Top 10 Things Only Adults Notice in Phineas and Ferb

At the shows start, Buford is the local aggressor, feared by all the towns kids most notably, Baljeet. Later on, however, in the episode where he loses his goldfish, we get a more nuanced look at his character. The storyline sheds a lot of light on Bufords situation, his loneliness, and how he came to be a bully. There are other hints of his troubled home environment throughout the rest of the show, too, like that one throwaway line about why his voice is so gruff. In the thumb-wrestling episode, the announcer outright says hes from a broken home. To kids, these may sound like simple jokes, but to adults, its evidence of something much more serious.

Doofenshmirtz makes new evil devices at a phenomenally high rate. In the season-two Christmas special, he cooks up what is perhaps his most innuendo-filled invention: the Naughty-inator. What does it do? Its purpose is to spray naughty nectar over the Tri-State Area, covering it and its population in a cloud of naughtiness. That way, Santa will receive reports that all the children were naughty, and Christmas will be canceled. As a child, this went over all of our heads, and we took the plot pretty literally. As grown-ups, its baffling how this level of innuendo made the cut especially considering the design of the naughty nectar.

One of the shows best aspects is all the wild and wacky inventions, all made in the titular characters backyard. One running joke is the contractors who provide the resources constantly pointing out how young the builders are. Something a grown-up might catch is that we never see the contractors ask for proper permits. We know the kids are aged somewhere between 7 and 12, and the age for criminal responsibility in America is 11, on a federal level. So, maybe they think theyre exempt from the law. Alternatively, since they live in a tri-state area, proper permits could be a nightmare to acquire. Maybe the contractors just cant be bothered checking Or, most perplexing of all, maybe Phineas and Ferb did manage to get proper permits for everything they do which even by cartoon standards seems implausible.

In the episode The Inator Method, the gang builds a model solar system, then races in all the planets. As we all know, its pretty easy to joke about a certain planets name. This ice giant is the butt of all solar system jokes. In order to avoid any phone calls from parents or opportunities for double entendres, the writers came up with a clever solution. Buford deliberately mispronounces the word, something Baljeet calls out. The response that follows might just be one of the shows most well-written jokes. Maybe in the future, astronomers will finally solve the issue, and name the planet something sensible, like Futurama predicted.

A number of Doofs schemes end with him trauma-dumping on Perry. One of the characters central themes is how he copes with his awful childhood. We can see this through his interactions with his daughter, Vanessa. His evil villain persona is all but shattered, and he goes into one hundred percent Dad Mode . He puts remarkable effort into his relationship with her, always going to lengths to try to make her happy. For kids watching, the juxtaposition is funny. To adults, we recognize that his dedication and protectiveness obviously stems from his own abysmal childhood, and his efforts to break the trauma cycle.

Does a bear defecate in the forests? Well, it depends on the type: a grizzly bear sure does, but not a polar bear. Nitpicks aside, all adults are familiar with the somewhat crude saying, and it gets referenced in the Wizard of Oz-themed episode. During Jeremys song, Tree Related Wish, theres a cheeky shot of a bear peacefully doing his business in his natural habitat. The joke comes full circle in the episodes end credits, when we revisit the bear, who confirms the old saying with a variation of one of the shows most recurring catchphrases.

Dr. Doofenshmirtz and Perry the Platypus have a unique bond. Despite being nemeses on the surface, the friendship they have is undeniable. So, when Perry finds Doof being thwarted by another secret agent, it very much gives cheater-caught-in-the-act vibes. While that situation is resolved by the episodes end, season four revisited Doofs relationship with Peter the Panda and Doof defines it rather unambiguously. Theres no way the joke registers with children but adults are left to do their best spit-take.

In the episode Out to Launch, we get one of Doofenshmirtzs classic flashbacks. This one is accompanied by a particularly mature implication. As a teen, Doofenshmirtz was great at doing hand shadow puppets. He was trying to impress a girl with his talents and it seemed to be going well until a guy with, quote bigger fingers, came along. Despite Huge Hands Hans being terrible at shadow puppets, the girl ultimately chose him over Doof. Its a development that takes on a new meaning when you rewatch as an adult.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show is an extremely acclaimed musical comedy horror, written by Jim Sharman and Richard OBrien, released in cinemas in 1975. OBrien also played the character Riff Raff in the movie, and would later go on to voice Lawrence Fletcher, Phineas and Ferbs dad. This gave the writers the perfect excuse to jam a bunch of references to the musical into their childrens show, despite their target audience being way too young to pick up on them. One of the best allusions has to be when Lawrence is obviously watching the film, but is entirely confused by the concept. Another is that bit in Night of the Living Pharmacists" when the characters are all saying each others name. Its almost beat for beat, right down to Ferbs silent look.

Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension showed us that Doof does have it in him to win. With a different set of circumstances, he could have ruled the Tri-State Area. In the shows reality, though, hes consistently thwarted by Perry. As a child, you think hes incompetent, but after growing up, it looks more like a cry for help. Doof has lived a lonely life, and the person hes closest to is Perry. He isnt genuine about his evil ambitions, and they start to seem more like a cry for help. His fights with Perry feel more like therapy sessions than anything. Theyre ultimately successful, with Doof turning to the light by the end of the fourth season.

Were there any hilariously mature jokes you noticed in Phineas and Ferb? Let us know in the comments below!