Dipper vs. Manliness

"Dipper vs. Manliness" is the sixth episode in Season 1 of Gravity Falls. It debuted on July 20, 2012.

Overview
When Dipper decides he needs to learn to "be a man," he wanders into the forest on a quest to attain manliness...and encounters danger, tests of bravery and a giant talking bear. Meanwhile, Mabel tries to teach Stan how to be attractive to women.

Synopsis
It's a regular day at The Mystery Shack. The Cute Biker wants to get his Christmas shopping done early this year, and is looking for something that's in the spirit of the season. Dipper and Mabel are hungry and ask Grunkle Stan to take them to Greasy's Diner. They end up locking the Cute Biker in the store because they don't want to wait for him to make up his mind. At the diner, Grunkle Stan orders a 1/4 of the number seven for the three of them to share, with a side of ketchup and salad dressing. Mabel wants pancakes but Grunkle Stan doesn't want to splurge for it with the fancy flour they use these days. Dipper says he is going to win everybody free pancakes by attempting the manliness tester, but Mabel and Grunkle Stan laugh at him. Grunkle Stan says remember last week? Dipper has a flashback of him in the bathroom singing Disco Girl with a comb, by Icelandic pop-sensation BABBA. He then attempts to win free pancakes by beating the manliness tester, but fails. A card comes out that says, "You are a cutie patootie!" to the sound of a baby laughing and nursery music playing in the background. Manly Dan is able to effortlessly beat the machine with just his pinky pushing the manhandle, and wins free pancakes for everyone.

Dipper runs off embarrassed in an effort to shield any embarrassment. He ends up eating Manly Beef Jerky in the forest doing bench presses with a small twig, when all of the sudden the ground beneath him begins to shake. A herd of animals run past Dipper, and Manly Dan shows up, telling him to run for his life. Dipper hides behind a log where a huge Manotaur named Chutzpar that was summoned by the smell of Dipper's beef jerky is unveiled. The Chutzpar can smell that Dipper has emotional issues. Dipper tells the Manotaur he has man related problems. Dipper sees how manly the Manotaur is and asks for some pointers. Chutzpar agrees and tells Dipper to climb on his back hair. He then takes Dipper to the Mancave where there is an entire group of Manotaurs doing various things. Dipper introduces himself as Dipper the Destructor. The group initially rejects Dipper, but decides to train him after he uses reverse psychology.

Meanwhile, Mabel is trying to help Stan to get Lazy Susan to like him, with the help of Wendy and Soos. Then Dipper is given the task to bring back the Multi-Bear's head to the leader of the Manotaurs. Once done he will be a man. Dipper goes to do his task, meanwhile Mabel takes Stan to Lazy Susan at Greasy's to admit his imperfections, then Lazy Susan goes away to get her phone number for Stan.

Soon, Dipper finds the Multi-Bear and defeats it. However, the bear asks Dipper if it could make its last wish. Dipper agrees and the Multi-Bear points to a tiny radio in the corner of its cave, saying that the tape was already in. Dipper turns it on and discovers that the Multi-Bear reveals that his favorite song was Disco Girl. Realizing that the Manotaurs bullied the Multi-Bear because he likes this song (which is a sign of girliness). Dipper decides to let the Multi-Bear to live. He tells the Manotaurs that it's horrifying to kill the Multi-Bear because he's a really nice guy and that they're a bunch of jerks if they want him to do it. The Manotaurs leave him saying that Dipper will never become a man, and he goes back to the Greasy Diner to tell Grunkle Stan and Mabel what had happened.

Grunkle Stan says Dipper was his own man and that he stood up for what was right. Mabel leans over the table and discovers Dipper has a chest hair. After Dipper congratulates himself, Mable takes tweezers and takes the hair out, claiming it was a 'Scrapbookertunity'. Grunkle Stan tells Dipper if he's anything like him, he'll grow a lot more hair when he gets older and then he takes off his shirt. The three laugh then Dipper tells him it's truly disgusting. At the end of the show, during the credits, Grunkle Stan is sitting is his chair when the phone rings. He stops the TV and looks horrified. The phone goes to voicemail and says this is message thirty-six. It starts and Lazy Susan starts talking. She says she was just calling to stay hi, and her cats also want to say hi. Donald and Sandy give dull meows, but Mr. Cat Face hisses. Lazy Susan yells at the cat and tells Stan to call him back. Stan claws at his head and asks himself how can he get out of that.

Allusions

 * The song Disco Girl by girly Icelandic pop sensation BABBA is a reference to the song Dancing Queen by the Swedish pop group ABBA.
 * The BABBA CD cover style is similar to BAYER LOGO style.
 * ABBA's logo is the band's name with the first B facing backwards. BABBA has two B's on top of each other.
 * Lazy Susan's name is a reference to a rotating tray by the same name.
 * The Manotaurs are a reference to the mythological creature Minotaur.
 * The Manotaur "Chutzpar" references Orthodox Judaism is multiple ways. Unlike the other Manotaurs, he wears a head covering akin to a Kippah (i.e. yarmulke) and has hair similar to payot (sidecurls). Moreover, his name is a play on the Yiddish word Chutzpah
 * The song that plays while Dipper is riding on Chutzpar is an allusion to the music that plays in Crisis City Act 1 in Sonic Generations.
 * The jerky that Dipper is eating in the forest references Hulk Hogan.

Errors

 * When Sheriff Blubs is eating pancakes, he is almost done, but when it shows the number of pancakes then back the Sheriff Blubs, it starts from top again.
 * When Dipper is first seen walking down the street, the fire hydrant was fine and Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland weren't anywhere around it.
 * Dipper's beef jerky is also nowhere to be seen, but later appears in his hand.
 * When the animals are running away in the forest Dipper's hat disappears then appears in the next scene.
 * Mabel couldn't have seen Dipper's chest hair because his shirt would have covered it.
 * When Soos runs out the door, the door moves a little and then stops, but the style of the door and its position could not let it do that.
 * When Mabel gets an idea Soos's shirt is pink but when Mabel gets up his shirt is back to normal.
 * In the background of the diner, at one point the sign on the manliness test is misspelled as "manliess". It goes back to normal by the next scene.
 * One of the Manotaurs claims he has fists for nipples, but before and after they are shown, they disappear.
 * When Dipper is saying that the Manliness Tester was broken, everyone in the background are exactly still and don't even blink.
 * In the hot tub scene, when Dipper thanks the Manotaurs for teaching him to be a man, there are two manotaurs in the back round but they disappear when one of the manotaurs tells him of his last task.

Credits

 * Written by:
 * Tim McKeon


 * Directed by:
 * Aaron Springer
 * Joe Pitt


 * Storyboards by:
 * Tyler Chen
 * Erik Fountain
 * Mark Garcia
 * Niki Yang


 * Starring:
 * Kristen Schaal - Mabel Pines
 * Jason Ritter - Dipper Pines
 * Alex Hirsch - Grunkle Stan and Soos
 * Linda Cardellini - Wendy
 * Jennifer Coolidge - Lazy Susan
 * John DiMaggio - Manly Dan
 * Keith Ferguson - Deputy Durland/Testosteraur/Glurk
 * Will Forte - Cute Biker
 * Alfred Molina - Multi-Bear
 * Kevin Michael Richardson - Sheriff Blubs/Leaderar/Chutzpar
 * Fred Tatasciore - Pituitor


 * Additional Voices:
 * Grey DeLisle
 * John DiMaggio
 * Alex Hirsch - Old Man McGucket
 * Andrew Pifko
 * Fred Tatasciore
 * Chris Wylde

Cryptogram

 * During the end credits of this episode, there is a cryptogram that reads "PV. FDHVDULDQ ZLOO EH RXW QHAW ZHHN. PV. DWEDVK ZLOO VXEVWLWXWH." Once decoded, it reads "MS. CAESARIAN WILL BE OUT NEXT WEEK. MS. ATBASH WILL SUBSTITUTE." This indicates that a different cipher, "Atbash", will be used which involves reversing the alphabet.

Trivia

 * Viewership: 'This episode's premiere was watched by 3.14 million viewers.