Dreamscaperers

Last updated
"Dreamscaperers"
Gravity Falls episode
Bill Cipher.jpg
"Dreamscaperers" was the debut episode of the character Bill Cipher, the series' main antagonist. Alasdair Wilkins from The A.V. Club described the character as the Eye of Providence wearing a top hat, stating that he was the most memorable creation in the episode.
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 19
Directed by
  • Joe Pitt
  • John Aoshima
Written by
Editing byKevin Locarro
Original air dateJuly 12, 2013 (2013-07-12)
Running time25 minutes
Episode chronology
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"Gideon Rises"
Gravity Falls (season 1)
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"Dreamscaperers" is the nineteenth episode of the first season in the animated series Gravity Falls . The episode is the first of the two-part season finale, the second being "Gideon Rises". It was first broadcast on July 12, 2013, on the Disney Channel. It was written by series creator Alex Hirsch, alongside Matt Chapman and Tim McKeon, and directed by Joe Pitt and John Aoshima. It marks the first appearance of Bill Cipher.

Contents

The series follows twins Dipper and Mabel, who live with their grand uncle, Grunkle Stan in a tourist trap called the Mystery Shack in the fictional town of Gravity Falls, Oregon. In this episode, Stan's nemesis Gideon (Thurop Van Orman) tries burglary into the Mystery Shack to steal the deed of the property from the safe. However, he is stopped by Grunkle Stan and thrown out. Gideon then summons a demon called Bill Cipher (Hirsch) to help him. Gideon asks Bill to invade Stan's mind and steal the combination to the safe, which is vincindoria. Dipper Pines (Jason Ritter) with his sister Mabel (Kristen Schaal) and friend Soos also go into Stan's mind to stop Bill from finding out the combination.

This episode was watched by 2.7 million viewers on its premiere broadcast on the Disney Channel, and received positive reviews from television critics.

Plot

While discussing the past transgressions of Grunkle Stan's business rival Gideon Gleeful, the twins hear someone breaking into the Mystery Shack. They find Gideon in the next room trying to figure out the combination to Stan's safe with the intention to steal the deed inside it. They confront Gideon, who initially does not take Stan seriously, but ultimately flees when Stan hits him with a broom. After Gideon leaves, the Pines with Wendy and Soos, who are employees at the Mystery Shack, sit down to watch television. After Soos finds that there is a bat flying in the kitchen, Stan sends his nephew Dipper to take care of the issue, making Dipper think that his uncle dislikes him by forcing him to do the hardest chores.

Meanwhile, Gideon performs a ritual in the Gravity Falls woods to summon the evil powerful being, Bill Cipher. Bill agrees to invade Stan's mindscape for Gideon, after making sure that he also will help him on another unspecified project of his own. However, their plans are overheard by Mabel and Soos and they report the situation to Dipper. Dipper consults his cryptic Journal "3", one of three books found in Gravity Falls that hold the supernatural secrets of the region, and finds out the dangers and abilities of Bill. After catching Bill invading Stan's mind, Dipper, Mabel and Soos, through a ritual explained in the cryptic journal, follow Bill into Stan's mindscape.

They find Bill, who was apparently expecting them and says that they shouldn't enter Stan's memories with him. He also engages in various antics in which he pulls out of Mabel's mind the movie characters that she was thinking about (Xyler and Craz) that follow them until the end of the episode. The gang enters into a psychological version of the Mystery Shack in Stan's mind where all of his memories are kept. While they are searching to find the safe combination before Bill does, the dream demon manages to disguise himself as Soos and follow them. Dipper goes into the memories of Stan and finds out a memory of him talking to Soos about his own life as a weak child, thinking that he was actually talking about him. Dipper, angry at his uncle, is unwilling to assist the gang in saving him and leaves.

After Mabel finds the memory of the safe combination, Bill reveals himself, steals it and runs away as Mabel, Soos, Xyler and Craz head out to search for him. Meanwhile, Dipper accidentally revisits the same memory that he saw and understands that he made a mistake and that Stan was expressing his actual feelings toward Dipper, and after watching the rest of the memory, learns that Stan is only hard on him to prepare him to "face the world". Imaginary Stan tells him that you can do anything you can imagine when you are in the mindscape.

Mabel and Soos had already found Bill, who is torturing them by bringing their worst nightmares to life. Dipper quickly arrives with the news of being able to make dreams reality and demonstrates the ability to his sister via laser vision. Using their imagination abilities, they nearly defeat Bill, who decides to give up and leave Stan's mind. Within seconds of Dipper, Mabel and Soos returning from Stan's mind, they discover that Gideon broke in again and successfully stole the deed — this time, he simply used dynamite to force the safe open, without needing the lock combination. The episode ends with the demolition of the Mystery Shack.

Production

Matt Chapman (left) from The Brothers Chaps and co-creator of Homestar Runner worked on writing the episode. BrothersChaps.JPG
Matt Chapman (left) from The Brothers Chaps and co-creator of Homestar Runner worked on writing the episode.

The episode "Dreamscaperers" was written by Timothy "Tim" McKeon and Matthew "Matt" Chapman under the story of series creator Alexander "Alex" Hirsch. [1] Series developers Joe Pitt and John Aoshima directed the episode. John Aoshima and Matt Braly have worked with Hirsch on the show ever since the making of the unaired, unnamed pilot that was used to pitch the show. [2]

In "Dreamscaperers" there was the first appearance of the series antagonist Bill Cipher, however images of him are shown throughout the season. During the scene where Bill is summoned he strikes out a number of images on his body, like John F. Kennedy, UFOs, the Aztec calendar stone, the Apollo Moon landing, Stonehenge, Giza pyramids, crop circles, etc. continuing the show's scoffing of conspiracy theories. The characters Xyler and Craz from the fictional movie "Dream Boys High" are based on 1980s cartoons and teen films produced in the United States. [3]

The cast of the episode consisted of the standards Jason Ritter as Dipper Pines, Kristen Schaal as Mabel Pines, Alex Hirsch as Stan Pines, Soos, and the new character Bill Cipher, and Thurop Van Orman as Lil' Gideon. Additional voices include Linda Cardellini as Wendy, Greg Cipes as Craz, John Roberts as Xyler, Jennifer Coolidge as Lazy Susan, Grey DeLisle as Carla McCorkle, Kevin Michael Richardson as Sheriff Blubs, and Stephen Root as Bud Gleeful. [1]

Reception

"Dreamscaperers" was released on July 12, 2013, and it gained 2.700 million viewers ranking it in second place in the United States for the day of airing, it received a 0.5 rating from 18 to 49 demographic audience. [4] [5]

Alasdair Wilkins from The A.V. Club , giving it a grade of A-, described the episode as "a joyous celebration of all that Gravity Falls has accomplished over these first 19 episodes". [3] In the episode review Wilkins stated "the show has become sophisticated enough in its storytelling and its character work that it can more easily spotlight a character so delightfully silly". [3] He states that Bill Cipher is the most memorable creation in the episode describing him as "the Eye of Providence wearing a top hat", also stating that "the writing and Alex Hirsch's voicework hit a fascinating balance with the character; Bill is capable of genuine rage when his plans don't work out, yet there's always the sense that he's just toying with the kids, allowing them to temporarily beat him because it amuses him". [3] However, Wilkins criticized the episode for using "under-motivated stories", also for the efforts by the writing staff to give Mabel and Dipper an equal status in the show. [3]

The episode won art director Ian Worrell an Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation award at the 2014 Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards. [6]

International airdates

Related Research Articles

Dream worlds are a commonly used plot device in fictional works, most notably in science fiction and fantasy fiction. The use of a dream world creates a situation whereby a character is placed in a marvellous and unpredictable environment and must overcome several personal problems to leave it. The dream world also commonly serves to teach some moral or religious lessons to the character experiencing it – a lesson that the other characters will be unaware of, but one that will influence decisions made regarding them. When the character is reintroduced into the real world, the question arises as to what exactly constitutes reality due to the vivid recollection and experiences of the dream world.

<i>Gravity Falls</i> American animated television series

Gravity Falls is an American mystery comedy animated television series created by Alex Hirsch for Disney Channel and Disney XD. The series follows the adventures of Dipper Pines and his twin sister Mabel who are sent to spend the summer with their great-uncle Stan (Hirsch) in Gravity Falls, Oregon, a mysterious town full of paranormal incidents and supernatural creatures. The kids help Stan run the "Mystery Shack", the tourist trap that he owns, while also investigating the local mysteries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Hirsch</span> American animator

Alexander Robert Hirsch is an American storyboard artist, writer, producer, and voice actor. He is the creator of the Disney Channel series Gravity Falls, for which he provided the voices of Grunkle Stan, Soos, and Bill Cipher, among others. He also earned BAFTA and Annie Awards for the series. In 2016, Hirsch co-authored Gravity Falls: Journal 3 which debuted as a No. 1 New York Times Best Seller and remained on The New York Times Best Seller list for forty-seven weeks. In 2018, Hirsch wrote Gravity Falls: Lost Legends which also appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list.

<i>Gravity Falls</i> (season 1) Season of television series

The first season of the American animated television series Gravity Falls consisted of 20 episodes on the Disney Channel, and aired from June 15, 2012 to August 2, 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tourist Trapped</span> 1st episode of the 1st season of Gravity Falls

"Tourist Trapped" is the first episode of the American television series Gravity Falls. The episode was directed by John Aoshima and written by series creator Alex Hirsch. The episode premiered on Disney Channel on June 15, 2012, airing immediately after the premiere of the Disney Channel Original Movie Let It Shine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mabel Pines</span> Fictional character and protagonist of Gravity Falls

Mabel Pines is a fictional character and one of the two lead characters of the Disney Channel animated series Gravity Falls. The character is voiced by Kristen Schaal, and designed by the series creator, Alex Hirsch. She is inspired by Hirsch's own twin sister, Ariel Hirsch. Mabel first appeared on the unreleased, unnamed pilot created by Hirsch which he used to pitch the show; she then appeared on the first episode "Tourist Trapped". Mabel, with her brother Dipper Pines, stars in every episode of the series. Mabel also has two series of shorts dedicated to her: "Mabel's Guide to Life" and "Mabel's Scrapbook", appearing in the shorts "Dipper's Guide to the Unexplained" and "Fixin' it with Soos", and music video "Call Me Maybe Mabel".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grunkle Stan</span> Fictional character from Gravity Falls

Stanley "Stan" Pines, also known as "Grunkle Stan", and formerly known as Stanford Pines, is one of the main characters of the Disney Channel animated series Gravity Falls, created and voiced by the series creator Alex Hirsch. In an interview, Alex Hirsch claims that Grunkle Stan is loosely based on his grandfather, also named Stan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dipper Pines</span> Gravity Falls fictional character

Mason "Dipper" Pines is a fictional character and one of the two lead characters in the Disney Channel animated series Gravity Falls. The character is voiced by Jason Ritter, and is loosely based on the childhood of series creator Alex Hirsch. Dipper is the only character to appear in all the episodes of Gravity Falls. Beside his presence in the main series, he appears in the Gravity Falls mini-series titled "Dipper's Guide to the Unexplained" and the shorts "Fixin' it with Soos" and "Mabel's Guide to Life".

<i>Gravity Falls</i> (season 2) Season of television series

The second and final season of the American animated television series Gravity Falls began on August 1, 2014 on Disney Channel and on August 4, 2014 on Disney XD, and ended on February 15, 2016. It was greenlit on July 29, 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gideon Rises</span> 20th episode of the 1st season of Gravity Falls

"Gideon Rises" is the twentieth aired episode of the animated television series Gravity Falls and the final episode of the series' first season. Premiering on August 2, 2013, on the Disney Channel, it was directed by John Aoshima and Joe Pitt, and written by Alex Hirsch, Matt Chapman, and Michael Rianda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Not What He Seems</span> 11th episode of the 2nd season of Gravity Falls

"Not What He Seems" is the eleventh episode of the second season of the American animated television series Gravity Falls, created by Alex Hirsch. The episode was written by Shion Takeuchi, Josh Weinstein, Jeff Rowe, Matt Chapman, and Hirsch, and directed by Stephen Sandoval. In this episode, Dipper and Mabel begin to question who Stan really is after officers arrest him for stealing chemical waste. The episode, which breaks the show's status quo by introducing Stan's long-lost twin brother, ends with a cliffhanger to the second half of the season.

"A Tale of Two Stans" is the twelfth episode of the second season of the American animated television series Gravity Falls, created by Alex Hirsch. The episode was written by Josh Weinstein, Matt Chapman, and Hirsch, and directed by Sunil Hall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weirdmageddon 3: Take Back The Falls</span> 20th episode of the 2nd season of Gravity Falls

"Weirdmageddon 3: Take Back The Falls" is the series finale of the American animated television series Gravity Falls, which was created by Alex Hirsch. The episode was written by Shion Takeuchi, Mark Rizzo, Josh Weinstein, Jeff Rowe, and Hirsch, and directed by Stephen Sandoval. The series follows twelve-year-old twins Dipper and Mabel Pines, who stay for the summer with their great uncle Grunkle Stan in a tourist trap called the Mystery Shack, set within the fictional town of Gravity Falls, Oregon. In this episode, Stan's brother Ford discovers the extent of Bill Cipher's plans, while the Mystery Shack crew forms a plan to fight back and reclaim the town. A final confrontation with Bill leads to the Pines family's ultimate fate and greatest sacrifice.

The Cipher Hunt was an alternate reality game and international scavenger hunt created by storyboard artist and voice actor Alex Hirsch based on his animated series Gravity Falls. The goal was to find the real-life statue of the series' antagonist Bill Cipher, which was briefly glimpsed at the end of the series finale. The hunt involved retrieving and decoding clues hidden in various locations worldwide.

<i>Gravity Falls: Lost Legends</i> 2018 graphic novel by Alex Hirsch

Gravity Falls: Lost Legends, initially announced as Untitled Mystery Book and later Untitled Gravity Falls Graphic Novel, is a Gravity Falls graphic novel published by Disney Press. Written by Alex Hirsch, the show's creator, the comics in the book are illustrated by various artists, including Asaf Hanuka and Dana Terrace. The comics explores four new adventures taking place within the show's continuity.

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"Northwest Mansion Mystery", also listed as "Northwest Mansion Noir", is the tenth episode of the second season of the American animated television series Gravity Falls, created by Alex Hirsch. The episode was written by Jeff Rowe, Hirsch, and Mark Rizzo, and directed by Matt Braly. In the episode, Pacifica Northwest, arch-rival of Dipper Pines, asks Dipper to handle a paranormal ghost at the Northwest Manor at their party, which eventually turns into Pacifica making a choice on whether to continue her family's stained reputation or on starting a new era for the Northwest family. The episode ends on a cliffhanger, with McGucket telling a warning to Dipper that a "big event" is happening soon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bottomless Pit!</span> 14th episode of the 1st season of Gravity Falls

"Bottomless Pit!" is the 14th episode of the first season of the American animated television series Gravity Falls, created by Alex Hirsch. The episode was written by Alex Hirsch and Mike Rianda, and directed by Joe Pitt and Aaron Springer. The episode features Soos, Grunkle Stan, Dipper Pines, and Mabel Pines falling down a bottomless pit and telling stories to pass the time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Golf War</span> 3rd episode of the 2nd season of Gravity Falls

"The Golf War" is the third episode of the second season of the American animated television series Gravity Falls, created by Alex Hirsch. The episode was written by Jeff Rowe and Hirsch, and was directed by Matt Braly. The episode features Mabel Pines challenge her arch-rival Pacifica Northwest to a mini golf match, with Mabel hiring sentient golf balls called Lilliputtians to foil Pacifica's game.

References

  1. 1 2 "Dreamscaperers (ending credits)". Gravity Falls . Season 1. Episode 19. June 12, 2013.
  2. ↑ Alasdair Wilkins (June 29, 2012). "Tourist Trapped"/"The Legend Of The Gobblewonker". The A.V. Club . Retrieved August 26, 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Alasdair Wilkins (July 12, 2013). "Dreamscaperers". The A.V. Club . Retrieved August 26, 2013.
  4. ↑ Bibel, Sara (August 5, 2013). "Friday Cable Ratings: Gold Rush South America Wins Night, WWE Smackdown, Gravity Falls, American Pickers & More". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on July 5, 2013. Retrieved August 23, 2013.
  5. ↑ "Friday's Cable Ratings: "WWE Smackdown," "Treehouse Masters" Lead Demo Race". The Futon Critic Staff. TFC. July 15, 2013. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
  6. ↑ http://www.emmys.com/sites/default/files/Downloads/2014-creative-arts-winners-v1.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
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