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Phineas & Ferb: Vanessasary Roughness/Isabella And The Temple Of Sap
Reviewed: 02/23/2014
Isabella Makes Phineas Rough Like A Temple Of Sap.
Okay; so we march on with Animal Agents as we have episode #69 (2-14b) and episode #75 (2-16b) on the animation paper. First off; Vanessa returns to do Doofensmirtz's bidding so she can be responsible and get her own car; which Ferb gets involved somehow, while Phineas & Candace do absolutely nothing for a change. Then as Phineas & Ferb get their bubble ready while Isabella and her Fireside Girls go to an amusement park to get sap from the maracanut tree. Oh; did I mention that Pinky is also a secret agent working to stop evildoers from stealing hair spray? Let's rant on shall we...?!
Vanessasary Roughness is written and storyboarded by Michael Diederich and Perry Zambolas. Perry's resume is actually really colorful as he started as a clean up artist for Darkwing Duck! Non-DTVA credits: Taz-Mania, Tiny Toons, Animaniacs, Dilbert, Invader ZIM, Family Guy, Neighbours From Hell, Bob's Burgers, Slacker Cats, Xiaolin Showdown and Allen Gregory among others. But what makes this resume colorful is that he has also done some voice acting in mostly video games like Defender (2002 edition) and Heavy Gear 2; he was known as Fighting Bones in .hack//Legend Of The Twilight anime series. Yeah. He has 27 animation credits, nine acting credits, two direction, one writing and two other credits to his resume. Traffic Cam Caper is written and storyboarded by J.G. Orrantia and Mike Roth. The story is done by May Chan. May's resume: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Ni Hao, Kai-Lan, Hank, Paris, Everything Put Together and Bucket & Skinner's Epic Adventures. That's it. Story editing for both episode are done by Scott Peterson. Animation is done by Wang Films and Synergy Animation.
Vanessasary Roughness: We begin this one on the street somewhere in Danville while Italian music is playing. Then we see Doofensmirtz on his purple/white scooter wearing goggles and a helmet driving it with Vanessa acting like a back seat driver who wears a helmet and goggles. Vanessa wants to get a car because she thinks being on Doofen's bike is embarrassing; as a blond haired biker arrives on his motorcycle and wants Vanessa to ride on a real bike see. Doofensmirtz blows him off because she's only 16 and apparently his helmet has the Away-inator built in because the biker and his bike get zapped. Biker disappears into the same play pen we have seen earlier with the green one eyed Monsters Inc. reject who has a mallet which he proceeds to crush the biker and the bike with. Geez; I guess this green alien hates biker films, which I should welcome our green alien overlords when this rant is done. Doofen drives away proclaiming that driving is fun again since he built the Away-inator in his helmet. So we cut to the street again as Linda is driving Phineas, Ferb, Perry (with a seat belt on despite having no seat), Candace and Stacey in the station wagon. Did Ferb draw the short straw to be forced to sit in the back seat with the two most cocky buster fails this side of...Can I get back to you on that one? My train of thought is gone. Phineas is reading a map of the store known as The Super-Duper Megastore which is the world's largest supplier of everything in the tri-state area. Also known as the day I realized that the Perry/Doofensmirtz battles were all just a work foisted on us, even in storyline. Phineas claims that he know what they are going to do today; as Candace proclaims that she is going to see Jeremy at Slushy Burger for their first anniversary when they went to Slushy Burger. Apparently; it all started over Jeremy spilling a cheese dog on her and mustard got all over the place. So we see Ferb looking at the window to his right and in drives Doofensmirtz with Vanessa and Ferb's world changes to hippe flowered purple jackhammered background. Okkaayy. Ferb seems to have a crush on Vanessa which considering the differences in life, is odd to say the least.
So Phineas asks Linda about what she is going to get and she wants a 25 pound tub of mayonnaise and 80 pounds of potatoes to make potato salad for the bridge. I'm certainly not going to join that club. I want macoroni and cheese salad instead. I hate potato salad. Phineas calls this a lot of potato salad as we head into the parking lot. Linda parks the car and tells everyone to meet back at said car in three hours or less. Everyone gets out as we head into the SDMS; which is basically the Mall of America crossed with Target. Phineas claims that the mega store is 52,637,000 square acres of unbridled consumerism under one roof. First off: square acres is completely redundant. All you need is acres Phineas. Second; this building would be the size of the state of Kansas by itself. There's no F'N way this building would even come close to fitting the Tri-state area; let alone Danville. The largest building is the Pentagon which is under 150 acres. This is the sort of stuff a story editor would have edited out and modified to make sure that it didn't sound like false advertisting. I would have said: This building is ten times the size of the Pentagon! It is 1500 acres of unbrided consumerism under one roof. Sure; it's huge, but it's more believable at least. Ferb whistles at the door which Phineas proclaims that he can whistle at that again; which Ferb repeats the spot. Do I have to go to Danville, and knock on the door and tell Ferb that repeating spots makes you a jobber for life? So Linda takes Perry on a leash to the Puppy Sitting corner of the megastore which is basically a farm pen. We head outside in front of the megastore as Doofensmirtz parks his scooter right in front of the crosswalk. I know this because when Doofensmirtz is in front of the store; the sidewalk edge angles like a ramp. Doofen proclaims that Vanessa must prove to Doofen that she is responsible; and I cannot take Doofensmirtz seriously when he said that either. Vanessa of course points out the obvious problem with this (How can I be responsible if you won't let me? promo); which Doofensmirtz calls a conundrum as he walks into the store. At least Doofen is a heel; so he doesn't come off as a heartless jackass.
So we head into the puppy arena of doom with Perry staring at a dog with a green leash and green cap on for no reason that I can think of. He is also carrying a bone in his mouth which he drops and we discover that the bone is actually a communication device to OWCA headquarters. Major Monogram is on the screen of said milkbone as Karl is off-screen saying that he invented and Monogram tells him to shut up because he is using the bone. That made me laugh. So Perry's mission; which he must accept no matter how much of a work this all is, is to stop Doofensmirtz from buying parts at this megastore because he's using the parts for another outlandish device. So Agent P climbs on the dogs like a bridge over the wall and walks around the store. Then he notices Phineas & Ferb coming so he steals clothes from the store and goes into the fitting room. He comes out wearing purple pants, a belly white shirt and brown shoes; with star red rimmed shades on. Which is exactly the look of the blond haired white male who calls him fabulous when Perry walks out of the fitting room. So we cut to Vanessa and Doofensmirtz with a shopping cart as Doofensmirtz refuses to tell her the easy way of getting a car; because he is against taking the easy way in anything. Because then he would be shooting on OWCA and we cannot have any of that. Then Doofensmirtz notices a really big machine like book; with neon spotlights inside the glass of said box, and a tube attached to a prop device and suspended over a neon light like canister. According to the white folded card; it's called the "Pizzazium Infinionite". Vanessa asks what this means as we go B&W and have an announcer who is a big atom with a face on it. The first face is for hydrogen and the second one is called Boron which is supposed to be the fifth element; but it's phosphorus by the way. Pizzazium Infinionite is supposed to be the 104th element; but that is Rutherfordium which is man made and was discovered in 1964; not in 1894 (which means the copyright for the B&W movie is 1944; meaning Doofensmirtz subscribes to Thingy's education of "past science is always right; present science is always wrong".
Apparently; PI was found by fortune hunters and is worshipped by indians at the Applachian Trail. Something tells me this is a bad rib on the Disney version of Pocahontias and it's bad revisionist ways. More Z-Grade stuff with the hover cars in the future against really cheap plastic models of the future buildings that use the PI as fuel; despite the fact that no one knows what PI does. Or why this megastore would be selling it. The fact that they put it under a glass metal box is not a good sign in terms of what this thing is capable of. Of course Doofensmirtz is using a projection screen with a projector out of nowhere in front of the store. Doofensmirtz turns around and the box is open; and the PI rod is gone. Doofensmirtz wants to know who stole the last one and we cut to a aisleway with Buford and Baljeet who is carrying the PI rod in his left hand. Baljeet proclaims that this science prize is his now. Buford asks why he is here and Baljeet gives him the PI rod because Baljeet has superior intellect, he requires an angry wall of meat to protect his science project. In other words; Baljeet insulted Buford by giving him the rod for safe keeping. Buford sells it as if he doesn't know and accepts the deal. We cut back to Doofensmirtz and Vanessa as Doofen is not happy at all and must get it back even if it means having to yank it from some shopper. Vanessa offers to actually get the PI rod back in order to prove her efforts to be responsible. I don't know how stealing from a shopper is being responsible; but heel Vanessa would be a funny prospect. So they get into a sing song about her not hearing a no; and Doofensmirtz not saying yes; and then Doofen gives Vanessa a white communication device thingy and she got the job. Agent P was watching on wearing that silly hat with the cactus on top of it during this whole thing. So we cut to Stacey and Candace walking around the section where they keep blimps. Yes; this store sells blimps en masse. Anyhow; Candace is complaining about what to give to Jeremy as Stacey claims that Jeremy loves camping and so she can give him a pocket knife, a fishing lure, or a compound bow. If that was Phineas; it would be and and not or.
Stacey seems to have issues with kids with apples on their heads because she is cosplaying firing the bow and blowing off the kid with the apple on his head in the process of this cosplaying. Candace claims that he needs a lantern and Stacey calls this good. Well; that was pointless as we cut to in front of the escalator (which is going up) as Baljeet continues to talk about getting that science prize and his own science foundation. Geez; and I thought I had dellusions of granger. Buford is not listening as Baljeet accuses him of such. Buford claims that he's hungry and he waves his arms; causing the PI rod to fly out of his hands and freefall at least two floors below. Baljeet and Buford look down from the escalator and Baljeet proclaims that he might rethink that angry wall of meat. Apparently; the PI rod is going to land in the camping section where all the lanterns are shelved because we cut to Candace and Stacey looking at the lanterns and blowing them off. Candace wants to give him the perfect lantern which Stacey blows off because she thinks Candace believes that the perfect gift will drop out of the sky. Of course; as she sezs this, Stacey stretches her left arm out as if she is teasing to grab the PI rod; but it falls into Candace's hands instead. Stacey stands corrected as Candace calls the PI rod shiny and future like. So Stacey and Candace walk around with the thing as Candace and Stacey turn around to talk to each other. Perry then shows up and switches the PI rod with a jack-in-the-box and then bails. Candace turns around looking confused and then it opens to reveal the spring loaded clown and both girls scream. Yawn. Fabulous P runs with PI rod and collides right into a shopping cart which causes Doofensmirtz to fall on his ass. The PI rod goes flying and lands on the up escalator. Doofensmirtz is about to protest this outrage; but then notices Fabulous P and calls him as such. FP chitters and then runs off as Doofensmirtz blows him off because FP ran into him first. Well Doofensmirtz does have a point there Agent P; so knock it off!
So we cut to the waiting area as Ferb is reading a book on the brown loveseat which has customized footrests designed like stocks only they are cut like a U rather than circle shaped. Phineas is in the right loveseat with headset on and getting a vibration and enjoying it way too much to be healthy. Phineas proclaims that he knows what he wants to do everyday as the device Vanessa is carrying is beeping. Vanessa walks towards it and notices it right away; calling it easy. Ferb watches on as we see Baljeet and Buford rushing in via a shopping cart wanting that PI rod; but Ferb pushes Vanessa away as Baljeet grabs the PI rod on the rebound and the communicator device is broken as it crashes onto the ground. Vanessa gets up and dusts herself off; remembering to thank and blow off Ferb all at the same time. She also complains about the device being broken. Okay; so here is what happens next: Baljeet and Buford race down the store and go past Candace and Stacey. They notice Baljeet and Buford have the "lantern" according to them; Fab P does the marble on the floor spot to slip them up and they crash into something. The PI rod goes flying and goes into Fab P's hands (I think); as Vanessa chases the PI rod into the stock room complete with TEDDY RUXPIN SONG OF DOOM in action girl mode. Vanessa is in the stock room running while Ferb is fitting himself with a fishing hat and whistling. One of the mechanical claws grabs the rod as Vanessa grabs onto the rod and tries to get it off the claw; but no dice. Vanessa is singing this action song; which means that indeed, she was selected for her singing voice rather than her acting chops. Ferb then comes in (with leather hat and belt on) on some lifter as Vanessa and him have a stare down; and somehow; the claw releases and Vanessa has the rod; only to get the rod caught in a hook, and for her to do the Wily E. Coyote smack into the wall spot; only with a loaded box. BS&P alert: She lands on her ass on the out of nowhere rubber raft. So the rod goes flying and rolls towards a vent which conveniently blows steam to lift the rod above to another crate while Vanessa looks on not amused at all.
So we continue with Ferb on trampoline, as we see saw, untie and causes empty rods to fly out of a box; which leads nowhere. The rod bounces away with ease. Vanessa is singing; Ferb is playing electric guitar against a red James Bond-equse jackhammered background. Vanessa basically compares herself to a train using about 20 different analogies that make no sense whatsoever. Is there such a thing as an apple pie with a cherry on top? Anyhow; Vanessa does the splits inbetween the shelves which is a great spot as she tries to grab the rod; but no luck. So Ferb uses the retractable measuring tape to reel the rod in. Vanessa thanks him as this song is so vain and it really is about Vanessa. Vanessa runs out of the stock room and down the escalator; but Fab P somehow steals it from her and runs up the other escalator and jumps onto boxes. She's me and still cannot get that PI rod; as we cut to Phineas having his brains rubbed by mech arms. Phineas proclaims that he cannot feel his brain; which is pretty much everyone. Then somehow; Vanessa is shown with the PI rod again as she is in the area where they sell goldfish tanks; but the crocodile clamp on a stick counters that. Fab P does the Ocarina Of Time Silde of doom for a bit and then run out; only to collide into Doofensmirtz's cart again. The PI rod goes flying and then falls into another vent which leads downstairs to the ball pit of doom. Vanessa runs down the stairs and into the ball pit hoping no one saw her. Problem is; Ferb is already in the ball pit with a vacuum cleaner as he is sucking up something. Vanessa then hides in the balls of the ball pit as Linda walks around noticing Ferb in the ball pit. She asks if he's a bit old to be in the ball pit and Ferb admits that he is. Linda then ignores that answer and walks off stage left. Vanessa pops up and asks about Ferb's name as Ferb admits that Ferb is short for some other name. However; Ferb manages to get the rod; which Vanessa steals, thanks and runs away in that order.
So we head to the lawn mower display and Doofen is wondering about these push button start mowers. He wonders if they really work. So he starts the conveniently placed red mower with a red button and it drives away stage left. Doofensmirtz looks stunned and walks away looking like nothing had happened here. Back to Vanessa going up the escalator as the shopping cart with Baljeet and Buford wearing safety helmets which makes no sense whatsoever, but BS&P RULEZ~! They grab the rod and then we see Stacey and Candace following them wearing safety helmets and roller skates. So they had these on retrainer all this time; or did they just buy them and demonstrating them in store. This makes no sense! Then they get chased by the red lawn mower as Phineas is at the vibrating chair making his fingers look like snakes. I think worms would be more accurate in this case but whatever. So Fab P runs and stuffs himself into the tennis ball shooting machine. The machine shoots Perry out and he grabs the rod from Baljeet in the shopping cart as we cut to a shelf containing artwork as Doofensmirtz is looking at a 3D piece of art called the Mystic Eye. Doofensmirtz holds up the picture and Perry busts through the picture which Doofensmirtz can see now. The rod goes flying and goes down the up escalator. Now; here's what happens next: Candace and Stacy try to walk down, but end up repeatedly crashing at the bottom because it's an up escalator see. Idiots. Buford and Baljeet come flying down the escalator in their cart and the four of them all end up crashing, driving away. While Vanessa uses a line of hanging Chinese lanterns to swing down, landing and obtaining the Pizzazium. Candace, Baljeet, Buford and Stacey all scream and ram into a line of carts, sending Candace and Stacy flying and crashing into the greeting card section. Vanessa is about to walk away, but the lawn mower starts pulling her back by the line of lanterns tied around her waist. The mower begins shredding the lanterns and dragging Vanessa up the escalator. Vanessa panics as Ferb runs in, uses a fishing rod to swing down to her.
He pulls out every blade of a Swiss Army knife before finding the scissors (despite the fact that he has at least a dozen sharp blade in the pocket knife mind you) and cutting the line. The lawn mower finishes shredding the lanterns and bounces down the escalator towards them. Ferb uses his fishing rod to retrieve the big ass pocket knife on display above (out of nowhere of course), and stops the lawn mower with the screwdriver blade, dismantling the mower. That was a neat spot; even if it looked somewhat contrived. So we head to the greeting card section of the store (which has been destroyed by the teenage girls mind you) as Candace and Stacey pop up; and Stacey is reading a greeting card. Yes; there is such a greeting card for a spilled cheese dog with mustard all over the place. So; in Candace speak; the world is right again. I would shudder to think what Candace would do if such a thing didn't occur. So we see Ferb and Vanessa at the top of the escalator as Vanessa praises Ferb for having such a good time. Vanessa grabs the rod proclaiming that he needs to get it to his dad at once. Ferb takes the rod and flicks it into the tennis ball machine and it shoots. Doofensmirtz is waiting at the checkout counter with loads of boxes in his shopping cart; which appears to be a long line. The rod rolls past Doofensmirtz as he notices it right away. Doofensmirtz runs towards the door which has the two security alarm detectors and manages to grab the rod about three inches away from the sensor. So Fab P somehow teleport to the right alarm sensor and moves it three inches to where Doofensmirtz is standing and that triggers the alarm. Two security officers in green which look like private police officers (with nightsticks and shades) come in and grab the rod. The security officer proclaims that Doofensmirtz has to pay for it and Doofensmirtz claims that he was going to; but the officers tell him to tell it to the judge and they drag Doofensmirtz off. Doof calls for Vanessa as Doofensmirtz proclaims that they cannot do this because he has no one to curse at; implying that he never saw Perry at all.
So we head to the ED as Candace and Stacey are walking with a white piece of paper in Candace's hand as Linda comes in with a shopping cart with what looks to be 8000 pounds of potatos and no mayo tub. Linda claims that this will just be enough to tide over the bridge club as Stacey calls this a lot of potato salad. How many people are in this bridge club, 8000 + people? So we cut back to Vanessa and Ferb as Vanessa proclaims that she will have to see where they dragged Doofensmirtz; but she thanks Ferb and he gets a kiss on the cheek and it makes Ferb see that flowery red jackhammered background again. Awwww; Ferb has been struck with the POWER OF LOVE~! SMACK~! This bliss is sadly stopped as Phineas walks in shaking and slurring his speech, which prompts Ferb to just touch Phineas' nose and Phineas stops shaking. Phineas thanks Ferb and that ends the episode at 10:00 approx. This was a sloppy episode; but it was a real solid outing for Vanessa and at least it gave Vanessa a chance to shine; which she did along with Ferb. Ferb's crush on Vanessa needs to be crushed though; because he's supposed to be above such mushy stuff anyway. *** 3/4 (75%).
Isabella & The Temple Of Sap: We begin this one inside a bedroom as a female girl with the funniest case of bed head ever is sleeping in her purple covers. Did I mention that there is a butterfly winged alarm clock on the desk with the lilac desk lamps? Did I mention that there are Fireside Girl logos on the back wall. Did I mention that this female has a mirror with the Star of David; and thus this girl is actually Jewish? Did I mention that the one with bedhead is in fact Isabella in purple pjs when she gets out and shakes her head like a dog. I know it's Isabella because Pinky is in front of the bed in his dog basket and is shaking like a leaf as usual. She refers to herself in the third person and laughs at it as if she made a funny. Ummm; I didn't think it was funny because it's funnier when Relm or Molly does it. So Isabella wants Pinky to try it; but Pinky only barks. Isabella shrugs it off as not having a hard and fast rule. Then we see the Fireside Girls' sash and she talks to it like a human being because there are patches to gain. At least she's young enough to act dellusional like that without people acting like bigots to her. So we head to the smallest shack ever for a scout meeting as the Fireside Girls are inside looking stunned because Isbaella spelt Sesquipedalian. Which is a word with many syllabelles. The girls (Ginger, Holly and Katie) shrug in unison; which is enough for Milly to get the "Say A Word No One In The Room Knows" patch and is pinned on Milly by Adyson as they hear footsteps coming to the shack and Gretchen calls for defense positions as they get in defense positions and fill up water balloons inside a sink. How can this shack even have running water; let alone a sink? Anyhow; there is knocking on the door and apparently, this is equal to the correct password; because the girls stand down and open the door to reveal Isabella and Pinky. They enter as Adyson taunts her catchphrase by claiming that she wants them to earn the "Help Phineas & Ferb" patch. Isabella points out that Adyson made up the name for the Help Thy Neighbour patch as Ginger got the patch 52 times, Milly got it 53 times; but was DQ'ed on the 53rd one which doesn't amuse Isabella one bit.
Gretchen then accuses Isabella is using Fireside Girl time and patches because she wants to see Phineas. Isabella calls Phineas the love of her life; therefore, Isabella has a crush on him. And who wouldn't actually when Phineas is creative and has a way to restrain himself that makes old fart cry foul from every pour in their bodies. That is some crush she has. Adyson instantly agrees to go see what Phineas & Ferb are doing as there is a Fireside Girls logo rug on the wooden floor as Ginger complains about why they don't help Baljeet instead. Gretchen and Holly blow it off because they did it before and it wasn't worth it. What a bunch of bigots these Fireside Girls are! Isabella then asks where Pinky is because she has disappeared. So then we see Pinky behind the bushes and yes folks; Pinky has a fedora hat on. Now you would think that Pinky would be a OWCA agent. Well; she is an agent, but not for OWCA. So Pinky is shaking as he goes to the secret elevator of doom and pushes the button to reveal about seven OWCA agents inside, before closing again. Then it opens and Pinky goes inside and so does Agent P. So yes; Perry and Pinky have met as agents and as animals. Go figure. So Perry tips his hat to Pinky and Pinky hops into her headquarters in front of the computer and it looks like Isabella's room; only it's a computer room. Then we see on the monitor is a brown haired female wearing pink earrings and a pink dress with purple in the neck region as she greets Pinky (who has no Agent letter sadly). Yes folks; even in OWCA, their agents are segregated by gender. I discover that her name is Admrial Acronym and this is her second appearance on the show and first since Night of the Living Gelatin. Admrial Wanda Acronym is voiced by Jane Leeves and according to the Phineas Wikia (Why?): She was a regular on The Benny Hill Show (as one of "Hill's Angels"), putting her experience as a dancer in the famous "Christmas in Heaven" scene from Monty Python's The Meaning of Life and appeared as a tourist with a baby in the David Lee Roth music video for the song "California Girls," but struggled for several years to establish herself.
She became somewhat visible as the flighty record company employee, Blue (née Prudence Anne Bartlett), on the syndicated sitcom Throb!. She had a recurring role in the television series Murphy Brown which provided her first period of success, playing Audrey, the loud and awkward girlfriend of producer Miles Silverberg (played by Grant Shaud). Leeves also appeared as the troublesome Marla the Virgin in four risqué episodes of Seinfeld: "The Virgin", "The Contest", "The Pilot" and "The Finale - Part 2". During this period Leeves was cast as Holly for the pilot of the U.S. version of the science-fiction comedy Red Dwarf. She also had a role as a lesbian in the 1985 film To Live and Die in L.A. In 1993, she joined the cast of the television series Frasier. Leeves played the eccentric, forthright and allegedly psychic Mancunian Daphne Moon. By the start of 2000-01 season, Leeves was pregnant, and the writers incorporated her pregnancy into shows as weight gain due to her character's stress from her relationship with Niles (portrayed by David Hyde Pierce). By the conclusion of Frasier, Leeves had received an Emmy Award nomination for her role and had become the highest-paid British actress in Hollywood.[4] Appearing less frequently in cinema, Leeves lent her regular voice and her singing voice to the animated film James and the Giant Peach (1996) and acted in the film Music of the Heart (1999). In 2002, she appeared in the Broadway musical Cabaret.[5] In 2004, she hosted an episode of the British television comedy quiz show Have I Got News for You. Her 2006 show, The WB's sitcom Misconceptions, went unaired.[6] Leeves provides guest vocals in The Penguins of Madagascar as Lulu, a female chimp, with whom Phil falls in love. With Peri Gilpin, Leeves also set up the production company "Bristol Cities" (a deliberate reference to the cockney rhyming slang for 'titties'[7]).
Their latest project was in 2007 a pilot for a US remake of the British sitcom The Vicar of Dibley, with Kirstie Alley in the title role. In 2010 she was a guest star in two episodes in ABC's Desperate Housewives as Lynette and Tom's therapist, Dr. Graham. Since 2010 she has been playing a fortysomething in the new TV Land comedy, Hot in Cleveland, with Valerie Bertinelli, Wendie Malick (also her co-star in the final season of Frasier), and TV and film legend Betty White. In 2011 she was nominated Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series, with cast.[8] She began her career as a performer in Nice To See You! in 1981. Hercules The Series (Athena) is her DTVA debut. Hot In Cleveland as Joy Scroggs is her most recent credit. She has 45 acting credits, 64 Self credits and one other credit (a dancer for To Live & Die in L.A.) to her resume. Anyhow; AA shows us a picture in picture of our resident villain of the day which is a white haired old female wearing purple eyeliner, purple lipstick and a pink dress with pearl necklace. She looks like a cross between the Grinch and some other character I cannot put my finger on. She looks fimilar to me; Crullea De Vill rings a bell, but I haven't done a 101 Dalmatians the series rant yet; so I'm coming up blank here. We discover that her name is Doctor Poofenplotz and she's trying to steal hairspray from the Tri-state area. I realize that the writers are trying to create a female heel to add to the male heel Doofensmirtz; but giving her almost the same personality; while the only differences are tied to rigid gender roles, isn't exactly a good way to get her over. I just realized that Acronym is British and tells Pinky to suss it out and put the kibosh on this evil scheme. Pinky salutes her and that's that.
So we head to Danville Park and into the forest as we see Phineas, Ferb, Baljeet and Buford underneath a tree with table containing blueprints which are in Ferb's hand. All the Fireside Girls are here and Isabella is in her uniform this time so at least they haven't been sloppy on the continuity of her clothes in this episode. Yet. Isabella of course asks what Phineas is doing and then Phineas suddenly breaks kayfabe! Seriously; he breaks character by admitting that he doesn't know what the hell he is doing with these pointless projects and really wants to love Isabella as there are hearts in his eyes; and then we have a sunshine jackhammered background as Phineas is now the new Disney version of Newton. I was hoping Phineas would say "That's me! That's me!" just to complete the funny, but doesn't. So Netwon Flynn-Fletcher allows Isabella to get on his back and Phineas Newton can somehow fly and shoot rainbows from his ass which is a clear giveaway that this is Isabella dreaming; and it is as the music stops and Isabella wants to do something; which is enough for Phineas to tell her to get said stuff while they work on the desponder. All the male kids walk out and Isabella just looks like she got hoodwinked unintentionally by Phineas. You know it's a dream when Phineas turns into a centaur, just so you understand Isabella. Isabella was in Phineas Land as she wants Gretchen to explain to her what Phineas wants. Gretchen walks with her hand on Isabella's left shoulder stating that she'll explain on the way and then explains that they have to find the rare maracanut tree and extract sap from it to earn their sap collecting patch. All within one second after Gretchen told them that she would explain it on the way. This is just great. So Ginger pins a blue patch on her sash which contains an eyeball with a heart on it as Milly asks what that patch is and Ginger calls it the "A Saw A Cute Boy" patch and apparently; Ginger has a crush on Baljeet who has the colored coded schedule. Drum beat of doom as Milly counters by ripping off said patch. Jealous much there Milly?
So we head to a tower which is basically a big ass tall pole with a glass globe with green rings around it. We discover that this is Poofenplotz's base of operations because the jingle for this is "Poofenplotz Evil Is Crazy!" as we finally see that white haired Cruella DeVil wannabe brush her hair. Oh my; this woman is evil and...I just remembered; she was the kindergarden teacher with the neckbrace in Recess. That's why she looked familiar! Esmeralda Poofenplotz is voiced by Amanada Plummer and according to IMDB: Amanda Plummer last appeared as Alma in Tennessee Williams's "Summer and Smoke" with Kevin Anderson, directed by Michael Wilson. At the Stratford Theater in Ontario, she was Joan of Arc in an original adaptation of "The Lark" by Jean Anouilh, directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg. She appeared as Polly in "The Gnadiges Fraulein" with Elizabeth Ashley, and as Kyra in the world premiere of "One Exception", both by by Tennessee Williams, at the Hartford Stage. On Broadway: "A Taste of Honey" as Jo (nominated for a Tony Award, and Drama Desk Award, and received the Outer Critics Circle, and Theatre World Awards); as Agnes in "Agnes of God" with Geraldine Page (Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle, and Boston Critics Awards); as Eliza in "Pygmalion" with Peter O'Toole and John Mills (Tony Award nomination); as Laura in "The Glass Menagerie" with Jessica Tandy; as Dolly in "You Never Can Tell" by George Bernard Shaw. Among her off-Broadway shows are "A Lie of the Mind" as Beth, directed and written by Sam Shepard with Harvey Keitel, Aidan Quinn and Geraldine Page, "Killer Joe" by Tracy Letts, "The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Any More" by Tennessee Williams, and "A Taste of Honey" with Valerie French. In England, at the Guilford Theatre she appeared as Eliza Doolittle in "Pygmalion," and at the Royal Court Theatre did "This Is a Chair", directed by Stephen Daldry and written by Carol Churchill.
Her regional work includes Juliet in "Romeo & Juliet" (Hollywood Dramalogue Award) and Sonya in "Uncle Vanya," Frankie in "A Member of the Wedding," "Two Rooms," and "The Wake of Jamey Foster" by Beth Henley. Amanda's film work includes Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994) (American Comedy Award nomination), Terry Gilliam's The Fisher King (1991) (BAFTA nomination), Michael Winterbottom's Butterfly Kiss (1995), Peter Greenaway's 8 ½ Women (1999)' Larry Clark's Ken Park (2002), Wim Wenders' The Million Dollar Hotel (2000), Sidney Lumet's Daniel (1983), Lamont Johnson's Cattle Annie and Little Britches (1981), and Isabel Coixet's My Life Without Me (2003), and Needful Things (1993) (Saturn Award). In television she is the recipient of three Emmy Awards, one Emmy nomination, a Cable Ace Award, and a Golden Globe nomination. In 1988 she was honored with the Anti-Defamation League Award for Woman of Achievement. She will be appearing as Lucky in the filmed workshop, "Core Sample - Goli Otok" with Vanessa Redgrave and Lynn Redgrave, directed by Lenka Udovicki, the artistic director of The Ulysses Theater on Brijuni, Croatia, and also in Lucky McKee's film Red (2008). She began her career in Cattle Annie & Little Britches as Annie in 1981. Phineas & Ferb is her DTVA debut and only appearance. Strangely In Love (Sister Sarah) and Honeyglue (Alice) are her most recent credits. She has 97 acting credits, 16 Self credits and one writing credit (Inconceivable) to her resume. Did I mention that the brush is yellow with purple cursory writing PP on it? She also has a banana yellow mirror with a purple rose on the back of it. She's singing that you need to do your best when you are very evil; because evil loses everytime. And really; who can argue? Suddenly Pink appears tied upside down by a rope around her hind leg instantly; which Poofen turns around and notices her right away as a chihuahua; which means Pinky was the late Taco Bell spokesdog for the Chalopa.
So Poofen blows off Pinky for shaking and tries to stop her from shaking; but that fails and goes nowhere. So Poofen decides to go on and on about taking over the world; but she cannot until she is drop-dead beautiful. In other words; she wants to kill them by her own looks literally. Why not just call Medusa for tips? That usually kills people; although that is way risky for anyone to take. So apparently; she would be beautiful but she ran out of hairspray. And then we HIT THE FLASHBACK and into some store as Poofen is talking to a female store clerk asking if she can help Poofen. Poofen asks where they moved the Stiff Beauty hairspray and the store clerk tells her that it's discontinued. Poofen wants to know if that means that they will no longer sell it; and the store clerk points out that this is what discontinued means. So we discover that it wasn't selling because only amusement clowns were wearing it and thus once the abandoned amusement park was shut down; there was no use selling it. Both girls stare at each other with the musak running in the background and then Poofen goes nuts; brings out her feminine laser gun and zaps the store clerk. Okay guys; when you have the girl disappear and there is ashes and soot on the ground in front of her; you are implying that she burned to ashes and died. So what really happens: The store clerk reappears inside someone's bloodstream (I'm guessing that it's Candace's) and she blows off the worthlessness of mininum wage. She got discontinued indeed as we head back to reality (no, not really) as Poofen reveals that she's going to the amusement park to get back the only supply of Stiff Beauty left in the world. She has what she calls the Me-Mobile; which is basically a spider leg mobile walker with her fugly mug on it as the body. Oh sure; this will _never_ attract attention, no siree! So the Me-Mobile walks out of the office on ground level. Then a mech arm comes out with Pinky upside down still; and is tossed into the trash and the lid is sealed shut. Pinky struggles and shakes as she pounces on the lid for a while with no luck. Poofenplotz makes Doofensmirtz look high class in comparison by the way.
So we head back to Gretchen reading from her Fireside Girls book (the one that puts Mr. Woodchuck to shame) which is focused on dendrology (the study of wooden plants by the way) as Milly is hanging from a rope over a cliff as she points out that the maracanut tree is indigenous to mountain valley microclimates. Which indicates that we are in the right direction as she is getting hauled up by Adyson who is doing all the climbing. So all the Fireside Girls get to the top and we then see a darked skin male with lots of grey hair, grey mustache and full beard in a full white robe with glasses and a oriental hat. I should also point out that he is blowing on a didgeridoo; as Isabella asks the hippie (earth to hippie she calls him) and then mimicks the sound of the didgeridoo which is cute and enough for the hippie to respond. He is our Guru and Guru is voiced by Judd Nelson and according to IMDB: Born in Portland, Maine to attorney Leonard Nelson and his wife, Merle Nelson, (attorney and state assemblywoman), Judd attended St. Paul's preparatory school in Concord, New Hampshire before majoring in philosophy at the prestigious Haverford College in Pennsylvania. The acting bug bit when he went to watch a friend's audition and was obliged to audition in order to stay. He won the role. After graduation, Judd headed for New York City and the Stella Adler Conservatory where he was believable in the role as the "street-smart Eddie Keaton" in the comedy Making the Grade (1984). Judd's next film role was as the stodgy ROTCer, Phil Hicks, in the ensemble comedy Fandango (1985). Important and diverse roles in the brat-pack films The Breakfast Club (1985) and St. Elmo's Fire (1985) quickly followed. With his privileged upbringing, Judd could have brought the right degree of preppy-smarmyness, (ala James Spader), to any number of vapid roles, but his intense stare and dark smoldering looks gave him a hint of danger which added to his credibility in films like the Billionaire Boys Club (1987), From the Hip (1987) and New Jack City (1991).
He began his career as Johnny in Rock'N'Roll Hotel in 1983. Phineas & Ferb is his DTVA debut and only appearance. Road To The Open (Anger Management Therapist), Bigfoot Wars (Dr. Leonard Evans) and Haunting Of The Innocent (Mr. Franklin) are his most recent credits. He has 99 acting credits, 27 Self credits, two writing credits (Every Breath, The Spin Room: Super Tuesday), and one production credit (White Rush) to his resume. Apparently; Isabella haromized him which draws ooo's from the girls. Isabella is praying as she asks if he knows where the maracanut tree might be located. This tree is actually a real tree and has real nuts; but it's in Puerto Rico; not in the tri-state area. So Guru steps aside as we see that there was a whole forest of these trees; but now only their trunks are shown because it was clear cutted to create hairspray as he has a tear in his eye. What bastards these hairspray freaks are?! However; there is one lone tree left and we pan up to see that it's the old abandoned Old Abandoned Amusement Park on the next hill about 500 feet above the girls. Isabella is wondering about why they use old abandoned twice and even Guru is repeating himself. I just realized about that 1.7 P&F did last week was nothing compared to the 1.0, 1.3 and 1.7 did in the second season of this show. Why did I bring it up? Ummmm; no reason. So Guru calls Isabella the flower of wisdom and gives her a gift and puts it in her hand as we discover that it's a key with a mickey mouse peace symbol keychain. Isabella and company are confused as Guru disappears in a puff of smoke; only half of the girls notice that Guru is on the far left side. He's busted; he waves to the girls and then walks off. That was a segment that went far too long. So let's head on the street with Candace driving Linda's car with Linda in the passenger seat. She doesn't see the trash cans of course which are parked right in the middle of the street (so Candace shouldn't be penalized for Poofenplotz's heelish antics) and they tumble like dominoes as Pinky comes out and puts on a jetpack and rockets away. And that's all for Linda and Candace's appearance. That was lame.
So we head back with the Fireside Girls as Isabella arrives at the old abandoned amusement park which she finally gets the joke and looks proud. Pfft; whatever. So the Fireside Girls search the place while climbing on ropes on rollercoasters and going through the trash (like Gretchen is); or complaining about the purple dragon ride smelling like feet (Holly). No tree is found as one of the Fireside Girls was out of the trailer which was used by the clowns and filled with cheap hairspray. Isabella decides to look around and finally sees a break in the case as the girls stop right in front of the tattered remains of The Temple Of Sap. It's basically a tall ride as Isabella notices the placard near the ride and it shows information on the maracanut tree. And here's what the placard reads according to Isabella:
Isabella: "Stickiness is the most underrated of all the -nesses, and of all the stickinesses, the sap of the maracanut tree is the sticky-messiest. This Temple of Sap attraction is a monument to the rare and beautiful maracanut tree, the world's greatest stickerizer."
I wonder if this is the sap Kit Cloudkicker uses to stick on his air foil and sky surf without falling off the board? Isabella proclaims that this is their ticket as we see on top a planted maracanut tree on top of the ride. Holly goes over and punches the fake mountain side as the whole thing starts to crumble and expose it's insides. One of the tracks is rotted so much that Adyson has to yell at Holly to get out of the way and she backs up which allows the track to crash onto the ground without killing her. Adyson proclaims that the whole thing will fall and thus there is no way to get that damn tree. But Isabella blows it off because they are Fireside Girls Troop # 46321 and they never give up. Yeah; because if they did, then feminist will hate that and rightfully so. Plus; the plot wouldn't advance. Now the speech would have been great; but now they are singing the Fireside Girls chant and saluting each other. Behind an American Flag which apparently only has 11 states in the union now. I guess there are 11 tri-state areas; but that still needs at least 33 states. So they hook elbows and appearing patches on sashes as this song is not terribly long; which was the best part of this song. It was a fine song; but Isabella could have done the speech after this song, but did it before, so it came off as pointless. The girls are roughed up too from the search as Isabella wants to do this for Phineas. YAY! And Ferb! YAY! Ginger wants to do it for Baljeet; so Milly rips off the exact same patch she ripped off of Ginger's sash earlier. Wait; so Ginger pinned another one? That makes no sense. Isabella, Adyson and Gretchen watch on as Isabella admits that the Guru never told them how to get the tree. Maybe because you never...ummmm...ASKED HIM?! So Isabella brings out the HIPPIE KEY OF DOOM and pushes onto the peace symbol as I discover that there is a broken down rollercoaster containing the Mystery Machine on it. Which is called the Flower Power Van as Jinkies, groovy and Dy-no-mite are said complete with SWAT music playing in the background. Ooookkkkaaayyyyyy.
So we see Pinky on her jetpack as she crashes into the cheekbone side of the Me-Mobile and then lands inside the cockpit shaking. Pinky needs to deal with that tick, because it's annoying me. So Poofen turns around proclaiming that she is going to teach Pinky some manners and pushes a button to reveal an mech arm with a newspaper as it whacks Pinky in the head with it; and half of the shots don't even make contact. Bad, bad dog logic there Poofen. So Pinky stops selling and whacks the arm in response; then brings out the harpoon rope gun as apparently Poofenplotz eats newspaper. HAHA! Pinky uses the harpoon gun to connect to the building with a red line and that seems to stop the Me-Mobile. Cut to on top of the broken down rollercoaster as Isabella is repairing the engine on the Flower Power Van which is in the back for no reason. Sadly; there is no engine, but Isabella thinks gravity will win out anyway. So everyone gets in as we size up the shots between the coaster and the tree. Isabella asks if they are ready to get their "Disregard for Life and Limb" patch. I swear that 90% of these patch names are made up on the spot. The girls all use the exact same sound vocals for the "Aye-Aye Captain" promo from Spongebob Squarepants. Seriously; I compared the opening and this; and I clearly couldn't tell the difference. So they buckle up (so they can be safe; which is laughable to say the least) as Isabella is the driver and they all lean forward. The truck goes down the rollercoaster; and then goes off the ramp into the air. The van continues to climb as Gretchen asks how to get the damn tree. Isabella has that look of "I didn't think all the way through on this Krackpotkin Plan"; but then recoils and orders them to use their sashes to create a long bungie cord to tie around Isabella's waist. Isabella tells Gretchen to take over the controls; which Gretchen asks what good would that do and Isabella tells her to trust her. So Isabella climbs out and gets onto the roof of the van.
Isabella is about three shades away from being Kit Cloudkicker at this point as she does a swan dive; she grabs the tree with ease and then somersaults all the way underneath the van and right into the back of the van bouncing off the back seats with Milly and Katie. Awwwww! That was so Kit Cloudkicker of you Isabella; you just made this episode proud. So then Gretchen panics after Isabella comments on how cute the tree is (and Katie and Milly go all aww on us); and they are crashing towards a building. Isabella proclaims that they aren't dead yet as she tells the girls to lean and they all lean to the left at the same time despite Isabella not telling them which direction to lean. So the van spirals down and cuts the line containing the Me-Mobile causing the Me-Mobile to somersault away stage right; and somehow, the spiraling managed to keep the van upright and lands perfectly onto the pavement without causing any damage whatsoever. The girls cheer in unison over this as the Me-Mobile tumbles into the amusement park about a hundred times before spitting out Poofenplotz as she tumbles right into the clown dressing room and manages to take some really decent bumps along the way. So we cut back to the van and into the back as Holly and Katie tap the small tree and put the green sap into a test tube. It just occured to me that this episode is a side story to Bubble Boy. So who sezs this show doesn't have continuity or doesn't care about backstories on what goes on inbetween scenes? So the sap has been tapped as the Flower Power Van crashes into the stone wall of Danville Park and we see the girls all tumble out of the van and lands right in front of Phineas with his clipboard. Isabella gives him the test tube of green sap as Phineas is grateful and yes Phineas turns into a centuar (and Isabella does the exact same spot as before with Newton Phineas) which is a tell tale sign that Isabella is in Phineas World. This world better be real in storyline because if it isn't; I'll be so disappointed. Gretchen shakes Isabella to stop that one. Oh sod off Gretchen and let Isabella enjoy the buzz! She earned it after this episode.
Gretchen informs Isabella that Phineas said thanks and Isabella takes it as him loving her; and Gretchen claims that it is as she pushes Isabella stage left. So we head back into the clown locker room with Poofenplotz face down on the floor and we see dozens and dozens of aerosal can of Stiff Beauty on the ground; and they are green/blue with cursary writing like her hairbrush and have white tops on them. So Poofen gets up and proclaims victory as she has a lifetime supply of Stiff Beauty and then sings. Here's a clue future heels: Do not sing inside an old abandoned amusement park because the temple of sap splits into two and the right half falls right on top of the clown locker room destroying the roof and it nails the cans of SB; which spray all over Poofenplotz. Poofen is stiffer than 90% of those crappy wrestlers out there as Poofen does a neat job of selling it claiming that she's stiff; but she's beautiful. Then her hair springs and makes her fugly again as she curses Pinky which in stiff mode is really funny. Yeah; that is a true heel because she cursed the character that had absolutely nothing to do with the finish. Better yet; it was Poofenplotz's singing that destroyed her plans to become beautiful because Poofenplotz defeated Pinky because Pinky couldn't stop her from getting the Stiff Beauty hairspray. So yeah; they buried Pinky in one blow as an agent. Lovely! When it comes to evil; rigid gender role men still win the day. This ends the episode at 10:40 approx since the ED is the Fireside Girls theme song from earlier. This was really great; although some of the segments went too long; and Pinky got buried on her first known assignment since Poofen won. Poofen is slightly better than Doofensmirtz in terms of getting what she wants; but that makes her more generic than anything else. Isabella on the other hand; is the female Kit Cloudkicker now and I hope she got more episodes as a focus character in this series because she rocks. Phineas as a centaur is also hilarious in it's own way too. Call it **** 1/2 (90%).
THE REVIEW LINE
Really good selection of shorts this time around. Vanessasary Roughness was actually a great change of pace as they gave Vanessa and Ferb some screen time together; although I'm not thrilled about the Ferb/Vanessa crush because of the age differences. I did like the finish with Ferb destroying the lawn mower with a big ass swiss knife. There were some impressive spots in the show; mostly dealing with Ferb and Vanessa in the singing segment; but most of this was a solid, but sloppy affair as there is no way that megastore is the size of Kansas. There are about four or five promos where a story editor should have noticed and corrected before this aired. Most so the "square acres" thing; what's up with that? Isabella & The Temple Of Sap was great. I love the Fireside Girls and Isabella when she gets focus episode. Sadly; I couldn't give this episode a perfect score because of a few notable points: (1) The Guru segment went far too long and the old abandoned twice thing didn't catch with me as a joke. (2) Pinky got buried in her first known assignment as a OWCA agent because she had nothing to do with Poofen's defeat at all; and was made to look bad since Poofenplotz won. (3) Poofenplotz is too much of a Cruella DeVil/Grinch character to be anything more than a generic old woman heel with white hair. Sure; her spider with her face on top was cocky and all; but she doesn't have the chrisma Doofensmirtz has to make me want to like her as a heel. And she lost because she sings badly; which is a dumb way to lose on your first appearance. At least she has the "blame everyone but youself" down to a science, so she does have some chops. Overall; I was happy with both episodes and Phineas Land better be real in storyline because if it isn't, everyone is going to hate Swampy & Pommie for wasting Phineas The Centaur. So next up is Cheer Up Candace and Robot Rodeo which means more season two episodes to come! So....
Thumbs in the middle for Vanessasary Roughness and thumbs up for Isabella & The Temple of Sap and I'll see you all next time.