Total Drama Island (2023)

Total Drama Island (sometimes shortened to TDI) is the sixth season of Total Drama, and the first after its nine-year hiatus, sharing the name with the first season of the series. The first part of the season premiered in Italy on K2 and Discovery+ on April 10, 2023, and the second part of the season premiered in Italy on December 4, 2023 and the rest of the parts the day after the second. The first part of the season also premiered in the United States on June 1, 2024 on Cartoon Network.

The season was produced by Fresh TV and Corus Entertainment, in association with Cartoon Network and the BBC, and distributed by Cake Entertainment. Despite being announced as two, 13-episode seasons, it was later revealed in the credits of the second half that they were one, twenty-six episode season, similar to the previous season.

Plot
The season takes place fifteen years after the events of the first season, also titled Total Drama Island, and features new contestants competing on a new island modeled after Camp Wawanakwa, located in an unspecified area in Muskoka, Ontario. They spend almost 2 weeks (13 days) on the island 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).

Characters
Total Drama Island 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, Nichelle, Priya, Raj, Ripper, Scary Girl, Wayne, and Zee.

Guest/Cameo
In addition, Gerry, Rock, and Spud make non-speaking cameo appearances in one of Nichelle's films, and Courtney, Duncan, and Izzy make very brief appearances on photos.

Development
On February 17, 2021, it was announced that two new seasons were being produced for Cartoon Network and Max. 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 CBBC in the United Kingdom. In addition, the previous five seasons of the show and its spin-offs would be added to BBC iPlayer. 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. Despite its similar appearance and being listed in promotional material as Wawanakwa, Terry McGurrin clarified on December 14, 2022, that it is a separate island, and that Wawanakwa still sank, with the new island featuring different landmarks and there no longer being a sign on the dock.

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. 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. 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. On April 5, 2023, Fred Kennedy announced on his Twitter account that he would be voicing Ripper, one of the contestants in the series.