Posted in: Disney+, streaming, TV, YouTube | Tagged: Alex Hirsch, disney, Gravity Falls

Gravity Falls: Bill Cipher Gets Helping Hand Taking Over Our Dimension

Alex Hirsch's Gravity Falls was the focus of Disney's "How NOT to Draw," with Bill Cipher looking to make a dimension-hopping deal.

If you feel like we've been getting some louder rumblings lately in and around the universe of Alex Hirsch's Gravity Falls, you're not alone. First hitting Disney Channel screens in 2012, the series focused on twins Dipper and Mabel Pines, who investigate supernatural & paranormal mysteries with their great-uncle Stan from The Mystery Shack, located in the Oregon town of the show's title. The show would end its run after two seasons in 2016 (moving to Disney XD in 2014), with Hirsh signing a multi-year overall deal two years later with Netflix to produce animated projects for adults and kids. But the desire for more tales from the hit animated series has only grown over the years – with this summer bringing some interesting updates.

Back in June, Executive Vice President of Television Animation and Disney Branded Television Meredith Roberts had an interesting response when asked about the possibility of more Gravity Falls. "You know, we're in conversations with Alex [Hirsch]. He's about to publish a book with Disney on his project. And we also do some shorts. So never say never," Roberts shared. As fans already know, Roberts was referencing "Bill Cipher's" (as told to Hirsch) The Book of Bill, which was released in July from Disney Press. The book offers the Big Bad's perspective on what went down in and around Gravity Falls, as well as a chance to tell his evil origin story and much more – and based on the social media reactions from fans, it's also taking them down a rabbit hole of new backstory to the animated series' overall mythology (with more than a few folks believing that they include clues to what's still to come).

That brings us to today's edition of "How NOT to Draw," a take-off on the usual drawing tutorial where the animators bring beloved Disney characters to life – and that's pretty much when things go off the rails. In the latest, the animator (Alan Ruck) shows us how to draw Grunkle Stan. Sounds pleasant enough, right? Well, it is… until some very wrong words are uttered. The next thing we know, Stan's on a $1 bill (though he gets an upgrade), and Bill Cipher is looking to make a deal with the animator. I mean, all it takes is a handshake…

Gravity Falls Creator Alex Hirsch Shares History of Disney S&P Battles

Back in June 2022, Hirsch posted a thread on Twitter in honor of the 10-year anniversary of the animated series, demonstrating the fights Hirsch and the team had with the studio's Standards and Practices department to get into so that the show could make your screens. Clocking in at just under five minutes, the clip offered example after example of instances where S&P took issue with content they considered too sexual/adult, flirted too close to what they considered to be "red-button" social issues, etc. Along with the notes from S&P, Hirsch also shared how they approached pushing back on what were considered questionable judgment calls:

S&P: "Please revise poop face as it comes across as a replacement for 'shitface.' Prior use of Mabel saying 'poop, poop and butts' in the episode 'Fight Fighters' came across as more childlike and not as offensive."

Hirsch: Straight-to-the-point response shutting down the idea that young viewers would be offended by "poop face."

S&P: "It has come to our attention that 'hoo-ha' is a slang term for vagina. Please revise."

Hirsch: "It is a proper word meaning 'excitement' or 'hullabaloo,' and that is clearly its meaning here. The context is an owl-themed restaurant called Hoo-Ha's Jamboree. Not changing."

Another example involved S&P finding Sheriff Daryl Blubs putting his arm around Deputy Durland (a gay couple) a little too sexual ("Please revise the action of Blubs putting his arm around Durland. As noted in previous concerns, their affectionate relationship should remain comical versus flirtatious") as well as the use of any religious symbolism & practices that some viewers might find offensive ("Why should we be held hostage to any imaginary knee-jerk career complainer who could conceivably go out of their way to pretend to be offended by this?"). Here's a look at Hirsch's full thread, which is filled with some fascinating insights into the collision between art, commerce, and vaguely defined "public standards":

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