It's a Mud, Mud, Mud, Mud World

We've gotta help Candace get her confidence back!

Phineas and Ferb help Candace learn how to parallel park by building a monster truck track in the backyard. Meanwhile, Dr. Doofenshmirtz is marketing his new line of monster trucks to investors, and proceeds to try and get rid of the competition.

Episode Summary
Linda takes a look out into the backyard and sees Phineas and Ferb standing around a small racetrack. When she asks what they are doing, Phineas says they are racing their toy monster trucks and rigged them to go light-speed. She doesn't see any monster trucks so she tells the boys they have such active imaginations and they must have gotten it from their father, who is doing a paint-by-numbers in the house. She hears a car honking in the front yard and tells the boys that she's going to her cooking class with Charlene. Just as she leaves, the boys finish their race and it's revealed they actually did rig their toy monster trucks to go light speed, unfortunately they are unable to tell who won. Meanwhile, Candace is in her room in despair. The land line rings and Candace picks it up. Stacy, who is on the phone, asks why she isn't picking up her cell phone. Candace tells her that it's because of a little thing called parallel parking. She explains that yesterday, Lawrence was teaching her how to do it by telling her to park between two trashcans which were several car lengths apart. But she panicked and continuously crashed into the trashcans back and forth, screaming the whole time. Candace believes she will never get her driver's license and calls herself a loser. Her brothers overhear her plight and Phineas can't believe how he's never noticed how soft their carpets are. But more importantly, he decides to restore her confidence in driving and parking. He asks if Ferb has any ideas and Ferb pulls out plans for a monster truck, which the boys deem "The Candace Crusher".

Perry is in the living room and pulls a part of a lamp down to reveal an entrance to his headquarters in a sofa. He enters and arrives in his headquarters where Major Monogram tells him that he received a memo and Dr. Doofenshmirtz's name was abbreviated as "Doof". The major laughs about this, but Perry is not amused. He is told to go out and do his stuff and stop that "Doof."

Back at the Flynn-Fletcher household, Phineas is guiding large delivery trucks into the backyard while Ferb remodels their mom's car. Lawrence, in the meantime, has finished his latest paint-by-number and hears a loud honk outside. He opens the window to see that the boys are driving a monster truck right outside the window. Phineas tells him that it's to help Candace with her parallel parking so she can have the confidence to drive anything. Lawrence thinks it's a good idea, but decides to call Linda to see it's okay. Linda says he's as bad as Candace and he says okay, hanging up the phone and telling the boys it's a go and that he'll go get Candace. Linda, at her cooking class, has her phone taken away by a frustrated chef and smashed to pieces. However, his rings, much to his embarrassment. He answers it and gives the phone to Linda. It turns out it's Candace calling to tell her that she thinks Phineas and Ferb are building a monster truck. However, Linda blows her off and hangs up while being glared at by the chef. Candace then decides to go along with the monster truck idea, even though she believes she will never be able to parallel park. Phineas assures her that the truck is just to build her confidence. She realizes that they can't drive where they are, as the backyard is too small. But Phineas and Ferb unveil that they built a monster truck rally in the backyard, making Candace even more nervous.

Back at Doofenshmirtz Evil Inc. Dr. Doofenshmirtz tells some investors that he has a unique investors opportunity for them. He says that monster trucks are popular but aren't really monsters, just big, stupid, trucks. So he came up with his own line of monster trucks which look like monsters, he's convinced that they will corner the markets and just to be sure, he created the Monster Truck Away-inator to do away with the competition. One of the investors asks if it's safe to use, and he fires it at his head, causing it to swell. Doofenshmirtz tells him it'll probably go down after a while. He fires at a toy monster truck as a demonstration, which sends it to a baby alien in a crib which eats it. Doofenshmirtz says they should try it out on a real monster truck, which brings up his next invention, the Monster Truck Locat-I-Nator. Perry is sitting on it and Doofenshmirtz tells him that the one he is sitting on is not the real Inator, but rather a Chinese Platypus Trap. The real Monster Truck Locat-I-Nator is revealed, and they find a that the nearest monster truck is at Phineas' monster truck rally. Doofenshmirtz and the investors proceed to drive there, bringing Perry with them. Isabella promotes the rally through the TV, attracting many other monster truck drivers to the monster truck rally. Candace's first task is to maneuver through a traffic cone course, but instead she runs them over repeatedly in the same way she had hit the trash cans when she was learning to parallel park. Next, Candace has to drive up a gentle incline, but she notices Lawrence looks nervous. He says he has full confidence in her while he's strapping a pillow to himself with a helmet on. As Candace drives, the path she's on get's steeper, turning into a loop-de-loop incline. She reaches the top and it turns into the "Brake Test" as the truck slides back down. She passes this test successfully and begins to have a bit more confidence.

Doofenshmirtz turns the corner onto Maple Drive and sees there isn't any parking, telling himself he should have built a Parked Car Away-Inator, to which an investor says he would buy.

As Lawrence congratulates Candace, monster trucks speed by, covering them in mud. One of them is driven by Buck Buckerson, the Monster Truck rally promoter, who taunts her, and they proceed to race against each other. Eventually, it ends in a tie, and the tie breaker is the parallel parking challenge. Buck boasts to Candace about his finesse, but then panics and drives back and forth into the two cones, and Lawrence tells Candace that even a trained professional will have trouble from time to time. This gives Candace the courage to successfully parallel park the vehicle perfectly.

By this time, Doofenshmirtz has made it all the way to the rally, but Perry breaks free from the Chinese platypus trap. Another investor who wasn't here earlier cut him free. Perry turns the dial to Doofenshmirtz-Mobile and Evil Investors Away-Inator to make him and the investors disappear into a baby alien 's crib, where they are quickly eaten. Back at the rally, Buck admits Candace is good at driving, and says he's going to a rally in Badgertown, but the track there isn't as good as this one. Phineas tells him can have it as there's no need for it now. Buck and his crew drive away, track in tow. Ferb presses a button to return the car to normal just before Linda comes home. When she sees them, she asks why they are all covered in mud. Ferb explains that it's because Candace is "a tire spinnin', gear grindin', clutch burnin', backfirin', paint tradin', red-linin', overheatin', throttle stompin', truck drivin' girl." And she learned how to parallel park, which Linda says is great.

Songs

 * Truck Drivin' Girl

End Credits
The last verse of Truck Drivin' Girl

The "Too Young" Line
None.

Ferb's Lines
Ferb sings Truck Drivin' Girl.

Whatcha doin'?
None.

Perry's entrance to his lair
Perry enters through the couch.

Background Information

 * 23rd episode produced. 18th episode aired, first broadcast on February 24, 2008.
 * Episode description from the original Phineas and Ferbruary 2008 press release:
 * In "It's a Mud, Mud, Mud, Mud World," airing Sunday, Ferb-ruary 24, Billy Ray Cyrus ("Hannah Montana") guest stars as Buck Buckerson, a monster truck driver competing against Candace in a Monster Truck Rally. Phineas and Ferb want to help Candace overcome her fear of driving by creating the safest and most Candace-proof vehicle for her to practice in - a monster truck. If she can drive that, she can drive anything. But suddenly Candace's "practice run" through the backyard turns into a massive monster truck rally. Meanwhile, Dr. Doofenshmirtz has created his own line of monster trucks and is looking for investors. The only problem is – his trucks are real monsters!


 * This episode reveals that Phineas and Ferb live on Maple Drive.
 * Linda Flynn is dropped off at home in a 1973 Chevrolet Camaro.
 * This is the third big idea Phineas and Ferb deliberately clean up after. However, the monster truck was turned back into a station wagon, whilst the stadium was taken away by the monster truckers.

Errors

 * When Doofenshmirtz blasts the toy monster truck, it is yellow, but in the alien world it's red.
 * When Candace calls her mom, she is looking at the monster truck's wheel from her room, even though her room is on the top floor.

Continuity

 * Phineas and Ferb deliberately cleaned up like two times before.
 * The Giant baby head returns in "One Good Scare Ought to Do It!" as Phineas is setting up the Monster Truck Track. This might be a clue as to where the giant baby head might have originally come from. Remember that Dan Povenmire said that the episodes are not shown in order.
 * Charlene Doofenshmirtz appears in a non-speaking cameo during Linda's cooking class. ("I Scream, You Scream")
 * This is one of a few episodes where Dad sees the full extent of Phineas and Ferb's big idea.
 * First use of "Kronk for Hire," a music cue originally written with lyrics by Danny Jacob and Kevin Campbell, for The Emperor's New School, as background music during the flashback to Candace's driving lesson. The song reappears in numerous episodes, also sans lyrics and as background music, often in the context of or parodying an advertisement- which is appropriate, as the song was originally was used in the context of an advertising jingle.
 * Upon seeing the unveiled Monster Truck stadium Candace timidly says "Meap" as she does in the |The Fast and the Phineas, which is the coincidentally same sound made by Meap
 * The phrase that Buck Buckerson uses: "It doesn't have to make sense, I've got a Monster Truck!", is used again in Phineas and Ferb Musical Cliptastic Countdown

Allusions

 * Title: The title is a reference to the 1963 classic movie It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.
 * Isabella's television announcement: The way Isabella announces the truck driving competition is exactly like the television ads for the monster truck driving shows that went on back in the 90's, including saying the day of the show and for people to be there three times.
 * The Simpsons: In this episode, a family sits on a couch as it hits Candace's truck. They are sitting in the exact posture the Simpsons do. Also, the couch is the same color the Simpson's couch is.
 * Mr. Bean (animated series): One of the evil investors (the one who gained swelling from the Monster truck away-inator) slightly resembles one of the convicts from "Missing Teddy".
 * Heinz Doofenshmirtz collection of monster trucks are like the kustom car kulture from the sixties that made such cartoon icons like Rat Fink.
 * "Ancient Chinese secret" is a popular line from an old water softener commercial.

Cast

 * Vincent Martella as Phineas
 * Ashley Tisdale as Candace
 * Thomas Sangster as Ferb
 * Caroline Rhea as Mom / Grandma Betty Jo (listed as Betty Joe)
 * Alyson Stoner as Isabella
 * Mitchel Musso as Jeremy
 * Dan Povenmire as Dr. Doofenshmirtz
 * Jeff "Swampy" Marsh as Major Monogram
 * Richard O'Brien as Dad
 * Dee Bradley Baker as Perry
 * Bobby Gaylor as Buford
 * Billy Ray Cyrus as Buck Buckerson
 * Kelly Hu as Stacy (listed as Stacey)
 * Maulik Pancholy as Baljeet
 * Tyler Mann as Carl (speaking cameo)
 * Barry Bostwick as Grandpa (Clyde)
 * Allison Janney as Charlene
 * Additional voices: Dee Bradley Baker, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, Cymphonique Miller, Richard O'Brien, Maulik Pancholy, Ariel Winter


 *  designates a character that did not appear in this episode