In the circles I end up with this may be heretical but I was never into Phineas And Ferb. On the odd chance you haven’t heard of it, the show follows two stepbrothers, guess their names, as they try to squeeze as much fun as they can into the summer before school starts. That usually involves some wild gadget or setup that concerns Phineas’ biological sister Candiace who tries to bust her brothers for their own good but the problem solves itself before getting the chance. That solution usually comes in the form of the show’s subplot, where their pet platypus Perry is secretly Secret Agent P, charged with stopping manchild mad scientist Doctor Doofenshmirtz from taking over the tri-state area or getting revenge on his more successful brother…though as the show goes on you kind of see Doof’s reasoning for wanting revenge. Instead he becomes Professor Time, the creator of time travel, on previous Saturday Night Showcase entry Milo Murphy’s Law, a show set in the same universe that is one of my favorite shows, even the crossover with this one. (Fun fact: this show is apparently so popular that spell check knew how to spell “Doofenshmirtz”. Saved me from looking it up.)
With Disney XD’s official YouTube channel posting episodes of Phineas And Ferb I get to bring you the one episode I do enjoy. True, a Star Wars special is nothing new. Robot Chicken did it. Family Guy did it. The Muppets did it…twice if you count the “Pigs In Space” crossover and three if you add in a Muppet Magazine comic alongside the original Muppet Babies. However, this one takes a different turn from the Family Guy episode. Instead of playing the characters from A New Hope, Phineas, Ferb, Candice, and their friends take part in a side story that may not be canon…but does fill in a few gaps. Although they’re still harping on the exhaust port. Exactly how are they supposed to vent their exhaust if the thing is closed? It’s big as a moon with a planet-destroying supercannon on the front. Those things heat up you know. So let’s watch as the gang create their own Star Wars musical. It will be better than anything DisneyFilm will come up with if they ever try it.
I’m a bit disappointed that they didn’t get Mark Hamill, who also does a lot of voiceover work, and Anthony Daniels, who even came back as C-3PO for the Lego shows, to do their voices. Instead we have Christopher Cory Smith as Luke and Simon Pegg as C-3PO and it just isn’t the same. I don’t know who did Darth Vader but he did a darn good job. I’d be surprised if it was James Earl Jones, but IMDB points to Eddie Pittman…and says former Mythbusters Adam Savage, who worked for ILM for a time, and Jaime Hyneman played “Stormtrooper #1″…NEAT! They also did a Star Wars special on their show. Pittman did a darn good job.
Beyond being a Star Wars parody focused on the first movie, it’s actually a good story on it’s own. The fall of Ferb, the Troopers’s gaining a conscience, Isabella’s character arc especially…it ends up working on it’s own, which is a sign of a good parody and a good story. Take for example Spaceballs. Cut out the jokes and bonus references and it’s a good adventure story on its own. So good job to the show for one of the best parody homages to Star Wars, right up there with The Freemaker Adventures.
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