Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension

Since its first official airing on Disney Channel in 2008, Phineas and Ferb has become one of Disney’s biggest animated television series, with 222 episodes across four seasons released over eight years. The franchise also proved popular enough to spawn a few video games and several albums collecting the show’s music, among other merchandise, along with a full-length TV movie, Across the 2nd Dimension, and an upcoming Disney+ movie, Candace Against the Universe. Since we had only recently gotten into Phineas and Ferb, we made it a point to watch Across the 2nd Dimension while catching up with the show. Aside from the necessity of watching it to make a later episode watchable, the movie is fortunately worth the investment.

Phineas (Vincent Martella), Ferb (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) and Perry (Dee Bradley Baker) follow Dr. Doofenshmirtz (Dan Povenmire) through a portal made by his “Otherdimensionator” and into an alternate universe where a second Dr. Doofenshmirtz (Dan Povenmire) has successfully taken over the Tri-State Area with an army of Normbots (John Viener and Kevin Michael Richardson). To save his host family, Perry has no choice but to out himself as Agent P. Phineas and Ferb escape, but Phineas feels betrayed by Perry for keeping his identity a secret for five years. The boys find their alternate universe selves to try and get back to their own dimension, but soon team up with the Resistance to find and rescue Perry.

Dr. Doofenshmirtz (Dan Povenmire) opens up a portal to
another dimension with his Otherdimensionator.

The plot of Across the 2nd Dimension is easy to follow, but has enough moving parts to give it the feeling of a feature-length storyline instead of just an extended episode of the show. It also uses that space to explore ideas that couldn’t be touched on anywhere else, most prominently the A-Plot, Phineas and Ferb, and B-Plot, Perry and Doofenshmirtz of a typical episode actually crossing paths with one another and the fallout that follows. The themes of family and bonding with pets also act as a consistent through line and lead to some of the more emotional moments, such as a scene where Phineas and Ferb’s alternate universe counterparts miss their own Perry so much that they immediately get attached to the other Perry. Additionally, the alternate dimension counterparts of various characters have fitting personalities and consistent character arcs that play off the contrast with their original versions.

Phineas (Vincent Martella) and Ferb (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) (right)
meet their alternate dimension selves (left).

While Across the 2nd Dimension does have a more serious story, it also maintains the light-hearted tone and spirit of Phineas and Ferb, including its unique brand of smart humor and clever dialogue. One example of this is Buford (Bobby Gaylor), a bully, trading Existentialist Trading Cards with Baljeet (Maulik Pancholy) after making a reference to Kierkegaard. There are also moments where the movie makes other references that would go over the target audience’s head, including one to the work of Georgia O'Keefe. The visuals for the song “Brand New Best Friend” also contain a string of references to famous duos, including, but not limited to, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, Simon and Garfunkel, Ralph and Ed from The Honeymooners and Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

If I had one issue with the story, however, it would be the fact that Ferb doesn’t do as much in comparison to Phineas. While Phineas expresses betrayal at Perry keeping his identity as Agent P a secret for five years and feeling that his own pet doesn’t trust him, Ferb remains silent. While this does fit in with his nature of not speaking very much, there is a missed opportunity to have Ferb give his own take on the situation, as he otherwise seems to take it very well. Additionally, he doesn’t have as much to do during the final confrontation against the alternate Doofenshmirtz, even showing up to help Phineas only after the battle is won. The ending of the movie also makes it more self-contained to maintain the status quo of the series, but whether or not that’s a good thing is up to the viewer.

Ferb doesn't react nearly as much as Phineas does.

On the upside, the movie is written well enough that even someone who isn’t familiar can still enjoy it, as the character dynamics all shine through very clearly. Of course, it does help to see at least a couple episodes beforehand to get a better sense of how they play around with the typical Phineas and Ferb formula, as well as recognize a huge number of callbacks in the third act, but it’s not necessary.

Of course, the animation is also a definite highlight. It’s consistent with the main series, but the noticeably bigger budget allows it an extra layer of polish that helps it feel like a feature film. This is evident in the lighting and shading, as well as the less conspicuous use of CG. The action sequences are also noticeably more complex and fit in with the scale of the film’s conflict, especially when the scenes get busier during fights with numerous Normbots. There’s also a good use of differing color palettes between the different dimensions that gives each one a unique feel and the designs of the alternate dimension counterparts of the cast are aesthetically pleasing and are mined well for jokes and commentary by some of the characters.

To reflect the fact that Phineas and Ferb has a new song in every episode, Across the 2nd Dimension is also part musical, as there’s a musical number every so often where the characters reflect on their current situation. As usual, the songs are well-produced and often have catchy lyrics. Highlights include “Everything’s Better with Perry”, “Brand New Best Friend” and “Summer (Where Do We Begin?)”, the last of which also cleverly incorporates lyrics from “Today is Gonna Be a Great Day”, the series’ theme song. The song that plays over the end credits, “Kick It Up a Notch”, featuring Slash, is also great, although it’s conspicuously absent in the DVD version of the film, instead replaced with the full version of “Takin’ Care of Things”. This wasn’t an issue for us, as we had watched a recording of the broadcast version, but it’s something to keep in mind before viewing.

"Kick It Up a Notch" is conspicuously absent from the DVD version of the film.

While I’m on the subject, I wanted to bring up content that was cut for time, but is available to view on the DVD release. A lot of deleted scenes are fairly minor, though if you’re disappointed that Vanessa Doofenshmirtz isn’t in the movie, there are two scenes involving her and her alternate dimension counterpart that can be viewed on home video. Additionally, the follow-up episode, “Tales from the Resistance: Back to the 2nd Dimension”, builds off of Vanessa’s deleted scenes.

Vanessa Doofenshmirtz was actually featured in a
deleted scene, available on the home video release.

In spite of some hiccups, Across the 2nd Dimension is a well-written, well-animated film that anyone can enjoy. While it’s not necessary to be a fan to enjoy the fun characters and well-timed humor, having at least casual knowledge does help to enhance the experience.