What Do It Do?

At 0900 hours a UCO, or "Unidentified Crashing Object", landed in out front yard. We've reversed engineered a piece-by-piece duplicate of the strange object. We've called you here to help us discover what this object is and how it works.

When Doofenshmirtz's latest invention lands in the front yard of the Flynn-Fletcher household, Phineas, Ferb, Candace and Linda try to find out what it does. When Lawrence won't believe Linda about the invention, Candace decides to use him is a way to show Linda Phineas and Ferb's reverse-engineered creation.

Episode Summary
Lawrence is outside putting up a bird feeder and house on a tree. He presses a button and the house opens. He decides that it doesn't do what he wanted it to do but leaves it. In the living room, Phineas and Ferb are watching a program on reverse engineering. It talks about what it is and how to do it. Phineas asks where Perry is once the program has finished and the scene cuts to Major Monogram asking Carl where Perry is. Carl says he came in early. Since Perry has his mission, Monogram decided to go home.

Perry is already on Heinz Doofenshmirtz's hover jet and they are both fighting. Perry gets caught in one of the many traps that were set. Doofenshmirtz then tells him about one of his first dates. It was with Linda Flynn and they were in a drive-in theater, going to watch a film. Linda says that she would like to be a pop star one day. Doofenshmirtz sarcastically replies that he will take over the world, and she suggests that he should start small and try to take over the Tri-State Area. Doofenshmirtz says it's unlikely but he'll try. He then brings out a machine to make the movie's sound 5th Dimensional and attaches it to their car. Unfortunately, the machine makes the cinema screen explode and blast off into the sky. Whilst finishing his flashback, Doofenshmirtz trips on one of his traps and knocks his latest machine into the Flynn-Fletcher house in the front lawn. Candace sees the machine and assumes that Phineas and Ferb built it. She calls Linda to see it and says the boys made it. Linda calls the boys and asks what that machine is. Phineas says they didn't build it but they wanted to know what it did. Linda says not to touch the machine, so Phineas and Ferb do some reverse engineering and create a duplicate in the back yard. Linda phones Lawrence whilst he is in the middle of a presentation about the history of Wistershire and Chedderton. She asks what that thing was in the garden and Lawrence says that he made it, thinking it was the bird feeder. He says he has to go and cuts Linda off.

Doofenshmirtz is still in one of his traps and presses a button to release Perry. Perry then tries to steer the jet away from Mt Kilimanjaro. The side of the jet hits the mountain and Perry falls into another trap. Doofenshmirtz then comments that his ship has as many traps as a golf course.

In the backyard, Phineas, Ferb, Buford, Baljeet, Irving and Isabella are trying to work out what it does. In the end, Baljeet and Isabella are having a "romantic" dinner when the machine picks up the candle and is about to destroy it. Phineas tells it to put the candle down and it follows his instructions. Everyone decides that it is an anti-romantic machine. Linda is still out the front of the house and she phones Lawrence again about the machine. Candace is meanwhile trying to get Linda to see what Phineas and Ferb had built. Candace explains that how Linda feels at the moment is how she feels when trying to bust the boys. Candace then says that she used the drag Linda to the machine. Linda decides to do the same with Lawrence and drags him out of his presentation. Whilst being dragged off, he asks if anyone has any questions. Everyone puts their hand up but Lawrence is out of the room before he can answer them.

Perry escapes his trap once again put grabs the scepter from the statue of the Earl of Whisteshire. He activates all of the traps and steers the hover jet again. Perry throws the scepter out of the jet and it hits the machine in the front yard. Candace is outside talking to Stacy about how she will bust the boys but the machine floats up, covers the mark it made in the grass and flies to the back of the house. It sees the duplicate and they both fall in love. They fly off into the sky just as Linda and Lawrence are getting out of the car. Candace is still trying to show Linda Phineas and Ferb's machine but then she sees them flying off into the sky. She gives up and walks away. Ferb is telling everyone about if you reverse engineer a heart you get love and lots of mushy red stuff. The episode ends in everyone agreeing with a yeah.

Songs

 * What Do It Do?
 * Busting Feeding Frenzy

What'cha doin'?
None.

Perry's entrance to his lair
Not shown, but Carl mentioned to Major Monogram that Perry went early.

Evil Jingle
Doofenshmirtz Rocket Power Jet Skiff!

Background Information

 * This episode depicts Linda mirroring Candace's behavior, trying to convince Lawrence of the strange gizmo as Candace tries to convince Linda of the boys' creations. Despite Candace pointing out this relationship, Linda still doesn't believe her.
 * That being known, it could be implied that Candace's obsession and erratic behavior may have been a trait inherited from Linda.
 * Baljeet is shown to have some affection to Isabella.
 * Dr. Doofenshmirtz drove an AMC Gremlin to the drive-in movie theater.
 * The episode shows Linda's aspiration of becoming a pop star and how successful she was fulfilling it in contrast with Doofenshmirtz's aspiration to take over the Tri-State Area as she has suggested and his constant failure trying to realize it.
 * The "Kronk for Hire" cue plays as Dr. Doofenshmirtz educates Perry about- and warns him that he is going to crash into- Mount Kilimanjaro.
 * This is the longest single episode in the series up to now. (00:12:21)
 * In the flashback of Heinz and Linda, Heinz is shown with braces. This tells us that at one time he had braces to re-align his teeth, although we do not know how long he had the braces on for.
 * Phineas and Ferb do the same dance during the song as they did in Mix and Mingle Machine and Technology vs. Nature.
 * Irving reappears in this episode and only has one line of dialogue (actually fewer than Ferb, who had three).
 * This is the second episode where Perry does not interact with Major Monogram (The first being "Hail Doofania!").
 * This is the second time Doofenshmirtz made a device to eliminate romance ("Chez Platypus").
 * When Doofenshmirtz didn't know what to say "It's gonna be...", and then later in the episode he thinks of it and then says "That's what I should've said," that's really similar to when he couldn't think of it in "Robot Rodeo".
 * At the beginning of the episode while Lawrence hangs up his birdhouse, an instrumental version of My Undead Mummy can be heard.
 * Fourth episode title with a question mark ("Are You My Mummy?"), ("Got Game?"), ("Does This Duckbill Make Me Look Fat?")

Production Information

 * Zanzibar (the name of the band that sings "What Do It Do?") is the name of the episode of a 1996 musical episode of Rocko's Modern Life that won Phineas and Ferb co-creators Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh an EMA (Environmental Media Awards) Award.

International Premieres

 * October 24, 2009 (Disney XD UK)

Errors

 * On the drive-in date flashback, Doofenshmirtz's white disco coat turns green when he gets in the car, but goes back to white when the scene changes to the outside POV (when Linda tells him to get the car speaker).
 * As Doofenshmirtz's flashback ends, his mouth does not move when he says "And I never saw her again."
 * They said Isabella was dressed as a Belly Dancer. But she actually was a Hula Dancer.
 * When Isabella was dressed as a Hula Dancer, she had no belly button.

Continuity

 * The episode shows Doofenshmirtz date with Linda and she was the one who convinced him to try to takeover the Tri-State Area, which was mentioned in the 2009 Radio Disney premiere.

Allusions

 * Feeding Frenzy - As Candace dances, she sings "It's a Busting Feeding Frenzy; Stay outta the water!" referencing the game.
 * Julius Caesar (the play by William Shakespeare)- Phineas addresses Isabella, Buford, Baljeet, and Irving as "Friends, Bullies, Irving" similar to "Friends, Romans, Countrymen" from Mark Antony's speech.
 * Lawrence's tale about Whiskershire mirrors the story of The Pied Piper of Hamelin.
 * Towards the beginning of the episode, Phineas and Ferb are seen watching The Uncovery Channel, which seems similar to the Discovery Channel, including the title.
 * Zanzibar is an island off the coast of Africa which is part of the United Republic of Tanzania. Billy Joel also has a track called "Zanzibar" on his 1978 album 52nd Street. However, it's the story of a bar named Zanzibar, not reverse engineering. Zanzibar was also mentioned in "Muppet Treasure Island".
 * American Cinemas - The Drive-in's screen during the Flashback has Dancing Food on it like in the typical American cinemas.
 * The song has a beat that sounds like the hit song from Tommy Tutone's 1981 song 867-5309/Jenny.
 * Friends - Heinz Doofenshmirtz's hair when he was young is similar to the hair that Chandler Bing had in a Friends episode, could both be an allusion to 80s-Techno hairstyles.

Cast

 * Vincent Martella as Phineas
 * Ashley Tisdale as Candace
 * Thomas Sangster as Ferb
 * Alyson Stoner as Isabella
 * Caroline Rhea as Mom
 * Dan Povenmire as Dr. Doofenshmirtz
 * Jeff "Swampy" Marsh as Major Monogram
 * Richard O'Brien as Dad
 * Dee Bradley Baker as Perry
 * Jack McBrayer as Irving
 * Maulik Pancholy as Baljeet
 * Bobby Gaylor as Buford
 * Tyler Mann as Carl