Dan Povenmire | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Povenmire in 2009 | |
| Born | California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupations | |
| Years active | 1987–present |
| Known for | |
| Spouse | [1][2][3] |
| Children | 2 |
TikTok information | |
| Page | |
| Followers | 6.7 million |
| Likes | 243.2 million YouTube information |
| Channel | |
| Years active | 2007–present |
| Genre | |
| Subscribers | 1.62 million[4] |
| Views | 698.1 million[4] |
Last updated: February 27, 2025 | |
Dan Povenmire (/ˈpɒvənmaɪər/POV-ən-mire[5]) is an American animator, voice actor, writer, director, and producer. WithJeff "Swampy" Marsh, Povenmire co-created theDisney Channel animated seriesPhineas and Ferb andMilo Murphy's Law, in both of which he voiced the characterDr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz. In October 2020, Povenmire announced a new series for Disney Channel titledHamster & Gretel, which premiered in 2022.
Povenmire grew up inMobile, Alabama, where he was an art student, and where he spent summers outdoors and making movies. Povenmire attended theUniversity of South Alabama before deciding to pursue a film career and transferring to theUniversity of Southern California.
Povenmire has been a long-time contributor to the animation business, working on several different animated television series such asHey Arnold!,The Simpsons,Rocko's Modern Life, andSpongeBob SquarePants. He was a longtime director on the animated sitcomFamily Guy, where he was nominated for anAnnie Award in 2005. He left the series to createPhineas and Ferb withJeff "Swampy" Marsh. Povenmire has been nominated for several awards for his work on the show, including aBAFTA, an Annie, and twoEmmy Awards. Following the success ofPhineas and Ferb, he and Marsh created and produced a second show for Disney titledMilo Murphy's Law, which premiered in 2016. In 2020, the duo made a secondPhineas and Ferb film,Candace Against the Universe, and are currently working on seasons 5 and 6.
Povenmire was born inCalifornia[6] and grew up in the city ofMobile, Alabama.[7] Achild prodigy, he began drawing at age two; by the time he was ten, his work was displayed in local art shows.[8] His first efforts in animation included a series offlip books that he produced in his school text books.[9] As a child, Povenmire considered animatorChuck Jones his hero;[10] in a 2009 interview, he stated that "every drawing he did was beautiful to look at and had so much life in it".[11] The works of Japanese animatorHayao Miyazaki were also an early influence on Povenmire's style.[12]
Povenmire received hissecondary education at Shaw High School in Mobile.[13] Initially, he attended theUniversity of South Alabama, where he created his first popular comic strip,Life is a Fish, devoted to the life of Herman the goldfish and the college students he lives with. Povenmire also supported himself as a waiter and performer at a dinner theater.[8] In 1985, he transferred to theUniversity of Southern California (USC), planning to pursue a career in film.[8][13][14]
Soon after arriving at USC, he pitchedLife is a Fish toMark Ordesky, the editor-in-chief of theDaily Trojan, the university newspaper. Ordesky first "basically brushed [him] off", but, after viewing Povenmire's portfolio, accepted the strip.Fish ran daily in the paper. Though the rapid pace left Povenmire afraid he was "running out of ideas", he never missed a deadline and made$14,000 a year throughFish merchandise, which included T-shirts, books, and calendars sold at the campus craft fair.[8] The discipline of regular production also helped teach Povenmire to "represent something in the least amount of lines".[9]
Povenmire left USC[8] without finishing the degree requirements,[13] and used the money fromFish merchandise to fund a short-lived career as astreet artist. His first professional animation commission came on theTommy Chong projectFar Out Man, for which Povenmire produced two minutes of animation. By age 24, Povenmire was freelancing on several animated television series, includingTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.[8] In 1989, he appeared in a small role as a band member inAdam Sandler's first film,Going Overboard.[8]
In the 1990s, Povenmire secured a job as a character layout animator[15] on the hit animated seriesThe Simpsons.[8][16] His desk placed him oppositeJeffrey Marsh, another up-and-coming animator. They shared similar tastes in humor and music, and later became colleagues on other projects.[16]
Povenmire's experience, from both previous industry work and from his own projects, earned him respect atThe Simpsons.[9] He worked on layout animation and collaborated onstoryboard production for the series, recalling later that staff were handed pages of production notes and instructed to "Do the [creative consultant]Brad Bird notes and any others that make sense."[11] He maintained a side interest in film, writing scripts[13] and the screenplay for a low-budget horror movie,Psycho Cop 2.[10][13] The movie's producers offered Povenmire the opportunity to direct the film, but its terms required that he quitThe Simpsons. Povenmire chose to stay withThe Simpsons, which he enjoyed and considered a better fit with his future ambitions.[13] Rif Coogan ended up directing the picture instead.[17]
"I could have just stayed atThe Simpsonsad infinitum. I have friends there who were there when I was and are still working on the show. But animation is such that at the end of production they lay off all the artists and then at the end of post-production they bring all the artists back. I was looking at a two- or three-month downtime."
Work onThe Simpsons involved an irregular schedule. The producers laid off the animation staff for two-to-three-month periods, and rehired the staff later in the production cycle. During one of these layoffs, Povenmire found a temporary job on the seriesRocko's Modern Life,[13]Nickelodeon's first in-house cartoon production.[18][19] The show's creator, television newcomer Joe Murray, hired Povenmire solely on the strength of hisLife is a Fish comic strips,[8] which proved he could both write and draw.[13]
Though Povenmire started onRocko simply to occupy his downtime fromThe Simpsons, he found the greater creative freedom he enjoyed on his temporary job compelling, and quitThe Simpsons to work onRocko full-time. There, he reunited with Jeff Marsh, this time as a writing partner;[16] Marsh claimed the crew hoped Povenmire's neatness would offset his own sloppy storyboarding.[10] The pair developed a distinctive style characterized by characteristic musical numbers and chase scenes.[20] Povenmire and Marsh won an Environmental Achievement Award for a 1996Rocko episode they had written.[6]
Povenmire later became a director onFamily Guy,[21] starting with theseason two episode "Road to Rhode Island".[22] CreatorSeth MacFarlane granted Povenmire substantial creative freedom. Povenmire recalled that MacFarlane would tell him "We've got two minutes to fill. Give me some visual gags. Do whatever you want. I trust you." Povenmire praised MacFarlane's management style for letting him "have [...] fun."[11]
Povenmire brought realism and material from his own experiences to the visual direction ofFamily Guy.[23][24] For "One If by Clam, Two If by Sea" (August 1, 2001),[25] several characters demonstrateFosse-like moves in prison. To correctly depict the moves, Povenmire asked color artist Cynthia MacIntosh, who had been a professional dancer, to strike poses so he could properly illustrate the sequence.[24] In the episode "To Love and Die in Dixie" (November 15, 2001),[26] Povenmire drew on his childhood in the Deep South to create and sequence a background scene in which theredneck character nonchalantly kicks a corpse into the nearby river.[23]
"Brian Wallows and Peter's Swallows" (January 17, 2002), aFamily Guy episode which Povenmire directed,[27] won theEmmy Award for Best Song. CreatorMacFarlane, the recipient of the award, noted that Povenmire deserved to have received the award for the contribution the visuals made to the episode's win. Povenmire responded in jest, "That's a nice sentiment and all, but did he offer to give me his? No! And it's not like he doesn't already have two of his own just sitting in his house!"[28] Povenmire was nominated for anAnnie Award for Directing in an Animated Television Production for the episode "PTV" (November 6, 2005)[29] but lost out to a fellowFamily Guy director,Peter Shin, who had directed the episode "North by North Quahog".[30] Povenmire and several others were also nominated for their work on "PTV" in theOutstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour) category at thePrimetime Emmy Awards.[31] Povenmire also received the same nomination for "Road to Rhode Island."[32]
DuringFamily Guy's brief cancellation, Povenmire was offered a job as storyboard director of the seriesSpongeBob SquarePants.[11][33] He also became a writer for the show, writing the season 2 episodes "Graveyard Shift", "The Fry Cook Games" and "Sandy, SpongeBob and the Worm", all of which premiered onNickelodeon between 2001 and 2002. He also wrote "The Campfire Song Song" for the Season 3 episode "The Camping Episode", for which he was also a storyboard director on alongsideJay Lender (April 3, 2004).[34][35]
"It wasn't like we pitched it to every network more than once. We pitched it to four different places. We'd get real close, they'd say no, so we'd put it back on the shelf for a couple of years, then—'I've got a pitch over at Cartoon Network—I'll dust it back off and pitch it to them; if they say no, I'll dust it off and pitch it to Nickelodeon.'"
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In 1993, Povenmire and Marsh conceived the seriesPhineas and Ferb,[8] based on their similar experiences of childhood summers spent outdoors.[16] Povenmire spent 14–16 years pitchingPhineas and Ferb to several networks.[11][16] Most rejected it as unfeasible for the complexity of its plots,[21][36] but Povenmire persevered, later observing "It was really the show we wanted to see: if this was on the air, I'd watch it, and I don't always feel that about every show I work on."[16] Even theWalt Disney Company initially rejected Povenmire's pitch, but asked to keep the proposal packet: "Usually that means they throw it in the trash later," Povenmire recalled.[8] Eventually Disney called Povenmire back with an acceptance, on the condition that he would produce an 11-minute pilot.[20] He called Marsh, who was living in England, to ask him if he would like to work on the pilot; Marsh accepted immediately and moved back to the United States.[21]
Instead of a conventional script, the pair pitched the pilot by recording reels of its storyboard, which Povenmire then mixed and dubbed to produce action and vocals. The network approved the show for a 26-episode season.[7][20] As a result, Povenmire leftFamily Guy to create the series.[37]
Povenmire and Marsh wanted to incorporate intoPhineas and Ferb the kind of humor they had developed in their work onRocko's Modern Life. They included action sequences and, with Disney's encouragement, featured musical numbers in every episode subsequent to "Flop Starz".[20] Povenmire described the songs as his and Marsh's "jab at immortality",[8] but the pair have earned two Emmy nominations forPhineas and Ferb songs to-date.[10] A third Emmy nomination, for the episode "The Monster of Phineas-n-Ferbenstein" (2008),[38] pitted the show againstSpongeBob SquarePants,[39] although neither nominee received the award due to a technicality.[40] In 2010, Povenmire was nominated amongst several otherPhineas and Ferb crew members for theDaytime Emmy Award for both "Outstanding Writing in Animation" and "Outstanding Original Song – Children's and Animation" for their work on the show,[41] winning for "Outstanding Writing in Animation".[42] In 2021, Povenmire, among other writers, won an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Writing Team for a Daytime Animated Program" for their filmCandace Against the Universe.[43]
The distinctive style of the animation legendTex Avery influenced the show's artistic look. Like Avery, Povenmire employed geometric shapes to build both the characters and the background. The style developed almost accidentally, with Povenmire's first sketch of title character,Phineas Flynn, which he produced while eating dinner with his family in a restaurant inSouth Pasadena, California. He doodled a triangle-shaped child on the butcher paper covering the table. He was so taken with the sketch he tore it out, kept it, and used it as the prototype for Phineas and as the stylistic blueprint for the entire show.[21]
During his college years, Povenmire had performed with a band that played at clubs and bars acrossLos Angeles, California.[8] His current band, Keep Left, releases albums throughArizona University Recordings. Their second CD,Letters from Fielding, became available for download on aurec.com during 2004.[14] They have an official website maintained and updated by artist Larry Stone.[44] A 2004 email exchange about the website between Stone and Povenmire resulted in a "clever and twisted" series of comic strips drawn by the two, eventually moved to the website Badmouth.[44]
Povenmire had been married to Clarissa McPeck Rincón since 2000.[1][3] In 2023, he announced they were separated and in the process of getting divorced. His daughter, Meli, voices the titular character Gretel inHamster & Gretel, and also serves as the namesake of Melissa Chase onMilo Murphy's Law.[45] His other daughter, Isabella, now going by Alex, serves as the namesake of thePhineas and Ferb character Isabella Garcia-Shapiro.[46]
He hasattention deficit hyperactivity disorder.[47]
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| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Never on Tuesday | Storyboard artist | |
| 1989 | Going Overboard | Yellow Teeth | |
| 1990 | Far Out Man | Animator | |
| 1991 | The Dark Backward | Storyboard artist | |
| 1993 | Psycho Cop 2 | Writer | |
| 2003 | Museum Scream | Writer and director | |
| 2011 | Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension | Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz (1st and 2nd Dimension) | Writer Director Producer |
| 2020 | Scoob! | Executive producer | |
| Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe | Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz, Himself | Supervising director Executive producer Writer |
| Year | Series | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | James Bond Jr. | Storyboard conforming Storyboard artist | |
| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | Storyboard conforming | ||
| 1992–1996, 2002 | The Simpsons | Storyboard artist Character layout artist | |
| 1993–1996 | Rocko's Modern Life | Writer Director Storyboard artist Songwriter | |
| 1994 | The Critic | Character layout artist | |
| 1995 | Earthworm Jim | Storyboard artist | |
| The Ren & Stimpy Show | Additional storyboard artist | ||
| 1996–1999 | Hey Arnold! | Storyboard artist Director | |
| 1998–1999, 2001 | CatDog | Storyboard director Writer | |
| 2000–2002, 2005-2007 | Family Guy | Storyboard artist Director | |
| 2001–2004 | SpongeBob SquarePants | Writer Storyboard artist Storyboard Director Assistant storyboard artist | |
| 2007–2015, 2025–present | Phineas and Ferb | Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz various characters | Co-creator Executive producer Voice artist Story Writer Director Songwriter Storyboard artist (Rollercoaster and Doof 101) |
| 2010–2011 | Take Two with Phineas and Ferb | Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz | Co-creator Executive producer Voice artist Storyboard artist |
| 2013 | Shark Tank | Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz | Guest; Episode: 426 |
| 2016–2019 | Milo Murphy's Law[48] | Vinnie Dakota[49] Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz various characters | Co-creator Executive producer Voice artist Writer: Story & Teleplay Storyboard artist Director Songwriter |
| 2022–present | Chibiverse | Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz | |
| Hamster & Gretel[50] | Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz various characters | Creator Executive producer Director | |
| 2024 | Big City Greens | Old Man | Episode: "Guiding Gregly" Wrote song "I Found My People" |
| Year | Series | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013–2014 | Doofenshmirtz's Daily Dirt | Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz | |
| 2019 | Phineas & Ferb – Busted (Shot-For-Shot Remake) Ft. Dan Povenmire | Live-action | |
| Broken Karaoke | Provided voice acting for Doof's Christmas Song FAIL! & Deck The Halls.[51][52] | ||
| 2020 | Random Rings | Provided voice acting. | |
| 2022 | How Not To Draw | Provided voice acting for"How Not To Draw: Dr Heinz Doofensmirtz".[53] |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Artists | |
