Gravity Falls

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Gravity Falls
"Remember: Reality is an illusion, the universe is a hologram, buy gold, bye!" - Bill Cipher
Genre: Action Science fantasy Comedy drama/Dramedy Coming of age Mystery Adventure Running Time: 22 minutes Country: United States Release Date: June 15, 2012 – February 16, 2016 Network(s): Disney Channel Created by: Alex Hirsch Distributed by: Disney Television Animation Starring: Jason Ritter Kristen Schaal Alex Hirsch J.K. Simons Seasons: 2 Episodes: 40

Gravity Falls is an American animated television series created by Alex Hirsch, produced by Disney Television Animation originally for Disney Channel from June 15, 2012, to February 15, 2016

Plot

Twins Dipper and Mabel Pines are sent to spend the summer with their great-uncle, Grunkle Stan Pines, in the mysterious town of Gravity Falls, Oregon. Grunkle Stan has the kids help him run The Mystery Shack, the tourist trap that he owns. The twins try to adapt to the weird surroundings but sense that there is something strange about Gravity Falls and begin to unlock its secrets. When Dipper uncovers a cryptic journal that offers insight into the town's mysteries, he and Mabel use it and their enthusiastic desire to vanquish evil to battle the imminent mysteries that surround them.

Why It Mysteriously Rocks

1. The animation from Rough Draft Studios is beautiful, as if it was similar to Regular Show, but with enhanced visuals.
2. Very likable and unique characters, such as Dipper, Mabel, Stan, Ford and Wendy.
   • Handyman Soos is a hilarious and entertaining comic relief who also shows off-beat intelligence and does what he knows is right.
3. Dark and witty humor.
4. Episodes don't follow the same formula all over again and they all actually feel rather unique.
5. Great writing and very creative episodes, such as Not What He Seems, The Last Mabelcorn, Northwest Mansion Mystery and the Weirdmageddon three-parter finale.
6. All-star voice actors, for example Jason Ritter and Kristen Schaal who provide top-notch performances.
7. Has a great grasp on mystery, darkness, horror and adventure.
8. Awesome and creative villains, such as Bill Cipher, Gideon Gleeful, .GIFany and much more.
9. Entertaining action, such as the final battle in Weirdmageddon: Part 3.
10. Clever hidden messages, such as Bill Cipher's final message and the codes in the ending credits of each episode.
11. Laughable and Hilarious one-liners, such as "It's funny how dumb you are!".
12. It not only focuses on the supernatural side, but it also focuses on the relatable growing pains of adolescence.
13. An amazing theme song that's also really catchy.
14. Funny parodies, such as Rumble McSkirmish, a parody of Ryu from Street Fighter.
15. The background design is visually beautiful for being created in Photoshop.
16. Thanks to this, it is one of the most influential series ever made, as it inspired the crew members Matt Braly, Dana Terrace and Shion Takeuchi, to make their shows called Amphibia, The Owl House, and the first Netflix adult animated series made by one of the crew members of the show, Inside Job.
17. It gets even better into season 2.

Non-Mysterious Qualities

1. The show includes content that feels out of place in a Y7-rated show, such as adult humor, jumpscares and on-screen deaths, which got the series banned in Kenya, as mentioned below.
2. A few bad episodes, like Dipper vs. Manliness and Roadside Attraction, but even those aren't too bad.
3. Bill Cipher was very underutilized, despite being the main antagonist. He's only appeared in seven episodes of the series. (Not counting as pictured that appear on the tourist trap in many episodes)
4. Since the show is animated at 23.976 frames per second, in different regions, the audio is sped up by 4% which made the characters mouths out of sync with their lines.
   • The show also suffers a lot from animation errors.

Notable Good Episodes

Season 1 (2012-2013)

• "Tourist Trapped"
• "The Legend of the Gobblewonker"
• "Headhunters"
• "The Hand That Rocks the Mabel"
• "The Inconveniencing"
• "Double Dipper"
• "Irrational Treasure"
• "The Time Traveler's Pig"
• "Fight Fighters"
• "Little Dipper"
• "Summerween"
• "Boss Mabel"
• "Bottomless Pit!"
• "The Deep End"
• "Carpet Diem"
• "Boyz Crazy"
• "Land Before Swine"
• "Dreamscaperers"
• "Gideon Rises"

Season 2 (2014-2016)

• "Scary-oke"
• "Into the Bunker"
• "The Golf War"
• "Sock Opera"
• "Soos and the Real Girl"
• "Little Gift Shop of Horrors"
• "Society of the Blind Eye"
• "Blendin's Game"
• "The Love God"
• "Northwest Mansion Mystery"
• "Not What He Seems"
• "A Tale of Two Stans"
• "Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons"
• "The Stanchurian Candidate"
• "The Last Mabelcorn"
• "Dipper and Mabel vs. the Future"
• "Weirdmageddon"
• "Escape from Reality"
• "Take Back the Falls"
• "Somewhere in the Woods"

Notable Mediocre/Bad Episodes

• "Dipper vs. Manliness"
• "Roadside Attraction"

Reception and Legacy

Gravity Falls was both a critical and commercial success. The show garnered high viewership amongst kids, teenagers, and young adults during its run and was Disney XD's highest rated show in 2015 and early 2016, while also setting several ratings records for the network. It received critical acclaim with praise directed at its writing, characters, humor, and multi-generational appeal. Additionally, the series won two Emmy Awards, three Annie Awards, and a BAFTA Children's Award, among various other wins and nominations.

The series has attracted a broad and passionate fandom and has been considered to be an influence for many animated shows that followed it, and has also spawned a variety of official merchandise including books, toys, and a video game.

Trivia

• Many aspects of Gravity Falls are based off the life of the creator for the show, Alex Hirsch:
  • The main characters, Dipper and Mabel Pines, are based off Alex Hirsch and his twin sister Ariel respectively. They are also from Piedmont, California, the place where Hirsch is from.
    • According to Alex Hirsch, Dipper and Mabel's names are their parents' middle names.
  • The entire series are reminiscent of his childhood summers he would spend with his twin sister, Ariel.
  • His own grandfather was used as an inspiration for Grunkle Stan, and derived "Grunkle" from his great aunt Lois insisting on people calling her "Graunty Lois."
  • Soos is based off an old college buddy of Hirsch named Jesús Chambrot.
  • The Mystery Shack is based on the Oregon Vortex, a mystery attraction that Alex Hirsch visited while visiting Oregon during his college years.
• All the backgrounds for the show are created using Adobe Photoshop.
• In February 2018, on the second anniversary of the final episode of the show, Hirsch used a cipher to announce Gravity Falls: Lost Legends, a continuation of the show's story in a new graphic novel that was later released on July 24, 2018. On August 8, 2020, Disney Channel aired a Gravity Falls-inspired episode of the show Amphibia, created by Matt Braly who served as a storyboard artist and director for the show. The episode is titled "Wax Museum", with Hirsch guest-starring. On October 3, 2021, show villain Bill Cipher made a cameo in The Simpsons episode titled "Bart's in Jail", with Hirsch guest voicing him.
• Giffany, a one time antagonist from the episode "Soos and the Real Girl", became a popular Disney villian and internet meme ever since the episode aired, possibly due to her anime inspiration, pixel art appearance and the pre-existing Gravity Falls fan base.
• The show is assumed to reside in a parallel universe to Rick and Morty, because Stan's coffee mug, notepad and pen fly through a portal Stan is monitoring in one episode, and the same three items are seen falling through a portal in the background of the 10th episode of the first season of Rick and Morty.
• Unlike most Western animated series where characters have either four or five fingers, Gravity Falls manages to mix characters having either number.
• The show is very popular in Canada, France and Russia, to the point where Alex Hirsch himself attended a fan convention in Russia. It also has a large amount of fanart coming from Japanese and South Korean artists.
• In 2017, the series was banned in Kenya for adult-oriented humor.
• In South Korea, the show is named: "Dipper and Mabel's Mystery Adventure".

Videos

TBA.        

Episodes with Their Own Pages

• Northwest Mansion Mystery
• Weirdmaggedon

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