List of allusions/Season 1

Episodes

See also: List of items in the Mystery Shack for allusions made by specific items.

Tourist Trapped

• A poster resembling Justin Bieber is seen in the attic.
• Stan wears a Gill-man mask to scare Dipper. The Gill-man is from the 1954 film, Creature from the Black Lagoon.
• The gnomes tie down Mabel in a similar way to how the Lilliputians tie down Gulliver in the book, Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift.
• The way Mabel takes the grappling hook out of the box and spins around is a reference to the Legend of Zelda video game series.

Justin Bieber poster

Gill-man mask

Gulliver's Travels reference

Legend of Zelda reference

The Legend of the Gobblewonker

• The Gobblewonker is an allusion to the Loch Ness Monster.
• Soos' pose when Dipper asks him to pretend to be Bigfoot is an allusion of the famous film of Bigfoot.
• A few notes from "Yankee Doodle" play when Dipper and Mabel look at Stan's boat when deciding whether to go fishing with Stan or to search for the Gobblewonker.
• During Dipper's fantasy, his outfit is based on the outfit worn by Indiana Jones in the film franchise of the same name.

Gobblewonker.png

The Gobblewonker

Bigfoot pose

Stan in boat.png

"Yankee Doodle" playing

Dipper wears an Indiana Jones-inspired outfit.

Headhunters

• When lamenting Wax Lincoln's death, Stan accuses Wax John Wilkes Booth of the death, referencing the assassination of Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth.
• The nickname "Mabelangelo" is a reference to the famous sculptor and painter, Michelangelo.
• Mabel saying "wree, wree, wree!" while swinging an axe is a reference to the musical score The Murder played during the shower scene in the film Psycho.
• When Mabel asks Wax William Shakespeare if he knows any limericks, he says "There once was a dude from Kentucky." This is a reference to an opening line for many (usually crude) joke limericks, "There once was a man from Nantucket."
  

  

The Hand That Rocks the Mabel

• The name of the episode is a play on the phrase, "the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world."
• When Mabel "bezazzles" her face, it is a reference to the real product, the Bedazzler.
• While watching Gideon's commercial on TV, Mabel makes the same noise Scooby Doo makes when questioning something.
• A billboard outside of the Gleeful residence has an icon that reads "Like from TV!" a reference to the "As seen on TV" icon.
• The "Club Club" is a reference to the "Red Room" in the Black and White Lodge from the TV series Twin Peaks.

Bedazzler reference

"Like from TV!" is similar to "As seen on TV."

Red Room from Twin Peaks reference

The Inconveniencing

• The name of the haunted mini-mart, "Dusk 2 Dawn," is an allusion to the 1996 Quentin Tarantino movie, From Dusk Till Dawn.
• Mabel running sideways on the ground after she climbs over the fence is similar to what Curly Howard does in The Three Stooges.
• The article about "cheese crust pizza" alludes to the introduction of Pizza Hut's Stuffed Crust Pizza on March 26, 1995
  • On May 2nd, 1995, Serbia launched a missile on Zagreb, referenced by the headline "(cut off) War or Something..." It was part of the Bosnian War.
• The mints packaging is very similar to that of Mentos.
• Smile Dip is a reference to Fun Dip.
• The Smile Dip dogs are similar to Lisa Frank's Casey and Camus.
• Wendy tells Dipper that he's surprisingly mature for his age. Dipper replies to Wendy by saying "yes, yes I am". This is a reference to a catchphrase said by Phineas Flynn (and other kid/teen characters) from Phineas and Ferb.
• Thompson plays a game called Dancy Pants Revolution. This is a reference to the game Dance Dance Revolution.
• Lee is put in a cereal box similar to Froot Loops with a blue toucan similar to Toucan Sam on it. The toucan says, "I'm bonkers for eating you alive" in the same way Sonny the Cuckoo Bird says "I'm cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs!"
• Mabel twisting her head 180 degrees while being possessed by a ghost is a reference to a scene in the movie The Exorcist, in which a demon, possessing a child, turns its head 180 degrees.

Mabel running sideways

Newspaper

Mentos-like packaging

Smile dip

Lisa Frank-like setting

Froot Loops-like cereal

Dipper vs. Manliness

• The song Disco Girl by the girly Icelandic pop sensation BABBA is a reference to the song Dancing Queen by the Swedish pop group ABBA.
• The jerky that Dipper is eating while in the forest has a picture of a man on the front of the bag bearing a striking resemblance to Hulk Hogan.
• The Manotaurs are a reference to the mythological creature Minotaur.
• One of the scenes in the training montage shows Dipper having his eyes held open by the Manotaurs and being shown inspirational posters, which is a reference to the Ludovico technique from the book and the movie, A Clockwork Orange.
• The concept of "Many Minotaurs" might possibly be a reference to the character "Mannish Man," also known as "The Manly Minotaur," from the Adventure Time episode "The Enchiridion."

Disco Girl by BABBA

Hulk Hogan lookalike

Manotaurs

Ludovico technique from "A Clockwork Orange."

Double Dipper

• The song that Mabel sings, "Don't Start Un-Believing," is an allusion to the song "Don't Stop Believin" by Journey.
• The Tapeman is a reference to the Sony Walkman, a portable audio cassette player.
• The tall man Dipper calls "Stretch" does Michael Jackson's famous Moon Walk.
• On Dipper's list, steps 19 and 20 reference his knowledge of "Monstermon," a reference to the Pokémon franchise.
• The cracker packs are an allusion to Handi-Snacks.

Moonwalk

Cracker pack

Irrational Treasure

• The title of the episode is an allusion to National Treasure.
• The Depants-ipation Proclamation is an allusion to the Emancipation Proclamation, enacted by United States President Abraham Lincoln.
• Quentin Trembley's speech "The only thing we have to fear is gigantic man-eating spiders" is an allusion to the famous line "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself," made by former president Franklin D. Roosevelt in his first inaugural speech.
• The cryptogram decodes as "E PLURIBUS TREMBLEY" (Latin for "From Many, Trembley"), a play on the phrase "E PLURIBUS UNUM" (Latin for "From Many, One") found on the Great Seal of the United States and on all US coins.
• Stan screaming "PIONEER DAY!" to the sky is reminiscent of the beginning to every episode of Dan Vs.
• Quentin Trembley rides his horse backwards, much like Dudley Do-Right from Rocky and Bullwinkle.

The Time Traveler's Pig

• The title of the episode is an allusion to the novel, The Time Traveler's Wife.
• The two Time Police are named Lolph and Dundgren, a reference to the actor Dolph Lundgren and the character he portrayed in Universal Soldier.
• Fertilia and Grady Mecc's surname refers to Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium (MECC) which produced the video game The Oregon Trail.
• Mabel and Waddles eating the same slice of pizza from different ends references the scene in the Disney animated film, Lady and the Tramp, where the main characters eat a single strand of spaghetti from either end.
• At the end of the episode, Dipper quotes the line "That'll do, pig. That'll do," from the novel and the film, Babe.
• The cryptogram at the end of the episode says "NOT H.G. WELLS APPROVED." This references the science fiction novella The Time Machine, by H. G. Wells.

Universal Solder reference

Lady and the Tramp reference

Fight Fighters

• The title of the episode and the arcade game Fight Fighters is an allusion to the Street Fighter series. The characters in the game are based on Street Fighter characters as well:
  • Rumble McSkirmish's movement and attacks are primarily based on Ryu and Ken.
  • Dr. Karate uniform and attacks are derived from those of M. Bison, while he has Guile's haircut.
  • "Beastor", "Suggessica", and "N. Buffalo" are based on Blanka, Chun-Li and M. Bison respectively.
• Games in the Arcade:
  • NORT: a backwards spelling of the classic sci-fi movie, Tron, and appears to be like the light cycle game, only with Segways.
    • Soos trying to "enter the game" is a reference to the plot of Tron.
  • Ho-Down Hero: a reference to Guitar Hero series and Dance Dance Revolution series.
  • Ghost Maze: a reference to Pac-Man.
  • Nerd Punch: a reference to the Punch-Out!! series.
  • FrogTime: a reference to Frogger.
  • PizzaTime: a reference to BurgerTime.
• The Fight Fighters character select screen, in which a plane flies across a map, is based on Street Fighter II.
• When Dipper is talking about power-ups to Rumble:
  • Pizza boxes is a reference to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle games
  • Gold rings is a reference to the Sonic the Hedgehog series
• Rumble picking up garbage off the street to use as weapons is a reference to the game Streets of Rage.
• Rumble throwing barrels after Robbie, who must jump over them, is a reference to the arcade game Donkey Kong, in which the player must leap over barrels thrown by a gorilla.
• Rumble punching the car in the "bonus round" is a reference to an identical bonus level in Street Fighter II and Final Fight. "Oh my Car" is a reference to a man saying the same at the end of the bonus round in the Super Nintendo version of Final Fight.
• When Rumble shouts "All you can eat!" as he uppercuts the grill, the "all you can" is pronounced with the same cadence as "Shoryuken", an identical spinning uppercut move from the Street Fighter series.
• The cry of "Finish him!" when Rumble is fighting Robbie is borrowed from the Mortal Kombat series.
• The combo move Rumble uses to defeat Dipper ends with the latter lying on the ground below the former, who faces away from the screen with a glowing red symbol on his back - a reference to Akuma from the Street Fighter series, whose infamous "Raging Demon" combo move ends this same way.
• The end credits scene contains several references:
  • The character select screen is modeled after that of Super Mario Bros. 2.
    • Mabel's character says "It's a-me, a-Mabel!", referencing Mario's catchphrase.
    • Stan is the tallest character, is slower than the others, and jumps higher. All of these are attributes of Luigi.
    • This sequence takes place in Soos' dream, much like the events of Super Mario Bros. 2 takes place in Mario's dream.
  • Soos is shown as a large head eating the characters, a reference to Pac-Man.
  • The cryptogram reads "Sorry Dipper, but your Wendy is in another castle." This is a reference to Super Mario Bros, in which Toad says, "Thank you, Mario, but our Princess is in another castle."

Donkey Kong reference

Street Fighter bonus round

S1e10 Pac man.png

Super Mario Bros. 2 select screen

Pac-man reference

Little Dipper

• The title of the episode refers to the constellation Ursa Minor, often referred to as the Little Dipper.
• When trying to reveal the wizard, Mabel shouts "Expecto Wizarium," a reference to "Expecto Patronum," a spell from the Harry Potter series.
• Gummy Koalas are a spoof of Gummy Bears.
• The book on Gideon's desk, "In Art of War," is a reference to The Art of War.

Summerween

• Mr. Adequate-bar is a reference to Mr. Goodbar candy bars, and Count Discount is a reference to Count Chocula cereal.
• When the boys tell Stan that they're not scared, Stan replies, "Oh, you will be. You will be." This is the same response Yoda gives Luke Skywalker to the latter not being scared in The Empire Strikes Back.
• Stan pretending to have Waddles jump out of his stomach is a reference to the Ridley Scott film Alien, in which the aliens impregnate the humans by laying their eggs in the human's mouths. When the eggs hatch, they burst out of the human's chest, killing them. The same reference occurs when Soos bursts out of the Summerween Trickster, screeching.
• The Summerween Trickster's second form is an homage to Spirited Away's No Face.
• The score playing during the shower scene with Stan is The Murder from the film Psycho.
• The pictures of Waddles with humorous captions are a reference to the well-known I Can Haz Cheezburger meme pictures.
  • One of the pictures has the caption, "i hate mondais," a reference to the trademark catchphrase of comic character Garfield.

Alien reference

Spirited Away reference

lolcat reference

Boss Mabel

• The game show, Cash Wheel, is a reference to Wheel of Fortune.
• The Singin' Salmon is an allusion to Big Mouth Billy Bass.
• When decoded, the cryptogram in the end credits reads "HEAVY IS THE HEAD THAT WEARS THE FEZ." This is a reference William Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 2, in which King Henry says the famous line, "uneasy lies the head that wears the crown," which is often misquoted as "heavy is the head that wears the crown (Act III, Scene i)."

Singin' Salmon

Bottomless Pit!

• Dipper saying, "How you diddly-doing, Soos?" is a reference to how Ned Flanders of The Simpsons talks.
• Stan's story, "Grunkle Stan wins the football bowl", is a reference to the Super Bowl. Also, the uniforms of the football players in the story resemble the uniforms of the Green Bay Packers.

Green Bay Packers-inspired uniforms

The Deep End

• Mabel's star swimsuit looks similar to the shirt that Steven Universe wears in the show, Steven Universe.
• Before Mabel gives Mermando the sandwich, the score when Mabel bobs her head in and out of the water is an homage to the famous theme from the film Jaws.
• After Mermando is freed into Lake Gravity Falls, Mabel runs forward and he leaps over her in the same manner as the famous scene in Free Willy.

Free Willy reference

Carpet Diem

• The title is a play on the Latin aphorism carpe diem meaning "seize the day."
• The boy band movie, "Boyz World" is a parody of the Spice Girls movie, "Spice World."
• Soos says that he has to squeeze into his break room "like a video game puzzle block," referring to Tetris.
• Calling All Boys: Preteen Edition is an allusion to such games as Girl Talk and Dream Phone, in which players can talk to male characters on electronic phones.
• The book Dipper reads, "The Sibling Brothers" by Jenkins W. Jenkins is a parody of the mystery novel series, The Hardy Boys published under the collective pseudonym Franklin W. Dixon.

Boyz Crazy

• In the beginning of the song "Cray Cray," the set is from the NSYNC song "Bye Bye Bye."
  • When Ergman Bratsman tells the unborn clone to dance, the last part of it is a reference to the N'Sync's dance in their hit song "Bye Bye Bye."
  • When Creggy G jumps between Deep Chris, he appears to land in JC Chasez's pose in the second verse of "Bye Bye Bye."
• The band "aggressively dancing at" Candy and Grenda is a reference to the musical play West Side Story, in which a gang's signature dance involves very similar synchronized snapping.
• When Mabel tells Sev'ral Timez to "get out before she changes her mind", it is a reference to the Gary Puckett & The Union Gap song "Young Girl".

Land Before Swine

• The title is a play on the title of the film series The Land Before Time.
• Mabel's dance moves on the counter as well as her pumping her fists into the air while collapsing to the floor during her "Pig Dance Party" are a reference to the dance scene in The Breakfast Club.
• The scene picturing the mosquito in the sap is a reference to the Steven Spielberg movie Jurassic Park, in which mosquitos preserved in tree sap are used to obtain dinosaur DNA.
  • Stan says later that he should open a theme park with the dinosaurs: "Jurassic Sap Hole".
• Bobby Renzobbi is a parody of Billy Mays, a television direct-response advertisement salesperson.
• Stan yells, "From Heck's heart, I stab at thee" referencing the quote "From Hell's heart, I stab at thee" by Ahab from the Herman Melville novel Moby-Dick.
• The gang using the geyser to escape from the mine is a possible reference to a similar scene in Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth, or from the 1959 movie adaptation, where a lava geyser is used to eject the heroes away from a dinosaur that is attacking them.

Mosquito preserved in sap

Bobby Renzobbi

Dreamscaperers

• "Conflict Boat" is a reference to the game Battleship.
• Grandpa the Kid is a reference to Billy the Kid.
• The Nyarf toy guns are references to Nerf toy guns.
• When Bill says he knows "lots of things," a number of images flash on his body. Some are references to the following, in order of appearance:
  • The assassination of US President John F. Kennedy.
  • UFO sightings
  • Aztec calendar
  • Apollo moon landing
  • Stonehenge
  • The pyramids of Giza
  • Crop circles
• One part of the incantation Dipper reads to transport himself, Mabel and Soos into Stan's mind is "Inceptus Nolanus overratus," which is broken Latin, essentially meaning "Nolan's Inception is overrated."
• The Bijou Theater is an homage to the Bijou Theater at CalArts which is the campus projection room at the school Alex Hirsch attended.
• The dance Xyler and Craz do when threatened by Bill Cipher is the same as Jonathan Knight (in red vest) and Joey McIntyre (in the green jacket) from the 1990 cartoon New Kids on the Block.
• Soos' attack on Bill, "Soos Love Stomach Beam Stare" is a reference to the "Care Bear Stare" from the Care Bears.
• As the gang wakes up, Dipper's left hand disappears. This is a reference to the Spielberg film Back to the Future when Marty realizes that he is slowly disappearing because George and Lorraine's relationship is on the line.
• The end credits are an homage to the opening credits of the TV series Twin Peaks.
  • Like Angelo Badalamenti's instrumental "Falling," the Gravity Falls Theme Song plays over a very slow pan across a waterfall and down a lazy river through the forest.
  • A woodpecker can be heard, echoing the Bewick's Wren seen at the start of the Twin Peaks opening credit montage.
  • The Gravity Falls ending theme has been drastically slowed from its familiar racing beat down to the tempo of very relaxed breathing, matching the tempo of the Twin Peaks theme.
  • At this pace, the Gravity Falls theme only plays through halfway, trailing off just when we anticipate the theme's bridge picking up in intensity. This surprising tempo change is borrowed from a second track, the title track from Badalamenti and David Lynch's album Floating Into the Night, sung by Julee Cruise, composed by Angelo Badalamenti with lyrics written by David Lynch.

Conflict boat

Nyarf gun

Bill knows lots of things...

Gideon Rises

• "Gideonland" and its logo design are references to Disneyland.
• When Deputy Edwin Durland said "What on Earth happened here," it may be an allusion of the "Zoomates" gag of the Nickelodeon show, Oh Yeah! Cartoons.

Gideonland