PHINEAS AND FERB THE MOVIE: CANDACE AGAINST THE UNIVERSE
Funny, wholesome sibling adventure about forgiveness.
Should You Watch It?
Yes. This is a funny, clever, first-rate animated comedy filled with delightful songs and playful musical interludes. Its strongest qualities are its warmth and moral clarity: family, teamwork, friendship, courage, love, repentance, and forgiveness all receive meaningful emphasis.
Candace begins by blaming her brothers for ruining her summer. When she is abducted by aliens, Phineas and Ferb set out with their friends to rescue her. The adventure gives the siblings room to face their conflict and discover that they are better together.
The film includes a couple of jokey astrology references and a few scenes stressing romantic notions of self-esteem. Those concerns are limited, while the movie’s positive content is strong. For a wholesome family movie night, this is worth the trip.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESCandace is convinced that her younger brothers, Phineas and Ferb, have ruined her summer. While trying to deal with her frustration, she and Vanessa, the daughter of Dr. Doofenshmirtz, are abducted by aliens.
Phineas, Ferb, their friends, and Dr. Doofenshmirtz follow them into space. Candace encounters a strange alien society and begins to wonder whether she wants to return home. Meanwhile, her rescuers discover that the adventure is more dangerous than they imagined.
Is It Any Good?
Four stars means this is a first-rate animated comedy. The movie is funny and clever, with delightful songs and comical musical interludes that keep the story lively and playful.
One especially funny sequence has Phineas and Ferb leading good aliens against bad aliens while singing a silly song to fake them out. The ending is both sweet and funny, bringing the story’s themes of family and forgiveness to a satisfying conclusion.
The Worldview
The movie presents a strong moral worldview centered on family, teamwork, friendship, courage, love, repentance, and forgiveness. It shows a girl’s desire for revenge against her younger brothers leading to bad consequences, but also leading eventually to repentance and forgiveness. The story’s central lesson is that things can work out when family members stick together.
The film also includes a few jokey references to astrology and several scenes stressing romantic notions of self-esteem. These ideas are present, but they do not overwhelm the movie’s stronger emphasis on brotherly and sisterly love, reconciliation, and mutual care.
The film’s longing for family reconciliation connects with the biblical call to forgive one another: “forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive” (Colossians 3:13).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements
Strong moral worldview with some redemptive elements extols family teamwork, friendship, courage, love, forgiveness, and brotherly/sisterly love, and the good guys must stop an alien invasion of Earth by a tyrant who wants to mind-control human beings, and a girl’s desire for revenge against her younger brothers has bad consequences but leads to eventual repentance and forgiveness, plus a couple jokey references to astrology (mad scientist reads his horoscope in one scene, and girl’s song has a line about the stars aligning for her on a beautiful morning), there are a few scenes stressing false Romantic notions of self-esteem, and the good guys carry an American flag in one brief scene
Foul Language
No obscenities or profanities, but one character says “heck”, and a character calls himself stupid
Violence
Cartoonish, comical violence with science-fiction style shooting with lasers, laser canon destroys some battle robots made by the youthful good guys, pet platypus dons a spacesuit to stop asteroids from hitting a spaceship, and the asteroids sometimes knock him about as he breaks apart some of the asteroids, alien jailer falls under treadmill, and the treadmill spits him out, sentient platypus fights some aliens and throws them in water, a monster then swallows the aliens, but comically slow, slapstick accidents involve mad scientist falling off cliffs or tripping, the upper torso of aliens explodes when they’re intensely happy and makes the noise “candace”, but the bodies grow back eventually, and one image shows police herding the bottom half of aliens’ bodice into a police van, characters are thrown out of a spaceship and have to figure out a way to save themselves as they fall to Earth, children attach a canoe to a large truck, and they drive around a baseball stadium to make the canoe knock over evil aliens, large scary dragon birds, some characters are mind-controlled by the spores of a large plant called “Mama,” some science fiction creatures with teeth,
Sex
No sex
Nudity
No nudity
Alcohol Use
No alcohol use
Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse
No smoking or drugs
Miscellaneous Immorality
Children lie to protect one another from their mom, some adults are seen as less intelligent than the children, a girl believes the universe is against her, and an alien leader tricks girl by stroking her ego.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
Candace believes the universe is against her before reconciling with her brothers. What helps resentment give way to forgiveness in your family?
Ephesians 4:32 · Colossians 3:13Phineas, Ferb, and their friends work together to rescue Candace. When has teamwork helped you do something difficult?
Ecclesiastes 4:9–10 · Romans 12:4–5The story connects repentance with restored relationships. What is the difference between merely feeling sorry and turning around?
2 Corinthians 7:10 · Proverbs 28:13The alien leader wins Candace’s trust by stroking her ego. How can you recognize praise that helps you from flattery that manipulates you?
Proverbs 27:6 · Philippians 2:3The Final Word
This funny, wholesome adventure gives families lively songs, clever comedy, and a heartfelt story about sibling forgiveness. Its limited concerns do not outweigh its strong positive content. For a family movie night, WORTH THE TRIP.
