How Neil deGrasse Tyson Voiced Waddles

In this clip from the GF commentary on Little Gift Shop of Horrors, Alex Hirsch and Matt Champmon talk about how they managed to get Neil deGrasse Tyson to voice Waddles on Gravity Falls.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is this?
A: Back in 2018, Gravity Falls finally got a box set release. Among many things, all 40 episodes got commentaries for them in which Alex Hirsch talks about the episode, discusses things he liked and disliked about it, reveals hidden moments, struggles and lost stories from the production of the series.
Q: Where can I watch the full thing?
A: The box set has now been discontinued and you can no longer buy it. You could try to find one on Ebay but it'll likely cost a lot.
Also sad, due to region lock, the box set can only be played in Canada and the United States. Unless you have a region free DVD or Blu-ray player, you’re out of luck.
Q: Why are you uploading these?
A: Due to that region lock, many fans can’t watch these, and they contain many interesting stories that I feel more fans need to hear. Thus, I’m uploading them. Not everything of course, as you all should buy the full box set from Shout Factory and support the work they did (and also because uploads of the full commentaries get taken down), but some of the more interesting stuff.
Q: Why can’t I hear the character's voices in the episodes?
A: These are the commentary versions of the episodes. You’re not supposed to clearly hear the in episode talk. The main focus is what the commentators have to say. Think of it as a podcast.
Q: Why am I reading this FAQ?
A: Either you’re really bored, or I referred you to it because you left a comment asking a question I answered above, and I'm not in the mood to answer it because I'm tired of answering the same questions over and over again. Hey, I'm a human too. And so was Mabel, so shut up, Mabel hater!
Follow me on Twitter: / forever_gf618
My Linktree: linktr.ee/That...
And Join My Discord Server if potatoes are yummy yummy in your fat piggy tummy: / discord
I do not own Gravity Falls. All rights go to Disney Television Animation and Shout Factory.
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The target audience of videos on the That GF FAN KZbin channel are, and always have been for ages 13 and over. This video may contain coarse language, mature themes and/or other subject matter intended for an older audience. Videos on this channel should not be viewed by anyone under 13 years of age.

[@ThatGFFAN]

I'm gonna guess the algorithm picked this video up randomly and that's why suddenly I'm getting a ton of messages about this video, lmao. Well, feel free to subscribe to the channel if you like Gravity Falls. I have a really exciting new GF fan project coming soon that you will not wanna miss.

[@Budisetiawan-co8co]

Oh wow 3 minutes ago

[@ThatGFFAN]

I check comments way too frequently :')

[@zub9570]

yup i just got this video

[@abrokenpearl]

gotta love the random algorithm gods

[@adamchavez7782]

same lol

[@timesnewlogan2032]

"No, that's funny; it feeds him potatoes."

[@pickleBOB405]

LMAO

[@joelcarrillo9802]

💀

[@undeniablySomeGuy]

BASED

[@incredibleike9469]

Delicious potatoes

[@Yodah97]

I totally forgot that was a smart Waddles episode. So for the first half of this video I thought Neil literally made the pig noises in the show. That... that'd been too funny.

[@Cxntrxl]

same. I pictured getting a super talented and intelligent man in to voice a literal squealing hog and was killing myself laughing

[@highdefinition450]

it's probably dee bradley baker lol he does pretty much every animal sound in cartoons lmao

[@-herobrinesdaughter1.1]

Me too HAHAHAH

[@kermitgotthesickkicks4265]

Agreed lol

[@helixsol7171]

@@highdefinition450 Frank Welker does a lot of animal sounds too. You know that stock sound effect of the cat being scared? Frank Welker.

[@hollowhello]

I didn’t even realize he voiced waddles 💀💀💀💀

[@ZayeedBaksh]

Same 💀

[@countyfacts6920]

I thought it was an obvious impression, but had no idea that they actually got him.

[@TheGreatWeeb]

Bro his voice is unmistakable

[@thecarnew5334]

Me too lol

[@gamingawesome5946]

Sme

[@thetribunaloftheimaginatio5247]

"And bring me many potatoes! Delicious potatoes! Yummy-yummy, for my fat little pig tummy!"

[@miathealien3911]

That quote was HILARIOUS!

[@thetribunaloftheimaginatio5247]

@@miathealien3911 "The origin of life! The meaning of existence! Why dudes have nipples!"

[@bluebell560]

Alex: “Fuck it, let’s ask Neil DeGrasse Tyson.” *a few months later* Neil: “Yeah, fuck it, why not.”

[@Feesh6]

Alex: “Fuck it let’s ask Neil Degrasse Tyson”. 2 months later Alex: “Fuck it let’s ask him again”. 2 Months later Alex: “Fuck it let’s ask Neil Degrasse Tyson one or two more times just to be safe”. Neil Degrasse Tyson: “Yeah fuck it why not”.

[@ksx612]

Surely, Neil watched the series before he accepted. The show is totally his type of humor too lol

[@WarpedKarma6471]

Best f*** I’ve ever heard of

[@pinkguycomments69]

Best Guest VA in cartoon history

[@CheeseMiser]

Um NO.

[@EnderianRealm]

definitely and weird al voicing cheese sandwich on MLP gets 2nd place

[@namedless]

@@EnderianRealm wait HE DID💀

[@invurret9533]

@@namedlessYup. Worse, his assistant or whatever in that episode's name is Sans. You can already see what happened.

[@kateasib.6007]

I also think about how Steven Universe got Nicki Minaj to voice Sugilite

[@propeg3293]

Its amazing that this account, even if gravity falls ended a while ago, is still alive

[@ThatGFFAN]

Thanks :) I'm gonna keep going till I'm out of ideas or Disney copyright nukes me😂

[@TheAllSeeingEye2468]

Until Disney kills it

[@ZudinGodofWar]

@TheAllSeeingEye4812 That damn mouse...always ruining the fun

[@moomo1346]

@@TheAllSeeingEye2468 it been up for a year I think we're fine

[@pavitr4567]

When I was little I thought it was a real pig voicing waddles

[@fiery114]

Neil only voiced him for the one episode, but a *different* human voices waddles the rest of the show, idk who tho

[@fangirl_43]

@@fiery114 Waddles was voiced by Dee Bradley Baker, a man with an unbelievable resume. He's the voice of Perry the platypus, Bessie in Amphibia, and basically every single animal in a Disney cartoon. Seriously check him out if you can, he's been everywhere

[@bluedemontr-whisperofwind-2296]

@@fangirl_43he also voices a lot of the animalistic aliens in ben 10 too if I remember collectly

[@texas-red8457]

@@fangirl_43 don’t forget about the Clones

[@Irenelovesnoodle]

@@fangirl_43 he was also appa and momo

[@saesteelol6156]

"Get your facts straight, then distort them at your leisure." Thats why he corrected "potion" and "serum" but not "smarticle accelerator"

[@leatherlass6730]

Yea, like suspension of disbelief only works if the world is consistent

[@LightsOffJitsu]

An astrophysicist voicing a pig saying “Yummy yummy for my fat little pig tummy” is a big part of why I love Gravity Falls so much

[@Brainrage117]

"Nope, also horses. Horses are smart. " -Neil deGrasse Tyson

[@Bean_does_toca_things]

“I have…. A ✨concern✨ -Neil DeGrasse Tyson

[@SethStuffLove]

He does a very good Neil impression

[@MasonJWMyers]

I bet another line that Alex made just for him to say was, "Why do dudes have nipples?" I could see that being the case.

[@infernalphantom7571]

“No, that’s funny. It feeds him potatoes.”

[@PlebNC]

Speaking of explaining cartoon logic, my favourite explanation of cartoon logic was a physics student's explanation of how a sonic rainboom happens in My Little Pony. For context, it's basically a sonic boom that also radiates out a circular rainbow. He explained it as the projectile accelerating so suddenly it simultaneously breaks the sound barrier and light barrier to the point its physical collisions with light particles causes them to refract into parts of the light spectrum and be redirected away.

[@bananabro1010]

That’s actually so cool. I love technical aspects of fantastical things.

[@Sport6000]

I'd totally love to see just a whole podcast where you guys go over funny stories like this one.

[@ThatGFFAN]

You can. The commentaries in full are all on Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/4PIDHbXeoPT2n3kg3Vi3H1?si=30a10172e0b04b92

[@kayleeholt0712]

@@ThatGFFAN thank you. Gonna rewatch this amazing TV show and listen to the show with each episode

[@therockphilosopher1678]

Thank you so much

[@Sport6000]

@@ThatGFFANThank you!

[@ThatGFFAN]

No problem. Happy listening :P

[@-boondoggle-6134]

I knew there was a reason he reminded me so much of Neil DeGrasse Tyson, it because he literally was!

[@RutabegaNG]

I loved that story. When I recognized his voice, I lost it. And "yummy yummy for my fat piggy tummy" was delivered perfectly.

[@stefansauvageonwhat-a-twis1369]

wait... what, I.. oooh he did the smart voice part, that makes too much sense when I think back at that voice, dang gravity falls gets weirder every day, hilarious

[@Wilbehr]

"Precisely." had me cackling

[@TheLittleLife]

One of my favorite episodes

[@Amethiist143]

Dude I forgot about this episode so I was racking my brain trying to figure out how Neil DeGrasse Tyson made pig noises for Waddles 😭

[@mistamemewide]

Honestly I completely forgot Neil DeGrasse Tyson voiced waddles for the Treehouse Horrors Ep of Gravity Falls

[@QuantumPurple]

I was too young to even realize at the time it was NDT 😭🙏 but realizing this now makes me happy

[@Reddreambigfart]

"No, that's funny. It feeds him potatoes."

[@sniperofgodz3169]

To be fair human birth seems like nothing compared to hyena birth, those poor hyenas

[@dragonblast417]

Lol yeah I was gonna say that. So weird female hyenas have penises. Not literally, like their vaginas have tubes that functions exactly the same as our d*cks and baby hyenas pass through that

[@LaughingOrange]

I can't imagine the pain of giving birth through a faux-penis. That sounds horrible.

[@sniperofgodz3169]

@@LaughingOrange well if you’ve ever had a kidney stone, you know a small percentage of the pain

[@weeblordgaming6062]

Would a species evolve to suffer so much in creating life

[@LamirLakantry]

I remember this episode airing, recognizing his voice, thinking in stunned confusion for several seconds, then busting out laughing and screaming it was perfect.

[@pappanalab]

This is a tangent but I’m a biologist and regarding the whole “humans experience the pain of childbirth” thing, I feel like people underestimate just how old our big brains are. It’s older than agriculture by quite a lot because it’s also older than our species. I think people have this idea that cavemen were dumb but that’s not really true. Neanderthals and early Homo sapians were potentially capable of a similar level of thinking to a modern person, the capacity to love one another, make art, or grieve were probably not exclusive to just us. For a while there we weren’t alone as the only sentient species.

[@Simpson17866]

This :D Our brains got huge enough to invent agriculture because we were already the greatest predators the world had ever seen ;) Astonishing long-distance running stamina so we could chase prey for hours until it passed out from exhaustion, astonishing accuracy when throwing projectiles, and the above-average intelligence to fashion branches into spears :D

[@sion8]

*+*

[@jeanpierreruiz6393]

Neil voiced WHAT NOW

[@the20thDoctor]

"Yummy yummy in my fat little tummy" is one of my favorite lines from the whole show because it's him.

[@chris135x]

Something tells me Neil loves to hear his own voice.

[@Innersongoku]

HE VOICED WADDLES I'm really surprised how many likes this got

[@chaoticmotivation]

One of my fav charecters in gravity falls is Waddles🐖

[@leiocera2433]

1:22 I like the sound of Serum too. I'm talking about the synth.

[@gracekim25]

I love story time

[@NeonStreetSign]

KING WADDLES 👑

[@LobsterMoment920]

I mean yeah he’s right, the Smarticle Accelerator is funny and it in fact does feed him potatoes. Can’t argue 🤷‍♂️

[@emmaloopra5428]

neil deGrasse Tyson voiced waddles and neil cicierega wrote a goat and a pig

[@ADAMan123]

I have the box set, so I don’t need you anymore!

[@ThatGFFAN]

I'd normally be sad but knowing another fan has the box set before it goes out of print makes me smile, lmao.

[@grunklestan4530]

How can a person make youtube videos regularly for 6y ear of a show that only had total of 2 season??? I respect that

[@ThatGFFAN]

It's not easy, but I just love the grind, lmao. I've not made a dime off this channel...just memories :)

[@Renkencen]

Made me wonder why he finally give in if they asked them three or four times?

[@sion8]

Probably binge-watched the entire series up to that point.

[@multiverse_media2023]

His arms are cute and tiny. 😂

[@andrewparker318]

I remember being 11 years old when this episode aired and absolutely loosing my shit when I heard NDT in my favorite cartoon! 10 years later and I'm now a Sophmore in college studying Astrophysics :D Thank you Alex for all the inspiration you have given us!

[@Deuce_and_a_half]

I don’t remember this episode and my dumbass thought Neil deGrasse did the pig oinking and grunting noises for Waddles 💀

[@rage_2000]

What an honour Definitely a highlight of Neil’s career

[@clarinetangel99]

I wanna meet NDT, dear god! He seems like a fantastic person to have coffee with!

[@m4rc3l0fl0r3s]

"Fix-it nerd brain" Love that

[@holyfool5605]

great that he mentioned one of the smartest PUBLIC thinkers. neil d. t. is great but i think a huge part of it is the brand he's built upon his legacy too

[@yungvoorheez5874]

Neil is an absolute legends for this, I will never sleep in class during his cosmos videos ever again🙂‍↕️😁🤗

[@wander-2]

Talking about cartoon physics with an astrophysicist and getting the answer, "precisely," from them sounds like a dream come true

[@nickgadson266]

You know that you have succeeded in life when a famous super-genius laughs at your jokes 🙌🏽

[@ADerpyReality]

Horses are smart.

[@Lordviridian]

Gets a famous astrophysicist to voice a gag, proceeds to ask an anthropologist question.

[@julianebug8409]

I hope he wasn't chilling with him on a certain island 💀😭

[@ThatGFFAN]

💀

[@senkyu1429]

I forgot he voice waddles as a guess voice, back then I thought to myself he sound familiar 🤣🤣

[@Dr_Mid]

Me a gravity falls fan and an absolute nerd: *excitment noises*

[@stormerkromy988]

I love this. Neil is a delight and should do more like this

[@waddlesislife385]

The voice honestly fits Waddles

[@Maou_yusha20]

Just found out he voiced him crazy I remember waddles sm too😂

[@Kyulnjir]

I found this out a couple months ago and only now am I fact-checking it

[@PeptoAbismol]

1:38 writing is underrated af, dude sneaked in goofy lines for the giggles and tyson rolled with it lmao

[@JakeTylenol]

You heard how he called it a goofy kids cartoon show, right? I’m not trying to put down Gravity Falls, Just fighting back against the stigma that a “goofy kids show” can’t be called that and still not enjoyed by people who aren’t in that target demographic. It seems to be a sentiment a lot of people have is all

[@LakesideTrey]

The show was goofy, and it was for kids

[@JakeTylenol]

@@LakesideTrey and that’s okay.

[@rexjrd963]

I can't believe they actually got Neil deGrasse Tyson.

[@roodick85]

Lol as soon as i heard his cadence i knew that had to be NDT 😅

[@kennethmoses4900]

Neil’s a goddamn legend.

[@BenneBenji]

I didn’t know when clicking recommendations I would be having an smile and chuckle of how this made my day the lines more funny when they are retold of the thought process this been fun

[@captainwatercress]

Begging Neil de Grasse Tyson to do this is hilarious

[@musikaravaa]

I have a personal beef with NdGt, but this little clip but has redeemed him somewhat for me.

[@SomebodywithaYouTubeaccount]

Same

[@Real_Micah_Bell]

2:21 you can really hear the characters he voiced in these couple words

[@miathealien3911]

I wanna hug waddles :33

[@MrRagusa]

I forgot about this episode

[@Roboseal2]

Also note everyone he was in Ice age!

[@kerningandleading]

Oh I love NDT even more now. He is a true national treasure.

[@Wilfoe]

Fun story! I really loved learning about this!

[@wealthybone2990]

Wait what I never knew he voiced waddles but that's awesome.

[@bouboulroz]

Ok, I kind of already suspected that the "yummy yummy" line was there just to make him say it. But I didn't expect it that it was a last minute addition just to see if he would go for it.

[@boredreindeer5602]

I always loved Waddles

[@ElMauren_]

Precisely

[@julianmorgan79]

The writers of this show are selling themselves short, this show was witty and fun at every turn. It came out when I was in uni and I kept watching through even as an adult. This and adventure time is written for everyone.

[@Emihana]

Ah, yeah I remember seeing this.

[@bigkirbyhj666]

Honestly, they probably didn't actually ask until the time Neil said yea, thinking he never would.

[@Clatgineer]

I can't say I remember this episode

[@TheSpecialJ11]

2:33 This is actually the opposite of what happened. Agriculture wasn't as nutritious as hunting and gathering, so people got smaller with smaller brains, and were presumably dumber. It hasn't been until the past couple centuries with better food availability and quality that people have begun catching up their hunter-gatherer ancestors. Turns out our bodies are primarily made of animal fats and proteins, so we need a lot of animal fats and proteins while growing up to develop to our maximum potential. Our guts are too small to ferment and digest plant matter in quantities our body needs for optimal development, and considering grains themselves are rather low in many nutrients, the grain heavy diets from 3000 BC to modernity were deficient in some key nutrients for reaching your max height and brain size. My theory as to why kids hate vegetables but adults often love them is because kids need way more protein and calories relative to the size of their digestive system, so vegetables are kind of wasted space, while for an adult, our protein and calorie needs are lower relative to how big our organs are, so the phytonutrients in plants are good for maintaining health if they're paired with sufficient protein and calories, which, now that we're not growing, are much easier to get.

[@thevine2010]

I recognized his voice. I loved the series, but as a doctor made me love this series even more! We can be silly and geeky, but it is appreciated that smart scientists should be shown more often in the media in a positive light. Waddles is silly but positive.

[@gamermx7]

waddles is the best character

[@Shinfu01]

Who else thought that he "legitimately" voiced the pig sound on Waddles?

[@jgreeny15]

They definitely need to bring this back

[@bluishblow]

omg i watched it dubbed and i've never heard of it

[@sarmadhabibkhan3036]

I remember watching this episode and when Smart Waddles starts speaking my immediate reaction was ".....Is that Neil Degrasse Tyson? Ain't no bloody way"

[@jellybox9649]

howdy fellas, seems to be that the algorithm has reunited us o7

[@ThatGFFAN]

Seems so

[@NickAndriadze]

You don't just get to have one of the greatest minds of our time voice *A LITERAL PIG* and not be amongst one of the greatest animated series of all time. Gravity Falls, man...

[@Code_orange22]

when you have a famous actor/person at your disposal you get them what they want does Samuel Jackson want a purple lightsaber? you give it to him does Neil deGrasse Tyson want it changed to serum? than it gets changed

[@bobbybobby325]

I KNEW IT!

[@abubu2010]

Hi i need to know which episode is this I have been finding it for a while

[@genericakamid]

little gift shop of horrors. its basically three short stories, and this is one of them

[@justblue974]

He's cool

[@VexylObby]

Can we hear him?!!

[@murryplu]

favourite show, favourite episode ♡ know the show for 10 yrs now ♡ (am 31 now)

[@noahcopeland5554]

The fact that he admits to having THE Neil deGrasse Tyson with him, one of the smartest people on the planet, and the only thing he can ask him is “Does giving birth hurt with other animals?” Is hilarious to me. It's like going to a genie and being like “I can grant you any wish you desire, just say it, and it’s yours.” “Can you pass me a beer?”