Gravity Fallsmanaged to become a cult favorite animated series with only two seasons worth of storytelling. Now, the creator of the show, Alex Hirsch, is bringing the show back to television with a guest appearance onAmphibia, where Hirsch will voice a few of the characters fromGravity Falls.Amphibiacreator and executive producer Matt Braly, who worked as a storyboard artist and director onGravity Falls, explained how the crossover came to be.
“I have always wanted to create aGravity Fallstribute inAmphibia, I just didn’t know when or how. The two shows share so much DNA that it seemed like a missed opportunity not to have the worlds interact in some fashion. So whenAmphibiawriter Jenava Hudek pitched an episode where the Plantars would stop at a creepy wax museum during their roadtrip, I knew this was our golden opportunity. Jenava herself was a hugeGravity Fallsfan and leapt at the chance to work with its iconic characters. The decision was made early to feature alternative universe versions of Grunkle Stan and Soos as frogs. This would be the easiest way to pay homage without stepping on anyone’s toes continuity wise.”
Gravity Fallstells the tale of tween twinsDipper and Mabel, who are sent to live with their Uncle Stan in the show’s titular town. The character of Uncle Stan runs a tourist-trap named the ‘Mystery Shack’. On the episode ofAmphibiatitled ‘Wax Museum’, the show’s main family will visit a roadside oddities museum modeled after the ‘Mystery Shack’ called the ‘Curiosity Hut’, run by ‘The Curator’, an amphibious version of Uncle Stan, and a frog custodian named ‘Frog Soos’, with both characters voiced by Hirsch.
Braly originally sent the script for the episode to Hirsch with the intent of getting his blessing for theAmphibiatake onGravity Falls. Hirsh liked the script so much he ended up personally lending his voice to ‘The Curator’ and ‘Frog Soos’, leading to aGravity Fallsreunion of sorts on the sets ofAmphibia, as Braly describes it.
“Not only did he end up voicing the characters but he even improvised a number of his lines in the booth, giving the characters that classicGravity Fallsoff the cuff flair. It’s no surprise that theAmphibiaepisode ‘Wax Museum’ is one of my favorite episodes of the season and that the Curator and Frog Soos are stand out characters. Working on this episode felt like coming home in a lot of ways.”
Ampbihiatells the tale of 13-year-old Anne Boonchuy, who travels to a wild marshland tropical island full ofanthropomorphicamphibians called Amphibia, where she lives with the Plantar family while on a quest to become a true hero. Season 2 ofAmphibiapremieres Saturday, July 11. It tells the tale of the Plantars traveling to a new city called Newtopia on a quest to unlock the mysteries of the music box that brought Anne to them so they can send her back home. This news originated atVariety.
