Phineas and Ferb is an award winning animated comedy series from Disney Channel. The story follows two step brothers who spend their summer vacation embarking on adventures and creating elaborate humorous contraptions. During their exploits, their older sister tries to spoil the fun by tattling to their mother.
Though the show originally went off the air over ten years ago, the characters have remained in the spotlight appearing in shorts, making cameos in other series, and starring in a Disney+ film. Phineas and Ferb and the rest of the Danville faithful are set to return next week with all-new episodes.
Ahead of the season five premiere, creators Dan Povenmire and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh spoke to the press. The pair reflected back upon the earlier years and talked a little of the upcoming season.
The duo spoke of the motivation behind Phineas and Ferb, and the reasons are as relevant back then as they are now. There is a stark contrast between their childhood and the present youth. They believe kids today mostly stay indoors glued to their screens whether it’s video games, tablets, or phones. “We used to go out and build things and do things and put on plays in our backyard and build go-karts and roll them down hills,” Marsh said. “But we kind of wanted to have that spirit back of what we did in the summer, and that was kind of the basis for the whole show.”
Povenmire has an extensive resume in animation working on iconic programming. When given the opportunity for his own show, he had lofty goals. “What I’m shooting for is changing the demographic of Disney Channel, because I had been on SpongeBob [SquarePants] when it changed the demographic of Nickelodeon, I’d been on The Simpsons when it changed the demographic of Fox.
He continued, “I felt like that’s the high watermark that you need to shoot for. And within three months of it being on the air, they were already articles about how we had changed the demographic of Disney Channel…I think the success really far surpassed what we thought we were gonna get.”
With such a large gap between seasons, Phineas and Ferb has the tricky task of satisfying the previous fan base while also attracting a new, younger audience. That process began in the writers’ room which included writers from the original run along with new writers who grew up watching the show. But in the end, the creators didn’t want to change their formula. “We tried not to make it feel different, but we wanted it to have sort of, you know, a fresh energy,” Povenmire shared.
“We just- we didn’t want to reinvent everything. It was working fine before and we just thought we should just keep doing what we’ve been doing,” Marsh added.
The season five premiere of Phineas and Ferb airs June 5 on Disney Channel.
