| "The Monster of Phineas-n-Ferbenstein" | |||
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| Phineas and Ferb episode | |||
Phineas and Ferb in the episode's cold opening. |
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| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 122a |
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| Directed by | Zac Moncrief | ||
| Written by | Jon Colton Barry (story, storyboards) Martin Olson (story) Mike Diederich (storyboards) |
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| Featured music | "He's Eviler" | ||
| Production code | 122a | ||
| Original air date | October 17, 2008 | ||
| Running time | 10:32 | ||
| Guest stars | |||
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Malcolm McDowell as Grandpa Reg |
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| Episode chronology | |||
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| List of Phineas and Ferb episodes | |||
"The Monster of Phineas-n-Ferbenstein" is the fortieth broadcast episode of the animated television series Phineas and Ferb. The episode revolves around Phineas Flynn and his brother, Ferb Fletcher, being told the story of how their Victorian ancestor helped a scientist create a monster. Meanwhile, Perry the Platypus is told a similar yet connected story concerning Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz's Victorian ancestor, who transformed himself into a monster.
Written by Martin Olson and Jon Colton Barry, "The Monster of Phineas-n-Ferbenstein" was directed by Zac Moncrief. Malcolm McDowell and Jane Carr guest star as Ferb's grandparents, who had appeared earlier in the season in "A Hard Days Knight" and "The Flying Fishmonger." It originally aired on Disney Channel on October 17, 2008. The episode received generally positive reviews and was nominated for the Emmy Award for "Outstanding Special Class – Short-format Animated Programs" in 2009, but the award was never given out.
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In a cold opening with the theme music, Phineas (Vincent Martella) and Ferb (Thomas Sangster) warn the audience that the program will be frightening, disturbing, and horrifying. Ferb chokes up a hairball, and Phineas says "You've been warned." When the episode officially starts, Phineas is feeling disappointed by the pouring rain and power outage, canceling his plan to stand in the middle of a field with a metal rod, until his grandfather (Malcolm McDowell) starts to tell the brothers the story of their ancestor, Ferbgor, a hunchback henchman of the Victorian era who assists Dr. Phineastein in gathering platypus body parts to create a monster and enter him in a "monster ball".
Meanwhile, Perry accidentally locks himself and Doofenshmirtz in his lair. To occupy the time, the doctor tells Perry of his Victorian ancestor, Dr. Jekyll Doofenshmirtz, who attempted to impress an angry mob by transforming himself into a beast, only to fail and become a fairy instead.
In the grandfather's tale, Phineastein and Ferbgor construct the monster, which angers their castle governess, Constance, and provokes her to rally the mob against them (referencing Candace's attempts to bust her brothers). The two are unaffected by her intentions and bring their beast to life. They train him, rather poorly, so he is ready to participate at the monster ball.
Jekyll rectifies the problem with his formula and transforms himself into a hulking monster. He then goes to the village to torment the citizens and cause mayhem. During his rampage, he upsets the platypus monster and is chased all over the village by him. Phineastein and Ferbgor go looking for their creation and find out he by an unnamed Isabella Lookalike has ended up at the monsters' ball. Before they enter the ball, the monster viciously batters Jekyll and eats him. In the present, the power returns and Doofenshmirtz rushes Perry off, wondering as to the conclusion to the story. In Grandpa's story, Phineastein and Ferbgor find the monster and the winner of the ball is announced: it is Constance, who has accidentally drunk Jekyll's formula and transformed into a beast, and gets chased by the mob. With the story concluded, Grandpa reveals that he has completely forgotten everything he has just related because of his senility. Ferb closes the episode saying that "platypus monsters are the only monsters to lay eggs."
"The Monster of Phineas-n-Ferbenstein" was conceived and storied by Jon Colton Barry and Martin Olson; Barry adapted it into storyboards along with Mike Diederleh.[1][2] Zac Moncrief, who does the majority of directing for the series along with the show's co-creator, Dan Povenmire, directed it.[3][4] The second half of the show was an episode entitled "Oil on Candace," which followed Phineas and Ferb helping their friend Django.[5]
Malcom McDowell and Jane Carr guest starred in the episode as Grandpa and Grandma Fletcher.[6] Carr and McDowell had each been recurring guest stars in their respective roles;[7] they previously appeared as the characters in "A Hard Days Knight" and "The Flying Fishmonger" and would go on to voice them in season two's "Elementary, My Dear Stacy."[8][9][10]
"The Monster of Phineas-n-Ferbenstein" originally broadcast on Disney Channel on October 17, 2008, with a TV-G rating.[6][11] The episode continued a Halloween theme started by the October 3 airing of "One Good Scare Ought to Do It."[6]
Julie Bonner of Ultimate Disney described Phineastein and Ferbgor as "interesting relatives" and that she "wouldn't expect anything less from [Phineas and Ferb]."[12] In 2009, it was announced that "The Monster of Phineas-n-Ferbenstein" was nominated for an Emmy award in the category "Outstanding Special Class – Short-format Animated Programs." Its sole competitor was the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Dear Vikings".[13] Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, co-creators of the show and producers of the episode, were reportedly "thrilled" about the nomination and felt like they were "back in grade school." Povenmire said he was very happy with the inclusion of the category: "It used to be that the Emmys would always go to shows like The Simpsons and Family Guy and just one slot saved for shows made for kids." Both announced that they were very excited about competing against SpongeBob SquarePants for the award, though Povenmire did jokingly remark, "You’re going down, Stephen!" to SpongeBob SquarePants creator, Stephen Hillenburg.[14] Povenmire also thought the nomination meant his show was attracting a widening audience.[15] However, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced that they would not present the award to either of the nominees, to shock of director Moncrief.[16]
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