Phineas and Ferb are once again determined to have the best summer ever — and it all starts with two brand-new episodes of Disney Branded Television’s Phineas and Ferb, debuting Thursday, June 5, on Disney Channel and Disney XD, streaming next day on Disney+.
When the five-time Emmy® Award-winning animated series returns for Season 5, Phineas (voiced by Vincent Martella) and Ferb (voiced by David Errigo Jr.) will embark on exciting new adventures filled with unforgettable milestones. As they tackle another 104 days of summer, their sister Candace (voiced by Ashley Tisdale) will make it her mission to finally bust her inventive stepbrothers. Meanwhile, Phineas and Ferb’s pet platypus, Perry (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker), continues to lead a double life as Agent P, whose sole goal is to prevent Dr. Doofenshmirtz (voiced by Dan Povenmire) from taking over the tristate area.
Phineas and Ferb — the most successful animated series for Kids 6-11 and Tweens 9-14 in Disney Television Animation history — hails from co-creators and executive producers Povenmire and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh, who are back at the helm following the success of the Disney+ Original movie Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against the Universe in 2020.
Since Phineas and Ferb debuted in 2008, the franchise has grown to include two television movies, a live touring show, and a theme park experience at Walt Disney World Resort — not to mention extensions across every consumer products category on a global scale.
“I think its success has a lot to do with decisions we made early on. We wanted to make a kinder, gentler show than other programs we were watching at the time,” Povenmire said. “None of our characters are motivated by meanness. We don’t go for laughs at the expense of other characters. We took that out of our toolbox and said, ‘Can we make something that is a celebration of positivity and see if we can still make that funny?’ It seems to have worked.”
Over the years — and thanks to Disney+, where Seasons 1–4 are streaming in their entirety — its popularity has only grown. “It’s become a comfort watch for people,” Povenmire said.
So, it came as no surprise in 2023 that fans were thrilled by the news that Disney Branded Television had ordered two seasons of Phineas and Ferb, consisting of 40 episodes in total.
“We’ve always loved these characters and wanted to go back to them,” Povenmire said. “I did a post on social media after the announcement, and the response was overwhelming. People were cheering. People were crying. It made me excited, but also a little worried, because I realized, ‘Oh! We’ve got to live up to these expectations.’ But when I saw the first episode [of Season 5] in color, and I saw the musical number, I knew we had lived up to their expectations. People who loved the original show are going to absolutely adore this.”
Martella agreed, saying, “It picks up like nothing happened.”
“It has the same heart and soul fans know and love,” he continued, “but we also explore characters in different ways that we hadn’t before. That feels really new and really fresh.”
And Martella — who has been with the series since its first season — would know about that. “I have been voicing Phineas for almost 20 years, and I can’t express just how much it means to me to still be playing this character,” he shared. “I don’t know that I will ever again get to work on something with this type of impact… I know it means so much to the fans.”
“We have a really great crew,” Marsh said. “I like to think we’ve done a really good job of creating an environment where they feel encouraged to contribute to the storytelling. It takes the pressure off us, especially because we have a couple of new writers in the room — guys who grew up with the show. It’s led to more ideas than we know what to do with.”
And, according to Errigo, Season 5 of Phineas and Ferb features more running gags than ever before. “Pay attention,” he teased. “Everything means something. It all pays off nicely.”
One of the reasons that Phineas and Ferb was primed for a return is that it had always been “a very open-ended, do anything kind of show,” Povenmire explained. “The characters are super likeable, but they’re also very different from each other. Phineas and Ferb try to do something fun every day, and that’s really what Disney is all about — having fun every day.”
Phineas and Ferb will premiere Thursday, June 5, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Disney Channel and Disney XD with two episodes, and the first episode will be available the same day on Disney Channel YouTube. The first 10 episodes will premiere Friday, June 6, on Disney+ in the U.S. and select international markets, with additional markets to follow later this year. The episodes will also be available to stream on Disney Channel on Demand.
