Top 10 Things Only Adults Understand About Phineas and Ferb

It’s normal for a show’s writers to learn more about a character as they keep putting them in different scenarios and developing their series. In the case of Phineas Flynn, this is most obvious when rewatching the first episode after seeing later ones. Where Phineas is generally optimistic – almost to a fault – throughout most of the series, in the first episode, we see a protagonist who was initially designed to have more of an edge. These lines are said to have been the remnants of the creators’ initial pitch before Phineas’ characterization morphed. Still, that bite isn’t all lost.

At the time of “Phineas and Ferb’s” release, few kids shows – let alone cartoons – featured blended families. And the way the show presents the dynamic is so commendable. The word “step” is used in the first episode a few times but, apart from that, we rarely hear it again. Every blended family is different but it’s obvious the Flynn-Fletchers are close. Even though Candace spends the entire summer trying to bust her brothers, it’s clear she cares for them a lot and she can be heard referring to the both of them as her “brothers” – not her “brother and step-brother”. The same goes for when the kids refer to their parents. This line at the end of the first episode summarizes it best: “Well a brother is a brother but I couldn’t have asked for a better one than Ferb, you know what I mean?”

When we were kids, we saw Candace as a nuisance in Phineas and Ferb’s grand schemes. She seemed dramatic, petty, and vengeful, but these days…well we sort of understand her. Sure, she’s a bit more stressed out than most teens but she’s also got plenty of the same worries; friendships, boys, self-image, and confidence are all topics we see Candace do her best to navigate. There’s even one episode where we see her go to extreme lengths to achieve what she’s told is beautiful. Though we’re not in our teens anymore, she’s somehow even more relatable now that we’re older.

The ages of characters isn’t really something you think about as a kid. And since we all knew Ferb had a crush on Vanessa when he was young, it felt satisfying seeing them get together in the flashforward episode “Act Your Age”. But, as some fans have pointed out, Vanessa is about six years older than Ferb. Since Phineas and Ferb are deciding which colleges to attend in “Act Your Age” that should put them at around eighteen years old, which would make Vanessa twenty-four. There’s conflicting debate about whether that’s an appropriate age difference, but we’ll just leave this entry at that.

For any of you who write music, you know how difficult it can be to come up with something new. Almost every single episode of this show has at least some musical number, with some episodes having multiple! And the craziest part is that a lot of them are straight bangers. For a children’s cartoon, the team really didn’t have to go that hard. But they did and we love them for it! When artists so palpably love the work they do, it always translates in the final product and “Phineas and Ferb” is a great example.

While kids are definitely aware of the length of their summer and also likely aware of the length of Phineas and Ferb’s summer, sometimes the duration of time that a show has been on air can evade us. The cartoon officially premiered in 2008 and ran all the way until 2015, which means Phineas, Ferb, and their friends had something like eight years worth of summer. There are also 129 episodes which is definitely more than 104 days of summer – and that’s before the 2024 reboot! Did they manage to build more days of summer too?! We wouldn’t put it past them.

OK, so it doesn’t necessarily take growing up to realize how poorly Doofenshmirtz has been treated his whole life. His backstories come up often enough, each as devastating as the last, to make sure viewers are aware of that. As an adult however, we can look past the jokes to understand that Dr. Doofenshmirtz was straight-up abused. His parents didn’t even show up to his own birth! If that's not neglect we don't know what is. It’s no wonder he dedicated his life to evil! Despite all that, he grew up to be a devoted father who always made sure his daughter knew she was loved. Embarrassing or not, Doof always made sure to look out for Vanessa.

Long-time fans will probably have noticed this, and will probably also have realized it’s exactly what made the series so successful. Most episodes comprise three separate stories: the A story, which revolves around Phineas and Ferb and what they’re building, the B story which follows Candace and Mom, and the C story which follows Dr. Doofenshmirtz and Perry. There are, of course, some exceptions to this but the majority of episodes cut back and forth between those three narratives in a very formulaic way, with the destruction of Doof’s inator typically leading to the disappearance of the boys’ build. This formula actually makes it so, paradoxically, the writers get to express a lot of creativity. It also means we get to look forward to our favorite catchphrases every episode!

While Dr. Doofenshmirtz technically plays the role of the villain, it’s clear from the very beginning that he’s not much of a threat. Well, except for that one time he was, but we digress. Where Candace might be seen as trying to foil the boys’ fun, she really isn’t all that antagonistic either and she never succeeds in busting her brothers. (Well, except for that one time she did. Once again, we digress.) With that said, it’s interesting to see a show without a true villain work so well. The real conflicts seem to lie in Man vs Fate for Candace and Man vs Self in Doofenshmirtz’s case…but now we’re just dissecting a children’s cartoon.

While the target audience is children, the show barely acts like it. There is so much humor geared towards an older audience infused in each episode, which is probably why the series has garnered such a massive adult fanbase. Take the infidelity episode with Peter the Panda. That’s just a taste of the sort of scenarios that take place in the series. Plus, every time we rewatch, we catch a sly joke we missed the first time around. From physical comedy to tongue-in-cheek humor and hysterical one-liners, there really is something for everyone, no matter the age.

What line or tidbit in the show did you understand only when rewatching as an adult? Let us know in the comments!