The Gravity Falls Thread

[Drtooth]

I just hope P&P keeps to itself like their kidcoms, is all.

I don't think P&P's going to be successful. There's too much going on and yet nothing at the same time. It's a white noise of a show, actually. And though there are things I found kinda chuckleworthy, it feels like they're going the minimalism route and trying to hard at the same time. I feel the use of media blending seems a little shoddier than most modern cartoons, and it's like every close up has to be a puppet, and that gets tired after the third time in an 11 minute cartoon. Yet the only thing I really hated was the incessant whispering echo which wasn't funny the first time, but by the third time (like a whole 3 seconds later) it was thoroughly annoying. As a show it feels like they took Breadwinners, Regular Show, Pig Goat Banana Cricket, and hints of Uncle Grandpa, Chowder, and the ubiquitous Spongebob, threw it into a blender, and skimmed of whatever didn't blend and used what they skimmed off and threw the stuff that made those shows work out. The show's stupid, but instead of pushing why the show's stupid (like PGBC, where it works) it just throws stupid around liberally without purpose.

That said, I just find it parallels Ben Jones's Problem Solverz and Stone Quackers shows in some smug "it's supposed to be funny because it's unfunny" absurd-ism, but unlike those two shows it actually manages to try instead of coasting on a self-centered superiority of "this is art!" PS and SQ are just lazy with their stupid and then calling it smart. Even P&P is cleverly done compared to those. Not to beat a dead duck or anything, but one of the promos for Stone Quackers was someone freaking out about needing his pills, and done in a not at all funny disturbing manner. But it's supposed to be a joke. Because it's disturbing. Yeah, I give P&P credit for not being that bad.

BTW: Was it way obvious to anyone besides me that when Blandon appeared offering Mabel eternal summer through his time-bubble that it was really Bill trying to trick her into handing over the rift?

I was pretty much 70/30 on that. I figured if it isn't Blanden being possessed or impersonated by Bill, then either Blanden was working in tandem with him instead. What made that scene pop was that it was entirely believable that Blanden would try and befriend Mabel and Dipper for helping him out in time. Bill is a manipulative monster and knows how to work the sympathy angles all with intricate knowledge of the twins' adventures. That played out brilliantly.

Though, I kinda have a feeling there could have been potential in the actual Blanden trying to do the exact thing and making summer last forever. But maybe it seemed too obvious and even a bit Phineas and Ferb-like.

 

[mr3urious]

The show's stupid, but instead of pushing why the show's stupid (like PGBC, where it works) it just throws stupid around liberally without purpose.

PGBC also has the whole separate storylines that converge in the end thing. It may not be my favorite Nicktoon on the air, but I commend it for setting itself apart from these other "random" shows with that element.

 

[The Count]

Actually Drtooth, yes... If the events had happened within the natural continuity of GF, then I would have believed the real Blandon showed up to offer Mabel the time-bubble to make summer last forever. But given the context of the episode itself, plus the fact that Disney XD runs these episodes in marathons with the previous episodes in order, it was obvious to me that this Blandon was Bill trying to trick Mabel instead.

The only thing about P&P that made me sort of chuckle-smile the first time, and the first time only though now it's passed into bleh-ness is that they have the original DeckTalk voice as their intros.
Makes me glad of the progress made the last twenty or some odd years in robotic reading voices.

 

[Drtooth]

PGBC also has the whole separate storylines that converge in the end thing. It may not be my favorite Nicktoon on the air, but I commend it for setting itself apart from these other "random" shows with that element.

That series is a lot more clever than viewers give it credit for, specifically for that reason. Plus, the overall look and feel of the show make it exciting and peppy. You have great wacky voice actors, and a very 90's illustration looking atmosphere. P&P seems anemic. I get it's supposed to be minimalistic, and it does have sort of an underground comix of the new millennium look to it, but it comes off as sloppy rather than crazy. But a lot of shows have a minimalistic look, but they run with it and we get something as glorious looking as Adventure Time. This isn't one of them. And I get the feeling that it's trying to be bad so it can be so bad it's good, but not quite making it. I really don't see it catching on.

And if Penn, Star, and GF manage to at least get a cult older fanbase similar to CN's shows, there's at least some positive buzz to keep those fans thriving. P&P may get a small group of those who actually get the series, but I just see the other fanbases looking down on them and blaming that show if one of the others doesn't get renewed. Then again, there are some that actually like Fish Hooks. And this is done by the same guy.

Actually Drtooth, yes... If the events had happened within the natural continuity of GF, then I would have believed the real Blandon showed up to offer Mabel the time-bubble to make summer last forever. But given the context of the episode itself, plus the fact that Disney XD runs these episodes in marathons with the previous episodes in order, it was obvious to me that this Blandon was Bill trying to trick Mabel instead.

Exactly. I had a strong feeling that it was either going to be possession, impersonation, or some sort of revenge plot given the context. Though I could see an episode where he does it sincerely. But the thing that I realized is that if it was the real Blanden, he probably could have popped up at any moment. Bill knew the time to strike was when he knew Mabel switched backpacks and was alone. Dipper would have known better and fought her on it.

Though I totally could see an episode where he just resets time for them. Then again, that would violate his probation. Which should have been the big tip-off, now that I think of it.

The only thing about P&P that made me sort of chuckle-smile the first time, and the first time only though now it's passed into bleh-ness is that they have the original DeckTalk voice as their intros.
Makes me glad of the progress made the last twenty or some odd years in robotic reading voices.

Yeah. Just hearing the theme song for the first time I was like..."uh...this is a thing, I guess." I guess that's the show's core. Just all out confusion about what's going on. Like how confusing it is to think this was greenlit to co-exist with a series passionately subverting Disney's own Princess tropes (as well as some action girl tropes as well), and a show that actually questions the roles of good and evil. I hope that whatever show gets greenlit after this (hopefully one before Ducktales 2017) is a return to form with cartoony cartoons with hidden depths.

 

[The Count]

Actually, I'm already digging the newest show Disney XD brought in, the American dub of Yo-Kai Watch. And yes, they're on a repeat loop from Episode 1 wich was a couple of weeks ago because of the GF marathon this past Monday.

Yo-Kai Watch is interesting to me for the craziness of the supposed "ghostly" yokai that make up the core of the franchise. Consider that we have the polar opposite evolution of Fraidycat in the form of Jibanyan, a cat spirit who got run over by a car and is now locked in trying to restore his reputation by fighting the cars to not get run over, which of course he does every time as part of the show's running gags.

 

[Drtooth]

Off topic, but I'm wondering how Yokai Watch is going to do in the western markets, especially if it's on a hard to get channel like XD. I did overhear a jkid reacting to a trailer on a monitor at a Game Stop yesterday, so I think at least I know about one example.

This gets me thinking. Usually when these toyetic kiddy shows from Japan are imported over here they're not that successful in their native country unless they're Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh (that last one being an odd example, as the manga came first, the card game started getting popular and it seems the anime and even the writer of the original comic were goaded into making it more commercial). And when they do try to make a successful Japanese series into a show for little kids here, it backfires miserably (Saint Seiya under DIC and One Piece under 4Kids) unless it's Naruto, and that's not even marketed towards kids anymore.

So, we have a kid's toyetic anime that actually is a major hit in Japan, and it's a no brainer trying to localize it. Time will tell if it hits here big. That said, the other famous anime dub being Doraemon, which didn't exactly blow up as big as it should have, I attribute that to being on XD as well. There were some adult sized shirts at Hot Topic (which I am a proud owner of one) and the most recursive thing I've seen... dorayaki (which makes sense as it's his trademark food choice). The recursive thing being, I've only seen this dorayaki at Asian grocers (be they large Korean markets or smaller Japanese/Korean places) where you'd expect to see Doraemon (indeed I've eaten some gum, lollies, and chocolate coated corn snacks with his likeness stamped on it)... but it has English writing, the Americanized title (complete with "the Gadget Cat from the Future" tagline), and VIZ logo (American distributor/licensee). Being that Doraemon is popular everywhere else in the world than English speaking countries, and it still continues to be sort of elusive unless you're big on the internet or anime history lessons, I doubt it really hit the heights it should have.

 

[Drtooth]

Don't forget to check out the supplemental materials for the new episode. There's some great Old Man McGucket puppet stuff like this little skit.

Nice reference to UHF in there.

 

[The Count]

Yes, I've seen that bit on XD. Remember kids, if you buy nine spatulas at Spatula City, the tenth one's free!

 

[The Count]

Well, here's a new wrinkle in the discussion we were having. So I was saying that given the context of the episode, it was obvious to me that Bill Cifer was pretending to be Blandon offering Mabel the time-bubble to get her to give him the rift. And Drtooth posited that it could have been the real Blandon offering the time-bubble out of genuine friendship. Turns out we were both right, since Part 1 of The Oddpocalypse/Weirdmagettan revealed that Bill has actually possessed Blandon's body as that was one of the charges the time cops levelled when they arrived at Cifer's freaks' party.

Oh and about Bill killing Time Baby? Pfft, killed Time Baby, yeah. Time Baby's an immortal meant to spend eternity in the physical form of a baby. Plus, he exists outside of the flow of normal time. So killed him? Nope.

 

[Drtooth]

Oh and about Bill killing Time Baby? Pfft, killed Time Baby, yeah. Time Baby's an immortal meant to spend eternity in the physical form of a baby. Plus, he exists outside of the flow of normal time. So killed him? Nope.

Oh, he's not dead. His fate was hinted at during those end credits puzzle ciphers. According to Gravity Falls Wiki, the secret message of the episode was "IT WILL TAKE 1,000 YEARS FOR TIME BABY'S MOLECULES TO RECONSTITUTE. AND WHEN HE'S BACK, HE'S GOING TO BE VERY CRANKY."