VIDEO: Starting Summer Vacation With Vincent Martella & Phineas
Actor Vincent Martella told NorthEast Comic Con fans that “Phineas and Ferb” remains a huge part of his life…
Sometimes there’s no telling how life will take you full circle. Today was one of those mystical, fun omega moments that started with an alpha onset at the training rink of the Boston Bruins. While waiting for the Black & Gold to take the ice, a bunch of us dad-aged hockey writers were talking about cartoons our kids were watching.
My oldest, Jack, had started watching Phineas and Ferb. To that, Steve Conroy, a very veteran hockey reporter exclaimed, “Oh yeah. Phineas and Ferb is so much better than most of the shows my daughter watches.”
Although I think he said it more colorfully, he was very, very right. Phineas and Ferb is excellent.
Over the years all three of my boys, aged 11, 9, and 5 have all enjoyed Phineas and Ferb; so much so I have several of the episodes memorized. Moreover, I would count the cartoon as one of my all-time favorite Disney shows.
Of course, much of that has to do with the vocal stylings of Vincent Martella, the voice of Phineas.
Had an amazing start to summer vacation at #NEComicCon listening in to @REALphineasferb’s @VinMan17! Writing up my experience for @MickeyBlog_, shortly. #vincentmartella #phineasandferb pic.twitter.com/J8WRT6X5Xc
— John Bishop (@jmbishopjr) July 4, 2021
Listening to Phineas
Now, when Martella spoke to fans at the “NorthEast Comic Con” on Saturday, July, 3, he spoke about his career, about filming and recording a Phineas and Ferb movie during the beginning days of the pandemic. He explained that the experience allowed him to really reflect on how much the show meant to him.
“Actually [after] filming it in 2018… we finished it last summer, like during the pandemic,” he said to a rapt audience in Boxboro, Mass. “We couldn’t go into studios.
“I had to record an entire song in my bedroom,” he added with a wry laugh.
However, while he might have been taken aback by the circumstances of the work, he wasn’t actually surprised that Phineas and Ferb would come out of retirement for a tentpole-type movie for the burgeoning Disney+ streaming service.
“That’s because I had enough heads up,” admitted Martella, whose natural speaking voice befits a veteran actor of 28. “Well before 2018 they told me, ‘Hey it looks like Disney is [going to create] a streaming service and I think they want us to do something.’
“So we weren’t sure in what capacity that was going to be. But then they were like, ‘Disney is definitely doing a streaming service and they want us to do a movie.
“I had a little bit of a heads up to be like, ‘Okay, time to get ready to do this again.'”
A Heartfelt Return
Prior to the pandemic, and while the cast and crew could actually go to a studio, the return to the character tugged at Martella’s heartstrings.
The actor has been working since 2004 and although he has performed on many different successful shows and films (The Walking Dead, Everyone Hates Chris immediately come to mind), Martella clearly understands Phineas and Ferb occupies real estate in a whole lot of folks hearts, including a large number of kids in the audience.
Frankly, given how much the show means to my boys, it was excellent that the character remains very close to Martella’s heart, as well.
“Being in the booth doing it again was like decently emotional,” he emphasized. “Everyone was like, ‘Whoa, this is really weird we’re doing all these characters again.’
“It’s like, going back and seeing old friends you haven’t seen in a very long time.”
But then, Martella what I heard to be a really honest moment between him and the crowd.
“I mean, it’s a huge part of my life that was very meaningful to me,” he said. “Getting to do something like that again was really cool and really special and I hope we get to do more; because I know they have really great stuff written but it kind of depends on what Disney+ wants to do with it.”
Candace Against the Universe
Of course, because of that emotion and the timing of the film that became Candace Against the Universe, Martella was pleased.
“I really enjoyed the movie a lot,” he said. “What I thought was good about it was that it was accessible for people who never watched the show.
“There’s a song that starts the film that Candace sings — it just got nominated for an Emmy by the way — shout out to the amazing writers of that movie. But in that song, Candace kind of recaps a lot of what happened in the show all in one big musical number. And that really helps people who had never seen Phineas and Ferb; it’s all going to make sense.
“I think that was really smart of them to make it accessible to people who were just on Disney+ and want to watch something… without having seen our well-over-100 episodes of the show. But then there’s a ton of references to the show for like mega fans,” said Martella.
Speaking of mega fans, I happened to have my middle guy, Scott, with me when — using my reporter’s instincts — we ran into Mr. Martella in the hallway.
Rarely star-struck myself, I tentatively said, “Thank you…” out loud for the terrific presentation about his career, but silently because of his being part of a show I can watch with my kids.
Meanwhile, when Scotty got overwhelmed with meeting his hero “Phineas,” Vincent couldn’t have been more gracious and kind.
He gave my son one of the best moments of his young life when he said, “Well, have a great summer vacation!” in the voice.
Then I had to admit, that sometimes it’s pretty great to meet your heroes. My Scott will always have a memory when one of his exceeded expectations.
Video: Martella Talks Phineas and Ferb
More from this weekend’s con coming soon…
Feature Image: John Bishop