Alex Hirsch

Alexander Hirsch (born June 18, 1985) is an American animator, director, writer, producer, and voice actor. He created the Disney Channel and Disney XD animated series Gravity Falls, and voiced its characters Grunkle Stan, Soos Ramirez, and Bill Cipher, among others. The show has won several BAFTA and Annie Awards.

In 2016, Hirsch co-authored Gravity Falls: Journal 3 which debuted as a No. 1 New York Times Best Seller and remained on The New York Times Best Seller list for forty-seven weeks. In 2018, Hirsch wrote Gravity Falls: Lost Legends which also appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list. In 2024, Hirsch wrote The Book of Bill, which appeared on the Amazon and New York Times Best Seller's list.

Early life and education Hirsch was born alongside his twin sister Ariel on June 18, 1985 in Piedmont, California. Between the ages of 9 and 13, Hirsch and his twin sister would go stay with their great-aunt (or "graunty") Lois, at her cabin in the woods during the summer. These experiences later served as Hirsch's inspiration for Gravity Falls. He graduated from Piedmont High School where, as a junior, he won the school's annual Bird Calling Contest in 2002 and appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman.

Hirsch went on to attend the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) where he created a variety of projects and short films including his senior film, Off The Wall, which combined animation and live action and "Cuddle Bee Hugs N'Such" with Adrian Molina, which was chosen by Nicktoons Network for their original series Shorts in a Bunch. He also spent the summer of 2006 in Portland, Oregon, storyboarding a later-scrapped animated film for Laika. He graduated in 2007 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.

Career

Early career Hirsch's first job after graduating from CalArts was as a writer and storyboard artist for the Cartoon Network series The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, where he worked alongside CalArts alumni J. G. Quintel, Pendleton Ward (who was his writing partner on the show), and Patrick McHale. He would go on to develop the pilot for the Disney Channel series Fish Hooks along with Maxwell Atoms and future Rick and Morty creator Justin Roiland. Gravity Falls In 2012, Hirsch created the series Gravity Falls for Disney Channel. The series, set in the fictional town of Gravity Falls, Oregon, premiered in June 2012 with a voice cast including Jason Ritter, Kristen Schaal, and Hirsch himself. The series was moved to Disney XD in 2014. and an Annie Award in 2015 and was nominated for several other awards (including a Peabody Award in 2016). Hirsch ended Gravity Falls in February 2016 to pursue other projects.

In July 2016, Hirsch hosted a global treasure hunt (known as the "Cipher Hunt") for Gravity Falls fans with clues hidden throughout the world including in the United States, Japan, and Russia. The goal of the hunt was to find a statue of the Gravity Falls character, Bill Cipher. After two weeks, fans of the series discovered the statue in Reedsport, Oregon. The hunt coincided with the release of Hirsch's tie-in book, Gravity Falls: Journal 3, which was released on July 26, 2016, and eventually became a No. 1 New York Times Best Seller Marketing for The Book of Bill revealed that Gravity Falls: Journal 3 has sold more than 1.3 million copies as of January 2024.

In February 2018, Hirsch used his Twitter account to announce an official Gravity Falls graphic novel, through a series of puzzle pieces that he would release throughout the day. When put together, the puzzle pieces revealed the cover of Gravity Falls: Lost Legends; 4 All-New Adventures! which was written by Hirsch was released on July 24, 2018, and also became a New York Times Best Seller. Rick and Morty, and as the announcer for the Chelsea Peretti special, One of the Greats. In August 2016, it was announced that Hirsch was in negotiations to co-write the live-action Pokémon film, Detective Pikachu, alongside Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain Marvel writer Nicole Perlman, but he later revealed on Twitter that he had no involvement with the film. Hirsch was a story contributor to Sony's animated Spider-Man film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), but was uncredited.

On August 27, 2018, Hirsch signed a deal with American streaming company Netflix for a multi-year deal, according to Variety. Alex is currently in development on an unknown adult animated series for the company that remains NDA protected as of 2022 with no known release or announcement date as of yet. As of 2022, the show remains stuck in development. Inside Job Hirsch also co-executive produced the series Inside Job alongside creator and show-runner Shion Takeuchi. The first half of the first season premiered on October 22, 2021, with the second half releasing on November 18, 2022, with a second season being ordered on June 8, 2022. However, on January 8, 2023, Takeuchi announced that the series was cancelled, which a representative from Netflix confirmed. The Owl House Hirsch is the voice of King, Hooty, and additional voices in the Disney Channel animated series The Owl House, created by Dana Terrace. The show premiered on January 10, 2020. The Book of Bill In 2024 Hirsch wrote The Book of Bill, a Gravity Falls novel targeted at an adult audience. The book is written from Bill Cipher's perspective, and shows his origins and what happened to him after the end of the series. The Book of Bill debuted as an Amazon and No. 1 New York Times Best-Seller. Dipper Pines, one of the lead characters of Gravity Falls, is based on Hirsch's memory of how it felt to be a kid. When Hirsch was around Dipper's age, he attempted to teach himself backward speech by reversing recordings of his own voice. Hirsch described himself as "that neurotic kid who would carry 16 disposable cameras everywhere I went." According to Hirsch, Ariel "really did wear wacky sweaters and have a different ridiculous crush, every week" in a similar fashion to Mabel. The character of Grunkle Stan was inspired by Hirsch's grandfather Stan, who according to him "was a guy that told tall tales and would frequently mess with us to get a rise out of us."

From 2015 to sometime before April 2022, Hirsch was in a relationship with The Owl House creator Dana Terrace.

Political views In November 2020, Hirsch prank-called Rudy Giuliani's voter fraud hotline set up by the Donald Trump campaign, by using the voices of multiple Gravity Falls characters to report Hamburglar-esque ballot theft. LGBTQ+ support Hirsch has praised The Owl House for its LGBTQ+ characters, stating that he had been prohibited from incorporating explicitly LGBTQ+ characters into Gravity Falls.

Hirsch has been publicly critical of the Walt Disney Company, and has argued that, while Disney claims to support LGBTQ+ content, it does not live up to these claims. Hirsch has argued that Disney diminishes LGBTQ+ content by censoring or removing it to appeal to conservative viewers, by giving it less care, quality assurance, and merchandise, and limiting creative freedom in its television animation studios. He also noted frequent "ridiculous" notes from Disney's Standards and Practices department during the production of Gravity Falls, and the cancellation of an art book for that series, in 2020, without explanation.

Filmography Film Year Title Writer Voice actor Other Role Notes 2018 Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2023 The Super Mario Bros. Movie Special ThanksTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant MayhemScumbug, Boss Goon (voices)TBAI, Chihuahua

Television Year Title Creator Executive Producer Writer Voice actor Other Role Notes 2002 Late Show with David Letterman 2015 Disney Infinity 3.0 Additional voices 2022 The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe New Content announcer

Web

Written works YearTitleOriginal publisherISBN Notes 2016 Gravity Falls: Journal 3 Disney Press Co-written with Rob Renzetti No. 1 The New York Times Best Seller 2018 Gravity Falls: Lost Legends New York Times Best Seller 2024 The Book of Bill Hyperion Avenue Books This is the first Gravity Falls book written specifically for adults. A Barnes & Noble exclusive edition featuring 16 extra pages and an autograph from Hirsch was also released. It is an Amazon and No. 1 The New York Times Best-Seller. 2026 The Art of Gravity Falls Disney Press Co-written with Rob RenzettiA Barnes & Noble exclusive edition featuring a replica of the letter Dipper received at the end of Weirdmageddon 3: Take Back the Falls will also be released. 2027The Art of Over The Garden Wall: Expanded EditionDark Horse ComicsTBAForeword by.

Nominations and awards