Credit: Inside the MagicThe Disney Channel is reportedly losing one of its most controversial programs after a troubling handful of years.
Disney’s Primos Canceled
Primos is an animated television series that aired on Disney Channel from July 25, 2024, to April 27, 2025. Created by Natasha Kline and produced by Disney Television Animation, the show is inspired by Kline’s own upbringing in a multicultural Mexican-American family.
The story centers around 9-year-old Patricia “Tater” Ramirez Humphrey, a spirited and imaginative girl whose summer takes an unexpected turn when her 12 cousins—referred to in the show by the Spanish term “primos”—move into her already bustling household. As Tater navigates the chaos and joys of having an extended family under one roof, she embarks on a journey of self-discovery, grappling with questions about who she is and who she wants to be–her “final form.”
Each episode of Primos consists of two 11-minute segments, often blending slice-of-life scenarios with whimsical and exaggerated sequences that reflect Tater’s personal diary entries. The result is a fast-paced, heartfelt exploration of family life through the lens of a young girl attempting to find her voice in a sea of personalities.
Despite its vibrant animation style and personal inspiration, Primos was met with significant backlash upon its release. Many viewers, particularly within the Latino community, voiced strong concerns about the show’s depiction of Mexican and Spanish-speaking cultures.
Critics argued that the series leaned too heavily into outdated stereotypes and failed to authentically represent the linguistic and cultural nuances of Latino heritage. One of the most prominent points of controversy was the use of incorrect or awkward Spanish phrases, which many bilingual viewers found jarring and insensitive. Some also felt that the characters’ exaggerated mannerisms and vocal inflections played into caricatures rather than reflecting the diverse realities of Latino families in the United States.
The show’s reception highlighted a broader conversation about representation in children’s media—specifically, who gets to tell culturally rooted stories and how those stories are crafted for mainstream audiences. While Primos was intended as a celebration of family and identity, the negative feedback it received underscored the challenges of navigating cultural authenticity within the framework of animated storytelling. Still, others appreciated the show’s attempt to showcase a large, lively Latino family on a major children’s network, even if the execution left room for improvement.
Despite the controversy, Primos found a home on Disney+, where viewers can stream the full season. Its run on Disney Channel marked an ambitious, if uneven, effort to center a multicultural narrative in children’s programming, sparking meaningful—if at times polarizing—conversations about cultural depiction and creative responsibility in media.
Now, following the end of the first season, it is reported that Disney Television Animation is not moving forward with a second season of the show. “Disney’s coming-of-age animated comedy — about Tater Ramirez Humphrey and the 12 chaotic cousins who move in with her family for the summer — indeed has wrapped production, but all 28 Season 1 episodes can be enjoyed on Disney+,” reported TV Line in a late May TV roundup. Comic Book said, “One controversial Disney animated series has come to an end after just a single season as it is not moving forward with Season 2.”
Disney Channel’s Future
The Disney Channel is vastly different from what it was years ago. Viewership on the Disney Channel has declined in the world of streaming services, including Disney’s own Disney+ platform. According to Statista, Disney Channel’s viewership in 2024 was 110,000 compared to approximately 2 million a decade previous in 2014.
Looking ahead, Disney recently dropped the teaser trailer for its next show: Electric Bloom. “The new musical comedy series Electric Bloom tells the story of how three budding BFFs–Posey (Lumi Pollack), Jade (Carmen Sanchez), and Tulip (Ruby Marino)–became ‘the biggest band in the world and the best friends in the universe,'” Billboard stated.
Disney Channel is known for launching the careers of many popular Hollywood stars, including Miley Cyrus, Zendaya, Jenna Ortega, and Sabrina Carpenter.
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