Shorts Review: Gravity Falls – Mabel’s Scrapbook: Petting Zoo

Spoilers Below

Grunkle Stan, Soos, Wendy, Dipper, and Mabel all head to the local petting zoo. Mabel wants to pet all of the animals, of course. She comes across a goat, a duck, and a sheep before finding the most amazing animal ever – Octavia, the 8-legged cow. Since more limbs means more hugs, proceeds to pet the freak of nature. The hick farmer that runs the joint explains that Octavia is a result of the toxic crap running out of the nearby mud flap factory. Unlike the newly formed 2-headed goat, Octavia somehow managed to survive.

At least until the hick farmer admits that he is going to eat her. Grunkle Stan shrugs as he begins to walk away until Mabel begs him to save her beloved cow. Octavia gives him a big, sloppy cow lick and Stan has no choice.

Once the petting zoo is closed, Soos, pretending to be from Pictures of Tractors Monthly, calls the farmer and plays him some hold music. Meanwhile, the rest of the gang loads Octavia into the back of the truck. When the farmer realizes what is going on, he has his sons close the gate. All this does is re-route the truck into the sheep pen and over the escape ramp.

For some strange reason, the gang decides to release Octavia into the wild. But not before slapping a Mystery Shack bumper sticker on her rear.

As she grazes, a bird flies overhead. Octavia fires lasers out of her eyes, kills the bird, and eats it. The gang runs away as Mabel snaps a departing picture.

I am always surprised at how much fun they can stuff into a 2-minute short. Almost all of the previous shorts have been awesome; the sole exception being the TV Shorts. Mabel’s Scrapbook is no different. The episode is full of classic Gravity Falls moments. Since there is still no release date for season 2 of the series, these shorts are perfect for keeping the audience’s attention on the show. If you don’t have access to Disney XD, Petting Zoo is available on YouTube. Just don’t get too close to the mutant cow.