This week on Saturday Morning Cartoon! we’re watching “Phineas and Ferb.” For years I avoided this show. It simply held no interest for me. Then I acquired a small human child and lost control of almost all of the screens in my house. At this point I’ve become a virtual expert on the summertime exploits of the titular characters.
In a nutshell, the show documents the adventures of two young boys and their attempt to not waste a single moment of their 104 day vacation. As a result, each day they hatch a new plan or adventure which is usually launched by the phrase “Ferb, I know what we’re going to do today.”
With their small group of friends at their sides, the boys build giant rollercoasters, open restaurants, and return lost aliens to their parents in space, all before dinner time and without raising the suspicions of their parents. Which brings us to their older sister, Candace, who’s made it her life goal ensure the boys are busted.
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Her summer consists of constantly dragging her mother around in a futile attempt to reveal her brothers’ covert activities, without success. The consistency of the disappearing oddities begins to drive Candace insane, as the theme song suggests.
Oh ya, I can’t forget, not only do these kids have a pet platypus named Perry, but he’s also a secret agent working for an equally secret agency tasked with bringing down the evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz.
All of which begs the question, what exactly is going on here? Either we’re dealing with a town full of arguably the most negligent parents since “Rugrats” or things aren’t actually as they seem. I have a few hypotheses.
Are the boys actually legitimate geniuses? Should we be glad they use their powers for simple entertainment rather than world domination?
Is the show the sad delusions of Candace? Tortured by a previous caper she was unable to expose to her parents Candace cracked and now lives in an endless loop of increasingly impossible schemes that she’ll never expose.
Is Phineas having the world’s best coma dream? An endless summer wherein he is granted a sentient marsupial and seemingly omnipotent abilities? It would explain why despite there being only 104 days of summer vacation, there are 207 episodes.
Or maybe it’s just a cartoon and I’m thinking too much about it? But…. I like my ideas better.
Cheers.