Gravity Falls Summerween

Jay’s Month of Screams, Day 24-Gravity Falls

If I had to choose the most important TV shows of the decade, Gravity Falls would be near the top. Its one of the best cartoons in living memory, and I’d argue it kick-started Disney’s slew of great cartoons. It’s quirky and imaginative, yet also filled with mysteries. Just ask Nostalgia Critic: the guy loves the show! Best of all, its perfect for both summertime and the season of Halloween because it mixes the appeal of both. While the entire show’s worthy of a Halloween binge-watch, there are actually two episodes that are proper Halloween specials. Tonight, we cover the first one, Summerween.

Summerween

In the town of Gravity Falls, the people love Halloween so much, they celebrate it twice a year. For someone whose loved Halloween all their lives, this would be like a dream come true; it certainly is for the Pines Twin, who can’t wait to get free candy.

That is, until Dipper learns that his unattainable crush, Wendy, is going to a Summerween party. Not wanting to look bad in front of her, he tries ditching Mabel and her friends and trick-or-treating by faking being sick. When Mabel finds out he’s lied to her, she’s understandably upset. Especially since she takes it as a sign that Dipper’s too old to enjoy Halloween anymore.

A big part of Gravity Falls is that it’s a coming-of-age story in which Dipper and Mabel must mature to face the dangers in the town. However, as Alex Hirsch says in the real life Gravity Falls Journal 3, “growing old isn’t the same as growing up.” In other words, getting older doesn’t mean people have to wholly abandon the quirks and wonder of their childhood. In addition, I fail to see why Dipper would think he’s too old to go trick-or-treating.

Teens Can Enjoy Halloween, Too

In my personal experience, I fail to see why getting older doesn’t mean one can’t enjoy trick-or-treating. I kept doing it until I was well into my teens, and I wasn’t ashamed of it. Firstly, it’s fun dressing up and seeing all the costumes and decorations. Furthermore, it’s free candy! Who would say no to free candy?

Alex Hirsch Likes Anime

My favorite part of “Summerween”, though, was the monster of the week, the Summerween Trickster. It’s a local monster that punishes kids who lack the spirit of the holiday, and demands the kids give him 500 pieces of candy before the night is done or it’ll eat them. They almost succeed, but then Dipper messes up, causing the Trickster to shift into a monstrous form.

The Summerween Trickster’s shape and movement resembles the character No-Face from Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away. In that film, No-Face was a spirit that took on a monstrous appearance after eating other spirits. I loved that in the movie, and seeing it in the show was fun.

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It turns out, though, that the Trickster is all the discarded holiday candy no one eats. Its bitter over this fact, so it eats all the kids. At least, until Soos eats its candy heart. If it weren’t for the fact that its made of candy, that would be messed up. Way to dodge the PG rating, Hirsch!

A Delightful Gravity Falls Episode

Like Nostalgia Critic says, there’s really no bad episode of Gravity Falls. I was a casual fan of it, and I kept up with it until the show ended, but this was one of its best episodes. It’s got a great plot, it makes some great allusions to pop culture, and if it weren’t a kids show, it would be very gruesome to watch! This episode is perfect for Halloween! Plus, we got these cute meme’s of Waddles.

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HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Click here to see the FANDOM Article I did for Halloween last year.

Click here to see my other animation stuff. Or here to see all holiday related posts.

Mystery Shack Plug-In

If you’re a big fan of Gravity Falls or other cartoons like I am, then I have the perfect store for you. Introducing the Mystery Shack; a real-life one! Located somewhere in Georgia, this is the one-stop-shop for fans of western animation. They’ve got merchandise from all the great cartoons and anime of our time. They’ve got everything from Star vs., Rick and Morty, Steven Universe, and of course, Gravity Falls. I shop from them a lot, and they make quality merchandise.

If you’re interested, then click the link below to go check out their website. They’ve got plenty of cool stuff!

PS- I’m not doing this because I was paid to. I’m doing this because they’re awesome and you should buy their stuff.