'Primos' creator Natasha Kline talks growing up with eccentric cousins and her favorite S1 episodes (so far)

Grab your sisters and brothers, and don't forget your cousins aka primos to be ready for Disney Channel's latest animated series, Primos, which premieres on the network on July 25. The series was greenlit in 2024 with each episode running 22 minutes (two 11-minute segments) and is produced by Disney Television Animation.

So, what is Primos about? The series is centered around a 9-year-old Tater Ramirez Humphrey details her family antics in her diary. When her cousins move in with her for the summer, she finds that she holds the power or "it factor" that makes her special. The series was created by Natasha Kline (Big City Greens) who serves as the show's creator and executive producer. Kline also voices two characters, Gordita Humphrey and ChaCha Ramirez.

Myrna Velasco voices Tater alongside Elizabeth Grullón as Lita Perez, Jonathan Melo as Scooter Perez, Rick Simon as Cousin Bud Humphrey and Ignacio "Big Nacho" Ramirez, Cristina Vee Valenzuela as Tere and Toñita Ramirez, who make up some of the lead character's cousins. Other guest voices include comedians Sarah Sherman as Carmela, Big Nacho's pen pal, Sherry Cola as Ms. Mahoney, Golden Globe winner Kyle MacLachlan as Bill, and sportscaster Jaime Jarrín as Día de la Cultura Announcer.

Prior to the release of the show, we spoke with Kline, who talked about growing up with some eccentric cousins, gave insight into questions about developing the series, what inspired the first season's episodes, and what makes Tater a natural-born leader. If you're looking for the answers to those questions and want to learn more about the show before you watch, read on below!

The show is inspired by your childhood summers and memories. Any that you can recall that truly inspired [Season 1's] episodes?

NK: So many memories that specifically inspired these characters. Oh, my gosh. There are so many. Well, first, we have a giant chicken in the show. I don't know if you've seen that episode yet, but that was based on a real memory of the chickens that my parents had in our backyard. We had one giant chicken who was terrifying and just chased everyone and pecked us. It was really fun to put that chicken into the show as just a giant monster chicken.

Another one would be a character in the show called Cousin Bud, and he's a very natural, hippie-ish character. He's based on one of my real cousins, who was also very in touch with nature. We lived in a very desert setting, so at one point, he dug up a cactus. He just went out in the desert and just dug up a cactus, this giant six-foot cactus, and brought it into my mother's living room: 'Here you go, Aunt Bee. Tía Beebee, here's a cactus for you.' These things are really expensive. She's like, 'What am I going to do with this thing?' It's just a giant cactus.

Oh, my gosh.

NK: She thought it would be a great gift, but it was not well received.

I bet. To that point, there are not many stories that highlight the Mexican-American coming-of-age type of stories that your show is portraying, at least in recent history. Maybe there's a couple you can count on your hand, but how does it feel to be a part of this next generation of telling Latinx stories? What do you hope audiences get out of Primos?

NK: It's extremely exciting. I just think of myself as a kid, not really having these shows growing up. Like you said, there hasn't even been that many animated shows that feature this community since I was a kid. It's been like 35 years of waiting for this stuff to come out. Every time a new one comes out, I'm always excited to watch it. To know that I get to tell a story, too, is just extremely exciting. I hope that it's helpful for kids who are also longing to see their stories in cartoons.

I honestly see a little bit of myself in Tater, and I wanted to ask you, and it's hard to quantify this, but how much of Tater is you, and then how much of it is you getting other external inspiration for for her.

NK: I'm so glad that you relate to her. That's really nice to hear. Tater, I would say is 85-90% me. I really was like that as a kid. I was introverted. I wanted time to myself. I had a really big imagination, and I did keep a diary and a sketchbook, and I just longed for something bigger for myself. I actually knew what I wanted to do. That's the only difference between me and Tater. I always had the goal of making a TV show and making a cartoon that featured my family. Tater has this big goal [and] she doesn't really know what it is yet. The other percentage of it is just what I've witnessed in the children in my life. My niece, Kayla, is very much like Tater, too. She has big goals for herself. She has [an] exuberant personality. Tater's exuberance comes from that, because I was actually a very shy, very quiet kid. In a way, Tater's exuberance is aspirational for me, because I wanted to be a kid like that. When I see my niece owning herself and being confident, it makes me excited for her, and it makes me glad that she's one of those kids.

That's amazing! There's [also] guest stars that I'm very familiar with: The Kid Mero, Mark Consuelos, Gabriel Iglesias. What was it like to know that you'd be working with them and hearing their voices in these characters?

NK: So amazing. I've been so fortunate because I feel like just the nature of the project and who the project is representing, it's really attracted even more attention than I even thought possible. So all the amazing cast members that we've gotten to work with, Angélica Maria, Cheech [Marin], Melissa Villaseñor, and all the tíos who are all famous stars in their own right. It's just this overwhelming and surreal thing that's happened. They've all been amazing to work with. They're all just really, really lovely people. That's the other lucky part, too, is [that] I've been working with these stars who also happen to be genuinely nice people. There's never been the star that comes in and is like, 'I'm a star.' They're sweet, they're approachable, they love the project, and that's more than I could ever have hoped for.

The pilot, the first episode, sets the tone. Is there a specific episode within the current lineup that you feel is your favorite or you feel like will speak the most for the series?

NK: Oh, my gosh, there's so many. The one I'm thinking of is very late in the season. It's Episode 156, 'Bisabuela'. We're literally still working on it right now. I love that episode. I don't want to cause any spoilers...

I'm a spoiler-free girl. Out of the first three [episodes], do you think there's one that stands out to you?

NK: The first three? Gosh. Episode four is also a favorite of mine. We do get a little scary sometimes, and I like that. [Episode] 103 is also very good, too. They make a vision board together. That's a really, really warm episode, where all the primos finally get to work together at the end, and just show what the love and the power of family is. Tater has to put a little pin in her big plans. At the end, the mom supports her [and] gives her the material she needs to make her vision real. It's just really a lovely family story.

Another part of this is Tater. She's a natural-born leader. You come from the animation world. You're a storyboard artist, and you jump into this new world of being a creator and having a little bit more responsibility. Did it seem daunting to go from working on all of these different shows and then having one show to focus on for an extended period of time?

NK: You know, actually, it felt like a very natural progression to me because before I pitched this show, I had been working in the industry for 15 years in various areas. I was a character designer, a background designer, storyboard artist, and a director. It felt like every new skill set that I learned in whatever position I was in was just [kept] adding to my tool[kit]. When I finally got to run my own show, it felt like, 'Oh, this is why I got all these tools. This is why I was gathering all of this stuff, because I was going to need it for this job.' There were even more things I had to learn just in terms of managing people.

It was a wonderful challenge to be [able to] do that. It's also the big sister energy, too. I think that really helps a lot. That's what Tater has. She's used to having a bunch of little kids too: 'Okay, you go do that and you go do that.' That's how I grew up. I was also the older sister, and there was always a lot of little cousins around to take care of. It's a nurturing instinct I had. That's where my leadership qualities came from; Being the older cousin and the big sister and making sure everybody was fed and taken care of.

I love to hear that you have that natural energy of being a caregiver. Obviously, adults can resonate with this show as well!

Primos is set to premiere the first two episodes on July 25, 2024 on Disney Channel at 8pm and next day on Disney+