Gravity Falls is an American animated television series created by Alex Hirsch, and produced by Disney Television Animation for Disney Channel and Disney XD. The first episode aired as a sneak preview on June 15, 2012
and the series officially started on June 29, 2012. On March 12, 2013, the show was renewed for a second season at the annual Disney upfront. The series was moved to Disney XD in the spring of 2014, along with Wander Over Yonder and premiered new episodes there.[2] Despite this, "Scary-oke" and "Little Gift Shop of Horrors" premiered originally on Disney Channel.
During an AMA in August 2013, Alex Hirsch stated that while he originally expected the show to be three seasons long (one season for every month of the summer), that may be too many and instead said there likely would only be 2 seasons and a movie.[3][4] However, mid season 1, the crew had already determined how long the show would be and on November 20, 2015, Alex officially announced that the second season was the final season of the series and that there were no plans to create a following season.[5] In total, Gravity Falls consisted of 40 episodes (41 when the finale is split into two parts), 17 shorts and one special behind the scenes episode.[5]
Plot[]
Twin brother and sister Dipper and Mabel Pines are in for an unexpected adventure when they spend the summer with their Grunkle Stan in the mysterious town of Gravity Falls, Oregon, in the Disney Channel animated comedy Gravity Falls. Upon their arrival, Dipper and Mabel's huckster great uncle enlists the siblings' help in running the Mystery Shack, a tourist trap he owns that overcharges unsuspecting customers. Although Dipper and Mabel quickly discover the Mystery Shack itself is a hoax, they sense there is something strange about their new town and together they begin to unlock the secrets of Gravity Falls.
Thrust into their new summer home, the fish-out-of-water twins try to adapt to their weird surroundings, especially Grunkle Stan, whose insatiable appetite for money drives him to spin every opportunity into a financial advantage. While Dipper grumbles about the prospect of the same boring routine of working at Grunkle Stan's hokey shop, Mabel seizes the chance to seek out an epic summer romance.
However, summer becomes much more interesting for the siblings after Dipper inadvertently uncovers a cryptic journal that offers insight into the strange and wondrous mysteries of Gravity Falls. Before long, Dipper begins noticing the town's idiosyncrasies, and with the book in tow and his enthusiastic desire to vanquish evil, he sets out to investigate the town's secrets. Trapped together in the small isolated town, the twins quickly realize they need each other to battle the imminent mysteries lurking in Gravity Falls. Meanwhile, when he isn't busy trying to make a quick buck from his unsuspecting customers, Grunkle Stan guards his own secret that might hold the key to unlocking the mysteries of Gravity Falls.
Voice cast[]
The main characters of Gravity Falls. (L-R) Soos, Dipper, Grunkle Stan, Mabel and Wendy.
The series was created, directed and produced by 2007 California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) graduate Alex Hirsch, as a production of Disney Television Animation. Originally working on The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack at Cartoon Network, Alex was offered a chance to pitch a show for Disney TVA, which was looking to expand its cartoon division, after producers there saw some of his student films. They agreed to consider his pitches in exchange for helping them produce one of their upcoming shows, Fish Hooks. Alex originally pitched 3 shows to Disney; a show about time travelling dolphins, time travelling gentleman and Gravity Falls. The origin of the idea came from a writing exercise he had done with a college buddy and the original premise went as followed...
The real-life Dipper and Mabel Pines. Alex Hirsch has stated that the main characters of Gravity Falls are based on himself and his twin sister, Ariel.
Greg Cobalt has one year left to graduate college when his girlfriend leaves him and he has has something of a nervous breakdown. Deciding that he's sick of his life & everyone he knows, he packs up his van & his magic 8-ball and drives north to Gravity Falls, a place he knows nothing about, but has often seen "Mystery Spot" style bumper-stickers for. As it turns out Gravity Falls is a weird, mysterious town where strange things happen with startling regularity! Like this talking owl, for example. And, uh, a secret society of sturgeon-worshipping old men who follow Greg around. And this wacky chick who works at the gift store and can lift very, very small things with her mind. A And there's an old police-man who knows about the towns secrets. Maybe Greg has a magic typewriter that allows him to write beautiful poems...which are actually CURSED?! How about some gnomes!?There's also gnomes! Gosh, Gravity Falls is nuts! I love it!
Alex pitched an altered version on sticky notes set in the Pacific Northwest, with characters inspired by his own life experiences and people he knew. A pilot and next time on reel were created by a small animation studio in Toronto, and the series was officially greenlit in December 2010. Alex brought along several buddies of his from college to help create the series.
Gravity Falls features supernatural elements of adventure and mystery, inspired by the real-life summer trips shared by Hirsch and his twin sister while visiting relatives as kids. "Mabel is going to be one of the breakout characters of the show. I really owe it to my sister and her many quirks. When we were growing up, my sister was obsessed with the boy band ’N Sync. She even broke her toe jumping up and down during one of their concerts. So, we did a show about a boy band, and of course, I had to get Lance Bass to do the voice of the singer. I had my sister fly down to meet him. She also always wanted to have a pet pig when we were kids, so I gave Mabel a pet pig on the show and she can live vicariously through her. She owes me big!"
The town of Gravity Falls was inspired by various towns and national parks Alex Hirsch in which has spent time, particularly Boring, Oregon. As Hirsch has commented, "We passed a sign for Boring, Oregon. We never went there, but I was positively enchanted with the idea that there was a town called Boring, Gravity Falls is partially from what I imagine Boring might be like. Or maybe the opposite of Boring, Oregon, would be Gravity Falls."[6]
Merchandise[]
Over the course of Gravity Falls' run and especially after it ended, it has received a wide array of merchandise unlike any Disney TVA cartoon prior.
Books[]
Gravity Falls has had a wide array of books published.
A Cinestory series that retold episodes and shorts in comic book form was released over the course of several years till 2019. A total of 4 were released that retold the first 12 episodes, as well as an additional 4 that retold 12 of the 17 shorts (the publishing firm behind it went bankrupt but the Latin American series continues and is on its 7th edition).
A Book on Bill Cipher was released on July 23, 2024, alongside an exclusive Barnes and Noble Edition.
Non Book Merchandise[]
The first Gravity Falls merchandise of any kind came out in 2012 with a series of T-shirts from welovefine with designs submitted for a contest. Hot Topic and other manufactures would release their own Gravity Falls apparel over the years.
In August 2013, Subway sold a series of promotional bags for the show with stickers and face gems. A total of 6 were made.
During the 2014 New York Toys Fair, Jazwares revealed that they were getting ready to release an entire line of Gravity Falls toys beginning in Fall 2014. Including: plush toys, figures, a radio controlled Mystery Cart, and a Mystery Book Investigation Kit Book. Also revealed at the fair were Halloween costumes by the manufacturer, Disguise.[7][8] The radio controlled cart and mystery book ultimately were not manufactured and all the Jazwares toys have since been discontinued.
In 2014, Disney theme parks, select Disney stores, and the online Disney store began selling various Gravity FallsVinylmation figurines. They are 1.5", 3", and 9" vinyl collectibles. The figures are all shaped with the body of Mickey Mouse, but have different themed markings, colors, and patterns.
On June 10, 2014 at the E3 2014 press conference, it was confirmed that a Gravity Falls-themed power discs will launch with Disney Infinity 2.0 at launch.[9]
In 2014, Disney theme parks, select Disney stores, and the online Disney store began selling various Gravity FallsVinylmation figurines. They are 1.5", 3", and 9" vinyl collectibles. The figures are all shaped with the body of Mickey Mouse, but have different themed markings, colors, and patterns.
On February 17, 2017 at Toy Fair in New York, a new line of Gravity Falls Funko Pops were announced.[10] A Waddles Funko Pop would eventually be released in 2019 as a Hot Topic Exclusive. The Funko pops have been discontinued.
In 2017, Domez released a series of Gravity Falls figurines, followed by a 2nd series in 2018. Domez also released a special box set version of series 1 figures for the 2017 SDCC. They have since been discontinued.[11][12][13][14]
At the 2018 New York Toy Fair, a new line of Gravity Falls plushes were revealed. These included plushes of Dipper, Mabel, Stan, Ford, Soos, Wendy, Waddles, the barfing gnome, and Bill.[15][16][17] A mini plush series was also planned.[18] These plushes were scrapped by the manufacturer before they were even released.[19]
Italian company Panini released a series of stickers for the Chilean, Italian, Portuguese and Brazilian markets. They are for sale in these countries and worldwide online. So far, no English releases are planned or released.
The series has received universal acclaim. It currently holds a 8.8 rating on TV.com,[21] and 8.9 rating from more than 7,774 users on IMDb.com.[22] From critics, the show has received generally positive reviews.[23] Brian Lowry of Variety stated, "The show has a breezy quality that should play to kids, and tickle some twinges of nostalgia among their parents."[24] While the Los Angeles Times Robert Lloyd referred to the program as "..gently twisted, with some Disneyfied action and heart-warming folded in".[25] In his review, David Hinckley of New York Daily News called Gravity Falls, "quirky and endearing", and offered praise for the character of Mabel Pines.[26] Matt Blum, writing for Wired, favorably compared the show to Cartoon Network's animated program Regular Show and Disney Channel's animated program Phineas and Ferb, hailing Gravity Falls as "clever, strange, and somewhat poignant".[27] The eleventh episode of season two, "Not What He Seems," was featured on A.V. Club's Best Television Episodes of 2015 so far along with episodes of Game of Thrones, Community and Adventure Time as well as others. MsMojo (WatchMojo) made a "Top 10 Animated Disney Channel Shows of the Last Decade" list in 2020, having Gravity Falls being ranked at #1.[28]
Additionally, rather than starting with an opening theme, Gravity Falls starts with a cold open, similar to Disney Channel's live action shows and older Disney Channel cartoons.
Dipper and Mabel are based on the show's creator, Alex Hirsch, and his twin sister, Ariel Hirsch.
The first episode was available as a free HD/SD download off the US iTunes Store for a limited time.
Some of the human characters having four fingers and others having five was an aesthetic choice. In the character designing phase it was decided some characters simply looked better with five fingers over four. Michael Rianda has stated that for various reasons they should have kept it consistent, so the audience should just pretend everyone has five fingers.[47]
Alex Hirsch has said that he wouldn't have made the show if he couldn't cast Kristen Schaal as Mabel.
A typical Gravity Falls script is 45 pages with action single-spaced, and dialogue double-spaced, which is about 15 pages per act.[51] A typical half-hour show is usually three acts.[52]
When the show was greenlit, Alex, Michael Rianda and Joe Pitt went on a "Toys R Us "Super Toy Run"- but for manchildren." They ended up buying Nerf Guns, Bowling Pins, and a Go-Kart for the office.
Alex Hirsch's choice to create a next time on reel alongside the pilot was so successful in pitching Gravity Falls, that Disney has now made it mandatory in the pitching process for new shows to have.
The photo seen on the logo of Gravity Falls is taken in the Pyrenees mountain range at the French side in Hautes-Pyrénées. The original photo can be found here.[53]
