The other day, as I was laying in the dentist's chair, preparing to get my first cavity filled, receiving absolutely no comfort from the image of the Twin Towers that took up the entire ceiling, I began thinking about two of the greatest cartoons ever: Kim Possible and Phineas and Ferb.
I know what you're thinking: "Aren't you a little old to be obsessing over Disney Channel cartoons?" Well, yes, yes I am, but they are so awesomely awesome I don't even care. Let me tell you a little bit about them.
Kim Possible was the best show in the era of Fantastic Disney Channel Shows, sharing it's airtime with such gems as That's So Raven, Phil of the Future, and Lizzy Maguire. It's a show about a Buffy-esque cheerleader who successfully navigates high school while saving the world in her spare time. Also featuring lovable best friend/boyfriend Ron Stoppable and the freakiest animal sidekick ever: Rufus, the naked mole rat (cue theme song).
The real hero of the series
Phineas and Ferb is currently the only good show on Disney Channel, and is possibly one of the most brilliantly written shows of all time. On first glance, the show's plot seems like a tired formula that would quickly get old: An A-plot in which two stepbrothers and their friends try to make each day of summer the Best Day Ever, and a B-plot featuring a secret agent whose day job is to foil the plans of a thoroughly incompetent villain. Of course, Phineas and Ferb's summer involves traveling through time and space, creating self-aware machines that threaten to destroy them, and actively destroying the laws that hold the universe together. (For instance, Phineas says of the law of gravity: "It's a hard and fast law with no chance of appeal? That's despotism! Let's go prove Sir Isaac Newton wrong." And then he does.) Also, the secret agent is a teal platypus in a fedora.
Agent P!!!!!!!!!!!!
No seriously. Think about it. You could even spot some similarities in the brief descriptions above, but let's go deeper.
-One of the main characters of both shows is a teenage red-headed girl, who ends up dating a blonde guy.
-She only wears one everyday outfit
-The girl has two younger brothers, who are geniuses, and nerdy father.
-The girl often has a non-white best friend, who is often the voice of reason
-A character in both shows has a secret life fighting crime
-The crime-fighting character receives their mission assignments from a man who basically lives in a screen
-The villains the secret agent must fight are generally not very good at being bad, and their disastrous schemes are easily stopped in the twenty-minute time slot
-One time, the bad guy accidentally won, and it led to an alternate time line apocalyptic future
-The main characters in both shows have as a pet an anthropomorphic animal that is not generally considered pet material (that is, the creators of both shows went with the freakiest, most little-known animal they could find)
-The characters in the show, though children, are either physically, intellectually, or comically superior to normal people.
-They also have cool gadgets.
-And musical numbers. Again, I remind you of the Naked Mole Rap
-They travel all over the world, into space, and through time
-Both shows follow a strict plot formula, but spend the entire time mocking the tropes they're supposed to be representing
-Vanessa Doofenschmirtz=a less evil, but similarly apathetic, Shego
-Slushy Dog=Bueno Nacho
-Both shows are fantastic and hilarious and wonderful and I will show them to my children one day
(Thinking about Kim Possible reminds me of all the good times in my childhood, when Kim and Ron finally getting together was honestly one of the best things that had ever happened to me. I loved that show so ridiculously much. And Kim's probably the only girl I know who looks cool in cargo pants.
Also, there's another whole school of thought that compares both shows to Doctor Who, but I'm not going to touch that one. I guess Kim and Ron are Amy and Rory, and Perry is the Doctor. Who knew.)
There you have it. Phineas and Ferb is the Kim Possible of my little sibling's generation, complete with animal sidekicks that are really only cute in cartoon form. If only they had better live-action shows to accompany it... Alas, Phineas, Ferb, and all their weirdo friends must alone carry the torch of decent children's entertainment--but they're doing a remarkable job. Summer truly does belong to you, guys.
Over-thinking children's media one TV show at a time, I'm forever yours,
Em Possible
Single greatest moment in television history
