Typically, On Our Radar is reserved for upcoming things that we’re most excited about. But what we’re most excited here isn’t one thing. Rather, it’s the potential slew of things that we can expect from this piece of animation news.
And the news is this announcement that Alex Hirsch has signed a multi-year overall deal with Netflix. Under the deal, Hirsch will exclusively develop new series and features for Netflix – and it won’t be just on children’s projects, but also stuff for the big kids (read: adults).
There’s one big reason why this is exciting. Hirsch is the creator and showrunner of Gravity Falls, an animated series on Disney XD that may very well be one of the best animated shows ever made. It is a madcap combination of Twin Peaks and The Simpsons – supernatural and sci-fi tropes that intermingle with horror and humour and carried by great characters, writing and a strong overarching mystery. The show is also peppered with hidden clues and secret codes to unravel, stringing the audience along in its enigma. Gravity Falls ended after two seasons, by Hirsch’s own volition.
The post-Gravity Falls future of Alex Hirsch had been frustratingly unclear. He was initially pegged to co-write the Detective Pikachu movie, though a more recent release didn’t include him in the writers’ credit. Hirsch was also supposed to develop a show at Fox, but nothing came out of it. With the Netflix deal, it’s likely that the Fox show never happened.
Whatever it is, it’s simply heartening to know that the showrunner is actually going to showrun.
Under this new deal I’m expected to
1) Make new TV shows!
2) Make new movies!
3) Get a giant red N tattooed on my face!(#3 is still being negotiated)
— Alex Hirsch (@_AlexHirsch) August 27, 2018
“I couldn’t be more excited to join the amazing roster of talent coming to Netflix,” he said in a statement. “Plus it couldn’t hurt to be on The Algorithm’s good side before The Singularity hits. Awesome things are coming!”
Awesome things are coming indeed.
(But before that, here’s Alex Hirsch briefly appearing in an ad selling Gravity Falls graphic novels in a very Gravity Falls-way).
makes it a life goal to annoy everyone with random Disney trivia. When he’s not staring at a screen or holding a controller of some sort, he is thinking about curry noodles. Like right now.
