Sunday Evening Video/2026 PCGG Day Twelve: Gravity Falls

Fate has conspired to gift us with a bonus day in The 2026 PopCult Gift Guide, as we merge the Gift Guide with Sunday Evening Video for a day to present the first episode of a cult-favorite cartoon series, and tell you how you can get a boxed set of every episode as well as a detailed book about the creation of…Gravity Falls!

These are the perfect gifts for fans of Gravity Falls, but also great for folks who love the experimental animated TV shows in the golden age of the early 2010s that also gave us Adventure Time, Stephen Universe, Regular Show and other great gems of the day. Series creator, Alex Hirsch, came out of Cal Arts, and worked with the creators of the other afore-mentioned shows on The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack.

The premise of Gravity Falls was sort of a combination of The Goonies and Twin Peaks, with a little X-Files and illumnati theory thrown in for added kicks.

For their summer vacation, 12-year-old twin siblings Dipper and Mabel Pines are dropped off from their home in Piedmont, California to the fictitious town of Gravity Falls, Oregon, to spend the summer with their great uncle (“Grunkle”) Stan Pines, who runs a tourist trap called the “Mystery Shack.” Local readers might be aware of  West Virginia’s own “Mystery Hole.”  It’s that sort of place.

Soon after they arrive in Gravity Falls, Dipper accidentally uncovers a mysterious journal that details many different paranormal or mythical creatures that live in the town. With Wendy Corduroy, Mystery Shack cashier; Soos Ramirez, a friend of Dipper and Mabel and handyman to Grunkle Stan; plus an assortment of other characters, Dipper and Mabel go on increasingly bizarre adventures.

At the time, I didn’t really keep up with the series because that was back when I was neck-deep in producing the Radio Free Charleston video show, and my TV was usually parked on Cartoon Network rather than The Disney Channel, but when I did see the show, I loved it, and now is a great time to catch up.

In fact, now you can give the gift of Gravity Falls with a complete set of the series, as well as a detailed coffee-table art book.

First up, the DVD set…

Gravity Falls: The Complete Series – 7-Disc DVD Box Set
From Disney/Shout Factory
Region-free DVDs.
$35.38 from DiscPop

This 7-disc DVD box set includes both seasons, following twins Dipper and Mabel Pines as they spend a summer at the Mystery Shack and uncover the secrets of a strange Oregon town.

Early episodes give the twins plenty of smaller mysteries to investigate. As the summer goes on, questions about the journal, the town, and the people they trust begin to connect. A detail that looks like a joke the first time around can become a clue on a rewatch. That makes the series fun to watch together, especially if someone in the room likes to pause and compare theories before the next episode.

There’s also plenty to enjoy between the big reveals. The Mystery Shack gives Stan endless opportunities to come up with another sales pitch, while Mabel brings her own enthusiasm to even the strangest situation. The show moves easily from a goofy afternoon adventure to a genuinely eerie moment in the woods, which gives a holiday watch night a little variety.

DiscPop has the best price on the region-free DVD collection.

This is a great way to revisit, or catch up, with one of the most enjoyably weird TV cartoons that Disney ever produced. And it’s physical media, so once it’s in the hands of the Gravity Falls fan on your shopping list, they’ll own it forever.

Now, the book…

The Art of Gravity Falls
written by Alex Hirsch and Rob Renzetti
Hyperion Avenue
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1368117869
$55 or heavily discounted at Amazon

For years, the true origins of Gravity Falls have been hidden under lock and key. Now, series creator Alex Hirsch and producer Rob Renzetti crack open the vault, revealing the definitive visual history of the hit animated series in this stunning collection of over 2,000 pieces of artwork and artist commentary.

Ten years after the finale to the beloved series comes the highly anticipated deluxe art book that belongs on every fan’s shelf. Illustrated with beautiful visuals from the show’s development, including never-before-seen concept art, character sketches, storyboards, color scripts, and stories with the production team, The Art of Gravity Falls draws back the curtain on the artistic process behind Disney’s award-winning animated series Gravity Falls.

In The Art of Gravity Falls, fans will find insights into the show’s artistic development. Series creator Alex Hirsch shares with producer Rob Renzetti in his own words everything fans want to know about the hit animated series, from technical behind-the-scenes details to the first inklings of the characters and world, lost episode ideas, cut jokes, deviously hidden easter eggs, and much, much more!

This definitive oversized full-color art book features a die-cut foldout case, a gatefold showcasing every single one of Mabel’s iconic sweaters, and hundreds of rare, never-before-revealed elements, including: The complete series bible; Pilot development notes; A collection of scrapped characters; Exploration of the writing process and series plotting across the two seasons, including an “episode graveyard” of cut ideas; More than fifty behind-the-scenes photographs from Alex Hirsch’s collection, including photos from the team at work at the studio and inspiration from his childhood; Original concept art showing the character design evolutions of Dipper, Mabel, Wendy, Soos, and Grunkle Stan; The story behind Bill Cipher’s origin and the series’ codes and ciphers; Dozens of iterations of concept art and models of the Mystery Shack; An episode-by-episode breakdown of the plot development and writing process across the show’s two seasons, featuring hundreds of pieces of corresponding background art, storyboards, cells, rough designs, color keys, animation frames, and final stills illustrating animation style refinement.

And that’s just part of what you find in this book.

With additional commentary from the creative team, including art director Ian Worrel, animator Joe Pitt, creative director Mike Rianda, location designer Sean Jimenez, and production designer Phil Rynda, and a foreword by animation legend James Baxter, The Art of Gravity Falls is a keepsake celebration of the incredible artists behind the beloved series, a blueprint for creatives who want to turn their own ideas into animated worlds, and an ideal gift for fans of the Disney animated series and for students, animators, artists, and collectors. You can’t find a better gift for someone who’s already a fan of the show.

You can order it from any bookseller by using the ISBN code, or get the special edition from Barnes & Noble…or save 45% by getting it from Amazon.