"Here it is, a Shrinking Machine. Now, everybody touch the top of the machine." — Phineas[src] |
The Shrinking Machine is a shrinker built by Phineas and Ferb to increase their playing field for an indoor game of hide and seek.
History[]
Phineas, Ferb, and their friends are left inside the house during a rainy day. Bored, Buford wonders what they could do, with Isabella suggesting a vent talk. Suddenly, a voice proposes a game of hide and seek. Turning to the source, the boys find out about their biggest fan, Irving, who has a scrapbook containing a record of each one of their adventures. Concurring to his idea, the kids think of a way to increase their playing field, coming up with a new use for previous technology.
Having completed the device, the brothers present it to their friends, instructing everyone to touch the top. The shrunken gang starts to feel their surroundings by observing objects from their smaller scale, experiencing a myriad of possibilities throughout their exploration. Afterwards, the kids prepare to begin the round of hide and seek, impromptly nominating Candace as "it" to kick the game off. She notices the machine, and decides to bring it to her mother, catapulting Baljeet onto the ceiling lamp in the process of picking an umbrella.
Phineas sets out to recover the shrinker, reassuring Baljeet that they will rescue him as well. Meanwhile, curiosity gets the better of Candace, who ends up shrinking herself just before Vivian grabs the device, subsequently losing sight of the path in the bushes. Along their way, the kids face off against a mechanical bug, defeating it by using needle threads. While Candace runs from Pinky, the gang appropriates their recent foe for locomotion, quickly saving Baljeet and Candace so that they can all return to regular size. In the end, the self-destructing bot vaporizes the machine prior to Linda's view of it ("Hide and Seek").
Design[]
The Shrinking Machine is a white device with a truncated quadrilateral pyramid base, a rectangular top, four dark gray interconnecting cables, a light blue valve panel, a gray bell structure, a dark gray cylindrical part, a lime green marking, and a central blue cone piece with a red sphere on top.
Mechanics[]
The Shrinking Machine works on shrinking technology. Upon touching the red sphere, users can decrease their size to an insect-like scale; the reverse process occurs for already shrunken beings in contact with the machine, reverting them back to the macroscopic scale.
Background Information[]
- When posed with the idea of hide and seek, Buford ponders about the possibility of playing it on a relatively small house. To that, Ferb responds by stating that the real problem is their size instead of the residence's.
- According to Phineas, the Shrinking Machine utilizes the same technology as their submarine from another endeavor ("Journey to the Center of Candace").
- The items tested out by the kids whilst in a smaller size are:
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- To Irving's surprise, the boys' rescue mission is completely improvised, as pointed out by them.
- Once the mechanical bug spots the kids, the feed is shown to a doctor, who believes it to be a signal of a kids' television show. This is a self-reference to the series.
- Ferb is the one who modifies the foe robot to grant it wings by rearranging some of its wires.
- For survival, Baljeet has to use a fly's insides as a shelter, to everyone else's disgust.
- The Shrinking Machine is seen in the montage of clips used by Buford in his video dedicated to Phineas ("Phineas' Birthday Clip-O-Rama!").
Appearances[]
- "Hide and Seek" (First appearance)
- "Phineas' Birthday Clip-O-Rama!"
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