Ferb Fletcher

Ferb was created by Phineas and Ferb co-creators Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, who originally met as layout artists on the Fox Network animated series The Simpsons.[15] Phineas and Ferb was inspired by their boyhood memories of summer vacation;[9] Povenmire and Marsh both felt the theme of school in television had fallen to redundancy and wanted to create a series that took place solely in the summertime.[10]

Ferb's name was derived from that of a mutual friend of Povenmire and Marsh named Frank, who "owns more tools than anyone [they] know."[16] Frank was a set-builder who had worked building and designing sets for shows such as Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.[4][17] Frank's wife disliked Frank's name and gave him the unusual nickname "Ferb".[4]

Ferb was given a simplistic structure so that young audiences would be able to draw him easily.[16] As with the other characters of Phineas and Ferb, Ferb's design is constructed of geometric shapes in homage to animator Tex Avery.[10] Ferb's head is based on a rectangle with a wider top than bottom. A square is used for his nose, and an egg-shaped oval is used for his eyes. The eye furthest from the screen is always drawn larger than the other. Povenmire uses a nine-step process to draw Ferb, starting with his head and ending with touch ups.[19][20]

Ferb was originally going to be voiced by actor Mitchel Musso. However, when Phineas and Ferb was picked up as a full series, Povenmire and Marsh chose to make Ferb British and cast Thomas Sangster as his voice. However, they enjoyed Musso to a level that they recast him as the voice of the character Jeremy Johnson; although Musso no longer voices a title character, his new role allows him more lines.[21] Sangster himself is a British actor and was among several cast members hired that hailed from the United Kingdom. Marsh had lived in the country for seven years and developed a fondness for the culture and people.[18]

Ferb was devised as a character devoid of ill will. Marsh explained, "It was important to us that [Phineas and Ferb] never did anything with any animosity. They never tried to get their sister in trouble or outsmart their mother and get away with it."[22] Instead, he and his brother create things for the sheer enjoyment of it[22] or to help out others ("and for the ladies"); for example, Ferb and Phineas carve Candace's face into Mount Rushmore for her birthday,[23] set up a roller derby for a rematch race with his Grandmother Betty Jo's old rival,[24] create a haunted house for their friend Isabella to cure her hiccups and make a super-computer to find out what to do for their mom after being so kind to them.[25]

Povenmire and Marsh intended for Ferb's drive to create stem primarily from a desire to have fun,[10] and in one episode, "Thaddeus and Thor", Phineas openly confirms this as his and his brother's only goal in their daily schemes – though Ferb adds that they also do it "for the ladies."[26]

In the original pitch to overseas The Walt Disney Company executives, Povenmire and Marsh constructed storyboards and recorded them with dialogue and sound effects. As a prototype, Ferb did not speak at all.[9] However, after considering comedy's "big duos" including Wallace and Gromit and Jay and Silent Bob, the creators chose to have Ferb speak at least once in most episodes (but in "Summer Belongs To You" he spoke nine times and in "The Lizard Whisperer" gives an entire short speech that lasts about 45 seconds), but to have him remain silent and allow Phineas to speak for him the majority of the time.[4] Although Ferb's taciturnity is generally not commented on in the series, Phineas mentions it while he and his brother were in England on the episode "A Hard Day's Knight": "I'll be the top half since I tend to do more of the talking and you will be on the bottom part because of your long spindely legs".[27] Despite being quiet, Ferb is a polyglot, being able to speak in human, animal, and alien tongues.

Ferb also seems to possess good insight, which is probably the main character trait, other than his silence, distinguishing his character from Phineas. Jean Yoo, an official press member for Disney Channel, notes that when Ferb does speak, "it always shows a greater understanding of the situation than his countenance would indicate."[6] He usually says one sentence per episode,[6] such as "Platypuses are the only mammals to lay eggs,"[3] "Well, he [Buford] was all up in my face,"[28] or "Candace, we [Phineas and Ferb] are just kids." He also has a crush on Vanessa Doofenshmirtz.[29]