Total Drama All-Stars and Pahkitew Island


Total Drama All-Stars and Total Drama Pahkitew Island are two different seasons that have 13-episode segments that both make up the fifth and final season of the Canadian animated television series, Total Drama. The season was commissioned by Cartoon Network in October 2012, ordering 26 episodes. It is a sequel to Total Drama Island, Total Drama Action, Total Drama World Tour, and . The season was produced by Fresh TV and the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network and distributed by Cake Entertainment. Owing to the series' premise, the season presents itself as a parody of reality television series, such as Survivor.
The entire season first premiered in the United States starting on September 10, 2013 on Cartoon Network with the first part, while the second part premiered in the United States on July 7, 2014 for a two-week time period. In Canada, the first part premiered on Teletoon during their "Can't Miss Thursdays" time slot starting January 9, 2014, while the second part of the season also premiered during their "Can't Miss Thursdays" time slot on Teletoon starting on September 4, 2014. The second half of the season also premiered on the APTN network in 2015.

Synopsis

Just like Total Drama: Revenge of the Island before it, this season also consists of 13 episode segments; even though it brings back the traditional 26-episode length of the first three seasons. The winning characters for part 1 are either Mike or Zoey, and the winning characters for part 2 are either Shawn or Sky. The total grand prize for this season is C$2 million, which is split in half across both parts.

Part 1

Total Drama All-Stars is the first part of the season. Christian Potenza first announced the season in an interview with Tom McGillis, saying that Total Drama All-Stars would be very similar to Total Drama Island and ', due to the high worldwide ratings of the latter. That means that this part of the season takes place back at Camp Wawanakwa; in a single location once again, unlike Total Drama World Tour. This part is also very similar to the previous season, '.
This half is an all-star season which features a return of fourteen of the strongest contestants from both the first and second generation cast. This is the first season to feature characters from two different generations competing together. The theme for this season is "Heroes vs. Villains" which means the competitors were separated into teams based on their past performance; with Heroes" from each season having to face off against each season's "Villains". Both the season's first title, "" and the "" theme take after respective seasons from Survivor.
Cartoon Network's official synopsis describes the first part, Total Drama All-Stars as:

Part 2

Total Drama Pahkitew Island is the second part of the 26 episodes that Cartoon Network ordered in 2012 for the fifth season. It was first announced on June 11, 2013 as a sixth season, even though it is still part of Season 5. This part features an entire new cast considered as the third generation of Total Drama characters and takes place at a brand new island, due to Chef Hatchet using a land drill to sink Camp Wawanakwa in the episode, "The Final Wreck-ening". This new island is the first new main setting in the series since Total Drama Action.
Part 2 aired in North America throughout the second half of 2014, but Italy was the first country to air Total Drama Pahkitew Island starting on June 13, 2014. This is the first season to air a new episode every day in the United States, and will also set the studio's record for fastest English airing for any season in the series. This part is being story edited by Terry McGurrin, while Dennis Jackson and Melanie Jackson, series creators of , also helped write and consult the plot for TDPI. Total Drama: Pahkitew Island was sponsored by the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, who helped with the Cree translations for the team names and various season references.
A general synopsis from Teletoon describes the second part, Total Drama: Pahkitew Island as:

Plot

Both parts feature a fictional titular reality show that follows the competition of fourteen animated teenagers at a fictional island. For Total Drama All-Stars, the original island used in the first season is featured, where the producers say it is located somewhere in Muskoka, Ontario. The second part of the season, Total Drama: Pahkitew Island, features a brand new island which producers say it is located somewhere in Western Canada. The season's animated characters are depicted as campers who participate in themed challenges and must avoid being voted off the island by other fellow campers. At the end of the series, the winning contestant or the last camper to stand on the island will win C$1,000,000. The competition is hosted by Chris McLean, who is assisted by the camp's chef, Chef Hatchet.
At the beginning of the competition, the fourteen campers are evenly placed into two teams which are themed to the genre of the competition. In each episode, the two 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 at night, where they must vote one of their members off the island. The camper with the most votes is eliminated from the competition. At this campfire, McLean passes out marshmallows to the campers who have not been voted off, while the one who does not get a marshmallow is eliminated. That eliminated person must then walk to the island's dock and will be forced off of the island, and told to "never, ever come back", according to Chris.
About halfway through the competition, the teams are disbanded, after which the challenges continue; the winner of each challenge then only receives invincibility for him or herself, whereupon a camper without invincibility is voted off the island. This process of elimination continues on until two players remains on the island. These two players, are now then subject to a final contest. At the end, a camper wins the competition, while the loser ends up being the runner-up. However, the runner-up is the winner in the other ending of the finale, as there are always two endings to Total Drama seasons. This season, along with every other season in the series, is a parody of the reality show Survivor while the host, Chris McLean is very similar to Survivor host Jeff Probst with the evil persona of Fear Factor Joe Rogan.

Episodes

The first thirteen episodes is an all-star season using fourteen returning characters from the two previous seasons, while the last thirteen episodes consist of a new cast introducing fourteen new characters. Both halves are part of the 26 episodes that Cartoon Network ordered in 2012. Cartoon Network aired the whole season first starting on September 10, 2013 on Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m. EST in the United States, with Teletoon airing the season later on January 9, 2014 at 7:00 p.m. EST.
This season also features the 100th episode of the entire series which was aired in Canada on February 27, 2014. The 100th episode of the series is the 9th episode of this season, "Zeek and Ye Shall Find". All episodes for the fifth season are 21 minutes and 20 seconds long, all of them much shorter than previous seasons. This is the first season to feature a 20-second intro, as every other previous season had a full one-minute intro section.

All Stars

All Stars Staff

All Stars Contestants

The contestant pool consists of 14 contestants. Seven from the third season and seven from the fourth season.
ContestantHeroes vs. VillainsSwitched Team2nd Switched TeamMergeFinish
Lindsay
The Dumb Princess
Heroic Hamsters
Lightning
The Over-Achieving Athlete
Villainous Vultures13th place
Jo
The Take-No Prisoners Machine
12th place
Sam
The Nice Guy Gamer
Heroic HamstersHeroic Hamsters11th place
Heather
The Queen Bee
10th place
Sierra
The Obsessive Uber Fan
Heroic HamstersHeroic HamstersHeroic Hamsters9th place
Duncan
The Delinquent
Heroic HamstersHeroic HamstersMergeDisqualified
8th place
Cameron
The 98 1/2 Pound Nerd
Heroic HamstersHeroic HamstersMergeMedically Evacuated
7th place
Alejandro
The Arch Villain
Merge6th place
Courtney
The Type A
Heroic HamstersMerge5th place
Gwen
The Loner
Merge4th place
Scott
The Devious
Merge3rd place
Zoey
The Indie Chick
Heroic HamstersHeroic HamstersHeroic HamstersMergeWinner/runner-up
Mike
The Multiple Personality Disorder
Heroic HamstersHeroic HamstersHeroic HamstersMergeWinner/runner-up

All Stars Cast

The first part features many returning characters from previous seasons.
Voice actorRoleEpisodes worked
Lindsay2/13 episodes
Emilie-Claire BarlowCourtney12/13 episodes
Clé BennettChef HatchetWhole Season
Cory DoranMikeWhole Season
Kevin DuhaneyCameron10/13 episodes
Laurie ElliottJo4/13 episodes
Megan FahlenbockGwenWhole Season
Brian FroudSam5/13 episodes
Alex HouseAlejandro11/13 episodes
Barbara MamaboloZoeyWhole Season
Drew NelsonDuncan9/13 episodes
Annick ObonsawinSierra8/13 episodes
Christian PotenzaChris McLeanWhole Season
Tyrone SavageLightning4/13 episodes
James WallisScottWhole Season
Rachel WilsonHeather8/13 episodes

Other Credits

Pahkitew Island

Pahkitew Island Staff

Pahkitew Island Contestants

The contestant pool consists of 14 contestants.
ContestantOriginal TeamSwitched TeamMergeFinish
Beardo
The Human Soundboard
Leonard
The LARPer
Amy
The Evil Twin
12th place
Rodney
The Country Boy
Samey
The Good Twin
Ella
The Fairytale Princess
Topher
The Chris Wannabe
Dave
The Normal Guy
Merge
Scarlett
The Quiet Braniac
Merge
Max
The Super Villain
Merge
Jasmine
The Outback Survivalist
Merge
Sugar
The Pageant Queen
Merge
Sky
The Athlete
Merge
Shawn
The Zombie Conspiracy Nut
Merge

Pahkitew Island Cast

Voice actorRoleEpisodes worked
Clé BennettBeardo1/13 episodes
Clé BennettChef HatchetWhole Season
Clé BennettLeonard2/13 episodes
Zachary BennettShawnWhole Season
Katie BerginJasmine12/13 episodes
Daniel DeSantoDave10/13 episodes
Bruce DowMax10/13 episodes
Kristi FridayScarlett10/13 episodes
Topher8/13 episodes
Bryn McAuleyAmy4/13 episodes
Bryn McAuleySamey5/13 episodes
Sunday MuseElla6/13 episodes
Sarah PodemskiSkyWhole Season
Christian PotenzaChris McLeanWhole Season
Ian RonningenRodney4/13 episodes
Rochelle WilsonSugar12/13 episodes

Voting history

Characters

There are 28 characters overall who competed in this season. This sets the series record of having the most characters ever in a single season, the previous record being 22 characters in Total Drama Island.

''Total Drama All-Stars''

Seven characters from Total Drama World Tour and seven characters from returned to compete in Total Drama All-Stars. They all competed together during several "Heroes vs. Villains" themed challenges, which means that all the heroes competed against all the villains.
The fourteen returning characters who competed in Total Drama All-Stars are Alejandro, Cameron, Courtney, Duncan, Gwen, Heather, Jo, Lightning, Lindsay, Mike, Sam, Scott, Sierra, and Zoey. The winners are Mike and Zoey, both of them from the second generation cast and both on the Heroes team.

Main characters

Main characters appear in every episode of the segment they compete in:
Other than the main season winners, other characters from previous seasons also return in Part 1 of this season. Here is a list of all the characters as described by Teletoon for Total Drama All-Stars:
Out of all the fourteen contestants, half are male and half are female. Seven of them are part of the first generation cast who have all been in Total Drama World Tour, while the other seven are part of the second generation cast who have all competed in Total Drama: Revenge of the Island. Out of the seven original contestants, only Alejandro and Sierra have competed in one previous season; the other five have all competed in the first three seasons before Total Drama All-Stars.

''Total Drama Pahkitew Island''

Previous contestants from past seasons do not compete in Total Drama Pahkitew Island because this part of the season features an entire new cast. This is the second time the series completely replaces any existing cast with an all new cast, the previous time being in . There are fourteen contestants as seen in an official season promo. The new characters competing are Amy, Beardo, Dave, Ella, Jasmine, Leonard, Max, Rodney, Samey, Scarlett, Shawn, Sky, Sugar, and Topher. In October 2013, the second half of the first episode was leaked, revealing Beardo was the first to be eliminated.

Main characters

Main characters appear in every episode of the segment they compete in:
Two of the characters, Amy and Samey, are twins, being the first time where related contestants compete in a season together. Scarlett is the first character in the new cast to have her final design revealed. Unlike the first part of the season, the second part of the season will feature no cameos, meaning that any previous contestants will not be seen for the entire season's segment.
Just like the previous four seasons, all of the characters depicted as contestants are split into two teams for each segment:

All Stars teams

All the fourteen heroes and villains in Total Drama All-Stars are separated evenly into two teams. The first team is called the Heroic Hamsters, which consists of heroes while the second team is called the Villainous Vultures, which consists of villains. There were seven contestants in Team Heroes and seven on Team Villains. Here are the original members of each team, as of Episode 1:
In Episode 3, "Saving Private Leechball", both Duncan and Courtney switch teams due to the former's heroic actions and the latter's villainous actions during the episode's challenge. In Episode 5, "Moon Madness", Cameron tried to vote himself out, but Chris wouldn't let him so Chris switched Cameron instead to the Villainous Vultures.

Pahkitew Island teams

There are two teams in Total Drama: Pahkitew Island which are Pimâpotew Kinosewak and Waneyihtam Maskwak, both of which have seven contestants with a team logo, which is either a green salmon logo or a red bear logo. Here are the original members for each team:
Max and Sky switched teams in Episode 7, "This is the Pits!", instead of there being an elimination.

Cameos

In July 2013, Cartoon Network started airing season promos that introduced non-competitors like Ezekiel, Izzy, and Owen. Even though they never competed in All-Stars, these characters still went on to have cameo appearances in the season.
A list of all the cameos in Total Drama All-Stars and their roles during their cameos are shown below:
EpisodeCharacterVoice actorRole
1EzekielPeter OldringHe is first seen being dropped from the helicopter by Chef, and is introduced as the fourteenth contestant of the season. Just as the deranged Ezekiel is about to fall on the other contestants, Chris states that he was only kidding about him being a contestant.
2BlaineleyN/AShe is seen dating Bruno the bear in Paris on a boat that ran over Lightning, while he was distracted..
7IzzyKatie CrownIzzy appears in "Suckers Punched", still dressed in a spider costume. She was intended to be the opponent for Cameron but Chris promised a random chance so she fought Mal instead. She isn't shown leaving the island, so her fate is unknown.
9EzekielPeter OldringEzekiel appears while kidnapping Chris with the 100th Episode anniversary cake. The merged campers then have to search for him inside his mystery mine. He isn't seen leaving the island, so his fate is unknown.
13OwenScott McCordHe appears briefly while inflating the balloons used to place the eliminated contestants in, being his usual happy self. Owen later appears water skiing at the end of the episode, saying a shout-out to his mother. Owen was the last character to be seen in the season.
VariousMr. CoconutN/AMr. Coconut makes a brief cameo in the intro of every episode. He also appeared in the heater of the cabins, while Cameron was searching in "Zeek and Ye Shall Find". He made his final appearance in "The Final Wreck-ening", on the weapons rack that Chris unveils.
VariousCodyKevin Duhaney
Cody was seen and animated during various brief cameos, even though he was still not physically there. Sierra also referenced Cody several times during her time in the competition. She hallucinates her teammates, Cameron as Cody in “Saving Private Leechball”, and Duncan, Mike, Sam, and Zoey as Cody in “Food Fright”. After Sierra's elimination, she is sent to Area 51 where she witnesses a cloning station that created many new Cody copies.

There are no cameos in Total Drama: Pahkitew Island as no characters from previous seasons are seen in this segment. The only reference to an original character is Cody's shoe in the episode, "Mo' Monkey, Mo' Problems".

Production

On June 28, 2011, Christian Potenza mentioned an upcoming season of Total Drama. This was the first time a cast member mentioned a fifth season to the public. One year later on July 19, 2012, Christian Potenza announced a fifth season of Total Drama in an interview with Tom McGillis, saying that Season 5 will be just like Seasons 1 and 4. This hinted that this season will take place back at an island.
As shown in the Fresh TV official Website, it seems that there will be 26 new episodes to be aired in 2013–2014 for Season 5. Tom McGillis later stated that the new 26 episodes will be split into two 13-episode seasons; where the first part will feature some of existing cast, while the second part will consist of only new cast which are yet to be introduced. Voice actors began recording lines for Season 5 in December 2012.

''Total Drama All-Stars''

On January 28, 2013, Cartoon Network confirmed that the new season title will be Total Drama All-Stars for Part 1. One day later on January 30, both Christian Potenza and Drew Nelson confirmed the title for Episode 4 which is "Food Fright" Drew Nelson also confirmed that the two new teams for this season are the Heroic Hamsters and the Villainous Vultures. Rumors started floating in early 2010 about the season being "Heroes vs. Villains" and that both the original and the new cast would compete together, but it wasn't until December 19, 2012 when Tom McGillis confirmed on ABC3 Australia that the theme for this season will indeed be "Heroes vs. Villains".
On February 1, 2013, Christian Potenza released a new video that contains several new information about Total Drama All-Stars, including season episode titles, new voice actors, and plot information. That same day, Christian Potenza also released the first lines of the season from Episode 4:
On June 11, 2013 it was confirmed that the airdate for the whole season will take place in early 2014; mostly during the winter of 2014. Tom McGillis later confirmed on Twitter that the Canadian airdate will be in January 2014, while the U.S. airdate will be in September 2013. On August 19, 2013, Cartoon Network released the first official trailer for TDAS along with a new website that reveals all the characters. Lindsay's and Jo's elimination were leaked via episode scripts and trailers long before the season started airing.

''Total Drama: Pahkitew Island''

As for Total Drama: Pahkitew Island, production is done and it has been released in the United States. The season was first announced to air on May 27, but was later delayed to July 7. This part is under the same production code as the previous part, Total Drama All-Stars. However, the script for the entire first episode was leaked online about a year before the season's release. Scarlett's final design along with one second of the fully animated first episode was also leaked on Instagram by her Venezuelan Spanish voice actor.
On March 21, 2014, the entire cast design was revealed by Fresh TV along with new promotions for the season. Bryn McAuley who will be voicing the twins, Amy and Samey, was the first confirmed voice actress. On April 9, 2014, Fresh TV Inc. celebrated the International Day of Pink by making the TDPI cast all wear pink clothing, symbolizing the support for anti-bullying. Before the official cast release Sunday Muse was also confirmed to voice Ella, while Ian Ronningen was set to voice Rodney. On May 30, 2014 a new teaser trailer was released for TDPI in Italy, marking the first time fully animated scenes were released to the public. Several trailers in English were released later in Cake Entertainment's website. On June 16, Cartoon Network posted the Pahkitew Island website, along with the audition tapes for Sugar, Samey, Amy, Leonard, and Max. Italy was the first country to air full episodes for Pahkitew Island. On June 23, the audition tapes of Beardo, Rodney, Ella, Topher, and Dave were released. On June 26, the entire cast and the characters they voiced were released via Fresh's re:fresh blog. On July 1, ABC3 announced that Total Drama: Pahkitew Island will air July 14, 2014 in Australia.
APTN network November 30 to December 30, 2015

Reception

Ratings

Total Drama All-Stars was the #1 telecast on Cartoon Network with the highest ratings for the week of the season premiere. Additionally, it ranked as the #1 telecast on all television among boys 6–11 and 9–14 for Tuesday prime-time airings. It also claimed #1 in its 7 p.m. time period among kids 9–14 and boys 6–11 and 9–14.

Critical reaction

Total Drama All Stars has received mixed to negative reviews. Many claimed there was "character derailment" within the new and old cast of characters. It currently holds a 5.4 rating on Metacritic based on 9 reviews. Total Drama: Pahkitew Island, however, was considerably more positive. The season currently holds a 73% approval rating according to Rotten Tomatoes.