Cartoon Comedy: 'Gravity Falls' on the Disney Channel

'Gravity Falls' is a brand new cartoon that debuted on the Disney channel back in June. It focuses around the story of twins Dipper and Mabel, who have been forced by their parents to spend their summer with their Great Uncle Stan and his tourist trap, the Mystery Shack.

Dipper and Mabel are the stars of 'Gravity Falls', Disney's newest show.

Episode one immediately establishes the hilarious dynamic between Dipper and Mabel, and sets up Uncle Stan, or 'Gruncle' Stan as they say in the show, as the comedic and slightly repulsive  curator of the Mystery Shack.

'Grunkle' Stan frightening audiences in his underwear.

I believe that the days of truly innocent and 'G' rated children's cartoons are long gone; 'Gravity Falls' includes light violence and some mild crude humor, but probably nothing that the majority of parents would bat an eye at these days (It's nothing compared to some things. Ren & Stimpy, anyone?). A majority of the dialogue is good natured fun with surprisingly great comedic timing, and an impressive range of jokes that are sure to please a wide variety of audiences.

'Gravity Falls' is an unusual departure from the content one would expect to see from the Disney channel. The show’s quirky attitude is almost reminiscent of something from Cartoon Network, but the wholesome Disney-style family values make a prompt and obvious appearance by the end of the episode.

Audiences can expect 'Gravity Falls' to be full to the brim with weird, zany plot points and characters.

In the wake of 'Adventure Time's popularity, I'd say that 'Gravity Falls' is well poised to garner a large audience. So far it seems likely to make a B-line for 'ridiculous', but won't quite go as far as 'Adventure Time' does, with its nonsensical (if hilarious) exclamations of "Mathematical!" or “Algebraic!” and anthropomorphic technology that puts things in its butt. Y'know, weird things. For the record, I think 'Adventure Time' is quite clever and funny.

If anyone out there is looking for some new cartoonage, then 'Gravity Falls' is worth checking out! You can watch a couple episodes that have aired so far on the Disney channel website, with new episodes every Friday. Give it a watch and let me know what you think of the first episode, "Tourist Trapped."

-MJ

*all images screen captured from the Disney channel video

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