Gravity Falls Creator Talks Show's Darkest Joke (Exclusive)

Gravity Falls might have had its fair share of supernatural shenanigans, but the Disney animated series was a comedy first and foremost. Throughout its two seasons, Mabel and Dipper’s time at the Mystery Shack had some hilarious hijinks during its running time. Amongst the many gags that played out during Gravity Falls, there was one specific joke that seems far darker than most. Recently, we here at CanonBreak had the chance to talk with series creator Alex Hirsch and Rob Renzetti about Grunkle Stan’s horrifying blunder.

For those who might not be familiar with this joke, it takes place during Gravity Falls’ second season episode, “The Love God.” While Stan is attempting to raise his profile within the community, his plans go awry thanks to his balloon falling apart at the seams. Hirsch kicked things off by expressing the benefits of working on the second season, “Season two was really exciting. We had a whole season of tv, so creators knew the tone and we hired fans of the show. We brought on Josh Weinstein, a classic Simpsons writer, who wrote the ‘Who Shot Mr. Burns’ two-parter that was filled with codes and clues.’

We Eat Kids

“The Simpsons had an enormous effect on Gravity Falls! Amazingly enough, though, this joke didn’t come from any of us!” Hirsch continued, “We were all sitting around a table, attempting to come up with some insane climax where Stan’s balloon crashes into the festival. I wanted to do one of those classic Simpsons’ jokes where one word is smashed into a different word. We were all brainstorming, but it was our line producer, Brian Doell, who is a funny guy, just slid the paper across the table. It went from ‘I Heart Kids’ to ‘I Eat Kids’.”

“I was just looking for the best idea; I didn’t care about hierarchy or anything. When I saw that line, I couldn’t stop laughing, so I had to put it in there. We were ravenous for funny stuff during our writing process.” Fans hoping for a third season of Gravity Falls are in for a bad time, as our earlier article, which you can read here, as Hirsch and Renzetti confirmed that there are no plans to bring the series back for a season three.