Gravity Falls
Gravity Falls is an American mystery comedy animated television series created by Alex Hirsch for Disney Channel and Disney XD. The series follows the adventures of Dipper Pines (Jason Ritter) and his twin sister Mabel (Kristen Schaal), who are sent to spend the summer with their great-uncle (or "Grunkle") Stan (Hirsch) in Gravity Falls, Oregon, a mysterious town full of paranormal incidents and supernatural creatures. The kids help Stan run the "Mystery Shack", the tourist trap that he owns, while also investigating the local mysteries.
Gravity Falls
Mike Rianda (S1)[6]
- Jason Ritter
- Kristen Schaal
- Alex Hirsch
- Linda Cardellini
- J. K. Simmons
Brad Breeck
"Gravity Falls Theme"
Brad Breeck
United States
English
2
40 (list of episodes)
Alex Hirsch
- Tobias Conan Trost (season 1)
- Brian Doell (season 2)
- Suzanna Olson (season 2)
Kevin Locarro
- 20–24 minutes[a]
June 15, 2012 –
August 12, 2013
August 1, 2014 –
February 15, 2016
The series premiered on June 15, 2012, and ran until February 15, 2016.[7][8][9] On November 20, 2015, Hirsch announced that the series would conclude with its second season, stating that this was "100% [his] choice" and that "the show isn't being cancelled – it's being finished" and was reaching its intended conclusion.[10][11] The series ended on February 15, 2016, with a one-hour finale, "Weirdmageddon 3: Take Back the Falls".[12][13] Hirsch later stated that he remains open to continuing the series with additional episodes or specials.[14]
Gravity Falls received critical acclaim with praise directed at its writing, characters, voice acting, animation, humor, and multi-generational appeal.[15][16] Additionally, the series won two Emmy Awards, three Annie Awards, and a BAFTA Children's Award, among various other wins and nominations. Gravity Falls garnered high viewership amongst kids, teenagers, and young adults[3] during its run and was Disney XD's highest rated show in 2015[17] and early 2016,[18] while also setting several ratings records for the network.[17][19] The series attracts a broad and passionate fandom, is considered to be an influence for many animated shows that followed it,[20] and spawns a variety of official merchandise.
Premise
For their summer vacation, 12-year-old twins Dipper and Mabel Pines are dropped off from their home in Piedmont, California, to the fictitious town of Gravity Falls, Roadkill County, Oregon, to spend the summer with their great uncle Stan Pines (often shortened to Grunkle Stan), who runs a tourist trap called the "Mystery Shack". Things are not what they seem in this small town, and with the help of a mysterious journal that Dipper finds in the forest, they begin unraveling the town's mysteries each day. With Wendy Corduroy, Mystery Shack cashier; Soos Ramirez, a friend of Dipper and Mabel and handyman to Grunkle Stan; plus an assortment of other characters, Dipper and Mabel always have an intriguing day to look forward to.[1]
Broadcast
Initial broadcast
The first twelve episodes of Gravity Falls aired in a regular weekly slot on Disney Channel starting in mid-2012, but subsequent episodes were broadcast without similar regularity; it took until August 2013 to broadcast the remaining eight episodes of the first season. The second season began airing a year later in August 2014, transitioning over to Disney XD, but again without any regularity as to when new episodes would be first broadcast. The first nine episodes aired from August to November 2014, the following two in February and March 2015, the next eight from July to November 2015, and the finale aired on February 15, 2016. According to Disney XD, as each episode took about six months of work to complete, they opted against stockpiling episodes to show weekly but instead take advantage of the serial nature of the show, broadcasting each episode as it was completed and making an event out of it.[36] On April 2, 2018, reruns of the show started airing on Disney Channel, although reruns of the show still air on Disney XD.[37]
International broadcast
The series began airing on Disney Channel Canada on September 1, 2015, following Corus Entertainment's acquisition of Disney Channel rights in Canada. In Canada the show began airing on Disney XD starting on December 1, 2015, following the launch of Disney XD. The show started broadcasting in the United Kingdom and Ireland on July 20, 2012, as a preview and officially premiered on September 7, 2012.[38] In Australia and New Zealand it previewed on August 17, 2012, and premiered on September 24, 2012.[39] It also premiered in Southeast Asia on October 27, 2012.[40] In India, it premiered on September 16, 2013.[41] In the Middle East region, the series was previewed on October 19, 2012, and premiered on November 10, 2012.
The series preview debuted in Canada on June 15, 2012, and premiered on July 6, 2012, on Family Channel, until January 2016 when it moved to the local Disney XD channel following Corus Entertainment's acquisition of Disney Channel rights in Canada from Family's owner DHX Media.[42] In Australia, the show airs on Disney XD and 7mate[43] while in Chile, the show was broadcast on Canal 13 on November 24, 2013, under its programming block CuBox. In the Philippines, the show was shown on TV5 beginning on May 4, 2014, while in Brazil, the show also began airing on Rede Globo on May 10, 2014.[44] In Indonesia, the show premiered on RCTI on August 17, 2014.[45]
Broadcast edits
The symbol on Grunkle Stan's fez was changed from a crescent shape resembling the Islamic crescent to a fish-like symbol mid-way through the first season's broadcast.[46] The symbol represents his membership in the Royal Order of the Holy Mackerel.[46] When the series was released to Disney+, the crescent-shaped symbol was edited out entirely, leaving a symbol-less fez in the early episodes—later episodes featuring the fish-like symbol were unaffected.[46] However, the crescent symbol remains in the thumbnails, and on the zodiac wheel in the title sequence.[46] Hirsch drew attention to the change on Twitter. Disney has not commented on why it was removed.[46] Sometime later, the symbol on the fez was restored.[46]
In 2017, Disney Channel redubbed Louis C.K.'s minor role as "The Horrifying Sweaty One-Armed Monstrosity" in the 2015 episode "Weirdmageddon Part 1", as well as its 2016 follow-up episode and series finale, "Weirdmageddon 3: Take Back the Falls", following the comedian's admission of sexual misconduct. Series creator Alex Hirsch is now credited as voicing the character.[47][48]
Reception
Critical reception
Both seasons of Gravity Falls hold a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[108][109]
On Rotten Tomatoes, season one has an average critic score of 7.40 out of 10 based on 12 reviews.[108] Season two has an average critic score of 8.80 out of 10 based on 8 reviews.[109] The website's critical consensus for season one reads: "Gravity Falls' warm humor and bright performances elevate this children's cartoon to a show for all ages",[108] while the website's critical consensus for season two reads: "Gravity Falls continues to blend old fashioned storytelling with a modern sense of humor to create a uniquely enjoyable viewing experience."[109]
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."[8] Robert Lloyd of the Los Angeles Times referred to the program as "...gently twisted, with some Disneyfied action and heart-warming folded in".[110] 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.[111] Matt Blum, writing for Wired, favorably compared the show to Cartoon Network's Regular Show and Disney Channel's Phineas and Ferb, hailing Gravity Falls as "clever, strange, and somewhat poignant".[112] Erik Kain of Forbes called Gravity Falls "the best thing on TV at the moment", saying "I don't care how old you are, if you're not watching Gravity Falls you're missing out on some of the cleverest, most enjoyable television you can find".[113] Kayla Cobb of Decider called Gravity Falls "one of the most structurally smart shows ever created".[114] Matt Fowler from IGN called Gravity Falls "a quirky and gently twisted heart-warmer for all ages. Smart, satirical, and sweet. Gravity Falls was a one-of-a-kind gem."[115]
Michelle Jaworski writing for The Daily Dot described Gravity Falls as "[A] classic summer story woven into a smart and addictive show tackling the paranormal, the supernatural, and the pains of growing up."[116] IndieWire's Michael Schneider said "Gravity Falls is a kids' show so dense with mythology, pop culture jokes, Easter eggs, and mystery that grown-ups were often more invested."[117] Joey Keogh from Den of Geek wrote "Gravity Falls, is a spooky-cute must-watch for adults who never grew out of Halloween."[118] Donna Dickens from Uproxx said "Not only does Gravity Falls deal with the inexplicable supernatural occurrences in the town, the whole thing is just one big puzzle of secrets waiting for fans to uncover and solve."[119] Myles McNutt from The A.V. Club said "With a complex mythology and a deep lexicon of cultural references, there's sophistication to the show's epic storytelling that immediately drew the attention of a wider audience."[120] Liz Baessler writing for Film School Rejects said "Gravity Falls is an exceptional kids' show — brilliant, hilarious, and carefully crafted."[121] Kevin Tash from Collider called Gravity Falls "one of the greatest things that Disney has ever produced in general."[122]
In 2015, Uproxx ranked Gravity Falls as the third Current Kids Cartoon That Adults Need to be Watching.[119] In 2018, IndieWire ranked Gravity Falls at number 12 on their list of The 50 Best Animated Series Of All Time.[117] In 2019, Yardbarker ranked Gravity Falls at number 21 on their list of The 25 Greatest Animated Shows of All Time.[123] Also in 2019, IGN placed Gravity Falls at Number 19 on their list titled The 25 Best Adult Cartoon TV Series[115] and The A.V. Club placed Gravity Falls at number 48 on their list of The 100 Best TV Shows of the 2010s.[120]
Ratings
A special preview of the series following the Disney Channel Original Movie Let It Shine was watched by 3.4 million viewers.[124] The series garnered high viewership on its fifth episode, which aired on July 13, 2012, and attracted 3.6 million viewers. On March 15, 2013, the episode "The Deep End" was watched by 4.5 million viewers after the premiere of Wizards of Waverly Place's The Wizards Return: Alex vs. Alex, becoming the highest-rated episode of the series.[125]
Later moving on to Disney XD, the episode "A Tale of Two Stans" became the highest-rated telecast ever on Disney XD, with 1.91 million viewers.[126] In addition to total viewers, "A Tale of Two Stans" also set a network record in kids ages 2–11 (1.036 million), boys ages 2–11 (686,000), boys ages 6–11 (574,000), kids ages 6–14 (1.279 million) and boys ages 6–14 (856,000).[19] In 2015, Gravity Falls accounted for Disney XD's top seven regular animated series telecasts of all time among kids ages 6–11.[19] During the week of July 12–18, 2015, Gravity Falls was the top-rated program in its 8:30 p.m. timeslot across kids and boys ages 2–11, 6–11 and 6–14. That same week, it was also cable TV's number 1 scripted telecast in total viewers, according to estimates from Nielsen Ratings.[19][127]
Gravity Falls ranked as Disney XD's number 1 series of 2015 across all target demographics[17] with an average of 1.8 million viewers per episode.[3] Additionally, Gravity Falls ranked as 2015's third animated cable TV series in boys ages 9–14.[17] In kids ages 6–11, the series averaged 654,000 viewers and 790,000 in kids ages 2–11. Among boys ages 6–14 it pulled in 680,000 views.[3] That is strong viewership in Disney XD's core demographics, but it also makes it clear that older teens and young adults make up more than half of the show's audience according to Variety.[3]
In February 2016, Gravity Falls was the number 1 regular series telecast on record across kids ages 6–11 (1.0 million/4.4 rating), boys ages 6–11 (642,000/5.3 rating), kids ages 2–11 (1.3 million/3.4 rating) and boys ages 2–11 (797,000/4.0 rating).[18] The series finale "Weirdmageddon 3: Take Back The Falls" beat the ratings record previously held by "A Tale of Two Stans" becoming Disney XD's most-watched telecast ever, with 2.47 million viewers in the United States. "Weirdmageddon 3: Take Back The Falls" also established new all-time network highs in kids ages 6–14 (1.5 million/4.1 rating) and boys ages 6–14 (909,000/5.0 rating).[18] The all-day Gravity Falls marathon that preceded the premiere of "Weirdmageddon 3: Take Back The Falls" generated 10.7 million unique total viewers, of which 5.4 million were kids ages 2–14.[18]
Future
On July 14, 2017, Hirsch revealed that he and Disney had talked about making a Gravity Falls film. Disney ultimately passed on the project, as the studio felt the show "wasn't big enough to warrant [a film]"; Hirsch stated that he was still interested in the idea.[206] In February 2018, on the second anniversary of the series finale, Hirsch used a cipher to announce Gravity Falls: Lost Legends,[207] a continuation of the Gravity Falls story in a new graphic novel that was later released on July 24, 2018.[208] In an interview with Inverse in March 2021, Hirsch expressed interest in continuing the story of Gravity Falls in the form of a video game that "is really, really in-depth to the lore of the series and includes new canon that has been in the periphery of the series."[209]