Is this one of those shows where, "You need to have been there when it was new" in order to get the full impact of it? It has such a reputation for being this massive game-changer, but if someone were to watch it right now, they would just get a pretty good adventure-comedy cartoon. They wouldn't get the full scope of why people went crazy over it.
Am I wrong? Has anyone here watched this AFTER the Gravity Falls fever faded and still immensely loved it?
I'd argue no
Gravity Falls did things that even shows now don't do
The humor of it though carried over to shows like Amphibia and Owl House
Nah it's just a little fun twins adventure silly cartoon with decent writing which means people taught the series was some masterpiece because they used to watch awful shit but it's just okay
Still recommend it, it's quite charming and fun 7/10
>massive game changer
In what way?
Popularized mystery loreshit
But that was Adventure Time
The lore in GF went absolutely nowhere, it was more of a little mystery show
Are you still seething because Cinemaphile picked Gravity Falls over Finncelture Time in that "Best Cartoon of the 2010s" tournie we had a few years back?
>pedo avatargayging
Literally who
No one cares about this off board tourney shit besides a few autists
Both that garbage lost and Over the Garden Wall won
Yeah but nobody actually counts Over the Boring Wall as an actual cartoon series, its a miniseries. It was pretty silly to even include it in the tourney but CN brandgays needed their little "win"
Reminder that ATgays are still seething to this day about the fact that everyone dropped their show and jumped ship to never look back after a streak of awful episodes just when their main creator left the show.
They even tried to pull a korra to attract desperate shipper since these were the only left that still cared about the show by the end.
OTGW, GF, frick even Regular Show are better than AT as a whole
AT keeps constantly getting spinoffs after 13 years while all those shows are dead and never coming back in any form, they're doing just fine
That isn't a good thing you know
It's getting dragged out sure but it's still wrong to characterize ATgays as seehing for 10 years when they're still getting material and seem to be liking it (when I see those threads they seem to be discussing things not just going this show fricking sucks)
Adventure Time is basically pure cartoon slop at this point. I won't lie, it copied from the Gravity Falls book of "pandering to the internet at the expense of everything else" pretty damn well and I'd say it even refined that style to the point where absolutely nobody watches the spinoffs besides 20-something year old perverts who just want to draw porn of the characters. It's the modern day version of Fairly Oddparents, just endless continuations and spinoffs that nobody asked for and watches and people drawing porn of characters that are long removed because the writers thought they could succeed without them (and couldn't). Ironic because both shows were produced by Fred Seibert. I wouldn't be surprised if you told me it was a show that survives entirely off his capital.
Look anon, every fanbase that was contemporary to /gfg/ feels the need to speak out like they were the only ones who saw the light while living in Gravity Fall's shadow. The truth is, WoY was just another le funneh amimal cartoon everyone was getting sick of. It belong on the same tier as Fish Hooks or LatinxTales. Remember, it's second season was moreso going up against SvTFOE and it still got cucked. People were more interested in Starco's relationship than they were between that of a fuzzy orangeman and his horse.
Basically there is a pattern of seethe here by parasitic fanbases, or those that feel like they had their thunder stolen like ATgays, but the truth is GF told its story, left on a good note, and is remembered fondly while the very studio and grounds and sacred halls that AT and Uncle Blandpa were created in is currently being squatted in by fentanyl addicts pissing on the walls more than Hirsch without a trash can.
I wonder if half of you morons on Cinemaphile even watch the shows you write posts about or if you just go into threads and post whatever thought pops into your head first
you mixed the names up there moron
Gravity Falls had a mystery hook right out the gate. Adventure Time going into serious world-building with continuity didn't happen until later. AT could've easily gone the route of Invader ZIM where there IS worldbuilding, but they can also disregard it at a moment's notice if they felt like it-- they just chose not to.
A narrative hook is very typical of a TV show, but very rarely did a kids cartoon use it and use it so effectively that even adults latched onto it. The show also REALLY leaned into fan engagement by having mysteries set up that people could talk about online. How many other cartoons had a real-life treasure hunt for Bill Cypher's hidden statue? Even if it kind of went to shit near the end, it was still fun to be in the threads when clues were slowly coming in and being decoded.
The online engagement aspect has pretty much become a standard for showrunners now. Many of them TRY to get fans to find "secrets" and "easter eggs" to drive up interest-- even if they don't all succeed.
To think it was all a fluke and made up as they went along
>The online engagement aspect has pretty much become a standard for showrunners now.
lol right, moronic teens starting a fight with every showrunner under the sun over the most moronic shit
that era is already over again
>fan says he noticed an easter egg in the show and links it to something
>creator doesn’t confirm nor deny the link but hints it to something bigger
Star Vs had one of the more embarrassing cases of this. There was a tweet of Daron posting some random string of emojis as a hint to some "mystery". Weeks or months later, she went back to it and asked, "Did anyone figure it out yet?!", meaning no one gave a shit enough to even engage with it. I don't have that tweet saved, I hope an anon can find it for me.
Funny because Star Vs had no mystery whatsoever to it in the end.
Gravity Falls was truly a game changer.
Yeah, the people who pretend AT was building a hyper elaborate world right from the get go either didnt watch the show while it aired or are deluding themselves.
Emphasis on the lore of a show is something AT jumped in way after it started. It probably made the show better, but it certainly wasnt the point of the show at the beginning.
AT started getting deep into lore and backstories before Gravity Falls came out
Well if you're at all familiar with the most resent crop of cartoons, Gravity Falls probably won't feel as groundbreaking as it did to audiences who watched it live. It carried influence over Disney TVA for a good number of years after it ended. Still, Gravity Falls has good reason to be so beloved in its own right. You might have to do some research to see all the hidden clues and details throughout the series, but you can still enjoy and appreciate it almost as much as someone who "was there."
You're trying to tell me that shitty frog show felt in any way as groundbreaking or even more? Don't make me laugh
>You're trying to tell me that shitty frog show felt in any way as groundbreaking or even more?
Yes, yes I am.
Amphibia season 1-2 was up there with gravity falls
Then S3A came and made me feel like I wasted my time and then S3B came and it was like
>why wasn’t this just all of s3
>filtered by LA calm before the storm
ngmi
Eh, I don't know anon. After the mostly nothing that 3b ended up being outside of it's last few episodes, I don't think it was really much worse than 3a.
S3A was partially the fault of Disney Executive's.
Are Dipper and Mabel iconic characters?
For the incest porn, yes
The everlasting consequences of gravity falls have been a disaster for western animation
Do you mean TTG!
I was watching it when it aired. Thought it was a solid kids cartoon. i think people just went crazy for it because animation had been in a dark spot and this wasn't that bad. I don't think it deserves high praise. I didn't see how it was a major game-changer. Solid kids mystery show. Adventures of Tintin is better
Yeah, I don't think people remember quite how bad the era between 2004-2009 was for TV cartoons (though TV cartoons are arguably in a worse spot now than it was back then)
>though TV cartoons are arguably in a worse spot now than it was back then
Are they?
Yes, Kifgay
>endless reboots/revivals/spinoffs being announced
>what little original IPs we're getting are shit like Kiff
>general style/skill stagnation across the board
I dunno, you tell me, kifhomosexual.
Kiff sucks ass
It was bad, but it wasn't as if Gravity Falls came right after a drought of nothing. Gravity Falls came out a couple of years AFTER things like Flapjack, Chowder, Adventure Time, Regular Show, Gumball, and The Horsie Show re-ignited the flame of TV animation. You also have things like Phineas & Ferb which had already been airing for awhile and hidden gems (at the time) like Dan Vs and Sym-Bionic Titan. Then there were really good reboots like The Hub's Transformers, Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated, Young Justice, and 2012 TMNT.
I think there is a bigger case of people forgetting how many good cartoons were actually out by the time Gravity Falls premiered. If anything, shows like Chowder and Flapjack were the ones that deserve the credit for making TV animation good again.
Chowder and Flapjack were good shows but they came out during 2004-2009 and were both victims of the CN real bullshit
Flapjack aired in 2008-2009 and its crew went on to make all of those rennaisance sows like RS, AT, Gravity Falls and Gumball. Flapjack absolutely gets the credit.
right? 2010 was a gamechanger. adventure time and pony really changed the landscape
2009 had some okay ones, stuff like flapjack and chowder were working their way up
but we needed something to fill the mature action show void, since.. those are expensive and attract censors like flies, so nobody does them anymore.
well yeah. nothing is worse than all the gay and pronoun shit.
You’re both completely wrong. Whatever issues the industry is experiencing now is nothing compared to the absolute desolate state the industry was in the late 00s. The big difference being was the 2008 recession which also hurt the entertainment industry, while a year before you had the 07 WGA strike which also put a stop to productions. I’ve seen artists who got started at the time recall how there wasn’t any tv animation production being made in Hollywood for a while Also, unlike today, there wasn’t any indie project you could fall back on
The WGA strike mostly affected like action shows. Animation writers are covered by The Animation Guild.
Also 2007 and 2008 had a lot of great shows, films and games especially the former year
>Avatar The Last Airbender
>El Tigre
>Ben 10 Alien Force
>Camp Lazlo
>The Secret Saturdays
>Legion of Superheoes
>Chowder
>Flapjack
>The Clone Wars
>Secret Saturdays
>Phineas and Ferb
>Wolverine and The X-Men
>Spectacular Spiderman
>Transformers Animated
>The Superhero Squad Show
>Batman Brave and The Bold
2004-2009 had a lot of good shows arising
KND
Billy and Mandy
Xiaolin Showdown
The Batman
Dave The Barbarian
American Dragon
ATLA
Catscratch
Fosters Home
Ben 10
The Emperors New School
Justice League Unlimited
The Replacements
Class of 3000
Legion of Superheroes
Batman Brave and The Bold
The Secret Saturdays
Spectacular Spider-Man
Wolverine and The X Men
I still say 2004-2009 was a bad time in its own way, but animation is in an objectively worse place now.
It wasn’t even bad, there were lots of good shows airing, if you really want to see how bad animation got, go back to the 70s and 80s
I don't think anyone would argue that the 70s and 80s are up there as the worst decades in animation
Nah this has been a great year for animated films
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003)
Megas XLR
The Batman
Super Robot Monkey Hyperforce Go
Dave The Barbarian
Danny Phantom
Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Ben 10
Catscratch
Camp Lazlo
American Dragon
The Emperor's New School
Legion of Superheroes
The Replacements
Class of 3000
Oban Star Racers
Phineas and Ferb
Chowder
El Tigre
The Mighty B
Spectacular Spiderman
Batman Brave and The Bold
Flapjack
The Secret Saturdays
Ben 10: Alien Force
Wolverine and The X-Men
2016 to now is way worse
Most of these are short lived and mediocre at best
*2005-2009 you mean. 2004 was the last year of Cartoon Network's golden age.
The community that formed around the show was absolutely the best part. Looking back on the actual show today, I realize how the overwhelming majority of episodes are just mediocre. I feel that being a part of the show's community and analyzing and theorizing about everything helped distract a lot of people from how okay the show was, myself included.
Gravity Falls worked because
>came during a time when the playing field was poor (Nick was just zombie FOP/Redditbob, CN was millennialcore cringe like AT/RS, and everyone was sick of PnF)
>told viewiers what it was going to be in the pilot (an episodic comedy cartoon hybridized with a serialized adventure story) and didn't renege or wienertease it until too late like AT
>had a good team of writers and storyboarders that could reign in the Manlet's millennial autism (at least up until S2B)
>was above all else well produced and polished
But there are plenty that I don't think have aged well at all or were perhaps just overlooked by fan's own forgiveness of flaws. I mean the pilot episode literally opens with a freeze frame "yeah thats me" scene. Sir Alex the Bald also had a knack for hiring voice actors that turned out to be actual sapient human excrement and parts of GF are now unairable without extensive redubbing.
>CN was millennialcore cringe like AT/RS
and Gravity Falls isn't?
The Brothers Chaps were doing most of the early writing and keep Hirsch's nintendies and "a simple yes would satisfy" condescending shit at bay.
It was just Matt though
Nah, not really. AT/RS definitely go for that stoner slacker alphabet 4th wall demographic a lot of the time. And while GF has a lot of modern references, it never feels like they're trying to do that, rather staying fairly grounded with the stories and reactions to them. And dare I say, they pretty consistently keep it geared toward kids while still in a way adults can appreciate.
What happened with some of the voice actors?
>Sir Alex the Bald also had a knack for hiring voice actors that turned out to be actual sapient human excrement and parts of GF are now unairable without extensive redubbing
Justin Roiland and Louis CK, okay. Anyone else?
Robbie's VA will likely never get work on any sort of Gravity Falls continuation
T.J.Miller is just another victim of the MeToo bullshit.
I thought the sexual harassment allegations were deboonked.
Yeah but it still destroyed his career.
>Louis CK
Did absolutely nothing wrong. Probably THE most moronic #metoo case.
You sound like a gay
>hiring voice actors that turned out to be actual sapient human excrement
That's just Hollywood, baby.
GIFFany’s VA?
>>came during a time when the playing field was poor (Nick was just zombie FOP/Redditbob, CN was millennialcore cringe like AT/RS, and everyone was sick of PnF)
b***h what the frick are you on. That era was considered a new golden age at the time, being a cartoon fan was great and everyone believed we were in a new golden age (excluding Nick of course). The only reason your saying this is because of hind sight and you getting bitter with your modern perspective.
Gravity Falls contributed to that Golden Age feeling. He's basically agreeing with you
>moronic waifugay has moronic opinions
>acting like RS wasn't a huge hit at the time
>millennialcore cringe like AT/RS
People fricking loved AT and RS, are you delusional?
I think two big factors set GF above the other stuff that was coming out, one being a genuinely unique and fun idea of the twins and the tourist trap and supernatural stuff actually happening, and the other being the overarching mystery, which was legitimately exciting to think about at the time. The characters, albeit imperfect and somewhat cliche (notably Wendy,) were a fun cast and their dialogue had a certain modern quality without being obnoxious. There were some shades of The Simpsons, and of course, Twin Peaks. It was a fun show that didn't feel like it was pandering or preaching, didn't feel like it was dumbed down and immature, and was a shining example of the creator's life story applied in an entertaining way to enhance his characters, and not just boasting on how awesome they are in a self-serving way.
Naturally, the downfall came when Alex burned himself out, doing 20+ hour days, fighting Disney at every turn over content, and, at least in my opinion, being generally unhappy with the process while seeing his peers (like best friend Justin Roiland) getting to do crazy stuff with a crazy amount of freedom. If you see R&M being wildly successful and creative and you get a note that you can't say "butt," it's bound to mess with your head. He was dating a nice albeit kooky girl and another girl he worked close with sunk her fangs into him and messed with his head further.
In any event, three planned seasons became two, and season two had to cram a lot of ideas into a shorter time frame while struggling to make these big high concept ideas come full circle. Most egregious was probably the general idea of mystery, where it was easily guessed Stan had a twin, it was easily stated that Bill was the final boss, and it was easily ignored that the symbol wheel just meant some people were destined and others were just convenient ("Yeah you be the heart because you always wear that ratty hoodie.")
people were invested in gravity falls because of the mystery aspect. watching it now, with the knowledge that none of the mysteries go anywhere or lead to anything interesting, makes you realize how stupid and pointless most of the show is.
Unfortunately yes. I think the only actual legitimate swerve was the fake leak he posted here.
The one barely anyone fell for kek
I'm more interested in remembering when exactly it came out? Sorting my /gfg/ junk folder by date gives me around the time of the "Boss Mabel" episode which seems really fricking early. I could've sworn it was more around the NWHS era.
Gravity Falls production was such a shit show (especially season 2) that I wouldn't be surprised if that McGucket thing was originally a bigger plot point (he was after all Ford's colleague... perhaps he was instead supposed to have been coerced by Bill into sabotaging something in the journal?) but after it got leaked the hacklet just scrapped it and tried to play it off along with his angry deleted tweet like he trolled 4chins like the master /b/ trollface master he is. Just never really made sense to me he'd waste time and resources of which he already had a limited amount of to make a fake screenshot and post it in a fan thread to later get an unprovable "own" against a website, but then again maybe that is WHY the production was such a shitshow.
Unlikely but not impossible.
I was a kid when this image was posted and even then I was skeptical about it
Everyone was. This also came off the heels of that "Amon is really a toothless 100 year old Aang" screencap too which was even more ridiculous yet had way more people fall for. Fake or not, I remember still not being sold McGucket could have written the journals, the whole Stanford thing had been solved already.
Baldlex probably really faked it, and was counting on Cinemaphile to spread it for him in order to throw people off the Stanford trail, but no one really bothered, so he tried to claim it as a pwn later down the line when /gfg/ turned on him.
I remember being in that Cinemaphile thread and on reddit simultaneously the day it was posted and everyone was going fricking crazy and calling out Alex it was so funny. I'm pretty sure that was my introduction to Cinemaphile. Younger me just took whatever I could get because the wait between Season 1 and 2 was brutal. I remember getting excited when my cousin found a leaked background of Wendy's bedroom in Scary-oke like 5 months before it aired. Fun times for sure.
I did. I Fricking loved that show. Same with Uncle Grandpa. Watched every episode.
There were so many good shows out in that time period. Comparing it to now is just sad. And those shows weren't just good, they are almost classics.
It's not that people thought it was a legit leak and he was the author, but nobody thought Alex planted it himself, let alone by coming here of all places.
I couldn't give you a date, maybe look in the archive? All I remember is when Alex and Manzi and Justin Roiland and his gf at the time came on here drunkposting and Justin's gf drew porn of Mabel.
Heres the tbharchive of the fake image leak https://desuarchive.org/co/thread/48207325/#48254762
What was the other image "leak"?
it was a real shot from an unreleased episode that added legitimacy to the hoax after that ep aired
Ahh, now I remember. Hirsch put a lot of thought into this prank
It still holds up even to new audiences as it actually does the loreshit right and it's still funny. It's just that everything inspired by it failed in either or both aspects.
I still stand by my stance that Gravity Falls ruined cartoon writing. Now, everyone tries to have that snarky self-aware humor that either ends up feeling insecure or tryhard.
So basically The Dark Knight for cartoons?
Yeah, actually.
>Now, everyone tries to have that snarky self-aware humor that either ends up feeling insecure or tryhard
As opposed to what? What was cartoon writing like before Gravity Falls?
Go watch some older cartoons Zoomer anon. You'll understand
>Muhh zoomer
Like clockwork
There used to exist things like jokes, and slapstick
But you all hated Uncle Grandpa
I thought it was great, if a bit over-reliant on grossout jokes and annoyance
It relies to heavily on gross out humour while trying to be the next Ren and Stimpy. It had a good foundation but never built off of it.
I thought it was a good show back when it was airing, a shame nobody really appreciated it til years later.
Not every cartoon that has wacky animation is trying to be the "next Ren & Stimpy", homosexual.
I got filtered during the original run and when i revisited the show i realized that alongside Clarence were the diamonds in the sea of turd that was tumblr bait shows for young adults.
I appreciated it being a fun wacky cartoon but it's hard to really enjoy a show with the main character being an old man who talks like an actual moron.
thanks for reminding of this garbage heap
Bad morning…
It depends
2000's cartoons had kind of this darker side to it's jokes along with being random or letting a joke go on for a long time
90's cartoons had this kind of this sitcom style of humor and relied on satire
80's cartoons had this dad humor where a character would tell a joke and everyone would laugh at the end of the episode or someone would make a snarky comment in the episode
No sacred cows. Powerpuff Girls made fun of Feminazis until the Big Red Trigglypuffs tried to lynch Faust, Billy & Mandy made fun of Irwin trying to get a fat white b***h while making Mandy tge butt of the joke without woobifying her, and even OG Rugrats could make a joke about israeli circumcision while slapping the shit out of Angelica too. Now every show has to be about how the female characters/leads are "oppressed innocent babygurls" who do no wrong and need someone to kiss their ass and cater to them like the children they supposedly despise. Punt these c**ts like everyone else or stay on your Tumblrs and deviantArts.
Speaking of Powerpuff Girls. Remember how the reboot had a literal self insert of one of the main show runners as a romantic interest for Blossom
>main show runners
Check your facts
You frickers lose your mind everytime a straight white male protagonist doesn't end up with a harem by the end of the series. You are just mad modern shows don't make fun of the things you think should be made fun of.
Pathetic incel schizo.
It was sincere and rarely "winked"at the spectator
Most I remember is shit like Grim Adventures and KND and Flapjack and Chowder and EEnE absolutely never took itself seriously.
everything bad is a bad attempt at copying something good.
they are cute and perfect
HOT BELGIAN WAFFLES
The lack of hiatuses to obsess over theories and hype up plot threads will be missed, but you can still enjoy Gravity Falls all the same (maybe even more than we ever did since you won't be sitting on such high expectations). Don't miss out on the shorts tho: https://youtu.be/5yWS_ljavTw
The shorts are underrated gems.
Probably the most successful plagiarized work just behind the Witcher.
I was so pissed when I realized they adapted all five books into one movie
>Could have been the next Harry Potter movie series
>Instead they jammed bits of every book into one mediocre film
Fricking why?
elaborate, I've only seen the movie for this so I don't get how GF ripped it off
Twins? A magical book that explains everything supernatural? An old shack that belonged to someone who wrote the original book? A supernatural antagonist that can shapeshift and wants to take the book?
There are MANY more which don't come to mind for me in the moment but these are the most blatant ones which were ripped off.
The twins are autobiographical. The others are common enough that they may or may not be copied from Spiderwick.
He admitted he cribbed the premise from Eerie, Indiana
Reminds me of the pic related poster
I watched it when it was still new and I thought it was moronic.
It's like Homestuck and MLP.
I didn't like it, it was too self-aware.
Uncle Grandpa isn't the best example. How many of you GF fans got off your high horse and actually appreciated Wander Over Yonder while you still had the chance? And don't give me any of that "it moved to Disney XD" shit because the same thing happened to Gravity Falls and its following never stooped lower.
Apple and Onion is far less appreciated but I found it even funnier than WOY
>Apple and Onion
I never see it discussed anywhere, so it's always a surprise when I find a fellow fan out in the wild.
WoY had a REALLY weak start and it took until the second season was almost over for me to get into it. Weak starts to a show are normal, but I honestly expect a little more from a seasoned showrunner who had two other well-written cartoons under his belt at that time.
Wander Over Yonder was amazing.
Honestly, WoY does the whole theme of family way better than Gravity Falls. Wander and Sylvia's relationship is very fleshed out, even if the two disagree on things, you can clearly see how much they love and appreciate each other.
None of the Pines family members even come close to reaching that dynamic. Wander and Sylvia exemplify the ideal that relationships are a game of give and take; they both benefit from their partnership because they can both bolster the other's strengths and cover the other's weaknesses.
Dipper and Mabel's relationship feels more like the two of them angrily trying to take from each other. It's never really shown that either of them benefit from being in the company of the other; they rarely team up, and when they do they don't make much of an impact working together. Same thing for Stan and Ford, they don't like each other and often bring out the worst in each other when they're together. Stan spends 30 years learning quantum physics bullshit and works tirelessly to rescue his brother from the portal, just to have his brother punch him in the face and never thank him after being saved. Like everything else in it, their reconcilliation in the finale feels forced and rushed beyond belief; I never got the feeling that Ford ever stopped looking down upon his brother and that he just 'let' Stan tag along on his seafaring adventures.
Whenever Gravity Falls feels the need to bring up the importance of family it feels very tacked-on and fake, as if fitting this theme into the story was just an afterthought. None of the Pines family's relationships are very constructive, and it's not very convincing when the show tells you that they love each other. Wander Over Yonder takes these sorts of relationships far more seriously, and excels at having characters that sincerely care for each other.
I did and loved it and wished it got more love. Still rewatch the musical episode from time to time
Clarence, Uncle grandpa, and WOY are the most underrated cartoons of the 2010's
kids didn't liked it
I watched the show well after the hype died down and I really enjoyed it. I didn’t even know there was a mystery, ARG, or treasure hunt aspect to the show so that wasn’t a factor. I’d just heard it mentioned a lot so I finally watched it. I thought it was entertaining as is. For the time it was created, it was a really good “back to basics” show. I can understand the enthusiasm even without the mystery part. The pseudo summer camp/coming of age thing pulls at heartstrings.
>ARG
what
It was here on Cinemaphile, even I never saw this shit I know this kek. twitter was coping and seething.
That it does.
I've always thought the logo was really cool. The title itself is also so simple yet so genius. I wish I could've been a fly on the wall when Hirsch was pitching the show.
I watched it in like 2020 and loved the characters and humor and got very hyped for the mystery. And then somewhat disappointed by how it played out and how rushed the finale was paced. Which from what i gather was the general experience, except spread over a few years rather than weeks.
I watched most of season 1 and a little of season 2 when it first came out. I didn’t end up seeing the whole thing in full until a good couple years later. Somehow I managed to remain unspoiled about any twists I haven’t already seen and even the ending. Because of that, it was really really good. Of course you will be missing out on theorizing about what will happen next unless you watched it with some friends but the show is still great on its own. Except maybe one episode near the end. You know which one I’m talking about.
99.9% of Gravity Falls viewers = "Yeah, that was good. I have fond memories of it."
/co/'s reaction = Years and years of weird-ass seething, occasional "it wasn't good you know" rants, and a massive hateboner for the creator
I'm somewhere in the middle, I have good memories of the show and can still enjoy it to some extent, but season 2b is trash and Alex Hirsch is still a manlet cuck.
It's funny how Cinemaphile will pray for Disney's death until Hirsch says something bad about Disney, then it's
>wow so ungrateful
>they gave him everything and this is how he repays them?
>you know those s&p guys are just le people trying to do their jobs... he didn't have to be so rude to them...
Yeah that gets me too.
nothin wrong with being a hater
Everything wrong with being a spineless Black person with no serious convictions, stances, or principals.
I have one serious conviction.
I have one stance.
I have one principle.
I hate Alex Hirsch. Everything else is of lower priority. My hatred for Alexios Hirschoronymus supersedes my hatred for anything else. I hope you understand.
Hi Luke.
Same. I really hope one day alex gets exposed as a groomer or cheater or butthole or something. I don’t know but he always pissed me off and his cringe in recent years has only fueled my anger.
Um anon, some people from the industry had expressed not liking him for various reasons…
But many seem to not care to expose him to the public yet
All it takes is one single incident and then EVERYONE will turn on him at once. Personally I can’t wait…all I know for certain is that he pissed in a trash can and probably cheated on dana
It’s starts with one…
%3D%3D
Holy based.
Alex going absolutely nuts during the Trump years made me lose a lot of respect for him. A lot of celebrities and people in animation did, but Hirsch is one of those that took it the extra mile when he did shit like have his followers flood the election fraud investigation hotline with fake calls. Any time a famous person weaponizes their followers (especially teenagers) for political means just makes me uncomfortable.
I still appreciate his body of work in animation, but I'm also well aware of the fact that Gravity Falls was an effort by many (Rob Renzetti deserves as much if not more credit, for reigning in Hirsch's homosexualry).
Lets not forget the time he encouraged people to draw Grunkle Stan punching nazis
Kek, and one of them Hirsch retweeted was a really cringey gif of Stan punching Drumpf too. These people were fricking mental.
What's wrong with punching nazis?
The last half of season 2 isn't very good but imagine what a third season of gravity falls would've been like with the 2016 election potentially taking place during writing of it
I disagree I thought Season 2B was fine.
We already had Roadside Attraction which feels like every attempt to focus on a boy's romantic intent after 2016 and how it's bad for some reason or another. We'd have just had more RAs complete with poorly executed metaphors and characters hating Dipper.
I hate Disney for reasonable things, like participating in wage-fixing, trying to copyright holidays, turning culture into Halloween props, or trying to bury John Lasseter's behavior by hiring "wranglers" instead of actually dealing with him. I don't hate them because of some dumb S&P note about a mushroom looking phallic.
Threads related to Gravity Falls, Owl House, and their creators get very weird and personal with their jabs. I wouldn't be surprised if most of them were from animation industry people who have beef with Hirsch and Terrace.
I know for a fact the Bikini Cowboy dude came here to talk shit in the past
POOP! POOP AND BUTTS!
Real Pinecest hours
my otp
I don't know if you had to be there, but discussing the theories on the show in the months between episodes was fun, and the watch parties were hype
>tfw no more real degenerate hours
we need more degenerate hours. Also, this show was amazing when it was airing. So much crazy theories and lore dives. I wish it came back in some form. A sequel or spin off.
Anymore pics from that artist? All I had was pic related
Seconding this request
A lot of them will get me banned
mega it perhaps?
Sure
https://mega.nz/file/cYwB3A7Y#VSipoYW4f5o6-Joj8PKB9Nt-0X5Zvx6dhUUANLz6s2c
Thank you anon! These are much appreciated
>Made for BBC
Big Bob(Robbie) wiener
Stancest>>>>> Twincest
Dipper deserves better than that b***h.
Yeah, it was peak loreshit at the right time.
I've watched it recently and it was ok. Some episodes were memorable but it also had a lot of boring stuff. Also I hate the trend of making almost every secondary character a moron. It's such a lazy way to write things. Also Stan was the only funny character, whose jokes worked. The others were extremely unfunny. Did anyone else feel the same?
You can tell Hirsch was inspired by Simpsons because to me the townies of Gravity Falls feel like his attempt at ones in Simpsons.
You can also tell he was inspired by The Simpsons because he said he was inspired by The Simpsons.
It's still good but I probably would agree with what you said. Like a big part of it was the culture of the series at the time and watching week to week.
>and watching week to week.
More like month to month. The gaps between episodes were ridiculous.
But at least the gaps weren't nearly as frustrating as the ones for Steven Universe.
I honestly never got around to watching it because I don't like most of the characters' voices.
well that’s too bad, you’re missin out
Artist?
It's Twin Peaks but for kids
They hired Paul Robertson for sprite art so they are eternally based in my book.
Did Disney broke Hirsch or he broke himself?
Hirsch was a young first-time showrunner, but he also made his job so much harder than was necessary. You don't write on EVERY SINGLE EPISODE unless you're given an extended TV deadline like on Adult Swim series or on streaming nowadays. And he and Mike Rianda regularly slept overnight at Disney because they'd get too focused on minutiae. I wouldn't be surprised if they went days without showering and claimed it was "for the good of the art."
Compare that to Matt Braly, whom many of his former crew said ran one of the best TV productions they've ever been a part of.
Being a good showrunner also means knowing when to step aside and not let your "creative vision" take over your life. Hirsch burned himself out. He's still active enough to have been developing two different shows with Netflix soon after, but Gravity Falls def could've been a smoother experience. I almost want to side with people who believe the show wasn't always meant to be just 2 seasons.
That's a nice touch.
>I almost want to side with people who believe the show wasn't always meant to be just 2 seasons.
Those people are factually correct. It isn't some conspiracy.
what the frick
What changed?
I remember this and being pissed when he said he always wanted to do 2. Then it was 2 and a movie. Then it was 22 episodes for season 2. Then it ended up being only 21 episodes. Alex must have burnt out hard, I can't imagine making 20 episodes over 3 years would be that hard, especially with a crew but I suppose he was a perfectionist. I think his "perfectionism" ended up harming Season 2B.
Season 2 was incredibly rushed. But I am surprised Disney didnt step in and put somebody else in charge. Wasnt GF their biggest show? Why didnt they try to make at least one more season?
>convinces Disney to pick up a half-hour serialized show with a definitive beginning, middle, and end in mind
>gets to make an extended episode with a commercial-free premiere
>is allowed to end the show on his own terms despite it being Disney's biggest hit at the time
All at barely 30 years old. What. Is. His. Secret?
Hirsch have a nice handwriting
I'd say Dan & Swampy got the last laugh, but no one gives a shit about Hamster & Gretel.
>>is allowed to end the show on his own terms despite it being Disney's biggest hit at the time
Given how b***hy and cranky he is about it these days, I think the "ending it on his own terms" is a bit of a narrative control on his part. He went on record saying he wanted a movie or a game too.
As do I. Although the harm wasn't that bad.
This doesn't apply when the truncation of what would've been Season 2 and Season 3 into S2a and S2b clearly hurt the pacing and overall quality of the show. There's a sweet-spot and niether show hit it.
>It's either two seasons or one billion seasons
they're technically correct that Rick and Morty's premise could allow the show to go on forever, but how many of those stories are worth telling?
You had to be there because you never knew what it was building up to. All of the cryptic messages and shit hidden in the background kept hinting at something big coming which always made it feel like there was more to it than just a simple disney cartoon
I think I got burned when it kept building. I thought it was gonna be some X-Files level shit but it was way simpler. With how epic it was I always wanted it to go harder. We never even found out where Ford went in the portal or Bill's origins.
Still, you gotta admit that reveal for why the cliff looks like that was pretty awesome.
It was. I just wish we knew who the aliens were, what they do. Would have been cooler if there had been more context to some mysteries.
Less is more. I'm happy with what we got. The episode in question was really good. Lots of nice tension and buildup to the show's final arc.
>when you hear your brother planning to pursue higher education
Not on her watch.
I'm slightly annoyed at how the T in "the" here wasn't just the tiniest bit more to the right so that it'll look like a top hat.
I liked Dana's take on the art style
Backgrounds were so good, wish we got more alien tech stuff.
The background art is phenomenal. I especially love the complete revamp they did for Season 2. Every backdrop looked much more cinematic.
I feel like all these DTVA shows have really good backgrounds. Didn't Star Vs win a award for that?
I remember when S2 wasn't out yet and at the comic con they showed off S2 backgrounds and that was really exciting. Those camera-photos of it being projected in the room. It was like looking at behind the scenes art for an upcoming movie or something. They also had the shot of McGucket in a snowy motel which everyone thought meant an episode away from Gravity Falls or something.
I somehow never realized the backgrounds changed but holy frick I prefer the season 1 backgrounds, I have no idea how to describe it but it feels like season 2 shack lost a bit of soul in the name of being more dramatic.
The bridge being part of it makes it too contrived
Is that a muffin?
I wanted it to go harder too. But I'm satisfied with what it was.
Who?
>pretty good
Zero taste. Suicide please.
You first
It's harder to re-watch when you have to get through all the fricking dipper obsessing over wendy episodes. They wasted way too much time with that.
It's a coming-of-age series about the growing pains experienced during summer vacation. All the supernatural is second to Dipper and Mabel's (and Stan and Stan's) growth. I can see how the Wendy simping can get tiring, but it really is essential to the show's core theme. This is best showed in Dipper's sacrifice in The Time Traveler's Pig.
Thank you for pointing that out.
It's much harder to sit through the Mabel episodes like Boyz Crazy.
If the pool episode hadn't given us Wendy in a swimsuit it would've been the worst of both worlds.
That episode is saved by the Stan subplot with the pool chair and Mr Poolcheck
>Dude I'm totally 12
Can't decide if based or incredibly creepy.
That's a good one
It's the dipper part of that episode that's weak
Frick you, Stan trying to help out Dipper was sweet. And Dipper then eating shit for still trying to get with Wendy immediately after she dumped Robbie was sooo satisfying. One of the best arguments for why that "childhood crush" subplot is such a great part of the show. Dipper really learned something that day.
Both parts suck
Owl House > Gravity Falls > Amphibia
Uncle Grandpa >>>>>>>> Gravity Falls >>>>>>>>>>> Amphibia > Owl House
I jerk off almost exclusively to wholesome romantic dipper x mabel porn and erotic fanfics.
I miss my sister a lot.
I will try to make more for you. I'm trying really hard to improve.
are u me?
what happened to your sis?
tell you the truth, at the time, I was not remotely 'amazed' by it like everyone else. I just enjoyed the comedy and characterization, not the deep mystery plot that I assumed was sort of a gimmick anyway
but it turns out when you peel back the layers (or read a guide), Hirsch actually put TONS of work into crafting a complicated mystery full of clues and shit.. really did a good job. It's still not what i'm into, but it's impressive.
If Gravity Falls hadn't done now-forgotten shit like the cipher frames and everything it wouldn't have gotten the reputation as this huge game-changer. It was just the first time a cartoon was made knowing it was going to have an online fandom.
You just had to be there
His friendship with Roiland and the passive aggressive tweets from industry people at him make me think Alex has a lot of skeletons in his closet
You think Terrence also have skeletons in her closet as well?
I thought it was kinda lame at the time. I watched it through but I never felt satisfied with what I got. I wanted another Mystery Inc. and it wasn't that.
cap
I have a soft spot for GF since that was the first time I really got into a cartoon fandom heavily. Saw a lot of fanart, read a lot of fics, and was pretty sad when it ended. I'm kind of worried that if I rewatch I'm gonna hate it or at least not like the humor and characters as much as I did back in 2014. Maybe one day. I do remember liking male less the more I watched
>spoiler
It turned you lesbian?
oh shit I meant mable
I just recently got back into watching western cartoons after my animation consumption was nothing but anime for a long while
I started with GF and it was great, don't feel like I missed out by not watching it back in the day
I have also realised just how trash most anime is because these cartoons blow them the frick out
Isn't 1 thread enough for you? Every character in gf acts like a moron and the humor is pretty shit as well. Stop trollposting.
I miss when bait had effort
This isn't bait, this is reality
now that alex hirsch has crashed and burned can we stop making GF threads cheers
he's been working on a big ass netflix show but the cheap buttholes put it back into development hell after getting to the writing stage
pls forgive netflix they need to gib more money to the next "raunchy" adult animation because they're still chasing the next rick & morty
it will get one season of 10 episodes or less, then be memoryholed
Worse. They had a full crew working on his production including background designers and storyboard artists. When you're that far along, it makes even LESS sense to throw the show into limbo. Who knows what Netflix plans to do with it now…
> They had a full crew working on his production including background designers and storyboard artists. When you're that far along, it makes even LESS sense to throw the show into limbo.
Anon they do this with lots of shows
I hope the writer’s strike gets the show soft-canceled
It warms my heart he hasn't been able to do jack shit
>"You need to have been there when it was new" in order to get the full impact of it?
The only technically correct answer to this is yes, because of the mystery stuff, but I don't remember anyone calling it a "massive game-changer" even before they botched the ending. It's just a rather good show.
No.
Don't get me wrong, it was elevated by the experience of watching it at the time, and you can never recapture the power of mystery for someone after the mystery is explained. But every single time I've seen new people watch this show for the first time, they have absolutely adored it and quickly considered it one of their top 3 cartoons. The writing, specifically the comedy, is on another level compared to its imitators like TOW and Amphibia.
>considered it one of their top 3 cartoons.
You have friends with extremely shit taste.
That's because Alex helped pioneer the millennial cynical self-aware mean-spirited disingenuous type of humor that's very popular these days, not much different than Rick and Morty and its humor appeal. It's probably going to age like shit though.
>TOW
The Owl… Wouse?
I was into it because of the mystery, I slowly realized the comedy wasn’t to my liking. There’s some great gags but most of it has the vibes of
>well that just happened!
It also relied a lot of characters saying things you usually don’t see in kid shows rather than being actually good jokes.
>Haha he spoke of murder and depression, that’s funny because PBS shows would never have that
Once the mystery was resolved there really wasn’t much to it. Most of the main characters were fine and likable, but the villains all sucked, the townies were one dimensional jokes, the romance subplots were all crap, and the last arc of the show was really bad. It’s an average show that came in at the right time.
I loved it and was lost without it after I finished the series. Was glad I did watch it through. That was this year. I'm 59 y.o., and yet it was a bit of nostalgia for me. I felt at that the age of the characters really hit me hard, because that's what I thought back at that age. Really a good storytelling series. Timeless.
The people in this town are so stupid
Blame The Blind Eye Society.
sexooo
It was more thrilling when the mysteries were newly coming out
Agreed.
Disagreed. More fun to revisit.
what is this image meant to mean
I don't remember that one in particular but the end credits would have an encrypted message, but it used a vigenere cipher so it needed a keyword. This image has the letters "ongoatandapig". Hints like that would be either the word or where to find the word in the episode, then you decrypt the message.
The last 10 episodes have too many "bits meant to cause viewer to either crack a smile, giggle, chuckle or laugh"
Is it really that different than the episodes up till that point? The show was always very silly.
"The Handyman Knows More Than You Think" never went anywhere huh. I wonder if Hirsch had a plan for him at some point to have some secret integral to the story but decided against it because it'd take away from who he is.
He really could've known some stuff without taking away from his simpleness. Like how he's not an idiot when it comes to maintenance, he also could've been not an idiot when it comes to the weird stuff that happens, just like he said in the pilot. He doesn't have to be a secret bounty hunter or anything, just make him familiar with some monsters that weren't documented in Journal 3.
The main theory about what that message meant before everyone forgot it was even a thing, if i remember correctly myself, was just that it related to him knowing something about Stan's secret. Either actual details or just that he's seen Stan go back there once or twice. From that point he could "know" something important but be the kind and lovable Soos by not pressing the matter or investigating it. But it's still a touchy trait to give him, and it would change his relation to Stan on some level anyway.
It's one of the shows ever.
Out of all the shows out there, this is one of them
Artist?
It says the artist right there, "요즘...퍼시그리는 끼 젤재밌 라..."
Korean names are so weird.
It just translates to “Nowadays...Percy Griffiths is a great guy...”
I have no idea what it translates to, but I was making a joke.
Oh sorry
You'll have missed out on some cool promos, that was part of the experience: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQSLFBfZXF0
Lol I can tell this was drawn by Matt Braly, it’s so cute
>Has anyone here watched this AFTER the Gravity Falls fever faded and still immensely loved it?
I watched it for the first time a couple months ago and thought S1 was pretty good and then starting slowing down throughout S2. I wanted that bitter sweet ending though.
Pinecest was better than the actual show and it's a shame
>Has anyone here watched this AFTER the Gravity Falls fever faded and still immensely loved it?
Yo. Watched it in 2021. It was great.
My nephew pushed me into it and told me there were cryptos at the end of every episode. I forced myself to crack each one before watching the next episode. It was fantastic.
The commentaries on the blu-ray are interesting. Parts of the climax in Not What He Seems were inspired by FLCL and Breaking Bad lol. Also how they talk about making things up as they go along for a lot of the show. In hindsight it's much more obvious Bill wasn't meant to be the main villain with stuff like "I must hide this book before He finds it." Retroactively speaking he's tied into the journals/author history fine but Bill would have no reason not to know where the book is buried. At the time of the first episode all Hirsch knew was that the author was "taken away by some mysterious force" and that he got into some trouble. Even into S2 lots of stuff was being figured out.
>>Bill would have no reason not to know where the book is buried.
What about the Metal Plate and Bill being preoccupied?
Bill doesn't need access to his mind to see things happen. Even at the end of Season 2 he's shown having a magic crystal ball and watching Dipper and Ford shield the shack. He's not looking through any of the illuminati decor around the shack, he's not looking through the mind of anyone, he's got a full on God mode omnipresent capability to see from anywhere. His powers are just haphazardly cobbled together.
The commentary for I think Dreamscaperers has Alex talk about how initially Bill was just supposed to be the funny jackass all-knowing power that shows up to tease and mess with the hero, and knows how everything goes. Bill was clearly not meant to be the final villain with that sort of role but they said they never came up with anyone better than him and didn't want to discard him with just a couple appearances.
And yet he swears the show ended as planned with two seasons.
With that in mind, isn't it possible that he knows Ford is coming for him across dimensions ie the knowledge needed for the portal will come to him?
>Bill would have no reason not to know where the book is buried.
True he wouldn't have any reason not to know. But isn't it possible he doesn't really care either?
Gravity Falls is the LOST of Cinemaphile except Cinemaphile shitters have much lower standards so they didn't mind that the asspull mystery box hooks went nowhere whereas LOST crashed and burned and was forgotten forever
A lot of Cinemaphile viewers were ticked about the asspulls, especially about the symbols circle being rendered meaningless.
Stan gained his memory back way too quickly imo. Tying in Mabel's scrapbook was cute and all, but it really robbed the takedown of Bill as feeling like a sacrifice.
To be fair we were supposed to get a montage of Stan regaining his memory. And Journal 3 did reveal it took a whole week.
>Is this one of those shows where, "You need to have been there when it was new" in order to get the full impact of it?
Yes. It had really good engagement from supporting factors like /gfg/, hype staff episode posters, or the early Disney website games giving clues to the shows mysteries to really feel like this was a true investment of your time for years on end. Stuff people are slowly forgetting over time, but binge watching it in 2023 can't possibly replicate it.
For me Not What He Seems was the peak of hype both within the show and fandom and it makes sense in hindsight considering the author was the big planned twist
I guess
I suppose
This is not a Shrek type of work where it still holds up as a timeless masterpiece regardless of its questionable influence. Gravity Fallls is showing its age and its flaws.
It goes downhill after Ford shows up. He was a weak character. The few Gideon eps aren't very good either,
Also the teased sibling civil war was a dud; just more "Dipper must choose between his happiness or Mabel's" empty drama in the end.
I remember all the "SIBLING CIVIL WAR" shitposting because of that leading up to Dipper and Mabel vs The Future and all we got was Mabel being a huge baby in daycare court towards him. There was no good drama out of it. They barley even argued. There was a way to really have them pit against each other and deliver on some dramatic rift happening before they resolve, but it'd have required Bill's "most diabolical trap ever" to actually be more than "generic fantasy utopia for a character" and actually been something disturbing and serious, beyond the most basic manipulation ever. The execution was so mind numbing and simple despite all that teasing and Bill, the main villain, being the primary instigator of the only episode where it had focus. It undermines him, and the sibling drama, and just wastes everyone's time as part of the finale.
There were little hints of their relationship straining through the rest of S2. Dipper tells Mabel he's tired of the way she and Stan treat him in the D&D episode, and Mabel had a short-lived, soon discarded admission that she had been picking on Dipper more than usual in the unicorn episode. Both led to nothing.
I fricking hate that scene.
>he doesn't pick on me all the time like you and grunkle stan do
>haha, give him time!
>...nah, you got me
>....you got me 🙁
b***h just fricking apologize and be more considerate. it's not impossible. why the FRICK is this a scene
I've had the belief for a while that the reason the Dipper/Pacifica ship sailed so much was because it was the one friendship he had where he wasn't gonna let someone push him around, compared to everyone else on his family making fun of him.
That and generally not having many friends of his own while Mabel befriended half the town.
>sibling civil war
Goddamn that unlocked a memory.
Despite everything /gfg/ was comfy.
Not What He Seems was peak
That is definitely the point where the show goes downhill, but I also got reminded of some things that bothered me from S1. I never liked anything relating to Wendy, Pacifica pre-NWH, or Mabel's friends. I realized far too late my perspective of the show was different from what it actually was, and I let myself be blinded by the fandom. I don't think I'd think much about it in general if I watched it today.
I just want someone to remember the sexy shirtless Soos dancing in the gift shop flash animation that was officially made by the crew on the show and posted by TheMysteryofGF at one point. I can't find it anymore and no one fricking remembers what I'm talking about.
It was made by staff because you can hear the music from Scaryoke when Wendy and Dipper are hanging up blacklight signs in it, and iirc it was before S2 released. It was a short loop.
How long was it up? I followed that account then and the show in general and this sounds like bullshit. Is there any proof you can point to?
How big the fandom was is often underestimated. Back then tumblr was at its peak and they were obsessed with this show. Cinemaphile had a general (which often got deleted) and they would discuss the episodes as soon as they aired, some even became sticks. The internet itself was still on its "big fandom" phase and people obsessing over nerd stuff was everywhere, until the MCU became a big and drained everybody of all their energy.
The amount of available artwork was insane, it really found common ground among a lot of sites. /gfg/ had more drawgay participation than anything I've seen in the time since
Mine is
Are there any good fan comics for GF?
beats me, i wouldnt know
I only recently watched it
It’s goyslop with a hint of fun in season 1
Thanks for your input, zoomie
It’s okay, Cinemaphile.
Bodies are nothing to be ashamed of.
>They wouldn't get the full scope of why people went crazy over it.
They wouldn't. The community had a lot of involvement surrounding the how with theory crafting and so on. But I think this applies for a lot of shows.
Season one is still really great, even on rewatches.