't pitch a script, they pitched a storyboard. A storyboard is a scene-by-scene visual breakdown of how the episode would look. When it came time to present it to the executives overseas, Povenmire edited the storyboards together into a film, adding music, sound effects and providing the voices for all the characters. This animatic can be found on the Phineas and Ferb: The Fast and the Phineas DVD.[6]
Plot and humor
Stepbrother's Phineas Flynn and Ferb Fletcher (Vincent Martella and Thomas Sangster respectively) live in the town of Danville. The city's state, as stated by Dan Povenmire, "is wherever it needs to be for any episode[...] like 'Springfield' [from The Simpsons]."[9] The two stepbrothers are determined to make their summer the best it can be. To do so, they built outrageous and somewhat impossible inventions and other such items. Their sister, Candace, is obsessed with "busting" them, immediately calling their mom to inform her of the boys activities. Another key element of the show is the boy's pet platypus named Perry, who is a secret agent for the O.W.C.A ("Organization Without a Cool Acronym").[10] The point of this plot was to include action in the series.[5]
The series relies heavily on running gags. In each episode, Phineas exclaims "I know what we're gonna do today," character Isabella introduces herself with "Whatcha doin'?" and almost always Ferb will speak, even though he normally does not. Dr. Dooofenshmirtz, as well, will always trap Perry the Platypus in some way.[11] Along with this, cultural references are key to several moments, mostly in the episode title, like most animated television series. As heavily remembered for working on Family Guy, Dan Povenmire will include cut-aways in every episode he writes.[12] Like fellow cartoon Spongebob Squarepants, live-action shots are included alongside the animation several times, most recently in the episode The Chronicles of Meap. Coincidentally, both creators worked on Spongebob,[13][14] and likely asked for such elements.
The series includes several elements "for the adults."[4] As previously mentioned, pop-cultural references are vigorously worked into each episode, and double-entendres are included, however rarely.[15] Dan Povenmire has stated that the show is not at all raunchy like Family Guy, but however uses humorous blank stares and wording.[5] Another common elements include touching-to-life elements used by the character Dr. Doofenshmirtz. Usually, he will point out events happening in his life (such as gaining a "splitting headache"[16]) that are common in an average American-adult. This is an element Povenmire is proud to include in his show.[4]
Music
These are great – can you write a song for every episode?
— Disney's reaction to the original pitching of Phineas and Ferb songs.[5]
While writing for Rocko's Modern Life, Povenmire and Marsh were always based around a system that included "a song or a musical number, plus a big action/chase scene." Therefore, they wanted to include songs in the show. While pitching to Disney, they included this, having them hear Perry's signature "secret agent theme" and the song from the episode Flop Starz, and they loved them. They even asked them to write one for each episode, which the creators gladly complied to.[5]
Each song ranges in variety, from hard metal[17] to folk.[18] Povenmire and Marsh will, while each episode is made, come together and write the song, or songs, for that episode in their office. Each session is relatively short, as the two set up the concept, begin the beats and lyrical numbers, and then finally the lyrics themselves. This takes approximately twenty minutes to do.[19]
The theme song for is performed by American band Bowling for Soup, which was nominated for an Emmy-award in 2008.[1] Originally, the song was slower and more like a classic Disney song. The network, however, wanted to appeal to the generation, so the song was made into a rock/alternative song.[6]
Critical reception
![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by making an edit requestadding to it . |
The series received 10.8 million viewers for a 15-minute preview which aired following the Disney Channel premiere of High School Musical 2.[20] Since then, fans have grown, and dozens of websites have sprung up on the internet dedicated to the show.[21] On TV.com, it is currently rated 8.5.[22]
Marketing and merchandise
Disney has released several merchandise for the show. Plush toys of characters Perry, Ferb, and Phineas are in stores,[23] and Subway released miniature toys in their kids meals.[24] Novelizations have been released on several episodes, all written by different authors.[25] Comic books are being produced, supervised by the writers.[4]
Two season 1 DVDs, entitled The Fast and the Phineas and The Daze of Summer, have been released; both included never-seen-in-America episodes.[26] Fans, however, are unfavored of the release of non-Season box sets, and generally are upset with the volumes instead.[27] Disney has released several T-shirts for the show, including even setting up a "Make your own T-shirt" program on the Disney website.[28]
A Nintendo DS game was released in 2008, simply entitled "Phineas and Ferb." The creators had no part in the making of it; in fact, Dan Povenmire didn't know most anything about the game until he was given it himself.[4] In the game, Phineas and Ferb decide to build a roller coaster in order to alleviate boredom over the summer. In the game, the player plays as Phineas, Ferb, and occasionally as Agent P. Phineas scavenges for spare parts for the roller coaster while Ferb is used to fix various objects around town that are used to gain access to new areas. As well, Ferb is used to construct new parts and build the roller coaster and the corresponding vehicle. Each activity is completed with a short mini-game, such as carefully tracing over a line to weld or tapping the screen to hammer nails.[29]
Awards and nominations
| Awards | Outcome | |
| 2009 Annie Awards:[1] | ||
| Best Animated Television Program | Nominated | |
| 2009 Kids Choice Awards:[1] | ||
| Favorite Cartoon | Nominated | |
| 2008 Emmy Awards:[1] | ||
| Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music (For Theme Song) | Nominated | |
| Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics (For I Ain't Got Rhythm) | Nominated | |
Artistic and writing style
The series adopts artistic features from Tex Avery. The series includes geometric shapes in the characters and objects that appear in each episode. Triangles are featured as an easter egg in the background of every episode, sometimes in the trees and sometimes in the buildings.[8] The character Ferb shares a homage to Bill the Cat, as one eye is always larger then the other, which Povenmire has confirmed.[9]
The writers include running gags in every episode,[11] which build the basic foundation of the show and its plot. Starting in Season 2, the creators allowed the writers a "good deal of freedom to try new things."[30] This caused some mixed reviews for the season's preview episode, Tip of the Day.[31]
References
- ^ a b c d e f "Phineas and Ferb awards".
- ^ Phineas and Ferb episode, Leave the Busting to Us! Gaylor, Bobby and Oslon (2008)
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Animation World Magazine. Strike, Joe. ""From Dan and Swampy," Page 1." Cite error: The named reference "AM1" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ a b c d e f ""The Geek Dads" Podcast interview with Povenmire & Marsh".
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Animation Magazine Creator interview, Page 2".
- ^ a b c Original Story Pitch, Volume I: The Fast and the Phineas
- ^ "Alabama press".
- ^ a b c Animation World Magazine. Strike, Joe. "From Swampy & Dan Emerges Phineas and Ferb", Page 3.
- ^ a b "Dan Povenmire Correspondence on Phineas and Ferb wikia wiki".
- ^ ""Swampy" Marsh confirming Agency's name".
- ^ a b Every episode of Phineas and Ferb
- ^ Episodes Rollercoaster, Raging Bully, etc.
- ^ "Povenmire, Dan on IMDb".
- ^ "Marsh, Jeffery on IMDb".
- ^ As demonstrated in The Lake Nose Monster. Barry, John Colton & Pilusa, Piere (2008)
- ^ Crack that Whip! Bjorklund, Tim & Roberson, Kim (2008)
- ^ Greece Lightning. Olson, Martin & Gaylor, Bobby (2008)
- ^ The Flying Fishmonger. (2008)
- ^ "A Day With 'Phineas and Ferb'".
- ^ "High School Musical 2 "aces test"".
- ^ "Google results for "Phineas and Ferb"".
- ^ "Phineas and Ferb on TV.com".
- ^ "Amazon.com's selections for Phineas and Ferb toys".
- ^ "Disney and Subway? Phineas and Ferb! (forum)".
- ^ "Google results on Phineas and Ferb books".
- ^ "Amazon.com results for Phineas and Ferb DVDs".
- ^ "TV.com's "Phineas and Ferb DVDs" forum".
- ^ "Stylinonline.com on Phineas and Ferb shirts".
- ^ "Phineas and Ferb :: DS Game Review". Kidzworld. Retrieved 2009-05-02.
- ^ "Dan Povenmire on Tip of the Day".
- ^ "TV.com's forum on Tip of the Day".