Lawn Gnome Beach Party of Terror

If we let a little heat stop us from having the best day ever, then the morning DJs win.

Phineas and Ferb build a huge paradise of a beach in their backyard on the hottest day of the year. Meanwhile, Agent P tries to stop Dr. Doofenshmirtz from stealing all lawn gnomes in the Tri-State Area in revenge for having to dress as one in his youth.

Episode Summary
On the hottest day of the summer, Phineas and Ferb are sitting in the shade under the tree, listening to the radio. Perry is lying down nearby. The DJ advises everyone to take it easy by sitting under a shady tree with "an aquatic mammal of some sort". Even though they've met the recommendations, Phineas doesn't want a little heat stopping them from having the "best day ever" because this would mean that "the morning DJs win".

Mom announces that she is heading to the spa while Dad is cleaning out the basement, and heads off. Candace states that this means she's in charge by default. She surveys what Phineas and Ferb doing, (which she thinks is making a beach in the sandbox but it's bigger) then tells them to carry on and heads back inside. Phineas realizes that they need more sand and then notices that Perry has disappeared.

Perry walks over to a decorative mushroom, opens the top and jumps inside. When he lands in his lair, he steps to his right, noting with satisfaction that his Agent P fedora lands on his head at exactly the right moment. Major Monogram gives Agent P his briefing. Lawn gnomes, which provide protection to gardens against "the evils of black magic", are disappearing. Dr. Doofenshmirtz has to be behind it all.

Meanwhile, the first truckload of sand has arrived. Phineas signs for the delivery after confirming that he is too young to be a landscape contractor. Isabella stops by to see what is going on. Phineas shows her their progress. Ferb is perched atop a sprinkler and the truck pours out the sand. Isabella wants The Fireside Girls to earn their Aquatic Safety badges by being lifeguards. Phineas approves.

Candace is talking on the phone to Stacy, but the sounds of the dolphin Ferb is carrying and a splash alert her that her brothers are up to something. As Phineas welcomes the Fireside Girls to their beach, Candace dismisses it as "way below your usual standards". She continues her speech but doesn't notice that Ferb has used a remote control to lower the fence until a beach ball hits her in the head. The full extent of the boys' efforts are revealed: a true backyard beach. Just as Candace is about to call mom, Jenny and Stacy come by. They announce that Jeremy and his buddies will be there shortly, which changes Candace's mind. She drops her phone and runs off.

Nearby, Agent P has disguised himself as a lawn gnome. A giant vacuum pulls him down through the ground, to where Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz is observing the lawn gnomes he is collecting. There, Agent P, disguised as a lawn gnome, reveals himself. Dr. Doofenshmirtz pulls out a remote to activate a trap to catch Agent P in, but it's the remote to the garage door. He tries again and the big screen TV turns on. The third time's the charm, though. Having caught Agent P, he tries to re-activate the TV and it's the garage door opener again.

Back at the beach, things are getting underway: a band is playing music, people are dancing and playing in the sand, and a dolphin's waterspout is used as a drinking fountain. Ferb takes Phineas out parasailing. As Jeremy is preparing his surfboard, Candace brings him a drink, but is hit on the head by a falling coconut. She falls on top of a surprised crab, who then carries her off. The crab happens to carry her over to the limbo contest. Candace wins the contest and is crowned "Queen Wahini of the Beach". Ferb helps her celebrate by singing Backyard Beach. Candace has never been happier, but this triggers the infamous "mom sense" that tells a mother that something is wrong. Linda Flynn cuts her spa visit and heads home.

It's taken a while, but Dr. Doofenshmirtz has finally located the right remote, and so he begins his multimedia presentation so that Agent P will finally understand his pain. When he and his parents lived in Gimmelschtump, they came across lean times and their beloved lawn gnome was repossessed. Since it was necessary to protect the zatzenfruit garden against "witches, spells and wood trolls", his father dressed Heinz up as a gnome and forced him to stand watch for hours at a time during the day and night. Any time Heinz tried to move, such as when friends came by to play "Kick the Schtumpel", to eat Doonkleberries or to wave at his neighbor Kenny, his father was right there, yelling at him not to move.

This traumatized him and drove him to take away all lawn gnomes now that he had become an adult. To achieve that goal, Dr. Doofenshmirtz built The Destruct-inator. Agent P is shocked by its terrifying sight. But Dr. Doofenshmirtz is still not having much luck with remotes, because when he tries to turn the TV on, he inadvertently opens the door to Agent P's cage. Back at the beach, the surf contest is about to begin. Buford tries to push his way in, but Phineas points out the "No Bullying, No Yodeling" sign. The man in traditional Alpine clothing isn't happy with the situation either.

Bobby Nelson is the first surfer, but doesn't last long. Django doesn't fare any better because Buford has decided to combine professional wrestling with surfing. Buford scores an average of 0.375 from the judges. Phineas is next up. Using of a holographic projector, he thwarts Buford's attack on him. Phineas displays some tremendous surfing skills and wins the contest. The judges give him some nearly impossible scores: 105, Infinity, and the re-thinking of Einstein's Theory of Relativity.

Meanwhile, Candace is dancing with Jeremy. Just as the band changes to a slow dance, Ferb delivers her cell phone to her on a tray. Mom is calling to see if everything is okay. Candace dreamily replies that everything is wonderful and that the boys are doing "such wonderful things". Mom knows that this isn't right and announces her imminent arrival back home. Candace finds herself having to keep her mom from seeing what Phineas and Ferb are doing.

The battle between Agent P and Dr. Doofenshmirtz continues underground below the beach. The vacuum that was collecting the gnomes has now been put into reverse, causing it to blow lawn gnomes out of what looks like a volcano. Panic ensues, causing one of the beach-goers to yell "Run for your lives, its gnome-ageddon!". Everyone runs. In the front driveway, mom says she wants an explanation of what is going on and after a moment's reluctance, Candace tells the truth. During that time, the scene cuts back to the fight between Agent P and Dr. Doofenshmirtz. The vacuum is now in the "suck" mode, and it starts sucking everything down to them. Candace is still telling the truth as the vacuum starts removing the water. She describes Buford's attempt to get the surfing trophy while the vacuum continues to suck down the water, sand, palm trees and everything else on the beach. Candace wraps it up with a plea to her mom to let her "just have my moment".

With the removal of the beach and all that goes with it, Perry climbs up out of the hole and Phineas calls an end to the party. Phineas, Ferb, Isabella and Perry walk back to their yard, accompanied by cheering from the others. The fence rises back up just as mom walks into the back yard. Candace is devastated, and is gently helped by her mom and Isabella inside to get her out of the sun. Phineas, Ferb and Perry head back to the tree to continue their relaxation. The radio DJ gives them a shout-out and says to slather on the sunscreen because tomorrow will be another scorcher. "With a slight chance of scattered lawn gnomes," adds Ferb.

Songs

 * If Summer Only Lasted One Day
 * Backyard Beach (Voted #2 on Phineas and Ferb Musical Cliptastic Countdown)
 * The Moment Has Arrived (Our Song)
 * Perry the Platypus (song)

End Credits
Perry the Platypus (song)

Ferb's Lines
Ferb sings the song, Backyard Beach.

I know what we're gonna do today
None.

Perry's entrance to his lair
Perry opens the top of a decorative mushroom in the backyard. When he reaches the bottom, he steps to his right and his fedora drops onto his head from a different tube.

Evil Jingle
None.

The bird that runs into Phineas and Ferb's invention
Instead of running into their invention, it flies too close to the sun and bursts into flames.

Background Information

 * This is the first time Ferb sings.
 * During the construction of the beach, for a moment it appears that Ferb is doing the "sprinkler" dance, but is in fact standing on top of a large water sprinkler.
 * The lawn gnomes currently sold in the Tri-State Area are basically unchanged from when Heinz Doofenshmirtz was growing up in Gimmelschtump. Since Major Monogram states that the gardens are no longer protected because the lawn gnomes are being stolen, this would indicate that this particular lawn gnome design has proven itself quite effective over many years in combating magic. It's possible that they are being imported to Danville from the Gimmelschtump area.
 * Heinz Doofenshmirtz was still forced to stand in as a lawn gnome even after the family's situation changed. The details are revealed in Got Game? and later seen in The Chronicles of Meap.
 * Jeremy doesn't speak in this episode, his debut. He and Stacy are mentioned in Rollercoaster, though.
 * Phineas' sandals seem to resemble the ones worn by Django Brown but unlike his they're blue.
 * In the episode, Ferb is voiced by a Jamaican rapper instead of Thomas Sangster for the singing part of Backyard Beach (song)
 * When the gnomes start shooting out of the volcano, someone screams "Who's protecting our gardens?!". This voice sounds a lot like Mitchel Musso, the actor that later voices the character, Jeremy.
 * Stacy and Jenny are the ones that crown Candace after she wins the limbo contest.
 * This would be the first time Perry the Platypus is seen exiting Doofenshmirtz' hideout.
 * This is the first episode that Doofenshmirtz does not curse Perry.
 * This is one of two episodes that Isabella wears a bow that is not close to the color of clothes she is wearing when she is a red swinsuit, but with a pink bow. The other is in Candace Loses Her Head, where she also wears a pink bow with her Fireside Girl uniform.
 * This is the first time Phineas and Ferb deliberately clean-up one of their big ideas. However, only the beach sand was cleaned up on purpose; the water was cleaned up when Perry set the settings of the Destructinator to Suck.

Production Information

 * Episode description from the second Phineas and Ferbruary 2007 press release:
 * It's the hottest day of summer in this showcase episode, "Lawn Gnome Beach Party of Terror," and ingenious Phineas Flynn and his resourceful stepbrother Ferb Fletcher decide to make a tropical beach paradise in their very own backyard. Soon, all the neighborhood kids come to enjoy it, the boy's dad uses the influx of sand to search for a rare bottle cap and bonds with Baljeet who is also a collector and Isabella and the Wilderness Girls Troop serve as lifeguards. Candace alerts mom that she'd better come home to see what's going on but quickly changes her mind when she becomes the most popular girl on the beach. Meanwhile, Perry the Platypus (aka Agent P) must stop evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz from stealing all the lawn gnomes in the tri-state area, leaving thousands of gardens unprotected.


 * First appearance of Buford the Bully. This episode is also one of the few to mention his last name, during the surfing contest. It is pronounced "Von Stomm".
 * This is the second episode with a song in the end credits that wasn't featured in the episode.

Errors

 * When Linda starts to tell Candace she has been in the sun for too long, Phineas's shorts are plain orange. But when she leaves, Phineas's shorts are orange with white clouds.

Continuity

 * This episode became Lawn Gnome Beach Party of Error! after Dr. Doofenshmirtz used his Change-inator-inator on it as part of the Spot the Diff marathon.
 * The same time period of Heinz Doofenshmirtz's childhood seen in this episode is revisited and expanded upon in the episodes "Got Game?," and "The Chronicles of Meap."
 * Candace's bikini can be seen again for a short moment in the episode "Flop Starz".
 * Stacy's bikini can be seen again briefly for a short moment in the episode "Phineas and Ferb Get Busted".
 * The song from the end credits (Perry the Platypus (song)) was only featured in ("One Good Scare Ought to Do It!").

Allusions

 * Movies: The episode references several "cheesy" beach party movies from the 50s and 60s.
 * There is a suck/blow lever in Doof's lair, referencing Spaceballs.
 * The Surfing Contest Announcer says that it is gnome-ageddon when the lawn gnomes are falling out of the sky, a reference to the word Armageddon, which means destruction of everything.
 * Spongebob Squarepants: One of the band members that plays "If Summer Only Lasted One Day" is wearing a shirt with a pattern nearly identical to Patrick's pants.

Cast

 * Vincent Martella as Phineas
 * Ashley Tisdale as Candace
 * Thomas Sangster as Ferb
 * Caroline Rhea as Mom
 * 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
 * Kelly Hu as Stacy
 * Mark Thompson as Announcer Dave
 * Brian Phelps as Announcer Rick
 * Ariel Winter as Gretchen
 * Keone Young as Dancer (in the limbo contest)
 * Eileen Galindo as Mrs. Garcia-Shapiro
 * Additional voices: Dee Bradley Baker, Bobby Gaylor, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, Mitchel Musso, Brian Phelps, Dan Povenmire, Caroline Rhea, Alyson Stoner, Mark Thompson, Ashley Tisdale, Keone Young
 *  designates a character that did not appear in this episode