Gravity Falls: Mysteries that Mesmerize the Mind

Gravity Falls was a Disney channel animated cartoon created by Alex Hirsch. It follows the Pines twins, who spend their summer break trying to unravel the supernatural mysteries and phenomenons of Gravity Falls.

This image is cover art for Gravity Falls, which belongs to The Walt Disney Company and was published by Disney Channel.

Gravity Falls is a children's T.V. show that follows the adventures of twins Dipper and Mable Pines, who were sent to live with their Grunkle Stan in a mysterious town known as Gravity Falls in the middle of Oregon. The twins are quick to realize that this town is not what it seems, with supernatural mysteries to be uncovered and solved. They are guided by a journal, written by a man who was investigating the town's strangeness, but mysteriously disappeared. The "mystery twins" try to solve the mysteries that the town tries to hide, ranging from vengeful gas station ghosts, to literal dream demons, there was nothing they could no overcome.

Dark Atmosphere for a Kid's Show

What was really intriguing about the show was that it managed to include aspects of horror and the supernatural despite being a children's show. For example, in the "Summerween" episode (this is your spoiler warning!), the twins and their friends are hunted down by a flesh-eating monster made out of rejected candy called the Summerween Trickster. It threatens them to collect five hundred pieces of candy or else it will eat them. There are also episodes involving demon procession, child endangerment, and turning the people of the town into wood or gold statues. It boggles my mind that these sort of scenes were approved and even animated!

Unexpected Twists

There was also a major twist that I loved: (which is another spoiler, so be warned) the identity of the author of the mysterious journals. Throughout the first season of the show, we are left with bread crumbs of who this author might be. They had written three journals with detailed sketches and notes on the various supernatural creatures and occurrences in Gravity Falls. It is shown near the end of Journal 3, which the Pines twins are in possession of, that the author starts to go insane, ranting about a certain demon that they regret summoning and making a deal with. The characters discover that this demon is named Bill, a dream demon that loves creating chaos, but needs to make contractual deals in order to have an affect on the reality. This demon appears like the Illuminati triangle, which already has many appearances and conspiracies about in our real world, such as on the dollar bill. It makes sense, as Bill has to pull strings from the background to get things to go his way, even having a cult related to him.

This demon drove the author of the journals to insanity, disappearing into a different dimension after a failed trial on his dimension machine. It is revealed in the mid of season two that the author is actually the twins' great uncle's, Grunkle Stan, twin brother! This drove fans and my ten ten-year-old self absolutely crazy! With the nature of the show, this reveal had hints in earlier episodes, such as the double swings in Stan's memories with one swing broken, symbolizing the lost twin.

The copyright of this image belongs to The Walt Disney Company, but was found on Pinterest.

Meta Mysteries

The show itself is about mysteries, this includes the mysteries of the show's plot itself, but also mysteries outside of the show itself that seem to break the forth wall. There are the common Easter eggs and references to outside media, and well hidden hints to future events, but the show also leaves it fans with the task of deciphering codes through out the episodes, which kept the audience engaged while waiting for new episodes. This included backward messages, where characters speak backwards, which forces the audience to play the footage in reverse in order to get the message. When played straightforward, the backwards messages add to the already creepy atmosphere of the show, but the messages themselves can be comedic. There were also cryptograms at the end of each episode for fans to decode, which would give hints to future plots, or simply snarky remarks in relation to the episode.

My thoughts

Overall, I really enjoyed Gravity Falls for its engaging characters and lore it built up. As a kid's show, it really got me using critical thinking at a young age to try and predict what happens next, as well as solve cryptograms. It was able to be lighthearted and comedic, but also dark, mysterious, and serious at the same time, which I wasn't used to, having only watched more bright, happy-go-lucky type shows beforehand. It served as a door for my casual interest for the supernatural and horror.