Phineas Flynn

Phineas Flynn is one of the two main characters of the animated television series Phineas and Ferb. Voiced by Vincent Martella and created and designed by Dan Povenmire, Phineas first appeared along with the rest of the series' main characters in the pilot episode "Rollercoaster". Phineas, along with his stepbrother Ferb Fletcher, star in each A-Plot of every episode.

The series concerns Phineas's attempts to avoid boredom by finding something new to do every day of the summer vacation. He does this with his less-talkative stepbrother Ferb, and often with many other neighborhood children. The activities they devise usually involve outlandish contraptions, including roller coasters, haunted houses, and roller rinks, which Phineas designs and Ferb builds.

Role in Phineas and Ferb
Phineas is part of a blended family, a decision creator Marsh made to reflect his own experiences growing up. His stepbrother, Ferb, is his best friend. Phineas's birth father is never present or discussed in the series. It is established that his mother, Linda Flynn-Fletcher married Ferb's father, Lawrence Fletcher, after meeting him at a 1990s concert by the (fictitious) band Love Handel.

Phineas is portrayed as a selfless, intelligent, and creative child. As a means to beat boredom, he and his brother devise outrageous activities throughout their summer vacation, often participating in activities like toy design (in "Toy to the World"), piracy (in "The Ballad of Badbeard"), engineering (in "It's About Time!"), restaurant management (in "Chez Platypus"), and other things usually inaccessible to children. Phineas lives in the fictional town of Danville, in a large, suburban neighborhood.

As a child, Phineas has a large amount of optimism. He pushes forward every time he makes a daily plan. This is what lets his plans succeed, as most children would simply give up once the plan calls for challenging tactics. Usually, Phineas will see the bright side of life, and when faced with a challenge, Phineas will simply find a way to get through it.

Phineas attempts to inspire others with his optimism. Mostly, he does this with his sister Candace. Others he tried to inspire were the members of Love Händel, who wouldn't believe him that they truly did still have fans ("Dude, We're Getting the Band Back Together!").

He has many friends, almost all of whom have participated in his nearly impossible plans. For example: going on an adventure to find a buried treasure, riding on a rollercoaster, and having fun at a beach; all of which his friends have done with him ("The Ballad of Badbeard", "Rollercoaster", "Lawn Gnome Beach Party of Terror"). Even someone like Buford, who might otherwise be an adversary, regularly participates in the plans and also attends their family's "camp".

Phineas has shown his kindness several times. Many of his summer plans are because he wants to help someone. For example, he built a haunted house in order to scare the hiccups out of Isabella. Another time, he carved Candace's head onto Mount Rushmore for her birthday. ("One Good Scare Ought to Do It!", "Candace Loses Her Head")

Other things he has done to help others that show his kindness are helping Django Brown paint the Unpainted Desert for his dad, creating a "Rainbow-Inator" for Isabella so she can finally see a real rainbow, and going on a chase after a disc that Candace needs to bust them.

Phineas, most likely because he is a child, can be oblivious at times. The greatest example is the fact that Isabella has a crush on him and is sometimes obvious about it. Phineas, however, still has no idea. Once, Isabella cut a paper string while standing next to Phineas that featured his face and hearts, and he just seemed confused. Another time, she tells him "You had me at our grandchildren", and Phineas falls for it when she corrects herself to "steaks." His concept of romance is especially simplistic, missing the subtle complexities and figures it could be plugged into a formula. ("Run Away, Runway", "Comet Kermillian", "That Sinking Feeling")

Phineas has a very perky attitude, not very easily annoyed, and in only rare cases has shown any sign of exasperation is when his sister completely ignored him and put herself in danger. ("Out to Launch") So far, the only times Phineas has shown to be dismayed or exasperated is when Santa proclaims Danville naughty, when Baljeet's wailing interrupts his summer morning, and when Candace dismissed his X-ray glasses. ("Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation!", "The Baljeatles", "No More Bunny Business")

All Phineas wishes for Christmas is to be like Santa Claus, revealing his very loving and caring personality. ("Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation")

Phineas also seems to have problems lying, he scratches/rubs his ear nervously. Since he never aimed for mischief, he has no reason to lie. However, in "The Beak", Phineas lies to Isabella in order to protect her from Khaka Peü Peü.

Disney Parks
Phineas and Ferb made their theme park debut at Disneyland for a taping of the Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade in 2009. They then appeared at Walt Disney World for an appearance in a Disney 365 spot. Afterward, they, along with Perry, appeared at Disney's pavilion of the Licensing Expo in Las Vegas on June 7, 2010. The three later appeared as meetable characters at the newly designed Disney Store at The Shops in Montebello, California. Phineas and Ferb are now making regular appearances at Disney's Hollywood Studios, and will also start appearing at Disney California Adventure in June of 2011.

Reception
Phineas has received mostly positive reviews. Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media describes Phineas as "boisterous," and he and Ferb as "partner[s] in crime." Susan Stewart, reviewing the show in the New York Times, notes that Phineas and Ferb "work on a heroic scale and are apparently not limited by the laws of nature." Jean Yoo, an official press member for Disney Channel, describes him as a "a precocious bundle of energy whose tolerance for sitting still is just a little thinner than his patience for the social echelon in which he finds himself." She as well notes that he is "endearing and smart."

Songs Phineas has sung

 * In the Mall (with Isabella)
 * Gitchee Gitchee Goo (with Isabella, the Fireside Girls, and Candace)
 * One Good Scare
 * I Love You Mom (with Isabella, the Fireside Girls, Candace, and Ferb)
 * Truck Drivin' Girl (with Ferb)
 * The Ballad of Badbeard (with Isabella, the Fireside Girls, and Candace)
 * History of Rock (with Danny)
 * Fabulous (with Bobbi)
 * Ain't Got Rhythm (with Swampy)
 * The Flyin' Fishmonger (with Isabella and the Fireside Girls)
 * Ring of Fun (with Clyde Flynn)
 * Baliwood (with Baljeet)
 * A-G-L-E-T (with the crowd and Candace Flynn)
 * Don't Even Blink (with the Fireside Girls)
 * The Phintastic Ferbulous Car Wash (with Isabella, Buford Van Stomm, Baljeet and the Fireside Girls)
 * Come Home, Perry (with Isabella, the Fireside Girls, Danville, and Candace)
 * Give Me a Grade (with Baljeet and Ferb)
 * Spa Day (with Isabella, Ferb, and the Fireside Girls)
 * There Is No Candy In Me (with Baljeet, Ferb, Perry, and Candace)
 * Atlantis(with Isabella, Buford Van Stomm, Ferb, and Baljeet)
 * Where Did We Go Wrong? (with Isabella and Baljeet)
 * Danville for Niceness (with Isabella, Buford and Baljeet)
 * Wedding Adventure (with Isabella, the Fireside Girls,, and Ferb)
 * Space Adventure
 * Dodgers' Code of Conduct (with Heinz Doofenshmirtz)
 * The Dad-inator
 * Alien Heart (with Lawrence Fletcher)
 * Summer Belongs to You! (with the Fireside Girls, Candace, and Isabella)
 * The Twelve Days of Christmas (with the cast)
 * We Wish You A Merry Christmas (with the cast)
 * Run Rudolph Run
 * Hey Ferb (I Know What We're Gonna Do Today)
 * Aren't You A Little Young? (with a worker)
 * Rollercoaster (with Isabella, Buford, Ferb, and the Fireside Girls)
 * Carpe Diem (with the cast)

Background information

 * In the Original Story Pitch, which became the episode Rollercoaster, there was a line where Candace refers to Phineas as a 9 year old. However, after testing with audiences revealed a wide age range identified with the character, producers decided to keep their ages vague. Phineas' age is now officially "less than 15" (Dan Povenmire Correspondence). However, as of "Phineas and Ferb's Quantum Boogaloo", both boys are stated to be approximately 10 years old. They time-travel twenty years into the future, and Future Linda states that Phineas and Ferb are 30 then. Therefore, they are around 10 at present.
 * Phineas is the same age as Ferb. The reason the boys are stepbrothers is because producers wanted them to be the same age, but not twins, and be more than just friends.
 * Phineas's motto is "Keep Moving Forward", just like Walt Disney.
 * Phineas's other motto is "Seize the day", which is a line in Today is Gonna Be a Great Day
 * Phineas is named after Phileas Fogg, the main character of the Jules Verne story Around the World in Eighty Days[6], whose name is sometimes erroneously given in adaptations as Phineas Fogg.
 * In "Vanessassary Roughness", he was shown sitting in the front seat of Mom's car; in America children must be of age 12 or older to sit in the front seat of a car and must be at least 4'10.
 * In "Traffic Cam Caper", you can see Phineas, along with Ferb yawn for the first time after finishing their dinner when they became tired.
 * Phineas has been shown to show more affection to Isabella as the series progressed, in Rollercoaster, he is shown having no idea of her crush on him, but in Gaming the System, That Sinking Feeling, The Beak, and Phineas and Ferb: Summer Belongs To You! Phineas has been shown to return her feelings for him.
 * In a couple of the early episodes, Phineas's eyebrows are black. In the later episodes, though, they are red.
 * Likes his mom's cooking (tacos in "Journey to the Center of Candace" and Fried Chicken in "Flop Starz").
 * Likes chocolate cake (Finding Mary McGuffin).
 * Phineas can play an array of different instruments, including the guitar and violin ("Flop Starz", "The Fast and the Phineas", "The Magnificent Few", "It's a Mud, Mud, Mud, Mud World", "Dude, We're Getting the Band Back Together", "Crack That Whip", "Tip of the Day", "Don't Even Blink", "Oh, There You Are, Perry", "The Baljeatles", "Phineas and Ferb's Quantum Boogaloo", "Phineas and Ferb Musical Cliptastic Countdown", "No More Bunny Business", "Robot Rodeo").
 * So far, Phineas has not considered Irving his friend ("Friends, bullies, Irving") ("What Do It Do?"). But in "The Doof Side of the Moon" Phineas says he is glad to have Irving on the team.
 * Phineas owns an MP3 ("The Magnificent Few").
 * Phineas appears to be ambidextrous as he can play a guitar with both hands.
 * Phineas's distinctive head shape was referenced in the June 17, 2010 installment of the Lola comic strip by Todd Clark.
 * Phineas does not seem to mind when Isabella says his catchphrases in episodes such as "The Lizard Whisperer", "Cheer Up Candace", and others.
 * According to Candace, Phineas, along with his brother Ferb, smell like motor oil and confidence ("Robot Rodeo").
 * Phineas seems to be getting taller as the series goes on, which is not at all unusual considering his age. Generally, he is shorter than Isabella and taller than Baljeet. In most of Season 1, he is much shorter than Isabella. In Season 2, he is generally as tall as Isabella. In parts of Phineas and Ferb's Christmas Vacation, Phineas and Ferb: Summer Belongs to You!, The Beak, and Bubble Boys, he is taller than Isabella (though it should be noted that this is inconsistent throughout these episodes: sometimes Phineas is taller, sometimes Isabella is taller). In the Christmas special, this could possibly be explained as Phineas having a quick growth spurt, as that episode takes place during the winter after the summer the rest of the series takes place. It should also be noted that as of Season 3, Phineas is consistently as tall as Isabella.
 * He is a fan to the movie series "Space Adventure "("Not Phineas and Ferb ","Nerds of a Feather ")
 * Phineas can solve complicated math questions. ("We Call It Maze")