Hacker Cinema
Gravity Falls
2012 · TV series · 2 seasons
Created by Alex Hirsch
ActionAdventureAnimationComedyFamilyMysteryScience FictionFantasy
Twin brother and sister Dipper and Mabel Pines are in for an unexpected adventure when they spend the summer helping their great uncle Stan run a tourist trap in the mysterious town of Gravity Falls, Oregon.
10 positive4 neutralfrom 14 commenters
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14 comments on Hacker News
I commented on here before about this. I'm certainly not perfect, but what I've done is basically YouTube is something the kid doesn't watch on their own. They can watch documentaries with me or whatever (occasionally some video game stuff), but almost all YouTube kids is awful. There are a lot of really good kids shows out there across different streaming services with actual plots and character development that make them think without frying their brains. For a kid in the 8-14 year range: Avatar the Last Airbender, Gravity Falls, Owl House, Dragon Prince...etc are prob fine depending on the kid (dragon Prince is a bit darker). As a parent you need to make sure they're not watching content you object to though. I'll also find some episodes of something like Star Trek that is interesting with some moral dilemmas and just talk it out with them. TV is fine in moderation. Make sure you keep reading to them as well.
I'm not sure there's ever been more options for good shows that a parent can watch and genuinely enjoy with their kids. Try Avatar the Last Airbender/Legend of Korra, Hilda, Sarah & Duck, Adventure Time, Miraculous, The Dragon Prince, MLP Friendship is Magic, She-Ra and the Princess of Power, Samurai Jack, Gravity Falls, Ducktales (the new one, but the old one isn't bad either), Cleopatra in Space, Amphibia, Star vs. the Forces of Evil, Owl House, Craig of the Creek, Steven Universe, LEGO Elves, Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, Over the Garden Wall, Infinity Train, and the Disney Fairies movies.
I'd also recommend getting your hands on the cartoons you enjoyed as a kid. Odds are good your kids will like them for the same reasons you did, although you may find that they don't all hold up for you.
To be fair, Gravity Falls is also aimed at children but is still fun for adults.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_Falls
Back to the seinen anime, Monster fits into the category of mystery/thriller. For science fiction/horror see Parasyte -the maxim- and for dark fantasy see Berserk.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasyte
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berserk_(manga)
Berserk in particular is a staple. It has influenced lots of other work.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berserk_(manga)#Legacy
Be sure to not watch the 2016 anime series, as it is reviled for its poor animation. The 1997 anime series or the film trilogy from 2012 are a better use of your time. Both cover the same section of the story. However, be forewarned the part they adapt is a specific arc of the story near the beginning and is thus unfinished. Still worth it.
But I’d still recommend you start with Monster if you’re looking for something closer to live-action shows.
Fair enough on the perf, I get it lol
I'm hunting for names that had resurgence in popularity because of TV shows/movies. The name that inspired the project is Mabel. It disappeared in the 1960s, then reappeared the year after Gravity Falls came out and it's still climbing. https://www.behindthename.com/name/mabel/top
I want to find as many examples of that as I can.
I feel what you say too, that all the content feels samey. But I'll offer a suggestion that works for me: try some animation. That's where you get the passion projects that can feel different. Animated characters and settings can be far more expressive and varied and fresh, compared to the stock sameyness you get from live action.
The new She-Ra on Netflix was the best thing I've watched in quite some time. It's not a kiddie show, it works for all ages, think like Pixar movies. Other great cartoons across a variety of streaming services: Steven Universe, Gravity Falls, Owl House, Star Trek Lower Decks, also the more mainstream Bob's Burgers. If you want something fresh to watch, try animation.
A boy and a girl, 11.
They got a tablet each and 1H a day of use max, in a 7AM-8PM window.
They can only play games on it on week-ends (blocked with Family Links) and during holidays, and have no internet webbrowser access. They mostly use duolingo, image and video editing and stuf like that. They have an email address to exchange with friends.
TV an episode of a show (curently Gravity Falls) in English (we're French) when tere's no school the day after.
And sometimes a movie on weekend, or some Recalbox time (which I prefer becaus I play with them :-)
I want to push back on this idea. Back in the heyday of JohnK's blog, "CalArts style" referred to a kind of post-Disney/Don Bluth character design language that typified theatrical animation in the 90s. If you look at the late 90s/early 2000s wave of films, things like Titan A.E., The Iron Giant (which was better than most), Atlantis: The Lost Empire, etc -- a lot of them have a Milt Kahl knockoff look because that's what was the gold standard at CalArts at the time. JohnK's complaint was that young animators were aping superficial Disney-isms and making derivative crap instead of creating original design systems.
Fast forward 20 years, and what people mean when they say "CalArts style" is completely different. They're talking about the geometric, flat graphical character designs of things like Gumball, Steven Universe, Clarence, and Gravity Falls (i.e., the "bean mouth" era). This is all TV animation (theatrical 2D animation is deader than disco), and it's partly driven by the mechanics of modern digital animation production. It's also same-y and safe, but for different reasons.
I'd argue that the time period plays a more important role there than the gender, considering the kind of mobs I've seen on Tumblr and communities for TV shows (Steven Universe/Adventure Time/Gravity Falls comes to mind).
I prefer python professionally. But I have been trying to teach my kids programming via code breaking with the Gravity Falls tv show. Trying to add numbers to letters is very confusing for younger kids.
In a related note, I have come to realize the different levels of quality in children's television:
- Public television shows (PBS) stuff is so lovingly created and charming. You can really tell they had experts and creatives work side by side to craft positive stories. Even if it's not particularly exciting.
- Super-smart and creative shows (like the first couple seasons of Spongebob, or Gravity Falls). Great shows on their own merit, super funny and creative. But they are an art first and not necessarily focused on development. Good at clueing kids in on structuring jokes or references, not much else.
- Bland and harmless. Shows that drive a story or characters, but not necessarily lovingly made or particularly funny. I have found most of the Netflix/Amazon/Hulu stuff falls in here.
- Colorful garbage. It's a lights and noise show, with huge focus on licensing. Cartoons of my era are particularly susceptible to this (Dragonball Z, Yu Gi Oh, Transformers, etc).
> Disney produced animated TV shows aimed for kids are the worst
Gravity Falls season 1 is perfectly fine children's programming.
I feel seriously remiss for forgetting Adventure Time now. Gravity Falls has been recommended to me before, though it escaped my memory since I've actually never seen it.
Even though it's a miniseries, I do feel like I should perhaps mention Over The Garden Wall for a few reasons: 1. More than once I've been told that if I liked Over the Garden Wall, I'd like Gravity Falls, 2. Over the Garden Wall was produced by Patrick McHale, creative director and frequent writer for Adventure Time, and 3. It's that damn good -- the basic story is presented simply enough that a kid mature enough to not get freaked out by spooky things would enjoy it, and there addition themes woven in that story that adults would enjoy it too (I know I did).
I'm sorry but I can't let this one slide. Yes, children have been subjected to a slew of execrable sitcoms but at least in the realm of cartoons children's there is much that is of high quality. Adventure Time, Gravity Falls and Steven Universe roundly refute "universally terrible". Even the 2000s had Avatar, Samurai Jack, early Spongebob and Fairly Odd Parents. Other than nostalgia and smugness, I can't find any justification for claiming that none of it was as "mentally stimulating" as the 90s given how equally rife with garbage the 90s were.
I've got a large amount of extended family and married friends, so good shows like these are super helpful in positively connecting with their kids. And shared media interests is actually part of a large social aspect of public school.
> Steven Universe
This show works incredibly well. Especially since the episodes are short - a feature for parents as well as kids. Gravity Falls, as well, does a great job of being fun without trying to do much preaching. Of course, some of the adult fandom for these can be a bit ... enthusiastic, so I worry about whether the kids will be able to enjoy themselves at conventions and on the internet without getting caught up in the drama.
Both of these shows have also garnered approval from some parents with some pretty insane control issues, too. In situations like that, it's nice to be able to provide gateway entertainment to kids languishing under extreme supervision. I doubt I'm the only one who's had to deal with that. It's surprising how many parents unwittingly rob their kids of a childhood. Being a non-parent in some ways gives a more even perspective about loosening the grip on the kids and not taking everything so seriously.
Shows like Regular Show and Adventure Time are pretty good, but some parents reject them for being "too stupid". Yeah, there's juvenile behavior, but it's not all over. When introducing parents to these, I sometimes have to be particular about which episodes I start with, or they'll immediately reject it.
I've introduced teens to shows like Rick and Morty and Star vs. the Forces of Evil. Parents are generally more accepting of more edgy material at that age. And they're gonna push boundaries, so at least point them to the better quality shows. Anime has also gotten hugely popular in this recent generation, to the point that some of my nieces and nephews seem to literally breathe it. Streaming subscriptions help with that, though available shows vary by licensing deals and region. Hulu is one of the best for cartoons.
It's also amusing that the creators of these shows are the recent adults who grew up on the last generation of entertainment cartoons.