Movie Info:
Writers: Various
Directors: Various
Creators: Jeff ‘Swampy’ Marsh, Dan Povenmire
Cast: Vincent Martella, Ashley Tisdale, Thomas Sangster, Caroline Rhea, Dan Povenmire, Jeff ‘Swampy’ Marsh, Dee Bradley Baker, Alyson Stoner, Richard O’Brien, Mitchell Musso
Rating: G
Studio: Walt Disney Video
Release Info:
Television Release: Feb. 2008-Feb. 2009
DVD Release Date: February 10, 2009
Online Availability: Amazon for $
Where The Wizards of Waverly Place has to be the best live action show on the Disney Channel, Phineas and Ferb is the number one cartoon. There isn’t another cartoon I’ll watch on Disney. The ingenuity of this cartoon kind of reminds me of the cartoons I grew up watching in the 80s. I was lucky enough to review this show once before, in the first DVD release for this series, Phineas and Ferb: The Fast and the Phineas.
Phineas and Ferb is the brainchild of Dan Povenmire, who has worked on such shows as Family Guy (directing) and Spongebob SquarePants (mainly writing, but some directing) and his longtime friend, Jerry ‘Swampy’ Marsh who has worked on King of the Hill. The two got their start in the art and animation departments on the long-running hit, The Simpsons. From there, they paired up to develop Rocko’s Modern Life. Now, the two are back together and they’ve got a new hit on their hands with Phineas and Ferb.
I like the fact that this show is on Disney. Animation was always the staple of Disney Studios. So many Disney movies and shows are now either digitized (a la Pixar) or are live action. I believe Disney needs to get back to the time of simple yet beautiful animation. You could always recognize what was a Disney film thanks to its unique, colorful animation. Now, it seems like Disney is just another animator in the pack of all that is digital. Luckily, Phineas and Ferb combines old style animation with a new, fresh, brightly colored today look. It’s like the best of the old world meets this new, digitized era.
The reason why a wide audience (from pre-teen or tween to adults) can enjoy Phineas and Ferb is the show’s relatability to such a wide and diverse group. The show is inspired by the creator’s own childhood, so those who are adults can remember their own childhoods. Kids today just think all of the fun things Phineas and Ferb do are cool and interesting. This show can be watched by various generations and everyone in the family can find something to enjoy in this series. That’s the true beauty of it.
Phineas and Ferb: The Daze of Summer Plot
The story of two stepbrothers who spend their super long summer vacation finding adventure is the main plot for Phineas and Ferb. They also have to find a way to have fun without their older sister, Candace (who is infatuated with a neighborhood boy named Jeremy), telling their mom on them. Luckily, Candace isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, so she often doesn’t tell her mom what they are up to, in time, or their mom just happens to miss all the crazy adventures they are having. Either way, the two live on to have another day of summer vacation and another day of adventure.
There are five episodes (with two stories per episode) on this DVD. Ultimately, these would make up five, thirty minute slots). In whole, there are ten unique stories here, and many of them come from different episodes, so these half-episodes didn’t necessarily air with the same half-episode they aired with originally.
Here is a list of each half-episode with a brief synopsis:
Episode #1.6b – “Jerk de Soleil” – Phineas and Ferb are excited about the circus coming to town. When it’s cancelled they replace their disappointment with adventure when they decide to put together a circus themselves. When Candace has an allergic reaction to the wild parsnips Jeremy gives her, she is mortified. Her raspy voice leads her to be included in her mom’s jazz band, but she has to avoid Jeremy until she’s better. Doofenshmirtz creates a machine he believes will make his voice seem lower, by making other people’s voices higher.
Episode #1.8a – “Toy to the World” – Phineas and Ferb hit a home run when they develop a wooden doll of Perry the Playtypus. They sell the toy to a toy company and it starts flying off the shelves. Candace is mortified when the toy store where she works, in the mall, makes her wear a Perry costume to advertise the new toy. Doofenshmirtz attempts to build the “Great Wall of the Tri-State Area.” Perry must stop this because Doofenshmirtz seeks to profit from the tollbooths he’s put at the entrance.
Episode #1.16b – “A Hard Day’s Knight” – The kids (Phineas, Ferb, and Candace) head to England to visit their Grandparents. Candace falls for a local boy. When Phineas and Ferb host a Renaissance Fair, Candace and the boy both end up in the jousting tournament. In the meantime, Doofenshmirtz is in England for reasons of his own. He’s attending an evil conference, Evil-Con, which Perry decides to crash.
Episode #1.4b – “I, Brobot” – Everything seems to be going perfect for Phineas and Ferb. They create robots called Phinedroids and Ferbots to help them get their work done faster on many of their projects, but unfortunately this plan doesn’t work out so well. Doofenshmirtz is desperate to erase the nutty messages he left on his girlfriend’s answering machine. He creates a huge magnet so he can hover over her house and erase them.
Episode #1.9a – “It’s a Mud, Mud, Mud, Mud World” – Phineas and Ferb want to help Candace get her license. They create a Monster Truck to help her out, but the training soon turns into a crazy race. Doofenshmirtz wants to sell a line of Monster Trucks he’s created. Perry must stop him from finding investors because the trucks turn out to actually be monsters.
Episode #1.12b – The Ballad of Badbeard” – When Phineas and Ferb’s grandpa tells them about the pirate, Badbeard, the two set out on the seas to hunt for pirate’s gold. After Candace comes in contact with orange moss, she begins to hallucinate in a totally retro, far out kind of way. It is during this time that she spies Perry the Platypus trying to capture Doofenshmirtz.
Episode #1.13b – “Greece Lightning” – When Phineas and Ferb visit a museum exhibit, which teaches them about Ancient Greece, they decide to hold a chariot race throughout the streets of Dansville. Doofenshmirtz makes the ultimate weapon against Perry. Unfortunately, he has it all wrong because the super big, hardcore, mechanical man is actually a mild mannered invention named Norm.
Episode #1.13b – “Leave the Busting to Us” – Desperate to catch Phineas and Ferb doing something they aren’t supposed to, Candace turns to the reality television show, “Bust Em” to bust the boys. Phineas and Ferb design a white-water rafting ride, not knowing they are secretly being filmed. Using weather pellets, Doofenshmirtz sets out to make the next Ice Age come.
Episode #2.3 – “Unfair Science Fair” – Phineas and Ferb help one of their friends to create a portal that leads to Mars. This is their entry to the Science Fair. Doofenshmirtz is also entering and he is hoping to create an excessively large, Science Fair-esque volcano. In the meantime, Candace is fighting another girl for a job at Mr. Shlushy Dog, the corn dog shop where Jeremy works.
Episode #2.4 – “Unfair Science Fair Redux – Phineas and Ferb’s portal to Mars is a hit with Candace, who enters it because she’s upset about her friends avoiding her. While there, the natives deem her their Queen, while her brothers try to save her and bring her back to Earth. Perry tries to help Doofenshmirtz make his volcano a success.
Storyline/Plot: 
Replayability:
Acting: 
Directing:
Audio/Visual:
Using a standard 1.33:1 aspect ratio might seem like a deficit these days but, Phineas and Ferb are still looking pretty good. Kids will not be disappointed by the bright and vibrant colors that they see all over this show, in every episode. The visual aspects are crisp and clear enough to say that this is one of the better looking cartoons on Disney or any other network today.
Dolby Digital Stereo sets the stage for the available audio on The Daze of Summer and things sound good. The sound effects are more than effective, the music is fun, and the dialogue is easy to hear. There aren’t any complaints to list about this audio track. In fact, it’s much better than standard cartoon audio. No foreign language audio or subtitles are included in The Daze of Summer DVD.
Visual: 
Audio:
Bonus Features:
There is one main feature available on this DVD and it includes four games. “The Googolplex Mall Science Fair” has one main game and three smaller games. DVD games usually don’t have much to offer and you won’t find much of a difference here. In most cases you will be deciphering text messages or identifying images. Like I said, these games are pretty basic. Kids should like some of the games, but they won’t fall in love with them or want to play them more than a few times.
The only other thing available in this area are previews. The previews included are, High School Musical 3: Senior Year, Earth, Pinocchio: Platinum Edition, Bolt, Wizards of Waverly Place, Schoolhouse Rock and Beverly Hills Chihuahua.
Bonus Features:
Bottom Line:
While this may have only a few episodes from the series, Phineas and Ferb: The Daze of Summer is worth owning. Disney is infamous for releasing shows in volumes, but I’d rather have a volume DVD than no DVD. Now, I can watch Phineas and Ferb anytime I want. This show may be on Disney. It may be as family friendly as the other shows on the network, but Phineas and Ferb is also very funny! If you have a teen or tween, or perhaps even a younger child, you should consider picking this DVD up. It’s filled with plenty of laughs, though I surely do wish their were more episodes. Hopefully, Disney will soon release the show in a Season Pack, so we can enjoy all the episodes together.
Overall Rating:
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Written by Ashtyn Evans – Visit Website
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Ashtyn is in her early 30s. She is a mother, writer, college student, and music lover. Ashtyn has had a successful career as a writer since 2003. She turned to blogging in 2005. Ashtyn attends Wright State where she is getting a degree in Psychology. She has extensive knowledge in SEO and Social Media Development.
