Alex Hirsch, creator of Gravity Falls, reveals hilarious and ridiculous notes for script changes that were requested by Disney. Gravity Falls is celebrating its tenth anniversary after airing for two seasons on Disney Channel and Disney XD between 2012 and 2016. It was critically praised and won several awards during its run, including two Emmys and a BAFTA Children's Award.
Gravity Falls is about a mysterious town in Oregon where 12-year-old Dipper Pines (Jason Ritter) and his twin sister Mabel (Kristen Schaal) go to spend the summer with their Great Uncle, or Grunkle, Stan (Alex Hirsch) in his tourist trap The Mystery Shack. As they uncover the truth behind local legends and the town's real mysteries—rather than the fake ones on display in the Shack—various secrets about the community are revealed. With the help of a journal and a wacky cast of townsfolk, Dipper and Mabel discover a new adventure seemingly every day.
As the series turns ten, creator Alex Hirsch (via Twitter) is sharing some of the emails he exchanged with Disney censors about the dialog and content of Gravity Falls. He includes several rather ridiculous concerns and his replies to allay them. See his comments below:
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The Disney Standards and Practices Department had some interesting ideas about how to keep Gravity Falls "family friendly." This includes many ridiculous ideas such as concern that using "poopface" is offensive, worry about the slang meaning of "hoo-ha," the problematic connotation of the word "chub," and several other similarly nonsensical requests to change the show's content. Hirsch includes his replies to each request, explaining his choices, why he used those words, and either his refusal to change or annoyance at having to change. He insists that no one would really get offended by a cartoon, and no one's mind would go to the dirtier meanings of the offending phrases. In the full context of the show, many of the concerns are quickly resolved.
Another censorship issue is the relationship between Gravity Falls police officers Blubs and Durland, which Disney wrote should "remain comical versus flirtatious." Hirsch has already called out the hypocrisy of Disney's representation of LGBTQ+ characters, and that is on display with this particular comment. Hirsch's overall response to the censors' concerns can be summarized in a single question he posed to them: "Why should we be held hostage to whatever imaginary knee-jerk career complainers who would conceivably go out of their way to pretend to be offended by this?" It is the perfect response to these preposterous changes suggested by Disney. Clearly, Hirsch had a specific vision for Gravity Falls, and these notes are a perfect example of studio interference when it comes to meddling with creators' work.
Source: Alex Hirsch/Twitter
Gravity Falls creator Alex Hirsch reveals some of the ridiculous script notes he received from Disney in order to keep the show "family friendly."Amanda Harman