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magiclegacy · 2 years

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Gravity Falls Season 1 Review

Since the start of the 21st century I’ve noticed there’s an animated show every decade that redefines the landscape of western animation. That may sound like a bold claim, but when you really look at it, there are a couple of stand-out shows. The 2000s saw Avatar: The Last Airbender take home the crown, becoming a hit with audiences and critics with elements that were rarely exhibited in Western children’s animation. It featured well-rounded characters, a serialised narrative, references to East Asian culture and mature themes including war, genocide, totalitarianism, and free choice to name a few. The show remains one of the best-rated series of all time, winning several awards during its runtime and staying in the Top 10 lists of reviewers almost 14 years after its conclusion. And if Avatar claimed the top spot in the 2000s, Gravity Falls won the crown in the 2010s.

It’s hard to believe Gravity Falls is now 10 years old. The show was a significant part of thousands of childhoods, including my own, and remains one of the most beloved animated shows to this day. The show is a brilliant example of multi-generational entertainment with a story, characters, and humour that children and adults can both enjoy without fear of being alienated. It’s the main reason this show remains a modern-day influence in children’s animation and why many still enjoy 10 years after its premiere. I’d go so far as to call Gravity Falls the start of the modern Golden Age of Disney Channel Animation with its influence present in other hit shows Amphibia and The Owl House as well as other shows on different platforms.

To celebrate Gravity Falls’ tenth anniversary, I feel I should share what I, as well as many others enjoy about the show. However, if you know Gravity Falls, you know there is a lot to cover. Even with a finite runtime, the show thrived on its mysteries, conspiracies, and ciphers, creating a sizeable fanbase that tried to match wits with showrunner, Alex Hirsch. If you google “Gravity Falls theory”, then you will be jumping into the deep end of one of the largest online discussions in recent years. So to make this review more manageable, I will only cover Season 1 in this review, and I will discuss Season 2 when it turns 8 on August 1. Gravity Falls is one of the most beloved and interesting shows in recent memory, so I want to make sure it’s given the respect and recognition it deserves. With all that said, let’s take a look at Season 1 of Gravity Falls.

The show has one of the best-written narratives of modern television, taking elements from Hirsch’s own childhood, eighties pop-culture and modern settings. The Pines twins, Dipper (Jason Ritter) and Mabel (Kristen Schaal) spend their summer vacation in the titular, fictional town of Gravity Falls. They live with their con-artist “Grunkle” Stan (Hirsch) who runs a sketchy tourist trap called “The Mystery Shack”, staffed by teenage girl Wendy (Linda Cardellini) and Soos (Hirsch). It’s simple, but it works. Hirsch placed many of his childhood experiences in the show, projecting his memories of growing up onto Dipper and basing the characters of Mabel and Stan around his sister and grandpa. This is a major reason why Gravity Falls is timeless, it invokes childhood and summer nostalgia, living with a distant relative, summer camp, going to the pool or goofing off with friends, there’s something for everyone. Gravity Falls combines this nostalgia with a fantastical element, taking inspiration from eighties and nineties pop-culture, blending fantasy and reality to create a compelling story.

The plot begins when Dipper notices strange things happening around town, but nobody believes him. After wandering though the woods, Dipper discovers a mysterious journal written by an anonymous author with a gold hand with six fingers and the number 3 on the cover. The journal chronicles several entries about paranormal activity and odd goings-on that plague Gravity Falls which Dipper and Mabel use to combat various foes. These include classic monsters like ghosts, sea monsters, and zombies as well as video-game characters, time travellers, and psychics. For most of the season, the show goes very old-school Scooby Doo with a new monster every week, however, what separates Gravity Falls from similar fantasy animation is that there’s typically an unconventional twist that changes the episode, giving a humorous and often profound conclusion that makes us laugh, think, develops the characters, or all of the above. At the same time, there is an overlying serialisation the audience is constantly reminded of when the journals are used: who is the author and what happened to them?

A notable trait animated shows are known for is the “floating timeline” method with a new story every episode. Gravity Falls instead incorporates a serialised narrative where an overarching story takes place together with character-focused subplots. Hirsch has stated that finding character stories was the hardest thing to write about, but necessary to push the show forward. The writers did a great job at keeping focus on the central cast and while Season 1 didn’t have too many episodes that pushed the main narrative, they still served to establish character development. In order to have the emotional scenes create the desired impact, it was important to show them enjoying their summer, learning about themselves and others, and just having a good time. “Land Before Swine” probably didn’t need a conflict between Dipper and Soos, however, this is necessary to have them grow as characters and have them establish a firm relationship that lasts the rest of the show. While not all the episodes had gripping character growth, they still served to establish them as believable characters and make the action and emotional scenes more jarring.

One of the best aspects of the show are the characters. The Pines twins are two of the strongest child protagonists I’ve seen in a Disney cartoon. They have different strengths; different weaknesses and they rely on each other to balance them out. They are a great pair because they go through the same experiences, but they have different ideas as to how to spend summer. Dipper wants to embrace and solve the mysteries of Gravity Falls whereas Mabel just wants a fun time. These clashing goals form an easy source of conflict to drive the story forwards, but it’s not malicious, sometimes Dipper saves Mabel and other times Mabel saves Dipper. It’s a real sibling relationship and you can tell they both love each other with nearly every episode giving them a happy ending. The dynamic between the pair works great, but it’s taken up to eleven when the rest of the Mystery Shack crew is involved.

Grunkle Stan works well as a character and plot device with most of the show’s humour and mystery focusing on him. He always schemes new ways to make money and his often-elaborate plans put him in hilarious situations that provide the more mature humour. Whether he succeeds or fails, Stan is a stand-out character. Another stand-out is the shack’s handyman, Soos, the otherwise comic-relief who joins the twins on most of their adventures. While the twins highlight the child-like side of fantasy, Soos represents the more young-adult part. He’s a fan of video games, anime, and other nerd culture Dipper is too young for. He’s also incredibly loyal to the Pines family, notably Stan, always coming through when it counts. Finally, there’s the part-time cashier, Wendy Corduroy, the teenage tomboy who is always ready to kick ass. As befitting of a teenager, she is rebellious laid-back, and while she doesn’t carry many episodes on her own, her wit and sarcastic attitude help balance out the main cast, and she also provides some of the best action scenes that are rivalled only by Stan.

This is only scratching the surface of this incredible show, and I don’t think I can compress it all into one post. That said, Gravity Falls is a masterwork of modern animation, and its influence and legacy can still be seen in other animated Disney shows. It has intriguing mysteries, fleshed characters, an equal balance of light and dark humour, and expert storytelling for the serialised narrative and single-episode plots. It’s great television, and half the time, you forget you’re watching an animated show, and I’m so grateful to Alex Hirsch for creating something that you can enjoy as a kid, and still enjoy when you’re an adult. I may be in my 20s now, but I don’t think I’ll every stop loving this brilliant show, and I don’t think anyone else will either.

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