Featured TV on DVD Review: Phineas and Ferb: The Perry Files: Animal Agents
April 7, 2013
Phineas and Ferb: The Perry Files: Animal Agents - Buy from Amazon
The latest Phineas and Ferb DVD, Animal Agents, is the second with The Perry Files title. I love this show, but I've haven't had the chance to watch many of the new episodes, so I'm excited to see anything I haven't seen before. So what shorts are on this DVD? And do the new episodes live up to the best of the old ones?
There are six segments from Take Two, a series of two-minute interviews with Phineas and Ferb. The DVD package also includes some activities, including a fold up pair of binoculars.
There's not much to complain about with Phineas and Ferb The Perry Files: Animal Agents. I would prefer full-season sets, but there's a lot of entertainment here for just $15.
The Show
There are ten shorts on this DVD, plus the two-episode long Where's Perry?. Of the ten shorts, four are classics (Journey to the Center of Candace, Vanessassary Roughness, Isabella and the Temple of Sap, and Robot Rodeo) while none of them are misses. Where's Perry? is also an excellent two-episode / four-part story that also has great replay value. That's a lot of entertainment for the price.
Phineas and Ferb are trying to decide what to do that day, make a shrink ray or a submarine. They are trying to decide right there in front of their Mom, but she thinks it is just in their imaginations. Even when Candace tells her it's real, Mom still thinks it is just their imagination. The pair just can't decide. While trying to decide, Isabella comes by to show off her new sash with all of her fireside badges on it. At this point, Pinky, Isabella's pet dog, eats the sash. At least Phineas and Ferb know what they will make. They will make the submarine, shrink it down, and enter Pinky, all to retrieve the sash. Unfortunately, in a serious of weird occurrences, they end up inside Candace, while Candace is on a date with Jeremy.
Meanwhile, Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz has made up a Make-Up-Your-Mind-inator, which sounds like it is a device that helps people make of their minds, which would be awesome, but it might be a device to destroy those who can't make up their minds. Perry has to thwart him to protect Phineas and Ferb.
On a side note, red blood cells don't divide, despite what we see in this episode.
Candace finally figures out a way to bust her brothers. There's a traffic cam recently installed outside of their house. It has to have some footage of the pair doing something bustable. Unfortunately, Major Monogram also realized the traffic cam is recording their house, and captured Agent Perry's coming and going, so Agent Perry will have to get the disc before Candace does. That part of the plan fails, so Perry goes to Dr. Doofenshmirtz to borrow Norm, the Giant Robot Man. He grabs the disc right from Candace's hand, but Phineas and Ferb are there to see it, and agree to get it back, partially to make Candace happy and partially because battling a giant robot is cool.
Mom is driving Phineas, Ferb, Candace, and Stacy to the Super-Duper Megastore to do some shopping. Meanwhile, Dr. Doofenshmirtz is going there with Vanessa, his daughter. She wants him to buy her a car, so she won't have to get a ride on the back of his scooter. He says she has to prove she's mature enough to handle it. Dr. Doofenshmirtz is there to get Pizzazium Infinionite, but when Baljeet (person of superior intellect) and Buford (angry wall of meat) grab the last one, Vanessa realizes this is her chance to prove she it responsible enough for a car. Ferb, who has a crush on her, decides to help. Meanwhile, Candace gets a hold of it momentarily and decides it's the perfect gift for Jeremy. Finally, Perry is instructed to get it to stop Doofenshmirtz from completing his latest inator. Easily one of the best episodes in the show's run.
"I'm Me" as sung by Olivia Olson is one of my favorite songs from the entire series and this episode is in the top ten for the show's entire run.
This episode focuses on Isabella and the Fireside Girls troop 46321: Gretchen, Adyson, Milly (Isabella Murad), Holly (Cymphonique Miller), Ginger, and Katie. They head over to see what Phineas and Ferb are doing, in order to get their "Help Thy Neighbor" Patch, even though they all have more than 50 of them. After agreeing to help Phineas, without know what he needs (she was in Phineasland), they head off to get the sap of the maracanut tree.
Meanwhile, we learn that Pinky, Isabella's pet Chihuahua, is a secret agent, just like Perry. His commander is Admiral Acronym and his nemesis is Professor Poofenplotz. Professor Poofenplotz has been making inquiries about hair spray. It turns out there's no more Stiff Beauty, her favorite hair spray. She needs that to look her best, and she needs to look her best to take over the world.
Why isn't Bubble Boy on this DVD? Bubble Boy and Isabella and the Temple of Sap tell the same story, but from different perspectives. Having one and not the other doesn't make sense. That said, it is a great episode and gives some of the recurring characters a chance to shine.
When Jeremy has to break off a date with Candace, Phineas and Ferb try to cheer her up. The first two attempts don't work, so they try to help Candace find new friends by building a Mixer Mingler.
Meanwhile, Perry the Platypus is discharged as an agent after he is seen committing various acts of evil. He escapes before being captured and heads to Dr. Doofenshmirtz's evil lair, knowing he must be the one behind it.
Phineas and Ferb help Isabella and the Fireside Girls get their "Rodeo Clown" patch by building a mechanical bull and having a rodeo. This is a problem for Candace, because Candace and Stacy want to go to the Tiny Cowboy concert, but Stacy's mom thinks Candace is flighty and unfocused and doesn't want Stacy to go to the concert with her. So Candace needs to repress her urge to bust.
Meanwhile, Perry is sent to the League Of Villainous Evildoers Maniacally United For Frightening Investments in Naughtiness (L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N.) second annual Inator Creator contest. Dr. Doofenshmirtz is desperate to win, but it's the day of the contest, and he still hasn't even started his.
The episode ends with Izzy's Got the Frizzies, which is one of the greatest songs in the history of music.
Isabella is trying to help her Nana with the Latkes Festival, but there are no potatoes in the entire Tri-state area. Phineas decides to use Buford's last potato chip to clone all the potatoes they need. How could this possibly go wrong? Simple. Some of Buford's DNA is on the chip and gets mixed with the potato DNA and they accidentally create an army of Potato-Buford hybrids, which wreck havoc on Danville.
Meanwhile, Dr. Doofenshmirtz has created a Historical Army Retrieve-inator to bring back the Spartan army so he can rule the Tri-State area. (It's potato-powered, hence the lack of potatoes.)
Finally, Candance and Mom go on a bike ride. At first Candace is bored out of her mind, but when she spots Phineas and Ferb chasing the potatoes, she tries to bust them.
Mom is going to a birthday party for a two-year old and leaves Candace in charge of Phineas and Ferb. Meanwhile, Dr. Doofenshmirtz has given up evil and joins the OWCA. Normally they only take animals, but as previously established, Dr. Doofenshmirtz was adopted by ocelots making him an ocelot in the eyes of the law. Perry is given the task of training Dr. Doofenshmirtz. As Dr. Doofenshmirtz explains, he's given up evil, because his latest invention, a Babe-inator, didn't work. This is the 100th time his evil plan didn't work and he figures maybe he's just not being good at being evil, so he's going to try being good at being good. However, his inator just wasn't plugged in and when Norm (his giant robot man) plugs it in, it hits Phineas and Ferb turning them into babies. At first Candace is happy, because this is something she can bust them for, but she soon realizes taking care of babies is really hard.
Mom and Dad take the kids, all of the kids (Phineas, Ferb, Candace, Isabella, Baljeet, and Buford) to Africa. They were going to take Perry, but Major Monogram needs him for a mission, so he has to miss family vacation. Candace almost misses the plane as well, because she's waiting for Jeremy, who said he had something important to say. By the time she gets to Africa and goes 18 hours without her phone, she's totally freaking out. When she finally does get to talk to him, the reception is so bad that all she hears is, "We should... break... up". Obviously Jeremy meant the call was breaking up, but Candace freaks out and decides to live with the monkeys.
Meanwhile, Dr. Doofenshmirtz has built an Ultimate-Evil-inator and uses it to zap Major Monogram, thus turning him evil and making him join forces with Dr. Doofenshmirtz. At least that was the plan. In reality, he missed and hit Karl the unpaid intern. He's actually good at evil and part of his plan involves evil Flynn-Fletcher robots.
Finally, Phineas and Ferb build a highly unconventional vehicle to explore the Haijulikani Wadi, the uncharted gorge. Thanks to Buford, they get stuck there.
Ferb and Perry are away at debate camp, but when they return, the rest of the gang explain to Ferb what they did the day before. ... It involves squirrels. Perry goes to Dr. Doofenshmirtz explains what he did the day before and how Peach Cobbler is involved.
Phineas and Ferb decide to break the record for the world's largest bowling ball. It's so large, that you ride in it to bowl. Candace decides to take it for a spin... right to mom. It's a perfect plan, except the bowling ball goes out of control. Meanwhile, Dr. Doofenshmirtz builds an army of giant robot penguins to freeze the Tri-state area so he can sell the his expensive and highly addictive hot chocolate.
On a side note, this episode is paired with Traffic Cam Caper. I have no idea why they are not back-to-back on the DVD. The Extras
The Verdict
- Submitted by: C.S.Strowbridge
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