When I think of summers growing up as a Disney Channel kid, Phineas And Ferb absolutely had a lot to do with them, starting when the series premiered in 2007. From then on, the animated show became one of those cartoons I grew up with and would watch when I had time off from school during summer vacation, until 2015 when the series officially ended after four seasons (which actually closely coincided with my high school graduation). So, imagine my surprise at the cartoon being on the 2025 TV schedule!
I had certainly heard about the revival of Phineas and Ferb (which is new on streaming) at some point, but now that it’s here, and I’ve been shamelessly watching Season 5 as a full-fledged adult, I realize that there are a few questions about the show that I never deeply thought about. I took a deep dive into the simple, yet big, ones I've had.
How Old Are Phineas And Ferb?
As I sat to watch Phineas and Ferb, I realized I had no idea how old the main characters are supposed to be. Like, they are clearly kids, but because it’s summer vacation in every episode, we don’t get much hint to what exact phase of their upbringing they are in. They are very intelligent for their age, but I grew so curious about what the intention is here.
When I looked into the answer, I found it to be a lot more complicated than I expected for a kids show. The general consensus seems to be that the step brothers are around 10-12 years old, however two key episodes kind of make this confusing. In the Season 2 episode “Phineas and Ferb’s Quantum Boogaloo,” their adventure is traveling 20 years into the future where they meet a 35-year-old Candace, and they find out from their mom that they are 30 years old. So that would make them both ten, right?
Well, in the Season 4 special episode “Act Your Age,” Phineas and Ferb are ten years older than they are in the series, however, they are not 20, they are teen boys… so that would make them closer to seven or eight years old in the main series. To my estimation, it sounds like the creators aren’t interested in the characters of the series having exact ages since they are not mentioned or kept consistent, but I definitely imagine them more in the 5th or 6th grade ages of 10 to 11 in my mind.
How About Candace?
The same question regarding their sister Candace is a lot more cut and dry. She has a birthday episode from Season 1 “Candace Loses Her Head” where it’s revealed that she turns 15 years old. In the new season, she does her driving test, which is typically done in the United States starting at the age of 15 and a half.
With all the characters' ages in mind, I also find it really interesting that the voice actors like Ashley Tisdale and Vincent Martella have been behind the roles for almost 20 years. Martella (a.k.a. Phineas) was 15 when the series first came out, Tisdale (Candace) was 22, and Alyson Stoner (Isabella) was 14, so while they were somewhat close to their characters in age, they are definitely not anymore. But, they still sound amazing, of course!
Are There 104 Days Of Summer Vacation?
The Phineas and Ferb theme song starts with “There's 104 days of summer vacation…”, leading me to just assume for a lot of my life that that’s the amount of time summer lasts, but I recently landed on an interview with the creators that totally changed my view on the whole thing. In Dan Povenmire’s words:
It’s really silly because when we decided to make the show all in the summer, I was like ‘Does anybody know how many days there are in summer vacation?’ And one of the executives said ‘Yeah, we just had to look that up, there’s 104,’ which we never checked at all. It’s not true. It is in their neighborhood, in their little universe, but that was literally me going, ‘Oh, that’s perfect!’
While recently talking to On The Red Carpet, the co-creator shared they were told a number, and simply just chose to believe it. Plus, since 52 episodes was a full order at the time, it seemed to work out mathematically. As he continued:
Then we wrote that song, and nobody really brought it up to us that it was incorrect until it was already on the air.
In the United States, most schools get out around late May or early June and then resume in either mid-to-late August or early September. The real value of summer vacation is closer to between 70 to 90 days, so, sorry to any kids who have started their summers thinking they’d have one hundred plus days to play.
Why Is A Platypus Their Pet?
I’ve simply existed for so long among the iconic character of Perry the Platypus, but lately I’ve been curious about how the creators decided to make the boys' pet one that I know is absolutely illegal to have as a pet in real life. I found an old story on Variety where the creators answered this question, and I’m happy I looked it up.
For one, Povenmire and co-creator Jeff “Swampy” Marsh chose the animal because it's a species people don’t know much about and hasn’t had other cartoon renditions, so they could make up their own rules about him. Marsh also said this as a parent himself:
We wanted to pick an animal that kids couldn’t go pick out at a pet store and beg for.
Funny enough, the creators just chose the color for the character because it looked cool (and considering platypuses are usually brown I don’t blame them), but back in 2020, it was actually found by researchers (via Science News) that their fur can actually absorb ultraviolet light and “emits a blue-green glow.” It’s an absolutely insane coincidence for fans of the show!
If you’re anything like me with all these Phineas and Ferb curiosities, perhaps I answered some of our common questions to the best of my ability! (Be sure to check out our exclusive on how the creators come up with the inators, next). I’m personally so happy the show is back, and will, in fact, be returning for more after the initial 10-episode drop.
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