Phineas and Ferb: Across The 2nd Dimension interview - with videos!
Those brainy brothers are back! It’s a summer afternoon in Danville, and stepbrothers Phineas and Ferb are ready for their biggest adventure yet - a trip to the 2nd dimension! Before Candace can figure out their plans, the boys beloved pet Perry the Platypus reveals he is a secret agent who battles the forces of evil, and both Phineas and Ferb must join him on an adventure to alternate-Danville – both of their dimensions depend on it. Gulp!
What strange things will they find in alternate-Danville? And is this version of the evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz as crafty as the regular one? Find out when Phineas and Ferb: Across The 2nd Dimension premieres on Friday 30 September at 6pm on the Disney Channel and Thursday 6 October at 5.30pm on Disney XD!
We caught up with the creators or Phineas and Ferb, Dan Povenmire and Jeff ‘Swampy’ Marsh to chat about their cartoon creations and what its like creating the world of Phineas and Ferb...
Dan Povenmire also plays Dr Doofenshmirtz! Jeff ‘Swampy’ Marsh
NG Kids Hi Swampy and Dan! Thanks for chatting with us! Can you tell us a little bit about what you do on Phineas and Ferb?
Dan Sure! It takes around 10 months to create an 11 minute episode, from story all the way through to going on tv. There’s so much that goes into making an animated cartoon, we have around 60 artists working for us, and production crew and people who just paint background Swampy and I, along with some of the writers, write the songs for the show too. We’ll get together with guitars on a Friday night and write the songs for whatever episode we’re working on at that time. It’s a lot of fun!
Swampy We came up with the original idea for the cartoon in 1993, but it was 12 years before we found a home for it on Disney Channel. It’s been a long time coming!
NGK Wow! So how did you come up with the characters of Phineas and Ferb? Are they based on anyone you know?
Dan Well, the mum character is based on my sister Linda and the Candace character is also sort of based on my sister Linda when she was younger. The character of Isabella is named after my daughter, Isabella, and the character Ferb is named after my friend, Ferb.
Swampy Well one of them, Baljeet is actually named after a friend of mine in England, who I used to work with, and he’s also a very smart guy!
Dan And Ferb is named after a mutual friend of ours. So everybody sort of gets in there, but of course Doofenshmirtz is sort of a little aspect of me. It’s the evil part of me. (Dan voices Dr Doofenshmirtz!)
NGK What other cartoons have you worked on?
Dan I’ve got over 20 years’ experience in animation, ranging from directing, storyboarding and writing for series like The Simpsons, Family Guy, Rocko's Modern Life, Hey Arnold!, Catdog, Looney Tunes and SpongeBob SquarePants.
Swampy Over the past 20 years, I’ve worked for many of the top names in animation, including Hanna-Barbera, Klasky Csupo and Nickelodeon.
NGK What’s your favourite cartoon?
Dan The Iron Giant I love and I love Totoro from Miyazaki – a film called My Neighbor Totoro – I think those are two of my favourite non-Disney films.
Swampy I think one of the best characters in not just animation really in any genre is Bugs Bunny. I think he is just one of these perfect characters that you throw in there and he’s just funny and you know what he’s about. I think that’s just incredibly strong.
NGK We love Bugs too. Can you tell us about Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension?
Swampy Phineas And Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension is a huge adventure filled with action, jeopardy and lots of fun!
Dan It’s a giant rollercoaster of a ride where Phineas and Ferb have to save two dimensions after a run-in with Dr Doofenshmirtz. You’re going to love it!
NGK We hear Phineas and Ferb have their own chat show now! Can you tell us a bit about it?
Swampy We just had David Beckham do a guest spot on Take Two with Phineas and Ferb talk show. His kids are big fans!
Check out this funny video of David Beckham chatting to Phineas and Ferb!
NGK Lots of famous people are fans of Phineas & Ferb, who would you love to see on their chat show?
Swampy I’ve got some UK favourites I’d still like to get in Stephen Fry and Rowan Atkinson! Also Simon Pegg!
NGK What else in store for Phineas and Ferb in the future?
Swampy Season 3 kicks off on Disney XD from 6 October and we get to see some sides of some the characters that you haven’t seen as much of before, which has been a lot of fun!
Dan Candace and Jeremy become official boyfriend and girlfriend!
NGK Ha ha yay! Swampy, is that your real name? 
Swampy No it isn’t, but I was given that nickname when I was living in Exeter back in 1980 because my surname is Marsh. Actually they tried to give me two nicknames – Swampy or Boggy – and I got very angry one evening that people were calling me Boggy! Some friends came to visit and by the time I got back to the States, lots of people were calling me Swampy. Now I like it!
NGK Have either of you guys got any siblings and do you get on with each other?
Dan I have a sister who is more of less my age, who is like a year and a half younger and her name is Linda and I named and actually based the character of the mom on her, we get on very well.
Swampy I have a brother Michael who lives in San Francisco and is an attorney who is seven years younger than I am and we get along famously well. He is a very funny guy, if he ever decided to give up law he could get a gig writing comedy!
NGK Swampy, you lived in England for a while, how did you find it?
Swampy Well I was planning to take a tour of Europe but when I got to Exeter where my travelling buddy was from, I just loved it and I ended up just staying there! I just thought it was a terrific place and ended up spending the weekends exploring the country and taking driving trips and train trips. I love England, I love being so close to Europe! I’m looking forward to coming back again soon, I still have a lot of friends there and miss them!
NGK We love the UK too! Have you guys got any tips for people wanting to get into animation but are not sure where to begin?
Dan Draw a lot and watch cartoons! The good thing is there’s lots of technology that is available to kids today. There is all sorts of technology now that was not available to me, I had to get a super-8 camera that would take one frame at a time and make movies that way!
Don’t miss Phineas and Ferb: Across The 2nd Dimension premieres on Friday 30 September at 6pm on the Disney Channel and Thursday 6 October at 5.30pm on Disney XD!
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