Big City Greens is an Americananimated television series created by The Houghton Brothers that premiered onDisney Channel on June 18, 2018. The series follows the Green family—siblingsCricket andTilly, their fatherBill, and theirGramma Alice—as they navigate life in the bustling, fictional Big City after moving from their countryside home. Among the supporting characters are Cricket's best friendRemy, the children's mother and Bill's ex-wifeNancy, and their family friendGloria.
The series has received positive reviews from critics for its comedy, characters, and central family dynamic. The fourth season concluded in August 2025, and a fifth season was ordered in June 2024.
After losing his farm in the country town of Smalton, Bill Green and his two children, Cricket and Tilly, move in with his mother, Alice Green (Gramma), who lives on a small farm in the middle of a city known as "Big City". They have different misadventures there and occasionally contend with a crooked supermarket manager named Chip Whistler. Major recurring characters include Cricket's friend Remy Remington and café worker Gloria Sato.
By the second half of season three, Bill moves his family back to Smalton after regaining his farm. Starting in season four, Cricket, Tilly, and Bill balance between going back and forth from Big City to Smalton, where Nancy, Bill's ex-wife and the mother of Cricket and Tilly, manages the farm.
Cricket Green (voiced byChris Houghton) is a 10-year-old troublemaking, and mischievous country boy who is always barefoot. His middle name comes from his late paternal grandfather.[3] He is fascinated by every discovery he makes in Big City, but never knows what he might uncover. His naive, reckless, impulsive, troublesome, and hyperactive nature often lead him to cause conflicts for his family and throughout the city, but he is fundamentally a good-natured person; his actions are often as entirely self-serving as they are a misguided attempt to help his friends, family and others with their problems, and if those around him are blunt enough about his unpleasant moments, he will more than likely learn from them and not make the same mistake twice. He gets a job at Big Coffee in "Critterball Crisis" until it closed in "Chipwrecked". Later, he worked as a delivery boy at the Gloria + Green Café in the early episodes of Season 3, until his family moved back to Smalton in "The Move".
Tilly Green (voiced byMarieve Herington) is Cricket's older sister, with an eccentric and imaginative nature. She is frequently accompanied by Saxon, a homemade doll Tilly created out of an old sack. She is normally very cheerful, incredibly kind, and a pacifist by nature, though she has moments of selfishness, like her younger brother; this was shown in the episode "Mama Bird" when she was angry and jealous because the birds didn't show any affection towards her and instead favored Cricket. With that said, she is usually pleasant to be around.
Billiam Robert[4] "Bill" Green (voiced byBob Joles as an adult, Andre Robinson as a child) is Cricket and Tilly's father and Gramma Alice's son. A skilledfarmer, Bill is overprotective, cautious, and slightly forgetful, having lost part of a finger because of a hay baler accident, but competent all the same. It is later revealed that his full name is Billiam Robert Green.
Alice Delores[5] Green, often referred to as Gramma Alice (voiced byArtemis Pebdani), is Bill's cantankerous and combative mother and Cricket and Tilly's paternal grandmother, who owns the Green family farm in Big City. She frequently exhibits this behavior to hide her love and affection for her family.
Remy Remington[6] (voiced byZeno Robinson) is Cricket's best friend, whom he meets shortly after moving to Big City. He comes from a rich family – being optimistic and fun-loving, but he also struggles with his self-confidence. He later tags along with the Greens in their move back to Smalton.
Nancy Green (née Mulligan;[7] voiced byWendi McLendon-Covey as an adult, Candace Kozak as a child) is Cricket and Tilly's mother and Bill's ex-wife. A former biker with a rebellious streak, she was briefly incarcerated for trying to free cows from a factory before being released after the family moved to Big City. While they are divorced, she and Bill remain good friends and she is a frequent presence in the children's lives. Nancy even moves with the family when they buy their farm in Smalton back and continues to run the farm when they return to Big City.
Gloria Sato[8] (voiced byAnna Akana) is the formerbarista at Big Coffee, who becomes friends and co-workers with Cricket. She dreams of one day saving up enough money to leave Big City and move toParis. After "Chipocalypse Now", Gloria, who lost her Big Coffee job, getsevicted from her apartment and moves in with the Greens. In the Season 2 finale, "Gloria's Cafe" she and the Greens open the Gloria + Green Café.
Phoenix (vocal effects provided byDee Bradley Baker, speaking voice provided byJameela Jamil in "Animal Farm" and "Homeward Hound") is the Green family's pet dog. Her speaking voice is shown in the episodes featuring the farm animals.
Officer Keys (voiced byAndy Daly as an adult, Jason Maybaum as a child) is a muscular Big Citypolice officer with an overly cheery and oblivious personality. He can get serious at times when policing people.
Kiki Kitashima[9] (voiced by Monica Ray in 2018-2022,Stephanie Sheh in 2023-present), Westley "Weezie" Eastman[9] (voiced by Lamar Woods), and Benny (voiced by Luke Lowe) are a trio of children that frequently play with Cricket, Tilly, and Remy.
Brett Eze[9] (voiced byColton Dunn) is the Greens' easygoing next-door neighbor living in apartment #310 at 5309 West Elkins Street who works at an animal shelter.
Chip Whistler (voiced byPaul Scheer) is the main antagonist of the series, the Green family's rival, and manager of the Wholesome Foods supermarket, a parody ofWhole Foods Market. Arunning gag is that his attempts to defeat the Greens usually end with his front tooth chipped and a whistling noise coming out through it whenever he speaks (except for "Friend Con" in which all his other teeth fell out instead, and "Evil Family" where it does not happen), ironically making his name a descriptor. His front tooth would always be repaired by his next appearance. While having been launched out of Big City in his helicopter in season two with Mayor Hansock banishing him, he was thought to be dead until season four where he was revealed to have used the alias of "Norm Alguy". After that brief tenure, he began his plans to have his revenge on the Greens and Big City. He and allies enacted his plans to frame the Greens for ruining Big City. After Chip was defeated by Cricket with his teeth coming out, he and his allies were arrested by Officer Keys and the rest of the Big City Police Department. He was given a triple life sentence in prison.
Wholesome Greg (voiced by Shane Houghton) is a worker at Wholesome Foods who is nicknamed "Wholesome Greg" by his boss Chip Whistler. In season four, Greg was reunited with an incognito Chip Whistler as he realigns with him in Chip's plot to get revenge on the Greens and Big City. During the final showdown, Wholesome Greg surrendered after seeing Cricket best Viper Fang, Spider Fang, and Wolf Fang.
Babe (voiced byJune Diane Raphael) is a woman in Big City who Chip Whistler in his "Norm Alguy" alias fell in love with. When she found out his true identity, she surprised Chip by actually supporting him. After being defeated by Bill, Gramma Alice, and Tilly, she shared Chip's triple life sentence.
Vasquez (voiced byDanny Trejo) is Remy's loyalbodyguard who watches over him when Remy's parents are away. He used to be known as Tiger Fang when he was originally a member of the Order of the Fang where his defection to the Remington family contributed to the defeat of the Order of the Fang's unnamed master.
Rashida Remington (voiced byLorraine Toussaint) is Remy's well-to-do mother who works as alawyer.
Russell Remington (voiced by Colton Dunn) is Remy's father and Rashida's husband. He is a lawyer and formerfootball player for the Big City Bengals.
Ms. Miriam Cho[10] (voiced by Anna Akana) is the former owner of Big Coffee and Gloria and Cricket's boss. She only communicates via grunting (though other characters seem to understand what she's saying) until "Chipwrecked" where Chip Whistler bribes Ms. Cho into retirement which results in Big Coffee closing. Upon leaving, she shouts "Peace out, my dudes!" Ms. Cho has not been seen since.
Andromeda (voiced byNicole Byer) is Tilly's best friend. She is aconspiracy theorist with a strong belief in aliens, supernatural phenomena, and government cover-ups. In her first appearance, she implies that Andromeda is not her real name.
Alucard Grigorian (voiced byMaurice LaMarche) is an old Armenian man who is the neighbor of Brett and the Greens living in apartment #204 at 5309 West Elkins Street and has personal issues with Gramma. His first name was revealed in "Chipocalypse Now".[9]
Gabriella Espinosa (voiced byJenna Ortega in 2019-2022, Nikki Castillo in 2023-present) is Cricket's friend and female counterpart. She's as troublemaking and rambunctious as Cricket is as well as sharing his interests. Prior to "Split Decision", she and Cricket were dating before Gabriella broke up with him to pursue new interests; however, she still remains on good terms with Cricket.
Gregly (voiced byTim Robinson) is Cricket's grumpy friend who has a habit of screaming everything he says.
Sue, often referred to as Community Sue (voiced byBetsy Sodaro as an adult, Monica Ray as a child), is the director of the Big City Community Center. She constantly shouts during conversations and regularly encourages others to adopt more health-conscious behaviors. Her last name is Lanemoto.[9]
Gwendolyn Zapp (voiced byCheri Oteri) is theCEO of the BigTech technology company. She is an eccentric and slightly mad inventor, creating high-tech products that tend to go haywire.
Good Ol' Joe (voiced byDarin De Paul) is Bill's best friend in Smalton who shares his interests.
Mayor Hansock (voiced byAndy Richter) is the bumbling, dramatic, eccentric, and man-childishMayor of Big City.
Viper Fang (voiced byJoe Manganiello) is aviper-themed member of the Order of the Fang and an old enemy of Vasquez. He and two of his fellow Order of the Fang Members Spider Fang and Wolf Fang later attacked Remington Manor while Vasquez was away and allied with Chip Whistler when he withstood Vasquez's attacks. When it came to Chip Whistler's revenge on the Greens which involved framing them for ruining Big City, Viper Fang, Spider Fang, and Wolf Fang were defeated by Cricket and were arrested by the Big City Police Department.
Doug Perkins (voiced byTom Gammill) is a neighbor of the Greens, Brett, and Mr. Grigorian living at apartment #204 at 5309 West Elkins Street.
Patti (voiced byBrooke Dillman) is the owner, manager, and chef of Patti's Diner in Smalton.
Wayne (voiced byTony Cavalero) is a waiter at Patti's Diner in Smalton.
Hector (voiced byHarvey Guillén) is Cricket's old friend from the Smalton Scrapyard.
Lupita (voiced by Rylee Alazraqui) is Hector's little boisterous sister.
Sunday (voiced byAli Stroker) is Hector's peace-loving girlfriend.
Tracy Hicks (voiced byKimberly Brooks) is a resident of Smallton.
Trey Hicks (voiced by Armen Taylor) is a pot-bellied shirtless resident of Smallton and the husband of Tracy.
Nick (voiced byBilly West) is Nancy's estrangedne'er-do-well father and Cricket and Tilly's maternal grandfather. He previously appeared in flashbacks in the episodes "Greens' Acres" and "Rat Tail" before appearing in Season 4 to meet and spend time with his grandchildren and the rest of the family. His last name is revealed to be Mulligan.[7]
Jade (voiced byLiza Koshy) is a girl who becomes the shift manager at Gloria + Green Café.
The series was pitched in 2012.[11] On March 4, 2016,Disney XDgreenlit the series under the title ofCountry Club.[12] The series is created by the brothers Chris and Shane Houghton, who originally worked onNickelodeon'sHarvey Beaks. Chris Houghton also worked as a storyboard artist onGravity Falls withRob Renzetti.[13] The series was later renamed toBig City Greens on July 21, 2017.[13] The show's animation is done entirely in traditional pen and paper as opposed to digital ink, although the colors are still done digitally. Animation is done overseas by Korean animation studios Rough Draft Korea and Sugarcube.[14] The theme song was written and performed byThe Mowgli's, and on July 28, 2017, a sneak peek of it was revealed at the 2017San Diego Comic-Con and was uploaded to Disney XD'sYouTube channel on the same day.[15] On June 7, 2018, it was reported thatDisney Channel had ordered a second season ofBig City Greens ahead of the series' debut.[16] On October 7, 2019, it was announced that the second season would premiere on November 4, 2019; however, it got pushed back to November 16, 2019.[17] On January 13, 2021, the series was renewed for a third season.[18] On January 21, 2022, the series was renewed for a fourth season, which premiered on September 23, 2023.[19][20] On June 11, 2024, the series was renewed for a fifth season.[21]
During production for the first season, an episode titled "Hands-On History" was in development, with the production number 110. The episode was directed by Monica Ray, from a story by Carson Montgomery, also being written and storyboarded by Caldwell Tanner and Cheyenne Curtis. It featuredMark Hamill in the role of Dr. Ponderstein, a sinister curator who ran amuseum.[22] The plot focused on Cricket and Remy at odds with one another, over Ponderstein's method of educating children. The episode was shelved when the Houghton Brothers found Remy's behavior in the episode unlikeable - they could not find a way to make the story work so early in the show's run.[23][24] On cancelling the episode, co-creator Chris Houghton stated, "[W]e killed that episode for the best of reasons: it just didn’t work. We broke and re-broke the story a ton of times. Reboarded it again and again. Sometimes the best course of action is to take your creation out behind the shed, ya know?"[25][26] Despite prior claims, the episode was revived for season four as "Rehashed History".[27]
When announced, the series was scheduled to premiere in 2018 onDisney XD;[12] however, on March 26, 2018, it was reported that the series would debut onDisney Channel in mid-2018.[28] On May 17, 2018,The Hollywood Reporter reported that the series would premiere on Disney Channel as part of Disney Channel's GO! Summer on June 18, 2018.[29][30] The series premiere was made available for streaming via theDisneyNow app and the Disney ChannelYouTube channel as of June 8, 2018.[31] Additional new episodes premiered every Monday and Wednesday at 10:00 AM throughout the summer. In addition,Big City Greens shorts began airing on Disney Channel and Disney Channel's YouTube channel on June 4, 2018.[29]
New episodes are frequently added toDisney+, sometimes before they even air on Disney Channel. For season one, the episodes are placed in "chronological" order, with some episode pairings getting swapped around to accommodate for this. Co-creator Shane Houghton revealed that the order presented on Disney+ is the true order.[32]
Bekah Burbank ofLaughingPlace.com praised the characters of the series, writing, "While the mischief and antics are super silly and completely ridiculous, the characters themselves are quite fun. Just like it is with every family, the quirkiness is what you come to love most about the people you spend time with. The Green family might not be perfect, but they’re positive, supportive, and optimistic no matter the situation. Everyone could benefit from spending a little time with this wacky family."[33] Dave Trumbore ofCollider asserted, "The animated series does a solid job of delivering fish-out-of-water laughs alongside some good, old-fashioned heart, making for a refreshing story that has one foot in the country and one in the city."[34]
Emily Ashby ofCommon Sense Media gaveBig City Greens a grade of four out of five stars and complimented the presence of positive messages and role models, writing, "Big City Greens is a quirky but heartwarming animated series about a family that moves from the country to the city and doesn't quite fit in. Despite mining familiar stereotypes of rural dwellers the show has strong family-centric themes and silly, lighthearted laughs."[35] Jaclyn Appelgate ofComic Book Resources rankedBig City Greens 5th in their "Best Currently Airing Kids' Cartoons" list, saying, "Both children and parents alike are entertained by the hilarious comedy and the lighthearted emphasis on family. Although the plot is simple in nature, being about a country family who goes to live in the big city, it's one of those shows viewers can rely on after a long day. Many fans even consider it a PG version ofThe Simpsons, which would explain why adults enjoy watching it as well."[36]
Along with a fourth season, a musical film was announced to be in development, with the series' main cast returning along withCheri Oteri andRenée Elise Goldsberry.[19] Series director Anna O'Brian will helm the film, with Michael Coughling producing.[50][19] The film is titledBig City Greens the Movie: Spacecation. It premiered on June 6, 2024, onDisney Channel, followed by its release onDisney+ the next day.[51][52][53] The events of the film take place during the fourth season ofBig City Greens. It is the first animated Disney Original Movie (banner used for Disney Channel's television films since 2023).
Meredith Roberts, EVP of Disney Television Animation, revealed that a spin-off series was being developed, though she did not specify what it would entail.[54]
A multiplayer game titledBig City Battle!, where players compete against each other in order to earn a place as a member of the Green family, was released on theDisneyNOW app.[29]
On March 14, 2023,ESPN presented a youth-oriented,Big City Greens-themed telecast of aNational Hockey League game between theWashington Capitals and theNew York Rangers—theNHL Big City Greens Classic —on Disney Channel,Disney XD, Disney+ andESPN+.[55][56][57] The broadcast leveraged the NHL Edge player and puck tracking system, combined with technology from Beyond Sports, to present a real-time3D animated recreation of the game; the teams' players were represented byavatars on an outdoor rink, withVincent Trocheck andEvgeny Kuznetsov being portrayed by avatars of Cricket and Tilly respectively (with their voice actors also using livefacial motion capture), and the goalies portrayed by Gramma Alice and Bill Green. Gloria and Remy also joined the game during the last few minutes. CommentatorsKevin Weekes and Drew Carter were featured viamotion captured avatars, developed by the animation studio Silver Spoon (which had previously worked withCBS Sports andNickelodeon on similar motion captured avatars for segments of youth-orientedNFL broadcasts).[58] The broadcast on Disney Channel drew approximately 140,000 viewers, while the Disney XD simulcast had roughly 30,000, for a total of 176,000 viewers.[59][60] In November 2023, it was reported that the simulcast would return in 2024, later specified as a March 9 game between thePittsburgh Penguins and theBoston Bruins.[61][62] The Disney Channel broadcast drew 125,000 viewers.[63]
Quotations related toBig City Greens at Wikiquote
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