"Phineas and Ferb" Raging Bully/Lights, Candace, Action! (TV Episode 2008) ⭐ 7.9 | Animation, Short, Action (original) (raw)

Once again, the premises for both "Raging Bully" and "Lights, Candace, Action" were great. Structurally they follow a formula that 'Phineas and Ferb' was heavily reliant upon, but to me because the settings and writing did have enough variety the formula didn't feel repetitive, especially early on. Anybody who has been in a similar situation ever to Phineas in "Raging Bully" will relate and anything centered around making films is always fun.

Found once again "Raging Bully" and "Lights, Candace, Action" to be great. And equally so rather than being a case of one being better than the other. They are as funny and often hilarious at their best as each other, both make the most of their premises, the Doofenschmirtz and Perry subplots are hugely entertaining in both and they are inspired enough. Do have a slight preference for the story in "Lights, Candace, Action" but "Raging Bully" also has that truly great song.

Like some other 'Phineas and Ferb' episodes, some of the pacing is a little too manic where transitions from one gag to the next could have occasionally done with more breathing space.

So much is great though in both episodes. The animation is still wonderfully vibrant and the attention to detail in particularly "Lights, Candace, Action" for the backgrounds is beautifully done. The music is dynamic with the action and the theme song is insanely catchy with very clever and quotable lyrics that anybody still in school fishing for how to spend their vacation will relate to. "He's a Bully" also is one of the best songs to ever feature on 'Phineas and Ferb'.

Writing is witty and is accessible for children and adults alike, nothing is simplistic here while still being easy to understand. There are plenty of gags here and neither of them miss. The whole "same thing tomorrow?" exchange, Ferb shines in this part, is priceless. The stories are delivered with great energy and affection. The wrestling preparation and movie making premises are made the most of, "Lights, Candace, Action" doing particularly well, and both Doofenschmirtz and Perry subplots are hugely entertaining. Absolutely love Doofenschmirtz's plan to speed up the aging process, but not for an as evil cause this time, and the episode is worth seeing for him trying to age Perry alone.

Still love the characters, especially Perry. Candace and Buford shine too as does all the character chemistry, Doofenschmirtz and Perry are so much fun together. The voice acting is very well done. Interesting to hear Evander Holyfield voicing himself.

Concluding, great. 9/10