Total Drama: All-Stars
| Fandom | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Total Drama All★Stars |
| Abbreviation(s): | TDAS |
| Creator: | Fresh TV, Teletoon |
| Date(s): | 10 September - 03 December 2013 (United States; Aired in Canada Later) |
| Medium: | Cartoon |
| Country of Origin: | Canada |
| External Links: | Total Drama All-Stars on Total Drama Wiki |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Total Drama: All-Stars is the fifth season of Total Drama. It stars 14 contestants and two hosts, all of whom return from either Island (2007) or Revenge of the Island.
Listed alphabetically, the contestants are Alejandro, Cameron, Courtney, Duncan, Gwen, Heather, Jo, Lightning, Lindsay, Mike, Sam, Scott, Sierra and Zoey. One of Mike's alters, Mal, is introduced. Chris McLean and Chef Hatchet host.
Total Drama All-Stars is often regarded poorly by fans for various reasons.
Shipping
See List of Total Drama Relationship Names for more ship information.
The most popular pairing for contestants who compete in Total Drama All-Stars is Mike/Zoey. Other popular ships are Alejandro/Heather and Courtney/Gwen.
Remaining common pairings for Total Drama All-Stars include Courtney/Scott, Duncan/Zoey, Cameron/Gwen, Duncan/Mal and Alejandro/Mal. Chef/Chris is worth mentioning as well. The crack ship Courtney/José is also shipped, though primarily on Tumblr as a fandom in-joke while All-Stars was airing.
In-Universe Casting
Total Drama All-Stars's casting is considered a disappointment. Many fan favorites who could be considered all stars, such as Leshawna, Anne Maria, Brick, Owen and Harold aren't present. Other contestants, such as Noah and Dawn, wouldn't be considered all stars, yet many fans still wanted them to return for this new season. Canon Rewrites are common, and almost all of them change the lineup.
A popular rewrite, Total Drama: All Stars Rewrite by RagtimeSpecter (account since orphaned), adds Brick, Dawn, Anne Maria, Owen, Izzy, Eva, Noah and Cody while removing Sam and Lindsay[1]. Meta[2] often delves into why fans want these rewrites, and its not uncommon for hypothetical fanseasons to be placed in-between Revenge of the Island and All-Stars, such as in enteringdullsville's, Archived version, to try and resolve larger issues surrounding All-Star's development.
Mal vs the Fandom
Total Drama All-Stars introduced Mal, a character considered unpopular. He is the "villain" of this season, a character trope common in competitive Reality TV shows, which has appeared in Total Drama seasons before. Unlike previous villains, his villainy is considered classic, thus lacks depth because he has no motivation to be a causing trouble. Meta[3] may try and bring depth to his character by exploring unexplained factual information about him, particularly regarding his time in juvenile detention with Duncan.
Fanworks including Mal tend to not take his villainy seriously, and may portray him as emo[4].
Big Red "Reset" Button
Total Drama All-Stars's finale had Mike "fix" his DID disorder by pressing a "reset" button in his headspace, which made Mike the sole personality, amalgamating Svetlana, Chester, Vito and Manitoba Smith into himself and eliminating Mal entirely. Needless to say, this did not go over well with fans. Mike was already an unpopular character, and his DID was already considered poorly handled, so this only scorched flames. The tag "Mike (Total Drama) Didn't Have A Reset Button" is wrangled on Archive of Our Own.
Mike's character concept sounds interesting on paper; he has MPD/DID and he's insecure about it and he's afraid it might ruin his love life. That concept sounds interesting. Unfortunately, it was executed too poorly for words and the writers decided to have him cure his own mental illness with a reset button (I don't wanna be rude but I don't think mental illnsesses are cured with the push of a button). Without his personalities, Mike is about as one-demonsional as Lightning (lots of people say that Zoey has no personality and while I will admit that she could use a bit more character development, at least she has a few personality traits. Lightning's only trait is that he's dumb as sh*t and that's about it). Here's how I would write Mike:...[5]
Gallery
Uploaded to Tumblr by sallychanscraps with the caption, "you know he dead." Created while All-Stars was still airing.
Example/Notable Fanac
Fancommunities/Fanevents
- Doey Week 2013, Archived version, a fanweek hosted on Tumblr. Took place from December 14th to the 20th.
- Doey Week 2018, Archived version, a fanweek hosted on Tumblr. Took place from December 14th to the 20th.
Fanart
- Jocan was probably my favorite thing to have witnessed during the premiere by aizenhower & shoujo-doll, Archived version, Duncan&Jo fanart.
- hey there hamsters by yewgeneolgia, Archived version, fanart of the Heroic Hamsters drawn while All-Stars was still airing (09 Oct 2013).
- Who says the wicked walk alone? by sallychanscraps, Archived version, fanart of the Villainous Vultures in a Mafia AU drawn before All-Stars premiered (22 Aug 2013).
- untitled by hummelimhimmel, Archived version, fanart of Mike's alters, including Mal.
- ❤️ Mike, Mal, Zoey and Commando Zoey ❤️ by vil3s0ul, Archived version, which compares Mal to Commando Zoey.
- I can’t believe Zoey and Duncan kissed in canon by nickmallory, Archived version, Duncan/Zoey fanart which attempts to emulate the show's art style.
- So I was thinking about how the all stars should’ve changed designs because it’s been like a year since we saw them last by mangora, Archived version, fanart of Sierra, Cameron, Zoey, Mike, Courtney, Lindsay and Sam which illustrates how they could've appeared in All-Stars if previous events and headcanons were put into account.
Gifset
- I believe in Gwameron supremacy by whattheheckisatazelwurm, Archived version, a compilation of Cameron/Gwen clips.
Meta
- Total Drama AU concept, where Mal is a thing but All Stars isn't by schtroumpfalunettes, Archived version.
- I think my most adamant headcanon for Total Drama is that after the gen 2 series ends Mike just commits to being the most normal guy ever by broken-clover, Archived version.
- Somewhere, in a different timeline by delightfully-deranged-dagur, Archived version, where Leshawna is edited into screenshots of All-Stars as a member of the cast.
- ok so all stars starts in 2 days i’m going to smack down a predictions post and see how i go by haroldmcgrady, Archived version.
- I wish There would be a season of not really Used Total Drama Characters by anon, Archived version, who submitted this to a now defunct blog named tdiconfessions before All-Stars premiered.
- i think sierra would like. catch on fast that its not mike tbh by anon and heatherra, Archived version, where anon proposes that super-fan Sierra should've known about Mal before All-Stars happened in-universe.
Other Total Drama Seasons on Fanlore
- Total Drama: Island (2007)
- Total Drama: Action
- Total Drama: World Tour
- Total Drama: Revenge of the Island
- Total Drama: All-Stars
- Total Drama: Pahkitew Island
- The Ridonculous Race
- Total Dramarama
- Total Drama: Island (2023)
- Total Drama: Island (2024)
References/Further Reading
- ^ Total Drama: All Stars Rewrite by RagtimeSpecter (orphan_account), Archived version 2021-2023
- ^ Why Total Drama All Stars Failed: A Retrospective by Flux Skies, Archived version May 13th, 2021
- ^ How I'd Fix Mal (and to a lesser extent, Mike and Duncan) in All-Stars: Part 1 by KirbyStarWarrior666, Archived version June 7th, 2022
- ^ He's such a loser. by cupsie, Archived version September 11th, 2023
- ^ My Thoughts On Mike and Mal by Brave_Mango2385, Archived version April 16th, 2021