Gravity Falls is an award winning Disney Channel original comedy/mystery series created by Alex Hirsch. The series follows twelve year old twins Dipper and Mabel Pines as they spend the summer with their Grunkle Stan in the bizarre and mystical town of Gravity Falls, Oregon. The series is one of the best additions to the Disney library in recent years, and if Sony wants it’s upcoming Man-Wolf movie to stand out, it should look to Gravity Falls for inspiration.
Gravity Falls is, in my opinion, the single greatest animated kids show of all time. If I were to list off all of the reasons why this series is so remarkable, this article would go on for pages and pages, so here’s the sparknotes. The writing is extremely intelligent and the comedic timing is impeccable. Very few family dynamics in television are as heartwarming and relatable as that of the Pines, and each member of the family is uniquely engaging. Perhaps most importantly, this groundbreaking series balanced the horrific with the fantastic, presenting viewers with some genuinely frightening moments in an otherwise colorful, lively and upbeat world.
At its core, Gravity Falls is a story about family bonds that just so happens to take place in a world packed to the brim with the extraordinary. Monsters, demons, time travel, ghosts, aliens, and alternate dimensions all played a role, for no concept was too far fetched or unbelievable for this show. Alex Hirsch’s masterpiece was so out there that “over the top” doesn’t even begin to cover it, and that’s a big part of what makes Gravity Falls so unforgettable.
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Since very few people are familiar with Man-Wolf, here’s a quick breakdown to get you up to speed. John Jameson III is the son of J. Jonah Jameson, the famed publisher of The Daily Bugle. After a mystical gem known as the Godstone bonds with Jameson, he becomes a werewolf known as The Man-Wolf (it was the sixties, cut them some slack) and begins terrorizing his loved ones. Fast forward to a few issues later, and we discover that the Man-Wolf is actually the incomplete form of Stargod, a mystical wolven deity who is the creator god of another dimension known as The Other Realm. John embraces his role as the savior of The Other Realm and goes on a quest to vanquish an evil magical tyrant.
While these two stories aren’t quite apples to apples, the similarities are apparent. Both properties fuse horror and fantasy and sound absolutely insane on paper. Much like how the Pines family dynamic serves as the heart and soul of Gravity Falls, the relationship between father and son in the Jameson family provides the sci-fi epic with an emotionally resonant core. More than that, alternate dimensions play a huge role in the overarching story, and both (should) feature J.K. Simmons in an integral role.
