To call “Gravity Falls” the best animated comedy currently running may sound extreme. It airs, after all, on Disney Channel, not a place known for the richness of its humor. But for those willing to give it a try, they’ll find a real treasure.
Dipper and Mabel Pines have been shipped off for the summer by their parents to the quiet town of Gravity Falls, where they are put in the care of their great uncle, Stan. Stan runs a tourist trap called the Mystery Shack, where he puts the kids to work selling bits and pieces of cheap rubbish. Dipper is not particularly thrilled with this arrangement, but his outlook changes when he finds a mysterious book that reveals the weird, and occasionally monstrous, secrets lurking under the surface of the town.
“Gravity Falls” occupies a strange place in the realm of current cartoons. While it boasts the simple design work of many of its fellow Disney shows, it stands out with animation and color work that is quietly stunning. The production is not flashy, but it is astonishingly smooth and deep-looking, with every frame being a treat for the eye. Simply put, the show is crafted with obvious love, and as a result, feels closer to feature film quality animation than it otherwise might. The art is matched by uniformly sharp writing.
Dipper and Mabel both feel like fully realized characters and are written with a welcomed amount of emotional honesty. Dipper’s neuroses and Mabel’s bubbly nature are treated in a primarily comic way, but at the root of the humor lies a pair of relateable and recognizable figures.
Unusual for a show starring siblings, the relationship between the two twins feels real and supportive. While Dipper and Mabel do get into arguments and make fun of each other, they are immensely protective of each other as well. The writers fill out the town with a profusion of odd and entertaining characters, many of whom get progressively funnier the more we learn about them. Make no mistake, “Gravity Falls” is a funny show.
The writing staff includes people who worked on the early seasons of the Simpsons, and the series mines its talent for sly, subversive humor. A running gag with cameras in an early episode could have come from a Marx Brothers film, and a scene in a biker bar includes such a blitz of jokes that it’s all but impossible not to laugh at something. Sight gags abound, it’s possible to re-watch episodes several times over, as the layers of subtle humor become apparent. The jokes aren’t crude – this is, after all, a show on Disney – but they are uniformly clever, and the actors deliver them with exquisite comic timing.
Kristen Schaal deserves a special mention. Her Mabel is a delight and an endlessly entertaining force of nature that careens off other characters in unexpected and wonderful ways. Heartfelt and hilarious without being cloying, “Gravity Falls” is a wonderful and charming show.
