Why I Love Gravity Falls

Hey everyone!

Yeah, I know, it's been way too long. But I'm back, so let's dive in!

If any of you have been following my Pinterest, you might know about my latest obsession: Gravity Falls! It's a fantastic show that ended in February.

Here's the premise: twins Mabel and Dipper are staying with their Great Uncle Stan (or Grunkle Stan) for the summer at a little town called Gravity Falls. But they soon come across strange, paranormal things in this town, like gnomes, bottomless pits, and the occasional demon.  Now, it's up to the twins to figure out the mysteries behind Gravity Falls.

What I wanted to talk about is what I like so much about this show. Since its creation, Gravity Falls has gained a large following. But I think more people should be watching it, and not enough people know about it. So here are some reasons why I love Gravity Falls!

It has clever humor

A lot of kids shows either resort to crude humor, or stupid, overdone scenarios. But Gravity Falls uses a lot of clever humor with perfect timing. Yes, there is some crazy, off-the-wall humor (mostly contributed by Mabel, the creative and slightly strange twin), but it melds so well with clever jokes. Now the show does do some "cliche" episodes, but it takes the cliche and adds a twist.

For example, the switching bodies episode is such a classic one where the twins accidentally switch bodies, but instead of the episode being spent trying to find a way to change them back, the twins end up trying to sabotage each other. They know exactly how to switch back, but they choose not to do it just yet. It's clever, slightly unexpected, and brings hilarious results.

Another funny element is the characters are fully aware of the strange and creepy things happening in Gravity Falls. If they go through something terrifying, they won't hesitate to come out and say, "Well, that was disturbing." It's simple, but effectively funny. There's also a lot of self-aware and meta-humor that pokes fun at the characters and the show, not quite breaking the fourth wall, but making it slightly opaque.

There are tons of interesting creatures

Since the whole premise of Gravity Falls is the twins dealing with strange creatures and phenomenons, we have a wide variety of creatures and objects from a merman to demons to shrink/growth crystals. This show will take some classic demons and monsters and add a bit of a twist to them, along with new creatures. It adds so much color and intrigue to the show.

The thing I love about these creatures is not all of them are bad, and not all of them are good. They're just as unique and layered as the human characters, which makes them that much more interesting. I also love the designs of these creatures. They're so crazy and unique, yet familiar, which makes them really fun to watch.

The details are amazing

This show is notorious for having all these little details adding up to something bigger. The creator was a big fan of codes and puzzles, so throughout the show are encrypted messages for viewers to decipher. Each code gives a little information, such as "The handyman knows too much." While I'm not that into finding codes, I enjoy seeing other fans go crazy over these details, and I think it's a fantastic way to get kids and adults involved in the show.

I also love it when some small detail will become significant later on. I won't go into details, but many viewers managed to guess a major plot twist before it happened, due to the little hints that the creator gave in the show. This incorporates fans into the show, making them active participants rather than passive ones.

And besides all the crazy details, the animation itself is very fun and beautiful. Its stylistic charm is so fun to watch, and the backgrounds are seriously amazing.

The characters are hilarious and fascinating

One of my friends told me that unless a book/show/movie had good characters, she usually wasn't interested in it. I agree that half of a good story is interesting characters, and boy, does Gravity Falls deliver a wide variety of amazing characters. Too often, kids shows will resort to stock characters to carry the show, which makes it weak and not that engaging.

But in Gravity Falls, the main characters are all very interesting with layers. Let's take a look at them:

Mabel is the classic strange, quirky, creative girl, but she shows moments of insecurities and she's also very kind and caring.

Dipper, her twin, is a bit neurotic with his anxiety and obsessed with the supernatural, but that doesn't stop him from doing silly things with Mabel, and he's proven that he's willing to do anything for his sister.

Soos the handyman appears to be a bit of a less intelligent man child, but he demonstrates moments of clarity and pain as he mourns his estranged father. He's also shown to think about some pretty deep topics.

Grunkle Stan appears to be a simple conman, but he's shown to be the guy with the most mystery surrounding him, having secret doors and a past we don't initially know about. And while he seems to be just a gruff, cranky old man, he does have a (very large) soft spot for the twins.

All of these characters are well-rounded, unique, and very intriguing. Every time I learn something new about them, it just adds more layers to their personalities. They're really what make the show.

The family relationships are heartwarming

In a lot of shows, most families are portrayed hating each other, especially the siblings. It makes sense since to make a story interesting, you need conflict, and what creates better conflict than a dysfunctional family? But this form of conflict gets old really quick, and it's not being fair to families. Especially to sibling dynamics. It's true that siblings close in age will often fight, but we also have the sibling dynamic where they actually get along (yes, that exists).


I think Gravity Falls portrays this sibling dynamic really well with Dipper and Mabel. They still tease each other and drive each other nuts, but none of it's mean spirited. And if they go too far, they soon realize it and apologize. In the end, you can see how much these twins care about each other, how much they love being around each other, and just what they would do for each other. They're both really close, and I find that refreshing.

Besides the twins, I also really like the relationships between other characters. I love the relationship between Grunkle Stan and the twins, specifically Mabel. You can tell he loves those kids, though he wouldn't admit it, and he'll do things he normally wouldn't for them. I also like Soos. He's more or less become a part of the family, and it's awesome how the twins like him and how they're willing to do crazy things for him too. It's all fun, but there's still craziness and tension to create the needed conflict.

The creator of the show is awesome

Alex Hirsch is actually fairly young for a creator, being only twenty-eight, but I think that makes him relate to his audience better. He regularly tweeted updates on the show, he's involved in social media, and he knows his audience. Throughout the show, he slipped in jokes that both made fun of him and the show, which was very fun. To have a creator that understands his show is appealing to many types of demographics is great because he can see what the audience may want or expect and play off of that.

He's also a big troll, and loves to give hints that make his fans freak out. An example of this is when the 2nd season started, he said "at least one character won't survive." You can imagine how that made his fans react. It was a great way to get fans to guess what's going to happen, and you could tell he was loving every minute of it.

So there you go. That's just a few of the many reasons why I love Gravity Falls. If you get the chance, you should really check it out. It's hilarious, weird, heartwarming, and just plain clever. What's not to like?

Until later, folks!