Kids Might Miss It, But Geeks Will Spot It — 'Gravity Falls' Hides Clever Nods to 'Dune' and 'Tron'
The show is packed with plenty of clever Easter eggs.
Gravity Falls has long outgrown its status as just a children’s cartoon. This series is a genuine treasure trove of hidden messages and cunning Easter eggs. Years have passed since the finale, yet the show refuses to lose its charm. In fact, online fans continue to discover fresh details and subtle nods.
A Nod to Dune
In the sixth episode of the first season, Gravity Falls drops an intriguing parallel to the cult classic Dune. The manbeast trial featuring a mysterious "pain hole" echoes the Bene Gesserit test — except, instead of a mystical pit, the sci-fi story uses a specialised "box of suffering" (the agony box).
Though the cartoon was made long before the recent Hollywood Dune adaptation starring Timothée Chalamet, it’s worth remembering the original source — Frank Herbert’s novel — is over half a century old. Animator Alex Hirsch likely drew inspiration from this legendary sci-fi bestseller.
Other References in Gravity Falls
The first season is peppered with other witty nods. In that same sixth episode, eagle-eyed viewers might catch an allusion to the cult film A Clockwork Orange — a scene focused on eyes looks like it stepped straight out of Kubrick’s classic.
Characters Lolf and Dangren from episode nine provide a cheeky pun on Dolph Lundgren and his role in Universal Soldier.
And in episode ten, there’s a particularly elegant joke: an arcade machine labelled NORT is actually "TRON" spelled backwards, complete with the tagline "Game based on a film, which was based on a game." This multi-layered reference nods to how the original 1982 Tron film was inspired by the arcade game Pong, according to the author of the Zen channel "Oxenfurt Academy."
