Bob and Linda Belcher have just seven days to make up the money to pay off a bank loan, an already-difficult task further complicated when a burst pipe creates a sinkhole outside the front entrance to Bob's Burgers. Worse still, a murder victim's body is discovered at the bottom of the hole—and to top it all off, the lead suspect in the murder case is their landlord, Calvin Fischoeder. Suspecting a frame job, Louise sets out to solve the murder, clear Calvin, save the restaurant, and prove to school bully Chloe Barbash she's neither a coward nor a baby. Also along for the ride, naturally, are Tina, who's preoccupied with plans to make things official with Jimmy Jr., and Gene, who's hoping to showcase his newest musical invention at Wonder Wharf's bandstand.
It is the second theatrical movie to be based on a Fox animated series after 2007's The Simpsons Movie, as well as the first since the studio's acquisition by Disney, and the latter's first traditionally animated film to be theatrically released since 2011's Winnie the Pooh.
Released on May 27, 2022 in the US and select international markets after being pushed back twice due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. A theatrical short known as "My Butt has a Fever
" accompanied screenings of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness at Alamo Drafthouse movie theaters and debuted on the FX channel the same day the film premiered in theatres.
Previews: Official Trailer Official Trailer 2
Tropes:
- Added Alliterative Appeal: When the kids are investigating Felix's treehouse, Louise declares, "Felix and Fanny framed Fischoeder, and now they're fleeing the frickin' country!"
- Amoral Attorney: Grover Fischoeder, Calvin's lawyer, seems ready and willing to back up any and all of Calvin's (generally amoral) nonsense and defend him when it seems obvious to everyone Calvin's guilty of murder. It turns out he has his own schemes as well...
- And Starring: The main closing credits end "With Zach Galifianakis as Felix Fischoeder and Kevin Kline as Calvin Fischoeder."
- Animation Bump: The animation in the movie is a massive step up from a typical episode of the series, especially when you compare it to the first season. The show's normal look is upgraded with stronger attention to light and shadow, detailed backgrounds, and more fluid animation.
- Art Shift: The sequence where Grover lays out his original plan for framing Calvin has a much simpler and more rudimentary style than the rest of the film.
- Ascended Extra: You'd be forgiven for thinking Grover Fischoeder is a brand new character, but he has in fact had speaking roles in a couple of episodes of the show proper.
- Asbestos-Free Cereal: In-universe, Calvin Fischoeder promotes the Wonder Wharf with a pamphlet reading, "Eighty years of cheap thrills and almost no decapitations."
- Asshole Victim: Discussed. In the song "Lucky Ducks", the carnies openly call themselves "A bunch of shady criminal-ish gents and ladies" but they also state that this doesn't justify Fischoeder's murder of Cotton Candy Dan because (most) of the carnies have served their time in prison and are just trying to make a living despite being underpaid and living in fear of being murdered."Even though we're kinda sketchy gals and fellas. Doesn't mean that Fischoeder can go and kill us (uh-uh)"
- Bad "Bad Acting": While the kids shoot video of Louise going into the sinkhole, Gene is suppposed to say "Louise, don't go down there, it's dangerous!" He repeats the line several times in stilted, melodramatic fashion.
- Bail Equals Freedom: Actually averted for a change. While Calvin doesn't have to sit in jail because paying bail is like chump change for him, a few lines from Grover and the fact that he's planning on fleeing to Cuba indicate that he's still expected to stand trial for Cotton Candy Dan's murder.
- Berserk Button: Louise does not like being called a baby, especially not by Chloe Barbash.
- Big Bad: Grover Fischoeder.
- Big Damn Kiss: Tina finally kisses Jimmy Jr. after he returns her barrete-necklace.
- Big Damn Movie: The movie heightens the stakes by threatening the restaurant's livelihood and having the Belchers track down and stop a real murderer.
- Big "WHAT?!":
- Teddy gives a shocked "WHAT?!" hearing that the Belchers' attempt to extend their bank loan is unsuccessful.
- Gene invokes this while acting on camera for Louise's trip down the sinkhole, with one of his proposed added lines being a loud dramatic "WHAT?!" in response to her idea.
- Bittersweet Ending: Albeit with more emphasis on the "sweet" part. As befitting any Bob's Burgers story, success is achieved with little to no long-term change. All the property damage and murder is averted, and Calvin thanks the Belchers for saving him by giving them the money to pay off their loan, saving the restaurant. On the other hand, the loan only covers the current month, meaning Bob and Linda will have to repeat their efforts for the foreseeable future. Gene's big concert that he'd spent the entire movie hyping up only attracts the attention of his parents and Teddy, but he's content with the turnout and he gets a standing ovation. Tina gets a Big Damn Kiss with Jimmy Jr., but just as little commitment as usual. Chloe still calls Louise a baby, but Louise doesn’t care what she thinks anymore and is willing to be seen without her hat once in a while, too.
- Book Ends: Combined with Shared Family Quirks and Toilet Humor. At the start of the movie, Bob sings that getting ready to meet with Mr. Dowling makes him feel like he's going to have diarrhea. At the end of the movie, while getting ready for his stage performance, Gene tells Bob it feels like "[his] insides are fighting to get out of [his] bottom hole."
- Brick Joke: Fanny tells Felix she's planning an outfit that involves a hat that looks like pants, and pants that look like a hat. Sure enough, she shows up in the end credits dance montage wearing exactly that.
- Broken Pedestal: Tina muses at one point that the reason she's nervous about asking Jimmy Jr. to be her summer boyfriend might not be a fear of rejection, but rather a fear that she might not enjoy going out with Jimmy Jr. after all. The pedestal is rebuilt at the end when Jimmy Jr. finds the hair clip necklace she was planning on using to propose, and tells her he saved it because it reminded him of her.
- Buried Alive: Once the Belchers are trapped in a go-kart and already on the precipice of the sinkhole, with a handy cache of dirt nearby, a live burial oddly turns out to be the quickest and most efficient way to deal with them, especially since everyone nearby who could conceivably help are watching a hockey game in Jimmy Pesto's pizzeria. Naturally, the Belchers survive.
- The Bus Came Back:
- Critter, who hasn't been seen in the show since Season 6, makes a return when the kids visit Sergeant Bosco on a stakeout.
- Marshmallow, who hasn't been seen since Season 8, has a cameo appearance in the end credits.
- Call-Back:
- When the carnies sing about how they've done their time, Mickey offhandedly remarks that most of them have. Mickey himself was arrested for armed robbery in Season 2, but avoided serving any time in prison after the prosecutor against him was discovered to have been using meth.
- Tina's delight at and subsequent horror at the destruction of the carousel horses calls back to the Season 4 two-part finale, which featured both as a plot point. Fanny, from those same episodes, also returns, with Felix assuring the Belchers she's now less murdery.
- Gene reunites the Itty Bitty Ditty Committee, his band with Tina, Louise, Darryl, Regular-Sized Rudy, and Peter Pescadaro from the Season 5 episode of the same name. Darryl and Rudy, for their part, barely remember that it happened, perhaps a reference to how the band only appeared in that episode.
- The personalities Louise ascribes to her two Kuchi Kopi toys, the melted one vengeful and spiteful and the newer one sagelike and calm, call back to the first time she imagined talking to them in Season 7's "Flu-ouise".
- Tina's imaginary horse Jericho returns, last seen in Season 6's "The Horse Rider-er".
- Some "Ghost Boy" graffiti can be seen behind Bosco's car as the Belchers interrupt his stakeout.
- Louise showing off the tooth in the cafeteria and claiming she's starting a society for people who have been in sinkholes is reminiscent of her answering questions about the restaurant robbery and claiming she, Gene, and Tina are now in a gang in "Hamburger Dinner Theater."
- At the Wagstaff playground, a group of kids can be seen playing Ga-ga ball, a game that the students briefly became obsessed with in "Y Tu Ga-Ga Tambien".
- Tina's lack of a cellphone because she's too reckless to keep one comes up when the Big Bad decides to get rid of all the cellphones to avoid calling for help. Even he questions why a girl her age doesn't have one.
- The Cameo:
- Several known actors who'd been on the show previously show up as new bit characters, such as Paul F. Thompkins, Nick Kroll, Ashley Nicole Black, and Rob Huebel. Paul Rudd also pops in briefly to reprise Jericho, Tina's imaginary horse, and Jordan Peele reprises his role as Fanny, Felix's girlfriend.
- The dancing montage over the end credits features characters who didn't appear in the film proper: Gretchen, Gayle, the Cranwinkles, Marshmallow, Mr. Branca, and Arnold.
- Cell Phones Are Useless: The show, thankfully, does a little bit of the work for the movie on this one: the Belchers have been repeatedly demonstrated to be low-tech, mostly for reasons of poverty, which means when Grover demands his hostages' cell phones Tina just vents a little about how unfair it is she doesn't have one (Grover is even surprised she doesn't). Played painfully straight with the adult hostages, whose phones are immediately confiscated and dropped into the ocean, preventing them from calling for help.
- Character Development: Louise gains the ability to accept being without her ears for a little while, while Bob resolves to try harder to be optimistic.
- Chekhov's Gag:
- The grody-looking tooth the corpse loses in Louise's mouth when she finds it matches perfectly to a scar on Grover's arm.
- Calvin's surprise that the stuffed animal storage room is nearly empty sets up that Grover stole all the stuffed animals to use as kindling with which to burn down Wonder Wharf.
- Teddy builds a food cart for Bob to sell out of while the restaurant's entrance is blocked—and for some reason insists on installing an "olive bar", a protruding metal tray to hold a jar of olives he brought from home. He later uses that tray to pry open the go-kart the family is trapped in during the climax.
- Chekhov's Gun: A pile of dirt is brought to the sinkhole, presumably to fill it... Only for it to be dumped beside the sinkhole and left there. This gives Grover the opportunity to push the Belchers into the hole and bury them alive.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Grover Fischoeder appears twice at the beginning before disappearing entirely. Grover reappears at the start of the third act, where it's revealed shortly after that he's the Big Bad.
- Close-Knit Community: The carnies all seem to like each other and sympathize with one another. When Louise accuses one of them of murdering Cotton Candy Dan, they're furious, and give chase to Bob, Linda, and Teddy when they knock over Dan's memorial.
- Comically Missing the Point: Linda sincerely asks if Cotton Candy Dan was a corn dog vendor.
- Community-Threatening Construction: Grover's plan includes building a "mega park" that takes up the entire neighborhood, made up of nothing but gift shops.
- Continuity Nod: Despite having appeared twice in the show, Grover has no idea who the kids are. Indeed, they never met in either of his appearances.
- Convicted by Public Opinion: Between the bullet found in Cotton Candy Dan’s skeleton matching Calvin Fishoeder’s gun and witnesses who saw Calvin threatening Cotton Candy Dan the last night he was seen alive, everyone is convinced that he is the murderer. The only two holdouts are Louise and one of the carnies. Calvin is even planning to flee to Cuba after paying his bail because he doesn’t believe that he’ll be able to prove his innocence in court.
- Creator Cameo: Loren Bouchard gets an "Additional Voices" credit.
- Cynic–Idealist Duo: Much of Bob and Linda's plotline in the film is about examining this dynamic, with Bob realizing in the third act how exhausting being the idealist all the time to Bob's cynic must be for Linda and resolving to try and give some back.
- Dance Party Ending: Abstracted: the closing credits show a montage of characters dancing, including many who didn't otherwise appear in the film, such as Gayle and Marshmallow.
- Darker and Edgier: A little bit more so than the parent series. This isn't the first time the Belchers have almost died, or even the first time they've been threatened with murder, but it's the little touches in how it's handled that make it feel ever so slightly heavier. (If nothing else, the show seems unlikely to top a skeleton losing its teeth in Louise's mouth.)
- Demoted to Extra: Most of the supporting cast don't get to do much. Courtney Wheeler and Jimmy Pesto get the most literal version of this, existing silently in the background of shots. Zeke, Tammy, Jocelyn, Andy and Ollie have speaking roles, but only appear for a few seconds and contribute nothing to the plot. Darryl and Regular-Sized Rudy also speak briefly, but only have tangential relevance to anything as members of Gene's band.
- Department of Redundancy Department: Teddy wants to call the cart he made the Mobile Bob Burger Mobilenote .
- Didn't Think This Through:
- The Fischoeders' escape plan involves piloting a submarine-themed roller coaster ride through the sea, all the way to Cuba, completely disregarding that it's a disused ride clearly not designed for actual aquatic travel. Calvin's forced to sheepishly admit that they may have been more excited about the idea than the idea warranted. And sure enough, Grover knew this from the start and actually worked it into his own plan to kill Calvin and Felix; the two end up trapped on the ocean floor and would have died of suffocation had the Belchers not rescued them.
- The Big Bad ultimately has this as his Fatal Flaw—he doesn't stick around to ensure that parts of his plan will go smoothly and tends to overlook seemingly-insignificant details while focusing on other things, resulting in him being poorly prepared in the case his plan does derail. The below-mentioned entry on Spanner in the Works is the most obvious example, but it reemerges throughout the climax. Grover's alibi nearly falls apart because he didn't think anyone would move the table he needed to sneak back into the gym and is barely able to sneak back in without it. His plan for disappearing the Belchers is rushed and improvised and he nearly lets them escape because he assumes they'll stay still while he's focused on the Fischoeder brothers. Once the Belchers are Buried Alive, he completely puts them out of mind and fails to consider how they're still in a loud vehicle pressed against a plastic water pipe, ultimately allowing the Belchers the chance to finally escape and report his crimes to the police. Additionally, he's savvy enough to block the side of his face so that nobody in Jimmy Pesto's can see him burying the Belchers, but he neglects to do the same for Mort's funeral home—which would've screwed him over even if the Belchers hadn't escaped, since the show confirms Mort has security cameras. Even his Villain Song features this—when no one asks about his master plan, he's reduced to pathetically asking them to until Louise acquiesces, because he's just that unprepared for somebody not acting how he expects them to.
- The Dog Bites Back: We find out that family Butt-Monkey Grover Fischoeder was the killer all along, having killed Cotton-Candy Dan in a convoluted plot to frame Calvin for it (since he's gotten away with every other thing that he's actually guilty of), take over the family business and remake Wonder Wharf into a theme-park (something Calvin callously dismissed as stupid for years).
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: Chloe Barbash never stops thinking of Louise as a coward, but by the end of the film Louise no longer cares.
- Dude, Where's My Reward?: Bob and Linda are a little grumpy that their prize for exonerating Calvin, saving him from certain doom, and averting the destruction of the neighborhood amounts to a single month's rent forgiveness so they can pay their bank loan, and Calvin's organ accompaniment at Gene's bandstand performance.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Though they went through a lot (and it only covers the current month), Bob and Linda manage to pay off their loan and save the restaurant, and all five Belchers have grown positively from the experience.
- Elaborate Underground Base: The Fischoeders have one beneath Wonder Wharf, since their father built Wonder Wharf on top of an entirely different amusement park. As such, it mostly consists of storage areas and disused rides and attractions, including a submarine-themed roller coaster Felix and Calvin have somehow convinced themselves they've turned into an actual working submarine.
- Evil All Along: Grover seemed like the White Sheep of the Fischoeder family during both of his appearances in the series. Turns out he's more villainous than both Calvin and Felix, having murdered Cotton Candy Dan six years prior to the series with the intention of getting Calvin sent to prison.
- Face of a Thug: After leaving the carnies, a scary looking carnie follows the Belcher kids and corners them in an alley. Turns out he wanted to help them clear Calvin of the charges, but didn't want to do it in front of the others because of how much they hate Calvin.
- Fantasy Sequence: Used in act one to set up the kids' main issues throughout the film. Tina finds herself unable to enjoy one about riding horses with Jimmy Jr., Gene imagines a robot arriving all the way from another planet just to tell him how bad his napkin-holder-instrument sounds, and Louise talks out her insecurities about her bunny ears with giant, sapient versions of her toys.
- Food as Bribe: Bob and Linda are very enthusiastic about bribing their banker, Mr. Dowling, with a burger so he'll stall longer on collecting the loan. Unfortunately he's completely disinterested, as he's trying to cut down on meat.
- Foreshadowing:
- Louise's verse in "Sunny Side Up Summer" effectively details her relationship to her bunny ears: She describes them as "keeping [her] feeling small, though they actually make [her] tall". Throughout the movie, she believes them to be a sort of Security Blanket left over from when she was in preschool, when in reality they were given to her by Bob and Linda as a mark of her bravery.
- When Grover first appears, he acts incredibly neurotic about the hole in the street, suggesting he knows more about it than anyone does.
- Frame-Up: Louise suspects Calvin's been framed, since he seemed a bit too casual about the sinkhole emerging (if he'd committed the murder, he'd probably have been a lot more panicked about the evidence suddenly re-emerging). She's right about the frame-up but not about who did it.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: During the flashback to Six Years Ago a quick eye can notice that it's Grover's shadow fighting with Cotton Candy Dan.
- Fridge Logic: In-Universe. Grover tells Louise Calvin and Felix Fischoeder had him pick up books on tape for them. Most of them were coloring books on tape, and Grover isn't sure how those would work.
- Friendship Trinket: Tina's storyline has her making a necklace out of one of her barrettes to give to Jimmy Jr., but can't work up the nerve. When she has second thoughts about giving it, she thinks it's no use keeping it and throws it into the sea. At the end, Jimmy Jr. brings it back to her after finding it at the beach.
- Funny Background Event:
- During the first scene in Bob's Burgers, Jimmy Pesto can be seen through the window, washing the sidewalk in front of his restaurant, briefly stopping to hit Speedo Guy with the hose for absolutely no reason.
- When the Big Bad starts singing about his mega-park plan, the Belchers and Felix are watching him, but Calvin is rolling his eye.
- Gilligan Cut:
- Bob says he's sure the bank will approve their loan extension. Cut to Mr. Dowling saying "No" to the extension.
- Louise tells Tina that she'll keep the tooth she found with the corpse a secret. Cut to her presenting it at the school cafeteria.
- Gosh Darn It to Heck!: Tina's "Son of a butt!" when her fantasy is ruined by her doubts of what dating Jimmy Jr. would actually be like. Viewers of the show may find this choice a little odd since Louise, who’s the youngest sibling, has gotten away with the un-minced phrase in a few episodes.
- Groin Attack: Linda demonstrates that Bob needs to do this to his pessimistic "droopy" side...by actually punching him in the groin. Twice.
- Hidden in Plain Sight: The button activating the slide to the underground Fischoeder base is labeled to suggest pressing it only triggers a high-voltage electric shock. Calvin couldn't have predicted that Gene, and later Linda, would interpret it as Schmuck Bait.
- Hope Spot:
- The Belchers see a news report on the arrest of the murderer of Cotton Candy Dan, hoping that means the sinkhole will be filled in. Unfortunately, the suspect is their landlord, which makes it even more unlikely they will ever reopen again.
- Linda sees a truck dump dirt in front of the sinkhole, reigniting hopes that they're starting to fill it in. Then the truck leaves, suggesting the city isn't in a hurry to fill it in before the week is up.
- Incredibly Lame Fun: The Mole Hill, an underground roller coaster at Wonder Wharf designed for the incredibly young, the elderly, and those with health problems. Both Tina and and Bob have, in the recent past, found themselves taken with it. Its slow speed works to Louise's advantage in the climax; after missing her first grab at the fuse, she has enough time to climb from the first car to the last and try for it again.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: Sergeant Bosco is staking out the One-Eyed Snakes because he suspects they've stolen a shipment of karaoke machines. The Belcher kids insist that this doesn't sound like them, only for the bar door to open and produce very audible karaoke sounds.
- "I Want" Song: The film's opening musical number succinctly lays out the practical and emotional stakes for all five Belchers.
- Jump Scare: During the ending chase scene, the Belchers come across a funhouse mirror and aren't sure if they've lost Grover. Seconds later, Grover very suddenly crashes through the mirror to resume the chase.
- Jurisdiction Friction: Being in the burglary division, Sergeant Bosco has absolutely no business investigating the murder, and as such spends his screentime trying desperately to convince anyone who'll listen how much cooler his beat is than homicide. The Belchers throw him a bone at the end of the movie by tipping him off to Grover's location, allowing him to be first on the scene.
- Just Between You and Me: Grover Fischoeder's Villain Song "Not That Evil" serves this purpose.
- Karma Houdini: Part of Grover's beef with Calvin: members of the Fischoeder family lose access to the family trust if they're convicted of a crime. Calvin's become the sole beneficiary not because he's innocent, but because he's never been caught. Grover's plan hinges on Calvin getting convicted for Cotton Candy Dan's murder, because that would make Grover (who also hasn't been convicted of a crime) the beneficiary in Calvin's place.
- Lack of Empathy: Jimmy Pesto's reaction to the sinkhole is only briefly shown, but the smile on his face indicates he's absolutely delighted that Bob's restaurant is almost certainly doomed because of it. Later, during the Time-Passes Montage of Bob staring out the window, he and Trev can be seen hi-fiving near the sinkhole.
- Mr. Dowling walks past the restaurant after the sinkhole forms, and merely scowls at Bob, clearly not caring about his predicament.
- Lampshade Hanging: Louise mentions she's had her bunny ears since preschool. Melted Kuchi Kopi's main concern is that her head, by this logic, hasn't grown at all in six years.
- Logo Joke: The 20th Century Studios fanfare is performed by ukulele a la the show's theme song, with Gene's keyboard sound effects as accompaniment.
- Loving a Shadow: Tina is worried that being with Jimmy Jr. won't be as fulfilling as the idea of being with him.
- Lower-Class Lout: Played With. The Belchers' murder investigation leads them to Wonder Wharf's carnies, who live in Trashy Trailer Homes and are all by their own admission ex-convicts. However, they point out that they've all done the time for their misdeeds, don't deserve their exploitation at the hands of Calvin Fischoeder, and are incensed that they're seen as so disposable that their boss (allegedly) has no issues murdering them.
- Low-Speed Chase: The go-kart chase between the Belchers and Grover slows down considerably when they reach the beach, as the karts aren't built to run on sand. Tina suggests they walk instead.
- Mask of Sanity: Compared to his unhinged cousins, Grover can present himself as an ordinary lawyer in most interactions. This shatters during the climax, when he reveals a nigh-inhuman persistence and behavior when hunting down the Belchers. Its implied that the agony of waiting six years without knowing where Cotton Candy Dan's body was buried has worsened his already tenuous sanity.
- Grover: I didn't bury him in front of your restaurant, and I didn't want to wait six years! SIX YEARS!!!
- Mood Whiplash: After a touching reveal regarding Louise's bunny ears hat, Gene asks if anybody wants to talk about the month he wore a bucket on his head. Bob says no, and that he found it concerning.
- The Musical: Expected as the original show usually features at least one song per season (often the finale), but downplayed as there's only about four songs sung during the narrative.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: During the climax, Grover uses a crossbow to shoot out one of the tires on the Belchers' getaway go-kart. This comes back to bite them after Grover buries the Belchers in the sinkhole, as Bob uses the exposed metal wheel to break the plastic water pipe, causing another leak that frees the Belchers and allows them to alert Sergeant Bosco of Grover's crimes.
- Not Helping Your Case: Felix obliviously rambles on to some news reporters about how some behaviors Calvin exhibited the night of the murder are just normal things everyone does, like getting violent and making death threats.
- Now, Let Me Carry You: Bob, recognizing that Linda's optimism is all tapped out during the Belchers' near-death experience, steps up to the plate and forces himself to believe they can find a way out.
- Old Money: Though there were various implications in the show, the movie confirms Calvin inherited both his money and Wonder Wharf from his late father. This is a sore spot for both Felix and the carnies; Felix because he feels cheated out of it and the carnies because they feel Calvin hasn't had to work a day in his life while they're busting their backs for a fraction of the luxury he's got.
- Ominous Pipe Organ: Calvin has one in his Elaborate Underground Base, which naturally intrigues Gene immediately. It's like a prototypical electric keyboard in that it's outfitted with other instruments that can be played by extra keys.
- One Bullet Left: During the final act, Grover uses a crossbow but only has one bolt. He makes it count by shooting out the Belchers' tire during the chase scene, allowing him to catch up to them.
- Opening Shout-Out: The first act features the burger falling into place, the pest control van, and the store next door's punny sign—which is immediately removed and the storefront put up for rent. The end of the film features the Grand Re-Re-Re-Opening sign, with another Re- added since the restaurant was closed while the sinkhole was out front.
- Out of Focus: Gene's plotline gets less attention than the other Belchers'.
- Overly Long Gag: During Grover's attempt to burn Wonder Wharf to the ground, the fuse keeps going out as Grover attempts to make his escape, only to reignite on its own when Grover comes back down to relight it. After a few times of going back and forth, a thoroughly-annoyed Grover simply stays put and watches until he's sure the fuse will stay lit, then runs like hell.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: The Belcher kids find Sergeant Bosco on a stakeout of the One-Eyed Snakes. When Critter, one of the Snakes, spots Bosco, the kids point out it's probably because he left his siren on the roof of his car. And his badge on the dashboard. And has "Sergeant Bosco" written on his coffee cup.
- Peek-a-Boo Corpse: While in the sinkhole, Louise accidentally uncovers a buried skeleton that springs on top of her, and some of the teeth fall off and into her mouth. This turns out to be the corpse of Cotton Candy Dan, a carnie killed six years ago, and one of the teeth that Louise keeps provides a clue as to who the murderer is.
- Pet the Dog: The Belchers tip off Sgt. Bosco so that he can be the one who arrests Grover.
- Psycho Pink: Grover Fischoeder is eventually revealed to be the one who murdered Cotton Candy Dan as part of an elaborate plan to frame his cousins and build a mall on the wharf. Grover is known to wear a pink suit and wears a pink tracksuit in the 3rd act.
- Race Against the Clock: Bob has one week to pay off a bank loan. He manages, not because he raised the money but because Calvin gave him a month's rent relief. Mr. Dowling tells Bob most people usually aren't as enthusiastic as he is about paying late, and it's ambiguous whether the one week Mr. Dowling gave him was already overtime or if the clock won.
- Red Herring:
- The carnie manning the front booth makes a point of repeatedly warning the Belcher kids not to enter the abandoned dog food factory near the carnies' trailer camp. They don't, and the factory never becomes relevant to the plot.
- Fanny, who had previously been perfectly willing to let the Belchers drown in "World Wharf II: The Wharfening," makes an appearance when the kids spy on Felix and suspect him to be the murderer. Turns out neither was involved.
- Retcon: A mild example that's easily explained as Early-Installment Weirdness. The first episode of the show indicates that the restaurant was already open when Bob and Linda got married, as they spent their wedding night working. The movie changes this; namely, it reveals that Bob and Linda were married before the restaurant was open, as seen in a flashback where Linda was visibly pregnant with Tinanote .
- The Reveal:
- At the Fischoeders' underground lair, we see a picture of young Calvin and Felix with their dad, showing the mustache that Calvin has repeatedly said Bob's own reminds him of. We also learn from this picture that Calvin has had an eye patch since he was a teenager.
- We see Bob's long dead mom in flashback for the first time when Bob explains where he and Linda got the idea for Louise's bunny ears.
- For that matter, the origin of the bunny ears themselves is finally revealed. They were based on a knit cap worn by Bob's late mother, and knitted for Louise after her first day at preschool. It was originally just going to be a standard hat, but Linda had extra material so she added the bunny ears.
- Rule of Threes: Three times Mr. Frond tries to council Louise during an emotionally fraught situation. The first two times he gets shouted down for his trouble, while in the third Louise has successfully solved her problem herself and calmly reassures Mr. Frond that she's fine.
- Run for the Border: The Belchers suspect Felix is planning on doing this and spend much of the movie tailing him. They're right—but he's not doing it because he's guilty, merely because Calvin doesn't think he can beat the charges and Felix (and Fanny) have insisted on joining him.
- Running Gag: Gene (and occasionally Tina) saying the phrase "Crime hole!" and getting chastised by Bob for it.
- Saving the Orphanage: Initially, the plot hinges on the Belchers paying their bank loan and stopping their restaurant equipment from being repossessed, but things escalate from there: Grover's plan involves burning down the Wharf, and his Imagine Spot showing his plans for a new amusement park show him bulldozing the Belchers' entire neighborhood for gift shops and parking structures.
- Sexy Whatever Outfit: Linda puts a bikini on top of Gene's burger costume to make it a "sexy burger" to attract business.
- Shout-Out:
- The UFO in Gene's dream is styled similarly to the spaceship on the cover of ELO's album Out of the Blue.
- The Black Comedy gag of a corpse falling on top of Louise and its teeth going into her mouth is straight out of Drag Me to Hell.
- Gene jokes about the tooth Louise got from the skeleton that "You can't handle the tooth!"
- The gym where Grover tries to sneak back into to establish his alibi is named "Weight Weight Don't Tell Me".
- Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism: A key theme of the film is that believing you have a chance might lead you to take risks you might not otherwise, and that idealism itself is worthwhile for this reason.
- Small Role, Big Impact:
- Mr. Dowling is this for both the show and the film. In both he barely appears, but here as his status as Bob's primary point of contact with his bank makes him the impetus for the financial ruin the Belchers are threatened with.
- Hugo and Ron, usually a big deal when they appear in an episode, are reduced to cameos here—but spotting them scares Bob off work as an unlicensed street vender, leading him to set up business inside Wonder Wharf itself, setting events in motion that allow him and Linda to find the kids in the Fischoeders' underground base towards the end of the film.
- Chloe Barbash only has two brief scenes (at the beginning and end of the movie), but her calling Louise a baby leads to Louise trying to prove her bravery by exploring the sinkhole, which leads to her uncovering Cotton Candy Dan's skeleton and setting in motion most of the plot.
- Spanner in the Works: Grover's plan was supposed to reach its apex six years ago, when he stuck Cotton Candy Dan's body in a pile of dirt outside Wonder Wharf, expecting it to be found and connected to Calvin immediately. Instead, some anonymous construction driver took the body and the dirt and used it to fill a hole outside of Bob's Burgers, where it wouldn't be discovered until the present day.
- The Stinger: After the end credits you can see Tina fantasizing about herself and Jimmy Jr. sharing a horse ride with three zombies. Fantasy!Jimmy Jr. isn't having a good time.
- Suspect Is Hatless: As he calls the police on Grover, Teddy says he wants to report that "a thing happened."
- Team Hand-Stack: Tina, Gene, and Louise do this at the beginning of their investigation. Gene quips that every episode of Law & Order should start this way.
- Theme Music Withholding: The show's theme song only finds its way into the score during the final montage, with the family admiring the Grand Re-Re-Re-Re-Opening sign.
- Trashy Trailer Home: The carnies Calvin employs at Wonder Wharf live in a trailer park set up in the ruins of a run-down district of the Belcher's home neighborhood, in closest proximity to a dilapidated (but still very smelly) dog food factory.
- T-Word Euphemism: Louise refers to being called a "baby" as "the B-word".
- Unconventional Vehicle Chase: The film's climax involves the family and the villain involved in pursuit in a pair of aquatic-themed oversized go-karts.
- The Un Favourite: Felix was implied to be this, as Calvin inherited Wonder Wharf from their father while Felix got nothing of note. Felix himself still holds resentment over it, which is part of what leads Louise to suspect him of being the murderer.
- The Un-Reveal:
- Louise's hat does come off, with the expected shock from every character nearby, but Louise herself is out of frame until she puts it back on so we never see what she looks like without it.
- While the kids question how Fanny got out of prison despite having been convicted of attempted murder, it's never actually revealed how she got out or why she's back together with Felix.
- Unseen No More: Bob's mother is seen in a flashback, after spending the entire series as The Ghost.
- Villain Song: The real murderer, Grover, gets one, which lays out his motives and any niggling practical details the audience might be wondering about.
- Wham Shot: A double whammy. Louise looks at an old picture of the Fischoeder family and the carnies, quickly noticing that Grover is wearing the same banana cufflink found in Cotton Candy Dan's skeleton. Then she looks over at Grover as he's being pulled around by his cousins—and she spots a bite scar in the shape of Cotton Candy Dan’s distinctive tooth on Grover’s forearm.
- What Does This Button Do?: At the Mole Hill, Gene finds a panel with buttons and starts pushing them impulsively, especially one that says "ouchie". Pushing that button takes them to the Fischoeders' secret underground club. Later, Bob and Linda arrive and a flashback shows they found it when Linda was also pushing the buttons.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: Gene, as per usual. He's thrilled Linda has added a bikini to his burger costume and asks why he didn't think of it himself. It becomes his stage getup when he plays with his band at the end of the film.
- Would Hurt a Child: Grover tries to kill the kids.
