Produced in-house by Netflix Animation, the show is McCracken's first to have a serialized format, as well as his second foray into the superhero genre, having previously created The Powerpuff Girls.

[1][2] Illustrated in a "retro 2D" style inspired by comics such as Dennis the Menace and The Adventures of Tintin, the series follows Kid, a young boy who gets a chance to become a superhero and fight evil aliens alongside other characters with different abilities.

[3][1] This team, with each member having a stone giving them a unique power, consist of Kid's grandpa, George "Papa G" (Old Man Many Men), who can create multiple clones of himself; Kid's friend Jo (Portal Girl), who has the ability to teleport; Rosa (Niña Gigantica), a four-year-old girl who can become a 40-foot giant; and Tuna Sandwich (The Precognitive Cat), a cat that can predict the future with a third eye on his forehead.

[2][6] In the second season, the Local Heroes are teleported into space and have to go on a quest to find the other eight Stones of Power to fight against Erodius the Planet Killer.

Upon completion of his Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends series in 2009, Craig McCracken planned a career in publishing his own comics or graphic novels, a more "intimate [and] direct approach to cartooning" in contrast to working with a large crew for a television network.

[1][12] After the cancellation of Wander Over Yonder, McCracken, alongside his wife Lauren Faust, his friend Francisco Angones, as well as several former Wander Over Yonder staff members including Andy Bean, Chris Tsirgotis, Justin Nichols and Dave Thomas, further expanded the idea and ultimately produced an animatic for a 22-minute episode.

"[20] Stylistically, the show is meant to resemble the visual look of classic comics such as Hank Ketcham's Dennis the Menace and Hergé's The Adventures of Tintin,[1][3] where every action is grounded in reality: "A lot of the choices that we made in Kid were based on the fact that these are real people in the real world [...] So with the animation we avoided overly smooth and flowy actions or lots of squash and stretch, things that you associate with cartoons," McCracken said.

[22] McCracken affirmed that some of the ideas explored within the show are also based on things that he personally experienced, such as the loss of his father at the age of 7, similar to the protagonist, who lost both of his parents.

[12] The dynamics between Kid and Jo are loosely based on McCracken's relationship with his older sister and are similar to those of Mac and Frankie in Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends.

[12] The series features music by composer and multi-instrumentalist Andy Bean, who had previously worked on soundtracks for animated productions.

Under the name of the show's fictional "70's psychedelic garage punk band" Dr. Fang and the Gang, the soundtrack features music and songs of the first season written, composed and performed by multi-instrumentalist Andy Bean.

[26] Adrián Carande from the Spanish magazine Cinemanía called it "a little miracle [that is] flawlessly animated" and brings McCracken back to his roots, while being "sincere" "fast-paced", and "effective".

[27] IGN's Nicole Clark said that the first season wrapped up with the side characters lacking development, instead focusing on Kid's emotional process as a superhero.

"[28] Karen Han from Slate magazine said that the season "is all about opening the gates and letting people in", with the main team "finally finding its groove" and a cliffhanger ending.

[29] Vulture editor John Maher included the show as one of the stand-out animations from early 2021, praising the "patient character development, subtle world-building flourishes, and a willingness to explore just how hard it is to grow up.

[31] Amanda Dyer of Common Sense Media described the series as a "fun superhero comedy teaches patience" but warned of the "mild violence."