Phineas and Ferb invent an immersive video game and accidentally trap Candace inside while she's trying to get ready for her date with Jeremy. Meanwhile, Doofenshmirtz has created the Ballgowninator to make himself into the manliest man in the Tri-State Area.
Tropes
- Badass Adorable: Once she gets the hang of the game, Candace plows right through it using her hair dryer as a weapon, and even defeats the Giant Buford boss (the first time) using her own life bar.
- Bait-and-Switch: Jeremey has just arrived to get Candace, who wonders how she is supposed to get ready in time. At the same time, Perry and Doof have just fired off a shot from the Ballgowninator. You'd think that the ray was about to hit Candace but instead, the ray then hits Phineas, Ferb and Isabella.Ferb: Apparently, do what we did.
- Big "NO!": One from Candace, coupled with Skyward Scream, when Phineas and Ferb get stepped on by the video game boss. Then Phineas has one when the boss targets the seemingly-defenseless Isabella.
- Blinding Camera Flash: Phineas' eyes become swirly after Buford flashes the game console's camera at him.
- Bond One-Liner: Delivered by Isabella after zapping Giant Buford back into the game.Isabella: You know what they say, the bigger they are, the harder they de-pixelate!
- Brick Joke:
- Early on, Baljeet questions the educational value of the handheld "Jump and Duck". Buford responds by nearly punching him. Later, after Buford has been pummeled into the ground by his giant counterpart, Baljeet says he now sees the educational value.Buford: Y'know, eventually, I'm gettin' outta here.
- Major Monogram informs Agent P that while checking on Doof's internet activity, they gave away what he'll be getting for Christmas (a vase). Sure enough, in "Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation!", during the credits, Perry receives a vase from Doof, and he gets a disappointed look on his face. Not because he dislikes the present, but because Monogram already gave it away!
- Early on, Baljeet questions the educational value of the handheld "Jump and Duck". Buford responds by nearly punching him. Later, after Buford has been pummeled into the ground by his giant counterpart, Baljeet says he now sees the educational value.
- Call-Forward: The baby boy Mrs. Doofenshmirtz gives birth to is Roger.
- Chekhov's Gun: The camera-like digitizer was used by Isabella to defeat Giant Buford.
- Chorus Girls: Doof asks Perry if he is overexplaining his evil plan, and even says he has a whole musical number prepared with several girls waiting for his cue.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: Phineas flickers out in Candace's arms before his and Ferb's Disney Death.
- Disney Death: Phineas and Ferb are struck fatally by Giant Buford and vanish out of existence... only to re-materialize seconds later because they only have four lives left.
- Duck!: The game is called "Jump and Duck". Baljeet at first sees no educational value to the game, until Buford takes a swing at him and yells, "Duck!"Buford: Consider yourself educated!
Baljeet: I stand corrected. - Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Phineas asks if there's any objective to "Jump and Duck" besides jumping and ducking. Buford's response? "It's called 'Jump and Duck', duh."
- Freudian Excuse: We learn the roots of the one-sided rivalry between Heinz and Roger Doofenshmirtz. When Doofenshmirtz's parents were expecting, they believed Roger would be a girl and Mrs. Doofenshmirtz spend months making dresses. When they instead had a second son, they were out of material and Heinz had to wear the same dresses, which made him the target of bullying from the other boys in Gimmelshtump.
- Game-Breaker: In-Universe example with Candace's hair dryer.
- Genre Blind: Candace clearly has little to no experience with video games (a subtle Continuity Nod to her video-game date with Jeremy in "Interview with a Platypus"). She rapidly drains her energy meter early on as she struggles to navigate the virtual world, and later believes her brothers have actually been killed when they lose a life.
- Gorgeous Garment Generation: The central conceit of the Ballgowninator.
- Honor Before Reason: When she's sucked into the game, Candace asks Phineas and Ferb if they can skip the game to the end to get her out. Thinking she's referring to cheat codes, Phineas says, "We don't roll like that."
- Hypocritical Heartwarming: Candace declares that nobody messes with her little brothers but her.
- I Meant to Do That: While being dragged by the end of Perry's ballgown, Doofenshmirtz gets caught on the roof of a building and ends up flipping back into the hot air balloon. After a brief pause to figure out what just happened, he smiles and says, "Exactly as planned!".
- Improbable Weapon User: Candace defeats the video game enemies and obstacles by blasting them with her hair dryer. Later, when that falls off a cliff, she smacks giant Buford with her own health meter.
- Inherently Funny Word: "Cotillion".
- Modesty Towel: Candace is sucked into "Jump and Duck" while getting ready for her date with Jeremy, and wears one of these for most of the episode. It somehow manages to stay on through all of the chaos in the digital world.
- Mythology Gag: The bit where Doof tells Perry he is too late, but then looks at his watch to check if it is 11:00 yet was originally in the pilot pitch for "Rollercoaster".
- Ninja Prop: As mentioned above, Candace smacks and subsequently defeats the Buford boss using her health meter.
- Pac Man Fever: "Jump and Duck" seems to be some hybrid of this and Super Mario Bros..
- Pre-Mortem One-Liner: Delivered by Isabella before using the Digitizer to defeat Giant Buford and send him back into the game.Isabella: Smile.
- Refugee from TV Land: The last level of the game brings the Flynn-Fletchers back to the real world...and giant Buford back with them.
- Running Gag: Yes, “cotillion” is a real word.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: After having the curlers removed from her hair and getting a dress, Candace looks stunning.
- Trapped in TV Land: Candace is literally sucked into the kids' giant video game. Later, her brothers follow her in to help her.
- Shout-Out: One of the castles in the game is drawn in the style of M.C. Escher, resembling his most famous work, Relativity.
- Vocal Dissonance: Baljeet, Isabella, and Buford's singing voices in "Let's Go Digital" don't match their normal speaking voices, with all of their voices sung by P&F composer Danny Jacob.
- Wingding Eyes: When Phineas gets stunned by the camera of Buford's game, his eyes become blue spirals for a moment.
- You Are Too Late: Parodied in this exchange between Doofenshmirtz and Perry (which was originally written for "Rollercoaster"):Doofenshmirtz: Ah, Perry the Platypus, you are too late! Wait, is it eleven o'clock yet?
[Doofenshmirtz checks his watch]
Doofenshmirtz:' Now! Now you are too late.
