Gravity Falls Is the Animated Gateway to Twin Peaks

The late, great David Lynch has left a massive impact on pop culture and other artists, creators, and filmmakers. As a director and writer, his filmography includes the likes of Easerhead, Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive, and The Elephant Man. He also co-created one of the biggest cult classic shows of the 1990s, Twin Peaks, with Mark Frost. Twin Peaks is a crime-drama taking place in the titular Pacific Northwest town after the death of Laura Palmer, a teen girl with plenty of mystery surrounding her and her murder. Enter Special Agent Dale Copper, who is here to help solve the murder alongside local law enforcement.

Twin Peaks was a powerhouse TV show in the ’90s, and it continues to find fans to this day. It also has had an immense impact on other popular series, including the hit Disney Channel show Gravity Falls.

Gravity Falls Scratches the Itch for Horror Content for a Younger Demographic

Gravity Falls, created by Alex Hirsch, sees the Pines twins — Dipper and Mabel — spend the summer in the titular Gravity Falls with their great uncle Stan, who runs the Mystery Shack, a tourist trap that on the surface seems to be nothing but lies. However, the more time Dipper and Mabel spend in town, the more they realize there is in fact something supernatural in Gravity Falls, and their Grunkle Stan may be more in on this than he claims.

Gravity Falls is perfect for any kid who is just beginning their horror journey. Much like Scooby-Doo or Courage the Cowardly Dog, this is a show that can introduce younger viewers to themes, tropes, and imagery common in horror stories, specifically those that deal with science fiction or the supernatural. Dipper and Mabel deal with the likes of cryptids, urban legends, and even a chaotic god-like being who can bring about the apocalypse.

[RELATED – A Beginner’s Guide to David Lynch]

Along with that, the series, which initially seems like it may have a monster-of-the-week structure, actually has a cohesive plot and ongoing mystery. Even for the episodes that feel like stand-alone installments, they often have clues that connect to the bigger mystery about the author of Dipper’s journal, Bill Cipher, and eventually their own grunkle. A series like this can be a gateway for young viewers to get into more mature mystery or periodical series, like Twin Peaks.

Gravity Falls Has Made Current and Future Fans of Twin Peaks

Gravity Falls will specifically speak to Twin Peaks fans, and vice versa, for a few reasons. In fact, the creator of Gravity Falls, Alex Hirsch, has been on record about the influence David Lynch and Twin Peaks have had on the Disney Channel series. Recently, Hirsch posted on X about Lynch’s influence on television and his series in particular in light of his tragic death.

“David Lynch was a fundamental force of the universe, a towering iconoclast who bent the entire artform purely with the power of his subconscious. I can’t even process reality without him. Without Lynch, there’s no Twin Peaks, no X-Files, obviously no Gravity Falls. (My Bill Cipher voice was just a crummy Lynch impression),” the creator posted.

Like Twin Peaks, Gravity Falls takes place in a mysterious small town in the Pacific Northwest, one where there is something supernatural afoot. Where Twin Peaks is a murder mystery that eventually delves more into the supernatural, Gravity Falls puts most of its supernatural elements up front early on before delving more into the mysteries the Pines Twins unravel.

While both series share supernatural and mystery elements, there is more connecting Gravity Falls and Twin Peaks than just the genre and setting. Both series give a glimpse into small-town life, capturing the quirky yet charming characteristics of the people living in these mysterious towns. These shows also highlight how everyone in a small town knows each, and, in turn, tragedy — as well as rumors and kindness — can impact everyone even if they are far removed from it on the surface.

Beyond this, though, there is another way Lynch specifically has impacted Gravity Falls, and that is through the main villain Bill Cipher. Voiced by Hirsch, the creator has said that his voice for Bill is a bad Lynch impression. Along with that, according to CBR, Lynch was even considered to voice Bill. Hirsch even posted about this on X back in 2014, revealing, “We originally went to David Lynch to voice Bill. When he turned us down, I just did a bad impression of him.”

While Lynch turned down Gravity Falls, one of the stars of Twin Peaks did make a small cameo appearance in Gravity Falls. Agent Dale Cooper’s actor, Kyle MacLachlan, agreed to make a guest appearance in the series finale as the bus driver who took the twins back to California.

Both Gravity Falls and Twin Peaks are beloved series by their fanbases. Fans of one should definitely check out the other, as both capture the quirky charm of small-town life while also exploring the strange and unusual through paranormal surrealism and plenty of mysteries.