Tourist Trapped

"Tourist Trapped" is the 1st episode in Season 1 of Gravity Falls. It debuted as the series preview of the show after the premiere of the Original Disney Channel Movie, Let It Shine, on June 15, 2012. "Tourist Trapped" is the official pilot episode of the show.

Overview
Young twins Dipper and Mabel Pines arrive to spend their summer break with their miserly Great Uncle Stan, aka Grunkle Stan, in the remote town of Gravity Falls. Dipper soon finds his sister's new crush suspiciously odd, which causes Dipper and Mabel to come face-to-face with the town's strange and uncanny secrets. Dipper also finds a mysterious journal that hints to an even greater cover-up hidden within the town's wondrous past... and present.

Synopsis
Twelve year old twins Dipper and Mabel Pines arrive to spend their summer break with their Great Uncle Stan, also known as Grunkle Stan, in the remote town of Gravity Falls, Oregon. Once there, they have to work at Stan's store, called the Mystery Shack. While hanging signs in the "creepy part" of the woods, Dipper finds a metal hollow tree. Inside, he finds an electronic device that when he flips some switches, opens a trap door in the ground. Inside he finds a 3|mysterious journal with facts and notes about Gravity Falls' creatures that hints to an even greater cover-up hidden within the town's wondrous past and present. Dipper then believes Mabel's new boyfriend, Norman, is a zombie when he starts acting strangely. When Mabel is with Norman, Norman tells her that he is actually a gnome named Jeff (the leader of the gnomes) standing on top of other gnomes. Dipper asks Wendy if he can use the Mystery Cart to save Mabel. Wendy gives him the keys and tells him to try not to hit any pedestrians. As Dipper drives the Mystery Cart to save Mabel, Soos gives Dipper a shovel and a baseball bat. Dipper drives the Mystery Cart into the forest to rescue Mabel from the Gnomes.

Dipper takes the Mystery Cart and finds them in the forest. After a gnome vomits rainbows, Dipper questions what the heck is going on, gets hissed at by a gnome, and Mabel explains that Norman turned out to be a bunch of gnome jerks. Dipper realizes that he was way off and checks the journal, only to see that there is no weakness listed for the gnomes. The gnomes now have Mabel tied to the ground. Jeff begins to explain that this is a big misunderstanding by saying "She's not in danger, she's just going to marry all one thousand of them and become their gnome queen for all eternity." Dipper commands them to release Mabel or else. Jeff begins to explain that Dipper won't be able to stop them because they are a powerful race, but Dipper stops him in mid-sentence and chucks him with the shovel. He then uses it to free Mabel from the ground and they begin to drive back to the Mystery Shack.

Once Jeff and the gnomes realize Dipper and Mabel are getting away, they assemble together, becoming one big monster. Mabel worries that they will catch up to them, but Dipper isn't because gnomes have tiny legs. They then realize that the gnomes formed a big monster (controlled by Jeff). The monster begins to chase after Dipper and Mabel. The army of gnomes begins launching several small gnomes onto the Mystery Cart. Dipper and Mabel fight them off one by one and Dipper bashes Shmebulock on the Mystery Cart's horn three times. One of the gnomes lands on Dipper's face, and Mabel punches it several times to get it to release. After Dipper thanks Mabel for saving him, the monster then picks up a tree and throws it in the middle of the road. Dipper and Mabel closely slide under it and crash the Mystery Cart in front of the Mystery Shack. Dipper and Mabel crawl from the Mystery Cart. Dipper warns the gnomes to stay back, so he throws a shovel at them, but they smash it to the ground. Dipper and Mabel both scream and Dipper wonders where Grunkle Stan is. Stan is inside showing tourists "The world's most distracting object" distracting himself in the process.

Mabel then tells Dipper that she has to do it. Dipper doesn't agree, but she tells him to trust her. Mabel agrees to marry Jeff. Jeff is excited and goes to put the ring on Mabel's finger. Once Jeff successfully places the ring on Mabel's finger, he wants to hurry and get Mabel back to the forest, but Mabel says that he must kiss the bride. Jeff puckers up, but to his surprise, Mabel has a leaf blower pointed his way. Mabel sucks and shoots Jeff out of the leaf blower for revenge because he lied to her, broke her heart, and messed with Dipper. As he is flying through the air, he says that he is getting revenge for that. The rest of the gnomes are confused as to what they should do next. Mabel then begins blowing them with the leaf blower, forcing them back into the forest. One of the gnomes gets caught in the plastic from a 6-pack soda and is carried away by a goat. Mabel feels sad that her first boyfriend turned out to be a bunch of gnomes, so Dipper tries to cheer her up by saying that her next boyfriend will be a vampire. They then hug each other in an awkward sibling way.

Dipper and Mabel walk into the Mystery Shack. Grunkle Stan is feeling guilty for insulting them, so he tells them they can each take anything they want from the Mystery Shack. Dipper chooses a hat that he will be seen with throughout the series, and Mabel chooses a grappling hook, holding it in a Zelda-like fashion. Mabel is then seen jumping on the bed, playing with her toy while Dipper writes about the events that happened that day in the mysterious journal he found. At the end, Dipper tells Mabel to turn off the light, but instead she flicks it out of the window with the grappling hook. Meanwhile, Grunkle Stan is downstairs and opens a secret door by typing in a secret code on the snack machine, which leads to a secret passage downstairs. He mysteriously closes the door, which hints that he may have something to hide. During the end credits, they replay the clip of Steve throwing up rainbows, except it's longer and lasts the entire credit roll.

Credits

 * Written by:
 * Alex Hirsch


 * Directed by:
 * John Aoshima


 * Storyboards by:
 * Matt Braly
 * Erik Fountain
 * Mark Garcia
 * Alonso Ramirez Ramos
 * Niki Yang


 * With the Voice Talents of:
 * Kristen Schaal - Mabel Pines
 * Jason Ritter - Dipper Pines
 * Alex Hirsch - Grunkle Stan and Soos
 * Linda Cardellini - Wendy


 * Additional voices:
 * Keith Ferguson
 * Alex Hirsch - Gnomes (including "Norman")
 * Kimberly Mooney
 * Fred Tatasciore
 * Casting By:
 * Sara Goldberg

Production notes

 * See also: List of allusions and List of goofs

Series continuity

 * Blendin Blandin can be seen back in the bushes when the gnomes destroy the shovel that Dipper threw at them. Interestingly Blendin can only be clearly seen in HD (high definition).

Trivia

 * This episode received 3.4 million viewers on its premiere night.
 * The title of the episode is most likely a combination of "tourist trap," which is a trick shop trying to make tourists spend all their money on different objects, referring to the Mystery Shack, and "trapped," since Dipper and Mabel are "trapped" in Gravity Falls, Oregon for the summer.
 * This episode was originally available as a free download on iTunes.
 * When it was first aired as the series preview, it lacked a scene before the opening sequence, let alone the theme song.
 * The combination Stan uses to move the vending machine is "13256."
 * The 618 appearances for this episode are:
 * The Mystery Shack's address is 618
 * On the cash register as $6.18 when Wendy is introduced
 * The first page of 3 is dated June 18, June is the 6th month.
 * The Wack-A-Mole machine in Dipper and Mabel's bedroom has it's score stuck at 8190, 0618 upside down
 * "Tourist Trapped" received two nominations for the 40th Annie Awards, including Ian Worrel for Best Production Design in a Television/Broadcast Production, and Kristen Schaal for Best Voice Acting in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production.
 * The plot is the same as the unaired pilot.
 * The plot was also re-used for an episode called Gnomes Capture Girl where their gnomes make their third appearance. Their first was Tourist Trapped and the second was The Time Traveler's Pig

Cryptogram

 * During the end credits of this episode, there was a cryptogram that read "ZHOFRPH WR JUDYLWB IDOOV." Once decoded, it reads "WELCOME TO GRAVITY FALLS".