RJ Writing Ink

Chadwick Boseman, 1977-2020

Everyone, by now you’ll probably have heard the news. Chadwick Boseman, the man who brought the Black Panther to life, has died of Colon Cancer at the age of 43. He is survived by his Wife and Family.

Of all the losses we’ve had to endure this year, this is one of the hardest.

WAKANDA FOREVER.

Phineas and Ferb Are Back, and It’s Like they Never Left.

It feels surreal knowing that it’s been five years since Phineas and Ferb took a bow, and now here we are. The show’s back, and with a new movie on Disney+, no less! Now, I literally just got done watching Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe, and it’s everything that Dan and Swampy promised. In all honesty, it feels like the show never left. More like it went on vacation for a while.

Candace Against The Universe- The Title’s Not Exaggerating

In the universe of animation, there are laws that get upheld with almost no exception. Wil E. Coyote never catches the Road Runner (except for one time). Plankton can’t get the Krabby Patty Secret Formula. And Candace can’t bust her brothers. And if they do succeed, it never lasts. It’s fun to watch, but you have to admit, you can’t help but feel sorry the Plankton’s and Candace’s after a while.

In the opening moments of Candace Against the Universe, we see how much stress this has caused Candace when she fails to bust her brothers for the umpteenth time. All her Mom had to do was literally turn around, for goodness’ sake. As a result, Candace breaks down and lets a Summer’s worth of frustration at the unfairness of the universe out before running off crying. Honestly, it’s sad. Then this leads her (and Vanessa) to get abducted by aliens and going on a journey of self-discovery as she comes to terms with a big question: why does she want to bust her brother’s so much?

The show never directly addressed it, but I had my theories as to why she wanted to bust her brothers. Part of it’s out of concern that they’ll get hurt one day. Then there’s the jealousy at the fact that they can get away with this stuff when she can’t. But over the course of the film, Candace has an epiphany about her need to bust. It’s because deep down, she feels inadequate compared to her extraordinary brothers. Most people would: Phineas and Ferb are basically child prodigies who will grow up to become rich and successful. Compared to that, Candace would feel insecure about herself. So when the aliens that abduct her say that she’s their “chosen one”, she feels special for the first time ever, and doesn’t want to leave.

It ends up leading to a full-blown alien invasion.

So Many Songs, So Many Laughs

Existential crisis’ aside, Candace Against the Universe contains everything that made the show such a huge hit. All the jokes and comedic timing remain intact, while also updating for the changes in the thirteen years since it came on. For example, when Doofenshmirtz joins the kids to find Vanessa, he tracks him down on the alien planet using social media posts.

Speaking of Doofenshmirtz, he was my favorite part of the film. He spends a lot of time around the kids. Unlike last time, though, they don’t focus on him being a semi-evil scientist. Instead, we see him bounce off his interactions with the kids. Isabella, in particular, gets annoyed by him and his insistence on being in charge, when she’s the smarter one. I never thought I’d need the two singing about “Adulting”. But I did, and it’s hilarious!

Oh, Perry also has his comedic moments, too, but he’s not the focus of the film. Mostly because he can’t let anyone see him without blowing his cover.

The Verdict: Still Fun After All These Years

So, what’s the verdict to this? Well, I don’t think that it’s as awesome as Across the Second Dimension. To be fair though, that movie was basically a blockbuster on TV with millions of viewers. Fortunately, Phineas and Ferb is already such an awesome show that anything it does is going to be awesome by default. Also, in the climax of the film, we see Candace fight an army of alien soldiers with a t-shirt cannon.

So, it may not reach the epic heights of Across the Second Dimension, but Candace Against the Universe makes up for it with its blend of emotion, music, and comedy. A perfect return for Phineas and Ferb and definitely worth the hype built around it.

I give Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe a 4.5/5

Click here to see my reviews for various films.

RJ Writing’s Musical Cliptastic Countdown of Favorite Phineas and Ferb Songs, Pt. 4

Here we are, folks. It’s taken us all week, but I’m ready to reveal my all time favorite songs from Phineas and Ferb. Though, to be honest, they’re the same picks from the Phineas and Ferb Musical Cliptastic Countdown all those years ago. I’m not sorry, they’re good songs.

#2-Backyard Beach

#1- Gitchee Gitchee Goo

Really, was there any other choice? The lyrics are meant to be meaningless, but the song’s got such a catchy beat to it that you can’t help but enjoy it. And it shows. Fans voted it number one, MsMojo voted it number one. Heck, Disney loved it so much that they let Dan and Swampy write a song for every episode. Running on that logic, this song is what set Phineas and Ferb on the road to musical stardom and gave us eight years of fun.

Hope you enjoyed yourselves. Click here for my picks for favorite episodes.

And check back in a day or so for my review of Candace Against the Universe!

Click here to see my other animation stuff.

Welcome to the grand finale of my Phineas and Ferb week, everyone! After looking over when the episodes of the show were released, I realized that I wound up watching the majority of them. The last season was just strung over the course of three years. Having said that, there were a lot of episodes that I loved and/or found memorable, but I managed to narrow it down to the ten that I liked or remember the most. So sit back, relax, and enjoy this little trip down memory lane.

By the way, I will be excluding the TV movie and crossover episodes from this list.

Rollercoaster

Kicking off my list, we have the episode that started it all, Rollercoaster. In an effort to make the most of their summer, Phineas and Ferb decide to build the mother of all rollercoasters, and things just spiral from there. Meanwhile, Perry has to stop Doofenshmirtz from reversing the earth’s rotation using tin foil.

While future episodes would offer better storylines and jokes, what I like about this episode is the fact that it seems so simple in hindsight. The big finale song in the final episode even lampshades this by calling the experience “simple”. If something like a rollercoaster was simple to the boys, then that should have given viewers a hint of how crazy things would get.

Lawn Gnome Beach Party of Terror

One of the worst things about summer time is trying to beat the immense heat, but Phineas and Ferb are nothing if not creative. So when a heatwave strikes Danville, they make the most of it by building a beach in their backyard. A literal beach, I might add, that attracts everyone in the neighborhood. Meanwhile, Doofenshmirtz is enacting a plan to steal all the lawn gnomes in Danville.

I don’t know what I liked most about this episode: the fact that the boys made an actual beach in their backyard, complete with ocean and everything. Or maybe it’s Ferb’s catchy song that I would listen to over and over on my IPod. Or the fact that this episode that we get a glimpse into Doofenshmirtz’s hilariously abusive childhood. Seriously, that guy needs a hug.

Phineas and Ferb’s Quantum Boogaloo

While Phineas and Ferb had already traveled through time earlier in the summer, their second experience with it makes the first pale in comparison. When the boys travel to the future to get a tool they need, future Candace’s desire to bust her brothers gets reignited. Thus, she uses another time machine to go back and bust them on the day they made the rollercoaster. However, things snowball when this leads to a dystopian future where children are locked away and Doofenshmirtz rules the Tri-State Area. So Candace then has to go back and stop Candace from being…Candace?

Look, if this episode sounds confusing, then that’s the whole point. The creators did it to parody the absurdity of time travel stories, making it as confusing as possible. What makes it even more confusing is the fact that, in the credits, Isabella comes back in a time machine and gives the boys the tool they need. Thus, I don’t even know if any of the events happened!

Phineas and Ferb Get Busted

When Phineas and Ferb turn their mom’s car into a flying car of the future, Candace manages to finally expose them to her mom. As a result, the two get sent to a brainwashing military school that makes St. Olga’s look like child’s play. Once the euphoria of victory wears off though, Candace feels guilty and busts them out.

I would like to point out the fact that this episode may be one of the darkest moments ever seen on a kid’s cartoon. As a matter of fact, I think I repressed the memory of it until I was older. Thank god, though, that none of the events actually happened. The whole thing was just a dream inside of Perry’s dream. Not sorry for the spoilers

Meapless in Seattle

Yeah, this clip pretty much sums up why I loved this episode so much. The fact that the creators were willing to go this far for what was originally meant to be a joke shows real dedication. Respect!

Traffic Cam Caper

This may not be one of the more memorable episodes, but i found it hilarious. When Candace discovers a traffic cam’s recorded all of her brother’s projects, she think she finally has the evidence to bust them. Unfortunately for her, Perry also needs the disc on the camera since it could blow his cover. You can guess the rest.

Like I said, it’s not the most memorable episode, but there’s two reasons why I like. First, the second that Candace says she won’t let anyone take the disc, then Perry comes in using Norm the robot and steals it. The comedic timing is perfect! Second, this episode shows that when push comes to shove, Candace will choose the safety of her brothers over busting them. It’s sweet to know that Candace really does care about her brothers.

Lights, Candace, Action!

Another early gem from the show, in this episode Candace learns that a movie adaptation of her favorite play is being filmed in Danville. While she’s excited when she lands the lead role, she’s upset to learn that her brother’s are the directors of the film. Meanwhile, Doofernshmirtz takes up cheese-making and uses a new invention to super-age his cheese.

While this episode is not as big as future ones, I still think it’s significant. First, it marks the first time that Doofenshmirtz uses the “inator” moniker. Well, at least the first time we notice it. Second, that ending film “the Swamp Monster of Danville” is peak meme material and reminds me of the early days of YouTube.

Last Day of Summer

After eight years and hundreds of episodes, Phineas and Ferb’s summer vacation reaches its final day. And, as always, Candace fails to bust them for whatever it is that they’re doing. But while visiting Dr. Doofenshmirtz’s lab, she activates a device that rewinds the day back to the beginning. What should be a simple “Groundhog Day” story becomes even crazier, though, when the days start getting shorter. Oh, and things start to get sucked into another dimension and making people forget about their existence

As the final episode for an amazing show, “Last Day of Summer” had a lot to live up to, and I think that it managed to deliver. As I said in my post for Fandom two years ago, the finale serves as a reminder that, as fun as some things in life can be, we have to learn to let them go. Plus, the final song recapping everything the show did was the tribute fans deserved.

Flop Starz

You ever wonder why Phineas and Ferb had a song in almost every episode? It all comes back to the third episode of the series, “Flop Starz.” When the boys decide to see what life is like as stars, but not wanting to deal with the negative aspects, the boys write a one-hit wonder that becomes hugely successful, both in the show and in real-life.

I’m not joking about that. The executives at Disney liked the song “Gittchee Gitcchee Goo” so much that had Dan and Swampy right one for each episode. Thus, Phineas and Ferb and its successor, Milo Murphy’s Law, became musical cartoons. And I won’t lie, a lot of the show’s songs are very catchy.

Dude, We’re Getting the Band Back Together

There’s no particular order to these episodes and which one is my favorite. Until this one, however. This is my favorite, and a lot of fans will agree. When their dad forgets their mom’s anniversary, Phineas, Ferb, and Candace team up to give them their parents the ultimate anniversary gift. That gift being reuniting their favorite band to play a concert dedicated in their honor.

Crazy scheme by Phineas and Ferb? Check. A meaningful sub-plot involving Doofenshmirtz, his daughter Vanessa, and Perry the Platypus? Check. More than five amazing songs in the span of a single episode, one of which got nominated for an Emmy? Yeah, this is without a doubt my favorite episode of Phineas and Ferb.

Leave Me Your Thoughts.

Do you agree with my picks? What were your favorite episodes of Phineas and Ferb? Let me know in the comments below. Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to stan the Phineas and Ferb movie on Twitter. The review will be up by tomorrow afternoon.

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