That's the Spirit

Let's bust us some ghosts!

It's Halloween night and the kids encounter a strange boy named Russell who is convinced his house is haunted. Meanwhile, Dr. Doofenshmirtz's disdain for grass causes him to invent a "mind-transfer-inator" enabling him to merge minds with a cow and destroy all the grass in the Tri-State Area. Unfortunately, his plan backfires and he transforms into a scary "were-cow" that wreaks havoc any time there is a full moon. It's now up to Agent P to stop him and save Danville.

Episode Summary
While trick-or-treating with Candace, Phineas and Ferb meet up with their friends. Phineas is dressed as a vampire, Ferb is Frankenstein's monster, Candace is Heidi, Perry is Igor, Baljeet is a daisy, Buford is a pirate, and Isabella is a fairy princess. While walking, they come across a house that they have never seen before. As they approach it, they meet a boy hiding in a bush named Russell. Russell says that hiding in the leaves makes him feel warm and secure, relatively speaking. Baljeet asks why he does not go inside his house and Russell confirms that it's haunted. Phineas decides that they should help Russell by busting the ghosts, and Russell reluctantly follows.

Perry enters his Halloween-decorated lair through a jack-o-lantern, where Carl greets him, dressed as Major Monogram. Major Monogram, dressed as Carl, gives him his mission by telling him of some strange sightings: the Danville golf course has been chewed down to bare dirt, strange howls at the moon have been heard, cow-related graffiti at every leather shop in the Tri-State Area, and a crop circle shaped like a cow.

Phineas, Ferb and the gang enter the house with Russell, and to Phineas's surprise, his EMF meter picks up a 78. Suddenly, the jack-o-lantern in front of him grows into a scary humanoid with a pumpkin head, and asks the children if they aren't a little young to be hunting ghosts. They reply with a terrified "Yes, yes we are!" before running off, the monster at their heels.

Perry enters Doofenshmirtz's apartment to find that he has chained himself up. Doofenshmirtz explains that a few days ago, he declared war on grass, so he got himself a cow, the natural predator of grass. However, the cow was too slow, so Doofenshmirtz invented the Mind-Transfer-inator to motivate the cow to work faster. Instead, Doofenshmirtz developed gaps in his memory, a strange craving to lick salt, and found himself watching the nightly farm report as well as the pasture channel way more then usual. Because of this, he suspects that he is no longer human, which is why he needs to tie himself up. All of a sudden, he begins to transform into a were-cow, and breaks the restrains. The Doofenshmirtz were-cow runs off into the streets with Perry pursuing it with a lasso.

Back in the haunted house, Candace desperately tries to open the locked door. Russell comments that sometimes the floor gives out, which is exactly what happens. The children fall into the ghost-infested graveyard basement, where the monster continues to chase them into a red lake, and Baljeet comments that the liquid is the wrong color and viscosity for water. Zombies rise from the "water", and the terrified children continue to run.

After watching a news report on the were-cow, the locals form an angry mob, while Perry finds Doofenshmirtz in his human form in the middle of a crop circle. Doofenshmirtz tries to go with Perry, but is transformed again as the clouds part from the full moon. The angry mob finds them, and they pursue the were-cow into the streets, trampling Perry in the process. At one point they all run into a cooking class trampling a pile of flour bags, covering the mob.

The jack-o-lantern monster has the children cornered in the basement. Ferb throws a skull at it, knocking its head off. As sparks fly from its neck, the children realize that it was a robot. They then learn that it was Russell, along with his parents Waylen and Mona, who had been tricking them with their animatronic haunted house. The EMF meters had been picking up on hidden frequency emitters. Impressed, Phineas asks for one more trick. Just then, the were-cow busts through the wall with the flour-covered angry mob close behind it, trampling Candace. The children applaud, thinking the angry mob were ghosts, much to the confusion of Russell and his parents.

As the children go their separate ways for the night, Phineas is surprised to see that the haunted house is gone, only to see Waylen deflating it for the season. Phineas says that this is about the time in cliche Halloween stories when someone really turns into a ghost. Phineas and Ferb stop and stare suspiciously at Russell and his parents for a few seconds, until Russell tells them that it's not going to happen. Phineas then says goodbye and that they will see them next year.

Songs

 * Were-Cow on the Rampage
 * Were-Cow on the Run

Whatcha doin'?
None.

Perry's entrance to his lair
He enters in a jack-o'-lantern while wearing his Igor costume.

Evil Jingle
Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated!

Background Information

 * On February 10, 2011, Variety reported that Michael Douglas and his 10-year-old son Dylan will guest star in a haunted house episode. No further information was available at this time, but it was thought to be a Halloween special.
 * The episode name was first revealed on Netflix and confirmed on Zap2It
 * It is never revealed how Doofenshmirtz gets turned back to normal.
 * When Isabella says that she is not wearing a costume to Phineas, someone with a Giant Floating Baby Head costume is seen in the background.

Production Information

 * This episode was aired on Disney Channel On Demand on September 30, 2011.

International Premieres

 * October 14, 2011 (Family Channel)
 * October 15, 2011 (Disney XD Canada)
 * November 9, 2011 (Disney XD Germany)
 * October 27, 2011 (Disney Channel Latin America)

Trivia

 * This is the first time that the Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated Evil Jingle does not include "After Hours" when played at night.

Continuity

 * This is the second episode to not take place during the summer, the first being "Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation!" It is the only episode to date that does not take place during a seasonal break from school.
 * This is the third Halloween-themed episode, but the first one to actually take place on Halloween. The other episodes are "One Good Scare Ought to Do It!"and "The Monster of Phineas-n-Ferbenstein".
 * This is the second time Ferb wears a Frankenstein monster costume. ("One Good Scare Ought to Do It!")
 * Buford is dressed as a pirate again. ("The Ballad of Badbeard")
 * Fifth time Phineas is scared ("Are You My Mummy?", "One Good Scare Ought to Do It!", "Traffic Cam Caper" and "Gaming the System").
 * Another version of the theme song is shown. Candace's line, "Mom, Phineas and Ferb are making a Halloween special!" is similar to her line, "Mom, Phineas and Ferb are making a Christmas special!" in "Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation."
 * Isabella is not seen with her signature bow again in the entire episode again ("The Beak").
 * This is the second time Carl pretends to be Major Monogram, the first being "Atlantis".
 * This is the second time Carl is seen without glasses. ("Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension")
 * This is the second time Baljeet said "Where's Perry?". First time was in "Bowl-R-Ama Drama".
 * A mummy that looks exactly like the one which Phineas and Ferb found appears in the beginning of the episode ("Are You My Mummy?").
 * Many monsters from the Best Monster Contest appear in the background when Phineas, Ferb and their friends are walking in the sidewalk ("The Monster of Phineas-n-Ferbenstein").
 * The Danville park is seen again. ("Bubble Boys", "Isabella and the Temple of Sap")
 * The farm where Heinz gets the cow to eat grass is similar to the area in "Ain't No Kiddie Ride" when Candace goes through the barn.
 * The images of the title sequence are from "One Good Scare Ought to Do It!", "The Monster of Phineas-n-Ferbenstein" and "Original Story Pitch".
 * Second time Phineas says "cool" and another character says "no, not cool" (first was Baljeet in "Unfair Science Fair").
 * Second time that there is a parody of Igor ("The Monster of Phineas-n-Ferbenstein")
 * Second time Perry enters into his lair with a costume ("Jerk De Soleil").
 * This episode shows that Doofenshmirtz hasn't lost his extra pounds ("Fireside Girl Jamboree")
 * Second time the Time Machine cleaner appears ("Phineas and Ferb's Quantum Boogaloo").
 * Monogram is seen wearing something that it's not his uniform again ("The Monster of Phineas-n-Ferbenstein", "Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation", "The Belly of the Beast", "Phineas and Ferb Hawaiian Vacation"; "Undercover Carl" and "Crack That Whip", "The Beak").
 * Second time that a member of the Doofenshmirtz family turns into a monster and makes a rampage ("The Monster of Phineas-n-Ferbenstein")

Errors

 * At the beginning of the episode Phineas is collecting candy in a brown paper bag, at the end of the episode he has a tiny jack-o-lantern instead.
 * When Doofenshmirtz first transforms into a Were-Cow he has 8 teats on his udder. Through the rest of the episode he only has 4.
 * Doofenshmirtz mentioned liking Halloween, but hated it in "Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation!" although this episode could have taken place before "Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation!" as since he could have hated it after this day.
 * Isabella has wings on her dress, but when the mob covered in flour and chases Were-Cow through the hall, Isabella has no wings on.
 * Despite the fact that haunted house was inflatable the entire episode it hadn't deflaten when Doofenshmirtz Were-Cow and the Angry Mob smashed through the wall
 * Since Doofenshmirtz is Male, he should have transformed into a Were-Bull instead of a Were-Cow (perhaps he turned in a Were-Cow because he combined brains with a cow, and being the fact that the brain of a cow and a bull are differents, this could be the reason).
 * Apparently, Doof never returned to his normal style but in "Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation!"  (that happens after this episode) it is not shown any sign of Were-Cow

Allusions

 * Halloween - When the group enters the house, the background music sounds very similar to the main theme of this movie.
 * Ghostbusters/The Real Ghostbusters - The devices used by the kids to investigate the house closely resemble the PKE Meters used by the Ghostbusters.
 * The Nightmare Before Christmas - The Pumpkin-headed ghost resembles Jack Skellington's scarecrow costume at the beginning of the movie.
 * Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit - Doofenshmirtz uses a mind transmitter on a cow and turns into a were-cow, similar to Wallace using one on rabbits an turning into the Were-Rabbit. Also in the Book of Monsters, the page before Were-Rabbit is Were-Cow
 * Dave the Barbarian - Doofenshmirtz turns into a were-cow like Dave did.
 * An American Tail - When the woman says there are no monsters in America, it resembles the thought of no cats in America.
 * Futurama - Heinz attaches himself to the wall of his room for not turning into a were-cow, in the same way, Bender makes the same in a Futurama episode for not turning into a were-car.
 * Ozzy Osborne - One of the zombies in the Russell's underground river has the appearance of a zombie Ozzy.
 * Hidden Mickey - When Ferb shows off his ghost hunting gear there is a speaker type device that looks like Mickey Mouse's head. This could be a referance to the Disney Imagineering. In many of the attractions at the various Disney Parks are Hidden mouse ears to represent Mickey Mouse/Walt Disney.
 * Haunted Mansion- The haunted House resembles the one in the disney parks

Cast

 * Vincent Martella as Phineas
 * Ashley Tisdale as Candace
 * Thomas Sangster as Ferb
 * Caroline Rhea as Mom
 * 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
 * Alyson Stoner as Isabella
 * Maulik Pancholy as Baljeet
 * Tyler Alexander Mann as Carl
 * Bobby Gaylor as Buford
 * Michael Douglas as Haunted House Resident
 * Dylan Douglas as Russell

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