Total Drama Island

Total Drama Island (sometimes shortened to TDI) is the first season of the Total Drama series, a Canadian animated television series created by Tom McGillis and Jennifer Pertsch. The series premiered in Canada on Teletoon on July 8, 2007, and later in the US on Cartoon Network on June 5, 2008. The season has 26 episodes, each 22 minutes in duration,^[1] as well as a special 44-minute season finale.

Plot

Total Drama Island is set in the fictional titular reality show, which follows the competition of twenty-two unsuspecting and unwitting campers at Camp Wawanakwa, the most rundown, insect-infested, disgusting island in an unspecified area in Muskoka, Ontario. The campers participate in competitions and challenges that get more insane and dangerous each week to avoid being voted off the island by their fellow campers and teammates. At the end of the series, the winning contestant will receive C$100,000 (US$73,129.00). The competition is hosted by Chris McLean, assisted by the camp's chef, Chef Hatchet, who is also Chris's best friend despite being mistreated at times. Egotistical and immoral, unless something affects him legally, Chris places the show's contestants in various life-threatening challenges.

At the beginning of the season, the campers are placed into two groups of eleven, the "Screaming Gophers" and the "Killer Bass". In each episode, the teams participate in a challenge, in which one or more campers can win invincibility for their team. The losing team is called to the campfire that night, where the losing team vote one of their members off the island. The camper with the most votes is eliminated from the competition. At this campfire, Chris passes out marshmallows to the campers who have not been voted off, while the one who does not get a marshmallow must walk down the Dock of Shame to the Boat of Losers, which will take them away from the island (which is actually a hotel/resort quite close to the island with a pool and luxuries) and they will "never, never, never, ever, ever, ever, come back, ever" according to Chris (this was proved to be a lie in Episode 15, "No Pain, No Game", when he brought Eva and Izzy back into the game).

In Episode 14, the teams are disbanded, so it is every camper for themselves, after which the challenges continue; the winner of each challenge then only receives invincibility for themselves, whereupon the rest of the campers vote one camper without invincibility off the island (with a few exceptions where elimination is determined by the challenge itself). This process of elimination continues until two players remain where they are then subject to a final contest.

Total Drama Island is a parody of the reality show Survivor. McLean is very similar to Survivor host Jeff Probst.^[2] This is the first season in which the winner does not get to keep the money, due to it being eaten by a shark in the episode "Total Drama, Drama, Drama, Drama Island". The season finale, "The Very Last Episode, Really!" had two endings that changed whether Gwen or Owen won the season, with the winner depending on the country the season aired in. This tradition of two endings for each finalist was kept for the rest of the original series' run, and its spin off The Ridonculous Race. The following special, "Total Drama Drama Drama Drama Island" and season, Total Drama Action had alternate versions to acknowledge a specific ending in their episodes, but previous winners were simply never directly acknowledged following Action.

Episodes

Total Drama Island premiered on July 8, 2007, on the Teletoon channel. This season has 26 episodes, each 22 minutes long, and two special episodes.^[3] It was the third Cartoon Network show outside of Adult Swim and Toonami to have the U.S. rating of either "TV-PG" or "TV-PG-D", and a parental-guidance warning after every commercial break and at the beginning of the show (the first two being Sunday Pants and IGPX). Its rating in Canada was initially "G"; current broadcasts are rated "PG". <onlyinclude>

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Source for list:^[4]

Episode finale variations

For every season, the show's producers create two alternate endings for the final episode, such that the winner seen in one country's broadcasts is the runner-up in other countries (and vice versa) where the show airs. Owen is the original runner-up in Canada, but he is shown as the winner in Australia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, France, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latin America (Cartoon Network), the Middle East, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, Portugal, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Spain, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the United States.^{[citation needed]} Gwen is the original winner in Canada, but she is also the winner in Finland, Japan, Latin America (Boomerang and TBS), Norway, Poland, Romania and Sweden.

Characters

Staff

Contestants

There are 22 original contestants who competed in Total Drama Island. They are Beth, Bridgette, Cody, Courtney, DJ, Duncan, Eva, Ezekiel, Geoff, Gwen, Harold, Heather, Izzy, Justin, Katie, Leshawna, Lindsay, Noah, Owen, Sadie, Trent, and Tyler. Many of the characters return in later seasons either as contestants or as guests.

Season summary

Elimination table

Production

As Camp TV

Development began in 2003, as a project called Camp TV.^{[citation needed]} A later pitch was made in 2004^{[citation needed]}; both pitches were eventually rejected, however.^{[citation needed]}

On February 15, 2006, it was announced that Tom McGillis and Jennifer Pertsch were working on a project called Camp TV.^[5] According to Tom McGillis, Fresh TV was approached by Teletoon to create the show.^[6]

As Total Drama

Development

On March 27, 2006, the project was renamed Total Drama Island and the franchise was also renamed Total Drama. Production began in June 2006.^[7]

Writing

Tom McGillis and Jennifer Pertsch studied what tweens liked (and disliked) about reality television shows in the writing process.^[6][8] McGillis said that they used a "countrywide online research project" to determine what 9-to-14 year olds were watching.^[6][9] It was found that Canadian tweens enjoyed watching Fear Factor, Survivor, The Amazing Race, American Idol, and Canadian Idol.^[6]

Animation

The season was animated at Elliott Animation and was directed by Todd Kauffman and Mark Thornton.^[10][11] Fresh TV partners McGillis, Pertsch, Elliott and Irving produced the series.^[12] The budget for the series was US$8,000,000.^[13] It was animated in Flash,^[11] at Elliott Animation's studio in Toronto.^[12] All the characters were designed by Kauffman.^[14]

Confidentiality agreement

Every cast and crew member on Total Drama Island had to sign a confidentiality agreement not to disclose who the winner was.^[15]

Casting

Voice actors from the series 6teen have lent their voices for Total Drama Island.

Christian Potenza, who played the character Jude on 6teen, played the role of host Chris McLean. Potenza said that the best part of the job was that his character could not be voted off the show.^[16]

Emilie-Claire Barlow plays a recurring role as Chrissy on 6teen and plays Courtney on Total Drama Island. Barlow stated that Courtney was her favourite character that she had ever played.^[17]

Other voice actors from 6teen include Julia Chantrey as Eva; Drew Nelson (Kai) as Duncan; Megan Fahlenbock (Jen) as Gwen; Adam Reid (Wayne) as Justin; Stephanie Anne Mills (Kirsten) as Lindsay and Katie; Rachel Wilson (Melinda Wilson) as Heather; and Scott McCord (Stone) as Owen and Trent.

Reception

Ratings

Carole Bonneau, the Vice President of Teletoon stated that Total Drama Island, along with 6teen were "consistently top performers" for audiences of ages 6–11, and also helped to bring in older viewers as well.^[18] When Total Drama Island aired on Cartoon Network, it performed very well; The Toronto Star reported that, "in some age groups [Total Drama Island showed] a 500% ratings increase in [its] time slot."^[9] On December 11, 2008, Total Drama Island garnered 3.5 million viewers.^[19] That year, the series was the top "regularly scheduled Thursday night program at 9 p.m. on all television throughout third quarter among kids 2-11, 6-11 and 9-14," according to the Animation World Network.^[20] On Memorial Day weekend of 2009, a marathon of Total Drama Island increased viewership in age groups 2–11, 6–11, and 9–14, each by 20% or more compared to the same week in 2008.^[21] As of 2011, Total Drama Island has aired in over 188 countries.^[22]

Critical reception

Total Drama Island has received generally positive reviews. The series was nominated for a Gemini Award for "Best Animated Program or Series", shared by Tom McGillis, Jennifer Pertsch, George Elliott and Brian Irving.^[23] Common Sense Media gave the show 4 out of 5 stars, deeming it an "enjoyable, smart show" and finding that it appealed to all demographics.^[24] Matthew Price of The Oklahoman gave a mixed review of the series, stating that it "starts unbelievably slowly", but deeming that the later episodes effectively spoofed reality shows.^[25] Debi Enker of The Age gave a negative review of the season's last episode, calling the art, design and writing "lamentable."^[26]

Media

DVD releases

A DVD was released by Warner Home Video on August 18, 2009, in the United States. It contains all of the 27 episodes (including TDI Rundown) of season one of this series in a 4 disc set, for a total of 594 minutes long. In addition, its bonus features (entitled as X-tras) are the audition tapes of twenty two campers, played after each of their respective eliminations, as well as Izzy's second audition tape and her exclusive interview with Chris (the latter of which is shown after Eva's second elimination). In Australia, Total Drama Island is on Region 4 DVD as separate volumes. This series of discs contains the widescreen version with uncut scenes and original dialogue, as seen on Teletoon and ABC3. In reviewing the DVD for season, Matthew Price of The Oklahoman wrote that while the show started out "unbelievably slowly," the series became more interesting as campers began getting voted off. Price also praised the parody of reality shows.^[27] In another review of the DVD, Jeffrey Kauffman of DVD Talk wrote that the character development was compelling and that the parody of reality shows were very funny.^[28] Mac McEntire of DVD Verdict praised the character development as well, but noted that the show sometimes sinks to "lowbrow gross-outs".^[29] Both Kauffman and McEntire recommended the series DVD.

Total Drama Island: Totally Interactive!

Total Drama Island: Totally Interactive! was an online game in Canada and the US marketed in conjunction with the television series. It was produced by Xenophile Media. By registering a free account, the player could play games using a customizable avatar to earn points for marshmallows. Marshmallows are used as money in the game so the player can buy in-game items. The player who earned the most points had their avatar make a cameo appearance in the season finale.^[6][30] The games were based on the challenges in the show.^[6][31] Total Drama Island: Totally Interactive! was nominated for an Interactive Emmy Award in 2007.^[30] However, the website is no longer available, as it was replaced by Total Drama Online and the Teletoon and Cartoon Network official sites.^[32]

See also

• Battle for Dream Island, an animated web series inspired by Total Drama Island
• Mockumentary

Notes

1. ^ Sarah Gadon was credited as Sarah Gaddon in the closing credits.
2. ^ Owen was confirmed to be the canon winner by both Chris and Priya in episode 20 of Part 2 of the reboot of Total Drama Island.

References

1. ^ "Elliott Animation - Productions - Total Drama Island". Archived from the original on July 15, 2007. Retrieved July 31, 2007.
2. ^ Sagers, Aaron (September 1, 2009), "Pop 20: If Facebook were a dinner party", The Monitor
3. ^ "Elliott Animation – Productions – Total Drama Island". Archived from the original on July 15, 2007. Retrieved July 31, 2007.
4. ^ "Teletoon - Total Drama Island". Archived from the original on October 22, 2013.
5. ^ Simpson, Aaron (February 15, 2006). "The Reality of Camp TV". Cold Hard Flash. Archived June 29, 2006 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
6. ^ Javed, Noor (July 9, 2007). "New animated reality show Total Drama Island proves 'real factor' unnecessary". Whitehorse Daily Star. p. 15. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
7. ^ "Neptoon's Promo Washes Ashore". Cold Hard Flash. March 27, 2006. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
8. ^ Playback Staff (May 15, 2006), "Total Drama Island ribs reality TV", Playback, retrieved December 25, 2010
9. ^ Mudhar, Raju (January 11, 2009), "Canadian cartoon show sucking 'em all back in", The Toronto Star, archived October 5, 2010 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved December 25, 2010
10. ^ "TV Animation Director Mark Thornton Dies Age 55". Animation Magazine. May 6, 2025. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
11. ^ admin (June 29, 2007), "Title Drama Island", Cold Hard Flash, archived July 17, 2008 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved December 25, 2010
12. ^ Playback Staff (May 15, 2006), "Total Drama Island: And So It Begins", retrieved December 25, 2010
13. ^ D'Aprile, Annalisa, "L'Isola di cartone che prende in giro i reality" (in Italian), Kata Web, archived May 14, 2010 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved December 25, 2010
14. ^ Total Drama Island: Final 4^{[dead link]}
15. ^ Teletoon (June 24, 2007), "From the creators of the award winning series 6teen, the number one show on Teletoon, comes a truly unique reality show for kids", Channel Canada, archived December 28, 2008 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved December 25, 2010
16. ^ Rutherford, Krissie (November 3, 2006), "Newest role is 'every guy's dream' – Gemini-nominated Oakville actor has written his own dream role", Oakville Beaver
17. ^ Khaliq, Asma (March 1, 2007), "Up close with a familiar voice: From Sailor Mars to Timmy's ads, Emilie-Claire Barlow is someone you've definitely heard", The Toronto Star, archived from the original on August 13, 2009, retrieved December 25, 2010
18. ^ "Teletoon orders new series for fall", Media in Canada, retrieved December 22, 2010
19. ^ Levin, Gary (December 18, 2008), "Nielsens: Dallas, 'Boston' score key ratings wins", USA Today, archived February 8, 2009 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved December 25, 2010
20. ^ Moody, Annemarie (October 2, 2008), "Ratings Highlights For Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, Nickelodeon", Animation World Network, archived December 12, 2009 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved December 26, 2010
21. ^ Gorman, Bill (May 27, 2009), "Cartoon Network's Total Drama Island Earns Double Digit Increases", TV by the Numbers, archived from the original on October 25, 2012, retrieved December 25, 2010
22. ^ Stinson, Scott (October 13, 2011). "Stinson: CanCon on the Croisette at Mipcom". The Globe and Mail. Archived October 14, 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 14, 2011.
23. ^ "Fresh TV Inc. Celebrates Three Gemini Nominations for Top Rated Shows", ChannelCanada.com, August 27, 2008, archived August 5, 2009 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved March 21, 2009
24. ^ Antonia, KJ Dell (June 6, 2008). "Total Drama Island". Common Sense Media. Archived May 26, 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
25. ^ Price, Matthew (September 25, 2009). "DVD Review: "Total Drama Island: The Complete Season One"". The Oklahoman. Retrieved July 11, 2021.
26. ^ Enker, Debi (June 10, 2010), "Total Drama Island", The Age, p. 36
27. ^ Price, Matthew (September 25, 2009), "DVD Reviews", The Oklahoman
28. ^ Kauffman, Jeffrey (August 18, 2009), "Total Drama Island: The Complete Series", DVD Talk, archived June 19, 2015 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved December 25, 2010
29. ^ McEntire, Mac (August 19, 2009), "Total Drama Island: The Complete Series", DVD Verdict, archived from the original on October 31, 2010, retrieved December 26, 2010
30. ^ "Xenophile Media and Fresh TV Receive International Interactive Emmy(R) Award Nomination for Total Drama Island – Totally Interactive!", Canada Newswire, March 6, 2008
31. ^ "BellFund Annual Report: 2006", BellFund, 2006, archived from the original on December 12, 2010, retrieved December 26, 2010
32. ^ "ACCUEIL - teletoon.com". Archived from the original on October 28, 2008. Retrieved October 5, 2014.

External links

• Official Total Drama Island blog
• Total Drama Island Interactive
• totaldramaisland.com
• Fresh TV announces Total Drama: The Musical
• Total Drama Island at IMDb