| "Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation!" | |
|---|---|
| Phineas and Ferb episode | |
| File:PaF Christmas special1.jpg The children record "Danville is Very Nice" to urge Santa Clause to visit Danville. | |
| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 84 |
| Directed by | Zac Moncrief |
| Written by | Jon Colton Barry Scott Peterson |
| Featured music | "Winter Vacation" "Christmas is Starting Now" "Thank You Santa Claus" "I Really Don't Hate Christmas" "Where Did We Go Wrong" "Danville is Very Nice" "Christmas Feeling" |
| Production code | 222 |
| Original air dates | December 6, 2009 (Disney XD) December 11, 2009 (Disney Channel) |
| Guest appearances | |
Malcolm McDowell as Grandpa Reg Jane Carr as Grandma Winnifred Mathew Horne as Blayn't Bruce Mackinnon as Clewn't Big Bad Voodoo Daddy as themselves | |
"Phineas and Ferb's Christmas Vacation" is a special Christmas-themed episode of the animated television series Phineas and Ferb. It was originally broadcast on Disney XD on December 6, 2009, on Disney Channel on December 11, 2009, and on ABC Family on December 18, 2009. The special's narrative follows protagonists Phineas and Ferb decorating their city for the arrival of Santa Claus. But when the evil mad scientist Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz uses a machine to ruin the holiday, Phineas and Ferb must find a way to fix it and save Christmas.
"Phineas and Ferb's Christmas Vacation" was written by Jon Colton Barry and Scott Peterson and directed by Zac Moncrief, who had been nominated for a 2009 Emmy award for his work on the episode "The Monster of Phineas-n-Ferbenstein" a few months before the special aired. It serves as a realization of a dream series co-founders Jeff "Swampy" Marsh and Dan Povenmire to have their own Christmas special, something they have desired to have since their initial creation of the series. The special featured multiple guest stars including Clancy Brown, Malcolm McDowell, Jane Carr, Mathew Horne, and Bruce Mackinnon, and detailed seven original songs, including one performed by swing band Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.
"Phineas and Ferb's Christmas Vacation" received a large and wide-spread release from The Walt Disney Company, who showed optimism on it and promoted it through interviews and special broadcasts. It received 2.62 million viewers in its original broadcast on Disney XD, ranking as the number 3 telecast in the night across all demographics. In its original airing on Disney Channel, it ranked as the number five program of the week with 5.213 million viewers. Critical reception from television critics and various media outlets was generally positive response. It is also the first episode not to be set in summer.
Episode summary edit
On Christmas Eve, Lawrence and Linda are stuck at the airport waiting for the former's parents to arrive. Their children, Phineas and Ferb, convert the top of their house into a large, extravagant rest stop for Santa Claus, complete with a sauna and special reindeer feeding center. They urge everyone in Danville to help decorate the entire city for Christmas and they follow, happily spreading cheer along the way. Candace, however, is busy trying to figure out the perfect present for her boyfriend Jeremy.
Meanwhile, Perry the Platypus, the children's pet platypus who secretly lives a double life as a secret agent, sneaks off to attend a Christmas party his organization is throwing. After receiving a A Sal Tuscany CD from his "Secret Santa," he is given an emergency danger alert that Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz is up to something nefarious. He darts off to the doctor's evil lair and is trapped in Christmas lights, topped off with a partridge. Doofenshmirtz reveals that his uncle has sent him a special "Naughtyinator," a device that can ruin Christmas—his dilemma is that he simply does not dislike the holiday and is unsure if he should use it, but after carolers begin harassing him with "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," he activates the machine.
The "Naughtyinator" causes the Naughty or Nice list at Santa's workshop in the North Pole to brand everyone in Danville as "naughty," therefore canceling the holiday for the people of the town. Phineas, Ferb, and their friends are all completely distraught and decide to hold broadcast a song about why Danville should be branded "nice" to radios at the North Pole; two elves receive the broadcast and decide to go down to the city to investigate what caused the mishap. Meanwhile, Candace continues to unsuccessfully try and get Jeremy to hint at his perfect gift, merely baffling the boy.
The elves—named Blayn't and Clewn't—finally arrive in Danville and inform the boys that it appears that it is the city itself, not the people, that is "naughty" and they are unsure why. Doofenshmirtz, meanwhile, decides to put in Perry's A Sal Tuscany CD in his stereo and the loud vibrations destroy the "Naughtyinator," causing Christmas cheer to return to Danville and removing the "naughty" brand from everyone. The kids, seeing their opportunity to save the holiday, decide to use Blanyn't and Clewn't flying ship to deliver presents built by the two elves at record speed to every house in the city. They almost fail at doing so, as it is too dark to see anything, but the boys' friend Buford—who is a bully and a mean-spirit—gets everyone in the city to turn on their Christmas lights, putting him on the "nice" list in the process. They finally succeed and everyone in town gets a present.
When the boys return home, they find that Santa has come to the city and just finished using their rest stop. He thanks Phineas for taking care of deliveries for the city and flies off with the rest stop hitched to his sleigh. Doofenshmirtz, similarly, smashes the A Sal Tuscany CD in rage and discovers that it is actually a gift from Santa Claus himself, as Sal Tuscany is an anagram of Santa Claus, with "an embarrassing left over Y at the end". In the style of "The Gift of the Magi", Candace and Jeremy give each other presents by selling a prized possession, only to realize one another's gift is meant to go with the object that they sold, but are still pleased. In the end, Lawrence and Linda finally return home with the children's grandparents, and everyone opens up their presents.