| Total Drama | |
|---|---|
The Total Drama logo. |
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| Genre | Comedy / Animation / Drama / Action |
| Created by | Jennifer Pertsch Tom McGillis |
| Developed by | Fresh TV Inc. / Teletoon |
| Directed by | Todd Kauffman Mark Thornton Keith Oliver Chad Hicks |
| Presented by | Fresh TV Inc. / Teletoon |
| Theme music composer | Voodoo Highway |
| Opening theme | "I Wanna be Famous!" |
| Ending theme | "I Wanna be Famous!" (Instrumental) |
| Country of origin | Canada |
| Language(s) | English Canadian French European French Polish Latin Spanish Brazilian Portuguese Bulgarian Hungarian Romanian Dutch Danish Swedish Norwegian Italian Russian Catalan |
| No. of episodes | 91 (excluding specials) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Tom McGillis Jennifer Pertsch George Elliott Brian Irving |
| Running time | 22 minutes (excluding commercials) |
| Production company(s) | Teletoon Fresh TV Inc. Neptoon Studios |
| Distributor | Cake Entertainment |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Teletoon (CAN) Cartoon Network (USA) |
| Original airing | July 8, 2007 - present[1][2] (Canada) June 5, 2008 - present[3] (United States) |
| External links | |
| Website | |
| Production website | |
Total Drama is a Canadian animated television series that parodies reality television, with the characters consisting of the eponymous fictional reality series and the contestants therein. All of the contestants have distinct personalities that serve as a main plot point. The style of the series is similar to that of Survivor, Fear Factor, and The Amazing Race, but also takes elements of other widely known series such as Endurance, The Real World, Road Rules, Iron Chef, The Apprentice, Project Runway, American Idol, and The Challenge.
Contents |
The name of each season consists of the title Total Drama with a different word later in. That changing word defines the theme for that season; some having two or more words. Like most reality television series, this series is a competition but the grand prize being only cash; the first season having a prize of $100,000 and the rest at a million. Currently, only the second season is when the winner was actually able to take the money home and spend it, unlike how the money was given away and eaten by a shark in the first season, and was thrown into a volcano in the third season.
Every season takes place in a different location and may have different amounts of contestants, although some contestants may compete in more than one season. The first season is set in Camp Wawanakwa, a fictional island located in an unspecified area in Muskoka, Ontario. The second season is set in an abandoned movie studio lot in Toronto, Ontario. The third season takes the contestants all around the world in 80 days in the Total Drama Jumbo Jet, which seems to be structurally unstable. This season visits countries such as France, Japan and Egypt. However, the fourth season is set back at Camp Wawanakwa but this time with a new cast.
Total Drama was developed and produced by Fresh TV. The series was animated at Elliott Animation. The series was directed by Todd Kauffman and Mark Thornton of Neptoon Studios.[4] It is primarily targeted at twelve- to eighteen-year-olds, and the creators, Tom McGillis and Jennifer Pertsch, studied what teenagers liked and disliked about reality television shows in the writing process.[5] McGillis says they used a "countrywide online research project" to determine this demographic's likes.[6] Fresh TV Inc. partners McGillis, Pertsch, Elliott and Irving produced the series.[7] The budget for the first season was $8 million.[8] It was animated in Flash,[4] at Elliott Animation's studio in Toronto.[7] Every cast and crew member on Total Drama had to sign a confidentiality agreement not to disclose who the winner was.[9] All the characters were designed by Kauffman.[10] An early name for the series was Camp TV.[11]
Total Drama has a total of 38 contestants overall who have competed on all the four seasons. The first three seasons consited of an original set of cast, with a total of 25 contestants. The fourth season only consists of a new cast, with only 13 contestants. Most contestants have competed in more than one season, but only three have won. The names of all the contestants are Alejandro, Anne Maria, B, Beth, Blaineley, Brick, Bridgette, Cameron, Cody, Courtney, Dakota, Dawn, DJ, Duncan, Eva, Ezekiel, Geoff, Gwen, Harold, Heather, Izzy, Jo, Justin, Katie, LeShawna, Lightning, Lindsay, Mike, Noah, Owen, Sadie, Sam, Scott, Sierra, Staci, Trent, Tyler and Zoey. Unless otherwise stated, all contestants are 16 years old, as stated in the first episode of the series; by the time of the third season, the contestants have all turned at least seventeen.
The characters of the Total Drama series
There are several voice actors who have voiced the characters in the Total Drama series. Christian Potenza played the role of host Chris McLean and said that the best part of the job was that his character could not be voted off the show.[12] Emilie-Claire Barlow plays Courtney on Total Drama Island and stated that Courtney was her favorite character that she had ever played.[13] Other voice actors include Julia Chantrey as Eva, Drew Nelson as Duncan, Megan Fahlenbock as Gwen, Stephanie Anne Mills as Lindsay and Katie, Adam Reid as Justin and Rachel Wilson as Heather. Most voice actors have only voiced one character, but some have voiced two. Peter Oldring and Clé Bennett are the only two voice actors who have voiced three characters.
Total Drama first premiered on the Canadian cable television specialty channel Teletoon on July 8, 2007 but then the US started airing the show one year later, followed by other countries airing the series thereafter. Since then, Total Drama has become an international franchise, and one of the biggest successes for Teletoon yet. As of September 2011, Total Drama is shown in over 100 countries around the world while Cake Entertainment calls the show "phenomenally popular".[14]
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | Production line | DVD Release dates | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season premiere | Season finale | Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | ||||
| 1 | 28 | July 8, 2007 | November 29, 2008 | 1xx | August 18, 2009 | N/A | September 29, 2010 | |
| 2 | 27 | January 11, 2009 | June 10, 2010 | 2xx | N/A | N/A | November 2, 2011 | |
| 3 | 26 | June 10, 2010 | April 24, 2011 | 3xx | N/A | N/A | Late 2012 | |
| 4 | 13 | January 5, 2012[15] | April 2012 | 4xx | TBA | TBA | TBA | |
| 5 | TBA | 2012 | 2012/2013 | 5xx | TBA | TBA | TBA | |
There are currently four seasons in the Total Drama series which are listed below:
| Season | Title | Season Premiere | Season Finale |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Total Drama Island" | July 8, 2007 | November 29, 2008 |
| Total Drama Island is a Canadian animated television series which lampoons the conventions commonly found in reality shows. It premiered on the Canadian cable television specialty channel Teletoon on July 8, 2007. The show takes place at Camp Wawanakwa, a fictional island located somewhere in Muskoka, Ontario. The season is based on a summer camp theme, although a contestant is eliminated at the end of every episode. The series is a competition to see which of the 22 contestants will last longer on the island, much like the series Survivor. The contestants are brutally tortured, squished and even bruised along the way through the intense challenges they are given. Challenges are sometimes based on other reality shows like Fear Factor. All of this is so the winner of the season, the one to last the longest on the island and not get eliminated, will win a small fortune of $100,000, and cheesy fame. This is the largest season in the entire series (as in eliminations and contestants). | |||
| 2 | "Total Drama Action" | January 11, 2009 | June 10, 2010 |
| Total Drama Action is the second season of the series. The show premiered on Teletoon Canada at 6:30 pm ET/PT[16] on January 11, 2009 and June 11 in the U.S. It is a sequel to the first season of the series, Total Drama Island. This is the only season for Teletoon to not air a new episode every week. Fifteen characters from Total Drama Island returned: Gwen, Courtney, Heather, Lindsay, Harold, Duncan, Owen, LeShawna, Trent, Geoff, Bridgette, Justin, DJ, Izzy, and Beth. In this season, the contestants are taken to a brand new location: an old film lot in the center of Toronto, Ontario. The challenges are based on movie genres, and the grand prize has been multipled by ten to now be $1,000,000. Cody, Tyler, Katie, Sadie, Noah, Ezekiel, and Eva do not return to compete. However, they still appeared for TDA Aftermath, an extra show which was hosted by Geoff and Bridgette, the first two eliminated contestants. | |||
| 3 | "Total Drama World Tour" | June 10, 2010 | April 24, 2011 |
| Total Drama World Tour is the third season of the series. The series extension was commissioned by Teletoon from the producers, Fresh TV, Inc.[17] In this series, 17 contestants are taken on a trip around the world, and compete in cultural themed challenges of the countries or regions they visit. An added twist this season is that they are required to break spontaneously into song, or else be immediately eliminated (although this rule has not been strongly enforced, and many manage to get away with not singing anyway). Fifteen of the original characters from Total Drama Island returned: Owen, Izzy, Duncan, Courtney, Bridgette, Gwen, Cody, Harold, Noah, Lindsay, DJ, Heather, LeShawna, Ezekiel, and Tyler. Two new characters, Alejandro and Sierra, joined the cast at the beginning of this season. Additionally, a third new character, Blaineley, was brought on to compete past the halfway point of the season, although she didn't last very long. However, Geoff, Eva, Justin, Beth, Trent, Katie, and Sadie did not return to compete, but have instead appeared for TDWT Aftermath. The prize for this season is, once again, $1,000,000. | |||
| 4 | "Total Drama: Revenge of the Island" | January 5, 2012 | April 2012 |
| Total Drama Revenge of the Island is the fourth season of the series. The series' extension was commissioned by Teletoon from the producers, Fresh TV Inc.[18] It will premiere on Canada and the U.S. in 2012. The show will return to Camp Wawanakwa, the original setting of the first season, but no contestants from previous seasons will return. Instead only a new cast will compete, which are Anne Maria, B, Brick, Cameron, Dakota, Dawn, Jo, Lightning, Mike, Sam, Scott, Staci and Zoey. However, the original cast will still have cameo appearances throughout the season.[19] Due to the island being abandoned for the past two seasons, the island has now turned radioactive,[20] but radiation will be the main theme for this season. This season will only be half the length of a regular season with 13 episodes,[21] and it is unknown whether it will contain aftermath shows. The cash prize is once again $1,000,000. | |||
| 5 | "TBA" | TBA | TBA |
| On June 28, 2011, Christian Potenza first mentioned a fifth season of Total Drama. This was the first time a cast member mentioned a fifth season to the public.[22] It is possible the theme for the season will be "Heroes vs. Villains" as mentioned by Cory Doran.[23] However, due to the extensive delays of Season 4, the production of Season 5 has halted for several months, and now can't continue until Season 4 is done, leaving the originally planned airdate of Summer 2012 unlikely, or even 2012 at all. Season 5 will see some of the original cast returning to compete, as stated by Christian Potenza on an interview with a fan.[24] It is still unknown whether the new cast will also compete in this season. | |||
The first season, Total Drama Island received general acclaim from critics and fans. Users from TV.com gave the show an 8.6 "Great",[25] while users from IMDB gave it a 7.5 out of 10.[26] Commonsense Media gave the show 4 out of 5 stars, stating "Clever cartoon reality show spoof OK for older tweens".[27] The third season, Total Drama World Tour, has also received critical acclaim from critics and won multiple awards including "Best Animated Series", "Best Voice Actress", and was also nominated for several other awards. As of 2011, the first season has been shown in over 188 countries[28] while the entire franchise has been seen in at least 100.
Up until late October 2011, only Total Drama Island had been released into DVD. Cartoon Network released their DVD in the U.S. by Region 1 on August 18, 2009 and Australia released their DVD by Region 4 on September 29, 2010.[29] However, after 2 years since Total Drama Action was first aired, Australia finally released their Region 4 DVD of the second season on November 2, 2011.[30][31] Australia is the only country that has Total Drama Action available on a home video format.
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