When Planetina explains her origin, she describes Mother Earth enlisting help from four young adults from each major ethnicity (a spoof of El capitán Planeta y los planetarios (1990)). As an inside joke, the writers appear to suggest redheads are a major ethnicity. The show's creator, Justin Roiland, has red hair.
Planetina and her four "children" are all based on El capitán Planeta y los planetarios (1990), a 1990s cartoon made to create awareness of the needs for environmental protection. The teens were called 'Planeteers' who had rings carrying the powers of the elements that, when combined, would summon Captain Planet. Like in this episode, the four Planeteers were an American boy with the power of fire, a Russian girl controlling wind, an African boy with the power or earth, and an Asian girl with control over water; the only Planeteer not represented is Ma-Ti from Brazil, a boy who controlled the power of 'heart' (who may have been left out because 'heart' is not a traditional element). The villain called Diesel Weasel is most likely based on the show's Verminous Skumm, who was basically a rat-human hybrid (and voiced by frequent R&M actor Maurice LaMarche).
Planetina was voiced by Alison Brie, who starred in Community (2009) as Annie, which was also produced and created by Dan Harmon.