In prehistoric times, Phinabunk and Gerb decide to invent the wheel, which annoys their sister Cantok. Meanwhile, Bunka de Bunkakwan must stop Doofengung from using his Stick-inator to poke the mammoths to destroy Roger's home.
Tropes
- All There in the Script: Some of the prehistoric versions of characters are not referred to by name. In order of appearance:
- Baljeet's ancestor is named "Baljug"
- Major Monogram's prehistoric counterpart is named "Monobrow"
- Lawrence's prehistoric ancestor is named "Da"
- Otherwise, no names are given to Stacy, Roger, Bobbi Fabulous, or the Fireside Girls' prehistoric counterparts.
- Bait-and-Switch Silhouette: The episode begins on the familiar silhouette of the Flynn-Fletcher house, only for the sun to rise to reveal a stone structure in the same shape, establishing that we are no longer in the present day.
- Bamboo Technology: To be expected from a caveman-themed episode; Phinebunk and Gerb invent a Flintstones-style car from rocks and wood, the caveman version of Bobbi Fabulous runs a modern-looking hair salon made of rocks, Can-tok and Stacy's cavewoman counterpart communicate to each other from afar using percussion instead of phones, Monobrow briefs Bunka da Bankaquank from behind a hole in a cave wall rather than a screen, Doofengung's Inator is a pointy stick.
- Borrowed Catchphrase:
- Boofgard steals Isabellok's "Wakka tooka?" catchphrase, which she is none too pleased about. A Call-Back to an earlier joke in "Out of Toon".
- Also, in the Framing Device, when captions reveal who Jeff "Swampy" Marsh and Dan Povenmire are, Marsh asks Povenmire where Perry is.
- Call-Back: A real-life version of the Perry the Inaction Figure from "Toy to the World" appears in Povenmire and Marsh's office.
- The Cameo: Conk, from "Boyfriend from 27,000 B.C.," appears, and we learn how he ended up being frozen in the Danville Glacier.
- Continuity Nod: When Can-tok informs Phinabunk and Gerb that she is "in charka", Phinabunk questions if that's only "Du mhakka satellakkah?"
- Dance Party Ending: The episode ends with Phinabunk, Gerb, and all their friends singing a caveman version of "Gitchee Gitchee Goo" and dancing around Cantok's fire. Doubles as a Sudden Musical Ending since the final framing sequence has Dan and Swampy realizing they forgot the song and come up with one.
- Deadpan Snarker: Even in cave talk, Mog gets really snarky.Cave!Bobbi: Can-tok, uh, enthusilakkah.
Mog: Can-tok, bonk-a-lonka. - Didn't Think This Through: Doofengung's evil plan has him poking a mammoth with a sharp stick so its herd will stampede into his brother's territory. However, when he tries it, the mammoth simply turns around and sees that Doof is the one who poked it and the herd stampedes after him instead.
- The Discovery of Fire: Can-tok accidentally discovers fire when her spear is ignited after she drops the end of it in some molten lava.Can-tok: Can-tok makka foomfah! Can-tok in charka!
- Elseworld: Transplants the standard P&F formula into the prehistoric era.
- Framing Device: Throughout the episode, we shift to creators Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh in low-budget photo animation discussing the episode to explain something going on.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: At one point, during her chase, Can-tok's hair suddenly looks like Candace's. She messes it up again afterward.
- Freudian Excuse: Apparently, Doofengung's Devonian fish ancestor decided to bail out on the journey onto dry land, hence why he is less evolved than his brother.
- A Good, Old-Fashioned Paint Watching: Doofengung somehow gets a thrill out of watching water drip from a stalactite to a stalagmite.
- Gratuitous English:Gerb: I guess we should wait until tomorrow to tell them about our new language.Phinebunk: Yes. Yes, we should.
- Handsome Heroic Caveman: Doofengung's brother is a straight-backed, muscular, clean-shaven caveman, opposed to the more hunched, skinnier, scruffier Doofengung.
- Historical AU: The episode transplants the contemporary-era cast into prehistoric times.
- Hulk Speak: All of the cavepeople mainly speak this way. And, from context, it's evident what they are referring to from context and intonations.
- Ah = Yes
- Nee = No
- Wa = wheel
- May = Hello
- Wakka tuka? = Whatcha doin'?
- Arga barga bit junga ba googa googa...? = Aren't you a little old to be...?
- Bunkaquan = Sabre-tooth platypus
- In charka = In charge
- Bakka lakka... = Back in Gimmelshtump...
- Kunga = automobile
- Foomfa = Fire
- Bunkah! = Crap!
- Inventing the Wheel: In this case, Phinabunk and Gerb invented the wheel, then use it to make a primitive Bamboo Technology vehicle.
- No-Dialogue Episode: No one speaks throughout the episode, except through a simplistic caveman language that the audience doesn't understand.
- Out of Focus: The "real" Phineas and Ferb are completely absent (we only see their prehistoric ancestors).
- Race Lift: Or species lift in this case. Carl the Intern becomes a hyperactive monkey named Gnarl.
- Reality Has No Subtitles: With a few exceptions, most of the dialogue is told in "cave talk" gibberish. But the formula should be familiar enough to fans to understand what's going on.
- Rearrange the Song: A grunting version of the "Quirky Worky Song" is heard when the gang begins inventing the wheel.
- Shaped Like Itself: Doofengung's Stick-inator, which is just a pointed stick he uses to poke a woolly mammoth with.
- Strictly Formula: This episode exploits the show's use of this trope. Even though almost the entirety of the episode has the characters as completely unintelligible cave people, it's still very easy to tell what's being said based on the show's plot structure and very common Running Gags.
- There Was a Door: Doofengung gestures to Bunka there was a huge cave opening when he breaks through his cave wall.
- The Unintelligible: With the exception of Dan and Jeff, there are precisely two lines in the animation that are spoken in English (said by Phinabunk and Gerb, right at the end, about inventing the language itself); everything else is a variation of caveman speak. That said, the show's Strictly Formula narrative storytelling works in the episode's favor, as you can still understand what the characters are doing, even if you have no idea what their words actually translate as.
- Vile Vulture: Can-tok briefly gets carried off by a giant prehistoric vulture with sharp teeth.
