Disney+ has been a fantastic streaming service not only for giving fans access to so much beloved classic content but also for all the new series and movies that are making new fans every day. If you're into Star Wars you have The Mandalorian and a final season of The Clone Wars. Marvel fans are getting a whole collection of series on the way. And now even fans of the great Phineas and Ferb are getting to revisit the popular characters with the new film Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against the Universe!
Ahad of the film's Disney+ debut this Friday I had a chance to speak with series creators Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh. I asked the pair about how the new film came to be, and it turns out the movie everybody will see on Friday was actually the second idea the pair had for a Phineas and Ferb film. The first idea, it seems, would have been a solid idea, but it would have only worked for a specific segment of the audience. As Dan Povenmire explained...
It was an entirely different idea at the beginning. Before we even went to script we did a long outline on a different story entirely which the executives ended up saying ‘This one’s a little too outside the box for the show.’ It was something that they said ‘This would be great if the show was still being made on the air and was still the big number one animated show in the world and everybody was familiar with it. But we’re looking for something that will help initiate a new generation into Phineas and Ferb that may not be familiar with it.’
Disney+ has a couple of clear goals when it comes to the original content on the service. Of course, the fact that a given movie or series can't be seen anywhere else is important, but Disney obviously also understands that in between those original movies, people need to have other things they want to watch. The plan for Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against the Universe! is that anybody can watch it and enjoy it, even those who have never watched Phineas and Ferb before. But hopefully, after watching the film, those new fans will want to go and watch the series.
Dan Povenmire and "Swampy" Marsh wouldn't give me too many details about what this other idea entailed, beyond the fact that it would have taken the characters to very different places and probably been somewhat unlike the cartoon series in a lot of ways. Dan Povenmire continued...
And for that, it didn’t work at all because it was sort of like taking everything about Phineas and turning it on its head and having relationships that didn’t really exist and stuff. And so we started again after literally a couple months of writing one.
However, it seems there was a good reason why the duo didn't want to talk too much about the other film project. If the stars align in the right way, they'd still love to make that movie...
Povenmire: I would love to make that other movie actually, I think it’s one of the best stories we’ve come up with. But we’ll see.Marsh: Which is why everyone should watch this movie and tell all of their friends.
If the idea behind Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against the Universe! is to make a bunch of new fans of the original series, and the movie succeeds at that goal, there will then be a lot more Phineas and Ferb fans with Disney+ subscriptions. So if the new movie is a hit, that original idea might still become a Disney+ movie itself one day.
Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against the Universe! arrives on Disney+ August 28.
