Hello & welcome back to A Look at Disney. And back to the Summer Blowout as we look at some of the more popular and special episodes of Phineas and Ferb. And today, we come across an interesting episode, Wizard of Odd. I briefly touched upon this episode during my Disney & Oz article, when I was on my Wizard of Oz kick. But the thing is, Wizard of Odd adaptions are nothing new to children's entertainment as observed by the Oz Wiki. Shows from Beetlejucie to Rugrats to That's So Raven have all done Oz episodes and going even further back, the Muppet Babies intro had an Oz reference. I don't know if there was ever actually an Oz episode of Muppet Babies though.
(And less said about The Muppets Wizard of Oz, the better). Therefore, you can't really look at this just as an episode of Phineas and Ferb. It also has to looked at how it fares adapting Wizard of Oz. You sometimes find when a known show or property tries to take on a classic story, it tries too hard to mesh the style of writing and humor they're known for into a already well known story instead of finding a good balance. When using characters that people love to tell a story that has been around longer than they have, you have to find the balance between what those characters are known for and what the story is. A good example of that, going back to The Muppets is The Muppet Christmas Carol.
So I find myself in a unique situation here as it's not fair to judge this episode as just an episode of Phineas and Ferb, I also have to look at it as an adaption of Wizard of Oz. With this long-winded introduction out of the way, let's begin.
The Plot
We start our episode with Candace so utterly bored as there is nothing to do. So, her mom suggests that she can help Phineas and Ferb clean the house or she can read a book. Candace goes with the latter option and the book that her mom happens to give her is The Wizard of Oz. Had to tie it in somehow. And Candace reaches the part, where a tornado hits the house just as the boys spin the house around to clean it.
And this here is what takes the place of the house falling on the Witch. When Candace has come to, she finds that she has arrived in Patchkin Land (Thyr'e version of Munchkin Land) and we see that the Patchkins are The Fireside Girls led by Isabella The Good Witch. Candace being Candace assumes that her brothers are up to this and asks Isabella The Good, how to bust her brothers and we get our first song of the episode. Oh, and this is after, she is supplied with Red Rubber Boots to help her on her journey and Doof as The Doofenwitch tries to steal them.
Isabella informs our Dorothy stand-in that'll she need to take The Yellow Sidewalk and that perhaps she can find The Wizard. And just like in the film, Candace comes across characters in the world of Odd that look like people she knows. The first one being a Nerd-Crow. Who is actually Baljeet and he doesn't need a brain, he just wishes to be cool.
Though his introduction reminds me less of If I Had A Brain and more of You Can't Win from the film version of The Wiz. I wouldn't be surprised if they took influence from that as well but this is mostly Wizard of Oz. Meanwhile Phineas and Ferb try suggesting more fun ways to get to The Wizard. And over the next hill, they come across The Tin Man and as Candace remembers what to do, she looks for an oil can but stops as soon as she sees that Jeremy is playing the part of the tree in this special and flirts with him and lets him come along.
So Jeremy Tree joins the group as they travel along and once again Phineas and Ferb show up to show them a nice diversion from The Yellow Sidewalk that is a fun non-dairy ice cream skate park, instead of the dark and scary forest that The Yellow Sidewalk leads into. But Candace is adamant about staying on The Yellow Sidewalk.
And it's here, where the group runs into the next member of the group, Buford as a mix between some sort lion, tiger, and bear. An obvious reference to this line.
Lions, and tigers, and bears! Oh, my!
Candace asks him, what he wants and he wants nothing but he tags along with the group anyways.
Meanwhile, our Doofenwtich. Oh sorry, Warlock has sent out his flying squirrels to attack the main characters. But they're really slow and Phineas and Ferb show up again to offer a more fun path. But Candace once again sticks to her decision and the squirrels finally catch up to the foursome and the Doofenwitch and Candace gets caught by the witch and put on a spider web with Perry because Doof wants the red rubber boots but they've grown attached to her, quite literally.
Doofenwitch decides that he must find another way to get rid of Candace to get the boots. Perry tells Candace to escape and find the others. He does quite easily and tries to tell the others what is happening but they don't understand him, so he breaks out his phone and Major Monogram (Perry's boss), who is a fairy here explains to them what is happening.
And the four dress up as witches to give Doofenwitch's castle, a free makeover. And they distract him as Perry goes up to free Candace and as they do, they take on their costumes. But Doofenwitch's guards cease them. Candace asks the guards, if that is what they really want to do and they say no. And then they break out into song. After Candace throws a bucket of water on Doofenwtich and it causes his outfit to shrink.
With the aid of Perry's grappling hook, they escape on a blimp driven by Phineas and Ferb.
And then they finally make it to Bustoplolis, where we find The Wizard. Phineas and Ferb offer the foursome a ride on an elevator, everyone but Candace agrees to it as she takes The Yellow Staircase. And we finally this episode's Wizard. And it's Linda, Phineas Ferb, and Candace's mom.
And everyone through the aid of Phineas and Ferb get their wish. Jeremy gets to be a real boy as he finds out, there was a zipper on his tree costume. Buford gets a sandwich and so on and so on. Doofenwitch gets the Red Rubber Boots. And Candace learns to relax and have fun every once in a while. We also learn that Isabella The Good has many others including President Lincoln, Santa Claus and an astronaut to take The Yellow Sidewalk. And it turns out, it was just a dream and as Candace wakes up, she's her brothers with a crazy invention and is about to bust them but sees Jeremy with them and decides to have fun. So, how does this episode fare? As as Phineas and Ferb episode, it's great and as a take on The Wizard of Oz, I love it. Yeah, it's played more for laughs but it still captures the imagination of Oz.
Characters
I won't be covering every character but just the important ones. Let's begin.
Main Character
Candace voiced by Ashley Tisdale
I'm not the biggest fan of Candace and she is my least favorite character on the show but she worked well in the story that they were telling here using her for Dorothy and I like how it wasn't her wanting to go home, that was the driving force for her to find The Wizard. That was a nice little change.
Supporting Characters
Jeremy-Tree, Lion-Tiger-Bear Guy, & Nerd Crow voiced by Mitchel Musso, Bobby Gaylor, & Maulik Pancholy
I honestly like that other than Baljeet, that while yes they did take inspiration from Oz, they came up with their own characters for their take on the story and gave them new wants and desires. They realized that just because they are doing an Oz story, they don't have to stick to the material as this isn't a faithful adaption and it was never meant to be. It was always meant to be a comedic take on Oz. And it works so well in that regard.
Phineas and Ferb voiced by Vincent Martella & Thomas Sangster
Yeah, I gotta be honest and say that I kinda wish that Phineas and Ferb weren't in this episode. I get the purpose they served but every time, they showed up, I was taken out of the episode. They are the one part of the episode that felt forced in. It almost felt like they were only in the episode because they are the the titular characters. Everything else about the episode was just fine but as much I do like these two, they felt unneeded.
Music
Yellow Sidewalk
This song teeters on being fun and annoying at the same time. The lyrics are enjoyable and I like that but the background oohs really grate on my nerves. I like this but it's not I listen to a lot.
I Want To Be Cool
Like I said, I think of You Can't Win with this number that may just be me but I do like how Candace cuts the song off as that is pretty funny.
Tree Related Wish
Simple little song but it's fun and Mitchel Musso does a good job singing it.
Guard Song
This song is a little silly but it's a bit fun and how you can not have fun, whilst listening to this number.
My Red Rubber Boots
Just another fun little number that isn't meant to be anything more than that.
Rusted
The end credit song is actually a parody of the Phineas and Ferb song, Busted. You've got to admire any show that is willing to parody their own work. That's a lot of fun.
Villain
Doofen
I loved making Doof, the Witch. Sorry, Warlock. That was a running joke and just like regular Doof, he is such a failure of a bad guy. This is probably the one area, where it was more Phineas and Ferb, then Oz but even then, it really worked and I enjoyed it.
My Final Thoughts
So, how does this episode hold up? Well as I said up-top, it's a great Phineas and Ferb episode and a really fun take on Oz. I always get enjoyment from this episode. This is easily one of my favorite episodes of the entire series. It's one that I really suggest you guys track down as it is a blast. Join me next time as we do something a little different as I look at the music of Rollercoaster: The Musical.
No comments:
Post a Comment