| Grunkle Stan | |
| Series: | Gravity Falls |
| First: | "Tourist Trapped" (2012) |
| Creator: | Alex Hirsch |
| Gender: | Male |
| Full Name: | Stanley Pines |
| Occupation: | Owner of the Mystery Shack |
| Spouse: | Marilyn Rosenstein (ex-wife) |
| Origin: | Glass Shard Beach, New Jersey |
| Lbl21: | Home |
| Data21: | Gravity Falls, Oregon |
| Lbl22: | Nationality |
| Data22: | American |
Stanley "Stan" Pines,[1] also known as "Grunkle Stan", and formerly known by the alias Stanford Pines, is a main character in the Disney Channel/Disney XD animated series Gravity Falls, created and voiced by the series creator Alex Hirsch. In an interview, Alex Hirsch stated that Grunkle Stan was loosely based on his grandfather, also named Stan.[2]
Stan is the 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.[3]
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.[4] 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.[5]
Besides his appearances in the main series, Stan has also appeared in the 2018 graphic novel, Gravity Falls Lost Legends. An alternative version of the character, named Mr. Ponds, appears in a 2020 episode of Amphibia with Alex Hirsch reprising his role.
Stanley "Stan" Pines, whose name is "Stanford Pines" until the return of the actual Stanford 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.[6] 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.
Stan secretly possesses the first of three mysterious journals written by Ford, his estranged brother. By the end of the first season, Stan acquires all three journals, the second and third 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". The Pines brothers then share their backstory with Dipper and Mabel. The sons of Filbrick and Caryn Pines, the brothers grew up in Glass Shard Beach, New Jersey; and their relationship became strained when Stan inadvertently ruined Ford's chances of being accepted into a prestigious university. After the disowned Stan took up a career in sales, concocting elaborate schemes that led his products to be banned in most American states, he accepted Ford's invitation to come to Gravity Falls, where Ford had taken up residence to study supernatural phenomena. Outraged that Ford did not invite him to reconcile and refusing his orders to bury a journal, Stan fought Ford until he pushed him into the portal. For the last 30 years, Stan has used Ford's identity and operated the Mystery Shack as a front for his efforts to bring Ford home. In the present day, the brothers 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.[7] After Gravity Falls returns to normal, Stan awakens without any memories, but his family and friends 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, now respected as a local hero, 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", in reference to a marooned ship they claimed for themselves as children.
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.[8]
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.[9] 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.
Alex Hirsch voices a character similar to Grunkle Stan named Mr. Ponds, also referred to as The Curator, in the Amphibia episode "Wax Museum". He is an amphibian who runs a wax museum similar to the Mystery Shack. Within the episode, the human Anne Boonchuy and the Plantar family arrive in a small town and visit his museum, where he shows them various wax figures (which are real creatures coated in wax). When Anne spots a portable CD player in the museum, she demands to buy it from him, but he initially turns her down. However, after Anne reveals her human appearance, Mr. Ponds offers it to her if she agrees to show off for a night. However, Mr. Ponds plans to cover her in wax like the other exhibits in his museum. The Plantars rescue her and free the wax figures, who drag Mr. Ponds into another room with the intent to take revenge. A pool of red liquid appears underneath the rooms door, but Mr. Ponds claims that "It's just wax." However, the very next scene reveals that Mr. Ponds was killed.[10]