"You know, Ferb? One of the best times we ever had was when we built that rollercoaster. We should do it again! But this time, as a musical!"
—Phineas Flynn
On a day very similar to the very first episode, the not-quite-as-snarky-anymore Phineas remarks that one of the best times they ever had was when they built that rollercoaster, so he decides to do it again, as a musical! Meanwhile, Doctor Doofenshmirtz tries his tin-foil scheme again, believing that it originally failed because he wasn't using one of his signature Inators.
This episode contains examples of:
- As Himself: Kenny Ortega, best known for being the director and choreographer of the High School Musical trilogy, makes an appearance as the choreographer of the finale.
- Backstory of the Day: Subverted. When telling Perry about his second attempt to change the planet's rotation with tin foil and a giant magnet, he adds, "I know you're probably expecting some tragic back story, explaining why I want to reverse the rotation of the Earth. But I'm not gonna go there." He proceeds to sing a Villain Song about how he won't let his Hilariously Abusive Childhood affect his intent to cause mass hysteria For the Evulz.
- Bat Signal: In one shot of "You're Going Down", Candace is dressed as a Batman parody and the signal is in the shape of Mom's silhouette.
- Big Finale Crowd Song: The episode ends with "Carpe Diem" and features nearly every character who had appeared on the show up to that point. (The notable exception is Planty the Potted Plant.)
- Brick Joke:
- Linda's remark from the original episode about Candace yelling at cheese is repeated here, only this time Linda is being completely serious when she asks Candace if she wants to yell at cheese; a few scenes later, Candace is shown actually yelling at cheese.
- Just like in the original episode, when the rollercoaster passes by some moose and Phineas says, "You know, if those crash into our house, Candace is in charge."
- Bring My Brown Pants: In the song "Rollercoaster", Buford says, "I'm glad I'm wearing trousers that are already brown!"
- Call-Back:
- In one shot during "Back in Gimmelshtump", the young Doof is given a solo line while dressed as a lawn gnome.
- The two Candace time paradoxes are seen in the parking lot, a reference to "Phineas and Ferb's Quantum Boogaloo".
- Instead of a satellite, this time Meap appears to greet the kids when their rollercoaster is flung into space.
- The Cameo: Remember the Jeremy-esque Slushy Burger cashier from the original episode? Well, he is replaced by Jeremy, who tells Phineas to say hello to Candace for him.
- Carpe Diem: A major theme in this episode (and the entire series in general). It's given its own song with the same name in the finale.
- Characterization Marches On: Due to Phineas' personality change since the series began, he's more random toward Candace instead of bored and flat like in the first episode. Notice his reaction to when she says she's in charge: instead of a snarky "whatever" and the Blatant Lie that he and Ferb are doing homework, he asks her if the condition had to do with the moose incident, which she lampshades before heading inside. Also, instead of ignoring Candace as she runs off, he happily lampshades the "no discernable music source" to Ferb. And when the rollercoaster falls back to Earth, instead of commenting how they should've charged more for the ride, Phineas says how it was good to see Meap.
- Chorus Girls:
- The girls from "Impress My Professor" accompany Candace during "Mom Look".
- A different set of chorus girls back up Doof during "Back in Gimmselstump", one of whom asks after the number if she can leave so she can pick her child up from school. (Which is odd, given that this is supposed to take place during summer when school is closed.)
- Clip Show: For all intents and purposes, this is what the episode was made to be; a lower-budget Lower-Deck Episode to end the production order for Season 2. It's a re-tread of the very first episode, just with a few different voice lines, new music, and changes to some of the scenes to accommodate the change in theme. Other than that, more than half the episode is basically Stock Footage lifted from the first episode.
- Complexity Addiction: Lampshaded by Doof during "Back in Gimmelshtump":But I'm no longer a hater,
'Cause I've got an inator
And an overcomplicated scheme!
I get a couple of checks
Every month from my ex
So I can finance my coming regime! - Continuity Cavalcade: There are so many call-backs to past episodes, especially with this episode being the Season Finale in terms of production order. Of note:
- The entirety of the song "Mom Look" has Candace mention so many of Phineas and Ferb's ideas and inventions that Linda never got to see (the following lines in brackets are Linda's):Once they made it winter in June (I didn't see it.)
Built a rocket to the moon (I didn't see it.)
Mom, they caused me so much pain (Now, Candace...)
Once they even gave me Perry's brain (Oh, for crying out loud!)
They built a submarine, a time machine, a haunted house that made me scream
Drove cattle through the mall, built a giant bowling ball
Blew me up to 50 feet, a chariot dragged me down the street
(stops to catch her breath)
Made their stupid clothes a fashion craze, shoelace tips a household phrase
Shot me through a circus tent, always asked where Perry went
A lava flow destroyed my face, a giant roller derby race
Thawed a caveman out of ice, built a rollercoaster twice! - And then in the final song, "Carpe Diem", pretty much every single character introduced within the first two seasons return to sing and dance along. See here
for more details.
- The entirety of the song "Mom Look" has Candace mention so many of Phineas and Ferb's ideas and inventions that Linda never got to see (the following lines in brackets are Linda's):
- Crowded-Cast Shot: At the very end of the episode.
- Déjà Vu: Doofenshmirtz says he seems to be feeling a sense of Déjà Vu when he and Perry try to separate the magnet from the Magnetism Magnif-Inator (for obvious reasons). And again, after he thanks Perry for saving him, and when the giant foil ball crushes him...Doofenshmirtz: Curse you, déjà vu!
- Disney Acid Sequence: Pretty much all of the songs are this. The only exceptions being "Aren't You a Little Young" and the title song.
- Eyelash Fluttering: Isabella does this (directed at Phineas) at the beginning of the third musical number.
- Failed a Spot Check: As per the original, when Candace and Linda look into the backyard at the end, neither of them notice the coaster train in the flaming tree, right above them.
- Fascinating Eyebrow: Just before the "Rollercoaster" song begins and Isabella asks Phineas if he's sure the ride is safe, Phineas is shown smirking with a cocked eyebrow combined with Dreary Half-Lidded Eyes, as he responds "Of course."
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: While Candace and Linda are in the parking lot leaving the supermarket, the two future Candaces from "Phineas and Ferb's Quantum Boogaloo" can be seen watching them from behind a car.
- Gratuitous Spanish: In the titular song, Phineas says, "¡Permanecer sentados, por favor! / Scream if you want more!", which is a reference to the safety spiel on the Matterhorn Bobsleds at Disneyland. This is a Mythology Gag to the original pilot version of the episode, where Phineas was supposed to say this in his safety spiel.
- In the Style of: Each of the songs have their own unique genre.
- "Hey Ferb" is done in the style of a Broadway show tune.
- "You're Going Down" is done in the style of 1960s girl groups such as the Ronettes and the Supremes.
- "Aren't You a Little Young?" is a march.
- "Back in Gimmelshtump" begins like a heavy metal rock song, but then switches to the Broadway showstoppers that Doof is known for.
- The title song is a hard rock song.
- Finally, "Carpe Diem" is pretty much a pop song that you would hear on Disney Channel shows and movies of the time such as Hannah Montana and High School Musical.
- Insistent Terminology: During the episode, Doofenshmirtz attempts to reverse the rotation of the Earth by using a Magnetism Magnif-inator, rather than a Magnetism Magnifier as in the first episode. Doofenshmirtz explains the difference, not realizing that changing the name and not the design won't change the result.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Basically Phineas' idea for the episode:Phineas: Whaddya say? We'll do all the same things, except we'll break into spontaneous singing and choreography with no discernible music source.
Ferb: Hmm...what assurance would we have that everyone else will also break into song and do the same thing?
Phineas: I don't know. I think they probably will.
Ferb: Fair enough. I'm in. - List Song: "Mom Look" has Candace list off several of the inventions the boys made.
- Mood Whiplash: Doofenshmirtz's "Back in Gimmelshtump" number starts of as a very intense rock song, before abruptly switching to a showtune halfway through.
- Musical Episode: This episode is a full musical episode based off the plot of the first episode, where most of the catch-phrases and running gags get their own songs.Phineas: And this time, it's a musical!
- Musicalis Interruptus: A Running Gag with Major Monogram trying sing a sad song about his job, only for it to get cut short. After the first two times this happens, he is understandably reluctant to sing it again. Carl encourages him to try one more time, and he obliges, only for him to get interrupted for the third time by the Disney Channel logo.
- Over-the-Top Roller Coaster: Phineas and Ferb built their "Coolest Coaster Ever" again — the one that starts with a massive drop, cuts through the city, and gets flung back and forth across the planet and eventually into space. This time complete with a song as the coaster rides along!
- Patter Song: "Mom Look" turns into one during its outro, with Candace singing rapid-fire lyrics about the boys' past inventions. At one point, during a fast section, Candace pauses to catch her breath.
- Perplexing Plurals: When Candace meets her mom at the supermarket, instead of Linda guessing that a satellite fell out of the sky, instead she guesses that a herd of wild moose are in their living room. Candace then insists that it is actually "mooses", to which Linda correctly affirms that "moose" is already plural.Candace: Mom, trust me, it's "mooses". Or is it "meeses"? You want me to get a dictionary?
- Recurring Extra: Defied. The same kids who ripped out the poster in the original "Rollercoaster" episode attempt to do the same thing again, but this time they're stopped by Buford, who wasn't in the original episode, who proclaims that he's going to ride the rollercoaster instead of "lousy extras". Sure enough, Buford, Baljeet and the Fireside Girls take over the extras' place in the rollercoaster.
- Recycled Animation: Some of the shots in this episode are directly reused from "Rollercoaster", most noticeable are the shots with the rubber snakes and when the rollercoaster is swung up through a construction area, and, as always, the shots where Candace's nose outline is black instead of brown.
- Retroactive Wish: The farmer and wife couple show up in a gag during the fight between Dr. Doofenshmirtz and Perry, arguing about the farmer's car on a sidewalk nearby the Doofenshmirtz Evil Inc. building.Wife: What did you think, a battery cart was just going to fall out of the sky?
(A battery cart falls from the building and lands next to them)
Wife: Okay... what did you think, a million dollars was going to just fall out of the sky?
Farmer: It doesn't work that way.
Wife: Well, how does it work, then?! - Series Continuity Error:
- Candace says Phineas and Ferb "built a rollercoaster twice" at the end of "Mom Look", but they've also built rollercoasters in "Fireside Girl Jamboree" and "Phineas and Ferb-Busters!". Additionally, in the song she states that the boys “made it winter in June”, but in “S’Winter”, Phineas says it’s July.
- Isabella says in the "What'cha Doin'" song, "Everyday I come over," when there are a few episodes where Isabella is absent.
- The future Candaces from "Quantum Boogaloo" are seen in the parking lot of the store. However, they said that they were going back to the first day of summer, which would be the first rollercoaster episode.
- Sequel Episode: To the very first episode "Rollercoaster". It's basically a re-telling of such as a musical.
- Shout-Out: During "Hey Ferb", a montage plays that consists of the duo taking part in various musicals including Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, Oklahoma!, Singin' in the Rain, Fiddler on the Roof, West Side Story, The Music Man, Les Misérables, The King and I, Chicago and Cabaret.
- Smash to Black: Done at the very end of Doofenshmirtz's musical number, and as the first half of the episode concludes. And lampshaded by Doofenshmirtz.Dancer: Um, so are we done? 'Cause I gotta pick up my kid from school.
Doofenshmirtz: One second, just wait 'til it goes to black. (Smash to Black) All right, now you can go. - Soundtrack Dissonance: The rocking and wild "Rollercoaster" song, all while Phineas and Ferb's passengers appear rather unsettled and frightened.
- Spelling Song: At one point, in "You're Going Down", in an homage to her original line in the episode, Candace sings, "You're G-O-I-N-G D-O-W-N!"
- Spoofing in the Rain: A brief spoof is seen in a shot during the "Hey Ferb" montage.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: As with the original. Candace looks into the backyard and sees nothing there as she expected, but when Linda takes a peek, Phineas and Ferb are suddenly there.
- Stock Footage: Much of the episode uses the same footage from "Rollercoaster" — this is most obvious with the rollercoaster scenes as Phineas and Ferb's passengers constantly switch from Isabella, Buford, Baljeet and the Fireside Girls to the multiple boys who rode the first rollercoaster. Also the original footage is made clear by Candace's nose outline being black instead of brown.
- Subverted Catchphrase: "Ah, Perry the Platypus, what a surprise. And by 'surprise', I mean 'not a surprise at all.'"
- Tree Buchet: A repeat from the original episode, but with some differences. For instance, the Slushy Burger cashier is revealed to actually be Jeremy. And there's also this fun gag in Paris. (For context, the original had the vendor asking if they wanted a croissant.)French Vendor: Crêpe suzette?Phineas: Whadaya say, Suzette, you wanna crepe?Suzette: No, thank you.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Linda does not seem the least bit fazed by the fact that her daughter is singing with no discernible music source. But then again, as revealed in a later episode, Danville is well-known for being a town that breaks out into spontaneous musical numbers.
