Kiff is an animated musical-comedy television series created by Lucy Heavens and Nic Smal for Disney Channel. The series follows the adventures of a bubbly squirrel named Kiff Chatterley, voiced by Kimiko Glenn, and her best friend Barry Buns, voiced by H. Michael Croner, a blue bunny. Kiff and Barry live in the city of Table Town, named after the South African city of Cape Town, and the nearby Table Mountain, wherein they help out with the city's citizens, and go on crazy adventures together. The show was first conceptualized, by the creators in December of 2017, based on their childhood experiences in Cape Town. They then pitched their idea to Disney, who greenlit the series in May 2018. It premiered on Disney Channel and Disney XD in the United States on March 10, 2023, with six episodes released on Disney+ the following day.
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The series draws inspiration from a variety of sources, with its art style in particular being inspired by The Simpsons.[1] The animation is produced by Titmouse. Inc in New York (with additional animation done by Yearim in South Korea),[2] and each episode runs for about 22 minutes; most of them consist of two 11-minute segments. The show was renewed for a second season in June 2023, and a third season was announced almost exactly a year later. A special titled "The Haunting of Miss McGravy's House" premiered on October 5, 2024, with a Christmas special set to release later that year.
Why It's Kifftastic
- Along with Amphibia, the reboot of Ducktales, the first two seasons of Star vs. the Forces of Evil, Milo Murphy's Law, The Owl House, Big City Greens, The Ghost and Molly McGee and Hailey's On It!, this show is one of the best, to come from Disney Channel's modern library.
- It has a very inspired, great, and charming art style, which looks quite similar to Regular Show, Adventure Time, Futurama, Rick and Morty, The Simpsons, Sanjay & Craig, Family Guy, Harvey Beaks, Gravity Falls and Steven Universe.
- The animation itself is done with Toon Boom Harmony but is given a warm, cozy, and hand-drawn look that is some of the best created on the software. You can thank the teams at Titmouse Inc. (US) (who also animated The Venture Bros) and Yearim Productions (South Korea) for animating this show.
- In some extras, such as the Theme Song Takeovers involving the show, flash animation is used instead. Due to being highly fluid and expressive, it looks somewhat better than the Toon Boom animation used in the original show.
- It brought so many talents to a lot of voice actors in the series such as Kimiko Glenn (Peni Parker from Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, and its sequel), H. Michael Croner (J.P. Mercer from Craig of the Creek), Tom Kenny (the title character from SpongeBob SquarePants and the mayor of Townsville, as well as the narrator from The Powerpuff Girls (1998) and Eric Bauza (the current voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweety and Marvin the Martian from Looney Tunes). The show's creators also voice some characters, as well, such as Lucy Heavens voicing Helen and Nic Smal voicing Principal Secretary.
- Tons of likable, cute, diverse, and relatable characters, who have very unique and simple designs. Many of them manage to subvert basic character archetypes, resulting in them becoming more likable and unique characters:
- Kiff Chatterley, the titular character who's an orange squirrel, might seem like a crazy nutjob on the surface, but she is also optimistic, sweet and intelligent. She even gives her enemies a second chance and tries to fix them in any way she can.
- Barry Buns is a sweet and naive blue bunny, who is Kiff's best friend. Like Kiff, Barry is a great character, who is also quick, to forgive those, who did wrong to him and/or his friends. Unlike most followers of the "plus-sized best friend" archetype, Barry isn't a dimwit who constantly eats and inconviences other characters, and is instead a sweet kid whose personality both contrasts and compliments Kiff's personality, and vice-versa.
- Kiff and Barry's families also have a lot of variety, such as Barry's older brother Harry skipping class to be a DJ, and Kiff's dad being a dim-witted but kind father.
- Candle Fox, another friend of Kiff, is a spoiled rich girl who's a bit of a snob. However, she isn't a complete jerk and manages to get along well with Kiff and her friends, despite occasional arguments and conflicts.
- Reggie is yet another friend of Kiff who is a loyal raccoon geek. He also has two mothers and eight grandmothers, who are all divorced, which is a minor but good representation of LGBTQ+ in the show.
- Helen is an egotistical and dramatic witch, who despite being the most unlikable character in the whole show, is somewhat entertaining, as well as being the token-human in a world full of anthropomorphic animals and mystical creatures.
- There are also many more good characters.
- Table Town, the show's primary location, has lots of interesting topography and a nice setup, inspired by the city of Cape Town and the nearby Table Mountain in South Africa.
- Catchy and iconic soundtrack, especially the theme song itself.
- Due to the show's musical setting, there is one song for each episode. All of them are extremely well done and consist of different genres, such as pop, country, EDM, soul, R&B, and more.
- While quite simple and occasionally hit-or-miss, there are clever, hilarious, and successful attempts at humor, thanks to it being a high-budget production from Disney.
- Unlike most animated comedies, Kiff is willing to go a little out of its way to handle more mature topics at times but does it in a subtly child-friendly way that doesn't feel too dark and keeps the comedic tone, examples include:
- "The Fourth Bath", which briefly handles the topic of sibling rivalry.
- "Farley" talks about how children are more than what most people think, and how much some of their obsessions mean to them.
- "Maybe-sitting", which indirectly focuses on child neglect and to a lesser extent, dealing with a missing child.
- "Harry's Maturity Crisis" has Harry (Barry's older brother) running away from home to prove his maturity.
- "Hungee Squirrel" is about dealing with teasing, bullying, and getting too much attention.
- "Snow More Ketchup" has the main cast sheltering from a huge and deadly snowstorm.
- "Kiff and Barry Go To Prom", which focuses on getting a couple back together.
- There are lots of visual gags and funny faces which can keep the viewer enthralled. There are also tons of fun pop-culture references.
- Particulary, the title cards are creative as each of them shows as a billboard ad.
- The dubs are also well-produced, especially the French, European Spanish, and Japanese versions.
- In the credits, they even mention the names of their overseas animation team from South Korea,[2] which is rare for most shows.
"Yikeseeola" Qualities
- Most of the show's characters can be unlikable at times.
- Kiff in particular can be ridiculous and make some plotlines seem lazy and pointless. The episode "You Can't Handle the Tooth!" has her act ridiculous, just to avoid brushing her teeth.
- There are some mediocre and outright bad episodes, with the first half of season 1C in particular being filled with lackluster, boring, and filler-heavy episodes.
- Some of the songs can be obnoxious, to some at least.
- The theme song in particular is annoying since it just consists of the titular character's name being repeated over and over again.
- Like Regular Show and The Amazing World of Gumball, it has a very short intro. It doesn't really explain much about the show other than the name of the titular character.
Notable episodes
Season 1 (2023-2024)
- Thirst To Be The First (which started the series and season 1 on a high note)
- Brunch DJ
- The Five Pigeons of the Acapellapocalypse
- Club Book
- Kiff's Mix
- Farley
- Two for One Hot Dogs
- Be Still My Harp
- Totally Table Town
- Lost and Found
- Principal Dance Socks (arguably the best in the series)
- The Sound of Helen
- Friendship In The Time Of Cheese Caves
- Ghost Wolf's Art
- Everyday I'm Riddlin' Riddlin'
- Faculty Lounge
- Trevor's Rockin' Halloween Bash
- Hive Got An Idea
- Harry's Maturity Crisis
- Chatterley Vs. Chatterley
- Foreverangees
- Kiff is Good at Sports
- Mushroommates
- Principal Helen
- Fun Uncle Pat
- Kiff Escape!
- Beach Day
- Sun's Out Buns Out (an awesome way to end season one)
Specials (2024)
Bad/Mediocre episodes
Season 1 (2023-2024)
- Leave a Little Juice
- Maybe-sitting
- You Can't Handle The Tooth! (arguably the worst in the series)
- When You Mow, You Mow
- Hungee Squirrel
Reception
Kiff was a ratings success for Disney Channel, despite the highest-rated episode only attracting 240,000 viewers during its first airing. The show has received positive reviews from critics and despite being aimed primarily at children, it has developed a notable following among teenagers and adults. It holds a 7.7/10 on IMDb, based on 653 ratings.
Matthew Aguilar of ComicBook.com said, "Those who watch will soon find themselves transported to a delightful animated world full of hilarious scenarios that always find a way to also be relatable."[3] Joel Keller of Decider wrote, "Kiff is lots of surreal fun, with a warm friendship at its center. Most of all, parents will enjoy it for its smart humor almost as much as their kids will enjoy the colors, sounds, and pratfalls."[4] Ashley Moulton of Common Sense Media gave the show a grade of 4/5 stars, praised the depiction of positive messages, role models and the characters demonstrating kindness, and said, "Quirky buddy comedy celebrates kid friendships.[5]"
Trivia
- The creators failed to pitch the show to Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Dreamworks, and Netflix, but Disney picked up the show in May 2018.[2] The actual show started production in July 2021, with work on season 2 starting in July 2023.
Videos
References
- ↑ ‘Kiff’: A Cape-Town-Inspired Buddy Comedy that Captures the Soul of Hand-Drawn
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 ANIMATION MAGAZINE Interviews Disney Legends NIC SMAL and LUCY HEAVENS With Kiffy Details
- ↑ Kiff Creators Reveal What Inspired the Characters and Humor of Disney's New Series
- ↑ 'Kiff' Disney Plus Review: Stream It Or Skip It?
- ↑ Kiff TV Review