What we’ve learned about Gravity Falls from “Between the Pines” with Alex Hirsch

As we approach the time to say our final goodbyes to Gravity Falls, there still remains much that fans do not know about the series. Thankfully, series creator Alex Hirsch unraveled quite a few mysteries surrounding everybody’s favorite characters, certain plot threads that may have gone unnoticed throughout the series, and beyond this past Monday during the Gravity Falls special episode, “Between the Pines”. Here are just a few of the secrets that lie within the depths of Gravity Falls!

Fair warning, there will be a few series spoilers mentioned so read with caution.

Characters

Dipper and Mabel are based on real people. (And Dipper’s real name may be revealed!)

Many fans may already be aware of this, but Dipper Pines was based on Alex’s memory of what it felt like to be a kid. As for the origin of Dipper’s nickname: Alex knew a kid with unusual acne and he’d always map out the constellations he’d see on the kid’s face until one day he had he perfect spattering of zits that made up the Big Dipper.

Dipper’s twin sister Mabel was based on Alex’s own twin sister named Ariel. Mabel acts exactly the same way Ariel did in elementary school: fun, zany, and ridiculously wild. Whenever Mabel is off camera, she is always knitting next week’s sweater.

Speaking of twins, apparently Dipper and Mabel’s first name have a similarity to each other that mirrors the similarity to Alex and Ariel’s name…Perhaps Dipper’s true name may be revealed during the finale this coming Monday?

Grunkle Stan’s relationship with Ford is meaningful.

Alex urged fans to pay attention to how Grunkle Stan talks about family because a lot of his character begins to make sense in relation to them, especially now that everybody knows that Stan is a twin. One big clue about Stan’s remorse about losing Ford in the portal can be seen in “Headhunters” when Stan became extremely distraught when a wax replica of himself was beheaded. Although Stan and Ford never saw eye-to-eye in the past, it has always been clear that Stan cares about his family.

Soos is Alex’s favorite character to voice, and is also based on a real-life person.

Included in that family is Soos, the lovable handyman of the Mystery Shack. Soos is Alex’s favorite character to voice, especially because of all of the crazy, made-up hip-hoppy terms writer Jeff Rowe gave him in the second season. Soos is based on somebody Alex knew in college named Jesus Chambrot, who was always a mysterious guy but could always be found in the computer lab wanting to help people. Like Soos, he’d cause more problems than solutions, but always managed to solve them and always offered his help from the most sincere place.

Bill Cipher was named after the dollar bill.

Bill Cipher was created by idea of taking the triangle from the back of the dollar bill and dressing it up with a top hat and arms. They named Bill after the dollar bill, and thus Bill Cipher was born! Just like his origin, Bill was originally going to be green but the staff felt it made him look too much like a green leaf. (Now he just looks like a yellow nacho.)

Secret Hints

Background are significant

Many Gravity Falls fans know that it is extremely important to pay attention to the backgrounds of the show. While watching the episode “Gideon Rises”, fans should notice that near the hand of the previously unknown author writing the journals, there is a polished desk and a rainbow reflection on top of it. In the secret room in “Carpet Diem” a triangular prism reflecting a rainbow light can be seen which was meant to indicate that the room belonged to the unknown author at the time.

Mabel’s sweaters hint at different themes

“Dreamscapers” is another episode with a small little touch that holds significant importance to the episode’s entire story. During the episode, Mabel is wearing a sunset sweater to represent the shift from a more lighthearted narrative to a darker story, set up with Gideon’s take over of the town. In “Not What He Seems”, Mabel is also seen wearing a key because Mabel is the key to unlocking the portal.

The audience was originally supposed to know more about every characters’ dreams

Also, the original plot of “Dreamscapers” featured the idea that Bill would go into everybody’s dreams and the audience would experience them all. In the end we only see Stan’s dream, but a small fragment of the episode’s plot remained with the concept of Mabel Land in “Weirdmageddon 2: Escape from Reality”.

Agent Powers and Agent Trigger can be found in many episodes

Agent Powers, voiced by Nick Offerman, and Agent Trigger have been watching the twins the during the entire series and you can see them in various episodes either blending in with the crowds or standing out in their black suits.

Fun Facts

Of course, that isn’t all of the facts Alex revealed during the special! He revealed many secrets behind the creation of the show itself:

• Gideon was given big hair with the thought that maybe Gideon had a malformed twin he hid inside of it. (Note: There isn’t a hidden, malformed twin.)

• Multi-bear was going to be called the Bear Bear, specifically because they wanted a line for Dipper to say “There, there, Bear Bear.”

• Blandin is bald because he burns himself from time traveling quite frequently. In fact, he burned his hair off from all of his botched time traveling!

Alex finally left audiences with good advice: if you are ever around a time baby, leave the room. They don’t have object permanence. If you can’t leave the room, remember that jingling keys are the best weapon as a time baby is easily distracted.

—

Even with all of those facts, it is important to remember that Gravity Falls has always been first and foremost about the characters and their relationships with each other. Fans watched Dipper and Mabel go from two kids being forced to stay with their Grunkle Stan for a long, boring summer into heroes of Gravity Falls as they stood up against mysterious enemies that threatened the safety of everybody there. Fans got the chance to unravel insane mysteries, solve hidden messages, and discover the truth about the Author of the three journals and their relation to Stan.

Many tears and laughs have gone into the enjoyment of this show, so as we all go into the finale, remember the fond moments you shared with Dipper and Mabel during their amazing summer vacation filled with magic, mystery, revelations, and adorable pigs in Gravity Falls and enjoy the end of ride.

The hour-long series finale of Gravity Falls will air on Monday, February 15 at 7 PM on Disney XD.

Like what you see here on DisneyExaminer? Help support us grow and be rewarded with even more content and experiences by becoming a DisneyExaminer Patron!