Dude, We're Getting The Band Back Together
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"Dude, We're Getting the Band Back Together" is the 14th episode of the American
animated television series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...
''
Phineas and Ferb ''Phineas and Ferb'' is an American animated series, animated Musical film, musical-television comedy, comedy television series created by Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh for Disney Channel and Disney XD. The series originally aired on t ...
''. It originally aired on
Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...
on March 8, 2008, and later aired on
Toon Disney Toon Disney was an American multinational pay television channel owned by Disney Branded Television, a subsidiary of Disney-ABC Television Group. The channel's target audience was children aged 7–11, and older children and adolescents aged 8â ...
on October 2, 2008 in the United States. It was also the first program to premiere on Disney XD right after the Toon Disney shutdown on February 13, 2009 at midnight. The plot concerns an attempt by Phineas Flynn and Ferb Fletcher to reform the band Love Händel for their parents' wedding anniversary. The story was written by Bobby Gaylor and Martin Olson, and storyboarded by Chris Headrick and Chong Lee. It was directed by series co-creator Dan Povenmire. The episode's central characters, the members of Love Händel, are
parodies A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satirical or ironic imitation. Often its subject is an original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, etc), but a parody can als ...
of three of the production staff, Gaylor, Povenmire, and
Jeff "Swampy" Marsh Jeffrey Kent "Swampy" Marsh (; born December 9, 1960) is an American animator, voice actor, writer, director, and producer. With Dan Povenmire, Marsh is the co-creator and co-star of the Disney Channel animated series ''Phineas and Ferb'' and ...
. Jaret Reddick,
Carlos Alazraqui Carlos Jaime Alazraqui (born July 20, 1962) is an American actor. His voice acting roles include the original voice of Spyro from '' Spyro the Dragon'', the Taco Bell chihuahua in the Taco Bell commercials, Rocko on ''Rocko's Modern Life'', D ...
, and
Steve Zahn Steven James Zahn ( ; born November 13, 1967) is an American actor. In film, Zahn is best known for his lead roles in '' That Thing You Do!'' (1996), '' Happy, Texas'' (1999), '' Joy Ride'' (2001), ''National Security'' (2003), '' A Perfect Geta ...
guest starred as Love Händel members Danny, Bobbi Fabulous and Sherman/Swampy, respectively. "Dude, We're Getting the Band Back Together" was well received and is considered a fan favorite. It has been referred to by the ''Phineas and Ferb'' co-creators as one of their favorite episodes in several different interviews. The episode garnered a
Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...
nomination for the song "Ain't Got Rhythm" in the category "Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics."


Plot

Phineas and Ferb's parents, Linda and Lawrence, are arguing over something Lawrence has forgotten. Linda goes out alone for the afternoon, leaving Lawrence confused; then Candace informs him that today is his wedding anniversary. Lawrence goes to the garage to search for a gift and discovers an old album by Love Händel: he explains to the children that he and Linda shared their first kiss at the band's farewell concert. Lawrence despairs of recapturing the moment, but Candace, Phineas, and Ferb watch a '' Where Are They Now?''-type special about Love Händel, and decide to reform the band. Candace tries to keep Linda away from the house while Phineas and Ferb are looking for the members of the band. Meanwhile,
Perry Perry or pear cider is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, traditionally in England (particularly Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire), parts of South Wales, France (especially Normandy and Anjou), Canada, Austral ...
breaks into Dr. Doofenshmirtz's hideout, only to discover that he is only putting a birthday party for his 16-year-old daughter Vanessa. Doofenshmirtz explains that he has been trying to give out the best birthday parties for her, but failed for some reasons, as she felt so extremely unhappy about her birthdays all her life (this was evident of several birthday photos that Doofenshmirtz shows to Perry in his wallet). Seeing this, Perry agrees to set aside his rivalry and help Doofenshmirtz prepare for the party. Phineas and Ferb set out to convince the members of Love Händel— lead singer Danny,
bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low br ...
Bobbi Fabulous, and
drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...
Swampy (whose real name is Sherman)—to reform. Danny alone agrees immediately, with a song; Bobbi and Swampy needed convincing (as Danny wished them luck on it), through song as well. At the same time, Isabella and the Fireside Girls are starting the stage building. Lawrence, at the same time, tries to cater a small dinner and hires a
singing telegram A singing telegram is a message delivered by an artist in a musical form. Singing telegrams are historically linked to normal telegrams, but tend to be humorous. Sometimes, the artist is in costume or formal clothing. Western Union, the Americ ...
; unfortunately, the dinner catches fire, and Lawrence's hastily planned evening goes up in smoke. Phineas and Ferb arrive and assure Lawrence that all is well, explaining that the band has agreed to reform. Meanwhile, Candace continues keeping Linda away from the house by taking her to the mall to try on some dresses. Doofenshmirtz, back at his lair, ties Perry to a giant
firecracker A firecracker (cracker, noise maker, banger) is a small explosive device primarily designed to produce a large amount of noise, especially in the form of a loud bang, usually for celebration or entertainment; any visual effect is incidental to ...
rocket, explaining that he will end the party with fireworks and explode Perry at the same time. When Vanessa arrives, however, she hates the "girly" theme Doofenshmirtz has chosen and sits down to mope at a table, fearing that this would embarrass her in front of her arriving goth friends. At Phineas and Ferb's house, Love Händel's rehearsal descends into infighting; sure that no one will want to hear them anymore, the band are again on the verging of breaking up when they hear the roar of the crowd. Meanwhile, Doofenshmirtz mopes of failing another attempt of giving Vanessa a good party, so he decides to ignite Perry's rocket to cheer himself up, but Perry frees himself and a fight ensues, during which Doofenshmirtz becomes tied to the rocket by accident instead. At the same moment, the band begins to play; Candace and Linda arrive home. Linda reunites with her husband, and eventually kiss, thanks to some motivation from Ferb, who yells to Lawrence to kiss her. The explosion as Doofenshmirtz's firecracker rocket launches leaves the lair filthy and partly destroyed; the creepy look thrills Vanessa's arriving goth friends (including her boyfriend Johnny), who find it to be cool. Touched by this, Vanessa happily thanks both her father for getting one birthday party right for her and Perry for helping her father out. As the rocket ascends, Doofenshmirtz is himself cursing Perry, as usual, but pauses to notice Love Handel singing below. The band finish their song just as Doofenshmirtz's rocket explodes with a heart-shaped flare. The episode ends with Love Handel singing "Music Makes Us Better" and with everyone (including Doofenshmirtz, who has survived the explosion unscathed) dancing during the end credits.


Production

"Dude, We're Getting the Band Back Together" was written by Bobby Gaylor and Martin Olson, with storyboards by Chris Headrick and Chong Lee. Series co-creator Dan Povenmire directed the episode. Povenmire and Headrick had previously collaborated on a
direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, television series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strat ...
Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American media franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The franchise began as a series of animated short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, alongside its spin-off series ''Merrie Melodies'', during t ...
short entitled '' Hare and Loathing in Las Vegas.'' Each member of Love Händel was inspired by a member of the production team, who had previously been musicians themselves. Danny was named after and based on Povenmire, Bobbi Fabulous on Gaylor, and Swampy on co-creator
Jeff "Swampy" Marsh Jeffrey Kent "Swampy" Marsh (; born December 9, 1960) is an American animator, voice actor, writer, director, and producer. With Dan Povenmire, Marsh is the co-creator and co-star of the Disney Channel animated series ''Phineas and Ferb'' and ...
. Povenmire and Marsh each played in different bands in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
for over a decade. Gaylor was a
spoken word Spoken word is an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a 20th-century continuation of an oral tradition, ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetic ...
performer who played pop and
rock music Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdo ...
; he recorded an album titled ''Fuzzatronic Dreams.'' As well as the show's regular voice actor cast members, "Dude, We're Getting the Band Back Together" featured guest stars in the roles of the three band members. Jaret Reddick (the leader of the
Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...
-nominated band
Bowling for Soup Bowling for Soup is an American rock band formed in Wichita Falls, Texas, in 1994. The band consists of Jaret Reddick (lead vocals, guitar), Gary Wiseman (drums, percussion), and Rob Felicetti (bass, backing vocals, acoustic guitar). The band i ...
, who also perform the show's Emmy-nominated
theme song Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...
),
Carlos Alazraqui Carlos Jaime Alazraqui (born July 20, 1962) is an American actor. His voice acting roles include the original voice of Spyro from '' Spyro the Dragon'', the Taco Bell chihuahua in the Taco Bell commercials, Rocko on ''Rocko's Modern Life'', D ...
, and
Steve Zahn Steven James Zahn ( ; born November 13, 1967) is an American actor. In film, Zahn is best known for his lead roles in '' That Thing You Do!'' (1996), '' Happy, Texas'' (1999), '' Joy Ride'' (2001), ''National Security'' (2003), '' A Perfect Geta ...
portrayed each of the bandmates (Reddick as Danny, Alazraqui as Bobbi and Zahn as Swampy respectively).


Reception

The episode received critical acclaim from critics and fans. ''
Newsarama ''Newsarama'' is an American website that publishes news, interviews, and essays about the American comic book industry. It is owned by Future US. In June 2020, Newsarama was merged with the website ''GamesRadar+'', also owned by Future US. Hi ...
'' reporter Steve Fritz called the episode a fan favorite. Fritz praised it for demonstrating "incredible ways to play within the walls of he show's/nowiki> formula, constantly coming up with refreshingly different plot lines." The episode was also popular among the production staff: Povenmire named it as his and Marsh's favorite, citing the quality of the songs, the "sort of touching" ending, and the "really good feel" of the story. In April 2009, Marsh cited " Rollercoaster" as his favorite, tying "Dude, We're Getting the Band Back Together" in second place with "The Chronicles of Meap". One of the episode's songs, "Ain't Got Rhythm", was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in the category "Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics" later in 2008. The nomination credited Danny Jacob, Marsh, Povenmire, Olson, and Robert Hughes for the song. This was the series' second Emmy nomination for songwriting.


Further appearances

Love Händel made a
cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...
in the season two episode "Thaddeus and Thor". In this episode, Doofenshmirtz sings about his childhood to the tune of the song "Snuck Your Way into My Heart", then introduces the band to finish the song. He then gloats to Perry about having the band appear in his "back story". Three songs featured in the episode ("Ain't Got Rhythm," "Fabulous," and "You Snuck Your Way Right Into My Heart") are available on the self-entitled ''Phineas and Ferb''
soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...
. "Danny's Story" and "Music Make Us Better" are not included. "Ain't Got Rhythm" was voted #8 on ''Phineas and Ferb's Musical Cliptastic Countdown'', a viewer-voted countdown of the best songs from the first season of the show. The band is also shown in "Just Passing Through" as well as "Hip Hip Parade" and also sang two songs in the episode " Phineas and Ferb: Summer Belongs to You!": "Bouncin' Around the World" and "The Ballad of Klimpaloon", the latter only available on the soundtrack. They also made an appearance in the "Carpe Diem" song in "Rollercoaster: The Musical!"


References


External links

*
Official ''Phineas and Ferb'' website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dude, We're Getting The Band Back Together Phineas and Ferb episodes 2008 American television episodes Television episodes about marriage Television episodes about birthdays Fiction about music