Phineas and Ferb—The Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension

Like Rocky & Bullwinkle, Animaniacs, and SpongeBob SquarePants, the Disney Channel's Phineas and Ferb offers just the right combination of silly for kids and smart for adults—which could explain the dizzying array of verbal and visual gags in this original feature-length movie spin-off from the popular series, including references to Georgia O'Keeffe, Laurel and Hardy's The Music Box, and Lorenzo Lamas, to name just a few. The dialogue is clever (“I'm a woman of science,” one character states, “at least that's what my horoscope says”) and slyly self-referential, as when the incompetent evil scientist Dr. Doofenshmirtz notes, “I'm usually thwarted by now,” after one of his schemes unexpectedly proceeds. Resourceful stepbrothers Phineas and Ferb find themselves unwittingly helping the bad doctor to complete his “Otherdimensionator,” which puts them face-to-face with their alternate selves in a parallel TriState Area where a doppelganger Dr. D. rules. More earth-shattering is the pair's startling and long-overdue discovery that their chattering pet platypus, Perry, is actually a secret agent. A good introduction to P&F for the uninitiated and sure to be popular with fans, DVD extras include deleted scenes, a bonus episode, a music video, an exclusive song, and a sing-along “Perry-oke” feature. Recommended. Aud: P. (D. Liebenson)