Mabel says, "wree, wree, wree!" while swinging the axe. This is a reference to the musical score The Murder played during the shower scene in the film Psycho.
The nickname "Mabelangelo" is a clear reference to the famous sculptor and painter Michelangelo.
Groucho sans cigar
Wax Sherlock Holmes falling off the Mystery Shack to his death while dueling Dipper may be an allusion to Holmes's original death in the Arthur Conan Doyle book series; falling off the Reichenbach Falls while dueling his nemesis, Professor Moriarty.
Wax Groucho Marx asks "Why is there nothing in my hand?" Groucho Marx is known for holding his iconic cigar; however by television content regulations, US children's shows cannot have tobacco products unless it is integral to the plot (such as a "Drug Free" special).
The machine Manly Dan is arm wrestling with, "Bicepticus," is a reference to Kirk Douglas in 1960's film Spartacus.
The name of the episode "The Hand That Rocks the Mabel" is a play on words of a 1992 movie title, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle. It could also be an allusion of the somewhat commonly said phrase "The hand that rocks the cradle, is the hand that rules the world."
Dipper says that Gideon's tent is a Bizarro version of the Mystery Shack. Bizarro is a flawed clone of Superman who lives on a world where people are the opposite of their Earth counterparts.
Mabel "bezazzles" her face; a reference to the real product, the Bedazzler.
Allusion to the Red Room.
Gideon Gleeful's appearance is based on Benny Hinn, a famous Christian televangelist who claims to be a prophet.
While watching Gideon's commercial on TV, Mabel makes the same noise Scooby-Doo makes when questioning something.
On a billboard outside of the Gleeful residence is a sign that reads "Home of Lil Gideon. Like from TV." The latter part is a reference to "As seen on TV".
When Wendy told Dipper that he was "surprisingly mature for his age", he replied "Yes, yes I am," it may be an allusion of the "Too Young Line" gag of the animated television show Phineas and Ferb.
The candy "Smile Dip" is a reference to "Fun Dip."
When the ghost lifts everything on the ceiling, music plays that sounds similar to the famous Ghostbusters theme.
The Smile Dip dogs are similar to Lisa Frank's Casey and Camus. This also connects to Mabel's sticker books, or Sticktionary.
The song Disco Girl by girly Icelandic pop sensation BABBA is a reference to the song Dancing Queen by the Swedish pop group ABBA.
The BABBA CD cover style is similar to BAYER LOGO style.
ABBA's logo is the band's name with the first B facing backwards. BABBA has two B's on top of each other.
The Manotaurs are a reference to the mythological creature Minotaur.
The Manotaur "Chutzpar" references Orthodox Judaism is multiple ways. Unlike the other Manotaurs, he wears a head covering akin to a Kippah (i.e., yarmulke) and has hair similar to payot (sidecurls). Moreover, his name is a portmanteau of the Hebrew words חוצפה "Chutzpah", meaning arrogence(heb: חוצפה, also loaned to Yiddish) and "Par" (heb: פר), which means "bull".
The jerky that Dipper is eating while in the forest has a picture of a man on the front of the bag bears a striking resemblance to Hulk Hogan.
While performing "Don't Start Un-Believing", Mabel twirls the mic around by its cord, a trademark of Roger Daltrey from The Who.
Paper Jam Dipper and cracker pack.
Paper-Jam Dipper may be a reference to the plot of the film Multiplicity, in which a man creates a series of clones of himself and the 4th is very badly disabled.
The cracker packs are an allusion to Handi-Snacks.
The scene where Dipper copies his arm and it crawls towards him and Mabel is a reference to the 1981 horror film, The Hand.
The tall man Dipper called "Stretch" does a dance which is an allusion to Michael Jackson's famous Moon Walk.
The Tapeman is a reference to the SonyWalkman, a portable audio cassette player.
On Dipper's list, steps 19 and 20 reference his knowledge of "Monstermon", likely a reference to the Pokémon franchise.
This may also be an allusion to the "First presidents conspiracy", that holds there were other presidents before George Washington, who were erased from history as he was not a member of the Freemasons. Technically, there were presidents before Washington, but these were presidents of the Continental Congress, a title that immediately lost all status once the United States became a nation.
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.
The title of the episode and the arcade game Fight Fighters is an allusion to the Street Fighter series.
The character "Beastor" appears to be similar to Blanka from the Street Fighter series.
Rumble McSkirmish is an amalgamation of Ken Masters, Ryu, and Sagat from the Street Fighter series.
Rumble's catchphrase "Winners don't lose" is likely a reference to the slogan "Winners Don't Use Drugs".
Dipper chases Rumble McSkirmish and Robbie to "Barrel and Crates Incorporated," a reference to the arcade game, Donkey Kong.
Rumble's pipe that he got "from punching an oil drum" is a reference to the Final Fight or Streets of Rage game series.
Bonus Round
Rumble McSkirmish punching the car in the "bonus round" is a reference to an identical bonus level in Street Fighter 2 and Final Fight.
Nerd Punch and Frog Time
Ghost Maze
Nort and Pizza Time
Rumble breaking open a change machine to turn into "a powerful wolf" might be a reference to the transformation power-ups in Altered Beast.
When Rumble does the uppercut at the all you can eat buffet, he shouts, "ALL YOU CAN EAT!" The way he shouts it and the way he performs the move is a reference to the uppercut move Shoryuken used by Ryu and Ken from Street Fighter.
Rumble uses a move similar to E. Honda's Hundred Hand Slap move to destroy the car.
When Rumble McSkirmish knocks Robbie off the water tower and grabs him, an announcer says "Finish him!", a direct reference to the Mortal Kombat series.
When Soos asks Dipper if he needs a sidekick with a pickup truck, this may be a reference to the 1989 movie The Wizard, a film about video games, in which one of the characters is a sidekick with a pickup truck.
When Dipper is talking about power-ups to Rumble, he references a few video games:
Turkey legs, which might be a reference to the Meat powerup in the Castlevania series
Mabel's character says "It's a-me, a-Mabel!" in an Italian accent like that of Mario.
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 would tell players, "Thank you Mario, but our Princess is in another castle."
The title of the episode refers to the constellation Ursa Minor, often referred to as the Little Dipper.This allusion is also made various times in the episode when he is called "Little Dipper".
The book Gideon has in his room is titled "In the Art of War" which is a reference to the Chinese military treatise, The Art of War.
Mabel shouts into the closet "Expecto Wizarium!", a reference to the Harry Potter series spell, "Expecto Patronum!"
The scene in which Dipper and Mabel escape from Gideon's is similar to the scene where Homer and Marge try to get home in The Simpsons episode "Natural Born Kissers."
Specifically, Homer and Marge escape from a used car lot, they use a balloon, and there is a sign that says "Our prices are sky-high!" (similar to when Bud says "My sky-high prices!").
The picture of Mabel and Dipper as cats on Halloween is based off of matching Halloween outfits Alex Hirsch and his sister wore when they were children.[3]
In the scene where the boys show Stan a video of a kitten about to sleep but unexpectedly changes into a demon screaming, it resembles Regan's demon face from The Exorcist, which got infamous from Scary Maze Game and other pranks from YouTube videos (commonly referred to as "screamers"), and many other tricks.
When Waddles jumps out of Grunkle Stan's stomach, it 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.
When Grunkle Stan is unable to scare the fearless pair of boys, they tell him they're not scared. Stan replies, "You will be. You, will, be", alluding to a similar scene between Luke Skywalker and Yoda in Star Wars Episode V.
The Summerween Trickster's first form and the overall events are similar to the movie Trick 'r Treat, where people are killed by a small monster if they do not respect Halloween's traditions.
When Robbie and Wendy come in the house to invite Dipper to the party, Robbie's costume of a skelton jacket and jeans is an allusion to Donnie Darko.
Loser candy
The candy Mr. Adequate-bar is a reference to the Mr. Goodbar candy bars, and Count Discount to Count Chocula.
At the end of the episode, the pictures of Waddles with humorous captions are a reference to the well-known I Can Haz Cheezburger meme pictures.
The sword and shield that Dipper fights the Summerween Trickster with is a reference to the Master Sword and Hylian Shield that Link uses in various games from The Legend of Zelda series. The shield has the Eye of Providence on it as well.
Dipper sliding between the Summerween Tricksters legs
Dipper sliding between the Summerween Trickster's legs and attacking his back is a reference to the final boss in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, where one of the (more difficult) ways to attack his weak spot is to have Link roll between Ganondorf's legs and attack his tail.
Waddles' costume is similar to the novelAnimal Farm where, at the very end, the pigs start wearing suits.
A candy called Blorch makes several cameos. This sweet shares the same name as a planet in Nickelodeon's Invader Zim, a planet that is home to slaughtering rat people.
The horror movie that Stan was watching at the end of the episode, is a parody of Invasion of the Saucer Men.
Stan is dressed as Sam Dracula, Count of Transylvania, aka Grandpa from The Munsters.
The score playing during the shower scene with Stan is The Murder from Psycho.
In Soos' story, when a ball is rolling after the miniaturized Dipper, Mabel, and Soos it is possibly a reference to Indiana Jones being chased by a rolling boulder during one of his adventures.
Ballway Games, the pinball table's maker, is an allusion to Bally-Midway, a pinball manufacturer.
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.
When the Pines family initially falls into the pit, their humorous screaming scene is based off of a scene from Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey
Several of Mabel's dance moves during her "Pig Dance Party" is a reference to the famous montage scene in The Breakfast Club.
Soos' saying, "Bros before dinos" is a take off of a popular phrase.
Referring to a potential new theme park site, Stan says "Jurassic Sap Hole," referencing the Jurassic Park franchise.
The mosquito stuck in the tree sap is also a reference to Jurassic Park where they get the dinosaurs' DNA from mosquitoes stuck in tree sap.
Bobby Renzobbi is a parody of Billy Mays, who was a television direct-response advertisement salesperson in real life.
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 Brachiosaurus, seen in the sap, is most likely a reference to Mokele Mbembe, A Cryptid said to be a living dinosaur.
The scene in which a flying beast, in this instance a pterodactyl, grabs and flies away with a pig, is a reference to a similar instance in the 1985 Disney Classic The Black Cauldron.
When Bill says he knows lots of things, a number of images flash in him. Some are conspiracies-related references to the following, in order of appearance:
The incantation Dipper says to transport them all into Stan's mind includes a jab at the movie Inception. One part of the incantation is "Inceptus Nolanus overratus," which is broken Latin essentially meaning "Nolan'sInception is overrated."
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 Theme Song has been muted and 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 our ears 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.
Once Twin Peaks had been canceled, Lynch wrote the finale to be the most dramatic and disturbing cliffhanger possible. When the frantic
One of the "secret society symbols" is Oroborus, a serpent eating its own tail, in a lemniscate.
Another one of the secret societies of "owl worshipers" alludes to the Bohemian Club, which "worships" a 40 foot owl statue at Bohemian Grove, ironically located not too far from Piedmont, CA.
The mailbox tells Dipper that the end of the world is in 3012, this is a reference to the apocalyptic theory based on Mayan calendar that the world would end in 2012.
The name of the wizard "Crayondalf" who gave the world color is very similar to the name of the wizard Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings.
Her story of color entering the world may also be a reference to The Wizard of Oz , the first color movie, which started in black and white and transitioned into color later on.
The picture of Mabel surrounded by dogsled dogs is in the exact arrangement of one of the posters for the 2002 Disney movie "Snow Dogs," with Mabel taking the place of the Cuba Gooding Jr. character, Ted Brooks.
One of the films playing at the movie theater is called "Toy Storage 2", likely a reference to the Disney/Pixar film "Toy Story 2".
