There is, of course, between panels and show premieres, shopping and outside installations, more content at San Diego Comic-Con than any dozen people could hope to experience. 

This year we were lucky enough to get help covering some of the many Disney-related presentations as Friend to AllEars Alex Reif  w̶a̶s̶ d̶r̶a̶f̶t̶e̶d̶  volunteered to write up a few of the ones he attended.  Here’s his report on “Hamster & Gretel.”

Disney Channel’s new animated series Hamster & Gretel may take its name from a German fairytale, but the family dynamic mirrors that of series creator Dan Povenmire and his Venezuelan-American wife. During a panel at San Diego Comic-Con, fans of Phineas & Ferb and Milo Murphy’s Law were among the first to see footage from the new series while also learning about why this show about a girl and her pet hamster is so personal to its creator. 

Dan Povenmire is ten years older than his youngest sister, so he spent his earliest days with a driver’s license as her personal chauffeur. He was looking for an opportunity to explore their childhood dynamic through a new series and, while on vacation, ended up sketching his daughter’s pet hamster. An idea was born that grew into a series about Gretel, whose older brother Kevin drives her everywhere. When a spaceship drops down and promises to bestow superpowers on them both, powers meant for Kevin end up being applied to Gretel’s pet hamster who was with them at the time.

To flesh out the series and build a world around these siblings and their pet, Dan turned to Joanna Hausmann, whom he became a fan of thanks to her YouTube content about being Venezuelan-American. As the co-producer and story editor, Joanna gave the story team a question to ask themselves: “Is the idea dumb enough?” If it’s a really dumb idea, then it probably hasn’t been done yet. They would massage those ideas until they worked, leading to some truly unique elements, such as a villain whose superpower is the ability to speak to onions. 

Speaking of villains, two new nemeses were revealed during the panel – Lauren and Lyle, aka The Destructress and Fistpuncher. They’re voiced by Alyson Stoner (Isabella in Phineas and Ferb) and Brock Powell (Braxington-ton in Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe), who are both thrilled to become Disney Villains. The series will have a revolving door of baddies for Hamster and Gretel (and Kevin) to take on, with Brock also voicing a character named “Big Baby,” a politician who kept losing in elections because he was too short or too old, so he took his plastic surgery too far and is now a 40-foot-tall baby.

Michael Ciminio (Victor in Love, Victor) makes his voice acting debut as Kevin, a character he could relate to because of his multicultural heritage. Growing up in Las Vegas as the son of a white father and a Puerto Rican mother, the actor shared that he never really felt like he fully belonged to either culture. He was attracted to the project not only for the chance to help bring the show’s unique family dynamic to life, but also to flex his musical muscles, singing on the series and co-writing a song with Dan Povenmire.

Hamster & Gretel was being developed during the lockdown, so Dan Povenmire used his daughter Meli as the voice of Gretel in his pitch reel. The role stuck, with Meli Povenmire having won the role after the audition process was complete. Meli shared that she has a lot in common with Gretel, particularly the character’s high energy, adding that having ADHD has become an asset when stepping into the recording booth. She also joked that working for her dad allows her to be a lot more unprofessional than with any other director.

Voicing Gretel and Kevin’s mother is Caroline Ravassa, who praised the show for its depiction of a multi-lingual household. She shared that the character of Carolina is smart, funny, and has a great relationship with her kids. The character is partially based on Dan’s wife, with Gretel and Kevin’s dad inspired by himself (Matt Jones voices Dave in the series). The family dog is even inspired by Dan and Meli’s dog, whom Hamster has a hilarious relationship with, being that Hamster is the only animal in this world who can talk (voiced by Beck Bennet, Launchpad McQuack in DuckTales).

The fun of Hamster & Gretel begins on August 12th on Disney Channel.

Are you looking forward to Hamster & Gretel?  Drop us a note below.

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