Web Animation / Gravity Falls: Deep Woods

How about we go for a walk into the dark part of the forest?

Gravity Falls: Deep Woods is a fanmade series of full-length animatic episodes that follow the events of Gravity Falls. They are put together by MysterySeeker and a team of various amateur artists and voice actors. As stated by MysterySeeker, the first three episodes of the series will actually take place in between the events of the show. The following episodes will take place in the next summer, and will incorporate an overarching story. The first three, however, will be simple one-offs.

Due to this being fanmade and not containing network restrictions of a TV station, every episode is written and made to be as long as it feels necessary to be. This means episodes won't be restricted to 22 minutes like a normal episode of Gravity Falls would be. Of course, this means an episode could be longer or shorter than that given time.

The first episode, Quest for the Northwest, has been released in two parts, the first one in January 2017 and the second one in June 2017. It takes place after the events of "The Stanchurian Candidate" and before the events of "The Last Mabelcorn". The gnomes are revolting against Jeff, because he's a terrible leader, and give him an ultimatum: Either he finds them a new queen by sundown or they will depose him. At the same time, during the parade honoring the election of Mayor Cutebiker, Dipper and Mabel help Pacifica escape her parents' watch and have fun.

The second episode, Deep-Rooted Misunderstanding, was released October 31st 2018. The episode takes place in parallel to Quest for the Northwest. During one of his squabbles with his brother, Stan ends up accidentally releasing the Mother Plant, a plant-like monster. While Dipper and Mabel have gone to the Northwest Parade, it's now up to Stan and Ford to get rid of the monster.

The next part is called the Tales from Weirdmageddon. It's a series of shorter episodes. Each will tell the unheard tales of the Weirdmageddon survivors. The first mini-episode was released June 18th 2020 and narrates Dipper's Tale from Weirdmageddon. The second (released July 24th 2020) narrates Mabel's Tale from Weirdmageddon.

For more information, you can look at the project's tumblr page and at MysterySeeker's YouTube channel where all the videos have been posted.

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Quest for the Northwest provides examples of:

• A Day in the Limelight: Pacifica is, along with Dipper and Mabel, the main character of Quest for the Northwest.
• And There Was Much Rejoicing: At the end of Quest for the Northwest, Mudflip is grabbed by an eagle to be eaten offscreen. The gnomes pause for a moment, then cheer.
• Awesome Moment of Crowning: Parodied. During the end credits of Quest for the Northwest, Jeff is crowned and becomes Queen Jeff the First. And yes, he's wearing a Pimped-Out Dress during the whole scene. The actual crowning consists of throwing mud at his face.
• Bag of Kidnapping: The gnomes use one to kidnap Pacifica. Dipper and Mabel are able to find the culprits easily, because of the huge traces they leave while dragging it.
• Bound and Gagged: It briefly happens to Pacifica when the gnomes kidnap her. However, she quickly escapes and kicks their butts.
• Call-Back: Jeff and the gnomes use their "Norman" disguise to interact with Pacifica.
• Call-Forward: Since the episode was written after the show's finale, some references to events happening after are made.
  • At the end of Quest for the Northwest, Pacifica gives to Mabel a unicorn soft toy she won during the afternoon. The same one that Mabel hugs in her sleep at the beginning of "The Last Mabelcorn".
  • After that, Pacifica also jokes that she would go visit the twins at the Mystery Shack (or, as she called it, "that rundown hut") "maybe when the world ends". Yeah, about that...
• Cerebus Retcon: In the canon series, Pacifica often accompanies her parents during public events, such as "Pioneer Day", in which she promotes the Northwests' accomplishments. However, Quest for the Northwest gives a different interpretation of Pacifica's feeling about being used as a mere tool to boost her family's reputation.
  Pacifica: And my parents drag me to these big publicity things where all I'm supposed to do is wave and watch everyone else have fun... Dad wants me to take over the family's business someday, but I'm not sure if I want to do that, you know?
• Continuity Nod: A lot of references to canon episodes are made.
  • The gnomes still haven't found a new queen, although Jeff reminds them they almost got the one with the pompadour when they mention it.
  • The first episode starts with a parade celebrating the election of Mayor Tyler Cutebiker. At some point, the kids have fun around a statue of the late Mayor Eustace Befufftlefumpter.
  • Quest for the Northwest makes several references to the events of "Northwest Mansion Mystery".
  • Pacifica mentions that she has minigolf practice every day.
  • At some point, in the first episode, Dipper disguises himself as Pacifica to distract her butlers and prevent them from finding her after she ran away. He comments that this might be the most embarassing moment of his life. Mabel retorts that nothing will ever top the Lamby Dance.
  Dipper: Now is still not the time to talk about the Lamby Dance!
  • While talking with Jeff in the forest, the characters come across a "Snadger".
• Continuity Snarl: Dipper is at first rather cold towards Pacifica, even though they left on good terms in "Northwest Mansion Mystery". Word of God acknowledged it and admitted that they didn't anticipate that it would be this noticeable. But once they realized it, when starting to put the scenes together, it was too late to change it.
• Crazy-Prepared: The Northwests' staff have 'Missing' posters at the ready after Pacifica disappeared for an hour.
• Damsel in Distress: In Quest for the Northwest, the gnomes kidnap Pacifica to make her their new queen. However, it leads to a Damsel out of Distress moment.
• Damsel out of Distress: About a few minutes after being captured, Pacifica manages to break free and beats up the five gnomes. She mentions that the self-defense lessons she had to take finally paid off.
• Disguised in Drag: In the first episode, in order to help Pacifica escape her butlers, Dipper has to disguise himself as her.
  Dipper: This might be the most embarassing moment of my life.
• Dropped a Bridge on Him: Mudflip is anticlimactically defeated when an eagle grabs him in the middle of his speech, presumably to eat him offscreen.
• Epic Fail:
  • Jeff, disguised as "Norman", talks creepily to Pacifica and after a one-minute conversation ends with: "Now that we got to know each other... How about we go for a walk into the dark part of the forest?" She answers by throwing tear gas at him with a pepper spray.
  • The twins and Pacifica train Jeff to be a better leader for a good twenty minutes and most of the training doesn't have anything to do with actual leadership. The other gnomes are not impressed.
• Extreme Omnivore: Mabel eats gnome beard hair at some point.
• Foreshadowing: A plant-like monster can be seen watching Dipper, Mabel and Pacifica in the woods near the end of Quest for the Northwest.
• Good-Times Montage: Dipper, Mabel and Pacifica have fun together from playing pranks to pretending to be statues.
• Hammerspace: Pacifica is able to pull a pepper spray and later a plush toy out of it.
• Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: After losing the gnomes' support, Jeff becomes so ineffectual that Pacifica is able to defeat him and his four buddies all by herself. The heroes actually spend the second part of Quest for the Northwest helping him regain his lost leadership out of pity.
• It's All About Me: Due to the Northwests funding the victory parade, they plaster themselves all over the event from a Pacifica lookalike contest to merch. Preston even hijacks Tyler's victory speech to brag about his family's achievements.
• Jerkass Ball: Dipper grabs it during the first part of Quest for the Northwest, as he is rather cold towards Pacifica and is quick to show No Sympathy to her when she hesitates to go have fun with them as her parents wouldn't want her to do it; despite knowing what kind of parents she has. However, he does warm up to her during the episode.
• Lonely Rich Kid: Pacifica doesn't have friends and her parents favor their responsibilities and the maintenance of the family's good name over her. They often drag her at the parades they throw to boost their reputation, but force her to only wave at the crowd and look pretty in order to give the impression that their family is perfect; something they later use for commercials.
  Pacifica: And my parents drag me to these big publicity things where all I'm supposed to do is wave and watch everyone else have fun...
• Loony Fan: Soos is apparently one for the Northwests, despite never interacting with them in canon. He collects their merchandise and creeps Preston out when they meet.
• Noodle Incident: One gnome mentions several times giant spiders, who apparently captured his family. We never find out exactly what happened. Probably for the best.
  • Pacifica was sent to self defense training at some point.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Pacifica defeating the gnomes is offscreen.
• Rich Bitch: While she's nicer than before, Pacifica still shows shades of this. Her phone has "Keep your poor people hands off of my phone!" engraved on it.
• Ship Tease: A brief moment between Dipper and Pacifica at the end of Quest for the Northwest, when she gets close to his personal space and fidgets with his cap while answering one of his questions. He even blushes a little afterwards.
• Shout-Out:
  • Jeff mentions that, just last week, he started "Taco Tuesday". The other gnomes actually admit that it was a good idea.
  • An Ariel-ersatz can be seen in a Freeze-Frame Bonus on the Shack's TV at the beginning of the scene in which Dipper is channel-surfing.
• Skewed Priorities: Jeff is ready to find a new queen for the gnomes…as soon as he finishes getting his portrait up.
• The Starscream: Mudflip the Gnome is the leader of the revolt against Jeff in Quest for the Northwest.
• The Stinger: The second part's code reads "The gnomes have found their peace at last, no longer troubled by their past."
• Stylistic Suck: The balloons on the Northwests' float…leave much to be desired.
• Throw the Dog a Bone:
  • Pacifica gets to have fun with Dipper and Mabel in Quest for the Northwest.
  • During the montage of the three kids having fun, they take slices of pizza belonging to the "Free Pizza" guy... and just after that they bring him a full pizza.
• Trophy Child: During the parades her parents throw to boost their family's reputation, Pacifica's role consists of waving to the crowd and looking pretty. The Northwests most likely use her to give themselves the image of an ideal family. Priscilla won't even let her rest while Preston is giving a speech.

Deep-Rooted Misunderstanding provides examples of:

• A Day in the Limelight: The story is centered around Stan and Ford.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Stan and Ford bicker and are mad at each other, but they still save each other from the plant monsters.
• Bittersweet Ending: Stan and Ford are able to stop the plant monsters and save the town. But their relationship is just as bad as before, a few monsters survived and the ending leads into the events of "The Last Mabelcorn".
• Blatant Lies: When Stan meets up with Ford after getting knocked out, Ford claims he was studying the creatures. In reality, he fell into the Bottomless Pit.
• Call-Forward: Ford uses the crossbow he will give to Mabel in "The Last Mabelcorn".
• Continuity Nod:
  • Once again, there are references to canon episodes.
    • There is Mabel Juice in the fridge.
    • Inside the shack, a framed picture representing Stan and the wax statue of himself can be seen as part of a Freeze-Frame Bonus.
    • At one point, Ford falls into the Bottomless Pit while chasing one of the monsters.
    • Gorney appears at some point. Spit by one of the plant monsters that ate him. He mentions that he's already been traumatized when asked if he's fine.
  • And there are also references to Quest for the Northwest, the first episode of Deep Woods.
    • In the beginning, Preston Northwest is shown on TV bragging about his family's wealth.
    • When Stan and Ford search the town looking for the last plant monsters, the Northwests' butlers are seen placarding 'Missing' posters for Pacifica.
    • The 'Missing' posters also appear a few times in the background, as well as the advertising posters of the parade, on the buildings they are passing by.
    • The eagle that grabbed Mudflip at the end of the first episode passes by while Stan, Dipper and Mabel watch the sunset. Still carrying a screaming Mudflip.
• Deadpan Snarker: Half of Stan's lines are snark at Ford and the situation.
• Double-Meaning Title: "Deep-Rooted Misunderstanding" is a pun. But it also sums up Stan and Ford's resentment: a misunderstanding that's been rooted in their high school years.
• Monster of the Week: The Mother Plant is the threat of the episode.
• Mook Maker: The Mother Plant can create other plant monsters.
• Not Evil, Just Misunderstood: Subverted. During their final confrontation, Ford starts to wonder if, maybe, the creature that spent her time fleeing them is not really dangerous. Then it turns out that she simply pulled out a Wounded Gazelle Gambit and attacks him the second he drops his guard. Stan agrees. Then he sees that the Mother Plant's minion has eaten a child when the monster spits the kid out.
• Sequel Hook: Some of the Mother Plant minions are revealed to have survived and take her eye before leaving into the forest.
• Shout-Out: At one point, a plant monster eats a gnome. The gnome bursts out of its chest à la Chestbuster.
• The Stinger: The episode's ending Atbash/Vigenère code is HANG ON TO YOUR SNOWGLOBES KIDS.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Stan and Ford cooperate to try to get rid of the Mother Plant, while constantly bickering with each other during the whole operation.
• Tempting Fate: When they start chasing the Mother Plant, Stan mockingly says to Ford that there's no way an "oversized potato" can be dangerous. They then come across plant-like monsters she created.
• Thousand-Yard Stare: Manly Dan sits and stares at nothing when Wendy introduces him to Ford.
• Wounded Gazelle Gambit: During the final confrontation, the Mother Plant cowers in fear, making Ford wonder if she's really that dangerous. Then, the second he drops his guard, she attacks him.

The Tales From Weirdmageddon provide examples of:

• A Day in the Limelight: Each episode is centered around a specific character and how they survived through the three-days timeskip during Weirdmageddon.
  • The first one is about Dipper.
  • The second one is about Mabel.
• All Just a Dream: Mabel thinks the events of "Dipper and Mabel vs. the Future" were a nightmare. This and Bill brainwashing her with a crown make it easy for her to stay in her bubble.
• Badass Normal: Mr. Poolcheck has an Offscreen Moment of Awesome during which he brutally beats up two interdimentional demons (Teeth and 8-Ball) because they damaged the fence of his pool.
• Cerebus Syndrome: While still featuring comedic scenes, the Tales From Weirdmageddon definitively have a more hopeless and darkest feeling than the previous episodes, which is logical since they tell the stories that happen during the Time Skip that follows the show's Darkest Hour. Dipper's Tale features him barely escaping the demons, desperately trying to contact Mabel to no avail, and a scene in which Bill cruelly torments Mayor Cutebiker by ransacking the city in front of his eyes even after the latter begged him to stop.
• Downer Ending:
  • Dipper's tale ends with him hiding in the ruins of Gravity Falls High School, trying once again to contact Mabel as he starts crying.
  • Mabel's tale ends with her fully brainwashed by Mabeland.
• Origins Episode: Mabel's tale shows how Mabeland came to be in this adaptation.
• The Stinger: Each short has a code in the combination of Atbash and Vigenère ciphers:
  • Dipper's is THE FIRST OF MANY TALES.
  • Mabel's is STUCK IN A TRANCE IN A BUBBLE IN THE APOCALYPSE IN YET ANOTHER BUBBLE.

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