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Throughout quarantine, I have found myself rewatching one of my favorite childhood TV shows, Phineas and Ferb. What better program for the seemingly endless summer of 2020 than one in which the summer truly never ends? With the recent release of Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe (Bob Bowen, 2020), viewers have a chance to return to the world of fantastical inventions and secret agent platypuses. The new film, from original series creators Dan Povenmire and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh, sees our titular heroes—accompanied by their friends, their pet platypus, and an evil scientist—travel into space to rescue their older sister, Candace, after she has been abducted by aliens. The film significantly deviates from the show’s status quo, eschewing the series’ formulaic A-plot and B-plot, as well as making Candace a deuteragonist instead of the semi-antagonist she was in the original series. However, despite these changes, Povenmire and Marsh have created a film that is distinctly Phineas and Ferb. 

 

While ostensibly a children’s show, the creators have always maintained that Phineas and Ferb is really written for the adults in the audience, and Candace Against the Universe is no different. The film features all the trademark elements of the original show, namely self-referential humour, a series of running gags and catchy musical numbers. The comedic dialogue is tight, being thoroughly entertaining for the adults watching without having to delve into anything inappropriate for younger viewers. I am unable to think of another children’s film in which you would see a blatant Girl Scout rip-off threaten a grown man by pointing to one of her badges and saying, “Do you see this patch? Pray you never find out what it’s for.” Meta-humour and commentary abound, with characters regularly leaning on the fourth wall without fully breaking it. Like its predecessor, Candace Against the Universe builds its humor on clever subversion of the viewer’s expectations. The running gags and callbacks to the original series are sure to satisfy longtime fans, but are few enough in number and funny enough in their own right to not be off-putting to newcomers. And, in true Phineas and Ferb fashion, the film is peppered with musical numbers that are fun to listen to, heartwarming and engaging. 

 

This is not to suggest that the film is without flaws. Despite featuring a space-faring adventure to another planet, it seems to lack a certain cinematic quality present in the franchise’s previous installment, the multiverse spanning Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension (Robert Hughes and Dan Povenmire, 2011). Furthermore, one character essentially disappears from the film’s main plot for about a third of the run time, leading me to wonder if the creators decided to include them simply because they wanted to, rather than because they add anything to the story. Finally, a few jokes—mostly based around slapstick comedy—overstay their welcome, with their repetitive punchlines feeling overly long.

 

While Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe is not a perfect film, it is still an immensely enjoyable one. If you are a fan of the original show, you will certainly like this film, and if you are a total newcomer to all things Phineas and Ferb, it is still worth a watch if you are looking for some lighthearted fun to distract from the world outside.

 

 

Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe is available to stream on Disney+.