‘Phineas and Ferb The Movie Candace Against The Universe’ is the first great animated original feature for Disney+.
Today’s big Disney+ DIS streaming debut is a film that’s seemingly been in development for around a decade. I’ve been writing about a Phineas and Ferb movie, at least in theory, at least since 2012. And now, five years after the show ended its run on The Disney Channel, the final fruit of those labors, Candace Against the Universe, debuts on Disney’s streaming service. Short review: It’s pretty damn clever, offering a healthy helping of what made the sci-fi fantasy series such a delight while offering new character beats and plot turns to differentiate itself from the series. If you liked the show, you’ll like the movie. If you’ve never seen the show, well, there’s no time like the present. Since today is opening day, I’m sharing a zoom conversation with the show’s creators, Dan Povenmire and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh. We discussed previous versions of a theoretical Phineas and Ferb movie, attempts to shake up the character interaction and how to make the movie big enough and different enough to justify going back after the series came to an end. And now (edited for clarity and time), without further ado… Scott Mendelson: Was this the movie that was always in development back (in 2012)? Dan Povenmire: That was a different movie entirely. The only thing we saved from that script is the weird meta joke where reality breaks down, which was always my favorite gag in that other script. (Otherwise), this is a brand new one that we did specifically for Disney Plus. Mendelson: Well, I guess in that sense, did they come to you or did you go to them? Povenmire: Disney knew they were going to do a streaming service. They knew that they wanted to have stuff on the streaming service that they call co-viewing, meaning that adults and kids and grandparents could all watch it together. One thing that they had that was really a heavy co-viewing show was Phineas and Ferb, which is part of why it was such a big hit because like around 40% of the audience was adults. So they said, « Hey, do you guys want to break out the old characters again? » (Jeff “Swampy” March) and I were sort of exhausted at the end of 10 years of doing (the show). But five years later we realized, « I really miss those guys! Let’s break into this toy box again. » Mendelson: I’m one of those 40%. My daughter got into the show in 2011 and then lost interest after a month. My wife and I continued watching. Jeff “Swampy” Marsh: You’re part of that group got us the opportunity to make this movie. Mendelson: What did you want to do with this film that you feel you didn’t do with the 222 10-minute episodes of the show? Povenmire: Well, that was like the hard thing was the first week or so in the writer’s room. We sort of decided was that we’d never really told a story where anybody was in real jeopardy. Phineas and Ferb is so much just about fun and creativity and stuff. And, it was like, well, what if Candice gets in trouble, gets in real jeopardy? What if she gets abducted by aliens and is in real trouble and the boys have to go and save her? It’s not about what Doof is making and what Perry, Phineas and Ferb we’re making.
