Total Drama

Total Drama
GenreComedy drama
Mockumentary
Reality[1]
Satire
Created by
Directed by
  • Todd Kauffman (seasons 1–2)
  • Mark Thornton (seasons 1–2)
  • Keith Oliver (season 3–Present)
  • Chad Hicks (seasons 3–5)
Starring
Theme music composerVoodoo Highway Music & Post Inc.
Opening theme"I Wanna be Famous!"
Ending theme"I Wanna be Famous!"
(Alt. Arrangement)
Composers
  • Brian Pickett
  • James Chapple
  • Dave Kelly
  • Greame Cornies
Country of originCanada
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons6
No. of episodes145 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
Running time22 minutes
44 minutes (specials)
Production companiesFresh TV
Elliott Animation
Corus Entertainment (season 6-present)
Original release
NetworkCartoon Network (Canada)
Cartoon Network (United States)
ReleaseJuly 8, 2007 (2007-07-08)[2][3] –
present
Related
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Total Drama (often shortened as TD) is a Canadian animated television series created by Jennifer Pertsch and Tom McGillis that premiered on Teletoon (now Cartoon Network) in Canada on July 8, 2007, and on Cartoon Network in the U.S. on June 5, 2008.[7] The series is both a homage and satire of common conventions from reality television competition shows like Survivor.[8]

Each season revolves around a group of teens competing in an elimination-style competition, in that the contestants compete in challenges both as teams and individually for rewards and immunity from elimination. The teams merge roughly halfway through the competition into individuals. As the contestants develop relationships with each other, they are progressively eliminated from the game. When there are only two or three contestants remaining, they compete in a final challenge where the winner is awarded a cash prize: C$100,000 (US$73,129.00) in the first season, or C$1,000,000 (US$731,485.00) from the second season onward. The series currently consists of six seasons (Island, Action, World Tour, Revenge of the Island, the officially two-part All-Stars and Pahkitew Island (although separate seasons), and the two-part revival of Total Drama Island (the same as Pahkitew and All-Stars)).[9]

Total Drama has developed a cult following and spawned a franchise. A spin-off series, Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race, premiered on September 7, 2015.[10] A second spin-off series, Total DramaRama, premiered on September 1, 2018, in the U.S., and on October 7, 2018, in Canada.[5][6]

It was announced on February 17, 2021 that a revival of Total Drama had been greenlit, with two new seasons being produced for Cartoon Network and HBO Max in the United States, Cartoon Network in Canada, and CBBC in the United Kingdom.[11][12] Both seasons serve as a soft-reboot of the original series, and none of the original voice actors reprise their roles nor returning any of the previous contestants due to timeline and casting[broken anchor] mandates.[13] The first part came out in Italy on April 8, 2023, with the original English version being available on Discovery+ in the region, and will later see an international extension.[14] Despite being announced as two seasons, the reboot was later revealed in the end credits to be one season,[15] similar to the fifth season.

  1. ^ "Amazon.com: Total Drama Action Season 1: Amazon Video". Amazon. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  2. ^ "Elliott Animation – Productions – Total Drama Island". Archived from the original on October 7, 2008.
  3. ^ "Total Drama Island: GOPHERS vs. BASS".
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference race was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Foster, Elizabeth (December 19, 2017). "CN, Teletoon open up Total Drama Daycare". KidScreen. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  6. ^ a b "Corus unveils 2018/19 kids programming slate". June 4, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
  7. ^ Thorny (June 3, 2008). "Howdy Neighbour!... (or is it neighbor?)". Total Drama Action. Retrieved June 11, 2008.
  8. ^ Bailey, Katie (July 17, 2014). "It's no drama making Total Drama a success". Retrieved November 11, 2022.
  9. ^ "Teletoon Canada Inc. | Inspector Gadget Reboot Tops Off Teletoon Canada's Latest Original Production Slate". Newswire.ca. June 11, 2013. Archived from the original on July 7, 2013. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  10. ^ Milligan, Mercedes (August 24, 2015). "'Total Drama: The Ridonculous Race' Debuts Sept. 7". Animation Magazine. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  11. ^ "WarnerMedia Expands Kids & Family Offerings on Cartoon Network and HBO Max Under New Tagline Redraw Your World" (Press release). WarnerMedia. February 17, 2021. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
  12. ^ Bharanidharan, Sadhana (June 22, 2022). "It's Game On For Total Drama As BBC Co-Commissions New Seasons". KidScreen. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
  13. ^ McGurrin, Terry. "It's TECHNICALLY being produced as season 1 & 2 of a REBOOT". Twitter. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
  14. ^ Cartoon News Network [@CCNCartoonNews] (April 2, 2023). "The 'TOTAL DRAMA ISLAND' reboot will premiere on Warner Bros. Discovery's K2 in Italy April 10" (Tweet). Retrieved April 10, 2023 – via Twitter.
  15. ^ McGurrin, Terry. "It was a 26 episode order, so I guess for the purposes of copyright, insurance, and contracts that's how the legal papers were drawn up". X. Retrieved December 14, 2023.