Hamster & Gretel

Not to be confused with Hansel and Gretel.

Hamster & Gretel
Genre	Animation Comedy Musical Superhero
Created by	Dan Povenmire
Voices of	Meli Povenmire Michael Cimino Beck Bennett Joey King Matt Jones Carolina Ravassa
Theme music composer	Dan Povenmire
Opening theme	"Hamster & Gretel Theme Song"
Composer	Danny Jacob
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	19
Production
Executive producer	Dan Povenmire
Producer	Brandi Young
Running time	22 minutes (two 11-minute segments)
Production company	Disney Television Animation
Original release
Network	Disney Channel
Release	August 12, 2022 (2022-08-12) – present
Related
Phineas and Ferb Milo Murphy's Law

Hamster & Gretel is an American animated comedy television series created by Dan Povenmire that premiered on Disney Channel on August 12, 2022. In January 2023, the series was renewed for a second season.

Plot

A 16-year-old boy named Kevin must work with his sister Gretel when she and her pet hamster are given superpowers by aliens and become a superhero duo dedicated to protecting their city.

Characters

Main

• Gretel Grant-Gomez (voiced by Meli Povenmire) – Kevin's excitable younger sister who gains superpowers and becomes a superheroine. While she means well, Gretel has a tendency to make problems worse by using brute force.
• Kevin Grant-Gomez (voiced by Michael Cimino) – A 16-year-old boy and Gretel's older brother who tries to support Hamster and Gretel in being superheroes. Despite lacking superpowers of his own, he is the brains of the group due to his quick-thinking skills and ability to solve problems in dire moments.
• Hamster (voiced by Beck Bennett) – Kevin and Gretel's stoic pet hamster who gets superpowers along with Gretel. He also gets the ability to speak, but generally only does so in moments of comic relief.
• Winifred "Fred" Grant (voiced by Joey King) – Kevin and Gretel's deadpan, sarcastic, cynical, and tech-savvy cousin, who acts as the team's tech support. She also has gymnastic abilities, which were first shown in "Cheer Cheer Bang Bang".
• Dave Grant-Gomez (voiced by Matt Jones) – Kevin and Gretel's father who works as a building manager at an apartment complex. He is physically modeled after series creator Dan Povenmire.
• Carolina Grant-Gomez (voiced by Carolina Ravassa) – Kevin and Gretel's eccentric yet wise Venezuelan mother who works as a nurse.

Recurring

• Bailey Carter (voiced by Priah Ferguson) – Gretel's best friend who is also a major fan of the superhero Gretel. She was initially unaware that they were one and the same until "My Invisible Friend".
• Roman Carter (voiced by Michael-Leon Wooley) – Bailey's father who works as a video game producer.
• Nordle (voiced by Pamela Adlon) – A nerdy and wealthy boy in Gretel's class who is the son of Professor Exclamation, but has no interest in villainy. He has a friendly rivalry with Gretel, but is unaware of her superhero identity or her beef with his father.
• Veronica Hill (voiced by Liza Koshy) – A blunt, snarky news reporter who often weaves her personal issues into the current stories.
• Anthony (voiced by Akintoye) – Kevin's confident buddy.
• Hiromi Tanaka (voiced by Hiromi Dames) – A girl who works at a comic book store and is also Kevin's crush.
• Naya (voiced by Abby Espiritu) – The head cheerleader at Kevin and Fred's high school. A running gag involves her commenting on other characters' cartoonish disguises.
• Unseen aliens (voiced by Dan Povenmire and Joanna Hausmann) – The unseen entities that ride in a UFO and give superpowers to random strangers and items such as Hamster and Gretel, FistPuncher and The Destructress, La Cebolla, a bouncy castle, a leftover sloppy joe, and a scone.

Villains

• Professor Exclamation (voiced by Phil LaMarr) – A punctuation-themed supervillain who has short arms due to losing his elbows in a freak accident, and now wants to make the world bend to him.
• Lauren/The Destructress and Lyle/FistPuncher (voiced by Alyson Stoner and Brock Powell respectively) – Fraternal twins who had an encounter with the same aliens as Hamster and Gretel, granting them similar powers. Unlike the latter, they were told to use their powers for evil, becoming supervillains as a result. "The Bitter Sitter" reveals that Lauren babysits in order to have a non-evil side hustle.
• El Luchador (voiced by Carlos Alazraqui) – A wrestler-themed supervillain who loves ropa vieja.
• Rodney Thunderpants (voiced by James Adomian) – A cowboy who has electrokinesis and a deep hatred of cellphones.
• Van Dyke (voiced by Casey Hamilton) – A sentient Van Dyke beard who can possess people by attaching himself to their faces.
• Coach Haggerty (voiced by Betsy Sodaro) – A cheerleading coach that hypnotizes people to commit crimes for her using her whistle.
• La Cebolla (voiced by Karina La Voz) – A former telenovela star-turned-villainess who encountered the unseen aliens, granting her the ability to communicate with onions and onion-related plants.
• CopyCat (voiced by Eric Bauza) – A comic book geek with a huge trust fund and a degree in engineering who invents a super suit based on the comic book character "Man Cat."
• Neighslayer (voiced by Thomas Sanders) – A former track star who was mutated into a half-horse half-man mutant after an experiment gone awry. This left him with horse hooves in place of his human arms and legs.
• Dr. Eelgood (voiced by Keith Ferguson) – A mad scientist who has sworn revenge on the local aquarium, and has genetically engineered a nearly indestructible eel. He was one of Dave's tenants, although he was evicted when his experiments were exposed.
• The X-terminator (voiced by John DiMaggio) – A supervillain who has a vendetta against rodents of all kinds after his human body was accidentally merged with his rat-catching device.
• The Amplifier (voiced by Khary Payton) – A supervillain with a ray gun that can dramatically increase the size of whatever it shoots.
• The Nightmarionette (voiced by Michael-Leon Wooley) – A villain who can create life-like projections of people's greatest fears.
• Bob Infantiburg/Big Baby (voiced by Brock Powell) – A former mayoral candidate and Veronica Hill's ex-boyfriend who accidentally turned himself into a kaiju-sized baby.
• Tina (voiced by Camryn Grimes) – A new student in Gretel and Bailey's class who turns out to be a spy from the country of Bolgylvania.
• The Earworm (voiced by Adam Rose) – A songwriting supervillain whose evil jingle hypnotizes Hamster and Gretel.
• Christine DuPoulet/The East Side Bantam (voiced by Cree Summer) – The former chicken-like school mascot that tries to sabotage every school play after being replaced by the East Side Plumber mascot. She was said to have disappeared during the stage production of The Vikings of Venzance, but in reality she fled due to severe stage fright and hid under the stage while dressed as the East Side Bantam. After being thwarted by Gretel, who also suffered from stage fright, Christine became the new mascot of "Frank's Discounted Discount Costumes".
• The Imposter (voiced by Diedrich Bader) – A villain who wears multiple disguises.
• Ernie (voiced by Brock Powell) – A baker villain that attacks people with his "divorce cakes" after people refused to buy them.
• Belle (voiced by Karalynn Dunton) – A social media influencer who starts a smear campaign against Hamster and Gretel to increase her number of followers.
• Arthouse (voiced by Diedrich Bader) – A disgruntled film artist who produces mundane short films.
• Tchotchke Jones (voiced by Richard Kind) – A sinister tchotchke shop owner, who shrinks historical landmarks and puts them in bottles.
• Micromanager (voiced by John Hodgman) – The owner of Small Burger and a former employee of Tall Burger who got fired after he accidentally shrunk himself with a device meant to shrink onions and now wants to literally destroy his competition.
• Charlie/Father Goose (voiced by Isaac Robinson-Smith) – A man with goose wings on his rear end who wants to bring about the next step of human evolution by turning the populace into geese.
• Helen/Rat Burglar (voiced by Rachel Dratch) – A villain dressed as a rat, who uses "Invisible Ink" on herself to secretly help her son, Xavier, cheat in contests without getting caught.

Production

Development

In October 2020, it was reported that Phineas and Ferb and Milo Murphy's Law co-creator Dan Povenmire was developing a new animated series with a 20-episode order for Disney Channel, titled Hamster & Gretel, with Disney Television Animation producing. Povenmire first pitched the show as an animatic in 2019, with him providing all the voices. The character of Hamster originated from a drawing he did on his sketchboard during development on the Disney+ film Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe (2020). It was later refined whilst Povenmire was on a vacation with his family in Aruba. The series marks Povenmire's first project as showrunner without Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, due to the latter developing projects of his own after creating his own studio. However, Marsh will still have a recurring voice role as various characters on the series.

In September 2021, Joanna Hausmann joined the series as its head writer, co-producer, and story editor. Povenmire approached her after listening to Haunsman talking about her experiences as a Venezuelan, as he felt she could bring authenticity to the series' Venezuelan representation. Povenmire has also stated that the show boasts ADHD representation, through Gretel.

In June 2022, it was announced that ten additional episodes had been ordered, bringing the total episode number to 30. On January 13, 2023, it was announced that the series was renewed for a second season, as part of an overall deal between Povenmire and Disney Branded Television.

Writing

Writing for Hamster & Gretel began by October 2020. It was done remotely due to Disney TVA's closure during the COVID-19 pandemic. The series was based on Povenmire's dynamic with his much younger sister, which he felt had never been portrayed on TV before; director Amber T. Hollinger described the relationship between Kevin and Gretel as the series' main focus, with Kevin's arc centering on his role as an older brother after Gretel receives her powers. Povenmire also drew inspiration from his family for the characters Kevin and Gretel. The series features Venezuelan lead characters; this was inspired by both Hausmann and Povenmire's wife being Venezuelan. The series also incorporated several Venezuelan easter eggs.

The series is set in the same universe as Phineas and Ferb and Milo Murphy's Law, with characters from both shows making cameos throughout Hamster and Gretel. However, Povenmire noted there were no plans for a formal crossover in the series, unlike Milo Murphy's Law.

Animation

Snipple Animation and Synergy Animation both provide animation services for the series; work on the first episodes finished by May 2022. Episodes are produced simultaneously at different stages, with some in pre-production and others in post-production. The series will feature action sequences that have more cinematic quality than Phineas and Ferb and Milo Murphy's Law.

Music

Hamster & Gretel (Original Soundtrack)
Soundtrack album by Hamster & Gretel – Cast
Released	August 12, 2022
Recorded	2020–2022
Genre	Soundtrack
Length	15:25
Label	Walt Disney
Producer	Danny Jacob

Similar to his previous work, Povenmire wrote songs for the series. The soundtrack was released the day of the series' premiere.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Performer(s)	Length
1.	"Hamster & Gretel Theme Song"	Dan Povenmire	Dan Povenmire	0:56
2.	"Strawberry Festival"	Povenmire, Sophia James	Povenmire	1:29
3.	"My Best Friend Bailey's Party"	Povenmire, Florence Milazzo	Gretel	1:28
4.	"I Got Beef"	Akintoye, Povenmire	Akintoye	1:06
5.	"Tiny White Tux"	Povenmire, Sophia James	Sophia James	1:17
6.	"How You Feel About Me"	Berit Dybing, Povenmire	Kevin	1:09
7.	"I'm the Bomb"	Povenmire	Alex Povenmire	1:24
8.	"La Cebolla"	Povenmire	La Cebolla	1:30
9.	"Just Another Friday Night"	Povenmire	James	0:43
10.	"Overload the Grid"	Povenmire, Danny Jacob	Kevin & the Duck Boyz	1:01
11.	"Dance Battle"	Povenmire & Martin Olson	Robbie Wyckoff	1:14
12.	"Get Ready for a Rumble"	Povenmire	Povenmire	1:00
13.	"I Can Be Bad"	Povenmire, Michael Cimino	Kevin	1:00

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written and storyboarded by	Original air date	Prod. code	U.S. viewers (millions)
1	"Empower Failure" "Oakey Dokey"	Dan Povenmire & Amber Tornquist Hollinger Dan Povenmire & Tricia Garcia	Dan Povenmire Written by : Dan Povenmire Storyboard by : Dan Povenmire & Rufino Roy Camacho II	August 12, 2022 (2022-08-12)	101	0.23
"Empower Failure": High schooler Kevin Grant-Gomez is not very thrilled about having to drive his little sister, Gretel, everywhere she has to go. One day, Kevin and Gretel are visited by aliens, who bestow superpowers on the siblings to use for good. Kevin is excited about having superpowers but becomes less so when it is revealed shortly after that he was passed over for superpowers by the aliens in favor of Gretel's pet hamster, Hamster. As time goes by, Kevin becomes very overprotective of Gretel despite her now having superpowers, which she tends to overuse. "Oakey Dokey": Gretel's "punch-everything-and-hope-for-the-best" method comes back to bite her when destroying a meteor leads to her accidentally destroying her favorite tree.
2	"Recipe for Disaster" "Math Punch"	Tricia Garcia Amber Tornquist Hollinger	Written by : Jim Bernstein Storyboard by : Villamor M. Cruz & Tammy Manis Written by : Joshua Pruett Storyboard by : Villamor M. Cruz & Allen Del Mar Oka	August 13, 2022 (2022-08-13)	102	0.22
"Recipe for Disaster": After accidentally burning the family dinner, Hamster and Gretel search all over town for a replacement, while Kevin suffers from embarrassment after embarrassment trying to keep his mother, Carolina, from coming home too soon. "Math Punch": Gretel faces off against a lightning-charged cowboy as Dave, Kevin and Gretel's father, tries to impress Carolina on their anniversary.
3	"Superhero Sibling Rivalry" "Close Shave"	Amber Tornquist Hollinger Tricia Garcia	Written by : Joshua Pruett Storyboard by : Allen Del Mar Oka & Heather Gregersen Written by : Valerie Breiman Storyboard by : Rufino Roy Camacho II & Villamor M. Cruz	August 20, 2022 (2022-08-20)	103	0.14
"Superhero Sibling Rivalry": After days of constant arguing, Carolina tells Kevin and Gretel that they need a break from each other, which they both attempt. Kevin and Gretel go their separate ways, and while Hamster and Gretel end up fighting twin villains FistPuncher and The Destructress on their own, Kevin goes to the mall with his cousin Fred. "Close Shave": Gretel becomes suspicious of her substitute teacher who she believes is evil.
4	"Cheer Cheer Bang Bang" "La Ballad of La Cebolla"	Amber Tornquist Hollinger Tricia Garcia	Written by : Amanda Domenech Storyboard by : Allen Del Mar Oka & Heather Gregersen Written by : Alex Estrada Storyboard by : Rufino Roy Camacho II	August 27, 2022 (2022-08-27)	104	0.21
"Cheer Cheer Bang Bang": Fred goes undercover as a cheerleader for her high school when she and Kevin catch wind of cheerleaders for their school being involved in bank robberies. "La Ballad of La Cebolla": Kevin, Hamster, and Gretel encounter a supervillain with the power to talk to onions.
5	"Comic Shop CopyCat" "Neigh, It Ain't So!"	Amber Tornquist Hollinger Tricia Garcia	Written by : Joshua Pruett Storyboard by : Allen Del Mar Oka & Heather Gregersen Written by : Amanda Domenech Storyboard by : Tammy Manis	September 3, 2022 (2022-09-03)	105	0.18
"Comic Shop CopyCat": While Kevin tries to gather the courage to talk to his crush, Hiromi, Hamster and Gretel fight off a villain inspired by a comic book villain. "Neigh, It Ain't So!": Gretel's best friend, Bailey, who is unaware of Gretel's superhero persona despite their several similarities, wins a contest to spend a day with her. Gretel tries to avoid as much confrontation as possible to avoid suspicion, which grows more difficult when a half-man, half-horse mutant villain is on the loose.
6	"Saturday Homecoming Fever" "Dr. Eelgood"	Amber Tornquist Hollinger Tricia Garcia	Written by : Amanda Domenech Storyboard by : Heather Gregersen, Allen Del Mar Oka & Eddie Pittman Written by : Alex Estrada Storyboard by : Villamor M. Cruz	September 10, 2022 (2022-09-10)	106	0.24
"Saturday Homecoming Fever": Kevin hopes to boost his image at his school's Homecoming dance and shed his nickname of "minivan kid", but FistPuncher and The Destructress crash the festivities. "Dr. Eelgood": Hamster and Gretel must fight a monstrous eel while shadowing Dave, who unknowingly repairs its creator's refrigerator. Meanwhile, Kevin rushes through his responsibilities on a beach clean-up trip in hopes of getting some downtime with Hiromi.
7	"The Opposite of Smart" "Birthday Besties"	Amber Tornquist Hollinger Tricia Garcia	Written by : Valerie Breiman Storyboard by : Heather Gregersen, Allen Del Mar Oka & Eddie Pittman Written by : Joanna Hausmann Storyboard by : Kyle Menke, Rufino Roy Camacho II, Su Jen Buchheim & Erik Kling	September 17, 2022 (2022-09-17)	107	0.21
"The Opposite of Smart": The Grant-Gomez family dog, Churro, becomes an online sensation due to his dimwitted nature. Kevin lets the celebrity status go to his head, which makes Gretel jealous. "Birthday Besties": Kevin and Gretel attend Bailey's birthday party while tracking down someone who has repeatedly trashed birthday parties in the area, but the culprit is not who they think it is.
8	"I'm Bored" "Cutie and the Beast"	Tricia Garcia	Written by : Amanda Domenech Storyboard by : Su Jen Buchheim, Erik Kling & Tammy Manis Written by : Jim Bernstein Storyboard by : Su Jen Buchheim & Villamor M. Cruz	September 24, 2022 (2022-09-24)	109	0.24
"I'm Bored": Gretel becomes swamped with chores after expressing her boredom aloud, leaving Kevin and Hamster to bond as they fight off a new villain, the X-terminator, without her. "Cutie and the Beast": After battling a size-altering villain dubbed the Amplifier, Hamster and Gretel are tasked with fighting a giant otter, but are hesitant because of its cuteness. Meanwhile, Kevin becomes increasingly jealous over not getting superpowers and tries to create his own superhero alter ego.
9	"The Nightmarionette" "Abuelita's World"	Amber Tornquist Hollinger	Written by : Jim Bernstein Storyboard by : Heather Gregersen, Allen Del Mar Oka & Eddie Pittman Written by : Joanna Hausmann Storyboard by : Heather Gregersen, Erik Kling, Allen Del Mar Oka & Eddie Pittman	October 1, 2022 (2022-10-01)	108	0.19
"The Nightmarionette": Hamster and Gretel fight a supervillain who can materialize people's greatest fears. "Abuelita's World": Kevin and Gretel are being babysat by their strict grandmother, but this becomes a problem when a giant baby starts rampaging around the city.
10	"U.F. UH-OH! Part I" "U.F. UH-OH! Part II"	Amber Tornquist Hollinger Tricia Garcia	Written by : Valerie Breiman Storyboard by : Su Jen Buchheim, Heather Gregersen, Erik Kling, Allen Del Mar Oka & Eddie Pittman Written by : Joshua Pruett Storyboard by : Rufino Roy Camacho II, Erik Kling & Tammy Manis	October 8, 2022 (2022-10-08)	110	0.24
"U.F. UH-OH! Part I": During a family trip to Las Vegas, Kevin, Hamster, and Gretel explore the city on their own, but while examining various memorabilia about Hamster and Gretel, Kevin starts to feel left out. Following a mishap, they manage to find the superpower-granting aliens, whose spacecraft starts attacking the city. Gretel attempts to save the city from the aliens' spacecraft, only to get abducted. Kevin then chases the spacecraft down but fails to rescue Gretel, although he does manage to take a picture of a message the aliens left behind in a field. Meanwhile, Dave and Carolina relax at an adults-only pool, only to be drawn to a waterslide that won't let them in without a child. "U.F. UH-OH! Part II": With help from Fred, Kevin and Hamster decipher the aliens' message and track them down. Meanwhile, the "aliens", revealed to be FistPuncher and The Destructress, who are holding Gretel captive, reveal that they are plotting to destroy the Hoover Dam. Gretel manages to aggravate them by acting like an annoying younger sibling, buying Kevin and Hamster time to rescue her. While Kevin takes control of the ship and frees Gretel, Hamster defeats FistPuncher and The Destructress. Subsequently, Hamster and Gretel unknowingly ruin Dave and Carolina's plans in attempting to save the city from a flood after the dam breaks. Later on, as the Grant-Gomez family reconvenes, Kevin and Gretel begin to question the real aliens' motives, unaware of them talking about how well their plans are progressing.
11	"Grounded" "Sleepover With the Enemy"	Tricia Garcia Amber Tornquist Hollinger & Erik Kling	Written by : Valerie Breiman & Joshua Pruett Storyboard by : Su Jen Buchheim, Rufino Roy Camacho II & Tammy Manis Written by : Joanna Hausmann & Alex Estrada Storyboard by : Heather Gregersen, Erik Kling, Allen Del Mar Oka & Eddie Pittman	November 12, 2022 (2022-11-12)	111	0.24
"Grounded": While investigating a UFO sighting, Gretel unintentionally neglects her chores, getting herself grounded for the entire weekend by Dave and Carolina. She now has to figure out how to fight a mutated sloppy joe while being confined to her room. "Sleepover With the Enemy": Gretel and Bailey's plans for a sleepover are altered by Tina, a new student in their class, who might have more to her than she lets on.
12	"Friday Night Fright" "The Earworm"	Amber Tornquist Hollinger & Erik Kling Tricia Garcia	Written by : Amanda Domenech Storyboard by : Heather Gregersen, Erik Kling & Allen Del Mar Oka Written by : Valerie Breiman Storyboard by : Rufino Roy Camacho II, Tammy Manis, Su Jen Buchheim & Villamor M. Cruz	November 19, 2022 (2022-11-19)	112	0.22
"Friday Night Fright": While the Grant-Gomezes hold a family game night at their house, Fred and Hiromi team up to prevent robots from taking over the high school. "The Earworm": Hamster and Gretel find themselves being hypnotized by the jingle for a new breakfast cereal.
13	"A Mammoth Problem" "The Bantam of the Elementary School Light Opera"	Amber Tornquist Hollinger & Erik Kling Tricia Garcia	Written by : Jim Bernstein Storyboard by : Su Jen Buchheim, Joseph Chang, Heather Gregersen, Erik Kling, Allen Del Mar Oka & Eddie Pittman Written by : Alex Estrada Storyboard by : Su Jen Buchheim, Rufino Roy Camacho II, Erik Kling, Villamor M. Cruz & Tammy Manis	November 26, 2022 (2022-11-26)	113	0.18
"A Mammoth Problem": Gretel's science project, a glacier, is accidentally destroyed by Nordle, Professor Exclamation's son, releasing a woolly mammoth into the city. With Hamster preoccupied, the two must team up to stop it. "The Bantam of the Elementary School Light Opera": Gretel has to replace the lead role in the elementary school play, which she is nervous about due to her stage fright. All the while, a series of strange occurrences interrupt the production.
14	"Hamnesia" "Romancing the Scone"	Amber Tornquist Hollinger & Erik Kling Tricia Garcia	Written by : Jim Bernstein Storyboard by : Su Jen Buchheim, Heather Gregersen, Erik Kling, Allen Del Mar Oka & Eddie Pittman Written by : Jim Bernstein Storyboard by : Rufino Roy Camacho II, Erik Kling, Villamor M. Cruz & Tammy Manis	February 4, 2023 (2023-02-04)	114	0.13
"Hamnesia": Hamster gets amnesia after getting hit by a truck and is taken in by a boy named Billy, while Gretel and Kevin try to search for him. "Romancing the Scone": While Gretel and Nordle are forced to do a book report together, they encounter a scone that was given powers by the aliens, as well as a robot that attacks them. Meanwhile, Kevin takes Hamster to the vet.
15	"For Whom the Belle Trolls" "An Arthouse Divided"	Amber Tornquist Hollinger & Erik Kling Tricia Garcia	Written by : Valerie Breiman Storyboard by : Joseph Chang, Su Jen Buchheim, Erik Kling, Heather Gregersen, Eddie Pittman, Allen Del Mar Oka & Dota Sata Written by : Alex Estrada Storyboard by : Rufino Roy Camacho II & Heather Gregersen	February 11, 2023 (2023-02-11)	115	0.18
"For Whom the Belle Trolls": When a social media influencer named Belle starts a smear campaign against Hamster and Gretel to make them look bad, Bailey tries to clear their names. "An Arthouse Divided": At an advanced screening of a movie, a film producer named Arthouse forces people at the theater to watch his boring movie instead.
16	"The Litigator vs. The Luchador" "Strawberry Fest Forever"	Jordan Rosato Erik Kling	Written by : Amanda Domenech Storyboard by : Tammy Manis & Su Jen Buchheim Written by : Valerie Breiman Storyboard by : Rufino Roy Camacho II, Villamor M. Cruz & Derek Lee Thompson	February 18, 2023 (2023-02-18)	116	0.19
"The Litigator vs. The Luchador": When El Luchador escapes from prison, Hamster, Gretel, and Kevin sneak into a wrestling match to find him. Meanwhile, Carolina becomes suspicious of her sister, Kevin and Gretel's aunt Melissa "Meli", who appears to be hiding something from her. "Strawberry Fest Forever": Gretel and Carolina go to a Strawberry Festival, which is really an outrageous carnival. Meanwhile, Dave and Kevin visit their neighbor Mrs. Maybank for a repair job, but they get sidetracked by her storytelling.
17	"The Bottle Episode" "Micromanager"	Jordan Rosato Tricia Garcia	Written by : Alex Estrada & Joanna Hausmann Storyboard by : Mike Sobieski & Derek Lee Thompson Written by : Jim Bernstein & Joshua Pruett Storyboard by : Joseph Chang & Dota Sata	February 25, 2023 (2023-02-25)	117	0.17
"The Bottle Episode": A shopkeeper named Tchotchke Jones has been shrinking the world's landmarks and trapping them in bottles. He then traps Hamster, Gretel, and Kevin in a bottle, and Fred must save them. "Micromanager": Kevin gets a job at the "Small Burger" joint and tries to compete with another employee named Anthony, but they inadvertently help their manager with a scheme to destroy the neighboring burger joint, Tall Burger. Meanwhile, Hamster and Gretel start working out to stay in shape, but they soon get too sore to do much hero work.
18	"When Life Gives You Lemons" "Self-HEELP!"	Erik Kling Tricia Garcia	Story by : Joanna Hausmann Teleplay by : Alex Estrada Storyboarded by : Rufino Roy Camacho II & Heather Gregersen Written by : Amanda Domenech & Joanna Hausmann Storyboard by : Su Jen Buchheim, Rufino Roy Camacho II & Tammy Manis	March 4, 2023 (2023-03-04)	118	0.13
"When Life Gives You Lemons": Gretel and Bailey make a business deal with Nordle to gain more revenue from their lemonade stand, but are not thrilled with the results. Meanwhile, Kevin and Hamster play pool in Fred's basement. "Self-HEELP!": Fred is selected as a VIP guest for her cheerful mother's motivational seminar, but the event gets out of hand when a new villain arrives, plotting to attack the populace with geese.
19	"My Invisible Friend" "The Bitter Sitter"	Jordan Rosato Erik Kling	Written by : Jim Bernstein & Amanda Domenech Storyboard by : Su Jen Buchheim & Villamor M. Cruz Written by : Valerie Breiman Storyboard by : Joseph Chang, Dota Sata & Derek Lee Thompson	March 11, 2023 (2023-03-11)	119	0.18
"My Invisible Friend": During a supervillain fight, Gretel gets drenched in invisible ink, making her unable to attend Bailey's spelling bee. In the end, Bailey finds out that Gretel her best friend and Gretel the superhero are the same person, and she faints. "The Bitter Sitter": Continuing the story from "My Invisible Friend", Bailey is angry at Gretel for lying to her the whole time, while Lauren (The Destructress) babysits the two. Meanwhile, Kevin is forced to go to an interactive murder mystery play with Dave, Carolina, and Bailey's parents, only to find out that a lazy man is actually paying them to clean his house and fix his appliances.
20	"Let's Sea What You've Got" "Churro's Day Out"	Unknown	Unknown	June 24, 2023 (2023-06-24)	120	N/A

Shorts

Theme Song Takeover

As part of a promotional campaign, Disney Channel began airing the Disney Theme Song Takeover wherein supporting characters from different shows performed the theme song to the series they were in.

No.	Title	Original release date	Prod. code
1	"Kevin Theme Song Takeover"	September 17, 2022 (2022-09-17)	301
Kevin gets his own theme song takeover of Hamster & Gretel by the aliens while still trying to convince them to try to turn him into a superhero and have superpowers too like his sister and her pet hamster, but they still refuse.

Chibi Tiny Tales

Chibi Tiny Tales is a series of shorts that depict characters from various Disney Channel properties in chibi-style animation. In September 2022, the series began releasing shorts based around Hamster & Gretel.

No.	Title	Original release date	Prod. code
1	"Ice Cream Rewind"	September 24, 2022 (2022-09-24)	0048
When Professor Exclamation melts Hamster and Gretel's ice cream cones to spoil their day, they use the buttons on the video to get revenge and trick the villain into melting himself. Enraged at his humiliation, Professor pursues the two, but Hamster pushes the fast-forward button, resulting in Professor aging into an old man.
2	"Museum Mayhem"	October 1, 2022 (2022-10-01)	0049
While Hamster, Gretel, and Kevin are at the museum, Professor Exclamation comes to steal its items. While Hamster and Gretel fight the villain, Kevin must work to prevent the artifacts from accidentally getting destroyed. After Professor Exclamation is defeated, everything is put back.
3	"Rollercoaster Romance"	October 8, 2022 (2022-10-08)	0050
At a carnival, Kevin reluctantly agrees to ride a roller coaster with his crush, Hiromi. When a battle between Hamster and Gretel and Professer Exclamation causes havoc, Kevin tries to protect Hiromi without her realizing what's going on. After the coaster explodes, Kevin saves Hiromi and earns her affection.
4	"Laundry Day"	March 18, 2023 (2023-03-18)	TBA
Hamster and Gretel prepare to battle Professor Exclamation when he is terrorizing the city, but they discover that their superhero costumes are being washed. They try to find substitute costumes, but Kevin objects to all of them. Eventually, the washing machine stops, and Hamster and Gretel defeat Professor Exclamation just in time.

Release

Hamster & Gretel premiered on Disney Channel on August 12, 2022. The first five episodes of the series were added to Disney+ on August 17, resulting in episodes 3–5 being released prior to their televised premieres. Similarly, episodes 11–15 were added to Disney+ on February 8, 2023, resulting in episode 15 being released prior to its televised premiere later that week.

Reception

Critical reception

Brandon Zachary of CBR.com stated, "Hamster & Gretel delivers a new take on a lot of well-worn genres from Disney Animation. It's quietly a solid parody of superhero narratives, with one of the minds behind Phineas and Ferb helping usher in a new generation of bizarre heroes and villains. It's a down-to-earth cartoon sitcom focusing on a multicultural family dealing with some absurd situations. It's also a show where a hamster sometimes punches adults into submission – a very silly direction that was very much by design."

Tony Betti of LaughingPlace.com gave Hamster & Gretel a grade of 4 out of 5 stars, saying, "At only a few episodes in so far, the show has already started building a universe that is sure to become lush and full of details and recurring characters that we will likely see throughout. While the show already has a built-in villain-of-the-week premise, the setup has also been built to include overarching enemies and even non-threatening characters that we’ll see again and again. Namely cousin Fred, and Kevin’s crush. We also see hints at how expansive Kevin and Gretel’s family is, all of which will likely come into play in the weeks and months ahead, giving fans a world in which they can immerse themselves into when viewing and will likely keep them coming back for more. However, they need to figure out the target audience where those fans will come from first. Once they do, (and they still have time) it will be solid programming."

Diondra Brown of Common Sense Media gave the series a grade of 3 out of 5 stars and praised the depiction of positive messages and role models, stating the characters promote self authenticity, friendship, and helpfulness, while noting the diverse representations across the racial and religious backgrounds of different characters.

External links

• Official website
• Hamster & Gretel at IMDb