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I was hosted and sponsored with an all-expense paid trip to Los Angeles to cover #Incredibles2Event #PixarFest #BigCityGreensEvent. Thank you Disney for the opportunity! 

On my Disney/Pixar #Incredibles2 press trip, I also got an oppotunity visit the Disney Television Animation studio to learn about the new Disney Channel animated series “Big City Greens”.  For 30 years The Disney Television Animation studios have produced so many great animated televison shows. Some of the ones I grew up on were Ducktales, TalesSpin, Darkwing Duck, GoofTroop, Recess, Pepper Ann and Kim Possibles. I am a 90s kid and I couldn’t have a childhood without some of these Disney animated shows.

So it was a great joy to visit the studio and get ready to interview the creators and pre-screen upcoming Disney Channel Show “Big City Greens“.

MEET THE HOUGHTON BROTHERS

Brothers Chris and Shane Houghton are creators and executive producers of Disney Channel’s animated comedy-adventure series “Big City Greens.” | Photo credit: Coralie Seright

The show is created by two brothers, Chris and Shane Houghton who was inspired to manifest this show concept from their own childhood. These sibling a true rural farmer upbringing in St. Johns, Michigan with  “small farm town with dirt roads and farm animals.” When they got older they went to college to explore “the big city” and that is where this show Big City Greens conceptualized from.Prior to working for Disney, the brother duo who originally worked on Nickelodeon‘s Harvey Beaks.  They’ve also written and illustrated comics for “The Simpsons,” “Adventure Time,” “Peanuts,” among others.

Shane Houghton creator of Big City Greens | Photo credit: Coralie Seright

Shane got his start in the television industry as an editor for reality series “Tattoo School.”

Shane sediments on why they showcased a lower-middled class family.  “We see a lot of traditional families on TV and we wanted to shake that up a bit. We didn’t want a squeaky clean wish fulfillment kind of show. We wanted a family that reflected the people we knew growing up.”

Chris Houghton creator and voice of “Cricket” of Big City Greens | Photo credit: Coralie Seright

Chris originally worked as a storyboard artist for Disney’s “Gravity Falls” and “Wander Over Yonder,”

Chris Houghton does the voice of the main character, Cricket Green, to make their childhood story come to life even more! He also sings the end credit song in Cricket’s voice. Chris and Shane also composed the end credit song together.

PHOTOS FROM THE BROTHERS HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

Photo credit: Coralie Seright

Photo credit: Coralie Seright

The Houghton’s childhood barn they grew up on that inspired “Big City Greens” animated barn. Photo credit: Coralie Seright

Prior to the screening of the show, Shane and Chris wanted to not just tell us about their upbringing, but wanted to show us. They gave us some #TBT realness by showing us authentic photos of their humble begginings on the farm, riding tractor trailers and even showcasing the barn they grew up with. It all ties in how much hand on they were with the show and animating their childhood experiences and recreating it into the show.

The voice cast is Chris Houghton as Cricket Green, Artemis Pebdani (ABC’s “Scandal”) as sweet Gramma Alice, Marieve Herington (“How I Met Your Mother”) as quirky older sister Tilly Green and Bob Joles (“Puss in Boots”) as hard-working father Bill Green.

“Big City Greens,” about a mischievous and optimistic country boy who moves to the big city with his wildly out of place family, ahead of its series debut, MONDAY, JUNE 18 (9:30 a.m. EDT/PDT), on Disney Channel, DisneyNOW and Disney Channel VOD. The series hails from comic book creators and brothers Chris and Shane Houghton (“Harvey Beaks”) and influenced by their childhood growing up in the small rural town of St. Johns, Michigan, with many of the locations and characters inspired by their real-life family members and townsfolk.

TRAILER

Full episodes of Space Chicken/Steak Night are available on Youtube right now if you want to check them out!

MEET THE GREENS

Cricket Green (voiced by Chris Houghton) main character

• Cricket Green (voiced by Chris Houghton): A trouble-making country boy who has moved from the farm to the big city.
• Tilly Green (voiced by Marieve Herington): A country girl who is the older sister of Cricket.
• Bill Green (voiced by Bob Joles): A farmer who is the father of Cricket and Tilly.
• Gramma Alice Green (voiced by Artemis Pebdani): The grandmother of Cricket and Tilly Green and a mother of Bill.

The show is actually really cute. Cricket is the mischievous little brother always getting into things and exploring and his introverted but slightly rebellious older sister Tily is down to wreck havoc in the city. The dad Bill Green is just a country single father is just trying to his best raising his country kids in a city world. And Grandma Alice is older but is alway going to be a part of the big comic relief in the show. Its a cute family oriented show with humor, laughs and fun. I love that it shows this from a single-fathers point of view. We need to see more of that on television whether its animated or not.

Disney Channel has ordered a second season of this animated comedy-adventure series of Big City Greens! 

Photo credit: Coralie Seright

There are lots of guest voices in the cast which includes Emmy® Award-winner Jon Hamm (“Mad Men”) as store manager Louis; Emmy Award-nominated Raven-Symoné (“Raven’s Home”) as news reporter Maria Media; GRAMMY® Award-nominated Busta Rhymes as a wise fish; Danny Trejo (“Spy Kids”) as bodyguard Vasquez; Academy Award® winner Jim Rash (“The Descendants,” “Community”) as waiter Ted; Paul F. Tompkins (“Bajillion Dollar Propertie$”) and Lauren Lapkus (“Orange Is the New Black”) as city hipsters Justin and Val; Andy Daly (“Silicon Valley”) as Officer Keys; Scott Aukerman (“Comedy Bang! Bang!”) as a radio DJ; Griffin McElroy (“My Brother, My Brother and Me”) as a pepper merchant; Paul Scheer (ABC’s “Fresh Off the Boat”) as supermarket manager Chip Whistler; Zeno Robinson (Marvel’s “Spider-Man”) as Cricket’s best friend, Remy; Lorraine Toussaint (“Orange Is the New Black”) as Remy’s mom; Colton Dunn (NBC’s “Superstore”) as Remy’s dad; and Anna Akana (“Youth & Consequences”) as café barista, Gloria.

Big City Greens airs June 18th, 9:30am EST

 Disney Channel, DisneyNOW and Disney Channel VOD

Did you grow up on any Disney Channel shows?