Some Mysterious (Marketing) Force

Along with Charles Schulz, The Simpsons, and the Muppets, one of the things that I dig and inspires me (and which you'll probably be seeing talked about or referenced on this blog a lot) is the Disney cartoon Phineas and Ferb, which in my opinion is the best all-ages animated series currently on television. I plan to do a post in the future about why you should be watching this show if you aren't already, but for now I wanted to point out this great article from Fast Company magazine about the show as a business and how the quality and creativity of the series helps the merchandising section as Disney plans to grow the series into its next franchise. Besides a top Disney Channel exec comparing the series to Curb Your Enthusiasm in terms of humor style, writer Adam Bluestein rightfully puts the strange-headed stepbrothers as the latest of all-ages animated entertainment alongside Bugs Bunny, Bullwinkle, Homer, Ren and Stimpy, Pinky and the Brain, and SpongeBob (the latter of whom Disney is hoping these boys can outperform and appear to be on track to doing so). I'm no trend analyst, but it looks like 2011 is going to be the Year of Phineas and Ferb, and this article only helps to confirm my prediction.

Photo and characters ©The Walt Disney Company. No ownership intended or implied.