By Natalie Noel
MobileBay Magazine: Monday, December 6, 2010
 Photo by Lawrence Gus
If you have small children, you already know about The Disney Channel's hit animated series "Phineas and Ferb." If you don't, ask any third grader, and he'll tell you about the stepbrothers, their pet platypus (who is also a secret agent) and all their fantastic contraptions. What the viewers probably won't be able to tell you is that Emmy Award winner Dan Povenmire, a co-creator of the show, is a Mobile native, Shaw High School graduate and former cartoonist at University of South Alabama's The Vanguard.
"We lived off Cottage Hill and there were woods in every direction for a mile," Povenmire, left, says. "There was a big red clay pit behind our house. We would build forts and have adventures every single day. We didn't have VCRs or video games. Instead, we would go out and play, imagine and create things - just have fun outdoors."
 Phineas Flynn and Ferb Fletcher set out to make their Christmas unforget-table. Teen queen Ashley Tisdale is the voice behind their tattletale older sister, Candace, bottom left.
Povenmire's adventures in the Bay area have served as muse for many "Phineas and Ferb" episodes. "What we hope - and what we've heard from parents," he says, "is that this show inspires kids to be creative."
Young viewers in record numbers, along with their older siblings and parents, are watching the show. More preteens and children are tuning in to "Phineas and Ferb" than its Nickelodeon rival, according to Nielsen Media Research. The New York Times deems it the next "SpongeBob SquarePants."
Major Hollywood names are clamoring to team up with the stepbrothers. To date, Taylor Swift, Tina Fey and Ben Stiller are among the stars who have performed guest voice work.
 Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz, center, is the step-brothers’ nemesis. The character’s likeness is based on Povenmire, and he also voices the overly dramatic mad scientist.
However, this success did not come overnight for Povenmire and co-creator Jeff "Swampy" Marsh. "I started in animation in 1987, 20 years before 'Phineas and Ferb' was picked up," Povenmire says. "Swampy and I created this show as a means for us to continue working together." The two had previously teamed up on the '90s Nickelodeon hit "Rocko's Modern Life." "I doodled on butcher paper in a restaurant with a crayon - I drew Phineas. Then I looked and thought, 'Oh, I like this!'"
Despite all of the show's accolades, Povenmire says he's most proud of a letter he received from a fan's parents. "They wanted us to see the difference the show made in their child's art. Before he saw it, he drew a yellow line in class. After, he drew an intricate robot machine with this great explosion of color and creativity. Swampy and I both cried. This is the best we could possibly do!"
 Photo by Lawrence Gus
Dan Povenmire's adventurous childhood summers in Mobile often inspire "Phineas and Ferb" storylines. He laughs as he remembers one childhood memory.
"Dad and I went to Dog River with a net and caught a big ol' crab," he says. "We were gonna have crab for dinner! And my sister, Linda, who was about 8 [at the time], is so sad for the crab. So Dad's telling her, 'We're boiling the water to the right temperature so he won't feel any pain.'
He puts it in this boiling pot of water, and it's reaching out its legs and claws, stretching for all its life against the heat. Then the crab starts screaming! It's banging around in the pot, and my sister starts crying. Then the crab knocks the lid off the pot, and it crashes to the floor. My dad has tongs, and he's wrestling with this thing, and I'm like, 'This is great! My dad is Sinbad!'" Povenmire adds, "I don't think Linda ever believed him again." The character of Phineas and Ferb's mother, Linda Flynn, was named in honor of her.
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