Camp TV

Camp TV is the original prototype series for Total Drama Island, with the original concept created in 2003 and the only trailer for the series released in early 2006. The project later underwent major renovation based on feedback from potential broadcasters and would be renamed Total Drama Island in March 2006.

Earliest concept

According to Tom McGillis in an interview with TVSA in 2008, he and Jennifer Pertsch originally came up with a cartoon show called Escape from Summer Camp, which would have been about a bunch of kids trapped at a cheesy camp located in Northern Canada. However, after conceiving such an idea, McGillis and Pertsch morphed their original concept into that of a reality show.

2003 overview

It’s a whole new frontier in reality programming - hot hot hottie hot!! – Brock Rockwell, On-Air Host/Slimy Producer.

CAMP TV is an animated comedy about a reality series starring ten summer campers who don’t know that their every move is being filmed.

What do a cheerleader, a goth, a computer geek, a juvenile delinquent, a jock, a rocker, and a party girl have in common? Nothing. Which is why they all signed up for their SEPARATE summer camps. They had no idea that they were about to find themselves stuck in a summer camp from hell together. With no way out.

Television producer Brock Rockwell has managed to convince Summer Fun Inc. to let him infiltrate their organization and film his revolutionary new reality series, CAMP TV. Now, betrayed by Brock, Summer Fun, and their own parents, our cast of very different teens are about to become unwitting contestants in the world’s hottest new reality series.

In the animated world of this show, millions of viewers will watch, react, and vote on-line as every panty raid, camp dance, alliance, gossip session and escape attempt is caught by hidden cameras. From time to time, we will cut to our regular fans as they cheer, boo and throw potato chips at the screen. By the end of the summer, one of the campers will be voted the most popular teen of the year. As Brock would be quick to point out, “This is GREAT television.”

Before they arrived here, our campers never had a reason to speak to one another. Now, stuck in the wild with no access to a T.V. themselves, these five girls and five guys must learn to leave their labels behind and get along if they’re going to survive the summer… and the world’s biggest popularity contest.

They’re the stars of the show... and they don’t even know it.

2004 overview

Fresh Animation considered jumping on the reality TV bandwagon. We thought about coming up with a hot new concept, searching for the funniest, most insane, and confrontational people around, then turning the cameras on them and hoping they showed their true colours.

But then we had an even better thought: why not just animate the darn thing and write it all ourselves? Welcome to CAMP TV, a camped-up animated spoof on reality series for tweens that takes reality to a whole new level by removing the "real" part.

We began by putting twelve completely different teens together, each one evoking the most memorable scoundrels, whiners, psychos and players seen on reality TV. These are kids who wouldn't even acknowledge one another in the halls at school, and now they find themselves stuck at a crappy summer camp together 24/7. Tensions are high, crushes are inevitable – it's going to be a looooong summer.

From the cheesy, camera-loving host to the outrageous, jaw dropping moments tweens have come to expect and love… all your favorite reality TV icons and moments are here. The difference? We've scripted them for maximum camp, drama and comedy! You'd have to shoot hundreds of hours of real people to get just a few of these great moments! Like the gigantic bikini brawl that erupts on the beach after Leshawna discovers a passionate love letter that Jessica sent to her man. (Or did we plant that?)

At Camp Wawanaka, anything is possible. Why? Because we wrote it that way. The lodge suddenly seats 20,000 screaming fans for the talent contest. The lake is mysteriously infested with sharks for the “open water” challenge. And sure, Mandy could just spread gossip about Hilary... but isn't it more fun if she threatens to unleash a booby trap full of snakes on her bed unless she swears her allegiance? And we'll have cameras capturing every moment – in the lodge, the cabins, the canoes – even places the characters don't know about. You name it, we've mic'd it. The cameras are rolling and all bets are off!

Camp TV takes a camped-up swipe at the convention of "reality TV" and turns the comedy up by eliminating any element of reality whatsoever. Tune in for the most unreal reality show on television!

Characters

Beth

Beth is featured in the Camp TV promo, appearing alongside Cody and Harold. She has no lines. Camp TV Beth is visibly taller and thinner than her Total Drama counterpart. She resembles Velma Dinkley from the Scooby-Doo series.

Bridgette

Bridgette is not featured in the Camp TV promo. Camp TV Bridgette has her hair braided back and wears earrings, a necklace, and torn above the knees shorts. Certain aspects of Camp TV Bridgette are similar to Courtney's design, specifically her exaggerated eyes and freckles.

Chef Hatchet

Camp TV features a character named "Chef" who does not appear in the promo or any promotional art. Camp TV Chef does not wear a chef's hat and is shorter than his Total Drama counterpart. Several of his features, particularly his mustache, are much more exaggerated compared to Chef Hatchet's.

Cody

Cody appears next to Beth and Harold in the Camp TV promo, but doesn't speak. His design is an older design of Duncan that later turned into a recurring intern. Some small aspects like his hat, hair and eyes were changed and given to Ezekiel.

DJ

While DJ's prototype is much more intimidating and speaks in a deeper, monotonous voice, he retains his good-natured and affectionate personality. DJ's only line in the promo ("Aw, come here, you!") is reused in Hide and Be Sneaky. His old design is also recycled into one of the interns in Total Drama, Drama, Drama, Drama Island and Riot on Set, then later into B from Total Drama: Revenge of the Island.

Duncan

Duncan has two Camp TV designs. The first is eventually recycled into Cody's prototype and then recycled again into a recurring intern. A modified version of this design also appears as one of Chris's bandmates from his boy band Fametown.

His second Camp TV design is a lot more recognizable, being almost identical to the current Duncan except for a grimmer appearance, the color of his piercings, and the dark circles under his eyes.

Eva

Eva's original design is nearly unrecognizable from her Total Drama counterpart. While her current design is that of an athletic, brutish woman, her Camp TV design is thinner and looks much more similar to Heather. She is not featured in the Camp TV promo.

Ezekiel

Camp TV Ezekiel's facial structure, body shape, and preppy appearance suggests aspects eventually used for Noah. A modified version of Ezekiel's design appears as one of Chris' bandmates from his boy band Fametown.

Geoff

Geoff's role in Camp TV appears to be significantly more important as he is seen in nearly every scene in the promo and promotional art. He is in a relationship with Gwen instead of Bridgette and seems to have a rivalry with Trent as they glare at each other in the promo. On the other hand, one promo image shows Geoff with his arm over Trent and both are smiling contently. Geoff is one of the few characters who is nearly unchanged in terms of voice, design, and character from the original show.

Gwen

Although Gwen's precursor is still voiced by Megan Fahlenbock, she is dissimilar to her predecessor in several ways. Firstly, Gwen's original name in Camp TV is "Heather", a name later given to Total Drama Island's main antagonist. Camp TV Gwen has the same head shape and body type, but is not goth and has a much brighter color palette with red hair, green eyes, red lipstick, blue cuffed jeans, a brown t-shirt and sandals. Gwen's prototype is also in a relationship with Geoff and seems to despise Trent.

Harold

Harold has a small role in the Camp TV promo when he inquires into the whereabouts of his red ant farm, only to learn that it has been emptied onto Lindsay. His owning of a red art farm is carried over to Total Drama Island; in Not Quite Famous, Gwen dumps Harold's red ants all over Heather as payback for Heather's scheming. Harold's prototype design differs minimally from his current one, with the most notable distinctions being the slogan on his shirt, his pink collars being visible, and his undershirt hanging out loosely from the bottom of his blue overshirt.

Justin

While Justin shares an identical body type to his original model, their faces are very distinct from each other as Camp TV Justin has dotted eyes, petite eyebrows, a smaller nose, a friendlier smile and a more defined chin.

Katie

Katie's prototype wore long pants instead of shorts, and had a different hairstyle. Katie's original design can also be seen as part of the cardboard paparazzi in Rock n' Rule. In the Aftermath episodes, a silhouette of her can be seen in the audience. In Jamaica Me Sweat, Katie's prototype is seen serving drinks to Chris and Chef.

Leshawna

Leshawna had three different designs, and was dramatically changed during the transition to each design. In her first design, Leshawna was wearing her regular shirt with four kumquats on it and a skirt. She was also wearing her large hoop earrings with high heels and a hat. Her second design had little in common with the first except for her face, hair, hat, and heels. She wore an aqua tracksuit with dark gold earrings. Her third design combined her first and second design, making this the same Leshawna in Total Drama except for her t-shirt and added wristband on her right hand. Her second design is used as Leshawna's cousin Leshaniqua, with a change in color scheme.

Lindsay

Lindsay was one of the main characters of the show (as a number of campers seemed to just be supporting characters). Like the current show, Lindsay was portrayed as being a spoiled rich girl, as in the promo she is referred to as "The Spoiled Princess" by the narrator. Lindsay still has a relationship with Tyler, one that seems to be similar to Geoff and Bridgette's in Total Drama Action (they are seen making out in a number of pictures). Lindsay and Tyler's relationship is the only one shown in Camp TV that remained the same in Total Drama Island. Lindsay also seemed to be very close with Leshawna (as they are seen in a number of scenes together even putting on nail polish), though with Heather nonexistent in Camp TV and Leshawna offending Lindsay in one scene, it is unknown if they were best friends or adversaries. Lindsay's original design does not greatly differ from her current design. Outside of the obvious change in art style, Camp TV's Lindsay wears a bandanna with white polka dots, sandals instead of boots, a visible reddish-brown thong instead of pink underpants, and red tank top straps instead of brown ones. Her hair, while still blonde, was slightly darker and shorter. Her chest was flatter too.

Owen

Despite Owen's role as a finalist in Total Drama Island, Owen seemed to be no more than a supporting character in the original series. He was briefly seen in the promo with some other campers in the shower stalls, but only his feet were shown while the rest of him was covered in steam. Most of the basic elements of Owen's design are present in his original form, but there are some differences. While he is still obese, Owen's shirt had torn sleeves with the words "Keg Me" in place of his teal Maple Leaf. His hair is slightly longer as well, curving upward on each side.

Sadie

Sadie's design greatly differs from her old design. In her old design she is much skinnier, has different clothes than Katie, and her hairstyle is much different. Her first design has been used as a paparazzi in Rock n' Rule. In the Aftermath episodes, Sadie's original design can be seen at the end of one of the rows in the audience. This design was used as one of "The Franklins" as Heather's friend in "The Bills" (Heather's Alternate Reality). Her design also appeared in Celebrity Manhunt's Total Drama Action Reunion Special as Justin's girlfriend who he was breaking up with. In a Polish clip from Aftermath: Revenge of the Telethon, this design is seen again wheeling Justin in a stretcher through the demolished Aftermath studio. The last appearance of her original design can be seen in The Ridonculous Race, serving Crimson and Ennui a pot of beans in Little Bull on the Prairie.

Trent

Trent was one of the main characters of the show, however, he was a late-comer to the camp. In terms of design, the only difference between his look in Camp TV and Total Drama Island is that his shirt reads "Smith's" instead of having a hand print symbol. His character, however, was almost completely different from that of the current show. While he and Gwen are a couple in Total Drama Island, the two of them were bitter enemies in Camp TV (as they are seen in a number of pictures trying to strangle each other). Trent also was very unpopular among the other campers, while in the current show he is popular among all the campers. His lack of popularity is apparently because he was the only camper considered "normal". However, some art for Camp TV shows Geoff with his hand over his shoulder and both are smiling happily, which may indicate that he was later accepted by the other campers.

Tyler

Tyler had two designs. His first was reused for an intern on the show, seen in the first three Aftermaths and Mutiny on the Soundstage.

His second didn't wear his red tracksuit, but a light blue t-shirt and cargo shorts. He also had short, choppy hair and apelike facial features. His relationship with Lindsay stayed the same, and he was still shown to be fairly clumsy and often getting himself hurt in the trailer. His original design was kept and recycled for Duncan's parole officer, with different clothing, seen in Duncan's video message from home and briefly in One Flu Over the Cuckoos.

Two additional characters

In the early stages of its production, Todd Kauffman mentioned in one of his blog posts that Camp TV featured two teams of twelve. This implies that two characters got scrapped from the final line-up, though it is unknown if a concept for said contestants actually existed or they were just planned on paper. Of the mentioned character names that never materialized into actual characters from promotional text include Jessica, Hillary, and Mandy; but it is unknown if these characters were renamed, combined or revised into different characters, or entirely dropped.

Trivia

The only contestants from Total Drama Island not to appear in Camp TV were Courtney, Heather, Izzy, and Noah. Some characters such as Trent, Lindsay, Geoff, Harold, and Leshawna have remained almost identical to their Camp TV personas. Others such as Duncan, Beth, Ezekiel, Cody, DJ, and Eva, have been severely altered.
Brock Rockwell was the original host and producer of Camp TV, according to the original Fresh Animation overview of Camp TV.
The grub saying "Hey now!" was used in Not So Happy Campers—Part 1.
Tyler's line of "Have a cow!" was given to Owen in Not So Happy Campers—Part 1.
Lindsay says, "I thought this was going to be a talent contest!" in the promo, which was later said by her in Not So Happy Campers—Part 2.
Leshawna says to Tyler in the 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.
The Camp TV designs for DJ, Duncan, Tyler, and Katie are reused as interns and other minor characters such as Duncan's parole officer. Most of these designs have been modified in some way.
Three characters were named in the 2004 Fresh Animation overview of Camp TV that did not appear in the actual series, being Hillary, Jessica, and Mandy.
- In a July 2006 revision for Total Drama Island (2007), Jessica is renamed Heather. The Hillary and Mandy storyline is revised to feature Duncan and Geoff (spelled Jeff).
While Chris holds the magazines in Not So Happy Campers—Part 1 as he mentions the winner will receive 'cheesy tabloid fame', prototype designs of Leshawna and Duncan are on the cover.
In the promo, Lindsay gets attacked by Harold's red ants from his red ant farm. The same thing happens to Heather in Not Quite Famous, although this time it isn't accidental as Gwen put the ants in Heather's bed as revenge for reading her diary to the entire camp.
It is unknown who is who in the promo when the announcer called some campers "the rest" as nothing is seen but their feet.
Prototype DJ's cheery demeanor and physique seem to have been recycled into the final version of Owen, while Lindsay's bad attitude, bossiness and haughty mannerisms were seemingly used to create both Courtney and Heather. But while DJ's final appearance changed drastically, Lindsay’s only changed slightly.
In the Best. Game. Ever. game for Total Drama Action, if the player is playing a female, the prototype designs of Katie and Sadie's hair are possible looks.
The sharks at the bottom of the cliff have the same jumping sequence as they do in Not So Happy Campers—Part 2.
In the promo, Duncan and Tyler are in a raft, and they high-five before they fall down a waterfall. This is similar to how Leshawna and Heather are slap-fighting in a raft before they fall down a waterfall in the Total Drama Island opening sequence.
Lindsay and Tyler still have a romantic relationship with each other like they were planned to in Camp TV.
- This makes theirs to be the only relationship recycled into the finished show.
In the advertisement for Camp TV, it says twelve campers will compete, but only eleven are shown: Geoff, Trent, Gwen, Duncan, DJ, Tyler, Lindsay, Leshawna, Cody, Harold, and Beth.
- In addition, six pairs of feet were shown in the showers (as "the rest"), bringing it up to a grand total of seventeen campers, thus including all, but one.
Leshawna and Tyler seem to have a conflict in Camp TV. However this was changed for Total Drama, as they never interacted with each other onscreen until Celebrity Manhunt's Total Drama Action Reunion Special.
Camp TV was originally going to feature ten contestants in the 2003 overview. When the series was retooled in 2004, twelve contestants competed. There were eighteen contestants that had designs in 2006, before the series was retooled a final time as Total Drama Island.
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, and Gwen's original name was Heather.
When creating Lindsay, Todd Kauffman revealed he was going for a "Reese Witherspoon sort of look". This may have been recycled into Courtney’s character in the finished show.
- However, it is worth noting that whereas it was confirmed that Courtney was based on Witherspoon's Tracy Flick, a lot of Lindsay's gestures and attitude resemble the character Elle Woods played by the same actress. This indicates that more than one role played by her could have been referenced in the creative process.
Trent's Camp TV design was used in most of Cartoon Network's promotional material.
In the old prototype filler, the group includes Beth, but in the newer ones, she's replaced with Leshawna, indicating that they switched roles in the season.