On Thursday, January 16, Gravity Falls creator Alex Hirsch—along with the voice actors of Dipper and Mabel Pines, Jason Ritter and Kristen Schaal—hosted an “Alex n Pals Big Charity Draw-A-Thon & Auction for LA Fires” on the streaming platform, Twitch. With an original goal of $30,000, the fundraiser surpassed a final donation number of over $260,000.
Live Stream for Charity
Viewers were able to join the livestream, which started at 5 p.m. PST, where donations would dictate the night’s events. The hosts, which also included Gravity Falls director, character designer, and artist Joe Pitt and artist Matt Braly, alternated between drawing the suggestions of a top donor and a random donor. Along with this, certain donation tiers unlocked “secrets” of the charity stream, motivating viewers to send in donations. The night also included song performances of popular songs such as Chappell Roan’s “Good Luck, Babe!” and “Defying Gravity” from the musical Wicked.
In addition to the stream, a separate auction was also established to help bolster funds. Some of the auction pieces included Gravity Falls memorabilia, in addition to unique storyboard drawings from creators of other cartoons. Memorabilia included the rare, limited-edition, blacklight version of Journal 3, a Bill Cipher Ouija board, and a Tri-Angel Figurine inspired by the recently released Book of Bill. Some of the other items were Alex Hirsch’s original storyboard pitch for Gravity Falls, Patrick McHale’s concept sketches for the cult favorite Over the Garden Wall, and Steven Universe comic books and posters signed by Rebecca Sugar. Bidding for items closed on January 21, with all 131 items sold and a total of $162,000 raised.
Donating Incentives
During the stream, which lasted about two hours, fans witnessed a plethora of engaging and hilarious shenanigans. With 11 different donation tiers, viewers never went hungry for entertaining content.
At $3,000, Pyramid Steve’s—a joke character made by Hirsch—original design was revealed. Five thousand dollars saw a reveal of a cut page from the Book of Bill, released in July 2024. Grunkle Stan, voiced by Hirsch, said whatever the stream’s live chat wanted at $10,000. They created the “Wheel of Ships” at $18,000, subsequently spun at $25,000. In between, however, at $20,000, Hirsch revealed another cut page from The Book of Bill. Stan sang whatever the live chat demanded at $32,000. Then Kristen Schaal’s Gravity Falls stage play was read aloud at $35,000. Forty-five thousand dollars saw yet another cut page from The Book of Bill. Lastly, at $50,000, Stanford Pines—voiced by the iconic J.K. Simmons—gave a special message.
In light of the fundraiser’s success, Hirsch posted a message on the stream’s GoFundMe on January 21. He said,
“A massive THANK YOU to everyone who joined and donated during our BIG CHARITY DRAW-A-THON—drumroll, please—we raised a mind-blowing $266.5k in total, including $162k from the auction! From the unhinged drawing suggestions to the secret reveals, every moment of this event was an absolute blast, thanks to you. Most importantly, your support will bring relief to wildfire victims in urgent need. You proved that sometimes the silliest ideas create the biggest impact—thank you again!”
Donate Now
With an estimated $250 billion in damages from the LA fires, according to AccuWeather, it is clear that excessive efforts will be needed in order to help rebuild what was lost. In light of the successful stream, it is also clear that—in the words of Hirsch—sometimes in life, a serious problem demands a silly solution.
If you are interested in donating, the GoFundMe is still open.
