Phineas and Ferb make a comeback in new, animated Disney+ movie
The return of Phineas and Ferb is out of this world. Literally.
The popular, animated musical-comedy series that ran on Disney Channel for four seasons (and later on Disney XD) makes a temporary comeback with the new “Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against the Universe,” which Disney+ begins streaming Friday, Aug. 28. The title stepbrothers embark on a mission to rescue their sister, who’s been kidnapped by aliens ... and whisked off to a world she likes so much, she has little interest in being “saved,” very particularly by Phineas and Ferb.
Vincent Martella, who supplies the voice of Phineas, believes interest in continuing the franchise was stoked when the characters made a crossover appearance on “Milo Murphy’s Law.” He adds, “I’ve seen the lathe presence it has on social media, and it’s stayed in the consciousness of people’s minds. The ‘Milo’ crossover kind of gave me hope that people were still excited about the show.”
While much of the original voice cast is back – also including Ashley Tisdale as Candace, Caroline Rhea as the family matriarch, and series creators and executive producers Dan Povenmire and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh as Dr. Heinz
Doofenshmirtz and Major Monogram – there’s a new Ferb: David Errigo Jr. succeeds Thomas Sangster. Guest voices include Wayne Brady, Diedrich Bader (“American Housewife”) and Thomas Middleditch (“Silicon Valley”).
“I started playing Phineas when I was 13 and now, I’m 27,” Martella reflects, “so to be able to have this character in my life for this long has meant so much to me. Having all of the characters back with this really exciting new story, that’s so special. And recording the ADR (doing dialogue dubbing) and all the music, it was really like it used to feel. It was a challenge being on the show, learning so much about voice acting and animation.”
Martella typically records his lines individually, which he says helped as the onset of the coronavirus pandemic caused production of “Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against the Universe” to be completed remotely from many different locations.
All the existing “Phineas and Ferb” episodes are available on Disney+, and Martella likes that they have that still relatively new streaming outlet. He also has appeared on such live-action series as “The Walking Dead” and “Everybody Hates
Chris,” and though people recognize him by voice “occasionally,” he maintains it doesn’t happen that often.
“With Phineas’ voice being a lot younger and higher,” Martella reasons, “that doesn’t happen as often as people just knowing me from my career and having seen me on something else ... but it has happened a couple of times. Either way, if it means people have enjoyed what I do, that’s great.”