Phineas and Ferb Season 5: Cast, Characters & Exclusive Co-Creator Q&A

Dan Povenmire and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh share what’s next for Phineas and Ferb as Part 2 of Season 5 streams now on Disney+

Welcome To The Smart, Silly World Of Phineas and Ferb

When summer vacation rolls around a certain kind of magic hits Danville, the hometown of Phineas and Ferb. Think: inventions, elaborate musical numbers, and even a determined sister trying to bust her brothers whenever she can. 

Years after Phineas and Ferb first exploded on the small screen, news of the Season 5 reboot delighted both new fans and those who grew up with the show. You can expect even more adventures and out-of-this-world ideas with a new batch of episodes now streaming on Disney+.

To celebrate the return, we caught up with co-creators Dan Povenmire and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh to talk about music, imagination, and how the show got started in the first place. To catch up or refresh your memory ahead of streaming Season 5, stream past seasons of Phineas and Ferb and the first half of Season 5 on Disney+.

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The Co-Creators Behind The Chaos: Dan Povenmire & Jeff "Swampy" Marsh

We chatted with the Emmy® Award-winning co-creators and executive producers behind Phineas and Ferb, the animated show that blends comedy, catchy songs, and plenty of imagination. Povenmire also voices the show’s primary antagonist, Dr. Doofenshmirtz, and Marsh plays Major Monogram, Agent P’s mustachioed boss.

Exclusive Interview With Dan Povenmire & "Swampy" Marsh

Note: This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

What sparked the initial idea for the Phineas and Ferb show?

Swampy Marsh: We wanted to keep making shows together because we liked working together [on another show for four seasons]. That was really the basics of it.

Dan Povenmire: We were like, this is fun! Let’s do something together, we’ll sell it, we’ll never have to work apart. And then we spent 13 years not working together, because it took that long to sell it.

Povenmire: We thought it was gonna be easy and it wasn’t. But the actual idea of Phineas and Ferb specifically came from a drawing I did in purple crayon at a restaurant in South Pasadena that had butcher paper and would give you a can of crayons to doodle with while you're waiting for your food. And I drew Phineas and I liked it so much I tore it off and I took it home and I drew Ferb and Doofenshmirtz and Perry that night and I brought it to Swampy and I said, “what about these guys?”

Marsh: We said, “It's awful.”

Povenmire: And we were like, “Yeah, that's never going to work.”

Marsh: It's terrible. But we went with it anyway, because we didn't have any better ideas. [both laugh]

But the drawing was a long time ago, right?

Povenmire: It was 1993-ish, that's our guess. We were 20-something years younger. Wait, 1993. Oh, no, we were like 32 years younger. I did the math wrong. We're really old.

The show is consistently funny after 5 seasons. How do you keep coming up with new ideas?

Marsh: I like the premise, the show is still funny.

[both laugh]

Povenmire: Yes, I like that as the given.

Marsh: The show is still funny.

Povenmire: (sarcastically) We have an idea generator that we got in a shop in Tarzana, California.

Marsh: (sarcastically) It was broken and we repaired it and now we have good ideas at will.

“Ideas are not a bucket you run out of. The more ideas you generate, the more ideas you generate. It's like flexing a muscle rather than digging a well,” Dan Povenmire

Marsh: We also surround ourselves with a team of really amazing, very funny, very creative people. They bring their ideas in. Occasionally we have a good idea, but most of the time we just steal the good ideas of our team.

Povenmire: They say something and we go, “that's a good idea.” We put it in and then we get the credit! [both laugh]

Is there anything exciting you can share about the upcoming season? Something about the plot or any teasers or Easter eggs?

Povenmire: There's a character who's been wanting something for a very long time. And he's finally gonna get it. It’s in this next batch drop.

How does music play a role in shaping the narrative?

Povenmire: A lot of the time we write the story first and then figure out what the song is, but sometimes we have a song in mind and we'll write towards that song. I think the majority of the time it's the other way around actually, the narrative influences the song.

“We like using the song to do some of the emotional heavy lifting, which is always the most fun,” Jeff "Swampy" Marsh

Povenmire: Especially in Phineas and Ferb Across the Second Dimension and Candace Against the Universe, we had multiple versions of the opening until we said, all the emotion we want to get out of this opening, we can get if we just write a song for it and there you go.

Marsh: Song works much better.

Which episodes were your favorite to write or watch? And why?

Povenmire: To write it was probably Roller Coaster because that was us, just the two of us, thinking hey, if we had a show what would we want to have happen on it?

Marsh: It's the most purely Phineas and Ferb “just us” of all of them. I still like watching Across the Second Dimension. I can still watch that.

Povenmire: That's it. That’s a good one.

Marsh: And the Star Wars special. Love that!

Povenmire: The Star Wars special is really good. Probably my favorite thing that we have ever done is the last 11 minutes of Summer Belongs to You, which was our first hour-long special. From the last commercial break to the end, I think that just has this energy, momentum, and just every bit of it works exactly the way I wanted it to work. I think that's probably my favorite.

Marsh: We've done a lot of good stuff.

Povenmire: We’ve done okay.

Marsh: You should watch all of it and then let us know what your favorite is.

What do you love most about Phineas and Ferb fans at Comic Con?

Povenmire: I love it when I look out and there's people dressed up as our characters. When we're about to do a talk or something and I look out and I see like three Phineases and four Perrys. I'm just like, this is gonna be a good crowd.

Marsh: What I'm noticing now, the longer the show goes on, is when we look out and we see people dressed as really obscure characters. Like recently we had somebody dressed as Max Modem. Which was fantastic!

Povenmire: Yes! It was in one episode of the show.

Marsh: One episode! Very briefly. I love that.

Povenmire: You know what I haven't seen yet that I remember is, I haven't seen anybody as the giant floating baby head.

Marsh: I'd love to see the giant floating baby head and I'd love to see the zebra that calls Candace “Kevin.” Somebody who comes up and says, “I voted for you, Kevin.”

When do you feel most like Dr. Doofenshmirtz / Major Francis Monogram in your real life?

Povenmire: When do I feel the most like Dr. Doofenshmirtz? Anytime I'm ranting and raving about anything silly. Anytime I'm saying something like, “One Direction, they're all named after their hair because their hair all goes in one direction.” That's when I feel like Doofenshmirtz.

Marsh: That is very Doofenshmirtz.

Povenmire: That's a very dated reference too. That used to be current.

Marsh: Yeah. God, we're old. For me, it's whenever I'm having to be boss-like. All of a sudden it's somebody giving orders and telling young people what to do. That feels very Monogram-ed.

Meet The Cast & Characters

Phineas Flynn Voiced By Vincent Martella

An endlessly optimistic kid with even more positive ideas who treats every day of summer vacation as a chance to build something incredible with Ferb. He might be a little young to be setting up stunts of this scale, but his enthusiasm pulls everyone else into the fun anyway.

Ferb Fletcher Voiced By Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Seasons 1-4) & David Errigo Jr. (Season 5)

Quiet and unshakable, Phineas’ British stepbrother Ferb is always on hand to help turn the wildest ideas into reality. He doesn’t say much, but when he does, it’s usually with perfect timing (and surprisingly wise).

Candace Flynn Voiced By Ashley Tisdale

Phineas and Ferb’s high-strung, hilariously determined older sister who’s convinced it’s her duty to “bust” their latest invention. Deep down, she’s protective of her little brothers (and maybe just wants one normal day).

Dr. Doofenshmirtz Voiced By Dan Povenmire

A melodramatic “evil” scientist with a new “-inator” for every episode, inspired by his impressively tragic backstory and grudges against those who’ve wronged him. He’s not particularly threatening, though, as his schemes are usually just a weird way of wanting to be seen.

Perry the Platypus Voiced By Dee Bradley Baker

Phineas and Ferb’s pet…who’s secretly Agent P, a highly skilled O.W.C.A. (Organization Without a Cool Acronym) spy taking down Doofenshmirtz’s schemes and protecting the Tri-State Area. He’s surprisingly expressive for a platypus, usually without saying a word.

Major Monogram Voiced By Jeff "Swampy" Marsh

O.W.C.A.’s no-nonsense commander who delivers mission briefings to Perry the Platypus with complete seriousness (usually while surrounded by complete absurdity). He’s dependable and professional, even when his job involves keeping a platypus secret agent on schedule.

Looking for more? Start with our New on Disney+ guide to see everything else arriving this month.