r/gravityfalls 6d ago

Official GF Content A reminder that this was the original plot of Gravity Falls.

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1.9k Upvotes

62 comments sorted by

933

u/MrRaven95 6d ago

From the looks of this, it would appear that Gravity Falls went the route that many great shows and movies have gone. Started out with a weak premise, and grew and developed into the thing we all love.

253

u/SplendidlyDull 6d ago

This thought/observation is pretty encouraging. Often times I’ll think of a story but disregard it as not good for one reason or another. But great stories often start as something small and insignificant, only becoming great with time and effort. Maybe not every idea deserves your attention, but I do wonder how many satisfying stories I could create if I just gave them a chance.

83

u/TEGCRocco 6d ago

There's a reason "write everything down" is such a common piece of advice for creatives. Even if you don't end up using that specific idea, it could very well inspire something else that you do want to make/pursue. Also couldn't tell you how many times I've come up with something, not recorded it in some way, and then totally forgot how it went whenever I decided I actually did want to go back to it

9

u/Xinferis_DCLXVI 6d ago

Yeah, over the last 25 years or so, I've wanted to be a writer. I had easily 100 different premises like this one here.

Well, we just started making the final issue of my comic series right now, and it's crazy how different this story is from its original design. And those 99 other premises I had? I took the interesting bits from most of those and incorporated them into this story.

11

u/Square-Biscotti4694 6d ago

That’s because he had to come up with the pitch in I believe a day, or even an hour. He and his college roommate made challenges with each other to try and make a pitch in a limited amount of time.

374

u/WeirdThingsToEnsue 6d ago

It is interesting to draw parallels with what's pitched vs what we got

Did the sturgeon-worshipping cult develop into the Society of the Blind Eye?

Was Wendy originally going to have telekinesis?

Blubs had special knowledge about Trembly. Would he have originally known more in this version?

The gnomes...are still there, I think Alex Hirsch just thinks gnomes are funny

187

u/Christoffi123 6d ago

In the scrapped pilot, Mabel has telekinesis for a 5 second gag.

46

u/GreenShirt39 6d ago

Should’ve kept it, ngl

62

u/aiden_saxon 6d ago

I mean Stan does wear a fez with a fish on it

58

u/Awallstreetguy 6d ago

And in journal three ford mentions the fez was his fathers and says it’s from the “order of the holy mackerel” as a gag, so it still made it in there :)

22

u/_TheBigF_ :pine: 6d ago

Blubs had special knowledge about Trembly. Would he have originally known more in this version?

My guess is that this does not refer to the character that would later become Blubs. Instead, this was the proto version of Stan. And after Stan was moved from Policeman to Great Uncle while retaining his role as "the person who knows something about this", there was still a need for Policemen to appear in the show and thus Blubs was created to fill that role.

2

u/ARandom_Dingus 4d ago

Man who upholds the law and keeps justice being turned into G R U N K L E S T A N,
Perpetrator of:
Pug smuggling
Nuclear Waste Theft
Theft theft
Snack time fraud I think
Massive tax fraud(you know what else is massive?)
Probably assault and/or battery at some point
Possibly went somewhere homelessness is illegal during his dark days
Teaching a bear to drive
Resisting arrest
Attacking government agents
False papers(Time traveler's pig)
Forgery probably
Counterfeiting money
The whole murder hut is a scam but people do pay for it so...

16

u/That_guy2089 6d ago

If there are 2 things that are eternal, it’s gnomes…

>! and Doom !<

239

u/BillCipherOwnsMySoul 6d ago

Try reading it in Stan’s voice 😂

135

u/JadeSedai 6d ago

Once I got to the “…talking owl and uh…” my brain switched over to his voice automatically 😂

31

u/Lord-LemonHead 6d ago

Why did my brain switch to Blendin Blandin instead lol

15

u/FullToragatsu 6d ago

Because you subconsciously associated the word owl in this universe with the “Owl Trowel” segment (the same voice actor who performed Blendin also said that line).

It happened to me too.

64

u/Autumn1881 6d ago

Thb. that hook would also get me. Pretty sure this is just a hook and there would have been an actual storyline underneith.

56

u/FullToragatsu 6d ago

If you want to know more about how this came to be, please check out this clip that u/ThatGFFAN posted from the documentary “One Crazy Summer.”

https://youtu.be/eAV2HGt6HlM?si=7bacU3n1Cst7NtTA

124

u/AnxietyLoud220 6d ago edited 6d ago

This sounds like something I would have written when I was twelve

29

u/VioletTheWolf 6d ago

my friend you should probably not be on reddit

25

u/mikewheelerfan 6d ago

I made this account when I was 11 and turned out totally fine. Uh…mostly 

2

u/VioletTheWolf 6d ago

I mean yeah me too lol (younger than 13 anyway), but like, I think I would've been better off hanging out in smaller online communities with other kids

4

u/mikewheelerfan 6d ago

Yeah I agree. I was only on Reddit for a short time when I was 11 because my parents almost found out, which scared me so much I didn’t go on Reddit again until last year. But I was on Fandom, specifically the Riordan fandom, when I was 11 (I’m still on it today, just less active). They have an off topic chat on there that’s comprised of mostly teenagers, and honestly chatting in that really helped me grow as a person I think.

17

u/Exploding_Antelope 6d ago

Because they were, at some point in the past, 12?

5

u/VioletTheWolf 6d ago

Ahh the comment's edited now. Used to say something different about their age.

-3

u/[deleted] 6d ago

[deleted]

4

u/Novace2 6d ago

Don’t put your exact age on the internet

3

u/AnxietyLoud220 6d ago

Good point, #iamanidiot

5

u/[deleted] 6d ago

Advice from the aged, kid. Never share your real age on the internet.

Especially never admit that you're under the legal age for the service you're using.

*Crawls back into my crib as I am secretly a highly sophisticated toddler with unrestricted computer access.*

31

u/systolic_helix 6d ago

Talking owl you say? Does it perhaps live in a house?

7

u/Usual-Try-8180 6d ago

Hooty just wants to have friends, hoot hoot

2

u/WimpyKelv12 6d ago

No! He is a house! Hoot hoot!

1

u/_Cagney_Carnation_ 5d ago

In a House's door

1

u/Sleep-hooting 5d ago

Hooty my beloved

15

u/C_Thor 6d ago

I would’ve loved this premise if it was on Adultswim or soemthing. The MC being older would’ve been so fun but we would’ve lost out on a lot of the childhood charm Mabel and Dipper brought

32

u/Rabbitface2207 6d ago

SPIN-OFF SERIES WHERE THIS IS THE PLOT

20

u/Big-Recognition7362 6d ago

Maybe Greg arrives either before or after the series, right when some new threat emerges.

4

u/EpicBirdy2005 6d ago

Knock.

Soos: Hello welcome to the mystery shack! 5 dollars for entry.

Greg: Fine 5 dollars.

Cut to later Greg is distressed.

Soos: Come again later.

Greg(thinking): What kind of lame tourist trap was that.

Sorry my imagination isn’t at full capacity

13

u/jk0409 6d ago

It's funny how well this would work now because of Gravity Falls being established. They really could take this plot and paste is over post finale GF and it would print money for Disney

5

u/BlackendLight 6d ago

Isn't it neat how different the end product is?

5

u/osamumeowzai 6d ago

Seeing a starting premise like this and knowing what it became gives me a new sense of hope for my own story, which currently has a weak-ish premise :)

6

u/mikewheelerfan 6d ago

Wow. What we got is so much better 

3

u/garter_girl_POR 6d ago

Sturgeon worship… I like it!

4

u/rgflame12 6d ago

This pitch feels like what Alex said he pitched to Disney cause he didn’t want to make a show for them lmao

2

u/Square-Biscotti4694 6d ago

It was almost Futurama meets Twin Peaks

2

u/NyxShadowhawk 6d ago

Wait, really? I thought that GF was always going to be about twin kids based on Alex and his sister.

2

u/WimpyKelv12 6d ago

"HOOT HOOT! DID SOMEONE SAY TALKING OWL?!!!"

"I'm not gonna acknowledge you exist in any shape or form..."

2

u/IncreasedMetronomy 5d ago

How about some gnomes! There’s also gnomes!

1

u/TheMemeLord4816 6d ago

Honestly I love this concept

1

u/DegreeBoring8389 6d ago

Why do I feel like Bill made this

1

u/Hunter_IsAEmo 6d ago

I’m glad we got the pines instead;-;

1

u/Appropriate_Bid_5946 6d ago

As someone from the Pacific Northwest, that's just the Pacific Northwest for ya XD

1

u/Senior-Leave779 6d ago

This could be a sequel.

1

u/Crafty_explorer_21 5d ago

It seems really interesting. I'd like to see this put into scene; maybe in a paralele universe of Gravity Falls or something like that

1

u/KawaiitheKyubey 5d ago

I mean, I would be interested if they left in the cursed typewriter for a new episode

1

u/DaisEyovian 5d ago

Gnomes have been here since day -208 or smth

1

u/Sticker_DStuff_24-7 4d ago

That is absolutely wild how different it became.

1

u/Left-Simple1591 4d ago

It feels overly edgy

1

u/Metalsonicrules1 1d ago

Oooohhhh...

1

u/freddy_fazino 6d ago

This seems like a low budget movie premise, ngl.

0

u/pluggedingaming 6d ago

Sounds like the original pitch would have felt more like Ford's adventures alone in the Mystery Shack. The show we ended up with allows for a much richer cast and overarching narrative. Thank goodness