Production

The following page is a list of the steps taken in Total Drama's production.

Original concept
According to an interview with TVSA, creator Tom McGillis said that the show was originally called Escape From Summer Camp, which featured "a bunch of kids trapped at a cheesy camp in North Canada."

Before the show started production, McGillis and his partner, Jennifer Pertsch created a survey and studied what reality shows teens watched and also did not like. The most common answers included Survivor, Fear Factor and The Amazing Race. The Bachelor and Big Brother were among the shows the surveyed teens thought were not favorable to the participants.

Camp TV
Camp TV was the original prototype series for Total Drama Island. However, the project was cancelled, based on the feedback from potential broadcasters and the creators began to create what would become Total Drama. It would have featured eighteen contestants.

The only contestants not to appear in Camp TV, but did in the finished series, were Courtney, Noah, Heather, Izzy, and any character who did not debut in Total Drama Island (those being Alejandro, Blaineley, Sierra, the Total Drama: Revenge of the Island contestants, and the Total Drama: Pahkitew Island contestants). While some of the characters, such as Duncan, Trent, Lindsay, Geoff, Harold, and Leshawna's appearances remained almost exactly the same, there were major changes in other campers' looks and/or personalities, such as Beth, Ezekiel, DJ, and Eva.

Total Drama Action
The Blogspot blog, along with feedback that Teletoon received played a part in who came back for season two, according to Mark Thornton. The higher-ups knew judging from people's reactions who the favorites were (which were also their favorites too). They also brought back some characters who they didn't think had enough of a chance to shine in season one.

The decision was made early on that only half of the cast would be making a return to competition. A lot of discussion went into which characters would make the most entertaining show.

Total Drama, the Musical
The original name of Total Drama World Tour was "Total Drama, the Musical." This was brought up in Celebrity Manhunt's Total Drama Action Reunion Special, where Chris and Chef start singing "Total Drama Musical." This was also brought up in Aftermath: Revenge of the Telethon; the screen displayed font which read "TDM Telethon," but this was quickly changed back to "TDWT Telethon."

Total Drama, the Musical was first announced in September 2008 and would have featured fifteen contestants.

This makes Total Drama World Tour the second of three seasons to have had its name changed, the first being Camp TV being changed to Total Drama Island, and the third being Total Drama Reloaded being changed to Total Drama: Revenge of the Island.

Total Drama Reloaded
Total Drama Reloaded was the original title for the fourth season of the Total Drama series, but was later renamed Total Drama: Revenge of the Island. The fourth season's existence was confirmed on the Total Drama Production Blog on January 18, 2010. The title was left unknown, and widely speculated to be Total Drama Comedy, until it was confirmed as Total Drama Reloaded by Christian Potenza in a YouTube video. The original version was going to feature only 12 contestants, but B was added in at a later date.

Total Drama All-Stars
The new season was confirmed in an interview with Tom McGillis on July 19, 2012, stating that the fifth season would be very similar to the first and fourth season, hinting it may take place on the island. The interview can be found on YouTube, here and here.

Christian Potenza confirmed on his Facebook page that recording sessions for the fifth season have been scheduled for December. That same day, Drew Nelson revealed on his fanpage that Duncan would make some form of appearance this season. On February 3, 2013, Nelson confirmed that Duncan would indeed participate in the season.

The "Heroes vs. Villains" theme was confirmed by ABC3 Australia on December 19, 2012 by staff, and that the new season would be seeing a 2013 airdate.

Cartoon Network revealed the show's name in their Upfront press release on January 28, 2013 (Total Drama All-Stars), with the description Total Drama is back, but this time the team at Fresh TV have assembled the best loved and most hated contestants from seasons past to compete – Heroes vs. Villains style!

In a YouTube video posted by Christian Potenza, it was confirmed that Cameron, Mike, Heather, Jo, Courtney, Gwen, Sierra and Alejandro would be returning. Also, it was confirmed that Alejandro would receive a new voice actor, Alex House.

Total Drama: Pahkitew Island
The new season was officially confirmed in a Teletoon press release on June 9, 2013. Shortly after, a promotional poster was found on TeletoonMedia.com with silhouettes of the brand-new fourteen-person cast. On October 8, 2013, the storyboard of the second half of episode one, titled "So, Uh This Is My Team?", was leaked online.

A press release posted on February 25, 2014 revealed rough airdates for Pahkitew Island; summer 2014 for Cartoon Network and fall 2014 for Teletoon. A promo picture for the season was posted via a Cake Entertainment press release sometime in mid-March. On March 28, Fresh TV revealed on their Tumblr that the season would air in July 2014 on Cartoon Network. The season premiered on Cartoon Network on July 7, 2014, with the first two episodes aired back-to-back. Cartoon Network then announced that subsequent episodes of the season would be aired in a two-week nightly marathon that ended with the last two episodes aired back-to-back on July 18, 2014.

Trivia

 * Alejandro
 * Alejandro was added to the show to "to mix things up and add an element of surprise for both the cast and the audience," according to Alex Ganetakos.
 * Marco Grazzini, the voice of Alejandro in Total Drama World Tour, was replaced by Alex House in Total Drama All-Stars, for reasons unknown.


 * Anne Maria
 * Anne Maria was originally slated to compete on Total Drama All-Stars, but was dropped in favor of another contestant.


 * Bigger! Badder! Brutal-er!
 * According to Julie Giles, there was a pancake eating challenge planned for this episode, but it had to be cut for time. It was later used as a challenge in an episode of the following season.


 * Brick
 * Brick was originally slated to compete on Total Drama All-Stars, but was dropped in favor of another contestant.


 * Broadway, Baby!
 * This is the only episode to have an entire scene cut in the United States.
 * The camera is focused on Noah, Cody, and Tyler, who are in the process of climbing to the top of the statue. Tyler then notices that they are near Lady Liberty's breasts, while Cody then becomes overexcited and accidentally slips and falls, landing in between them. Tyler is amused by this and cracks a joke about Cody making a "ten-point landing," rather than helping him. Sierra saves Cody and Chef says in the cockpit confessional that it would have been a good way to die, in which Cody agrees.


 * Cody
 * Cody was originally slated to compete on Total Drama All-Stars, but was cut because the producers thought that his relationship with Sierra had already played out fully in Total Drama World Tour.


 * Confessional
 * According to Tom McGillis, the confessional was not an original idea of the creators, and was a last-minute addendum to the show, due to the first episode needing more footage.


 * Food Fright
 * According to Julie Giles, there was a pancake eating challenge planned for the first episode of Total Drama: Revenge of the Island, however, it had to be dropped due to time constraints. It was later picked up as a challenge for this episode. According to the storyboards, the scenes in the girl's cabin early in the episode was different.


 * Greece's Pieces
 * It was revealed in an interview that this episode was originally going to take place in Italy with a different-themed challenge.
 * This may explain why Chris states they will be going to Italy for the challenge before he was corrected.


 * Gwen
 * According to the first two directors of Total Drama, Todd Kauffman and Mark Thornton, Gwen's original name was Heather.


 * Harold
 * Harold was initially stated to make an appearance in Total Drama: Revenge of the Island, but the idea was scrapped before the final release.


 * Haute Camp-ture
 * It can be assumed that the original plot for the episode was completely different. This is shown on Teletoon's Total Drama Island: Totally Interactive!, which gives a summary about a modeling challenge, hence the episode's title "Haute Camp-ture."
 * The description of the episode on iTunes is:
 * Each camper is getting their minutes of fame - or make that, five minutes of shame, when they compete in the Total Drama Modeling Challenge. Dressed in heels in wigs and forced to strut their stuff, they will be judged on their walking, talking and hawking as they participate in the photo shoot. Owen scores big points with the judges, but loses big time friendships when he gets caught in multi-alliances. If the campers humiliation weren't tested to the limits, their courage will be when they are told they must do their final catwalk performance on a tiny runway over a pit of crocodiles! In the end, one camper reigns supreme when they fall into the croc pits and face off with the hungry beasts.


 * If You Can't Take The Heat...
 * According to the original storyboard, the Killer Bass were originally going to get in a food fight with each other after Duncan accidentally fired custard at DJ. The only food that wasn't going to be damaged from the food fight was Harold and Sadie's antipasto, which Harold guarded.


 * Justin
 * Justin's personality change in season two was because the writers decided that he was one of the characters who never had the opportunity to reach his potential in season one. This was one of the first things discussed between the writers.


 * Leshawna
 * Leshawna was initially stated to make an appearance in Total Drama: Revenge of the Island, but the idea was scrapped before the final release.


 * Labels
 * Noah's original stereotype was The Schemer, even though he is not known for scheming and has never been seen doing so in the series; so it is possible Noah was an antagonist of some sort at one point.


 * Lindsay
 * According to the first two directors of Total Drama, Todd Kauffman and Mark Thornton, Lindsay was originally going to be the antagonist of the show.


 * List of Total Drama World Tour locations
 * As revealed in an interview with Keith Oliver and Chad Hicks, there were seven locations that were also originally planned, but did not make the final cut, such as: Toronto, Canada; Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA; Russia; Scotland; Taiwan; Mexico; and Italy.
 * In the season's virtual flipbook, it states that the contestants will be visiting K2, Pamplona, a Moroccan desert, and the Taj Mahal. However, none of these locations were ever seen.


 * Mike's alternate personalities
 * According to the Total Drama Panel at Fan Expo 2011, Svetlana was originally Swedish, Vito was called Vince, and Manitoba Smith was called Manitoba Mike.
 * During an interview, Cory Doran, Mike's voice actor, admits that Vito is his favorite alternative personality. He says that "I think Vito was my favorite just because of the whole love triangle that came from it. It gave Mike a real hard time trying to win over Zoey, and it's fun to see him scramble to make it up to her."
 * Cory Doran admitted that Svetlana is his favorite alternative personality to voice. He says that "Svetlana can kick anyone's butt in a challenge. She can flip, run, and dodge almost anything. Plus in the recording booth, I got too crazy with her lines. It's not often that I get to do the voice of a female Russian Olympic Gymnast."
 * Cory Doran said if he had to pick another personality for Mike, it would be a "total crazy guy like The Joker or The Monarch (Venture Bros.). I think someone over the top and addicted to mayhem would be great. It's such a departure from Mike and his other personalities."
 * This may have been related to the creation of Mal in Total Drama All-Stars.


 * Monster Cash
 * According to the Total Drama Production Blog, while on the table Owen was originally supposed to tell everyone he's fine. However, Scott McCord (who voices Owen and Trent) improvised the line, "Nope. Call 911." The production crew found it so funny that they kept it for the episode.


 * Not So Happy Campers - Part 1
 * In the written script for the episode, Courtney was Asian; Heather had a ponytail; and Noah had glasses.
 * The grub saying "hey now!" in Camp TV was used as a clip in the first episode.
 * Leshawna says to Tyler in the Camp TV promo: "Excuse me? What did you just say to me? You haven't seen anything yet! I'll show you big, baby!" She later says this to Harold in Not So Happy Campers - Part 1.
 * Tyler's promo line of "have a cow!" was given to Owen in Not So Happy Campers - Part 1.


 * Not So Happy Campers - Part 2
 * Lindsay said in the Camp TV promotional video, "I thought this was going to be a talent contest!" This was later said in Not So Happy Campers - Part 2.


 * Sierra
 * Sierra was added to the show to "to mix things up and add an element of surprise for both the cast and the audience," according to Alex Ganetakos.


 * Sky Fall
 * As confirmed by Julie Giles, this episode's original title was "Break Back Mountain."


 * So, Uh This Is My Team?
 * As was seen in the leaked storyboard of the second half of the episode, Beardo was originally making robot sounds and walking like a robot, instead of running in slow motion. Also, Dave and Chef's reactions to this could be seen on two separate small screens.
 * In the original version, Sugar ate Leonard's marshmallow.


 * Super Happy Crazy Fun Time Japan
 * Owen was originally supposed to make actual monster noises instead of saying "monster noises." However, like his previous improvisation in Monster Cash, the crew found this so funny that they left it in.


 * Staff
 * During an interview, Christian Potenza, voice of Chris, stated he originally auditioned to voice Ezekiel, before Tom McGillis convinced him to instead voice Chris.
 * During an interview, Drew Nelson, voice of Duncan, stated he originally auditioned for Chris, Cody, Owen, Chef Hatchet, and Duncan, among other minor characters.
 * During an interview, Rachel Wilson, voice of Heather, stated she originally auditioned for Gwen, Lindsay, and Heather, but really wanted to voice either Gwen or Lindsay.
 * During an interview, Cory Doran, voice of Mike, stated he originally auditioned for Mike, but also got a chance at Scott and Cameron.
 * According to an interview, Carter Hayden, voice of Noah, stated he originally auditioned for Noah, Owen, and Chris.
 * During an interview, Caitlynne Medrek, voice of Dawn, stated that she originally auditioned for Zoey and Molly, a Total Drama Reloaded character, landing the role of Dawn when Molly was scrapped from the final release.


 * The Aftermath: II
 * According to the Total Drama Production Blog, the scene with Kelsey and her Trent doll was inspired by a fan named Liana who owned a Cody doll.


 * Total Drama Island
 * Originally, the series was picked up by only Teletoon (Canada) and a network in Poland, with most networks complaining the series was "too tall an order," "too high concept," and "featured too many characters."
 * Nina Pitt picked up the series for Cartoon Network in early 2008.


 * Total Drama: Revenge of the Island
 * Total Drama Comedy was being considered as the name of the season when it was first discussed in 2008.


 * Toxic Rats
 * The original team name for the Toxic Rats was the "Radioactive Rats." Christian Potenza confirmed that the name for the Radioactive Rats was scrapped on September 27, 2011, out of respect for the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan.
 * This is also the first team in the series to have a name change for the final version of the season.


 * Tyler
 * Tyler was initially stated to make an appearance in Total Drama: Revenge of the Island, but the idea was scrapped before the final release.
 * In Tyler's official rotation, along with his regular outfit and swimsuit, he is seen wearing a white tank top and red shorts. However, he is never seen wearing this on the show.

Gallery
Character Rotations=