While the tenth anniversary of Disney Channel's Gravity Falls was met with much celebration by fans, creator Alex Hirsch decided it was time to share some behind-the-scenes action.
Disney has been criticized in the past for censoring content for questionable reasons, with one of the most-recent controversies being the initial decision to cut a same-sex kiss in Pixar's Lightyear. However, this is hardly a new practice for Disney, as Hirsch shared some of the more unusual notes he received from Disney censors about Gravity Falls.
Hirsch took to Twitter with a video compilation of nearly every email Disney S&P sent him regarding the language used on Gravity Falls. "One last treat," he tweeted. "Ever curious about the fights I had with the censors on Gravity Falls? I probably shouldn't share this buttttt here are some REAL NOTES from DISNEY S&P and my REAL REPLIES. You are not prepared." If a word or phrase was deemed "too offensive," Hirsch received an email telling him to change it. From the email exchanges in the video, it is apparent that Hirsch knew how ridiculous some of their requests were.
One email from Disney reads, "Please revise 'poopface' as it comes across as a replacement for 'shitface.'" Prior use of Mabel saying, "Poop. Poop. And Butts," in the Gravity Falls episode "Fight Fighters" came across as more childlike and not as offensive, to which Hirsch replied, "I've never met a human on Earth who would be offended by a cartoon saying 'poop face.' Not changing it." Another email asked Hirsch to revise some wording on a poster for a party because it seemed to indicate that the characters were going to play the infamous party game "Spin the Bottle." Hirsch then changed the poster to read, "Not S&P approved," which was later approved.
Hirsch continued the Twitter thread with a few more emails that he deemed to be ridiculous requests. One email from Disney S&P says, "In the movie poster for the movie 'Horse Dad,' please omit the pipe in the horse's mouth," with no other context. Hirsch replied, asking, "Why? Is the concern that we'll influence horses to smoke pipes?"
While Hirsch's comedic replies showcase how some of Disney's requests seemed a bit ludicrous, Disney S&P has the responsibility of ensuring that audiences (and their parents) don't interpret something the wrong way. Even though Hirsch's scripts and the context of the "offensive" phrasing made sense for the jokes to land, Disney S&P, unfortunately, has to think of the worst-case scenarios if certain jokes are taken the wrong way.
Gravity Falls is now streaming on Disney Plus.
Source: Alex Hirsch/Twitter