List of allusions/Season 2

Episodes

Scary-oke

Adult magazines

Spoof of famous songs

• The magazines in Stan's trunk (e.g. "Fully Clothed Women") are a reference to adult magazines such as Playboy.
• In Stan's contraband box is a Tamagotchi and a Street Sharks doll.
• Two songs on Mabel's karaoke machine ("We Built This Township on Rock and Roll" and "Danger Lane to Highway Town") are references to "We Built this City" by Starship and "Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins, respectively.
• MC Rapper is a parody of rapper MC Hammer.
• Agent Powers' claim to have no sense of humor is allusion to Men in Black, wherein Agent K makes a very similar claim.
• The song name "The Rapper's Rap" is an allusion to the first rap song ever written, "Rapper's Delight" by The Sugarhill Gang. 
• The zombies and their dialogue (moaning "Brains...") is a nod to the classic splatter-punk film, The Return of the Living Dead.
• The show Zombie Soos was watching, Gossiping Housewives, is a reference to the TV series Desperate Housewives.

Into the Bunker

Sideways blink

• When the Shape Shifter reveals itself, it extends its neck and climbs a wall in the same fashion as the monster in the 1982 film The Thing.
• Using the symbol substitution cipher, one of the journal's pages says "ICE" "ICE" "BABY", which is a reference to a famous hip hop song from 1990, "Ice Ice Baby" by rapper Vanilla Ice.
• The episode resembles It, the title character in the miniseries of the same name. This movie also featured a close-knit group battling a shape shifting evil in a subterranean setting.  The Shape Shifter in the episode assumes a giant spider form multiple times - like Its final form - and appears to take similar pleasure in psychological torment of its nemeses.
• Smez is a spoof of Pez candy.
• Just before the Shape Shifter reveals itself, its eyes are shown blinking sideways. This is in reference to the unlicensed cephalopoid from Men In Black (1997) blinking its gills because it was out of breath.
• When Wendy yells to the shapeshifter, "Hey, Body Snatcher!" it is a nod to the film, Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
• Manly Dan says "Who put that wall there?!" which is a reference to the line "Who put that bar there?!" from the movie please include movie name.

The Golf War

The Lilliputtians

Big Henry

• The title "The Golf War" is a play on words referencing the Gulf War from 1990-91.
• One of the obstacles at Ye Royal Discount Putt Hutt is a large shoe house, a reference to the nursery rhyme "There was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe."
• The Lilliputtians are a reference to the Lilliputians, a society of tiny people who inhabit the island of Lilliput (which represents the Kingdom of Great Britain) in Jonathan Swift's satirical novel Gulliver's Travels. Also, the way they tied up Pacifica was done in a similar manner to how Gulliver is tied up by the Lilliputians.
• Big Henry may be either or both: a reference to the character from American folklore known as John Henry, who was a miner who died while constructing a railroad tunnel, or Big Bad John, a song originally performed in 1961 by Jimmy Dean regarding a man who gives his life to save his fellow miners following a tunnel collapse.
• Some elements of the episode are similar to The Simpsons episode "Dead Putting Society", in which Bart Simpson enters a mini-golf competition with Todd Flanders at a medieval-themed golf course.

Sock Opera

Head based on Khal Drogo

Statler and Waldorf reference

• The title is a play on rock operas.
• Gabe claiming to be the "Master of Puppets" is a reference to the song with the same name by Metallica.
• The screaming head that Bill conjures is based on Khal Drogo from HBO's Game of Thrones.
• The preacher outfit that Bill wore is based on the character Harry Powell in The Night of the Hunter.
• Franz Schubert's "Ave Maria" is heard when the Grunkle Stan puppet flies in slow motion.
• The Grunkle Stan and Old Man McGucket puppets in the balcony during the credits are modeled after Statler and Waldorf from The Muppet Show.
• The scene where Dipper wakes up from his first meeting with Bill and flails his arm in a panic is an allusion to Kermit the Frog.
  • The same for Dipper's angry face as a puppet when speaking to Mabel, who finds the expression hilarious.
• The cryptogram in the end credits references Reptilian conspiracies.

Soos and the Real Girl

GameStop reference

Hot Topic reference

Stretch Armstrong, N64, Furby, Atti-cube, and NORT are all visible in Soos' room

• The title is a spoof of the film Lars and the Real Girl.
• A number of stores in the Gravity Falls Mall are parodies of popular stores:
  • The store in the mall, Build A Beaver, is a parody of Build-A-Bear Workshop.
  • The store Edgy On Purpose is a spoof on Hot Topic.
  • BeeblyBoop's Videogames' logo is an allusion to the GameStop logo
• Soos' bedroom has a number of items that reference toys and pop culture:
  • A picture of a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.
  • A Stretch Armstrong doll.
  • A Furby doll.
  • A Godzilla action figure.
  • A Nintendo 64 console and controller.
  • A Magic 8-Ball.
• Will E. Badger's name is a parody of Chuck E. Cheese's and possibly a refrence to the Looney Tunes character Wile E. Coyote.
• The Hoo-Ha's Jamboree animatronic band members are based off of the Rock-afire Explosion.
• The song during the credits is sung in the style of Lil' Jon.
• The cryptogram at the end slide is a parody of the theme song of the DiC/CWi dub of Sailor Moon. 
• The cardboard cutout that Soos knocks over is a parody of Lara Croft and the Tomb Raider series.
• One game in the video game store is called NORT, which is TRON backwards, a reference to the movie about characters trapped in a video game world.
• Soos' poster "HE'S GOT ATTI-CUBE" on the door of his room has a COOLCUBE logo at the top that is a cube made of C's, a parody of the Nintendo GameCube whose cube is made of G's. The running cube on the poster also resembles a Rubik's Cube and 7-Up's old mascot, Cool Spot
• Mabel removing her sunglasses making it reveal another pair underneath is a reference to a scene in the movie Airplane!.

Allusion to Portal 2.

• The fact that Giffany killed her creators after becoming sentient appears to be a nod to GLaDOS from the Portal series. Giffany's animation depicting a bunch of stick figures at computers greatly resembles similar animations played in Portal 2.
• On Giffany's screen, the binary code means "SPACEJAMTWO." This is a reference to the film Space Jam and how it may be getting a sequel sometime soon.
• Soos says he doesn't know whether to pronounce Giffany's name as "Giffany" with a hard G, or "Jiffany". This is a reference to the common internet dispute about whether "GIF", a file format, is pronounced with a hard or soft G.
• The ending credits sequence is a reference to the film The Hangover.

Little Gift Shop of Horrors

Saul Bass reference

Game of Thrones reference

The Creation of Adam

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Claymation comparison

Soos as Gumby

• The title is a parody of Little Shop of Horrors.
• One item in the gift shop is a Palantír from J. R. R. Tolkien'sThe Lord of the Rings, in which the Eye of Sauron can be seen.
• The title card for Hands Off is in the style of famous graphic designer Saul Bass.
• The redecoration scene in Hands Off is a parody of home makeover programs .
• The Hand Witch's robe is nearly identical to that of The Master from the movie Manos: The Hands of Fate.
• The Hand Witch's chair resembles the throne from HBO's Game of Thrones.
• Dipper helps hang a painting of Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam.
• The What-the-heck-ahedron is a reference to 3D combination puzzles, like the Rubik's Cube.
• "Loinclothiclese" searching for the "Golden Pants" is a reference to the myth of the Golden Fleece.
• The movie "Honey, I Shrunk A Ghost" seen on top of the VCR is a reference to the 1989 film Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.
• Harry Claymore's old gorilla model is a reference to King Kong.
• Harry Claymore is based on real-life stop motion artist Ray Harryhausen and the claymation monsters (skeletons, cyclops, gorgons, etc.) are a reference to his films Jason and the Argonauts, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and Clash of the Titans.
• A poster in Harry Claymore's studio features a flying creature that resembles Rodan, a monster from Toho's Rodan and the Godzilla franchise.
• When Soos turns into clay, he resembles iconic stop-motion character Gumby. He also says, "Holy toledo!", which was the catchphrase of Gumby's pal, Pokey.

Society of the Blind Eye

• The song Soos is listening to is by a rapper called Lil Bigg Dawggg, which could be a possible allusion to Lil Wayne, The Notorious B.I.G., and Snoop Dogg.
• McGucket's middle name is a nod to the Large Hadron Collider.
• The statue inside The Hall of the Forgotten looks very similar to the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio De Janeiro.
• When Mabel and Wendy discuss Mabel's failed romances, a Triforce is visible on the wall.
• Mabel's sweater showing a yellow dog stretching may be an allusion to Jake the Dog of Adventure Time .
  • Also, McGucket's descent into madness references Simon Petrikov's transformation into the Ice King.

Blendin's Game

• The episode title is a reference to the book (and 2013 film) Ender's Game.
• Some signs in the background in the future say "The Time Baby is Watching," a reference to George Orwell's book 1984.
• Lolph and Dundgren are based on the actor Dolph Lundgren, and their uniforms are similar to the outfit worn by Lundgren's character Andrew Scott (aka GR13) in the film Universal Soldier.
• Soos has a poster of Michael Jackson's 1988 film Moonwalker in his room as a child.
• The water gun Robbie uses is a Super Soaker.
• Some games of Globnar trials are references to: Tron (glowing cycle races), American Gladiators (The Joust), Colosseum-style battling, parkour, Jenga, etc.
• When Mabel thinks they are in Japan, this is a reference to the many TV shows similar to Globnar where teams are pitted against each other to earn points and prizes.
• The cipher key "capacitor" is an allusion to the "flux capacitor," which made time travel possible in the Back to the Future movie trilogy.
• In the Globnar battle arena, there is a competitor that appears to be infinitely falling between two portals, which is possibly a reference to the game series Portal.
• The Globnar arena is inspired by the board game Crossfire.
• The Time Baby refers to the combatants as "Tributes," as in what they are referred to in the Hunger Games series.
  • Additionally, the sky of the Globnar arena resembles a grid, similar to the sky inside the Hunger Games arenas.
• The guard towers outside the Infinetentiary are Penrose triangles, two-dimensional figures impossible to project into the third dimension.

The Love God

• The name of the episode is an allusion to one of Don Knotts' movies, The Love God?
• Woodstick is a parody of the music festival Woodstock.
• The Valentino Funeral Home doorbell is Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 by Johann Sebastian Bach.
• Woodstick artist parodies of real life indie artists:
  • "Dracula Weekday" = "Vampire Weekend"
  • "Lawrence + the Bicycles' = "Florence + the Machine"
  • "Boyz II Infantz" = "Boyz II Men"
  • "DJ OK" = "OK Go"
  • Boston, Massachusetts = "Boston"
• The photo on Tambry's phone is an allusion to the popular duckface and selfie.
• When Mabel talked with "that guy the ten dollar bill," she was referring to Alexander Hamilton.
• Tambry's text alert tone is the Bits & Bytes tone.
• The rising of Grunkle Stan's hot air balloon is an allusion to the anime Attack on Titan'.

Northwest Mansion Mystery

• The show "Ghost Harassers" is a reference to the movie Ghostbusters. Dipper also mentions "bust[ing] ghosts" several times in the episode.
• Used to be About History Channel is a reference to the History Channel. The logo is even similar to the actual History Channel logo. The name is also a reference to how the channel very rarely runs any actual historical documentaries anymore.
• The basketball player is a spoof of the Oregon Ducks, a college team for many sports.
• In the scene where Dipper and Pacifica are hiding from the Lumberjack ghost, a painting is seen on the wall depicting a duck hunt. The way in which it is presented is an allusion to Nintendo's Duck Hunt from 1984.
• When blood comes out of the walls, it could be an allusion to how blood came out of walls in The Amityville Horror.
• When Dipper mentions the scale of Ghosts' malevolence, he opens to a page with a childlike ghost designed very similarly to Casper the Friendly Ghost.
• When Dipper is flipping through Journal 3, a page on Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street can be seen.
  • In addition to this reference, it also may be referential to how Jason Ritter played a character in Freddy Vs. Jason.
• One of the verses in the exorcism is "Ain't afraidus no ghostus", which is another reference to Ghostbusters.
• The scene where the lumberjack ghost is about to grab Pacifica from behind the curtain draped over the mirror is a reference to similar scene in A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Not What He Seems

• The reality TV show "Ker-Prank'd" is a reference to MTV's Punk'd.
  • Justin Kerprank, the host of "Ker-Prank'd," is based off of Ashton Kutcher, the original host of Punk'd. Justin's first name is similar to Kutcher's, and so is his physical appearance and wardrobe.
• One of Stan's aliases is "Alcatraz," which is the name of an infamous, retired island prison.
• When the timer is counting down, Soos says, "It's the final countdown! Just like they sung about!", referring to the song "The Final Countdown," by Europe.
• Yumberjack  is parody of Hungry Jacks.