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.
Agent Powers' claim to have no sense of humor is an allusion to Men in Black, wherein Agent K says, "We at the FBI do not have a sense of humor we're aware of."
When the Shape Shifter first reveals itself to Dipper and Wendy, it takes the form of an upside-down spider-like creature with a long worm-like neck attached to man's snarling head. This is a reference to the 1982 science fiction horror film The Thing, where the titular shape-shifting alien takes adopts a very similar appearance in a scene.
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.
When the pirate Lilliputtians first appear, a tune very similar to the main theme of the Pirates of the Caribbean series plays.
The entire episode is an allusion to Faust. In the tale of Faust, Faust makes a deal with the Mephistopheles (The Devil) in which he gains all the knowledge of the world, but he will lose his soul in ten years to Mephistopheles. Faust with the help of a maiden, outsmarts Mephistopheles. In the episode Dipper makes a deal with Bill Cipher in which he has to give up a puppet for a hint to the laptop, and in the end Dipper and Mabel both outsmart Bill.
A poster, "HE'S GOT ATTI-CUBE," which 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.
Allusion to Portal 2.
The cardboard cutout that Soos knocks over is a parody of Lara Croft of the Tomb Raider series.
Stan saying "I'm gonna get that badger," is a reference to the famous, recurring line said by Elmer Fudd about Bugs Bunny: "I'm gonna get that wabbit (rabbit)."
The fact that Giffany killed her creators after becoming sentient is 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 translates to "SPACEJAMTWO." This is a reference to the film Space Jam and how it may be getting a sequel sometime soon.
When Soos mentioned that Giffany's father is the "octopus man," this is the reference to the tentacle Hentai.
The cryptogram at the end slide is a parody of the theme song of the DiC/CWi dub of the anime Sailor Moon. "WINNING HEARTS BY DAYLIGHT! / POSSESSING ROBOTS BY MOONLIGHT! / HER EMOTIONAL BAGGAGE IS A REAL FRIGHT! / SHE HAS THE ONE NAME GIFFANY." Similarly, the first four lines of the DiC/CWi's Sailor Moon theme song are "Fighting evil by moonlight / Winning love by daylight / Never running from a real fight! (or 'With her Sailor Scouts to help fight' in a later verse) / She is the one named Sailor Moon!"
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.
The episode's title is a reference to the book Ender's Game.
Some signs in the background in the future say "Time Baby is Watching," a reference to George Orwell's book 1984, in which numerous signs say "Big Brother is watching".
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.
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'sDuck Hunt from 1984.
In the scene where the lumberjack ghost is about to grab Pacifica from behind, the curtain draped over the painting is a reference to a similar scene in A Nightmare on Elm Street.
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 always sung about," referring to the song "The Final Countdown" by Europe.
There is a poster in McGucket's old home, which shows a colorful, bitten-off strawberry similar to the Apple logo, and the words "Ponder alternatively," which is a play on Apple's slogan "Think differently."
The title and the game in this episode is a parody of the popular role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons.
Like D&D, Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons use an assortment of polyhedron dice.
The 38-sided die is based on the 20-sided icosahedron die used in Dungeons & Dragons to resolve most rolls. There are no 38-sided die used in any real life RPGs; the closest is a 30-sided die, but this an unusually rare and impractical type of die.
FCLORP (Foam and Cardboard Legitimate Outdoor Role-Play) is similar to LARP (Live-Action Role-Playing); an offshoot of table-top role-playing that uses physical play instead of dice.
A scene where Stan ends up swatting a fairy on his back has it saying "Hey! Look! Listen" which is a reference to Navi, a fairy character from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, that is known for using the phrase "Hey! Listen!" constantly.
Stan describes Duck-tective as: "A TV show that has big mystery elements and jokes that go over kid's head's" which is ironically what Gravity Falls is.
When the Pines family along with Soos and Grenda show disappointment for the Duck-tective season finale's plot twist. Soos mentions predicting it a year ago, which is a reference to how fans of the series predicted that Stan had a twin brother, which was later confirmed in "Not What He Seems."
The fantasy names posted up on the boards in the living room by Dipper and Ford are all parodies of names from "The Flight of Dragons," an animated movie adaptation of Gordon R. Dickson's book "The Dragon and the George." (Jason Ritter's father, John Ritter, was the voice the protagonist, Peter Dickenson, in the movie.)
Gorbasch -- there's a human/dragon character named Gorbash in both the book and movie.
Smerghol -- Smrgol, another dragon from the movie adaptation.
Omhadawn -- the evil wizard Ommadon, from the movie adaptation.
The episode's title is a reference to the 1959 Richard Condon novel The Manchurian Candidate, which was adapted into a 1962 film and 2004 film of the same name. Incidentally, it was also about mind-controlling a political candidate.
Stan's campaign slogan "Yes We Stan" parodies Barack Obama's 2008 tag "Yes We Can."
Stan's internet meme.
Stan's "One does not simply" meme is a reference to the popular internet meme of the same name, both of which are based on a quote from the first Lord of The Rings movie, in which Boromir says, "One does not simply walk into Mordor."
Stan walking down Main Street is similar to the "Staying Alive" scene from the film Saturday Night Fever.
The monitor worn by Bud Gleeful is based off of Krang from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.[6]
The poster in Gideon's cell of a picture of a cat hanging onto a branch that reads "HOLD ON TO THAT BRANCH OR DIE, CAT!" is a reference to a well-known poster of a cat hanging from a branch that reads "HANG IN THERE."
When Stan walks about town after his first debate, he wears the same outfit as Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper) in the 2013 film American Hustle.
One of Soos' lines, while being controlled by Mabel, was "I can promise you a kitten in every pot!". This is similar to Herbert Hoover's presidential campaign slogan in 1928: "a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage".
The episode's vigenère key, "SCHMENDRICK" is the name of a bumbling wizard who was a major character in The Last Unicorn (both in the book by Peter S. Beagle and the animated adaptation).
Dipper is seen with a book titled The Sibling Bros, a spoof of the novel series The Hardy Boys.
Various board games that Dipper and Mabel find in the closet are references to other real life games:
Mabel asks Ford if he is sending her and Dipper to wizard school, and if there is an owl in his bag. This is a reference to how the Harry Potter series started.
The text on the page in The Cipher File references:
The Lion King: "...warthogs and meerkat, is made tender by their carefree lives and trouble-free philosophies..."
National Treasure: "...setting for conspiracy movies. Like that one where the guy has to steal the Declaration of Independence..."
Grenda says "Join the Dark Side!," a clear reference to Darth Vader's famous quote in the Star Wars franchise.
During Mabel's montage, one shot shows Mabel, Candy, and Wendy in a shopping cart, with Grenda holding an old woman on her shoulders in the background. This shot is an allusion to the DVD cover of the direct-to-DVD movie Foodfight!
Mabel says that TV taught her that high school was some kind of musical, referring to High School Musical.
The episode's Vigenère key, BLUEBOOK, is a reference to Project Blue Book, which was a series of investigations done by the United States Air Force studying UFOs.
When Ford says "So this is how the world ends. Not with a bang, but with a boop, boop," he is referencing a line in the poem Hollow Men, "This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but with a whimper."
Bill saying "The being whose name must never be said." is a reference to the one of the famous epithets refering Lord Voldemort from the Harry Potter franchise.
When Bill and Gideon said "Hench-Maniacs, Roll out!" and "Discount Auto-mart Warriors, Roll out!" respectively, this line refers to the famous catchphrase of Optimus Prime from the film Transformers where he says "Autobots, Roll out!"
During the Weirdness Bubble car chase scene, when Dipper and Wendy are drawn anime style, Spritle and Chim Chim from the TV series Speed Racer are seated in the back seat of the car.
One of the monsters from the Nightmare Realm resembles Cthulhu from H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, seen as Gideon is freed from prison.
The entire car chase scene is an homage to the Mad Max film franchise.[9]
One of Gideon's henchmen also resembles Max Rockatansky.
Soos describes Mabel's world as "shining, shimmering, splendid." This is a lyric from the song, "A Whole New World" from the movie Aladdin.
The scene where Mabel is napping in her tower resembles the film, Sleeping Beauty. Mabel's tower and bed are very similar to those in the film, and Mabel holds a rose while sleeping, referencing the iconic scene where Briar Rose is brought back to life by the prince.
While driving their car, Xyler and Craz briefly have their heads tilted back as they pass a shimmering rainbow-esque backdrop, referencing to the Fabulous Secret Powers video by Slackcircus Studios
During the end credits, Xyler and Craz reference the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre and his existential philosophy.
When Rumble disappears, he holds up a thumbs up and disappears similar to how the Terminator sinks into the molten metal at the end of Terminator 2: Judgement Day.
Bill sings a verse of the song, "We'll Meet Again," after unfreezing Ford.
Bill mentioning the idiom "Achilles' heel" refers to Homer's epic poem, The Illiad, where an immortal warrior named Achilles was killed when his heel is struck by an arrow.
Mrs. Valentino requesting the sawed-off shotgun in order to kill zombies is a reference to Evil Dead because one of Ashley William's signature weapons is a sawed off shotgun which he used to kill the undead.
The water tower's roar is the same as Bowser's from Mario Kart 64. [citation needed]
