Fictional character from Gravity Falls the animated television show
Fictional character
Stanley "Stan" Pines,[1] also known as "Grunkle Stan", and formerly known as Stanford Pines, is one of the main characters of the Disney Channel animated series Gravity Falls, created and voiced by the series creator Alex Hirsch. In an interview, Alex Hirsch claims that Grunkle Stan is loosely based on his grandfather, also named Stan.[4]
Stan is the niggardly great-uncle (or grunkle) of the show's two main protagonists, Dipper and Mabel Pines, who are sent to live with Stan at the Mystery Shack, his house and tourist trap which presents creatures and objects of supposedly supernatural origins. He is most often depicted wearing a black suit, white shirt, red string bow tie, red fez, and a cane topped by a billiard 8-ball. At home, he is usually seen wearing slippers, blue and white-striped boxer shorts, a white tank top and a gold necklace.[5]
At the beginning of the show, Stan, known as Stanford Pines, is portrayed as a relatively simple character, with his shady past being used primarily as a joke until later in the series.[6] In the episode "A Tale of Two Stans", his real name is revealed as Stanley Pines, who spent 30 years covertly working to bring his twin brother, the real Stanford Pines, back to their reality after being sucked through an inter-dimensional portal.[7]
Besides his appearances in the main series, Stan has also appeared in the 2018 graphic novel, Gravity Falls Lost Legends and an alternative version of the character, named Mr. Ponds, appeared in a 2020 episode of Amphibia with Alex Hirsch reprising his role.
Fictional character biography
Pre-series
Stanley, nicknamed "Stan", and his six-fingered twin brother Stanford, nicknamed "Ford", were born in Glass Shard Beach, New Jersey.[a] Their father, Filbrick, was a stern pawn shop owner, while his wife Caryn, a pathological liar, worked as a phone psychic.[8] Their last name of "Pines" was reportedly introduced in Ellis Island, but records of the family's original surname have been lost.[8] Stan and Ford spent their childhood searching the beach for treasure, where they found a marooned boat and named it "Stan-O-War." They spent years rebuilding the ship, with aspirations of eventually sailing it around the world. Additionally, they were often subjected to bullying, prompting Filbrick to enroll them in boxing training. Stan applied these boxing skills in a notable event where he rescued a woman, Carla "Hotpants" McCorkle, from a criminal. Despite this act of heroism, Carla ultimately chose to leave Stan for a musician with a hippie lifestyle.
In school, Ford was noted as a serious, successful student, while Stan was a prank-loving slacker. One night, Stan wandered into a science fair hall, inadvertently breaking his brother's prize-winning perpetual motion machine, ruining Ford's chances of being accepted into a prestigious university and straining their relationship. Filbrick disowned Stan, refusing to allow him back home until he could make real money.[1]
Stan's history as a salesman started when he saw a billboard idealizing the profession. Using a range of pseudonyms, he became a door-to-door salesman. However, the products he sold were often scams, resulting in many unhappy customers. Eventually, his products were prohibited in the majority of U.S. states due to their deficiencies.[1]
He was also once arrested in Colombia and deported back to the United States where he was placed on the No Fly List for life, both for reasons unknown.[1]
Stan came to Gravity Falls upon receiving a postcard from Ford, who used his research grants from college to build a house there and study supernatural anomalies. Ford hid two of his three journals documenting his findings, entrusting the remaining book to Stan with the hope that Stan would agree to bury it "as far away as possible". Outraged that Ford did not call him to reconcile, the two got into an argument. Stan tried to burn the journal, and while fighting Ford, accidentally pushed him into an interdimensional portal, which then ran out of fuel. Stan then realized that he could not reactivate the portal without all three journals.[1]
Stan went into town to get supplies, and found tourists offering him money for tours of Ford's house. Adopting his brother's identity, Stan tried to impress them with some of Ford's inventions, which failed. Instead, he won the tourists' approval with a fake attraction and converted the house into a tourist trap, initially calling it "The Murder Hut", then renaming it "The Mystery Shack". He faked his death as Stanley by staging a car crash, erasing his past, and avoiding further pursuit from the police. For the next 30 years, Stan continued to run The Mystery Shack while sneaking into the lab at night, trying to reactivate the portal and rescue Ford.
Main series
In the animated television series Gravity Falls, the character Stanford "Stan" Pines is predominantly portrayed as a scheming and frugal individual. His primary source of income is the Mystery Shack, a tourist attraction he manages, often employing humorous and cunning tactics to boost its profitability.[9] Although Stan exhibits avaricious tendencies, he displays a sincere protective instinct towards his great-nephew Dipper and great-niece Mabel, whom he supervises over the summer at their parents' request. Stan feigns ignorance regarding the paranormal occurrences in Gravity Falls and is antagonistic towards Gideon Gleeful, a malevolent child entrepreneur who runs the "Tent of Telepathy" and aspires to take over the Mystery Shack.
Throughout the series, it is revealed that Stan possesses the first of a set of mysterious journals written by Ford, his estranged brother. By the end of the first season, Stan acquires all three journals—the second and third were previously held by Gideon and Dipper, respectively. He successfully activates an interdimensional portal, facilitating Ford's return from another dimension in the episode "Not What He Seems." Following this event, the Pines brothers share their backstory with Dipper and Mabel. They face challenges in reconciling their relationship while preparing for the impending "Weirdmageddon," an apocalyptic event foretold to be instigated by Bill Cipher, a demon and the series' main antagonist.
During the apocalypse, Stan and an army of the series' characters rescue Ford, but Bill captures both brothers during an argument. To erase Bill from existence and stop the apocalypse, Stan agrees to change clothes with Ford so they can trick Bill, who is after a secret equation only Ford knows, into entering Stan's mind instead. As Ford begins erasing Stan's memory, Stan defeats Bill and finds that his purpose in life was to protect his family.[10] After Gravity Falls returns to normal, Stan awakens without any memories, requiring his family and friends to help revive them. On the last day of summer, Stan and Ford agree to live out their dream of sailing around the world to research more anomalies. Stan promotes his handyman Soos to the manager of the Mystery Shack, and he is last seen fighting an anomaly at sea with Ford aboard a ship dubbed the "Stan-O-War II".
Production
Character and concept
Stan is based on Alex Hirsch's grandfather, also named Stan. Both share the characteristics of being big, barrel-chested men whose clothes have popped-undone buttons; both also wear a gold chain and gold rings.[11]
Stan originally looked considerably different than he does in the show. In concept art, Stan was shorter, did not have his shoulder pads, and had a pointy pink nose instead of a big orange one. His face also resembled more a puppet than a grizzled old conman.[12] This version of the character was seen in an unaired unofficial pilot of the show, which was low budget and a pre-production test version similar to the aired pilot episode "Tourist Trapped".
Along with Dipper and Mabel, Stan has appeared in almost every episode of the series. He was featured in the Gravity Falls series of shorts entitled "Dipper's Guide to the Unexplained", as well as a short ("Stan's Tattoo") in which the twins investigate the mysterious tattoo on Stan's shoulder. In "A Tale of Two Stans", it's revealed that it was not a tattoo but a burn scar.
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