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 11 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.
Recently the pilot has been released online, as a reward for the passionate fans there work in "The Cipherhunt" puzzle, with the mission to find the Bill Statue that was shown in the Gravity Falls finale. This had nothing to do with the Disney Company and it was all Alex Hirsch decision.
*To see the pilot go here [3]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 regards.
Additional images and videos
Gravity Falls - Pilot Highlight Reel - House of Cool Studios-2
We are getting the Gravity Falls Pilot!-1470276536
Gravity Falls - Pilot Demo Reel - Adam Temple-2
References
- ↑ 2013 Reddit IAmA by Alex Hirsch, creator of Gravity Falls. Retrieved 02 Sep '13.
- ↑ gravityfalls.wikia.com article on the unaired pitch pilot. Retrieved 02 Sep '13.
- ↑ Gravity Falls: Break The Code