On an unknown date, sometime in 2010, animator Alex Hirsch began work on a pitch pilot episode for what would soon become the 2012 hit Disney Channel mystery series Gravity Falls. Created in Adobe Flash, the pilot ran for 12 minutes (as confirmed by Hirsch himself in a 2013 Reddit IAmA[1]) and was a cut-down version of the first official episode, "Tourist Trapped".
While not much background information on the pilot's creation had surfaced (besides the identities of those involved), a few screenshots and even a short 43-second snippet have managed to find their way online, along with a full outline of the episode (which is almost identical to that of "Tourist Trapped").[2]
In the aforementioned Reddit IAmA conducted by Hirsch, when asked if the unaired pilot would ever be released, he replied "Oh lord I hope not. That thing was a mess, haha! That would be like showing you awkward photos from my high school prom. We all have dark horrible secrets. That 11 minute Flash pilot was mine". Regardless, fans hold on to hope that it may one day be included as a DVD extra, or just flat-out released (or leaked) online.
In 2016, the pilot was released online, as a reward for the passionate fans in "The Cipher Hunt" puzzle, with the mission to find the Bill Statue that was shown in the Gravity Falls finale. This had nothing to do with Disney and it was all Alex Hirsch's decision.
*To see the pilot, go here [3] then you will need to sign in with this info:
USER: RETURNBACKWARDS
PASSWORD: TOTHEPASTAGAINTHREE
*Please don't post the pilot outside this webpage, if you want to share the link and the login information. Please respect Alex Hirsch's regards.
The second pilot is found, but the first pilot is currently lost.
Images[]
Second pilot[]
Videos[]
We are getting the Gravity Falls Pilot!-1470280291
Gravity Falls - Pilot Demo Reel - Adam Temple-2
Gravity Falls - Pilot Highlight Reel - House of Cool Studios-2
Full episode of the second pilot: https://youtu.be/TDdZvMamxdE
References[]
- ↑ 2013 Reddit IAmA by Alex Hirsch, creator of Gravity Falls. Retrieved 02 Sep '13.
- ↑ Gravity Falls Wiki article on the 2nd pitch pilot. Retrieved 02 Sep '13.
- ↑ Gravity Falls: Break The Code Retrieved 03 Aug '16.