Total Drama Island (2023)
Total Drama Island (2023) (sometimes shortened to TDI23) is the first season[1] of the revival,[2][3] and the sixth season of Total Drama overall.[1] The series premiered in Italy on K2 and Discovery+ on April 10, 2023, and will expand internationally throughout the year. The series was produced by Fresh TV and Corus Entertainment, in association with Cartoon Network and the BBC, and distributed by Cake Entertainment.[4][5] This season takes place fifteen years following the events of the original Total Drama Island[6] and takes the contestants back to Camp Wawanakwa, the setting for the first, fourth, and fifth seasons.
| Total Drama Island | |
|---|---|
| Season 6 | |
 The Total Drama Island (2023) logo | |
| Starring |
|
| Country of origin | Canada |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Release | |
| Original network | K2 & Discovery+ (Italy) Cartoon Network & Max (U.S.) Boomerang (Canada) CBBC (U.K.) |
| Original release | April 10, 2023 – |
| Season chronology | |
Plot
Taking place fifteen years following the events of the first season of the original Total Drama, this season is a fictional reality show that follows the competition of sixteen new contestants at Camp Wawanakwa, a summer camp on a fictional island located in an unspecified area in Muskoka, Ontario. They spend almost 2 weeks (13 days) at Camp Wawanakwa competing in challenges for immunity. At the end of the season, one contestant will win C$1,000,000 (US$740,990.00). The competition is hosted by Chris McLean (Terry McGurrin, replacing Christian Potenza), who is assisted by the camp's chef and his co-host, Chef Hatchet (Deven Mack, replacing Clé Bennett).
At the beginning of the season, the sixteen campers are placed onto two teams of eight, the Ferocious Trouts and the Frogs Of Death. 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 elimination ceremony at night, where they vote one of their own members off the island. At the ceremony, Chris declares which contestants are safe by calling their name and giving them a marshmallow, while the one whose name is not called and is not given a marshmallow is eliminated from the game. The eliminated camper then must walk down the Dock of Shame to be taken away from the island by the Drone of Despair. For example, Caleb is the first contestant to be eliminated because they received the most votes from the other members of the Frogs Of Death.
About halfway through the season after MK’s elimination, the two teams are disbanded with only ten players left in the competition; the winner of each challenge then only receives invincibility for either him or herself, whereupon a camper without invincibility is voted off the island. This process of elimination is continued on until three players remain on the island, where then they are subject to a final contest. At the end of the season, Priya is crowned the winner. Bowie, however, wins in the alternate ending.
Episodes
| No. overall | No. in season | Title [7] | Written by | Original air date | U.S. air date | Prod. code | U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 120 | 1 | "New Teams, New Screams" | Jennifer Pertsch | April 22, 2023 | 2023 | 801 | TBA |
| 121 | 2 | "Pirates of the Cabbagean" | Terry McGurrin | April 29, 2023 | 2023 | 802 | TBA |
| 122 | 3 | "A Star Falls" | Sam Ruano | May 6, 2023 | 2023 | 803 | TBA |
| 123 | 4 | "A Skull-Based Game" | Miles Smith | May 13, 2023 | 2023 | 804 | TBA |
| 124 | 5 | "Trust Your Butt" | Neha Kohli | May 20, 2023 | 2023 | 805 | TBA |
| 125 | 6 | "Stranger Flings" | Laurie Elliott | May 27, 2023 | 2023 | 806 | TBA |
| 126 | 7 | "Dial BB for Big Bird" | Nigel Downer | June 3, 2023 | 2023 | 807 | TBA |
| 127 | 8 | "Taste Buddies" | Andrew Harrison | June 10, 2023 | 2023 | 808 | TBA |
| 128 | 9 | "Chris Better Have My Honey" | Ben Joseph | June 17, 2023 | 2023 | 809 | TBA |
| 129 | 10 | "A Pole Lot of Trouble" | Tony Tran | June 24, 2023 | 2023 | 810 | TBA |
| 130 | 11 | "Don’t Hurt Yourselfie" | Miles Smith | July 1, 2023 | 2023 | 811 | TBA |
| 131 | 12 | "Bad Becave-iour" | Andrew Harrison | July 8, 2023 | 2023 | 812 | TBA |
| 132 | 13 | "I Lava This Game" | Neha Kohli | July 15, 2023 | 2023 | 813 | TBA |
Characters
Total Drama Island (2023) features an entirely new cast of 16 contestants. This is the third time the series completely replaces any existing cast with an all-new cast. The new contestants competing are: Axel, Bowie, Caleb, Chase, Damien, Emma, Julia, Millie, MK (aka Mary Kate), Nichelle Ladonna, Priya, Raj, Ripper, Lauren (aka "Scary Girl"), Wayne, and Zee (aka Hezekias).
Hosts
| Character | Voice actor | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Chris McLean | Terry McGurrin | Host |
| Chef Hatchet | Deven Mack | Chef and co-host |
Contestants
| Contestant | Voice actor[8][9] | Team | Finish | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original | Merged | Placement | Ep. no. | ||
| Caleb | Kwaku Adu-Poku | Frogs Of Death | 16th | 1 | |
| Axel | Tamara Almeida | Ferocious Trout | 15th | 2 | |
| Nichelle Ladonna | Tymika Tafari | Frogs Of Death | 14th | 3 | |
| Lauren (Scary Girl) | Katie Griffin | Ferocious Trout | 13th | 4 | |
| Damien | Daniel Keith Morrison | 12th | 5 | ||
| Mary Kate (MK) | Kimberly-Ann Truong | Frogs Of Death | 11th | 6 | |
| Raj | Varun Saranga | Merge | 9th/10th | 7 | |
| Wayne | Jack Copland | 9th/10th | |||
| Ripper | Fred Kennedy | Ferocious Trout | 8th | 8 | |
| Hezekias (Zee) | Gerardo Gismondi | 7th | 9 | ||
| Chase | Julius Cho | 6th | 10 | ||
| Emma | Melanie Leishman | Frogs Of Death | 5th | 11 | |
| Julia | Julie Sype | 4th | 12 | ||
| Millie | Barbara Mamabolo | Ferocious Trout | 3rd | 13 | |
| Bowie | Brandon Michael Arrington | Frogs Of Death | 1st/2nd | ||
| Priya | Eman Ayaz | Ferocious Trout | |||
Elimination table
| Rank | Contestant | Team phase | Individual phase | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | ||||
| 1/2 | Priya | WIN | IN | WIN | IN | IN | WIN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | WIN | FINAL | ||
| Bowie | IN | WIN | IN | WIN | WIN | IN | IN | IN | LOW | IN | LOW | IN | ||||
| 3 | Millie | WIN | IN | WIN | IN | IN | WIN | WIN | LOW | IN | LOW | IN | LOW | OUT | ||
| 4 | Julia | IN | WIN | IN | WIN | WIN | LOW | IN | WIN | WIN | IN | WIN | OUT | |||
| 5 | Emma | LOW | WIN | IN | WIN | WIN | IN | IN | IN | IN | WIN | OUT | ||||
| 6 | Chase | WIN | IN | WIN | IN | IN | WIN | IN | IN | IN | OUT | |||||
| 7 | Zee | WIN | IN | WIN | IN | IN | WIN | IN | IN | OUT | ||||||
| 8 | Ripper | WIN | LOW | WIN | LOW | LOW | WIN | IN | OUT | |||||||
| 9/10 | Raj | IN | WIN | IN | WIN | WIN | IN | OUT | ||||||||
| Wayne | IN | WIN | IN | WIN | WIN | IN | OUT | |||||||||
| 11 | MK | IN | WIN | LOW | WIN | WIN | OUT | |||||||||
| 12 | Damien | WIN | IN | WIN | IN | OUT | ||||||||||
| 13 | Scary Girl | WIN | IN | WIN | OUT | |||||||||||
| 14 | Nichelle | IN | WIN | OUT | ||||||||||||
| 15 | Axel | WIN | OUT | |||||||||||||
| 16 | Caleb | OUT | ||||||||||||||
Color key
- Finalist: This contestant made it to the final of the competition.
- Win: This contestant won the challenge and/or was immune from elimination.
- Safe: This contestant was safe from elimination.
- Low: This contestant was at risk of being eliminated.
- Eliminated: This contestant was eliminated.
- Eliminated: This contestant quit, was evacuated, or got disqualified.
- This contestant is out of the competition.
Production
Development
On February 17, 2021, it was announced that two new seasons were being produced for Cartoon Network and HBO Max.[4] On June 22, 2022, it was announced by Cake Entertainment that the BBC had joined Warner Bros. Discovery as a co-commissioner for the new seasons and would air them on the CBBC Channel in the United Kingdom. In addition, the previous five seasons of the show and its spin-offs would be added to BBC iPlayer.[10][11][12] Terry McGurrin later clarified on Twitter that despite essentially filling the role of sixth and seventh seasons, the new seasons are instead being produced as a new series.[1]
Casting
Christian Potenza initially announced that he would reprise his role as Chris McLean from the original, having recorded his lines for the series by late September 2021.[13] However, in late March 2023, following the release of the first English trailer for the series, Terry McGurrin revealed that he would replace Potenza as the voice of Chris instead, citing it as a creative decision taken during development.[14] On October 27, 2022, it was confirmed in an interview with McGurrin on YouTube that Deven Mack would replace Clé Bennett as the voice of Chef Hatchet, reprising his role from the spin-off series Total DramaRama.[15] On April 5, 2023, Fred Kennedy announced on his Twitter account that he would be voicing Ripper, one of the contestants in the series.[9]
References
- McGurrin, Terry. "It's TECHNICALLY being produced as season 1 & 2 of a REBOOT… fans should think of it as seasons 6 and 7". Twitter. Archived from the original on 2 May 2023. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
- "Cartoon Network on Twitter "The 'TOTAL DRAMA ISLAND' reboot premiered on Warner Bros. Discovery's K2 in Italy April 10."". Twitter. Archived from the original on 2023-04-10. Retrieved 2023-04-10.
- "Terry McGurrin on Twitter". Twitter. Archived from the original on 2023-03-28. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
- "WarnerMedia Expands Kids & Family Offerings on Cartoon Network and HBO Max Under New Tagline Redraw Your World" (Press release). WarnerMedia. February 17, 2021. Archived from the original on February 17, 2021. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
- Bharanidharan, Sadhana (June 22, 2022). "It's Game On For Total Drama As BBC Co-Commissions New Seasons". KidScreen. Archived from the original on July 5, 2022. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
- Pertsch, Jennifer (2023). "New Teams, New Screams". Total Drama Island (2023). Season 1. Episode 1. Cartoon Network, HBO Max, Boomerang, & CBBC.
- "Total Drama Island (2023) TV Show - Season 1 Episodes List - Next Episode". next-episode.net. Archived from the original on 2023-04-13. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
- "Voice over artist credits". Reddit.
- Fred, Kennedy [@Fearless_Fred] (April 5, 2023). "Guys. GUYS! HUGE NEWS!!! I'm one of the cast members on the REBOOT of #TotalDramaIsland! Which debuts April 22 on #CartoonNetworkCanada! And I play the worst character on the show RIPPER. He is terrible and I love him for it!" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 24 April 2023. Retrieved 5 April 2023 – via Twitter.
- "Hit animated reality series 'Total Drama' arrives on CBBC". June 22, 2022. Archived from the original on March 27, 2023. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
- "BBC agrees deal with Cake for six series of Total Drama tween franchise". Archived from the original on 2023-03-27. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
- "Hit Animated Reality Series Total Drama finds new UK home on CBBC". Archived from the original on 2022-12-06. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
- JZProductions26. Da Bois Podcast: (DBP) Ep 99: 6teen + Total Drama Voice Actor Christian Potenza. Archived from the original on September 29, 2021. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via YouTube.
- McGurrin, Terry [@standupmonkey] (December 9, 2022). "It's TECHNICALLY being produced as season 1 & 2 of a REBOOT, but we mention years have passed since Chris and Chef welcomed new contestants, so with previous seasons being acknowledged in this reboot fans should think of it as seasons 6 and 7. Sorry for making it complicated. 🤣" (Tweet). Retrieved 5 April 2023 – via Twitter.
- Da Bois Podcast: (DBP) Ep 155: Total Drama Writer + Voice Actor + Comedian Terry McGurrin, archived from the original on 2022-10-26, retrieved 2022-10-27
