Kiff Creators Reveal What Inspired the Characters and Humor of Disney’s New Series

Disney recently introduced fans to the wonderful world of Kiff, a new animated series centered around the friendship between a lovable squirrel named Kiff and her best bunny friend Barry. The new series is now on Disney+, and 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. ComicBook.com had the chance to speak to Kiff creators and executive producers Lucy Heavens and Nic Smal, and they revealed how growing up in South Africa shaped the world and its characters, some of the show’s most relatable episodes, and more!

Smal and Heavens time in South Africa inspired the world Kiff is set in quite a bit, with key landmarks and transportation methods finding their way into the show. “Well, I think just growing up in Cape Town, South Africa, straight off the bat, we’ve drawn visually on a lot of what Cape Town has to offer,” Smal said. Heavens said, “There’s a big mountain in the middle of Cape Town called Table Mountain, and our characters live in Table Town.”

In addition to the South African inspirations, the characters in the world also incorporate elements from Smal and Heavens’ friends and family. “On a mountain, mount table and Table Mountain in Cape Town’s got a cable car that takes you to the top, so we’ve got cable cars as public transport in the world. The geography and the visuals and the color palettes and the plants. That’s one element. And then on the other side, a lot of the characters are named after friends and family and some of the personalities as well coming through there. And a lot of it is just grounded in our own experience and relatable small moments that we all share in,” Smal said. “Our family is our friendships,” Heavens said.

While Kiff was created first, the show became complete when Barry was brought into the equation. Their friendship is central to what makes the show so charming and is part of the optimistic and refreshing vibe the show is able to achieve.

“Well, everything started with Kiff. That was the central point for the show, and the world spun out from there,” Smal said. “And once we paired Kiff with Barry, it just became so enjoyable to see this friendship in any situation. Like you say, Barry will go to great lengths. It’s like it works in the reverse as well. Kiff will do anything for Barry. Barry will do anything for Kiff. And this kind of friendship is just so pure and it’s enjoyable to watch.”

“And a very honest relationship they have,” Heavens said. “And I think kids relate to very strong friendships like that, and we certainly drew on our own, and it was easy, the friendship found us.”

Kiff will delight children of all ages, though it also features humor for the parents who are watching with their kids thanks to relatable scenarios that any parent will appreciate.

“We wanted to make something that was fun and funny to us that we would enjoy watching. So any situation for anyone watching that is relatable and that they can take something from is always the winner. We’ve got an episode where Kiff and her parents go to the grocery store,” Smal said. “It’s like, everyone’s got to go to the grocery store if you’re a kid or if you’re a parent. In that environment, everyone’s going to be kind of experiencing it from their perspective.”

“I don’t actually think we ever really think about it that hard,” Heavens said. “We just write as humanly as possible for everyone involved so that everyone can find the humanity, whatever is relatable to them, and roll with it.”

One of the funniest episodes is one where Kiff sleeps over at Barry’s house and is introduced to their system of taking baths. With four siblings, they all just jump in after the other is done but use the same water. Kiff is grossed out by it so she seeks to make deals with the other siblings to get to the number 1 spot, and hilarity ensues.

“You know the feeling of going for your first sleepover and you look around and you’re like this, ‘Oh, they do things like this. That’s different’”, Smal said. Heavens said, “It’s not what I recognize. Yeah. And I’m the youngest of five kids, and I definitely had that bath.”

Heavens didn’t make deals to move up the line like Kiff though. “”I don’t believe so, but I do think the episode came from the idea of realizing how revolting it was from somebody else’s perspective,” Heavens said.

There’s a lot of heart and charm in Kiff’s world, and there’s also a lot of optimism and a focus on friendship, and those elements are what Smal and Heavens hope families take away from Kiff the most.

“I think the joy of that friendship between Kiff and Barry, the love and support they have from one another is probably very high on the list,” Heavens said. Smal said, “Yeah. There’s not a lot of cynicism and sarcasm in the show. It’s very fun and feel good and it’s got a positive energy. And I think that that’s real. That goes a long way.”

“And the characters definitely just make endless mistakes, but it becomes part of, though you might be a talking animal, it becomes part of being human and just muddling your way out and learning from the experience and growing up,” Heavens said.

Kiff airs on Disney Channel and Disney XD, and is now available on Disney+.

What have you thought of Kiff so far? Let us know in the comments!