This summer Phineas and Ferb embark on another wild adventure, this time on the desert planet of Tatooine. On Friday, August 8, the Family Channel will air a special episode titled Phineas and Ferb: Star Wars. The story places the brothers near a moisture farm just a sweep away from Luke Skywalker, and the fate of the galaxy rests in their hands as they square off with the Death Star and work to return the plans to the Rebel Alliance. It won’t be easy, with a Stormtrooper named Candace trying to disrupt the Rebels, and with Perry the Rebelpus trapped while attempting to stop Darthenshmirtz. The episode even showcases the first ever duel between Phineas and Ferb when Ferb is drawn into Darthenshmirtz’s Sith-inator. [Citation: creators’ interview]
Behind the episode stand Phineas and Ferb’s creators, Dan Povenmire and Jeff Swampy Marsh. The idea for Phineas and Ferb began when Dan sketched a triangle-headed boy on a restaurant placemat, liked the image, tore out the page, and brought it home. That night he also drew Doofenshmirtz, Perry, and Ferb. Having previously collaborated, Dan brought the drawings to Swampy and the team built the show from there. It took thirteen years before the pair could pitch the concept, sell the project, and begin producing a pilot.
Articles about the project reveal what went into shaping the Star Wars crossover and what fans can expect from this summer’s adventure.
Q: The creators wear many hats in the making of the show. Which part stands out as their favorite, and why? DP says writing music stands out, while JSM adds that singing and composing are the most freeing forms of expression. DP: Writing music.
JSM: I think writing music.
JSM: A close second would be voicing the characters because those moments feel the most spontaneous. With writing songs, Friday evenings arrive with a sense of freedom, guitars in hand, and a room full of friends just allowing themselves to have fun. It is joyous, artistic, and deeply satisfying. DP adds that it feels least like work, and that none of the roles really feel like labor.
JSM: The voice work is casual, playful, and rewarding. It’s a roomful of silly noises that somehow becomes something people want to hear, and getting paid for it is a nice perk as well.
Q: Phineas and Ferb invent many wild contraptions and Doofenshmirtz has plenty of -inators. How do the ideas keep flowing? DP explains that a team of writers and board artists pitch concepts, but most often the duo asks what else the characters could do and how they would do it, always pushing toward big, ridiculous, and oversized results before pulling back to fit the story.
JSM recalls that in early seasons they drew on their inner ten-year-olds, asking what they would want to do if reality and physics could be bent. They even kept a wall of -inators that they would mash together, until the stories themselves began to steer the inventions rather than a list alone.
The question remains: what was it like to combine Phineas and Ferb with Star Wars? DP describes the experience as pure fun, the realization of a childhood dream to explore that universe. JSM adds that watching Star Wars when it first hit theaters in 1977 felt like a seminal moment; both creators were very young at the time.
DP notes that the approach was to honor Star Wars without overtly parodying it, especially since there were fewer demands from the Lucasfilm side. With Marvel, he explains, there were different constraints that required more careful navigation as they wove new stories around established heroes.
DP and JSM both offer advice for anyone chasing a big goal. DP urges tenacity and a stubborn belief in the idea, while JSM emphasizes never giving up and never listening to people who say no. If a creator sticks with it long enough, others will eventually come around.
As the conversation closes, fans are reminded to catch PHINEAS AND FERB: STAR WARS on Family Channel on Friday, August 8 at 5:30 PM, for a crossover that blends childhood invention with a galaxy far, far away.