It’s almost time to head back to the island! Total Drama Island, the iconic Canadian animated send-up of reality TV, is coming back to our screens with two brand-new seasons! A favorite for many kids growing up in the late 2000s and early 2010s, the original series parodied reality shows such as Survivor, The Amazing Race, Fear Factor, and other competition-based series. Host Chris McLean would regularly place the contestants in comedic immoral and life-threatening situations with little regard for their safety.
Now, viewers are gearing up to head back to the island for all-new adventures with the Total Drama crew. With that in mind, let’s look at everything we know so far about the revival of Total Drama Island. What will the plot entail, and will it remain faithful to the original series? Can we expect our favorite cast and characters to return? When and where will the series debut? And what else should audiences know about the all-new Total Drama Island?
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Plot: What We Know
FreshTV
The original Total Drama series was an anthology, with each season featuring a new title and new locations and plots. The first season, Total Drama Island, originally premiered in Canada in 2007 and in the US in 2008. While it featured elements of many contemporary reality shows, it primarily was a parody of Survivor. Set on a terrible, rundown, and disgusting (and later radioactive) island in Ontario, Canada, the 22 contestants participated in competitions each week, with one or more contestants being voted off at the end of each episode. Those familiar with Survivor will recognize nearly the exact same formula implemented with Total Drama. Even host Chris McLean bore more than a passing resemblance to Survivor emcee Jeff Probst. Being an animated series, Total Drama regularly placed the contestants in dangerous situations without any regard for their well-being.
Additional seasons of the original included Total Drama Action, which took the same 22 contestants and placed them in an abandoned movie studio. They competed for prize money while performing challenges based on conventions of movie genres. Total Drama World Tour took the contestants to various countries around the world in a format borrowed from The Amazing Race. Total Drama: Revenge of the Island and Total Drama All-Stars brought contestants back to the original titular island. The final season of the original, Total Drama: Pahkitew Island, kept a similar feel but moved to a different island location.
Per a synopsis of the revival from WarnerMedia:
“The world’s most hilarious reality show is back and better than ever with two new seasons. With no parents, no phones, and no mercy, the new animated series will introduce an updated cast of quirky, iconic teen contestants as they face hardcore competition, brutal eliminations, and more drama than ever before. Total Drama Island is produced by Fresh TV for Cartoon Network and HBO Max, and distributed internationally by CAKE.”
As a revival of the first season, the new Total Drama Island will likely replicate all that made that first installment so successful. It may incorporate other seasons as well to capture the feel of the series as a whole. We will likely need to wait and see for more information and see how the production team will recapture all that made the original show so iconic.
Cast: What We Know
FreshTV
At this time, the revival has no confirmed cast members. Since we are getting an entirely new cast of contestants, it is highly unlikely that we will see the original voice cast reprise their roles. There is a possibility that some cast members may return as new characters, though nothing is confirmed yet.
However, we do know that Chris McLean is back as the series’ host, as is his right-hand man, the incompetent and intimidating camp cook Chef Hatchet. In the original series, Chris was voiced by actor Christian Potenza, with Cle Bennet voicing Hatchet. It is likely that these two will return, being the only voice actors to portray the characters in the run of the original series. Nothing has been confirmed yet, so we will have to wait and see if they return, along with any new additions to take on the new cast of campers.
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Release Date: What We Know
First announced in February 2021, the revival has no definitive release date as of now. We know that it will air on Cartoon Network, just as the original series did, and stream on HBO Max. The international distribution of the series will be handled by CAKE.
Given the typical turnaround time of producing an animation, fans could likely anticipate a premiere sometime around late 2022 or early 2023. Perhaps if the series is ready sooner, it could premiere this summer, which would allow it to coincide with the 15th anniversary of the original series’ premiere.
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Everything Else: What We Know
While the main series ended with Pahkitew Island in 2014, two spin-offs have been produced. The first, Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race, premiered in 2015, running for one season. That spin-off took the concept based on The Amazing Race from World Tour and expanded it into an all-new world-traveling adventure with mostly new characters. The second spin-off, Total Dramarama, took the characters from the original show and aged them down to toddlers, where they are raised by Chef Hatchet at a daycare. First premiering in 2018, the series is currently running on Cartoon Network in its third season.
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