Wrapped: Our Favorite Episodes of Disney Channel's Animated Series for 2025

As we wrap up the year, I went back over each episode of content from Disney TV Animation I’ve consumed that debuted between January 1st and now. As such, there have been episodes from Big City Greens, a full season of Kiff, the complete series of StuGo, the return of Phineas and Ferb, as well as the conclusions of Primos and Hamster & Gretel. Needless to say, there has been a lot. 

In addition to going through the shorts that appeared on the Disney Channel in 2025, I have revisited several favorite episodes from the series and came up with another list of favorites from the year. While this list might disappoint some fans, each pick represents something I keep revisiting or recommending to others. The first series that got me excited for the year was the highly-anticipated second season of Kiff, but before that even started, we were greeted with the first entry in this list: 

Lore of the Ring Light 

Let’s start off with some favorites from Kiff. The year started while the show was in between seasons, but we were eagerly anticipating the second of two promised specials. In the wake of 2024’s The Haunting of Miss McGravy’s House, we got Lore of the Ring Light. While the special wasn’t a holiday celebration like its predecessor, we instead get a Kiff parody of the classic film Lord of the Rings. This one takes on an absurd premise and totally Kiff adaptation of the story as the kids (and adults) of Table Town realize the immense power of a ring light, and the one who possesses it will get all the followers that they can possibly imagine on their social media. 

Now, we have the plot, but what follows is a super smart, super silly, premise that sees the residents of Table Town and nearly every character in the series (at that point) taking on some kind of role in the new tale - to a point where you wonder if a Lord of the Rings parody was always in the cards for the writers and creatives responsible for the series. 

If you didn’t know that this was a parody at all, the story would still work well. Though, a number of meta jokes and sight gags (Glarbin reading a book about parody law, for example) might feel a bit out of place. We open with a school play when the ring light is introduced, keeping most of the characters in appropriately comical attire, and a dousing of white paint turns Principal Secretary into the hero he was always meant to be.

At the time of its debut, I called the special episode a “masterclass in the art of parody,” something that I stand by to this day. Where others have tried, Kiff and the team have succeeded beyond any level that should be expected of a show meant for the younger demographic. Not only is it beat for beat a Lord of the Rings spoof, it has commentary about the original source material blended in brilliantly while still maintaining a story that is true to the Kiff universe without being forced. Though, I still wouldn’t expect to be canon. 

Cocina Island

Okay, not every episode of Kiff is a parody episode but another standout episode this year was another parody that was a very brave move for a Disney TV Animation series to even attempt. “Cocina Island” sees Kiff and Barry head to an exotic island destination with her parents, where mysterious events unfold, and someone is about to get into deep trouble for what happened, once we figure out who did it. As viewers watch, especially older viewers, we realize this is a beat for beat spoof of the hit HBO series, The White Lotus. 

New characters arrive that are reminiscent of the HBO series, the setting looks like the hotel, just everything again was done with absolute perfection. And I didn’t even mention the spot-on spoof of the music. 

While everything is kept at a “G” rating compared to the HBO source material, I can’t even imagine what being in this pitch meeting was like. The team found ingeniously creative ways to parody the darker HBO series in a cartoon for older kids/young teens and keep it relevant and relatable to them while being safe enough for Disney Channel. Murders have been replaced by melting ice sculptures, and suspicious behavior was always only piano lessons. Everything is done with perfect parody precision and the team knocked it out of the park once again. 

Kiff Loses Barry

The season finale takes the fun of the first season finale (where we saw Barry learn to get over his fear of the pool just in time for the biggest pool party Table Town has ever seen) and inject a whole lot of heart into the premise as Kiff, as the title suggests, loses her best friend Barry while on a road trip. The premise is even more believable (in a cartoon world), compared to others that might simply say “oh we forgot Barry,” instead giving him a look-alike and an explanation for why he got left behind, not to mention a special guest star, and throwing him on a tour bus to give us one of the best songs of the series thus far as he finds himself in the middle of a band. 

We get to see that song in two parts - a beautifully animated ballad performed by Kiff and Barry as they find themselves separated, and being kept apart, and then the final version of the song - more upbeat and performed during a concert setting when Kiff and Barry are finally reunited in an emotional moment.

Not to mention the whole B plot how Martin inadvertently caused a disastrous event at a Table Town landmark with an old keychain and is now on the run from the Park Rangers.

While everyone is in the car back home, we end in a similar fashion to how we closed the first season off, this time seeing Kiff and Barry asleep against each other on the way home. 

As Lucy Heavens, one of the co-creators of the series told us back just ahead of the season two premiere, “That friendship, that relationship that's at the center of the show is very sacred to us,” and it was really proven true in this episode.

There are plenty of other fun Kiff episodes that arrived this year, and I can keep going on listing them but this isn’t just a Kiff post this time around. 

As we continue, yes we also saw the return of Phineas and Ferb this year. If I were to include one episode on this list from that series, it would be the fifth season premiere, “Summer Block Buster / Cloudy with A Chance of Mom,” marking the return of the series after a decade. That said, in the decade since (and partially due to Phineas and Ferb), the taste level of viewers and their style of humor has changed a bit, as have the different programs from Disney TV Animation. 

As such, while fans enjoyed the return of the series - it is more of the same. Great for fans of that one series, but in comparison to episodes from other series this year (in this author’s opinion) they don’t stand out. Interestingly, the return of Phineas and Ferb MIGHT have had a hand in keeping another series from the same creative team off of this list. 

Hamster and Gretel wrapped up its second (and final?) season on the network. While the series has not yet been OFFICIALLY cancelled, the season finale had a “lets wrap this up” sentimentality while leaving things vaguely open-ended. Rumor has it that this is also because the creative team of Dan Povenmire and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh also shifted to focus on the Phineas and Ferb revival. Had the teams stuck with it, maybe we would have gotten those more advanced storylines that were teased halfway through the season but then later abandoned in favor of more simple plots. Yes, I’m still bitter that they gave up on having the superhero’s powerless older brother (Kevin) courting/dating the supervillain’s alter ego.

Some might argue that yes, these series are targeted at a younger audience but other series like Amphibia, The Owl House, Gravity Falls, and others all had storylines that were more than one-dimensional and kept audiences entertained. Just when Hamster and Gretel was starting to go from good to great, they scaled back and took it too easy. 

Another series that we saw close out this year was Primos. While that series had troubles all its own that started before the series even debuted (resulting in a delay that reworked elements of the series as a whole, reportedly leading to the cutting of several episodes from the one and only season), it did have some standout moments. With Primos, it could be quite overwhelming. Not thinking too hard I can point out 14 characters to keep track of throughout the season, each with their own persona and plot points all wrapped around our main character, Tater. 

Similar to the earlier series, The Ghost and Molly McGee, much of these plots would not even be a thing if Tater didn’t feel the need to inject herself into everyone else’s drama and problems. Then, we wouldn’t have a show. However, this tendency also leads to one of the more emotional episodes of the series. 

Summer of El Demo

In this episode, we get to see more of the relationship between Tater’s (arguably) favorite Cousin Lita and her mom Rita. At this point in the series, it has been well established that Lita wants to be a musician, something that Rita is not fully supportive of. We also see this fully displayed on a video call with Lita’s brothers and sisters. At this particular point though, Lita is just about to finish her demo tape, and we get to hear it. As we do, there is a montage showcasing the troubled relationship between mother and daughter, with Tater overhearing and stepping into be the pretend mom to encourage her. 

It’s a laughable notion because none of these things would happen with her real mom, she’s not as supportive or encouraging as Tater’s, so Tater will never understand. The whole sentiment shows off different dynamics in individual families across such a large one. Yes, they’re all related, but the all are different at the same time. 

At Tater’s request, Lita does send a copy of the demo to her mom, who listens to the song while she is at work fixing cars. 

She stops to call Lita back and leaves a lengthy message concerned about Lita’s future and wants her to succeed, explaining she is just like her at that age, complete with the passion for music. The Audience sees all of this but the voicemail is too long and what Lita ends up getting is “I played your demo. Not bad!” 

While Lita is pleased with the progress of that voicemail alone, the audience knows the true message and might be frustrated that she never got to hear it. That resulting crowd reaction alone is what put this episode above the rest of the series for me, which has similar misunderstandings across the family dynamics but presented with more wackiness, paranormality, chickens, and fart jokes. 

Primos, another in a series of one-season wonders on Disney Channel also rounded out with a special episode that I feel is worth mentioning that wrapped up the series, yet still left things a bit open in the event this show gets un-cancelled (hey, it’s not entirely unheard of). “Summer of Suenos” follows Abuelita as she finally can become an American citizen, but a hiccup in the paperwork causes the family to go into action to ensure it happens like she has always wanted. 

Sadly, we’ll also only get one season of an incredibly unique series that I feel is one of the, if not thee greatest thing that Disney TV Animation has done in quite some time. Earlier this year, we saw the debut of StuGo, an outrageously smart and inventive series that followed a group of overachieving middle schoolers who were tricked to come to a tropical island to help a mad scientist create doomsday devices and live amongst a fully developed world of mutants (and their swanky pants!) And monsters that inhabit the island. 

While I would love to put nearly all 40 of the episodes of the series on this list, I realistically have to tone it down a bit. “The Nanny-Tee” is what had me sold on this series, as we got to see a babysitting Manatee with human intelligence (but no speech) offer gold sticker bribes to the kids as a (spoiler alert) way of stealing Dr. Lullah’s new jetski. There is also the fan favorite episode “Big Ol’ Heads Egg Salad Venture” that sees Merian at different ages coming back to stop her and Pliny from opening a new food location for the mutants, resulting in a catastrophic explosion that may or may not be the one responsible for killing Chicho. Even the mutants take center stage in some episodes, notably “PANTelevision,” as we cruise through the programs on the closed-circuit television channel on the island to keep the mutants from uprising and revolting against Dr. Lullah. Oh, and let’s not forget Lullah’s iconic wake-up call as she figured out what kid to launch to the moon to stop a hipster artist rover who won’t follow directions. Almost each and every episode is a gem, but for me, these stand out above the rest. 

Birdyguard

By this episode in the series, the humor had already been established but this amps it all up a level on how outrageous and smart this show can be. Early on, Larry finds a newly hatched lizard, whom he names “E-Lizard-Beth”….yes. Elizardbeth. While he bonds with his new pet, laying on hot rocks, we also discover that there is a Night Heron ready to pounce and take the lizard away from Larry, so now he gets the rest of the kids to help him and keep Elizardbeth protected. What follows are numerous horrors movie tropes, actual jump scares (comedically, of course) and the creation of a full obstacle-filled sanctum that really puts the ingenious writing of the series on display. Specifically, an super smart computer that ask questions only a human would know the answer to - except of course, “what sound does a bird make?”

We also get to see the Night Heron remarkably bait and trap the other students using Chip as a humorous prop. While I won’t spoil the ending to this episode, we’re sure that the whole gang will laugh and want more adventures with the students on this island after this episode. 

The Sash

By the time The Sash arrived, we are already well versed in the characters, environments, and overall society that exists on the island. It helps play a part considering there is about to be a major election, prompted by Merian’s frequent wearing of her presidential sash that was given to her by her Portuguese club back home. As such, she has an aura of authority that makes the other kids listen to her while doing their daily work, and they think that’s unfair. Nobody on the island gave her that sash so why is she in charge. After they quickly realize that there aren’t enough students to have a truly fair election for who would wear Merian’s sash, they take it to the rest of the island, getting the mutants involved. The mutants have no patience for hearing a real presidential debate, and instead turn their attention to another mutant, Big Mitchell, known for his appearances on PANTelevision (though that reveal happened later in the chronology of the series). Big Mutant is able to rile the crowd with no real leadership experience and turn the debate into a party that sees the crowd attempt to elect him. Seems a bit familiar, I’d say. Also familiar, a monster is unleashed and Big Mitchell nor the rest of the crowd except for the real leaders (some of the students) know how to address it - resulting in the destruction of the sash, much to Merian’s chagrin. 

This selection may seem a bit random, but for those adult viewers (parents and even those without kids), some of the subtext in this episode is quite striking and adds a whole new layer to it. This episode also serves as a great example of what I said about this series from the jump, that it transcends its target demographic and can certainly hold the attention of adult viewers in a way that I haven’t seen done since the cartoons of the 90s. 

Francis Wants To Be Alone

This Emmy-nominated episode (along with “The Sash”) keeps the rambunctiousness of the series at full-throttle, only pulling back at those perfect moments that they need to. While Merian is throwing a party, Francis steps out, saying that she just wants to be alone for a moment. 

Merian of course, thinks its more than that and thinks back to another friend who abandoned her. So, to prevent that kind of rejection again she launches a full investigation and gets various stories from the other kids who have all been distracted doing their own thing. Did Francis get so impressed with Larry’s hula-hooping that she jumped out a window? Is she lost in the bowels of their cargo ship shelter as Sara (or was it Sarah?) Suggested? OR does she have to have Chip find himself accepted into a family of Sea Lions for more information? While she explores all these options, finally she takes the easiest route possible and asks Francis herself why she left and the answer is right there, she just wanted to be alone for a minute. It has nothing to do with Merian. However, the pair find themselves together trapped by giant clams who will (hopefully) release them by sunrise. Fortunately, Francis did get that moment alone before Merian came down, and in fairness, Merian was about to leave her be before the clams, so there’s that. 

Phishin’ Chip

Chip has finagled a way to get the internet in their cargo ship, but immediately upon connecting, finds out he has an e-mail offering him a free gift card. It’s obviously a scam, and Dr. Lullah immediately appears and reveals he’s a threat to her and the island because he doesn’t know how to spot the signs of someone who might be trying to find the location of the island. 

Now, she and the rest of the students are off to reinforce the security of the island while Chip is left behind to be approached by a member of KORM, who are out to find out Dr. Lullah’s secrets. This sees Chip go on a mission to prove he is not the nincompoop that Lullah says he is, and it takes on the look and feel of a spy movie. At one point, Chip is wearing a trademark black and yellow outfit referencing Bruce Lee in Game of Death, also later worn by Uma Thurman in Kill Bill. 

There’s motorcycle chases, poorly made drinks, all kinds of tests and obstacles to figure out - because this is in fact a test created by Dr. Lullah that all leads him to another computer where he must open an e-mail and figure out if it’s a scam or not. How? By the one mantra we hear in the episode: “Hover and Think Before Clicking That Link.” I can personally attest that this has become a rule in our home that has been passed to friends and family who now speak it at home and some in their workplace. 

While the episode is fun for that target demo, again, this episode goes well beyond it from those outfit references and other film tropes and even creating an internet-safety lesson that is being passed from person to person. 

“Francis’ Last Straw,” “Truck Everlasting,” “Shell Shock,” “Diorama Drama,” are also ones I debated putting on this list, but really. Go watch StuGo. Sadly, this series has officially been cancelled, which I’ve already spoken at length about. Sadly, that makes three series I’ve mentioned thus far for the year that won’t be returning (as far as we can tell), joining Primos and Hamster and Gretel. 

One series that will be back for its fifth season is Big City Greens. 2025 saw the conclusion of its fourth season (which originally debuted back in 2023 - but hey! There was a movie in there!) along with their 100th episode. While we did get the long awaited return of Chip Whistler and his evil plot while we continued to bounce between Big City and Smalton, it might have been overshadowed by the milestone moment. 

One Hundred

The 100th episode of the series was a standout moment for getting as outrageous and maybe even as emotional as the show could get. 

The episode opens with Tilly flipping through a scrapbook of the Green family’s past adventures since moving to Big City. When she realizes they’re about to embark on their 100th adventure, she runs downstairs and excitedly announces the milestone to Cricket, Bill, and Gramma Alice

This launches us into our various adventures. Cricket and Remy are going to try and launch that chicken into space, recalling their very first adventure together and instead find themselves at Big Tech where the chicken gets enlarged to a monstrous size that sees our friendly duo jump into a pair of mech suits in a Kaiju battle that really ruins Gregly’s day. To dispense of the chicken, Cricket kicks the chicken into space, where it accepts his fate burning into the sun and causing the skies of Big City to rain fried chicken. 

Tilly and Gramma are out to visit someone who can send them into the afterlife so Gramma can see her beloved Ernest again. While their portal remains open for too long - a storm brews in the afterlife that causes their mission to almost fail before we get one brief moment with Gramma and Grampa Ernest in one of the sweetest most heartfelt moments in the entire series. 

While sure we find out that these were completely made up adventures that the family thought would entertain Bill, we find that our patriarch has taken his own adventure, delivering a piece of mail that was dropped off at their house by mistake. What Bill didn’t know was that that package was the last piece of a puzzle set into place by Chip Whistler, as his big plan was the following episode.

Like Father

This episode was just plain fun, as we watch Cricket do whatever he can to keep from becoming his father, Bill. Almost told in a Wolfman-like fashion, we see Cricket put himself through tests - like listening to bad jokes from Doug Perkins, avoiding trips to a hardware store and more - to avoid letting his inner Bill out. While he thinks it was just from spending so much time with him building a billiards table in the shed, it dawns on Cricket that he might just be destined to become his father after all. 

But really, it was the play with the animation and voices that made this episode a standout for me as we see Cricket become Bill at points throughout the episode, including the fading away of part of his finger as his belly extends and boots wrap around his bare feet. Leading to the donning of the red cap and the full transformation. 

Of course, there is “the lesson” that Bill is part of Cricket, but no matter what Cricket will always be 100% himself and that’s okay. 

Others might be quick to point out my lack of inclusion of “Unplanned” in this list, which closed out the season and had an emotional song, but I definitely think there was more fun in “Like Father” and more emotion in “One Hundred,” and substantially less Circus in both.

I’m sure there will be some disagreements with this list, and that’s okay. With a fifth season of Big City Greens on the way, as well as a third season of Kiff, there will surely be more to find common ground on later. Plus, 2026 will also see the debuts of The Doomies and Dragon Stryker on Disney Channel, so we’ll have plenty to go through.