Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz

Role in Phineas and Ferb

Doofenshmirtz is portrayed as a bumbling, dimwitted evil genius. He strives to take over the "entire tri-state area" by using peculiar contraptions made up of "strange items [he] purchases off the internet". His nemesis is Perry the Platypus, a skilled anthropomorphic platypus secret agent who disguises himself as the mindless pet of the series' title characters.

A typical episode features Doofenshmirtz hatching an evil scheme or invention that he often links to a "back story" from his youth. The stories explore his mentally abusive childhood in the fictional village of Gimmelshtump, Drusselstein, where his brother, Roger, is favored over him. Doofenshmirtz usually has long monologues and displays acts of "cartoonish" physical violence towards Perry the Platypus. Often times, his inventions get off one shot before being destroyed. This shot usually serves to get rid of Phineas and Ferb's inventions, preventing their sister, Candace from 'busting' them, i.e. showing their creations to their mother. According to his own life story he was a bratwurst salesman until he was ruined by the hot dog industry; only then did he become an evil scientist.

In Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension, a more intelligent and successful version of Dr. Doofenshmirtz (from an alternate reality) appears as the main antagonist, with the regular Dr. Doofenshmirtz serving as a supporting character. The alternate Doofenshmirtz later returns in the episode sequel, Tales from the Resistance: Back to the 2nd Dimension, as the secondary antagonist.

Despite nearly failing in almost all of his schemes, there are a few times when Doofenshmirtz actually succeeds. One example is in the episode "Candace Disconnected", where he builds a Pick 'Em Up-Inator to successfully pick up his daughter from her school and bring her home in a couple of seconds. Another time is in the TV film, when he built an Otherdimension-Inator that involves traveling to alternate dimensions; this is done with the help from Phineas and Ferb, much to Perry's distress. In the episode "Cranius Maximus", Doofenshmirtz builds a Key-Find-Inator to successfully steal the Key to the City, something which Perry failed to stop. Another example, which is perhaps the most famous, is in the 2014 special "Phineas and Ferb Save Summer", when Doofenshmirtz builds an -inator that uses the mass of the planet Jupiter to move the Earth away from the Sun into an early autumn. Despite being beaten by Perry with a mop, Doofenshmirtz manages to succeed in moving the Earth anyway, much to Perry's dismay. It also may have allowed him to briefly take over the Tri-State Area, as the change in weather caused civil unrest and allowed Doofenshmirtz and his fellow villains to take over City Hall.

In the series finale "Last Day of Summer", Doofenshmritz built an -inator that involves building a Tri-Governor's Mansion to Danville so that he can be elected as the first Tri-Governor of the Tri-State Area. Through a series of time loops (caused by his Do-Over-Inator, which was activated by Candace), Doof anticipates Perry's every move and defeats him in a series of traps before proceeding with his scheme, which became a complete success. He even took the opportunity to write up a law forbidding Perry and his agents from thwarting him until his term is over, which left Perry very depressed. Despite succeeding in his lifelong goal, Doof learns that Vanessa wants to have an internship at O.W.C.A. and that his job as Tri-Governor is preventing her from joining the internship, leaving her depressed as well. Deciding that her happiness is more important, Doof decides to give up his evil ways and allows Vanessa to have the internship.

Running gags

Dr. Doofenshmirtz is a part of various running gags in the show. One is his redundant naming of inventions, which almost always end with the suffix "inator". Furthermore, Dr. Doofenshmirtz only recognizes the hat-wearing version of Perry. During every introduction of Dr. Doofenshmirtz in the episodes, the audience (and sometimes the characters), hears the ring tone of Doofenshmirtz, typically with the words "Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated", and is almost always sung by a quartet. Habitually, Doofenshmirtz's daily encounters with Perry follow a chain of events that routinely begins with a back-story told by Doofenshmirtz and ends with Doofenshmirtz yelling his catch phrase, "Curse you, Perry the Platypus!"

Creation and design

When Jeff "Swampy" Marsh and Dan Povenmire worked on the Nickelodeon animated series Rocko's Modern Life, they always included a song/musical number and an action/chase scene. They wanted to incorporate this trait in "Phineas and Ferb", and used a platypus secret agent, due to its interesting appearance and role as a continuous nemesis that viewers could become familiar with. "Dr. Mittleshmirtz," which later changed to Doofenshmirtz, was created in the same vein.

Every main character of the series was designed using the geometric shapes of Tex Avery's Looney Tunes graphic style in mind - Doofenshmirtz appears to be an oval. The simplicity of the drawings were intended to allow child viewers to copy them easily. Each one was designed to be recognizable from a distance or, as Povenmire notes as a reference to Matt Groening and The Simpsons, by silhouette.

Voice

Co-creator and executive producer Dan Povenmire voices Doofenshmirtz. He describes the voice he uses as "Eastern European" and is one he used at the age of fifteen while having pillow fights with his five-year-old sister. To this day, his sister recognizes the voice and asks him to do it frequently. During recording sessions, Povenmire is easily able to ad-lib and improvise; the writers can change his lines without throwing him off. Povenmire sometimes even adds his own lines or alters his enunciation, and is usually asked to perform the voice in interviews.

Reception

Despite a negative review of the Phineas and Ferb series on Toon Zone, Maxie Zeus notes that Povenmire's performance as Doofenshmirtz is a strong point of the series. Zeus states that "Dan Povenmire voices him with such energy, and with such perfect timing, that you'll laugh out loud even at the stuff that isn't even supposed to be funny." Zeus also says that the Doofenshmirtz subplot would have made a "fine bit of sketch writing" if trimmed down.

In 2009, Josh Jackson, editor-in-chief for Paste Magazine, wrote in a blog that Phineas and Ferb was "the best kids show on TV" and gave Doofenshmirtz a large amount of praise. Jackson calls his inventions "awesomely designated devices of pure evil" and his complex relationship with his nemesis Perry the Platypus as "pitch-perfect."

Doof's Daily Dirt

In January 2013, Doofenshmirtz "launched [his] own YouTube channel and weekly videocast" titled Doof's Daily Dirt. He comments on various Internet memes and pop culture trends, usually long after the subject is no longer of interest or relevance. Subjects have included Facebook, Internet Acronyms, Lolcatz, Bacon-infused products, Psy's "Gangnam Style", One Direction, Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe", Honey Boo-Boo, the Kardashians and the Mayan apocalypse. He also started a Twitter account where he posts frequently. The webisode series had an original run of 13 episodes. He appeared in the season finale for the reality TV series Shark Tank to pitch his latest invention. The web series was renewed for a second season.