If he doesn’t have a key already, they might as well give him one because Michael Arndt—the Oscar winning writer of “Little Miss Sunshine” and one of the co-writers of “Toy Story 3” (that also earned him a nomination)—is going to be a fixture on the Disney lot for the next few years. This year the mouse house has been busy lining up projects for the man, tasking him with “Snow And The Seven” as well the ambitious, under wraps and currently untitled Pete Docter movie over at Pixar about the formation of ideas inside the human mind. Well, he’s lined up yet another gig.
Disney is bringing the animated show “Phineas And Ferb” to the big screen and Arndt is going to be the man to make it happen, writing the screenplay. We’ve never watched the show, but this is for kids anyway, and it centers on two stepbrothers who get into various adventures and invent things while on summer vacation. Their sister Candace is always trying to get them in trouble and oh yeah, the family platypus Perry is a double agent who squares off against the villainous Dr. Doofenshmirtz. But there are a couple of interesting things to note. Firstly, show creators Swampy Marsh and Dan Povenmire have penned the initial script that Arndt will go in and work off of and secondly, this will be a mix of live action and animation which is a definitely a big change from the show.
The movie is already pegged with a July 26, 2013 release and like all things Disney related, it will get the shit marketed out of it. So if you’ve always wanted “Phineas And Ferb” paper plates or sunglasses or underwear or electric toothbrush whatever, you’ll probably be able to get that very soon (if not already). And so while this will be a supersized summer movie, the presence of Arndt does promise it should be a cut above your standard kid’s entertainment and we’re curious to see how the live action element will come into play. So plenty for Arndt to do over at Disney…just turn off the lights before you leave, Mike. [24 Frames]