By Heather Stromski
As a child, I remember watching the typical cartoons on Saturday morning. X-Men, Spiderman, EEEK! Real Monsters!, The Tick, so on and so forth. They were entertaining. My husband and I enjoy watching the old cartoons on Netflix now, and introducing them to our brood. However, what I remember has nothing on what’s available today. I’m talking about one children’s show in particular. It’s ‘Phineas and Ferb’, part of Disney’s animated lineup and available on their ‘Disney XD’ channel.
As a child, I remember watching the typical cartoons on Saturday morning. X-Men, Spiderman, EEEK! Real Monsters!, The Tick, so on and so forth. They were entertaining. My husband and I enjoy watching the old cartoons on Netflix now, and introducing them to our brood. However, what I remember has nothing on what’s available today. I’m talking about one children’s show in particular. It’s ‘Phineas and Ferb’, part of Disney’s animated lineup and available on their ‘Disney XD’ channel.
We’ve experienced some amazing things from Disney, but I never would have expected this stroke of child-appealing mastery. It’s no secret that education in America is going down the tubes. There’s a focus on math and science that I don’t remember from my school days, with the sheer purpose of pushing these kids out into related fields, with little to no attempt to foster creativity and imagination. ‘Phineas and Ferb’ is by no means an educational children’s show in the traditional sense, but I believe that it teaches children something infinitely more important than the multiplication tables or the theory of gravity – because those are concepts that can be drilled into the mind of any receptive being. There is a focus on always reaching past what can be seen, what is set in stone, and creating something extraordinary out of the ordinary – which, to me, is what gives a ‘geek’ their essence – the lack of fear to ask questions and see past the mundane into the fantastic.
The half-hour cartoon focuses on the titular characters, stepbrothers who share a fond love of creating something from nothing, and a keen dislike of being bored. The fact that it is only half an hour is amazing, when you consider how much is packed into each episode. From the moment that Phineas launches into his now-popular catch phrase – ‘Ferb, I know what we’re going to do today!’ – we are catapulted into two separate storylines that prove, by the end, to be cleverly entwined. Running alongside Phineas and Ferb’s endeavors to make their lives, and the lives of their friends, less boring is the spy adventures of their mild-mannered pet Perry, a green, cross-eyed platypus who becomes a regular Bond with a beaver tail and adorable fedora the second everyone is out of eyesight, doing battle on a daily basis with his nemesis, Doctor Doofenshmirtz.
The half-hour cartoon focuses on the titular characters, stepbrothers who share a fond love of creating something from nothing, and a keen dislike of being bored. The fact that it is only half an hour is amazing, when you consider how much is packed into each episode. From the moment that Phineas launches into his now-popular catch phrase – ‘Ferb, I know what we’re going to do today!’ – we are catapulted into two separate storylines that prove, by the end, to be cleverly entwined. Running alongside Phineas and Ferb’s endeavors to make their lives, and the lives of their friends, less boring is the spy adventures of their mild-mannered pet Perry, a green, cross-eyed platypus who becomes a regular Bond with a beaver tail and adorable fedora the second everyone is out of eyesight, doing battle on a daily basis with his nemesis, Doctor Doofenshmirtz.
What amazes me about this show is how it portrays children that would typically be classified as ‘geeks’, and makes them cool at the same time. Phineas and Ferb are unapologetic in their desire to learn and experiment and explore, and are still well-liked, with their adventures being eagerly anticipated by almost everyone in the ‘Tri-State Area’. There are so many shows on these days for children that I refuse to have on in my house – ‘Spongebob Squarepants’ is one of them – and I don’t typically hold with allowing children to watch a lot of television, but this is a show that I don’t mind my children watching for one reason: it never fails, once it’s over, to have them talking about ‘what if’. The over-the-top experiments by the stepbrothers are admittedly a little out of reach, but smaller-scale adventures are always possible. It gets them interested in not only understanding the science of things, but how they can twist it, make it their own and make it something incredible.
At its core, ‘Phineas and Ferb’ is a fun little show that can be as fun for parents to watch as it is for their children. It is alert, entertaining, quick-paced, and engaging. The fun title characters make it clear that being eager to learn, discover, and explore is never a bad thing, and can lead to the most amazing adventures, at the same time that it teaches life lessons such as compromise, perseverance, and friendship. This show is one that this ‘geekmum’ is proud to show to her children at any time.
At its core, ‘Phineas and Ferb’ is a fun little show that can be as fun for parents to watch as it is for their children. It is alert, entertaining, quick-paced, and engaging. The fun title characters make it clear that being eager to learn, discover, and explore is never a bad thing, and can lead to the most amazing adventures, at the same time that it teaches life lessons such as compromise, perseverance, and friendship. This show is one that this ‘geekmum’ is proud to show to her children at any time.
RSS Feed
