Gravity Falls Discussion Guide:

Not every episode of Gravity Falls has a moral and when there is a moral it’s usually not preachy and blatant; but you can talk to your kids about the episodes that do have morals. The moral of the first episode is listening to others, not judging people by their appearance and not immediately trusting people you’ve just met. Ask your kids: Why is it important to listen to others? Why is it wrong to judge people by their appearance? Why should you not immediately trust people you’ve just met? The second episode has a moral about spending time with family. In fact, the entire series has a message about family. Ask your kids: Why is it important to spend time with family? What do you think about the family relationships in the show? Are they good and realistic family relationships? Why or why not? How are the family relationships in the show similar and different to your family’s relationships? What does it mean to be part of a family? Can people who aren’t related to you be part of your family?

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Stan lies to protect the kids from the supernatural throughout the first season. Ask your kids: Does Stan actually succeed at keeping the kids safe by lying? Is lying always bad? Are there any times in real life where lying is better than telling the truth? How could Stan protect the kids without lying? How would the kid’s adventures be different if Stan had just told the truth from the beginning?

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Gravity Falls (like many other cartoons nowadays) has a massive fandom made up of people of all ages and it has a multi generational appeal. Ask your kids: What do you think about this trend of cartoons with a multi generational appeal? Why is this trend so popular? Are there any negatives to having a multi generational appeal or a big fandom? Do you think it’s hard for the writers to write a story, characters and jokes that all ages will enjoy? Why or why not? What do find appealing about Gravity Falls that you think an adult might also find appealing?

What about Gravity Falls do you enjoy that an adult might not enjoy? What do you think an adult might find enjoyable about Gravity Falls that a kid might not enjoy?

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Gravity Falls and many other cartoons with child protagonists have unreliable and irresponsible adults who are supposed to watch over the kids. Ask your kids: why do you think so many cartoons have unreliable and irresponsible adults? What are the positives and negatives to this? How would the kid’s adventures be different if the adults were reliable and responsible? Just because the adults are irresponsible and unreliable does that mean they’re stupid or don’t care about the kids? Do the adults try to show their love for the kids in other ways? How? How are adults in cartoons similar and different from adults in real life? Are there any adults in real life that are irresponsible and unreliable like in cartoons? Why do you think they are like that? How do they think they can change?

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Gravity Falls is littered with codes, cryptograms, puzzles, backwards messages, foreshadowing clues etc. Ask your kids: Did you notice these hidden things on your own or did you have to be told about them in order to spot them? Do you like trying to solve these codes and backwards messages? Why or why not? Do you think they are hard to solve? Do you think they are hard to find? Do you think these codes and backwards messages add anything to the show? Why or why not? Would the show be different without all these things? How? Why do you think the creator decided to add these things into the show? What age group do you think the creator/writers thought would solve all these codes and backwards messages? Why?

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Gravity Falls has tons of theories surrounding it. Ask your kids: what do you think about all the theories surrounding the show? Which ones do you think are true and which ones do you think are false? Why? Do you think the theories add anything to the experience of watching Gravity Falls? Do you think theorists are over thinking certain theories? Which ones and why? Were you surprised when certain theories become canon or were debunked? Which ones and why? What theories do wish became canon that didn’t? Why? What theories do you wish didn’t become canon that did? Why? What do you think the writers and creator think about all the theories? Do you think the writers and creator were trying to gets fans to theorize about certain things or do you think it just happened? How do the creator and writers help strengthen or weaken a theory outside of the show? Are there any times where you think the creator and writers were purposely trying to throw fans and theorists off of the right track with their theories? How and why?

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Gravity Falls has an overarching story but also a smaller story in each episode. Ask your kids: Why do you think there is both an overarching story and a smaller story in each episode? Do you prefer shows with an overarching story or do you prefer shows with a small individual story in each episode? Why? Do you think it’s hard for the writers to do both? Why or why not? Do you think that a show should only do one or the other? Why or why not? Does having an overarching story help create a bigger fandom and a multi generational appeal? Can a show have a big fandom and a multi generational appeal without having an overarching story? Why or why not? What are the negatives to having an overarching story? Are there any episodes of Gravity Falls that you think someone might not enjoy or understand if they have not seen some (or all) of the previous episodes? Which ones and why?

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Gravity Falls has tons of supernatural creatures in it, including monsters, ghosts, zombies etc. Ask your kids: Do you believe in the kinds of supernatural creatures that the characters encounter? Why or why not? Why is it fun to believe in supernatural creatures? How does believing in these things make life more interesting? Why do you think supernatural creatures are so common in fantasy stories? How would the world be different if supernatural creatures were real and everyone knew they were real? Did any of the monsters scare you? Do you think the writers were trying to scare you? Why or why not? Why are fantasy and sci-fi stories so popular with kids and adults? What can animation do that live action can’t? What kind of supernatural creatures would you like to discover? Why? What kind of fantasy world would you like to live in? Why?

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Gravity Falls has tons of mysteries in it. Ask your kids: What’s the appeal of mystery stories? Are there any mysteries in your family or town that you’d like to solve? Why might someone decide to keep something important a secret? What are the positives and negatives to keeping important things a secret? Why is it best for some things to remain a mystery? Have you ever solved a mystery that you later wished you didn’t? Why or why not? What mysteries in the show do you think should be solved and which ones do you think should remain a mystery? Why? What mysteries are important and would change the show in a major way and which ones are just red herrings that don’t really matter? Why? Do you think every mystery in the show should be solved eventually? Why or why not? What are the positives and negatives to leaving something a mystery? Would Gravity Falls be the same if every question was answered and every mystery was solved? Why or why not?

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Gravity Falls willingly concluded after just two seasons. Ask your kids: Why do you think the creator chose to end the show after just two seasons? What are the positives and negatives to this decision? Should a show keep going as long as it’s still popular? What problems do long running shows face? Are there any positives to long running shows? If so, what? Should all stories eventually end? Why or why not? Why is it a good idea to have a set beginning, middle and ending in mind for a story? Is it a bad idea to make up a story as you go? Why or why not? What problems might a story face if the writers don’t know where they’re going with it? Why do you think Disney didn’t decide to continue Gravity Falls without the creator? Do you think Disney should have continued Gravity Falls without the creator just because the show was still popular? Why or why not? What happens to a show when the creator wants to end their show but the network does not agree? What happens to a show when the creator leaves their show and the network continues it without them? If Gravity Falls continued or ever comes back, what kind of stories would you like to see happen? Why? What kind of stories would you not like to see happen? Why? What characters would you like to see more of? Why? What characters would you like to see less of? Why?