title: Oldboy (2013 film)

text: Joe follows a delivery from the restaurant to a warehouse where he was imprisoned, and meets Chaney, its owner. Joe tortures Chaney by flaying his neck with a utility knife; Chaney confesses that the Stranger arranged for Joe's captivity. Upon returning to Chucky's bar, Joe finds the Stranger there with the woman with the yellow umbrella, his bodyguard Haeng-bok. The Stranger says they have kidnapped Mia, but he makes an offer: if Joe can determine the Stranger's identity and the reason for his 20-year captivity within the next 46 hours, he will release Mia, give Joe $20 million in diamonds, release evidence proving Joe's innocence in Donna's murder, and commit suicide.


title: Oldboy (2013 film)

text: Joe learns that Chaney and his men are seeking revenge by attacking Marie. After racing to her house, he is captured by Chaney. Just as Chaney is about to torture Joe, the Stranger calls Chaney and offers to pay him for Joe and Marie's release; Chaney obliges. Using a music recognition app on her phone, Marie determines that the ringtone from the Stranger's call is the theme song of Evergreen Academy, a now-closed school that Joe attended.


title: Oldboy (2013 film)

text: Marie visits the school headmistress's home, while Joe sneaks in a back door and finds his yearbook where he recognizes a student, Adrian Doyle Pryce. Joe passes the name to Chucky and hides Marie in a hotel for her safety. There they have passionate sex, unaware that the Stranger (actually Adrian) is watching through hidden cameras. Chucky, researching Adrian on the internet, learns everything has been about Adrian's sister, Amanda, and leaves Joe a message informing him; however, Adrian intercepts and deletes the message before Joe can hear it, and garrotes Chucky to death with piano wire for insulting Amanda. Marie and Joe enter the Evergreen Academy grounds and find the school's records regarding Adrian and Amanda. Joe recalls bullying Amanda and seeing Amanda having sex with an older man, revealed to be her own father, in the school's greenhouse. When others at Evergreen learned what happened, Adrian's father moved the Pryce family to Luxembourg, where he later murdered his wife and Amanda, and attempted to murder Adrian, before killing himself. Back at the car, they find a package with Chucky's tongue inside. Joe makes Marie promise to let him go after Adrian alone.


title: Oldboy (2013 film)

text: Joe goes to Adrian's penthouse, kills Haeng-bok by slitting her throat, and confronts Adrian. He tells Adrian what he learned about Amanda and Adrian's father, and Adrian congratulates him for answering the questions correctly. Adrian, who believes his father's abuse was an expression of love, blames the destruction of his family on Joe, who revealed their secret by telling everyone at Evergreen what he saw in the greenhouse. Adrian gives Joe the diamonds and evidence, and escorts him to the sets used to fabricate the media watched by Joe in captivity. Adrian taunts Joe by questioning why he was released at all, and shows that the interview with "Mia" was a setup; the girl, now a woman, was a paid actress. He reveals that Marie is actually Joe's own daughter Mia, and that he wanted Joe to know what it felt like to lose everything. Adrian then shoots himself in the mouth, killing himself.


title: Oldboy (2013 film)

text: Horrified, Joe writes Marie a letter saying they can never see each other again. He leaves her most of the diamonds, using the rest to pay Chaney to return him to the captivity of the hotel room, presumably for the rest of his life.


title: Oldboy (2013 film)

text: An American remake of "Oldboy" (2003) previously had director Justin Lin attached, with Ernesto M. Foronda and Fabian Marquez writing the screenplay after previously collaborating with Lin on "Better Luck Tomorrow" (2002). In November 2008, DreamWorks and Universal were securing the rights to the remake, which Will Smith had expressed interest in starring, with Steven Spielberg as director. Mark Protosevich was in talks to write the script, although the acquisition to the remake rights were not finalized. Smith later clarified that Spielberg would not be remaking the film: he would be adapting the "Old Boy" manga itself, which is considerably different from the film. In June 2009, the manga's publisher launched a lawsuit against the Korean film's producers for giving the film rights to Spielberg without their permission. Later in November 2009, it was reported that DreamWorks, Spielberg, and Smith had stepped back from the project. The producing team announced on November 2009 that the project was dead.


title: Oldboy (2013 film)

text: On July 11, 2011, Mandate Pictures sent a press release stating that Spike Lee would direct a remake of the South Korean film (ignoring the earlier version's adaptation of the manga) with a screenplay written by Protosevich. Josh Brolin was cast to star in the remake as the lead character, while Christian Bale was reportedly in talks to portray the antagonist character, but it was later reported that Colin Firth had been offered the role. Firth later passed on the role, which was later offered to Clive Owen. In May 2012, "Deadline" reported that Sharlto Copley had officially been cast as the villain Adrian Pryce. Elizabeth Olsen, Samuel L. Jackson and Nate Parker were all later announced to have joined the cast. Parker was later replaced by James Ransone, due to a scheduling conflict. The film marked Jackson's first time working with director Lee since 1991's "Jungle Fever".


title: Oldboy (2013 film)

text: Spike Lee's version was 140 minutes long, but the producers heavily re-edited the film to 105 minutes (re-edits by producers also included the "one-shot hammer" scene); Lee and Josh Brolin were unhappy with it. Lee even removed his trademark "A Spike Lee Joint" credit for a more impersonal "A Spike Lee Film" during the editing process. Brolin has also said in an interview with the "Los Angeles Times" that he prefers Lee's version of the film, though it is not clear if this cut will ever be released.


title: Oldboy (2013 film)

text: "Oldboy" was released theatrically in the United States on November 23, 2013, by FilmDistrict. It was the last film to be distributed by the company, before Focus Features absorbed the company in October 2013.


title: Oldboy (2013 film)

text: The film was released in the United States on DVD and Blu-ray on March 4, 2014, by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.


title: Oldboy (2013 film)

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 39% based on 151 reviews, with an average rating of 5.1/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Suitably grim and bloody yet disappointingly safe and shallow, Spike Lee's "Oldboy" remake neither surpasses the original nor adds anything new to its impressive legacy." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 49 out of 100, based on 41 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: Oldboy (2013 film)

text: Matt Zoller Seitz of "RogerEbert.com" gives three of four stars, saying: "Because the Internet moves with the speed and ferocity of a hornet swarm, there's a chance that by the time you read this, Spike Lee's American remake of "Oldboy" will already have been stung to death. If so, too bad. This American version of Park Chan-Wook's Korean thriller is Lee's most exciting movie since "Inside Man"—not a masterpiece by any stretch, but a lively commercial genre picture with a hypnotic, obsessive quality, and an utter indifference to being liked, much less approved of."


title: Oldboy (2013 film)

text: Justin Chang of "Variety" said that "Lee and Protosevich have made a picture that, although several shades edgier than the average Hollywood thriller, feels content to shadow its predecessor's every move while falling short of its unhinged, balls-out delirium." Michael Phillips of "The Chicago Tribune", in a one and a half star review noted that "The revenge in "Oldboy" is neither sweet nor sour; it's just drab".


title: Oldboy (2013 film)

text: Eric Kohn, in a largely positive review at "Indiewire" said: "It's been so long since Lee made such a thoroughly amusing work that fans should have no problem excusing its messiness. But make no mistake... "Oldboy" is all over the place, sometimes playing like a subdued melodrama and elsewhere erupting into flamboyance and gore."


title: Oldboy (2013 film)

text: The film grossed $885,000 in its first five days, one of the weakest Thanksgiving openings of all time, according to "Variety". It opened in 18th place at the box office and finished with a worldwide gross of $5.2 million, against its $30 million budget, making it a box office bomb.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: Phineas and Ferb is an American animated musical-comedy television series created by Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh for Disney Channel and Disney XD. Produced by Disney Television Animation, the series was originally broadcast as a one-episode preview on August 17, 2007 following the premiere of "High School Musical 2", and again previewed on September 28, 2007; the series officially premiered on February 1, 2008, on Disney Channel, and ran until June 12, 2015.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: The program follows Phineas Flynn and his stepbrother Ferb Fletcher, who are between eight and ten years old, during summer vacation. Every day, the boys embark on a grand new project, which is usually unrealistic in scale given the protagonists' ages (and are sometimes physically impossible). This annoys their controlling older sister Candace, who frequently tries to reveal their shenanigans to her and Phineas' mother, Linda Flynn-Fletcher, and less frequently to Ferb's father, Lawrence Fletcher. The series follows a standard plot system; running gags occur in every episode, and the subplot almost always features Phineas and Ferb's pet platypus Perry working as a spy named "Agent P" for the O.W.C.A. (Organization Without a Cool Acronym) to defeat the latest scheme of Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz, a mad scientist driven largely by a need to assert his evilness (although he is not genuinely evil and has a good heart in certain situations). The two plots intersect at the end to erase all traces of the boys' project just before Candace can show it to their mother, which usually leaves Candace very frustrated.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: Povenmire and Marsh had previously worked together on Fox's "The Simpsons" and Nickelodeon's "Rocko's Modern Life". The creators also voice two of the main B-plot characters, Dr. Doofenshmirtz and Major Monogram. "Phineas and Ferb" was conceived after Povenmire sketched a triangular boy – the prototype for Phineas – in a restaurant. Povenmire and Marsh developed the series concept together and pitched it to networks for 16 years before securing a run on Disney Channel.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: The show follows the adventures of stepbrothers Phineas Flynn and Ferb Fletcher, who live in the fictional city of Danville in an unspecified tri-state area, as they seek ways to occupy their time during their summer vacation. Often these adventures involve elaborate, life-sized and ostensibly dangerous construction projects. Phineas' older sister Candace Flynn has two obsessions: exposing Phineas and Ferb's schemes and ideas, and winning the attention of a boy named Jeremy. Meanwhile, the boys' pet platypus Perry acts as a secret agent for an all-animal government organization called the O.W.C.A. ("Organization Without a Cool Acronym"), fighting Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: Much of the series' humor relies on running gags used in almost every episode, with slight variation. Most episodes follow a pattern:


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: Certain aspects of the show's humor are aimed at adults, including its frequent pop-culture references. Co-creator Dan Povenmire, who had previously worked on "Family Guy", sought to create a less raunchy show that would make similar use of comic timing, metahumor, humorous blank stares, wordplay and breaking the fourth wall. Povenmire describes the show as a combination of "Family Guy" and "SpongeBob SquarePants". Co-creator Jeff "Swampy" Marsh has said that the show was not created exclusively for children; he simply did not exclude them as an audience.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: The series' main characters live in a blended family, a premise that the creators considered underused in children's programming and that reflected Marsh's own upbringing. Marsh considers explaining the family background "not important to the kids' lives. They are a great blended family and that's all we need to know." The choice of a platypus as the boys' pet was similarly inspired by media underuse, as well as to exploit the animal's striking appearance. Povenmire and Marsh wanted to select an uncommon species, an animal that kids could not "pick out at a pet store and beg [their parents] for." The platypus also gives them freedom to "make stuff up" since "no one knows very much about them." Choosing a platypus also allowed them to own that "mental real estate," so that if someone thinks of the word "platypus," they will associate it with Agent P, just as an ogre is now commonly associated with Shrek.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: Marsh called the characters "cool, edgy and clever without ... being mean-spirited." Animation director Rob Hughes is said to have noted that "in all the other shows every character is either stupid or a jerk, but there are no stupid characters or jerks in this one."


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: The series is known for its original songs that appear in almost every episode since the first-season "Flop Starz". Disney's executives particularly enjoyed the episode's song "Gitchee, Gitchee Goo" and requested that a song appear in each subsequent episode. The music earned the series a total of four Emmy nominations: in 2008 for the main title theme and for the song "I Ain't Got Rhythm" from the episode "Dude, We're Getting the Band Back Together", and in 2010 for the song "Come Home Perry" from the episode "Oh, There You Are, Perry" as well as one for its score.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: "Phineas and Ferb" follows structural conventions that Povenmire and Marsh developed while writing "Rocko's Modern Life", whereby each episode features "a song or a musical number, plus a big action/chase scene." Both creators had musical backgrounds, as Povenmire performed rock and roll in his college years and Marsh's grandfather was the bandleader Les Brown.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: The series' songs span many genres, from 16th-century madrigals to Broadway show tunes. Each is written in an intensive session during episode production; a concept, score and lyrics are developed quickly. Together, Marsh and Povenmire can "write a song about almost anything" within one hour. After they finish writing their songs, Povenmire and Marsh sing them over the answering machine of series composer Danny Jacob on Friday nights. By the following Monday, the song is fully produced.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: The title sequence song "Today Is Gonna Be a Great Day", performed by the American group Bowling for Soup, was nominated for an Emmy award in 2008. The creators originally wrote a slower number more in keeping with a "classic Disney song", but the network felt that changes were needed to especially appeal to children and commissioned the rock version that made the final cut.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: A season two clip show, entitled "Phineas and Ferb's Musical Cliptastic Countdown", was broadcast in October 2009. The show focuses on the series' music, featuring a viewer-voted list of the top ten songs from the series. This clip show spawned a sequel, "Phineas and Ferb Musical Cliptastic Countdown Hosted by Kelly Osbourne", which aired on June 28, 2013. Osbourne hosted the special in live form, while Dr. Doofenshmirtz and Major Monogram appeared as animated.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: Dan Povenmire attributes the show's genesis to his childhood in Mobile, Alabama, where his mother told him to never waste a day of summer. To occupy himself, Povenmire undertook projects such as hole-digging and home movie-making. Povenmire recalled, "My mom let me drape black material all the way across one end of our living room to use as a space field. I would hang little models of spaceships for these little movies I made with a Super 8 camera." He was an artistic prodigy and displayed his very detailed drawings at art shows.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: Marsh was raised in a large, blended family. As with Povenmire, Marsh spent his summers exploring and taking part in various activities to have fun.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: While attending the University of Southern California, Povenmire started a daily comic strip called "Life Is a Fish", and received money from the sale of its related merchandise. He eventually dropped out and started drawing people on street corners to make a living, until he was finally called by Tommy Chong to work on a short bit of animation in the film "Far Out Man". Povenmire began to take up animation professionally, working on shows such as "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles". Marsh had become a vice president of sales and marketing for a computer company until he "freaked out" and decided to quit. His friend helped him put together a portfolio and enter the animation business.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: Povenmire and Marsh started working across from each other as layout artists on "The Simpsons". The two bonded over mutual tastes in humor and music, becoming fast friends. They continued their working relationship as a writing team on the Nickelodeon series "Rocko's Modern Life", where they conceived the idea for their own series. While eating dinner at a Wild Thyme restaurant in South Pasadena, Povenmire drew a quick sketch of a "triangle kid" on butcher paper. He tore it out and called Marsh that night to report, "Hey, I think we have our show."


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: The triangle doodle sparked rapid development of characters and designs. Povenmire decided that his sketch "looked like a Phineas," and named Ferb after a friend who "owns more tools than anyone in the world." The creators based their character designs on angular shapes in homage to MGM/Warner Bros. animator/director Tex Avery, adding geometric shapes to the backgrounds for continuity.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: The writing duo's early attempts to pitch the show failed and, though they remained committed to the concept, Povenmire and Marsh began to drift apart after their work on "Rocko's". Marsh moved to London and worked on shows including "Postman Pat" and "Bounty Hamster". Povenmire began working on the primetime Fox series "Family Guy" and the Nickelodeon series "SpongeBob SquarePants", always carrying a "Phineas and Ferb" portfolio for convenient pitching to networks such as Cartoon Network and Fox Kids. The networks passed on the show, believing the series' premise was too complex to succeed.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: Povenmire persisted and again pitched the series to Nickelodeon, where it was considered by high-level executives but rejected once more as overly complicated. Then, after 16 years of trying, Povenmire landed a pitch with Disney. The network did not immediately accept the show, but told Povenmire that it would keep the packet. Povenmire assumed that this had meant an end to negotiations, aware that the phrase usually "means they throw it in the trash later." Disney then surprised him by accepting. Said Povenmire, "Disney was the first to say, 'Let's see if you can do it in 11 minutes.' We did it in the pilot and they said, 'Let's see if you can do it for 26 episodes.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: Povenmire was initially worried that his work on "Family Guy" (an adult show known for its lowbrow humor) would concern Disney, which markets its fare primarily to families. However, Disney Channel senior vice president of original series Adam Bonnett was a "Family Guy" fan who appreciated Povenmire's connection to the show and received his pitch well. "Family Guy" would eventually become a Disney property following their 2019 acquisition of 21st Century Fox.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: In 2006, after the Disney Channel had accepted the show, Povenmire and Marsh turned their attention to the company's overseas executives. Instead of penning a normal script, the two drew out storyboards and played them in a reel. Povenmire voiced over the reel with his dialogue and added sound effects. This novel approach secured the executives' support.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: The show uses four main writers to devise story ideas according to "strict guidelines", such as that the boys' schemes never appear to be "magical." Stories are reviewed at weekly sessions on a Monday, then simultaneously scripted and storyboarded. A very rough design is built before the storyboard, featuring little more than suggested scenes and dialogue, is drafted; the writers then gather for a "play-by-play" walkthrough of the storyboard in front of the whole crew, whose reactions to the jokes are assessed before rewrites are made. The writers also include running gags in every episode, which are generally lines spoken by characters. Almost every episode is split into two 11-minute segments. Dan Povenmire admitted that the "a-plot" of each episode, the one following Phineas and Ferb's inventions, is not actually a plot, but instead the setting, with the actual plot being Candace, Perry and Dr. Doofenshmirtz's story, "The essence of story is that the characters are changed by what happens to them. Nothing ever changes the boys, they never learn anything, there's never any obstacles they have to overcome, everything just works out for them."


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: Rough Draft Studios in South Korea, Wang Film Productions in Taiwan, Morning Sun Animation and Synergy Animation in Shanghai and Hong Ying Animation and Hong Guang Animation in Suzhou animate the series in 2D Animation using the software package Toon Boom. Povenmire undertakes the bulk of production direction, along with Zac Moncrief and Robert Hughes. The series adopts artistic features from animator Tex Avery, such as geometric shapes integrated into characters, objects, and backgrounds. Povenmire says of this inclusion, "There's a little bit of Tex Avery in there-he had that very graphic style [in his later cartoons]." Triangles are featured as an easter egg in the background of every episode, sometimes in trees or buildings.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: Bright colors are also a prominent element of the animation. Marsh elaborates, "The idea at the end of the day was candy. One of the things that I think works so well is that the characters are so bright and candy-colored and our backgrounds are a much more realistic depiction of the world: the soft green of the grass, the natural woods for the fence. In order for all the stuff that they do to work, their world needs to be grounded in reality." The designers sought to keep their characters visually simple, so that kids "would easily be able to draw [them] themselves." Characters were also crafted to be recognizable from a distance, a technique that the creators say is based on Matt Groening's goal of making characters recognizable by silhouette.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: Phineas and Ferb are voiced by Vincent Martella and Thomas Sangster, respectively. Sangster was one of many British actors cast, as Marsh lived in the United Kingdom for seven years and developed a fondness for the British. The rest of the cast includes Ashley Tisdale as their sister Candace; Bobby Gaylor as Buford van Stomm, who has a tendency to bully but is kept distracted by being included in the adventures; Maulik Pancholy as Baljeet Tjinder, a very intelligent boy who avoids being Buford's main victim by their participation in the adventures; Dee Bradley Baker as Perry the Platypus; Caroline Rhea as Linda Flynn-Fletcher, Phineas and Candace's mother and stepmother to Ferb; Richard O'Brien as Lawrence Fletcher, Ferb's father and Phineas and Candace's stepfather; Jack McBrayer as Irving, who admires Phineas and Ferb, and is the creator of the Phineas and Ferb fansite; Kelly Hu as Candace's best friend Stacy; Povenmire as Dr. Doofenshmirtz; Marsh as Major Monogram; Olivia Olson as Dr. Doofenshmirtz's daughter Vanessa; Tyler Mann as Carl, Major Monogram's goofy super genius intern; Alyson Stoner as neighbor Isabella Garcia-Shapiro, a sweet Mexican/Jewish girl with a crush on Phineas; Mitchel Musso as Jeremy, Candace's crush and later her boyfriend; and Madison Pettis as Adyson Sweetwater, a member of Isabella's Fireside Girls troop.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: The show's casting organization is responsible for selecting most of the voice actors and actresses, choosing actors such as Martella and Musso for major roles based on perceived popularity with target demographics. Povenmire and Marsh select guest stars, casting people that they "really want to work with." They also solicit guest roles from actors whom they feel would lend an interesting presence to the show.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: Guest stars have included pop-culture figures such as Damian Lewis, boxer Evander Holyfield, film stars Cloris Leachman and Ben Stiller and pop singer Kelly Clarkson. Povenmire and Marsh have also solicited Tim Curry and Barry Bostwick, stars of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", to make guest appearances, while "Rocky Horror" creator Richard O'Brien voices Lawrence Fletcher. "Top Gear" stars Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May guest-starred in a race-car themed episode as commentators. Other guest stars include Tina Fey, Seth MacFarlane, David Mitchell, Jaret Reddick, Clay Aiken, Chaka Khan and Kevin Smith.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: The show has received generally positive reviews. The "New York Times" commented favorably, describing the show as ""Family Guy" with an espionage subplot and a big dose of magical realism." It considered the pop-culture references ubiquitous "but [placed] with such skill that it seems smart, not cheap." Whitney Matheson wrote in her "USA Today" blog "Pop Candy" that the series was an achievement in children's programming, applauding the writing and calling the show "an animated version of "Parker Lewis Can't Lose"." Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media praised the show's humor and plot, giving it four out of five stars. "The Seattle Times" wrote that the story of the show was "valiant" and that the main characters are "young heroes."


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: "Variety" noted the show's appeal to all ages with its "sense of wit and irreverence." Similar reviews have emphasized the series' popularity with adults; Rebecca Wright of "Elastic Pops" wrote, "As an adult, I really enjoyed watching this "Phineas and Ferb" DVD, and I think it is one that the whole family can enjoy." Wright also called the series' "irreverent style" reminiscent of "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle". "Wired"s Matt Blum has stated in reviews of the series that he "can stand to watch just about anything with [his] kids, but [he] actually look[s] forward to watching "Phineas and Ferb" with them." Notable celebrities identified as fans of the series include Bob Eubanks, Anthony LaPaglia, Ben Stiller, Chaka Khan, Jeff Sullivan and Jake Gyllenhaal.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: Among the negative reviews is one that charges the series with a lack of originality. Maxie Zeus of "Toon Zone" argues that the show is "derivative, but obviously so, and shorn of even the best features of what has been stolen." Zeus takes issue with the writing, feeling that certain jokes and conventions were "ripped-off" from other shows. Kevin McDonough of "Sun Coast Today" criticized the show for its plot complexity, constant action and "characters [that] can do just about anything." McDonough stated that "it's never clear whether P&F are intended to entertain children or are merely a reflection of grown-up animators engaged in a juvenile lark." Marylin Moss of "The Hollywood Reporter" described "Phineas and Ferb" as "Pretty mindless but kids of all ages might find a humorous moment in it." Moss called the plot lines redundant but praised the music styles and guest stars.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz gave a positive assessment in their 2016 book "TV (The Book)", stating that "In television, formula often seems to come from a lack of imagination. ... "Phineas and Ferb" though, managed at the same time to be wildly imaginative and slavishly formulaic, using its repetitive structure not as a crutch, but as a sturdy framework on which it could hang all kinds of fantastic new ideas." They further added that "the characters' awareness of that formula, and any deviations from it, quickly became one of the show's most fertile sources of humor."


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: The first episode, "Rollercoaster", garnered a total of 10.8 million viewers when aired as a preview on August 17, 2007, holding onto more than half of the record-setting audience of its lead-in, "High School Musical 2". When "Phineas and Ferb" officially debuted in February the next year, it proved to be cable's number-one watched animated series premiere by tweens. Throughout the quarter that followed, it peaked as the top-rated animated series for ages 6–10 and 9–14, also becoming the number-three animated series on cable television for viewers age 6–10. By the time the second season was announced in May 2008, the series had become a top-rated program in the 6–11 and 9–14 age groups.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: The Disney Channel airing of "Phineas and Ferb Get Busted!" was watched by 3.7 million viewers. The episodes "Perry Lays an Egg" and "Gaming the System" achieved the most views by ages 6–11 and 9–14 of any channel in that night's time slot. This achievement made the series the number-one animated telecast that week for its target demographics. On June 7, 2009, Disney announced that the show had become the number-one primetime animated show for the 6-10 and 9-14 groups.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: The premiere of "Phineas and Ferb's Christmas Vacation" garnered 2.62 million viewers during its debut on Disney XD, the most watched telecast in the channel's history (including Toon Disney) and the number-three program of the night across all demographics. It received 5.2 million viewers for its debut on Disney Channel and was the highest-rated episode of the series to date and fifth-highest for the week.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: The premiere of "" garnered 3.862 million viewers and was watched by 22% of children 2–11, 13% of teens, 5% of households and 3% of adults 18–49, also ranking as the number-one program for that night and as 25th for the week. On Disney XD, the episode ranked among the channel's top three telecasts of the year with 1.32 million viewers, including 365,000 among boys 6–11, with a 2.9 rating. The hour-long telecast on August 2, 2010, was the series' number-two telecast of all time on Disney XD in total viewers, behind only December 2009's "Phineas and Ferb's Christmas Vacation."


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: Disney has licensed a number of products from the show, including plush toys of characters Perry, Ferb, Phineas and Candace. Disney released several T-shirts for the show and launched a "Make your own T-shirt" program on its website. Authors have novelized several episodes. Two Season 1 DVDs, entitled "The Fast and the Phineas" and "The Daze of Summer", have been released; the discs include episodes never previously broadcast in the U.S. A third DVD was released on October 5, 2010, called "A Very Perry Christmas". Some reviewers were displeased that the discs covered selected episodes rather than the entire series, but noted that Disney does not generally release full-season DVD sets.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: In 2009, Disney licensed a Nintendo DS game titled "Phineas and Ferb". The game's story follows the title characters as they try to build a roller coaster. The player controls Phineas, Ferb and occasionally Agent P (Perry the Platypus). Phineas scavenges for spare parts for the roller coaster while Ferb fixes various objects around town, gaining access to new areas as a result. Ferb can also construct new parts of the coaster and its vehicle-themed carts. Each activity features a short mini-game. The game was well-received and garners a 76.67% on GameRankings. A sequel entitled "Phineas and Ferb: Ride Again" was released on September 14, 2010. Another game, "Phineas and Ferb: Across the Second Dimension", was released for the Wii and PlayStation 3 platforms in 2011.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: In 2012, Disney opened an interactive game based on the series at Epcot, titled Agent P's World Showcase Adventure, which centered around Perry and Dr. Doofenshmirtz, based on the previous attraction Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: Also in 2012, Disney Mobile launched a mobile game titled "Where's My Perry?" for iOS and Android. It was based on Disney's popular "Where's My Water?" game, using similar physics.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: In 2013, Disney commissioned Majesco Entertainment to create "", which was released for the Xbox 360, Wii U, Wii, Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo DS platforms.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: Phineas and Agent P appear as playable characters in all the video games of the "Disney Infinity" series. As with the other playable characters in the games, tie-in figures for them were also released.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: The U.K. Disney Channel produced a series entitled "Oscar and Michael's Phineas and Ferb Fan Club Show" in homage to the original series. The show features two boys who attempt to emulate Phineas and Ferb by taking part in adventures to alleviate boredom. The series aims to educating children and promote activity and creativity. It entered its second season on April 10, 2009. The television series "Psych" has made references to "Phineas and Ferb" in its sixth season. In the episode "Shawn Rescues Darth Vader", main character Shawn Spencer (portrayed by James Roday) states that he learned his British accent from the granddad on "Phineas and Ferb" (he tells this to guest star Malcolm McDowell, the voice of the granddad). In "The Amazing Psych Man & Tap-Man, Issue #2", Shawn mentions the series, stating: "I'm missing a "Phineas and Ferb" marathon. Perry the Platypus. He's a real platypus."


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: On March 3, 2010, a Disney press release announced a made-for-television film based on the series, entitled "Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension", which aired on the Disney Channel on August 5, 2011. The film depicts Phineas and Ferb accidentally helping Dr. Doofenshmirtz with an invention that takes them to a parallel dimension, where Perry reveals his double life as a secret agent to them, and, to save their friends from a devious alternative Dr. Doofenshmirtz, they team up with their alternate-dimension selves to stop him.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: On January 11, 2011, Disney Channels Worldwide chief Gary Marsh announced that a theatrical "Phineas and Ferb" feature-length film was in development by "" producer Sean Bailey, to be produced by Mandeville Films. Series creators Povenmire and Marsh wrote a script, and the film was scheduled for release on July 26, 2013, by Walt Disney Pictures. Michael Arndt, who had written "Little Miss Sunshine" and "Toy Story 3", was hired to write a draft of the screenplay. In October 2012, Disney moved the release date to 2014, and in August 2013, the film was removed from its schedule. This led to speculation that the project was canceled, but Marsh confirmed that the film was merely on hold. On July 12, 2015, it was confirmed that a form of the script of the film was completed. After years without further word on the film's development, in February 2018, it was revealed that the film might return to development depending on the success of the "Milo Murphy's Law" crossover special. there have been no further updates on the development of the film.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: On April 11, 2019, it was announced that a film, titled "Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe", would be released on Disney+ within a year of its launch; it would eventually premiere on August 28, 2020. Most of the series' cast reprised their roles, with the exception of Thomas Sangster as Ferb, who was replaced by David Errigo Jr., who had previously voiced Ferb on "Milo Murphy's Law". According to writer Jim Bernstein, the film is unrelated to the theatrical "Phineas and Ferb" film in development.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: On August 20, 2020, Povenmire and Marsh revealed that there have been talks for a third "Phineas and Ferb" film.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: In 2012, it was announced that a crossover between "Phineas and Ferb" and Marvel Entertainment would air in the summer of 2013, titled "Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel". It features Marvel Comics superheroes Iron Man, Spider-Man, the Hulk and Thor and the villains the Red Skull, Whiplash, Venom and M.O.D.O.K. It is the first major animated crossover between Marvel and Disney since the acquisition of Marvel Entertainment by Disney in 2009.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: In July 2013, a crossover between "Phineas and Ferb" and "Star Wars" was announced, taking place as a sidebar to the events of "Episode IV – A New Hope". The crossover episode aired on July 26, 2014.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: Povenmire has stated that he would like to do a crossover with his and Marsh's follow-up show, "Milo Murphy's Law", which takes place in the same universe as "Phineas and Ferb". The crossover eventually took place in "Milo Murphy's Law"'s second season premiere, titled "The Phineas and Ferb Effect". The entire "Phineas and Ferb" cast reprised their roles for the episode, with the exception of Thomas Sangster, the original voice of Ferb, who was instead voiced by David Errigo, Jr. Before the crossover aired, Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz cameoed at the end of the episode "Fungus Among Us"; following the crossover, the characters Doofenshmirtz, Perry, Major Monogram and Carl joined the cast of "Milo Murphy's Law" in a recurring capacity.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: "Phineas and Ferb: The Best LIVE Tour Ever" was a touring two-act adaptation of the TV show. A projection system played video in the same style as the TV show on the rear of the stage; the characters were first introduced there in their cartoon forms, but then used a backyard slide that continued into a physical slide, out of which the live cast members emerged into the real world. The performers wore prosthetics to make their characters resemble their cartoon counterparts—mostly head pieces, but a full body suit in the cases of Buford and Perry. The 2011–2012 season of the tour began on August 21, 2011, in Lakeland, Florida and ended on April 22, 2012, in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The 2012–2013 season began on August 23, 2012, in Wheeling, West Virginia and ran until February 18, 2013, in Chattanooga, Tennessee.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: Disney produced a live-action talk show in which the two characters (as cartoons) interview celebrities, similarly to "Space Ghost Coast to Coast", which began airing in December 2010 as a two-minute talk-show format featuring real-life celebrities such as Tony Hawk, Randy Jackson, Neil Patrick Harris, Seth Rogen, Taylor Swift, Andy Samberg, Tom Bergeron, Emma Roberts, Jack Black, Regis Philbin, Howie Mandel, David Beckham and Guy Fieri. The show concluded on November 25, 2011.


title: Phineas and Ferb

text: "Doofenshmirtz's Daily Dirt" was a weekly YouTube series starring Dr. Doofenshmirtz that premiered on January 3, 2013. In this miniseries, Doofenshmirtz talked about "current events, pop culture, music, the Internet, life and all things perplexing", according to its press release. The show concluded on February 27, 2014.


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: Sex and the City (advertised as Sex and the City: The Movie) is a 2008 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Michael Patrick King in his feature film directorial debut. It is a continuation of the 1998–2004 television series about four friends, Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall), Charlotte York Goldenblatt (Kristin Davis) and Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon), and their lives as women in New York City.


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: The world premiere took place at Leicester Square in London on May 15, 2008, and premiered on May 28, 2008, in the United Kingdom and on May 30, 2008, in the United States. Despite mixed reviews from critics, calling the film an extended episode of the series, it was a commercial success, grossing over $415 million worldwide from a $65 million budget.


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: A sequel to the film, titled "Sex and the City 2", was released in 2010 to similar commercial success but even larger critical failure. A third film was announced in December 2016, but was ultimately cancelled and replaced by a sequel miniseries, "And Just Like That...", on HBO Max.


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: Taking place a few years after the events of the "Sex and the City" television series, Carrie is now in a committed relationship with Mr. Big, and they are viewing apartments with plans to move in together. Carrie falls in love with a penthouse far from their price range. Big offers to pay for it. Carrie offers to sell her own apartment, although she also fears that she would have no legal rights to their home in case they separate, as they are not married. To quell her fears, Big suggests that they marry. Charlotte hires her longtime friend, Anthony Marantino, as the wedding planner.


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: Carrie shows Anthony and Charlotte the vintage suit she plans to marry Big in, but no one except Carrie loves it. Carrie is asked by her Vogue editor Enid to do a spread for Vogue called "The Last Single Girl". She gets to dress up in fancy couture gowns and is gifted a gown from Vivienne Westwood, which she decides to wear instead of her suit. The ensuing publicity of her engagement blows up her small wedding to a big affair, which makes Big increasingly uncomfortable.


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: Miranda, who has settled down in Brooklyn with Steve to raise Brady together, has been so busy with work, that she has not had sex with Steve in six months. When Steve confesses he has cheated on her, Miranda is devastated and immediately leaves him. At Carrie and Big's rehearsal dinner, Steve tries to reconcile with Miranda, but she is still upset and tells Big bluntly that marriage ruins everything. On the wedding day, a stressed-out Big cannot go through with the ceremony. As a devastated Carrie flees the wedding, Big quickly realizes his mistake and catches up with Carrie, who furiously attacks him with her bouquet in the middle of a one-way street.


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: Miranda tells Charlotte that she may have upset Big, and she wants to tell Carrie. Charlotte tells her not to, as Big has always had doubts about marriage. To console Carrie, the women take her on the honeymoon that she had booked to Mexico, where they de-stress and collect themselves. Upon returning to New York, Carrie hires an assistant, Louise, to help her manage her life. She gets her apartment back, and Louise helps her put up her website. Charlotte, who is married to Harry and has adopted a Chinese girl named Lily, learns she’s pregnant. She is fearful that something might happen to her baby, but Carrie reassures her.


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: On Valentine's Day, Carrie and Miranda have dinner, where she tells Miranda that reading the Vogue article about her and Big's engagement made her realize that she had become so consumed with the wedding that it was not about her and Big anymore; it was all about her. Miranda then confesses to Carrie about what happened at the rehearsal dinner. Carrie is furious that she had ruined her wedding. After a few days, Miranda gets Carrie to talk to her, and begs for her forgiveness; Carrie asks that she does the same for Steve. Miranda attends couples counseling with Steve and they eventually reconcile.


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: Meanwhile, Samantha is now living in Los Angeles to be close with Smith, and is shown to be lonely, with Smith constantly shooting films from morning until night. Watching her sexy neighbor Dante have sexual flings, she buys a dog, overeats and goes shopping to distract herself. Finally admitting she misses her old single life even though she loves Smith, she breaks up with him and moves back to New York. Meanwhile, Louise quits her job to move back to St. Louis and get married.


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: Later, Charlotte encounters Big, leaving her so outraged that her water breaks. Big takes her to the hospital and waits until baby Rose is born, hoping to see Carrie. Harry tells Carrie that Big would like her to call him, having written to her frequently but never receiving a reply. Carrie soon finds in Louise's files that he has sent her many emails: letters copied from books she read him before their wedding, culminating with one of his own where he apologizes for screwing up and promises to love her forever.


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: Carrie goes to the penthouse Big had bought for them to collect a pair of brand new Manolo Blahnik shoes that she had left there. She finds Big in the walk-in closet he had built for her. Her anger at his betrayal dissipates and she runs into his arms. After reflecting on how perfectly happy they were before talking about marriage, Big proposes to Carrie, using one of her crystal-encrusted shoes in place of a ring. They marry alone in a simple wedding in New York City Hall, with Carrie wearing the simple vintage suit. Miranda, Samantha, and Charlotte turn up to surprise her, having been called by Big.


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: At the end of "Sex and the City"s run in 2004, there were indications of a film being considered following the series. HBO announced that Michael Patrick King was working on a possible script for the film which he would direct. Later that year, Kim Cattrall declined to work on the project citing reasons that the script and the start date were overly prolonged and she decided to take other offers at hand. As a result, the immediate follow-up ideas for the film were dropped.


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: It was in mid-2007 that the plans for making the film were announced again. This reportedly resulted after Cattrall's conditions being accepted along with a future HBO series.


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: In May 2007 the project was halted after HBO decided it was no longer in a position to finance the film on its own. The project was pitched within the Time Warner family (owners of HBO) and was picked by sister concern New Line Cinema.


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: The film was prominently shot in New York between September–December 2007. The locations included a number of places around Manhattan and a certain portion was shot in Steiner Studios and Silvercup Studios. The shooting was continually interrupted by paparazzi and onlookers with the security and police authorities employed in order to control the crowd.


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: Efforts were taken to keep the film's plot secret, including the shooting of multiple endings. As a defense strategy, scenes shot in public or in presence of number of extras were termed by Ryan Jonathan Healy and the main cast as "dream sequences".


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: As in the TV series, fashion played a significant role in plot and production of the film. Over 300 ensembles were used over the course of the entire film.


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: Field has stated that she initially was ambivalent to do the film, for monetary and creative reasons.


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: Field rose to fame particularly after designing for the series from 1998 to 2004, wherein she popularized the concept of using designer clothes with day-to-day fashion.


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: While dressing the characters for the film, Field decided to stay clear from the latest fashion trends defining the characters and instead focused on the evolution of individual character and the actor portraying it, over the last four years. While Samantha's dressing was influenced by American TV soap opera "Dynasty" (see Nolan Miller), Jackie Kennedy was the inspiration for Charlotte's clothes. Miranda, according to Field, has evolved the most from the series in terms of fashion. This was influenced significantly by development in actress Cynthia Nixon in past years.


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: The soundtrack was released May 27, 2008, by New Line Records. The soundtrack includes new songs by Fergie and Jennifer Hudson (who plays Carrie's assistant in the film).


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: The film's soundtrack debuted at number two on the "Billboard" 200, the highest debut for a multi-artist theatrical film soundtrack since 2005's "Get Rich or Die Tryin'", and debuting at number six on the UK Albums Chart, selling to date more than 55,000 copies.


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: A second soundtrack, "Sex and the City: Volume 2", was released on September 23, 2008, coinciding with the film's DVD release, featuring the British singers Estelle, Craig David, Mutya Buena and Amy Winehouse. It also featured Janet Jackson, Ciara, and Elijah Kelley.


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: In December 2008, the orchestral score for the film was released, "Sex And The City - The Score", containing 18 tracks of original score composed, co-orchestrated, and conducted by Aaron Zigman. While the order of the tracks does not correspond directly to the order that the score is heard in the film, the score soundtrack contains almost every single piece of score that is present in the film.


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: The film's international premiere took place on May 12, 2008, at Odeon West End in London's Leicester Square to an audience of 1700.


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: The film was a commercial success. Opening in 3,285 theaters, the film made $26.93 million in the US and Canada on its first day. The three-day opening weekend total was $57,038,404, aggregating $17,363 per theater.


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: The film recorded the biggest opening ever for an R-rated comedy and for a romantic comedy, surpassing both "American Pie 2" and "Hitch", and also for a film starring all women. As of March 2010, the film had grossed $152,647,258 at the US and Canadian box office, and $262,605,528 in other markets, bringing the worldwide total gross revenue to $415,252,786, making it the highest-grossing romantic comedy of 2008.


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: "Sex and the City" received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 49%, based on 182 reviews, with an average score of 5.70/10. The site's critical consensus reads, ""Sex and the City" loses steam in the transition to the big screen, but will still thrill fans of the show." Metacritic gave the film a normalized average score of 53 out of 100, based on 38 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: Brian Lowry of "Variety" said the film "...feels a trifle half-hearted", while Carina Chocano of the "Los Angeles Times" stated "the film tackles weighty issues with grace but is still very funny". She praised Michael Patrick King's work saying very few films "are willing to go to such dark places while remaining a comedy in the Shakespearean sense".


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: Colin Bertram of the "New York Daily News" dubbed the film a "great reunion", and was happy with the return of "The 'Oh, my God, they did not just do that!' moments, the nudity, the swearing, the unabashed love of human frailty and downright wackiness".


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: The "Chicago Tribune"'s Jessica Reeves described it as "Witty, effervescent and unexpectedly thoughtful."


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: Michael Rechtshaffen at "The Hollywood Reporter" praised the performances of the four leading ladies and said the film kept the essence of the series, but resembled a super-sized episode.


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: Manohla Dargis of "The New York Times" found the film "a vulgar, shrill, deeply shallow — and, at 2 hours and 22 turgid minutes, overlong — addendum to a show", while "The Daily Telegraph"'s Sukhdev Sandhu panned the film saying "the ladies have become frozen, Spice Girls-style types - angsty, neurotic, predatory, princess - rather than individuals who might evolve or surprise us". Rick Groen of "The Globe and Mail" slammed the film commenting on lack of script and adding that the characters "don't perform so much as parade, fixed in their roles as semi-animated clothes hangers on a cinematic runway". He gave the film zero stars out of four. Anthony Lane, a film critic for "The New Yorker", called the film a "superannuated fantasy posing as a slice of modern life"; he noted that "almost sixty years after "All About Eve", which also featured four major female roles, there is a deep sadness in the sight of Carrie and friends defining themselves not as Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, Celeste Holm, and Thelma Ritter did—by their talents, their hats, and the swordplay of their wits—but purely by their ability to snare and keep a man...All the film lacks is a subtitle: "The Lying, the Bitch, and the Wardrobe."


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: Ramin Setoodeh of "Newsweek" speculated that some of the criticism for the film is derived possibly from sexism: "when you listen to men talk about it (and this is coming from the perspective of a male writer), a strange thing happens. The talk turns hateful. Angry. Vengeful. Annoyed...Is this just poor sportsmanship? I can't help but wonder—cue the Carrie Bradshaw voiceover here—if it's not a case of 'Sexism in the City.' Men hated the movie before it even opened...Movie critics, an overwhelmingly male demographic, gave it such a nasty tongue lashing you would have thought they were talking about an ex-girlfriend...The movie might not be "Citizen Kane"—which, for the record, is a dude flick—but it's incredibly sweet and touching."


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: The film featured on worst of 2008 lists including that of "The Times", Mark Kermode, "The New York Observer", the "NME," and "The Daily Telegraph".


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: New Line Home Entertainment (distributed by Warner Home Video) released a DVD and Blu-ray release of "Sex and the City: The Movie" on September 23, 2008. There are two versions of the film released in the US on home video. There is a standard, single disc theatrical cut (the version seen in theaters) which comes in fullscreen or widescreen (in separate editions). Both discs are the same, except for the film presentation. The only features are an audio commentary, deleted scenes, and a digital copy of the film. Also released on the same day as the standard edition is the two-disc special edition, which adds six minutes of footage to the film, along with the commentary from the standard edition DVD and a second disc that contains bonus features, as well as a digital copy of the widescreen theatrical version of the film. The only version of the film released on Blu-Ray is the two-disc extended cut, which is identical to the DVD version of the extended cut.


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: On December 9, 2008, New Line Home Entertainment released a third edition of "Sex and the City: The Movie". This edition is a 4-disc set entitled "Sex and the City: The Movie (The Wedding Collection)". The four-disc set features the previously released extended cut of the film on the first disc, the second disc has the bonus features from the extended cut and three additional featurettes, the third disc holds even more special features, and the fourth is a music CD with songs inspired by the film, including the alternative mix of Fergie's "Labels or Love" from the beginning of the film. The set also comes with an exclusive hardcover book, featuring photos and quotes from the film, and a numbered certificate of authenticity in a pink padded box.


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: A fourth edition was also released in Australia. This set contained the two discs from the "Sex and the City: The Movie Special Edition" and a bonus 'Sex and the City Inspired' Clutch Bag. This clutch being black in color in a tile or snake skin material.


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: The DVD has reached the #1 on the UK DVD Top Chart and is the fastest selling DVD release of 2008 in the UK, selling over 920,000 copies in one week. It is way ahead of the 700,000 copies sold for Ratatouille which was, prior to "Sex and the City"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s release, the best selling DVD of 2008 in the UK. Although the record has since been beaten by "Mamma Mia!"


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: "Sex and the City 2" was released in cinemas on May 27, 2010, in the United States and May 28, 2010, in the United Kingdom. It was co-written, produced and directed by Michael Patrick King. The DVD was available for purchase in the United Kingdom on November 29, 2010. The film stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon, and Chris Noth, who reprised their roles from the previous film and television series. It also features cameos from Liza Minnelli, Miley Cyrus, Tim Gunn, Ron White, Omid Djalili, and Penélope Cruz, as well as Broadway actors Norm Lewis, Kelli O'Hara, and Ryan Silverman.


title: Sex and the City (film)

text: A third film was announced in December 2016, but in September 2017, Sarah Jessica Parker confirmed that it was not going to happen. The third movie was later replaced by the 2021 series "And Just Like That...", with Cattrall not returning.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: The Whig Party was a political party in the United States during the middle of the 19th century. Alongside the slightly larger Democratic Party, it was one of the two major parties in the United States between the late 1830s and the early 1850s as part of the Second Party System. Four presidents were affiliated with the Whig Party for at least part of their terms. Other influential party leaders that were members of the Whigs include Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, William Seward, John J. Crittenden, and John Quincy Adams. The Whig base of support was centered among entrepreneurs, professionals, planters, social reformers, devout Protestants, and the emerging urban middle class. It had much less backing from poor farmers and unskilled workers.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: The party was critical of Manifest Destiny, territorial expansion into Texas and the Southwest, and the Mexican-American War. It disliked strong presidential power as exhibited by Jackson and Polk, and preferred Congressional dominance in lawmaking. Members advocated modernization, meritocracy, the rule of law, protections against majority tyranny, and vigilance against executive tyranny. They favored an economic program known as the American System, which called for a protective tariff, federal subsidies for the construction of infrastructure, and support for a national bank. The party was active in both the Northern United States and the Southern United States and did not take a strong stance on slavery, but Northern Whigs tended to be less supportive than their Democratic counterparts.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: The Whigs emerged in the 1830s in opposition to President Andrew Jackson, pulling together former members of the National Republican Party, the Anti-Masonic Party, and disaffected Democrats. The Whigs had some weak links to the defunct Federalist Party, but the Whig Party was not a direct successor to that party and many Whig leaders, including Henry Clay, had aligned with the rival Democratic-Republican Party. In the 1836 presidential election, four different regional Whig candidates received electoral votes, but the party failed to defeat Jackson's chosen successor, Martin Van Buren. Whig nominee William Henry Harrison unseated Van Buren in the 1840 presidential election, but died just one month into his term. Harrison's successor, John Tyler, a former Democrat, broke with the Whigs in 1841 after clashing with Clay and other Whig Party leaders over economic policies such as the re-establishment of a national bank.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: Clay clinched his party's nomination in the 1844 presidential election but was defeated by Democrat James K. Polk, who subsequently presided over the Mexican–American War. Whig nominee Zachary Taylor won the 1848 presidential election, but Taylor died in 1850 and was succeeded by Millard Fillmore. Fillmore, Clay, Daniel Webster, and Democrat Stephen A. Douglas led the passage of the Compromise of 1850, which helped to defuse sectional tensions in the aftermath of the Mexican–American War. Nonetheless, the Whigs suffered a decisive defeat in the 1852 presidential election partly due to sectional divisions within the party. The Whigs collapsed following the passage of the Kansas–Nebraska Act in 1854, with most Northern Whigs eventually joining the anti-slavery Republican Party and most Southern Whigs joining the nativist American Party and later the Constitutional Union Party. The last vestiges of the Whig Party faded away after the start of the American Civil War, but Whig ideas remained influential for decades. During the Lincoln Administration, ex-Whigs dominated the Republican Party and enacted much of their American System. Presidents Abraham Lincoln, Rutherford B. Hayes, Chester A. Arthur, and Benjamin Harrison were Whigs before switching to the Republican Party, from which they were elected to office. It is considered the primary predecessor party of the modern day Republicans.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: During the 1790s, the first major U.S. parties arose in the form of the Federalist Party, led by Alexander Hamilton, and the Democratic-Republican Party, led by Thomas Jefferson. After 1815, the Democratic-Republicans emerged as the sole major party at the national level but became increasingly polarized. A nationalist wing, led by Henry Clay, favored policies such as the Second Bank of the United States and the implementation of a protective tariff. A second group, the Old Republicans, opposed these policies, instead favoring a strict interpretation of the Constitution and a weak federal government.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: In the 1824 presidential election, Speaker of the House Henry Clay, Secretary of the Treasury William H. Crawford, Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, and General Andrew Jackson all sought the presidency as members of the Democratic-Republican Party. Crawford favored state sovereignty and a strict constructionist view of the Constitution, while Clay and Adams favored high tariffs and the national bank; regionalism played a central role, with Jackson strongest in the West. Jackson won a plurality of the popular and electoral vote in the 1824 election, but not a majority. The House of Representatives had to decide. Speaker Clay supported Adams, who was elected as president by the House, and Clay was appointed as Secretary of State. Jackson called it a "corrupt bargain".


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: In the years following the 1824 election, former members of the Democratic-Republican Party split into hostile factions. Supporters of President Adams and Clay joined with many former Federalists such as Daniel Webster to form a group informally known as the "Adams party". Meanwhile, supporters of Jackson, Crawford, and Vice President John C. Calhoun joined to oppose the Adams administration's nationalist agenda, becoming informally known as "Jacksonians". Due in part to the superior organization (by Martin Van Buren) of the Jacksonians, Jackson defeated Adams in the 1828 presidential election, taking 56 percent of the popular vote. Clay became the leader of the National Republican Party, which opposed President Jackson. By the early 1830s, the Jacksonians organized into the new Democratic Party.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: Despite Jackson's decisive victory in the 1828 election, National Republicans initially believed that Jackson's party would collapse once Jackson took office. Vice President Calhoun split from the administration in 1831, but differences over the tariff prevented Calhoun's followers from joining the National Republicans. Meanwhile, the Anti-Masonic Party formed following the disappearance and possible murder of William Morgan in 1826. The Anti-Masonic movement, strongest in the Northeast, gave rise to or expanded the use of many innovations which became accepted practice among other parties, including nominating conventions and party newspapers. Clay rejected overtures from the Anti-Masonic Party, and his attempt to convince Calhoun to serve as his running mate failed, leaving the opposition to Jackson split among different leaders when the National Republicans nominated Clay for president.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: Hoping to make the national bank a key issue of the 1832 election, the National Republicans convinced national bank president Nicholas Biddle to request an extension of the national bank's charter, but their strategy backfired when Jackson successfully portrayed his veto of the recharter as a victory for the people against an elitist institution. Jackson won another decisive victory in the 1832 presidential election, taking 55 percent of the national popular vote and 88 percent of the popular vote in the slave states south of Kentucky and Maryland. Clay's defeat discredited the National Republican Party, encouraging those opposed to Jackson to seek to create a more effective opposition party. Jackson by 1832 was determined to destroy the bank (the Second Bank of the United States), which Whigs supported.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: Shortly after Jackson's re-election, South Carolina passed a measure to "nullify" the Tariff of 1832, beginning the Nullification Crisis. Jackson strongly denied the right of South Carolina to nullify federal law, but the crisis was resolved after Congress passed the Tariff of 1833. The Nullification Crisis briefly scrambled the partisan divisions that had emerged after 1824, as many within the Jacksonian coalition opposed President Jackson's threats of force against South Carolina, while some opposition leaders like Daniel Webster supported them. In South Carolina and other states, those opposed to Jackson began to form small "Whig" parties. The Whig label implicitly compared "King Andrew" to King George III, the King of Great Britain at the time of the American Revolution.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: Jackson's decision to remove government deposits from the national bank ended any possibility of a Webster-Jackson alliance and helped to solidify partisan lines. The removal of the deposits drew opposition from both pro-bank National Republicans and states' rights Southerners like Willie Person Mangum of North Carolina, the latter of whom accused Jackson of flouting the Constitution. In late 1833, Clay began to hold a series of dinners with opposition leaders in order to settle on a candidate to oppose Martin Van Buren, the likely Democratic nominee in the 1836 presidential election. While Jackson's opponents could not agree on a single presidential candidate, they coordinated in the Senate to oppose Jackson's initiatives. Historian Michael Holt writes that the "birth of the Whig Party" can be dated to Clay and his allies taking control of the Senate in December 1833.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: The National Republicans, including Clay and Webster, formed the core of the Whig Party, but many Anti-Masons like William H. Seward of New York and Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania also joined. Several prominent Democrats defected to the Whigs, including Mangum, former Attorney General John Berrien, and John Tyler of Virginia. The Whig Party's first major action was to censure Jackson for the removal of the national bank deposits, thereby establishing opposition to Jackson's executive power as the organizing principle of the new party.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: In doing so, the Whigs were able to shed the elitist image that had persistently hindered the National Republicans. Throughout 1834 and 1835, the Whigs successfully incorporated National Republican and Anti-Masonic state-level organizations and established new state party organizations in Southern states like North Carolina and Georgia. The Anti-Masonic heritage to the Whigs included a distrust of behind-the-scenes political maneuvering by party bosses, instead of encouraging direct appeals to the people through gigantic rallies, parades, and rhetorical rabble-rousing.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: Early successes in various states made many Whigs optimistic about victory in 1836, but an improving economy bolstered Van Buren's standing ahead of the election. The Whigs also faced the difficulty of uniting former National Republicans, Anti-Masons, and states' rights Southerners around one candidate, and the party suffered an early blow when Calhoun announced that he would refuse to support any candidate opposed to the doctrine of nullification. Northern Whigs cast aside both Clay and Webster in favor of General William Henry Harrison, a former senator who had led U.S. forces in the 1811 Battle of Tippecanoe.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: Though he had not previously been affiliated with the National Republicans, Harrison indicated that he shared the party's concerns over Jackson's executive power and favored federal investments in infrastructure. Southern Whigs coalesced around Senator Hugh Lawson White, a long-time Jackson ally who opposed Van Buren's candidacy. Ultimately, Van Buren won a majority of the electoral and popular vote in the 1836 election, though the Whigs improved on Clay's 1832 performance in the South and West.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: Shortly after Van Buren took office, an economic crisis known as the Panic of 1837 struck the nation. Land prices plummeted, industries laid-off employees, and banks failed. According to historian Daniel Walker Howe, the economic crisis of the late 1830s and early 1840s was the most severe recession in U.S. history until the Great Depression. Van Buren's economic response centered on establishing the Independent Treasury system, essentially a series of vaults that would hold government deposits. As the debate over the Independent Treasury continued, William Cabell Rives and some other Democrats who favored a more activist government defected to the Whig Party, while Calhoun and his followers joined the Democratic Party. Whig leaders agreed to hold the party's first national convention in December 1839 in order to select the Whig presidential nominee.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: By early 1838, Clay had emerged as the front-runner due to his support in the South and his spirited opposition to Van Buren's Independent Treasury. A recovering economy convinced other Whigs to support Harrison, who was generally seen as the Whig candidate best able to win over Democrats and new voters. With the crucial support of Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania and Thurlow Weed of New York, Harrison won the presidential nomination on the fifth ballot of the 1839 Whig National Convention.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: For vice president, the Whigs nominated John Tyler, a former states' rights Democrat selected for the Whig ticket primarily because other Southern supporters of Clay refused to serve as Harrison's running mate. Log cabins and hard cider became the dominant symbols of the Whig campaign as the party sought to portray Harrison as a man of the people. The Whigs also assailed Van Buren's handling of the economy and argued that traditional Whig policies such as the restoration of a national bank and the implementation of protective tariff rates would help to restore the economy. With the economy still in a downturn, Harrison decisively defeated Van Buren, taking a wide majority of the electoral vote and just under 53 percent of the popular vote.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: With the election of the first Whig presidential administration in the party's history, Clay and his allies prepared to pass ambitious domestic policies such as the restoration of the national bank, the distribution of federal land sales revenue to the states, a national bankruptcy law, and increased tariff rates. Harrison died just one month into his term, thereby elevating Vice President Tyler to the presidency. Tyler had never accepted much of the Whig economic program and he soon clashed with Clay and other congressional Whigs. In August 1841, Tyler vetoed Clay's national bank bill, holding that the bill was unconstitutional.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: Congress passed a second bill based on an earlier proposal made by Treasury Secretary Ewing that was tailored to address Tyler's constitutional concerns, but Tyler vetoed that bill as well. In response, every Cabinet member but Webster resigned, and the Whig congressional caucus expelled Tyler from the party on September 13, 1841. The Whigs later began impeachment proceedings against Tyler, but they ultimately declined to impeach him because they believed that his likely acquittal would devastate the party.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: Beginning in mid-1842, Tyler increasingly began to court Democrats, appointing them to his Cabinet and other positions. At the same time, many Whig state organizations repudiated the Tyler administration and endorsed Clay as the party's candidate in the 1844 presidential election. After Webster resigned from the Cabinet in May 1843 following the conclusion of the Webster-Ashburton Treaty, Tyler made the annexation of Texas his key priority. The annexation of Texas was widely viewed as a pro-slavery initiative as it would add another slave state to the union, and most leaders of both parties opposed opening the question of annexation in 1843 due to the fear of stoking the debate over slavery. Tyler was nonetheless determined to pursue annexation because he believed that the British conspired to abolish slavery in Texas and because he saw the issue as a means to reelection, either through the Democratic Party or through a new party. In April 1844, Secretary of State John C. Calhoun reached a treaty with Texas providing for the annexation of that country.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: Clay and Van Buren, the two front-runners for major-party presidential nominations in the 1844 election, both announced their opposition to annexation, and the Senate blocked the annexation treaty. To the surprise of Clay and other Whigs, the 1844 Democratic National Convention rejected Van Buren in favor of James K. Polk and established a platform calling for the acquisition of both Texas and Oregon Country. Having won the presidential nomination at the 1844 Whig National Convention unopposed, Clay and other Whigs were initially confident that they would defeat the divided Democrats and their relatively obscure candidate.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: However, Southern voters responded to Polk's calls for annexation, while in the North, Democrats benefited from the growing animosity towards the Whig Party among Catholic and foreign-born voters. Ultimately, Polk won the election, taking 49.5% of the popular vote and a majority of the electoral vote; the swing of just over one percent of the vote in New York would have given Clay the victory.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: In the final weeks of Tyler's presidency, a small group of Southern Whigs joined with congressional Democrats to pass a joint resolution providing for the annexation of Texas, and Texas subsequently became a state in 1845. Following the annexation of Texas, Polk began preparations for a potential war with Mexico, which still regarded Texas as a part of its republic and contended that Texas's true southern border was the Nueces River rather than the Rio Grande. After a skirmish known as the Thornton Affair broke out on the northern side of the Rio Grande, Polk called on Congress to declare war against Mexico, arguing that Mexico had invaded American territory by crossing the Rio Grande.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: Many Whigs argued that Polk had provoked war with Mexico by sending a force under General Zachary Taylor to the Rio Grande, but only a minority of Whigs voted against the declaration of war as they feared that opposing the war would be politically unpopular. Polk received the declaration of war against Mexico and also pushed through the restoration of the Independent Treasury System and a bill that reduced tariffs; opposition to the passage of these Democratic policies helped to reunify and reinvigorate the Whigs.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: In August 1846, Polk asked Congress to appropriate $2 million in hopes of using that money as a down payment for the purchase of California in a treaty with Mexico. Democratic Congressman David Wilmot of Pennsylvania offered an amendment known as the Wilmot Proviso, which would ban slavery in any newly acquired lands. The Wilmot Proviso passed the House with the support of both Northern Whigs and Northern Democrats, breaking the normal pattern of partisan division in congressional votes, but it was defeated in the Senate.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: Nonetheless, clear divisions remained between the two parties on territorial acquisitions, as most Democrats joined Polk in seeking to acquire vast tracts of land from Mexico, but most Whigs opposed territorial growth. In February 1848, Mexican and U.S. negotiators reached the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which provided for the cession of Alta California and New Mexico. Despite Whig objections to the acquisition of Mexican territory, the treaty was ratified with the support of a majority of the Democratic and Whig senators; Whigs voted for the treaty largely because ratification brought the war to an immediate end.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: During the war, Whig leaders like John J. Crittenden of Kentucky began to look to General Taylor as a presidential candidate in the hopes that the party could run on Taylor's personal popularity rather than economic issues. Taylor's candidacy faced significant resistance in the Whig Party due to his lack of public commitment to Whig policies and his association with the Mexican-American War. In late 1847, Clay emerged as Taylor's main opponent for the Whig nomination, appealing especially to Northern Whigs with his opposition to the war and the acquisition of new territory.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: With strong backing from slave state delegates, Taylor won the presidential nomination on the fourth ballot of the 1848 Whig National Convention. For vice president, the Whigs nominated Millard Fillmore of New York, a pro-Clay Northerner. Anti-slavery Northern Whigs disaffected with Taylor joined with Democratic supporters of Martin Van Buren and some members of the Liberty Party to found the new Free Soil Party; the party nominated a ticket of Van Buren and Whig Charles Francis Adams Sr. and campaigned against the spread of slavery into the territories.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: The Whig campaign in the North received a boost when Taylor released a public letter in which he stated that he favored Whig principles and would defer to Congress after taking office, thereby reassuring some wavering Whigs. During the campaign, Northern Whig leaders touted traditional Whig policies like support for infrastructure spending and increased tariff rates, but Southern Whigs largely eschewed economic policy, instead emphasizing that Taylor's status as a slaveholder meant that he could be trusted on the issue of slavery more so than Democratic candidate Lewis Cass of Michigan. Ultimately, Taylor won the election with a majority of the electoral vote and a plurality of the popular vote. Taylor improved on Clay's 1844 performance in the South and benefited from the defection of many Democrats to Van Buren in the North.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: Reflecting the Taylor administration's desire to find a middle ground between traditional Whig and Democratic policies, Secretary of the Treasury William M. Meredith issued a report calling for an increase in tariff rates, but not to the levels seen under the Tariff of 1842. Even Meredith's moderate policies were not adopted, and, partly due to the strong economic growth of the late 1840s and late 1850s, traditional Whig economic stances would increasingly lose their salience after 1848. When Taylor assumed office, the organization of state and territorial governments and the status of slavery in the Mexican Cession remained the major issue facing Congress.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: To sidestep the issue of the Wilmot Proviso, the Taylor administration proposed that the lands of the Mexican Cession be admitted as states without first organizing territorial governments; thus, slavery in the area would be left to the discretion of state governments rather than the federal government. In January 1850, Senator Clay introduced a separate proposal which included the admission of California as a free state, the cession by Texas of some of its northern and western territorial claims in return for debt relief, the establishment of New Mexico and Utah territories, a ban on the importation of slaves into the District of Columbia for sale, and a more stringent fugitive slave law.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: Taylor died in July 1850 and was succeeded by Vice President Fillmore. In contrast to John Tyler, Fillmore's legitimacy and authority as president were widely accepted by members of Congress and the public. Fillmore accepted the resignation of Taylor's entire Cabinet and appointed Whig leaders like Crittenden, Thomas Corwin of Ohio, and Webster, whose support for the Compromise had outraged his Massachusetts constituents. With the support of Fillmore and an impressing bipartisan and bi-sectional coalition, a Senate bill providing for a final settlement of Texas's borders won passage shortly after Fillmore took office.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: The Senate quickly moved onto the other major issues, passing bills that provided for the admission of California, the organization of New Mexico Territory, and the establishment of a new fugitive slave law. Passage of what became known as the Compromise of 1850 soon followed in the House of Representatives. Though the future of slavery in New Mexico, Utah, and other territories remained unclear, Fillmore himself described the Compromise of 1850 as a "final settlement" of sectional issues.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: Following the passage of the Compromise of 1850, Fillmore's enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 became the central issue of his administration. The Whig Party became badly split between pro-Compromise Whigs like Fillmore and Webster and anti-Compromise Whigs like William Seward, who demanded the repeal of the Fugitive Slave Act.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: Though Fillmore's enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act made him unpopular among many in the North, he retained considerable support in the South. Meanwhile, Secretary Webster had long coveted the presidency and, though in poor health, planned a final attempt to gain the White House. A third candidate emerged in the form of General Winfield Scott, who won the backing of many Northerners but whose association with Senator William Seward made him unacceptable to Southern Whigs.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: On the first presidential ballot of the 1852 Whig National Convention, Fillmore received 133 of the necessary 147 votes, while Scott won 131 and Webster won 29. Fillmore and Webster's supporters were unable to broker a deal to unite behind either candidate, and Scott won the nomination on the 53rd ballot. The 1852 Democratic National Convention nominated a dark horse candidate in the form of former New Hampshire senator Franklin Pierce, a Northerner sympathetic to the Southern view on slavery.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: As the Whig and Democratic national conventions had approved similar platforms, the 1852 election focused largely on the personalities of Scott and Pierce. The 1852 elections proved to be disastrous for the Whig Party, as Scott was defeated by a wide margin and the Whigs lost several congressional and state elections. Scott amassed more votes than Taylor had in most Northern states, but Democrats benefited from a surge of new voters in the North and the collapse of Whig strength in much of the South.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: Despite their decisive loss in the 1852 elections, most Whig leaders believed the party could recover during the Pierce presidency in much the same way that it had recovered under President Polk. However, the strong economy still prevented the Whig economic program from regaining salience, and the party failed to develop an effective platform on which to campaign. The debate over the 1854 Kansas–Nebraska Act, which effectively repealed the Missouri Compromise by allowing slavery in territories north of the 36°30′ parallel, shook up traditional partisan alignments.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: Across the Northern states, opposition to the Kansas–Nebraska Act gave rise to anti-Nebraska coalitions consisting of Democrats focused on this opposition along with Free Soilers and Whigs. In Michigan and Wisconsin, these two coalitions labeled themselves as the Republican Party, but similar groups in other states initially took on different names. Like their Free Soil predecessors, Republican leaders generally did not call for the abolition of slavery but instead sought to prevent the extension of slavery into the territories.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: Another political coalition appeared in the form of the nativist and anti-Catholic Know Nothing movement, which eventually organized itself into the American Party. Both the Republican Party and the Know-Nothings portrayed themselves as the natural Whig heirs in the battle against Democratic executive tyranny, but the Republicans focused on the "Slave Power" and the Know-Nothings focused on the supposed danger of mass immigration and a Catholic conspiracy. While the Republican Party almost exclusively appealed to Northerners, the Know-Nothings gathered many adherents in both the North and South; some individuals joined both groups even while they remained part of the Whig Party or the Democratic Party.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: Congressional Democrats suffered huge losses in the mid-term elections of 1854, as voters provided support to a wide array of new parties opposed to the Democratic Party. Though several successful congressional candidates had campaigned only as Whigs, most congressional candidates who were not affiliated with the Democratic Party had campaigned either independently of the Whig Party or in collusion with another party. As cooperation between Northern and Southern Whigs increasingly appeared to be impossible, leaders from both sections continued to abandon the party. Though he did not share the nativist views of the Know-Nothings, in 1855 Fillmore became a member of the Know-Nothing movement and encouraged his Whig followers to join as well. In September 1855, Seward led his faction of Whigs into the Republican Party, effectively marking the end of the Whig Party as an independent and significant political force. Thus, the 1856 presidential election became a three-sided contest between Democrats, Know-Nothings, and Republicans.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: The Know Nothing National Convention nominated Fillmore for president, but disagreements over the party platform's stance on slavery caused many Northern Know-Nothings to abandon the party. Meanwhile, the 1856 Republican National Convention chose John C. Frémont as the party's presidential candidate. The defection of many Northern Know-Nothings, combined with the caning of Charles Sumner and other events that stoked sectional tensions, bolstered Republicans throughout the North. During his campaign, Fillmore minimized the issue of nativism, instead of attempting to use his campaign as a platform for unionism and a revival of the Whig Party.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: Seeking to rally support from Whigs who had yet to join another party, Fillmore and his allies organized the sparsely-attended 1856 Whig National Convention, which nominated Fillmore for president. Ultimately, Democrat James Buchanan won the election with a majority of the electoral vote and 45 percent of the popular vote; Frémont won most of the remaining electoral votes and took 33 percent of the popular vote, while Fillmore won 22 percent of the popular vote and just eight electoral votes. Fillmore largely retained Taylor and Scott voters in the South, but most former Whigs in the North voted for Frémont rather than Fillmore.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: Fillmore's American Party collapsed after the 1856 election, and many former Whigs who refused to join the Democratic Party or the Republican Party organized themselves into a loose coalition known as the Opposition Party. For the 1860 presidential election, Senator John J. Crittenden and other unionist conservatives formed the Constitutional Union Party. The party nominated a ticket consisting of John Bell, a long-time Whig senator, and Edward Everett, who had succeeded Daniel Webster as Fillmore's Secretary of State. With the nomination of two former Whigs, many regarded the Constitutional Union Party as a continuation of the Whig Party; one Southern newspaper called the new party the "ghost of the old Whig Party".


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: The party campaigned on preserving the union and took an official non-stance on slavery. The Constitutional Union ticket won a plurality of the vote in three states, but Bell finished in fourth place in the national popular vote behind Republican Abraham Lincoln, Democrat Stephen A. Douglas, and pro-Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge. In the North, most former Whigs, including the vast majority of those who had voted for Fillmore in 1856, voted for Lincoln in 1860.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: In the secession crisis that followed Lincoln's election, Southern Democrats generally led secession efforts, while Southern former Whigs generally opposed immediate secession. During the American Civil War, former Whigs formed the core of a "proto-party" in the Confederacy that was opposed to the Jefferson Davis administration. In the Reconstruction Era, many former Whigs tried to regroup in the South, calling themselves "conservatives" and hoping to reconnect with ex-Whigs in the North. Thus in Virginia and elsewhere moderate, nationalist, and economically innovative ex-Whigs used the party name “Conservative” in order to avoid identification with the Democratic Party. The Conservative Party ultimately merged into the Democratic Party in the South, but ex-Whigs continued to promote modernization policies such as large-scale railroad construction and the founding of public schools.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: The Whig Party vanished after the 1850s, but Whiggism as a modernizing policy orientation persisted for decades. It played a major role in shaping the modernizing policies of the state governments during Reconstruction. During the Lincoln Administration, ex-Whigs dominated the Republican Party and enacted much of their American System. Presidents Abraham Lincoln, Rutherford B. Hayes, Chester A. Arthur, and Benjamin Harrison were Whigs before switching to the Republican Party, from which they were elected to office. In the long run, the United States adopted Whiggish economic policies coupled with a Democratic strong presidency.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: Historian Frank Towers writes that "Democrats stood for the 'sovereignty of the people' as expressed in popular demonstrations, constitutional conventions, and majority rule as a general principle of governing, whereas Whigs advocated the rule of law, written and unchanging constitutions, and protections for minority interests against majority tyranny." Historian Daniel Walker Howe argues the Whigs were modernizers, "who attached a great deal of importance to protecting property, maintaining social order, and preserving a distinct cultural heritage, three characteristic conservative concerns". The Whigs themselves adopted the word "conservative", which they associated with "'law and order', social caution, and moral restraint". Political scientists John H. Aldrich and John D. Griffin note that the labeling of Whig ideology as conservative is "somewhat [counterintuitive] for those who associate a small role for government rather than a pro-business orientation with conservatism".


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: Historian John Ashworth writes that the two parties were polarized on important questions of economic development, describing their competition as a "clash of democracy with capitalism". Whigs held that the government had a duty to promote economic prosperity for the people, especially during economic downturns. The Whigs further believed that individual regions of the country lacked the capital necessary for economic growth, and thus the federal government should subsidize large infrastructure projects and promote policies to facilitate the operations of banks and corporations.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: Democrats, by contrast, argued that government action would inevitably favor the privileged few; thus, Democrats held that government should intervene in the economy as little as possible, especially at the federal level. Gregory Bowen notes that the two parties were polar opposite and highly ideological: "At the heart of Democratic ideology was a militant egalitarianism which contrasted sharply with the Whigs' support for equality of opportunity to produce a meritocratic society." Democrats glorified individualism while Whigs said it was a dangerous impulse that must be subordinated to the greater good of an organic society; they called for individuals to restrain themselves and focus on doing their duty.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: Howe characterizes the Whigs' anti-individualism as an "Aristotlean" desire to perfect human nature by subordinating animal impulses to reason and self-control. Historian John Burt expands on Howe's argument, noting that Whigs "saw unmediated expressions of popular will in roughly the same way as they saw unmediated compulsions of appetite...[a]s a person driven by appetites is not free but the slave of the body, so a polity driven by popular will is not free but the slave of whatever urgencies drive King Numbers". The Whigs opposed President Jackson because they saw him as a demagogue recklessly exploiting the will of the majority, and they supported a strong Congress as a means of restraining that will within the bounds of a stable, constitutional framework.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: Despite their differences, both parties sought to portray themselves as the true protectors of an American political tradition of equality and self-government. Though their Democratic rivals cast them as a continuation of the Federalists, the Whig Party's ideology was rooted in the agenda proposed by Clay and other nationalist Democratic-Republican Party leaders in the aftermath of the War of 1812. Many of these nationalist ideas were influenced by the economic program of Federalist leader Alexander Hamilton, but after the War of 1812 they were also supported by President James Madison, one of the founders of the Democratic-Republican Party.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: Unlike their Democratic rivals, many Whigs held an aversion to party organization that was rooted in a traditional American wariness of political parties. Whig opposition to parties waned after the 1830s, but many leading Whigs, including Webster and John Quincy Adams, never fully gave up their independence in favor of a party label. The Whigs were also deeply committed to preventing executive tyranny, which they saw as an existential threat to republican self-government.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: Whig thought was typically rooted in evangelical Christianity, as expressed in the Second Great Awakening. Whigs linked moral progress and material progress— each needed the other. They supported Protestant religiosity and missions while being fearful of Catholics. Whigs believed that a higher stage of morality would be achieved when America brought wealth and opportunity to everyone. Colleges and public schools would promote upward social mobility, discouraging immorality and dissipation. The rapid business expansion was good, not the moral danger Democrats warned about. One Whig, Horace Mann, played a pivotal role in establishing a public school system in Massachusetts that would be emulated by most states.


title: Whig Party (United States)

text: The Whigs celebrated Clay's vision of the American System, which promoted rapid economic and industrial growth in the United States through support for a national bank, high tariffs, a distribution policy, and federal funding for infrastructure projects. After the Second Bank of the United States lost its federal charter in 1836, the Whigs favored the restoration of a national bank that could provide a uniform currency, ensure a consistent supply of credit, and attract private investors. Through high tariffs, Clay and other Whigs hoped to generate revenue and encourage the establishment of domestic manufacturing, thereby freeing the United States from dependence on foreign imports.