I, Brobot

We either need more days of summer or more of us.

Phineas and Ferb build robot versions of themselves, Phinedroids and Ferbots, to help out with their Big Ideas. Dr. Doofenshmirtz meanwhile regrets all the messages he left on his girlfriend's answering machine.

Episode Summary
The boys are sitting under the tree in the back yard, going through the candidates for what awesome thing they will do today. Among the choices are a completely food-based water park, a tunnel to the center of the Earth,a chamber of invisibility, and a microscopic zoo that rests on the head of a pin. As the realization sinks in that they have a lot of blueprints, models and schematics, a falling leaf prompts Phineas to comment that "summer doesn't last forever and we've got too many plans for just the two of us. We either need more days of summer, or more of us." Ferb hands over his plans for a robot, and that gives Phineas an idea: make Phinedroids and Ferbots.

At this moment, Phineas notices Perry is missing. Perry is up on the roof of their house, pressing bricks on the chimney. The chimney opens up to reveal an elevator. During the trip down to his lair, it makes a stop and Santa Claus gets in. Perry gets off, revealing a sign that says "Chimmney Vator". Major Monogram begins the briefing, telling Agent P that Dr. Doofenshmirtz has made 57 phone calls in the past hour, but he doesn't know to whom or why. Agent P points back towards the elevator door, but Major Monogram says it's not to Santa. As Agent P leaves, Major Monogram tells Carl, who is off-screen, that this is why he doesn't like using the Chimmney Vator., beside the fact that Santa owed him a pony.

Back in the garage, the boys are finishing up the robot-building device. Phineas places pictures of them on the scanner. Within moments, the robots are done in the new version of the device. The one sitting in the background is deemed an "old dinosaur". As pairs of the Phinedroids and Ferbots march out of the new device, Phineas starts to welcome them. He notices that Ferb's bullhorn is not on, even though Ferb isn't saying anything. He continues and asks the robots to each take a blueprint and report to the back yard. Phineas asks Ferb to do the honors, which is to select "dance mode" on the remote control. The robots begin dancing and sing Phinedroids and Ferbots. The boys join in and soon, everyone is "busting chillin' moves with their robot poses".

Meanwhile, at Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated, Dr. Doofenshmirtz is scrunched up in a chair, muttering "why won't she pick up?" Agent P lets himself in the room using a key that Dr. Doofenshmirtz has given him. Dr. Doofenshmirtz thanks him. "Much more civilized than crashing through my ceiling, don't you think? Yes." Dr. Doofenshmirtz then tries to persuade Agent P that he isn't up to anything, just dealing with a "relationship bump" with his new girlfriend. Agent P glances over to the computer, where there's a plan for a crane-mounted magnet. It will help him erase the messages he's left on her answering machine. Agent P gives him a disapproving look, so Dr. Doofenshmirtz activates a rope trap. "Too bad for you. Too bad you don't believe in love", he says. As he drives off in the crane, he yells, "Too bad!"

Meanwhile back at the house, Candace is on the phone with Stacy. She can't watch Stacy get her ears pierced because she is in charge while Linda Flynn is over at Zippy Pics. A Phinedroid walks by the window, carrying a ladder. At first, Candace doesn't think this is unusual, until a second Phinedroid walks by, carrying the back end of the same ladder. Candace goes to the backyard and is confronted by the sight of multiple Phineases and Ferbs. She concludes that her brothers are robots. "They're brobots!" She freaks out, runs through the house and climbs down the ladder into her Panic Room. Clutching Mr. Miggins, she calls her mom. "Phineas and Ferb, and and Phineas and Ferb, and and robots. Chamber of invisibility. Elephants." she squeaks.

Mom's heard this all before and tells Candace she'll see the robots after she gets home. Candace knows everything will be gone by that time. But as she talks to Mr. Miggins, she realizes that if she captures one she'll have proof. After donning protective gear, she sets out a can of oil as bait. A Ferbot takes a drink, and Candace catches it in a burlap bag. Candace dumps the bag in front of the house, then calls Stacy to let her know what she's done. She doesn't get very far because Stacy is crying. A few moments later, Stacy's mom comes on the phone so Candace pretends she didn't know anything about the ear piercing. Behind her, a garbage truck has picked up the burlap bag, followed by a Fred's Fertilizer truck dropping off a bag of fertilizer. Candace is thinking about "poor, mixed-up Stacy" and doesn't notice the change.

Back at Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated, Agent P pulls a can of Fancy Cheese Spray out of his hat. A mouse climbs down the rope and starts eating the cheese the Agent P sprayed on it.

Over in the back yard, Phineas and Ferb check on the robots' progress. The Chamber of Invisibility is completed. Phineas congratulates the Ferbot, then notes he'd normally tell Ferb that. Next is the microscopic zoo. Phineas climbs up the ladder and peers through the eyepiece of the giant microscope. That's a success, too.

As Phineas looks at the tunnel to the center of the Earth, he begins to realize that it isn't as fun when others do their projects for them. At this moment a Phinedroid delivers a new plan to him. It's for the hovercraft lounge chair, which the Phinedroid has already completed and rides away on. This was the plan that the boys were going to do the following week. Phineas sees it's getting worse. The robots have run out of projects and are designing their own. Phineas asks, "Have we learned nothing from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein?" Then he notices the coffee stand. He pronounces the overpriced coffee stand as "so Nineties".

Just then, the coffee creates a new problem: the robots start going haywire. One can't sleep. When one falls down in front of him, Phineas decides to shut down the coffee stand. The Phinedroids and Ferbots don't like it. Phineas tries to execute the shutdown command but it doesn't work. The robots start closing in on the boys....

In a different part of Danville, Dr. Doofenshmirtz is driving the crane towards his girlfriend's house, singing along with the radio to "Gitchee Gitchee Goo". He's almost there, looking forward to erasing the embarrassing messages and leaving new ones. Just then he sees something in the road and stops the crane. It's Agent P. Dr. Doofenshmirtz realizes the mouse must have helped him escape. He warns Agent P to get out of the way or he'll drop the magnet on him. Agent P refuses to budge. After a couple of seconds, Dr. Doofenshmirtz releases the magnet. Just before the magnet lands on Agent P, Santa swoops by in his sleigh and catches the magnet on the sleigh's runners. Dr. Doofenshmirtz exclaims that it doesn't make sense because it's the middle of July. Santa replies that he's on a summer run. As Santa flies off, Dr. Doofenshmirtz says, "bah, humbug".

In the back yard, things are looking grim. Phineas laments that their creations have turned on them and says "if only there was a device that could stop them". Ferb pulls out the remote control and Phineas says he was just messing with Ferb. Phineas presses the dance button. The robots begin dancing again and singing the second part of "Phinedroids and Ferbots". Up on the front sidewalk, Candace proclaims, "Eighties music is so 2002".

Mom arrives and wants to show Candace the photos, but Candace is in a hurry to show her what she caught. She dumps the bag in front of her mom and opens it. Linda Flynn peers in and says, "That's a very nice bag of manure, Candace". Candace shrieks, causing her to drop the pictures. Candace runs to the back yard. The robots are still there, so she tries to get her mom to see them. Neither of them see Santa flying overhead. As he flies over the back yard, the magnet lifts the robots out of the yard. Candace says that even though she's done this nineteen other times, she's confident that there are robots. Mom agrees that there are Phineas and Ferb robots in the back yard, which is just the boys, still dancing like robots.

Songs

 * Phinedroids and Ferbots

End Credits
A few minutes later, Mom wants to show off the pictures again. A picture of Candace slips out of her hands and floats into the garage, landing on the scanner. The robot-building device makes a robot of her image. Candace freaks out and she screams "It's a Candroid!" running in circles around her mom and the boys. She runs back into the panic room. The Candroid is already there, clutching Mr. Miggins. Candace reclaims Mr. Miggins from the Candroid.

The "Too Young" Line
None.

Ferb's Line
None.

Whatcha doin'?
None.

Perry's entrance to his lair
Perry takes the "Chimmney-vator" to get into his lair, an elevator inside the chimney of the boys' house. Santa Claus also uses the Chimmney-vator with Perry. Santa and Perry look at each other causing Perry to grin.

Evil Jingle
Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated!

Background Information

 * The term "Brobot" was first used on Nickelodeon's The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius.
 * This episode shows that Santa Claus is part of the Phineas and Ferb universe. Santa was voiced by Dan Povenmire.
 * Perry is shown to like Santa in this episode.
 * The Panic Room.jpgce has a panic room in which she keeps her stuffed bear, Mr. Miggins. She will later use this room in Invasion of the Ferb Snatchers.
 * The music played as the leaf drops in the beginning when Phineas realizes summer doesn't last forever is "Morning Mood" by Edvard Grieg. It is also heard in Bowl-R-Ama Drama.
 * This episode contains the largest number of plans (8) in a single episode:
 * Phinedroids and Ferbots
 * Second-generation robot-building device
 * Microscopic zoo
 * Chamber of invisibility
 * Tunnel to the center of the Earth
 * Hovercraft lounge chair
 * First-generation robot-building device (appears to have been completed prior to this episode)
 * A completely food-based water park (discussed but not built)


 * The number of brobots shown varies in each scene, though six Phinedroids and six Ferbots is the most commonly-seen amount.
 * At the time they were created, seven pairs of Phinedroids and Ferbots emerge from the robot-building device.
 * When Phineas shuts down the coffee stand, 10 Ferbots can be seen advancing on the boys, with enough spacing in the semi-circle for an additional 4 to 6 Ferbots off screen.
 * When the boys activate "dance mode" a second time, one Ferbot is missing from the circle, which would be the Ferbot that Candace captured.
 * At the end, Santa flies over the back yard with the giant magnet, pulling up six Phinedroids and eight Ferbots.


 * Ironically, Candace's voice actress, Ashley Tisdale, did a cover of an 80's song in 2008.

Production Information

 * First episode that Isabella does not appear in terms of broadcast order.
 * This, along with Rollercoaster, Lawn Gnome Beach Party of Terror, and A Hard Day's Knight, are the only episodes so far to have been rated TV-Y7. Later re-broadcasts bear the TV-G rating.
 * Episode description from the original Phineas and Ferbruary 2008 press release:
 * In the episode "I, Brobot," airing Wednesday, Ferb-ruary 6, Phineas and Ferb realize they have a lot of projects they want to get done before the summer ends and not a lot of time or manpower to accomplish them, so they get started by cloning themselves. Soon there are robot versions of Phineas and Ferb running all over town, and Candace is beginning to think she's lost her mind. Meanwhile Dr. Doofenshmirtz has created a large magnet to hover over his girlfriend's house and erase all the crazy messages he recorded on her answering machine.

Errors

 * Although the Phinedroids and Ferbots were removed by Santa Claus, it was never shown what happened to the remaining completed projects.
 * When Santa says "Ho ho ho, hold that elevator!" his mouth doesn't move at all.
 * When Mom says "Who wants to see pictures?" her mouth doesn't move at all.

Continuity

 * Dr. Doofenshmirtz sings along with Gitchee Gitchee Goo while driving his crane. Also, when Perry is going down in the Chimmneyvator, it is heard as elevator music.
 * Agent P keeps the key to Dr. Doofenshmirtz's living quarters inside a pocket in his fur. This was given to him by Dr. Doofenshmirtz to cut back on damage to the building, evidence of the growing relationship between Agent P and Dr. Doofenshmirtz.
 * Designing their own projects.jpg the robots run out of plans that the boys gave them and started creating their own, a Ferbot is seen designing a rollercoaster. It is the same design that Ferb came up with in the episode "Rollercoaster".
 * Dr. Doofenshmirtz developed a plan for a tunnel to China, which would have also gone through the center of the Earth, as seen in "Candace Loses Her Head". The Phinedroids and Ferbots solved the problem of dealing with the molten lava at the Earth's core while Dr. Doofenshmirtz did not.
 * Candace tells her mother, "I know I've done this nineteen other times" when attempting to show her mother what the boys are doing. Since this is the 19th episode produced, that would make training monkeys to juggle bicycles the first plan Candace tried to bust her brothers for, which is mentioned in "Rollercoaster".

Allusions

 * Frankenstein: Phineas directly references the book when he says to Ferb, "Have we learned nothing from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein?"
 * I, Robot: The name of the title is a parody of the Isaac Asimov novel and the 2004 film based on it.
 * A Christmas Carol: When Santa takes the Giant Magnet, Doofenshmirtz says "Bah, humbug", similar to Ebenezer Scrooge.
 * Journey to the Center of the Earth: The tunnel to the center of the Earth is probably a reference to this famous novel and film.
 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone: The entrance to the Chimmney Vator, where you tap certain stones, is similar to the entrance to Diagon Alley.
 * Super Paper Mario: An enemy dubbed Brobot appears in this game.
 * Psycho: When Candace runs away after seen the robots, a musical "sting" is heard in the background that is similar to what played during the shower attack scene in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho.
 * The music and tempo in lyrics of "Phinedroids and Ferbots" is similar to the song "Larger Than Life" from Backstreet Boys (which bands like H.I.M., Limp Bizkit and, most notably, Children of Bodom, have covered) and "The Robots" by Kraftwerk (Hence Candace's 80's reference after the song). Also main line of the synthesizer sound sounds very similar to the one used in the song "Space is the Place" by The Jonzun Crew . The vocal modulations are similar to those in "Sample and Hold" by Neil Young.
 * The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf: The name of the Brobots' coffee franchise, Robot Bean and Tea Leaf, is a parody of this Californian coffee franchise.
 * Jimmy Neutron: There was an episode called "Brobot" where Jimmy made a little robot brother.
 * Grand Theft Auto: Vice City: When Candace says "80's Music is so 2002", she may have been referring to GTA: Vice City as it was set in the 1980's and was given a full 80's soundtrack. As it was released in 2002, it also introduced 80's music to a younger generation.

Cast

 * Vincent Martella as Phineas
 * Ashley Tisdale as Candace
 * Thomas Sangster as Ferb
 * Caroline Rhea as Mom
 * Richard O'Brien as Dad
 * Dan Povenmire as Dr. Doofenshmirtz and Santa Claus
 * Jeff "Swampy" Marsh as Major Monogram
 * Dee Bradley Baker as Perry
 * Malcolm McDowell as Grandpa Fletcher
 * Jane Carr as Grandma Fletcher
 * Dominic Wood as Charles
 * Tim Curry as Stubbings
 * Additional voices: Dee Bradley Baker, Tim Curry, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, Dan Povenmire
 *  designates a character that did not appear in this episode