Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe

Candace is abducted by aliens. Her brothers Phineas and Ferb set off into space to rescue her. But on the planet she has been taken to, Candace finds a place where nobody expects anything of her for the first time, and is no longer sure she wants rescuing. The subject is not the adventure but Candace herself. The show's joke for a decade was the sister trying to bust her brothers and never managing it. The film opens up what sits underneath that joke, which is what it means to be constantly overlooked. The form keeps the series template: songs, fourth-wall jokes, and Doofenshmirtz's parallel strand. The running time is kept short and the pace never drops. The production was made for Disney's streaming service and released without a cinema run. Dan Povenmire and Jeff Marsh created the series and hold the same roles here; Povenmire both directs and voices Doofenshmirtz. The songs were written by the same team as on the show. Ashley French voices Candace and Vincent Martella voices Phineas. Who it is for: viewers who have seen the series and like fast animated comedy with songs. Who it is not for: anyone new to it; most of the jokes rest on ten years of accumulation.