Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Kiff’ On Disney+, Where An Overachieving Squirrel And Her Bunny Buddy Navigate Life In Their Nutty Town

Animated kids’ shows with mixed animation styles, sometimes-surreal character movements, hyperactive and colorful scenes, and somewhat grown-up sensibilities have normally been in the wheelhouse of Cartoon Network and sometimes Nickelodeon; in the streaming era, HBO Max and Netflix have taken up the mantle of showing more daring kids’ animation. Now Disney is stepping into that arena with a new series that is one of its more surreal entries in years.

KIFF: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: Kiff Chatterly (Kimiko Glenn) and her friend Barry Buns (Michael Croner) are in a history class, and Kiff is answering all the questions about the history of Table Town.

The Gist: Kiff is an optimistic, overachieving squirrel, and Barry is her laid-back bunny buddy; they seem to be complete opposites, but they strike a nice balance. Together they live life as young teens in their crazy town.

In the first of two adventures, Kiff wants to be the first to do something in Table Town, just like the pioneers she studied in class. To that end, she is set to cut the ribbon and take the first sip at her school’s new water fountain, replacing the gross Ol’ Drippy.

She saves her thirst for that magical sip, which to her is such a big deal, she feels the need to rehearse it the day before. But when she wakes up the next day, she can’t lift her tail. Her mother Beryl (Lauren Ash), concerned that Kiff is suffering from “drop tail,” orders her to stay home and tells Kiff’s father Martin (James Monroe Iglehart) to not get tricked by Kiff. She even arranges letters on the fridge to remind him that Kiff is a trickly little squirrel. Of course, Kiff tries everything she can to get out of the house.

In the second episode, Kiff is excited for her sleepover at Barry’s house. The Buns are a family of four kids, and they hand down everything — including bathwater. Kiff, an only child, has no concept of “hand-me-downs” and luxuriates in a freshly-drawn bath every time out. So, as Barry demonstrates how the water gets affected by the first four baths, a grossed-out Kiff goes into horse-trading mode to try to move up the bath order from fifth (behind Barry’s baby sister) to first.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Disney’s promotional material for Kiff likens the show to Adventure Time, and they’re not far off. It also has some of the same surreal elements as Centaurworld.

Our Take: Created by Lucy Heavens and Nic Smal, Kiff is probably the most adventurous kids’ animation project Disney has aired since Phineas and Ferb. Seeing Kiff on Disney is promising, because, outside of Bluey, there isn’t much the House of Mouse serves up on its linear services and Disney+ that parents can enjoy while their kids take in all the stimuli.

Now, that’s not to say that Kiff is just pictures and noise. It’s truly a buddy comedy where two opposite friends get along like gangbusters. Kiff helps Barry by letting him know that you can achieve anything you put your mind to, and Barry reminds Kiff to relax and take it all in before moving on to the next thing. They modulate each other, and their relationship is at the heart of this show.

The humor is character-driven, of course, but it’s definitely not just kid humor. Kiff’s obsession with being the first to sip from the new fountain is completely within the parameters that are established in the first few minutes of the show. And we could definitely relate to how Kiff didn’t have any concept of family sharing.

But it does seem like Havens and Small are eager to build out the world of Table Town, where different talking animal species live in peace. We already see glimpses of both Kiff’s and Barry’s families, and we think we’ll get to see some of the personalities around the school, as well. It takes time to build out an animated world, but once it’s established, it’s very satisfying to come back to those characters over and over again.

What Age Group Is This For?: The show is rated TV-Y7, but we think kids 6 and up will appreciate it.

Parting Shot: Kiff actually enjoys her cold, bubble-free fifth bath, even with a band-aid floating in the bathtub.

Sleeper Star: Co-creator Nic Small plays Principal Secretary, who can’t believe that Kiff wants to rehearse the ribbon-cutting-and-sipping ceremony.

Most Pilot-y Line: “You know I’ve got to run this past the fridge,” Kiff’s dad says as she tries to trick him for the third time. Come on, man, you’re making us dads look bad!

Our Call: STREAM IT. 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.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.