Gravity Falls (2033 film)

Gravity Falls would be a 2033 live-action/hand-drawn animation hybrid supernatural adventure mystery comedy produced by Walt Disney Pictures, T-Street, Walt Disney Animation Studios, and Stone Circle Pictures. A follow-up to the 2013 Disney animated series of the same name by Alex Hirsch, the film would be directed by Guillermo del Toro and Rian Johnson, who would also produce the film alongside Hirsch, while Johnson and Hirsch would write the screenplay from an story by del Toro and Hirsch, and Don Hahn, Ram Bergan, Jennifer Lee, and former Gravity Falls director Matt Braly would serve as executive-producers. The film would star Zendaya and Daniel Craig in live-action roles, as well as Jason Ritter, Kristen Schaal, Dee Bradley Baker, and Hirsch, reprising their voice roles from the series. Mark Mothersbaugh would compose the score for the film.

Following the end of the series in 2015, Hirsch expressed interest in creating follow-up material to the series. In early 2029, it would be reported that Hirsch is set to produce a live-action/animated hybrid film adaptation of Gravity Falls. In late 2029, Rian Johnson would be hired to co-write and produce the film alongside Hirsch, and by early 2030, he would be confirmed to be directing the film alongside Guillermo del Toro. In mid- 2030, it would be announced that Zendaya has been cast in the film's lead live-action role, while Ritter and Schaal would be set to reprise their roles from the series as the voices of Dipper and Mabel, respectively.

Hirsch would choose to develop the film as a live-action/animated hybrid because he would feel "its the most appropiate and respectful way to put the characters in a live-action enviroment". The filmmakers would see every episode of the series in order to make sure the film's plot is consistent with the series' continuity. They would also develop the film similarly to a Gravity Falls episode in order to "truly respect the essence of the show", and they would recruit animators from Disney Television Animation to work at Walt Disney Animation Studios on the film's animated parts in order for the animation to "both have a sense of nostalgia for the fans and contain a cinematic level of equality for average viewers".

Gravity Falls would be released in July 15, 2033, and would be critically acclaimed, with critics praising the film's direction, writing, faithfulness to the source material, performances, score, animation, and visual effects. The film would also be a commercial success, earning 987 million dollars at the worldwide box office over a budget of 130 million dollars. The film would earn an Annie Award for Best Animated Feature and a Saturn Award for Best Animated Film, as well as two Academy Award nominations for Best Visual Effects and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Synopsis
Set 5 years after the Weirdmaggedon, Gravity Falls sees Dipper and Mabel coming back to the town for a little reunion to commemorate old memories and create new ones. However, after just one day of being back in town, they already find themselves in a weird situation: The twins suddenly find themselves in a live-action world! Not knowing how or why the are there, the two, with the help of a scientist girl named Rosalind, must discover how to return home, but Mabel soon grows to love everything in the live-action world, causing her to question whether she wants to come back. However, as the Mystery Twins and their new friend investigate why they ended up in the live-action world, they discover something bigger than what they could expect, putting not only the live-action world, but every dimension in the multiverse in danger.

Cast

 * Zendaya as Rosalind: A scientist girl from the live-action dimension, who reclutantly agrees to help Dipper and Mabel to return home, while dismissing their claims and theories involving magic. Zendaya would say that "her arc in the film is more than just accepting that magic is real, but also accept that her life is changing in ways that are out of her comfort zone". According to director Guillermo del Toro, the film would feature "a deep bond between her and Mabel so to give Mabel a reason to stay in the live-action world and give Rosalind a role that didn't departed from the original show's emotional core".
 * Daniel Craig as Albert, a wealthy man with a facination for supernatural, who is manipulated by Bill Cipher into helping him. Craig would describe him as "an elegant but unscrupulous and unhinged man".

Voice cast
Additionally, Matt Braly would voice a car that comes to life due to Bill's attack. Director of animation Dana Terrace would voice an inhabitant of Gravity Falls.
 * Jason Ritter as Dipper Pines, the 18-year-old twin of Mabel Pines, and a lover of mysteries and anything supernatural. Ritter would reprise his role from the TV series. John Aoshima and Andreas Deja would serve as Dipper's supervising animators.
 * Kristen Schaal as Mabel Pines: The 18-year-old twin of Dipper Pines, and a big optimist with an eccentric and energetic personality, who becomes torn between wanting to return home and staying in the live-action world. Schaal would say that "while in the series we saw her as outright fearful to things changing, she's more torn here, unsure whether she wants things to change or not". Schaal would reprise her role from the TV series. Matt Braly and Bruce W. Smith would serve as Mabel's supervising animators.
 * Dee Bradley Baker as Waddles, Mabel's pet pig, who also gets transported into the live-action world with them. Baker would reprise his role from the TV series. Aaron Springer and Chris Buck would serve as Waddles' supervising animators.
 * Alex Hirsch as:
 * Bill Cipher: A powerful dream demon able to manipulate others into doing his bidding, who ressurected himself in the live-action world after being killed in the animation world, and brought Dipper and Mabel to the live-action world in order to kill them in an area where they are vulnerable. Hirsch would reprise his role from the TV series. Hirsch would describe the character as "a bit more like Jack Nicholson's Joker than before", arguing that "nearly getting killed can have some serious effect on your sanity". Joe Pitt and Eric Goldberg would serve as Bill's supervising animators.
 * Stanley Pines, Dipper and Mabel's great uncle, who is a former con man and owner of the Mystery Shack. Hirsch would reprise his role from the TV series. Stephen Sandoval and Byron Howard would serve as Stanley's supervising animators.
 * Eugenio Debrez as Soos, an hispanic friend of Dipper and Mabel's, and the owner of the Mystery Shack. Hirsch, who previously voiced Soos in the TV series, would recast Debrez in the role due to the character's hispanic roots. Matt Braly and Mark Henn would serve as Soos' supervising animators.
 * Linda Cardelini as Wendy, a 23-year-old tomboyish girl and Dipper's former crush. Cardellini would reprise her role from the TV series. Joe Pitt and Anthony DeRosa would serve as Wendy's supervising animators.
 * J.K. Simmons as Stanford Pines, Stan's six-fingered twin brother and Dipper and Mabel's great uncle, who is a gifted scientist with a fascination with weird events. Simmons wuld reprise his role from the TV series. Stephen Sandoval and Byron Howard would serve as Stanford's supervising animators.

Casting
In June 2, 2030, it would be reported that Zendaya has been cast in the film as Rosalind, the film's lead live-action role. According to Hirsch, the character would be written with Zendaya in mind, and that there would be no other actress considered for the role. It would also be reported that Jason Ritter and Kristen Schaal would reprise their roles from the series as Dipper and Mabel Pines. In July 20, 2030, it would be announced that Daniel Craig has been cast in the film in a live-action role.

In August 3, 2030, Hirsch would reveal that he wouldn't reprise the role of Soos in the film, as he would feel inappropiate to voice an hispanic character, and by the next week, it would be announced that Eugenio Debrez has been cast in the role, while Linda Cardellini would be announced to be reprising her role as Wendy. In November 20, 2020, Hirsch would reveal that he and J.K. Simmons would reprise their roles as Stanley and Stanford Pines, respectively. Hirsch would also reprise his role as the voice of Bill Cipher, througth he would keep it a secret before release to prevent spoiling the film's plot twist.

Filming
Principal photography on Gravity Falls would begin in October 1, 2030, and would take place in Oregon City, Oregon. Dan Laustsen would serve as cinematographer for the film, having previously served as cinematographer in several of del Toro's previous films. Animatronic puppets of Dipper and Mabel would be used during filming as stand-ins, which would be alter replaced during post-production with animated characters. Additional filming would take place at Industrial Light & Magic for live-action sequences involving the portal.

Animation and visual effects
Several animators from Disney Television Animation who worked on Gravity Falls would be temporaly transferred to Walt Disney Animation Studios to work on the film. Hirsch would explain that it would be done so the animation can "both have a sense of nostalgia for the fans and contain a cinematic level of equality for average viewers", as he wanted the film to "be an experience everybody can enjoy". Additionally, each character's supervising animators would consist of an animator from Disney Television Animation and one from Walt Disney Animation Studios. Del Toro and Johnson would choose the supervising animator from Disney TVA according to who was the main character of the episodes from the series said animator directed.

Animation studio Rough Draft Korea, who previously provided the animation for the series, would also work on the film's animation. According to executive producer Jennifer Lee, animation work would begin in Watl Disney Animation Studios. After animation reels are finished, the reels would be sent to Rough Draft Korea to finish the animation work. According to executive producer Matt Braly, this would be done in order to "further give the film a Gravity Falls feel".

According to director of animation Dana Terrace, the animators would work on "makng sure the characters don't look like in the series but taller", so they would use images of people around the characters' ages as an inspiration for their designs in the film. For Dipper, supervising animators Andreas Deja and John Aoshima would use images of an 18-year old Alex Hirsch to inspire his design in the film. Mabel's supervising animators, Matt Braly and Bruce W. Smith, would similarly use photos of Hirsch' younger sister, Ariel, in her 18s as inspiration. They would also "see what aweaters Mabel wore througth the series in order to know what not to do", as they would want her to wear a different sweater than in the show as per the TV series.

Eric Goldberg, known for serving as the Genie's supervising animator in Aladdin (1992), would serve as Bill Cipher's supervising animator alongside Joe Pitt. Hirsch would personally hire Goldberg as Bill's supervising animator because he would feel that "his Chuck Jones style of animating perfectly captures Bill's insanity". Goldberg and Pitt would work to make the character "more visually insane than in the series without betraying his characterization".

Visual effects for the movie's live-action sequences would be provided by Industrial Light & Magic and Framestore. The visual effect and hand-drawn animators would work together during the film's climax, since "it features hand-drawn characters doing things that affect live-action elements in a way that requires both CGI and hand-drawn animation in order to not to confuse audiences".

Music
Mark Mothersbaugh would compose the score for the film, which would feature themes from the series by Brad Breeck. Mothersbaugh would be personally asked by Hirsch to compose the score for the film because he felt his work on Marvel Studios' Thor: Ragnarok (2017) "proved that he's able to recreate the score for the series in a very cinematic style". Mothersbaugh would "re-use and recontextualize" each returning character's individual themes from the series. Mothersbaugh would also compose a theme for Rosalind that "was at first technological, but later became more magical as the story progresses".

The film would also feature several background songs in the film, which directors Guillermo del Toro and Rian Johnson would explain was inspired by a few episodes featuring background songs, which they concluded "it meant that people wouldn't get mad at using music by modern artists, as long as they were original". Bebe Rexha would also perform a song for the film's end credits.

Critical reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film would have a weighted rating of 90%, with an average rating of 9/10, based on 220 reviews. The website's critical consensus would read, "A faithful follow-up to the hit series of the same name, Gravity Falls offers enough mystery, fantasy, and humor to satisfy fans of the series, while without leaving newcomers behind". On Metacritic, the film would have a weighted rating of 65 out of 100, based on 50 reviews, indicating "generally positive reviews".

Trivia

 * This would be the fifth theatrical Disney film to be based on a TV series, after DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp (1990), A Goofy Movie (1995), Doug's First Movie (1999), Recess: School's Out (2001), and Teacher's Pet (2004).
 * This would also be the first Disney film based on a TV series to be a live-action/animation hybrid.
 * According to director Guillermo del Toro, the filmmakers would aim for "a combination between the openings of Disney classics like Cinderella and a campfire story" for the film's opening.
 * According to Hirsch, the character of Robbie wouldn't be featured due to controversies surronding his voice actor, T.J. Miller.
 * Director Rian Johnson and Daniel Craig previously worked together in Knives Out (2019).

Easter eggs

 * The book seen at the start of the film would resemble the journals featured througth the series.
 * Near the start of the film, Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durdland would be sen recreating the famous spaghetti scene from Lady and the Tramp (1955).
 * At one point in the film, Mabel would comment that she "used to have a crush on the 10 dolar guy, but got over it after a few history lessons", a reference to the episode "The Love God", which revealed she had a crush on Alexander Hamilton, througth she only knew him as "the guy on the $10 bill".
 * Right before attempting to kill Dipper and Rosalind, Bill would randomly start to sing "Goodbye So Soon" from The Great Mouse Detective (1983).
 * The scene itself would be a reference to the climax The Rescuers Down Under (1990), where Percival C. McLeach would start to randomly sing before attempting yo ffed Cody to a group of cocodriles.
 * The film's end credits sequence would resemble the credits from the series' finale "Weirdmaggedon Part 3: Take Back the Falls".