Cuz everybody needs to do a little overthinking once in awhile, right?
And besides, we have this, um, “thing,” for Phineas and friends.
by Jessica Levai
Phineas and Ferb is a cartoon show on The Disney Channel which tells the story of the titular stepbrothers and their never-ending quest to enjoy thoroughly their summer vacation. They spend their time constructing wacky, intricate machines and contraptions, all in the name of fun. Unbeknownst to the pair, their pet platypus, Perry, is a secret agent (codenamed “Agent P”), whose daily duels with the evil Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz are the subject of each episode’s B plot, often intersecting with the adventures of the boys and their friends in unexpected ways. Perhaps more unexpected are the parallels between the exploits of Doofenshmirtz and Agent P and those of Gilgamesh and Enkidu in the ancient Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh. Indeed, Doofenshmirtz and Agent P retell that legendary bromance in their own story. If we accept classics scholar Gerald K. Gresseth’s conclusion that Gilgamesh is fundamentally a humanist work, then we can see how this retelling reflects and supports the humanist ethic of Phineas and Ferb.