The score for the show is by Jeff Rosenstock, and as awesome as his usual output. His signature ska punk style makes scenes more vibrant, and some tracks are even full lyrical songs.
Del tha Funkee Homosapien guest stars in one episode as "Deltron", writing original songs filled with funky fresh beats that capture the soul of hip hop.
The band Bad Moves also appeared as themselves in "Vulture's Nest" and performed their song The Verge, which is very catchy and has real punk vibes.
An anime cover of the theme song (translated word for word) was eventually released by Cartoon Network. A really banging remix accompanied by stunning animation.
Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: In the climax of "The Future is Cardboard", Craig and Carter manage to build a mech out of cardboard with packing peanut launchers and an emergency escape hatch. It can also explode the same way a metallic mech can.
"Sour Candy Trials": Craig undergoes a Mushroom Samba while trying to beat a sour candy trial. His dad appears as a cyborg, Bernard as a lemon, his mom as a warrior princess, and Jessica as a magical girl. It ends with Craig seeing the hallucinations in the sky, and J.P. mentions he can see them as well.
"The Dream Team": Craig somehow creates a coffee table out of thin air, there's a reference to a Noodle Incident involving a go kart and a hole in the garage roof, Craig and Bryson inexplicably have Spider-Man powers, Craig instantly becomes an old man and is almost claimed by Death, Grandma Jojo breaks the fourth wall, and Gus The Cat talks. It's a trip, to be sure!
Creator's Pet: Jessica is clearly a favorite of the writers, she is more focused than any other supporting character and everyone In-Universe loves or praises her for even the smallest things she does, as well as being included in various subplots that have nothing to do with her. However, several viewers see her as nothing more than an annoying little girl who has no growth other than to complicate the plot of her focus episodes while Kelsey and J.P. are pushed to the side, with Craig taking a level in jerkass to make her look better. It also doesn't help that more interesting members of the Williams family or Creek kids are overshadowed to give Jessica more focus.
Continuity Lockout: Not to the extent of fellow Cartoon Network original Steven Universe, but there are more than a few episodes that you won't understand without watching the series from the beginning.
Tabitha and Courtney, because they're goth wiccans who are also girlfriends.
Craig's college-aged cousin Jasmine only has a few scenes in "Cousin of the Creek" but got some fans due to her cool sense of style and the reveal that she has a girlfriend.
Sparkle Cadet has risen to popularity thanks to her role as a black, girly Magical Girl Warrior who promotes positivity.
Stacks, aka Isabella Alvarado, also has plenty of love because of her love of reading and how Adorkable she gets.
The titular Helen of "Doorway To Helen". Many a fan of the show is clamoring for her to make a return and pal around with the creek kids
Due to Jason being willing to put himself in danger by joining the ranks of King Xavier to spy on him for Craig in the Capture the Flag special Jason has risen in popularity.
Although they didn't attract much attention at first, after doing a Heel–Face Turn after Xavier's defeat and becoming good friends with Craig, the former Champions of the King have begun to gain fans who adore them for their outstanding designs and unique qualities.
Fandom Rivalry: With the South Park fandom. The source of conflict is regarding how SP fans often invade the tags of COTC on Tumblr, as one of their main ships features two boys, Craig Tucker and Tweek Tweak, whose naming conventions are similar to that of the show. One way to circumvent this is to type in "craig of the creek" in the search bar and clicking on "tagged", so you only see posts related to COTC. The same also works for the South Park ship, but with just "creek".
The series gets a lot of positive comparisons to Disney's Recess. As they both have similar tones and ideas, involving characters playing out doors and following rules set by children-based "society" of the creek, very similar to the Playground of Third Street School. In the same vein, these aspects of Craig of the Creek are also why the Codename: Kids Next Door fandom are fans of the show as well.
Since the creators worked on Steven Universe before, most of that show's fandom decided to check the show out.
I Knew It!: The episode "Breaking the Ice" confirmed Wildernessa having a crush on Craig, which many fans thought due to her condescending attitude towards him.
Jerkass Woobie: Jason is an entitled, snobby bastard, but "Scout Guest" paints him in a sympathetic light. It is strongly implied that Jason's parents are absent and/or neglectful, even locking him out of the house. His stepmom cares more about chihuahuas than her stepson, and his father never praises him directly, only bragging about him to other parents. This causes Jason to double down on his duties as a Forest Scout, hoping that his dad will praise him directly just once. It makes you want to jump into the TV and give Jason a hug.
Launcher of a Thousand Ships: Craig has possibly the most Fanon ships of any character on the show. Some of the more notable ones involve him with Kit, Jason, Helen, Omar, Wildernessa, Diane, Sparkle Cadet, or Sewer Queen.
LGBT Fanbase: Not surprisingly, the show is a favorite among the LGBT cartoon watching crowd. Thanks in no small part to the numerous positive portrayals of openly gay characters—Tabitha and Courtney, JP's sister Laura and her girlfriend Kat, the Honeysuckle Rangers Raj & Shawn, George and The Secret Keeper, the celebrity chef couple Ash and Ajan, Kelsey and Stacks, and Craig's cousin Jasmine, who nonchalantly admits to having a girlfriend.
Magnificent Bastard: "Hyde & Zeke": Hyde & Zeke are identical twin brothers who specialize in hide-and-seek. Zeke, who has a piece of the map to the Heart of the Forest on hand, enlists the Stump Kids' help in finding Hyde, claiming he's been lost in a two-summer-long hide-and-seek game. When Craig challenges a still-unseen Hyde to find them, he proves to be just as good at seeking as hiding, capturing the other Stump Kids and tying them to the top of the Counting Tree after blindfolding them. All the while, subtle hints left by Zeke convince Craig that the two are one kid, leading Hyde to easily switch places with Zeke, admit "defeat", and give them the piece. Having gotten the fun game they wanted, the brothers—implied to be part of a whole collective of brothers—proceed to seek out their next victims.
"Dog Decider" has Craig having his sandwich licked by the dog Fred and then eating the part covered in dog drool. Even Bridget is visibly disgusted by this despite forcing her smile.
The start of "Fort Williams" gives us Craig's infected, swollen, pus-filled eye, complete with a disturbingly detailed close-up.
"Stink Bomb": When Eliza demands Mortimor fly her to safety, she hallucinates his face moving to the back of his head, growing an arm to remove his thimble gas mask and saying "No" very slowly with a human mouth and a Voice of the Legion.
Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: In her initial first appearance, Wildernessa wasn't particularly popular with the fandom due to her Know-Nothing Know-It-All attitude toward animals and her arrogant, condescending attitude toward Craig. Her second major appearance in "Breaking the Ice" ended up redeeming her in the eyes of most fans though, thanks to an explanation for her behavior and Craig calling her out on how she treats him and others.
Squick: In the episode "The Other Side", J.P. throws a sandwich at Maya who then calmly eats it. It's only then that J.P. tells her the sandwich was in his underwear.
Stoic Woobie: Omar used to be young and brimming with life, and had a lifelong best friend in Maya. But all that changed with Xavier became the King and Maya betrayed Omar just to be respected, leaving him a wanted fugitive. The Green Poncho became his mentor, but even she was caught, making him alone and obligated to spend the rest of his childhood defending the overpass as the new Green Poncho, when there are so many other things he could be doing, as he admits. This changed him into a hardened stoic, hiding his feelings and identity from anyone he doesn't know. Thankfully after the Capture the Flag war, he loosens up and is finally able to live a life a normal kid would (as normal as a young Master Archer can at the very least).
Strangled by the Red String: Some people feel this way about Craig and Wildernessa's development in "Puppy Love", noting Craig's feelings coming about as a result of a Love Revelation Epiphany as opposed to developing on their own over time. This becomes especially noticeable when comparing it to the development between Kelsey and Stacks as well as J.P. and Maney, who some note get more time to develop their relationships, despite being Deuteragonists, as opposed to Craig, who's The Protagonist. Not helped by the fact that "Craig to the Future", which briefly shows the two dating in a future scenario, was aired two days before "Puppy Love", resulting in fans bringing up the possibility that Craig got pressured into these feelings as a result of learning of that possible future. note When Cartoon Network released a compilation of Craig and Wildernessa moments on YouTube, they show the events of "Puppy Love" happening before "Craig to the Future", which may confirm that the episodes were aired out of order.
Watched It for the Representation: The series is incredibly popular with the black community for its positive black representation, as well as the numerous LGBTQ+ characters. And it only got even more popular amongst multiple communities as it went on as an increasing amounts of unique positive representation was shown throughout the various characters, such as the usage of Black American Sign Language with Jackie.
The Woobie: Helen, a homeschooled girl who plays in the Creek alone when Craig and the other kids are at school. She’s friendly, but seems to be rather introverted and lonely. And when she forms a connection with Craig, they barely get to see each other.
, which is very catchy and has real punk vibes.