April 1, 2025
Gravity Falls
When I was seven years old, my parents had an anniversary party at our house. With a bunch of adults invading my home, and nobody around my own age, I decided that my best option was to watch TV. I turned on the Disney Channel and discovered a new cartoon was airing that day. The show was about these twins going to their uncle’s house for the summer in Oregon, with mystery surrounding the small town. I was intrigued, and I wanted to sink my teeth into more content. Little did I know that this show would become a fixation of mine.
Gravity Falls was created by Alex Hirsh and aired from June 15th. 2012, to Feb. 15th. 2016. The show lasted for two seasons, spanning over four years but taking place over an entire summer. Dipper and Mabel Pines (voiced by Jason Ritter and Kristen Schaal) are 12-year-old twins from California who arrive in Gravity Falls for the summer and are thrust into adventure and mystery. As they dive deeper, they encounter everything from lovesick gnomes to vengeful psychics, hoping they can stay alive for the whole summer. While they stay there, we meet a variety of characters such as Grunkle Stan (Alex Hirsh), Soos (also Alex Hirsh), Wendy (Linda Cartalini), and many more.
Looking back on it, I believe the reason I fell in love with the show was the balance of humor and intrigue. I was interested in the ongoing mystery of the town and why all of these strange things were happening, but the show also came off as lighthearted and fun. Even though there were a lot of messed up things happening, I didn’t really realize it because of the tone of the show. It starts to ramp up the tension once the main villain, Bill Cipher (Alex Hirsh), is introduced, but even then, a lot of the episodes are pretty silly.
With all of the crazy plots happening every episode, the characters help bring the heart. My favorite character is a tie between Dipper and Mabel, since they feel like two sides of the same coin. Dipper is the smart, serious one while Mabel is the happy-go-lucky one. I feel like they are both at their best when they are together. Dipper takes things a little less seriously, and Mabel adds her genius and viewpoint that helps a lot. The other thing I really like about them is that they fight like siblings. A lot of their arguments are petty and stupid, but when one of them needs help, the other steps in.
Overall, Gravity Falls is a great watch and has a lot going for it. If you ever get tired of the show, there is plenty of outside material to look through books, like Journal 3 and The Book of Bill, with their own hidden secrets. Even though the show has been off the air for almost ten years, it still feels fresh every time I watch it. I’m currently doing a rewatch with my roommate who has never seen the show, and it brings me back to my house on that hot June day, when I discovered a core part of my childhood.
Gravity Falls is streaming on Hulu, Disney+, and Apple TV.