| “ | This is a chariot race, there are no rules! | ” |
— Buford Van Stomm | ||
Phineas and Ferb have a chariot race with Buford and Baljeet, Isabella and the Fireside Girls, and Candace. Meanwhile, Dr. Doofenshmirtz creates Norm, a robotic man designed to destroy platypuses.
Episode Summary[]
Paul Bunyan's, where food is good. ("But not too good, eh?")
Phineas, Ferb, and Candace are at the museum with Lawrence, learning about Greek history. He tells the kids about Asparagus, the greatest warrior in all of Greece. He used his golden chariot to win every race and turned the Minotaur to stone with the head of Medusa. After Phineas jokes about how Medusa reminds him of Candace, he decides to start a chariot race in Danville.
In that same museum, Perry sneaks away and encounters Major Monogram hiding in one of the statues. He tells Perry that Dr. Doofenshmirtz built a machine to rid the world of platypuses and that he's hiding out at an abandoned theater.
Back at home, Phineas and Ferb plan the route for the chariot race. It'd start at home, through the streets of Danville and over to the park. They'll then pass by Paul Bunyan's pancake house, and finish at the museum.
Lawrence tells the boys he's going to watch 12 hours of gladiator movies, and when Isabella shows up, Phineas tells her to spread word of the chariot race they're about to have and bring gladiator gear for the occasion.
Perry goes to the abandoned theater and gets captured as usual. Doofenshmirtz then shows them a film about the enemies of the Platypus, the biggest enemy being humans. So for that reason, he built a giant robot man named Norm to take out Perry. Perry escapes, but Norm gives chase.
Meanwhile, the chariot race is about to start. The chariots will be pulled by rocking horses Ferb installed with a lawnmower engine. The first team is Phineas and Ferb. Isabella and two of her Fireside Girls, Katie and Holly, are the second team. Buford and Baljeet are the third team. They made another chariot for Candace in case she wants to show up. After handing out the maps, Baljeet wants to know the rules, but Buford tells him there's no rules in a chariot race.
Candace sees the race is ready to begin and tries to tell her dad, but he's too busy watching gladiator movies to notice. Django starts the race, and Candace decides to stop it herself. But the helmet that was placed on the doorway falls onto her, and she accidentally knocks over the columns and starts her own chariot.
Buford tries some underhanded tactics, ramming into the other racers with spiked wheels, a bowling ball catapult which knocks away Candace's cell phone when she tries to call her mom, and even holding Baljeet and using the helmet on his head to cause sparks to fly due to it scraping the streets at high speed. Isabella and her Fireside Girls retaliate by throwing a rope at a lamppost and attaching a hook to Buford's chariot, forcing him to cut himself free with Baljeet. They go through the park with Buford chopping the trees down and the chariots split up a three way road.
Perry, still being chased by Norm, heads to Paul Bunyan's and causes the robot to run into the Babe statue. The ox's head falls onto Norm's. When he sees Phineas and Ferb's chariot, he goes into pet mode where the boys pick him up.
Norm still chases him though, and the boys mistake him for the Minotaur. Candace's chariot goes through a carwash and a fish market and soon all the racers are back on the same road heading towards the museum. Candace takes the lead and eventually wins the race, while Phineas and Ferb are cheered on for an exciting downtown chariot race.
Candace is still determined to bust the boys when Norm appears and walks towards the platypus statue. Candace tells him off, and around the same time Perry lowers himself and turns off the robot. Everyone thinks that Candace turned the robot into stone, causing everyone to panic.
Doofenshmirtz comes in and turns the robot back on, but Perry puts a platypus cap on his head, causing Norm to chase him.
The boys thank Candace for defeating the Minotaur, but Candace refuses to believe she has the power to do that until she accidentally walks into stone statues, making her panic. Phineas tells Ferb he can look now, but he's not taking any chances as he keeps his hands over his eyes. Then Phineas sees Perry, but still, Ferb does not want to look.
Transcript[]
Read the transcript of Greece Lightning.
Songs[]
- "Paul Bunyan"
- "Gitchee Gitchee Goo" (elevator music)
- "My Chariot"
Gallery[]
|
| View the image gallery for "Greece Lightning". |
Running Gags[]
I know what we're gonna do today!/Hey, where's Perry?[]
Phineas: I know what we're gonna do today. We're gonna have our own chariot race like... Hey, where's Perry? |
The "Too Young" Line[]
None.
Ferb's Line/Oh, there you are, Perry[]
Phineas: Hey look, it's Perry. I gotcha! (Pets Perry) Where you been? |
What'cha doin'?[]
Lawrence: Hey boys, what'cha doin'? Phineas: Just mapping out our route for the big chariot race we're gonna have. |
Perry's entrance to his lair[]
Perry does not enter his lair. Instead, Major Monogram shows up in the museum inside of a replica of the Discobolos statue. It is a replica because the original doesn't have any clothes on and the version in this museum has a skirt.
Evil Jingle[]
Doofenshmirtz Abandoned Theater!
Memorable Quotes[]
Candace: I can't believe you dragged me all the way over here for this! Well, at least there's hunky guys in skirts. |
Lawrence: Guys come and look at this! This is an actual replica of an artist's interpretation of what some random guy of no significance believed that the chariot of Asparagus might have looked like. |
Major Monogram: (disguised as Discobolus) ...And don't look up my skirt! |
Announcer 1: Paul Bunyan's, where food is good. Announcer 2: But not too good, eh? |
Doofenshmirtz: You see, until now, every attempt to eradicate you has been foiled! Then I came across some— (hears a slurping noise) Excuse me, who are you, and what are you doing here? Random Boy: I bought a ticket to see this movie. |
Random Boy: This is the best platypus movie I have ever seen. |
Narrator: ...the greatest enemy of the platypus is man. Norm: Hi there! |
Buford: This is a chariot race, there are no rules. Isabella: No rules?! Well, if those are the rules... |
Buford: Hey you! You're goin' down! Baljeet: But we're on the same team! |
Phineas: We built you your own chariot that looks just like you! Candace: (standing next to chariot with an ugly face carved into it) Oh, that is ridiculous; I do not have wheels! |
Phineas: Remind me, why did we put spikes on Buford's chariot again? And a bowling ball catapult? I mean, what were we thinking? Why'd we give them all the cool stuff? What do we have? Ferb presses a button; cup holders pop out Cup holders?! Sweet! Now we're cooking. |
Baljeet: That is right! Eat sparks, my opponents! |
Norm: Are those slacks new? They make you look slimmer. |
Norm: Honey, have you seen my keys? |
Phineas: It's half-man, half-bull! It's the Minotaur! Norm: My name is Norm. |
Norm: Wait, come back! You can borrow my rake! |
Norm: Secretly I'm very lonely. |
Background Information[]
- While racing, they pass a lady with red hair, a yellow coat, white shirt and a green skirt, that almost looks like Linda, or at least has her color scheme.
- When the movie played to the part where it showed the friends of the platypus, they showed a blender.
- Lawrence says that the greatest warrior in all of Greece was called Asparagus (although he pronounced it differently) which is a vegetable.
- The Evil Jingle from this episode ("Doofenshmirtz Abandoned Theater!") is in a much higher key than usual (6 semitones higher).
- When Perry enters Doofenshmirtz's Evil Abandoned Theater, the elevator music version of Gitchee Gitchee Goo can be heard.
- When the "Greek" letters on the Chariot of Asparagus replica are read backwards, they say "Chariot of Asparagus."
- Linda is only mentioned in this episode.
- Isabella normally feels a disturbance when someone else says "Whatcha doin?" even if she's not around. However, after Lawrence says it to the boys, Isabella walks up to them as if nothing happened. This is probably because he says it casually, or because he is their father after all. She may also appear to not mind if he uses it like Phineas.
Production Information[]
- The part where Buford uses Baljeet's helmet (when he grinded his helmet on the concrete and used the helmet to cut the rope, both while holding Baljeet) were cut off on TV broadcasts, apparently due to the suggestion of violence.
Errors[]
- When Norm says "Let's invite our wives next time", the muzzle on the ox's head is gray.
- Though the episode's name is "Greece Lightning" and it is mainly circling around Greek history and mythology, gladiators are mainly Roman, not Greek. This also includes the mention of the Colosseum, which is located in Rome, Italy and the toga, a distinctive garment of ancient Rome. Ferb mentions this in "Leave the Busting to Us!", the episode "Greece Lightning" is paired with.
- The first time chariots are seen, none of them have reins.
- When Phineas announces the participants of the race, Holly's eyes have only two lashes.
- When Baljeet says, "they are still gaining on us", Isabella's arms and reigns are missing, and Katie's hands are darker than the rest of her skin.
- The reigns on Buford's and Isabella's chariots change color several times.
- When Buford uses Baljeet's head to cut the rope from his chariot, his shorts turn gray.
- When Candace gets dragged into the race by her chariot, she screams, but her mouth does not move.
- When Candace gets dragged through the car wash, her hair is much shorter than usual.
- When Isabella walks up to see what the boys are doing, she greets their dad with, "Nice hat, Mr. Flynn." Lawrence is a Fletcher, not a Flynn.
- The spikes on Buford's chariot wheels appear and disappear several times.
- The boy in the theater couldn't have bought a ticket because it was a private screening and it was "Doofenshmirtz's Abandoned Theater". (His presence may have also been for comical effect.)
- The most correct plural for platypus would not be platypuses (which is most accepted), platypi, or platypeople. With the word's Greek etymology in consideration, the most correct (albeit largely unused) plural form of platypus would be platypodes.
- Along the race, Isabella's bracers appear and disappear from scene to scene. Also, sometimes her bracers cover just her wrist, then other times they go to her elbows.
- At the race's end, in one scene, Norm is seen with horns on his head and a gray nose instead of yellow.
- Isabella's pleats on her dress are sometimes missing, most notably when she is in her gladiator gear. Also, when Phineas hands her the map, her belt is missing as well, but when Candace shows up, the belt is seen again.
- When Candace opens the door as the Medusa-styled helmet falls off her head, the door does not appear to knock on a pillar beside it, but in the very next scene, the pillar inexplicably falls down, causing a chain reaction as all the other pillars collapse as well and leave the ruins in the backyard.
- As such, Candace's chariot might not be able to go through as the path is blocked by the rubble, though the chariot might be durable enough to pass through the rubble.
- Isabella, Holly, and Katie are nowhere to be seen after the chariots crashed.
- At the end, when Ferb is covering his eyes, worried that he will be turned to stone by Candace, his hand is abnormally large.
- When Norm runs through the door in the museum as he is chasing Doofenshmirtz as makes the hole in the upper part of the frame, another white area suddenly appears above the frame.
- Despite what the film says, no species of badgers or vipers are indigenous to eastern Australia or Tasmania, the natural range of the platypus. However, this mistake is possibly meant to serve as a joke.
- When Phineas and Ferb's chariot gets damaged by Buford's, Phineas has no right thumb.
- Medusa was slain by Perseus, and Theseus slayed the Minotaur, not the non-existent Asparagus. These mistakes were probably supposed to be a joke.
- When Candace comes into the living room, she is facing Lawrence when he invites her to sit down. However, when Phineas calls from outside, she is facing the window.
- When fleeing from Candace's Medusa effect, Pinhead Pierre Actress' headband is missing.
Continuity[]
- Doofenshmirtz brings up the tennis ball machine he used once. ("Ready for the Bettys")
- This is the second episode showing Phineas and Ferb's attachment to cupholders. ("Ready for the Bettys")
Allusions[]
- Grease - The title is derived from the song "Greased Lightning" from the classic movie and musical Grease. The spikes on Buford's chariot wheel may also be derived from the race scene of this movie.
- Hercules - Some of the figures on a vase in the museum at the episode's beginning resemble the muses from the Walt Disney animated movie Hercules. The "use the head" scene is also parodied.
- Roger Ebert's Little Movie Glossary - Candace hits a Fruit Cart, as referenced in Ebert's Glossary.
- Ben Hur - The spikes on Buford's chariot wheel may be derived from the movie Ben Hur.
- Toy Story 2 - Baljeet telling Buford to literally "use his head" is possibly an allusion to a famous scene in Toy Story 2, when Rex's head is used to smash open a vent cover.
- Jason and the Argonauts - Major Monogram reveals that he's inside the crouching statue by turning its head to look at Perry. This resembles the moment in the film Jason and the Argonauts when the giant crouching statue of Talos turns its head before coming to life.
- The Simpsons - When the kids run away from Candace thinking she turned Norm to stone, Candace utters "D'oh!", which is Homer Simpson's famous catchphrase from the show which Dan Povenmire worked on as well.
Trivia[]
- This episode marks Norm's first appearance.
- This episode and "Leave the Busting to Us!" were voted # 7 by viewers for the Top 10 episodes in the "Fan Picked Phineas and Ferb Week" that aired on the Disney Channel during the week of the premiere of Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension.
- This is the second episode that they went to the Museum. First was "It's About Time!".
- As Norm chases Doofenshmirtz, he says, "Secretly, I'm very lonely." This was also said by Bobbi Fabulous' hand when he told Phineas and Ferb to talk to the hand ("Dude, We're Getting the Band Back Together").
- After the race, while in the museum, the kids chant, "Phin-e-as and Ferb! Phin-e-as and Ferb!", just like they did in "Lawn Gnome Beach Party of Terror".
- This is the third episode Linda is absent in (the others being "Are You My Mummy?" and "The Ballad of Badbeard").
- This is the second episode that Lawrence appears without Linda ("Are You My Mummy?").
- Ginger is seen without her beret and sash again. ("Rollercoaster").
- This marks the first time that Perry meets Major Monogram in person instead of via video screen.
- During "My Chariot", Phineas breaks the fourth wall when he looks at the camera.
- Candace breaks the fourth wall by looking directly at the screen as she says "I do not have a wheel" when her face resembles her chariot ride.
- This is the first time Candace loses her cell phone.
- This episode (along with "Leave the Busting to Us") first premiered on Disney Channel the same day that Dan Povenmire's second daughter Meli Povenmire was born.
- Interestingly, Meli would go on to casted as one of the titular characters in her father's later show Hamster & Gretel 14 years later.
Cast[]
- Main article: Credits
- Vincent Martella as Phineas
- Ashley Tisdale as Candace
- Thomas Sangster as Ferb
- Caroline Rhea as Mom ♦
- Alyson Stoner as Isabella
- Dan Povenmire as Dr. Doofenshmirtz
- Jeff "Swampy" Marsh as Major Monogram
- Richard O'Brien as Dad
- Dee Bradley Baker as Perry
- John Viener as Norm
- Vicki Lewis as Lulu ♦
- Bobby Gaylor as Buford
- Maulik Pancholy as Baljeet
- Gwendoline Yeo as Fifi ♦
- Alec Holden as Django
- Additional Voices: Corey Burton, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, Dan Povenmire, Jennifer Hughes, Richard O'Brien, Gwendoline Yeo, Maulik Pancholy
- ♦ designates a character that did not appear in this episode
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