Eight years ago, Disney’s animated series “Gravity Falls” ended after a two-season run. The show follows twins Dipper (Jason Ritter) and Mabel (Kristen Schaal) Pines, who are sent to the mysterious town of Gravity Falls, Oregon, to stay with their Great-Uncle “Grunkle” Stan (Alex Hirsch) at his tourist trap known as the Mystery Shack. While there, Dipper finds a journal proving the town’s infamous legends might be real after all.
The series was released on Disney Channel on June 15, 2012. During the show’s first season, Dipper and Mabel try to identify the author of the cryptic journal while learning more about the town’s bizarre history. Along the way, they fight mythical creatures such as evil gnomes, ghosts, zombie-like creatures called “The Undead,” cursed wax figures and even a unicorn.
By the end of Season One, the twins find out Grunkle Stan knows more than he leads on. They learn about Stan’s long-lost twin brother Stanford “Ford” Pines* (J. K. Simmons), who accidentally created a portal while trying to unravel the town’s mysteries. After an altercation with Stan, Ford got sucked into the abyss and was imprisoned there alongside nightmarish demons including Bill Cipher, a yellow, one-eyed, triangular demon and the main antagonist of the series.
“Gravity Falls” was a passion project for Hirsch, who also voiced other characters such as Soos and Bill Cipher. Hirsch felt inspired by his relationship with his twin sister and their summer vacations in Oregon.
The show amassed a huge fan base due to its technical excellence, writing, creative themes and rich storyline. The series scored a 100% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes and won two Emmy Awards, collecting various other nominations and honors.
After two short seasons, the series finale of “Gravity Falls,” titled "Weirdmageddon 4: Somewhere in the Woods,” aired on Disney Channel in 2016. The finale made for a conclusive end to the series, in which Mabel and Dipper save Gravity Falls, send Bill back to his Nightmare Realm and leave for the summer to return home to California.
Fans were left with some hope that “Gravity Falls” was not over yet. At the end of the finale, Mabel and Dipper say goodbye to their friends and family as they pack up and leave, and Dipper opens a letter from Mystery Shack employee Wendy, who promises to see them next summer.
Hirsch, however, dispelled these rumors and explainedthat he “wanted to tell a concise and complete story that would appeal to viewers without losing its charm,” and had no plans to continue the series.
That is until Hirsch released “The Book of Bill,” published on July 24, 2024, which reignited the “Gravity Falls” obsession of the 2010s.
“The Book of Bill” follows Bill’s perspective about how he left the second dimension and terrorized Gravity Falls along with some puzzles and riddles for readers to crack, including missing pages from the infamous journal from the original series.
In an interview with “Polygon,” Hirsch talked about the legacy of “Gravity Falls,” and what it was like returning to the series through the psyche of Bill Cypher.
“Bill is a little bastard, and little bastards are fun to write,” Hirsch said. “When me and my pals published this cursed anti-Bible from the perspective of a literal chaos demon, I genuinely couldn’t believe it. I still can’t believe it.”
After the book’s release, there was some discussion surrounding it and its mature content. Unlike the original series, the book is marketed toward adults and contains dark and violent themes and profanity.
“The Book of Bill” is currently No. 1 on the Amazon best-sellers list, and the book’s release brought attention back to the show and reignited its popularity. Many fans are discussing the show’s theories on TikTok, hoping Hirsch will bring back the show for another season.
Whether Hirsch creates the highly anticipated third season of “Gravity Falls” or leaves the show as it is, “The Book of Bill” helped the series reach a new audience, and reignited the show’s fandom after its finale eight years ago.
