Gravity Falls, one of the most iconic cartoon series, has had quite a history regarding censorship throughout its run on Disney Channel. One of the most infamous censorship stories includes two little old ladies falling in love with each other in “The Love God” episode. Creator Alex Hirsch revealed in an interview with The Mary Sue, in a conversation about how Gravity Falls had to deal with representation and diversity, that he had a lot of frustrations regarding Disney censorship. One of the best examples is the censorship of two old ladies kissing in a diner in “The Love God” episode:
“It was sweet and casual and I knew INSTANTLY that it was going to turn into a huge fight with Disney. So naturally I left it in. The note came back immediately…'Please revise.' I responded with a one word answer: ‘Why?’ This basically broke the censors,” stated Hirsch.
Despite his many attempts to keep this scene, Hirsch lost the case; however, this experience was an incentive to try again. Throughout the show, the fan base speculated that the relationships between Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland went beyond business partners. Fortunately, standards of censorship changed, and the show was able to include a canonical gay relationship in the series finale.
Hirsch acknowledged that there is some progress regarding representation nowadays in cartoon shows; for example, Star Vs the Forces of Evil, Loud House and Steven Universe feature same-sex couples. “I would love to see a new Disney animated show have the guts to show a proper same-sex kiss on air. One of these networks is going to do it—I encourage Disney to keep growing and be the first,” mentioned Hirsch. Disney has introduced LGBTQ characters in its animated series and films such as Good Luck Charlie, DuckTales and the new movie Onward.
Gravity Falls has had other experiences with censorship. The most notable one, as stated by Hirsch to CBR, is the removal of Grunkle Stan’s fez symbol, due to the controversial resemblance to the religious Shriner symbol. The symbol was changed halfway through the season without further explanation or removed completely for certain international markets.
Similarly to the "Love God" episode, Hirsch has been vocal about his frustrations with Disney censors not being consistent, critiquing the streaming service Disney + for removing the symbol while leaving it in the show's thumbnail. The show also had to deal with the removal of other language issues, references or any behaviors that would seem unethical for its target young audience. For example, the scene with Old Man McGucket cussing in the "Society of the Blind Eye" episode was cut, though it's considered to be a fan-favorite joke. Despite all differences, Disney and Hirsch came to an agreement about these censorship issues.
(Via The Mary Sue)