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| “ | ARE YOU A MAN OR A SCHNITZEL?!?! | „ |
| ~ Mr. Doofenshmirtz |
Mr. and Mrs. Doofenshmirtz are two of the three overarching antagonists (alongside Professor Destructicon) of the 2007 Disney Channel animated series Phineas and Ferb.
They are the neglectful and abusive parents of Heinz Doofenshmirtz who are responsible for many of his backstories that pushed him into a life of evil.
Mr. Doofenshmirtz was voiced by Dee Bradley Baker and Mrs. Doofenshmirtz was voiced by the late Cloris Leachman.
History[]
It was told by Heinz through his backstories that he had a terrible childhood in his native country Drusselstein that his parents caused. As it turns out, they did many horrible things to Heinz when he was a child such as:
- Forcing him to become a lawn gnome after their real one was repossessed. ("Lawn Gnome Beach Party of Terror")
- Being absent from his day of birth (though that leaves the question of how Heinz was born without too much sense). ("Raging Bully")
- Forcing him to wear girl clothes following the birth of his younger brother Roger. ("Gaming the System")
- Briefly disowning him and letting him be raised by a family of ocelots. ("The Chronicles of Meap")
- Favoring Roger over his skills in kickball while ignoring Heinz's skills in stacking cups (though it's only stated that Mrs. Doofenshmirtz favors Roger, as Mr. Doofenshmirtz's relationship with his younger son wasn't specified while he favored his dog whom he dubbed "Only Son"). ("Thaddeus and Thor")
- Not allowing him to swim in public pools. ("De Plane! De Plane!")
- Not allowing him to play with toy trains. ("Not Phineas and Ferb")
- Shutting off any contact with him for a long time after he refused to make a high dive out of fear. ("Split Personality")
- Taking his stuffed bear and giving it to Roger. ("Make Play")
- Tricking him into leaving for ship for America so that they can get rid of him. ("This Is Your Backstory")
So far, the only good things the Doofenshmirtzes did for their eldest son was giving him some toys (as some flashbacks depict Heinz playing with toys in his house), paying him a worth of allowance (though it was just a 3 cent coin) and, in Mr. Doofenshmirtz's case, telling Heinz the story of his ancestor Jekyll Doofenshmirtz (though it was actually to scare Heinz into bedwetting). And according to Doofenshmirtz, Christmas was fine for him growing up and was never that bad, meaning they likely cared about their son enough to make sure he always had a nice Christmas with them.
Due to this tragic childhood, Heinz went into a life of evil, eventually becoming an evil scientist and creating an evil business. It was also the cause of Heinz's annoying and eccentric personality as he had no one to rely on until high school. Despite this, Heinz tried to find his way into earning the love and respect of his parents, but ultimately failed due to their behavior; even Heinz's nemesis Perry the Platypus feels sorry for Heinz after seeing how very shallow Mr. and Mrs. Doofenshmirtz are over their behavior towards him. In spite of his tragic childhood, Heinz has no intention of repeating the same cycle of abuse towards his own daughter Vanessa as he intends to make her life happy regardless of his reputation as an evil scientist, a revelation that Vanessa accepts as she considers her father to be a better parent than her own grandparents.
It's unknown what happened to Mr. and Mrs. Doofenshmirtz following Heinz's retirement from evil, but it's likely that things are still the same, though it can be inferred that Heinz will no longer care about them because he has surely realized that they don't deserve his love and affection and that he's better off without them.
Trivia[]
- Given to their neglectful and abusive behavior towards Heinz Doofenshmirtz (despite being played for laughs) and the fact that they received no comeuppance for it (the closest thing could be when Mr. Doofenshmirtz lost his garden gnome but that only worsened things for Heinz, though it's also possible that they became poor a second time considering they were not able to prevent the lawn gnome from being repossessed or repurchase it even though Mr. Doofenshmirtz dog Only Son brought him fortune), Mr. and Mrs. Doofenshmirtz are considered to be two of the series' most hated characters by fans alongside Suzy Johnson.
- While not confirmed, it can be possible that Mr. and Mrs. Doofenshmirtz are divorced, as Mrs. Doofenshmirtz is seen to be living in Danville in "Thaddeus and Thor" while Mr. Doofshenmirtz is seen to still be living in Drusselstein in "Father's Day". It might be possible, however, that they still live together but that Mrs. Doofenshmirtz traveled to the USA for the Doofenshmirtz Family Reunion whereas Mr. Doofenshmirtz was unable to do so and that she was absent from the house when Heinz visited his father in the latter episode.
- By the time of the episode "Act Your Age", both Mr. and Mrs. Doofenshmirtz can be either deceased or very old as Heinz is likely around his early 60s.
- It is currently unknown why they were so neglectful and abusive towards Heinz.
