Remember when Toy Story 3 came out and every adult you knew was like, “I cried through the whole thing! It was so good!” Well, the guy who caused everyone to have all the feelings in the world, screenwriter Mike Arndt, will now be taking a pass at the upcoming Phineas and Ferb movie for Disney. It’s hard to imagine Phineas and Ferb taking such an emotional toll on everyone, but Arndt’s good track record on comedy — he won an Oscar for writing Little Miss Sunshine — will probably make for a really smart script. Because if you haven’t seen the Phineas and Ferb cartoon, you don’t know what you’re missing.
Those of us who heard that Mike Arndt was working on a Phineas and Ferb movie may have thought, “Wasn’t there already a Phineas and Ferb movie?” And yes, there was, but it was made for TV. This movie, which is said to be a combination of animation and live-action, is going to be a theatrical release. Hence, the big guns. Arndt will actually be polishing up an existing script by series creators Jeff “Swampy” Marsh and Dan Povenmire, who already do a pretty excellent (and Emmy-winning) job with the series, which is now getting ready for its fourth season.
And here is why everyone should be psyched about this: Phineas and Ferb is an awesome show. Indeed, it is a children’s show on the Disney Channel, and unless there are young children in your life, you probably haven’t seen it. But you totally should. Focused on a pair of stepbrothers who plan large-scale projects during their summer vacations (like building a town-sized roller coaster) while their sister Candace tries to bust them and their pet platypus, Perry, leads a double life as a secret agent, the show was inspired by Seth McFarlane‘s Family Guy, but was always intended for kids — while still being clever and entertaining for adults. Marsh and Povenmire previously worked together on Nickelodeon‘s Rocko’s Modern Life, and the premise was based on Povemire’s own childhood, when his mother told him not to waste a day during his summer vacation.
Mike Arndt is a great choice to help give Phineas and Ferb that extra boost that will make it more fitting for the big screen. Though if we walk out of this one crying, that will be really surprising. Disney has a planned release date of July 26, 2013.
(via Deadline)
