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Totally Spies!

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Totally Spies!
Spies, from left to right: Clover, Alex and Sam
GenreAction, Comedy, Teen
Created byVincent Chalvon-Demersay
David Michel
Voices of(English version)
Jennifer Hale : Sam/Mandy
Katie Griffin: Alex (Season 3-5)
Andrea Baker : Clover
Adrian Truss : Jerry Lewis (Season 3-5)
Katie Leigh : Alex (Season 1-2)
Jess Harnell : Jerry Lewis (Season 1-2)
Tara Strong
Country of origin France
No. of episodes130 (list of episodes)
Production
Running timeapproximate 22 minutes
Original release
NetworkSee Broadcasting
ReleaseNovember 3, 2001 –
2008?

Totally Spies! is a French animated television series produced by the French company Marathon Production. Production began in 2001; the show is currently airing its fifth and final season. A 90-minute Totally Spies animated movie is in the works and set to premiere in 2008.[1]

Overview

Totally Spies stars three teenaged superspies from Beverly Hills: Sam, Alex and Clover. They secretly fight international crime with special gadgets supplied by their boss, Jerry, who is the founder and leader of the secret World Organization of Human Protection (WOOHP) agency. They must balance their missions with their day-to-day lives, maintaining their secret identities, high school (seasons 1-4), college (season 5), boys and their school rival: a prima donna named Mandy.

Thematically, it is reminiscent of the 1970s TV show Charlie's Angels, with Jerry serving as a kind of amalgamation of "Bosley" and "Charlie." Unlike Charlie, however, Jerry is not afraid to reveal himself to his agents. The spies are usually transported to his office via a secret tunnel, hole etc., which is a phenomenon known amongst the spies as "WOOHPing". In Jerry's office, the spies are briefed on their missions and occasionally are informed on relatively minor personal issues. The show displays a sexual aesthetic look that pays homage to 60s design/fashion, such as "flower power", and as well as the 1980s anime/manga Dirty Pair. For example, the suits and jetpacks used by the Dirty Pair in episode 8 of the original television series resemble the spies catsuits and jetpacks. They also change their clothes, unlike most cartoon characters who have one basic outfit.

Animation style

Totally Spies is often wrongly described as "American" (despite being produced in Europe) due to it's use of well-known visual gags and cues, as well as its Southern California setting. It also has a strong shōjo influence[citation needed]. The series also features a Japanese animation style[citation needed]. The characters are drawn with big, dramatic eyes and the same basic body template. Anime gags are used such as the sweat drop, crossed vein, and extreme facial expressions[citation needed]. Due to the shoujo motif and the use of anime gags, some viewers have incorrectly considered the series as an American anime, even though it was made in France.[2]

Characters

Main article: List of characters in Totally Spies!

Totally Spies features the adventures and missions of three spies (Sam, Clover and Alex) led by the head and founder of WOOHP, Jerry Lewis. The surnames for the Spies are either not revealed or unknown.[citation needed] For example, Sam introduces herself as "Samantha Simpson" in one episode. However, no one is certain if that is her real surname.

  • Sam (short for Samantha) usually referred to as Sam, has long, wavy red hair, and a green catsuit. She is the most intelligent of the group.
  • Alex (short for Alexandra) has short black hair and dark skin. Despite being the clumsy one, she excels in athletics, particularly in soccer. She wears a yellow catsuit. She is also somewhat of a tomboy compared to Clover and Sam, but is as eager as the other two when it comes to fashion and boys.
  • Clover has medium length blonde hair and a red catsuit. She is considered to be the show's most stereotypical character: a shopping addicted, boy crazy, teenage "fashionista".
  • Jerry James Lewis is the founder and administrator of WOOHP, the World Organization Of Human Protection. He is a middle-aged, very serious British gentleman. He briefs the girls on their missions, distributes their gadgets, and provides mission support with information or direct involvement. He is often the butt of jokes when it comes to his absence of a full head of hair.

Gadgets

Main article: List of gadgets from Totally Spies!

Every mission assigned to the spies by WOOHP involves several gadgets given to them by Jerry (or, in seasons 3, 4 and 5 G.L.A.D.I.S.). Missions not assigned by WOOHP usually use old gadgets kept by the girls in case of emergencies. WOOHP gadgets often have acronyms that spell out ironic or comical words (often accompanied by reactions from the spies) such as RASH and KURTT. Almost all missions involve the red, green and yellow, but these are sometimes overridden by other apparel (for example the UPWATI). Most gadgets are pink, but in season 3 the colour purple mostly replaced pink as the primary colour for gadgets.

Jerry also uses gadgets, but, being middle-aged instead of adolescent, he uses more "adult-friendly" gadgets. These are often disguised as regular objects, and are usually coloured red, green or yellow.

Villains

Main article: List_of_characters_in_Totally_Spies%21 § Villains

For the first three seasons, the villains featured in the series were generally one-shot characters used for a single episode. Most of them intend to oppose the world because they have suffered some major disappointment (such as being constantly rejected by men or women) or trauma. Only a few villains ever made a second appearance, which always focused around them attempting to get revenge on the girls for foiling their original scheme.

In the Season three finale, the show gave the Spies an actual arch-nemesis in the form of Terry Lewis, Jerry's evil twin brother. Terence was supposed to be the show's final villain, being the main antagonist of the three-part episode "Evil Promotion Much?", originally intended as the series finale. When the show was renewed for a 4th season, Terence was brought back and given a major role as the main enemy of the girls. He forms a Legion of Doom-style organization called LAMOS, comprised of the show's recurring villains, in order to battle the spies.

Below is a list of the series' more prominent villains, the "major" ones most become LAMOS agents in Season 4, while the "minor" ones are generally single-episode.

Headquarters

The World Organization Of Human Protection (or WOOHP) is a fictional worldwide crime-fighting organization in the animated series Totally Spies. Founded and headed by Jerry James Lewis, WOOHP uses cutting-edge technology and highly skilled agents to fight crime and diffuse humanitarian crises all over the world. Its headquarters is located in Downtown Los Angeles.

Sam, Alex and Clover are their top three superspies, frequently called in to solve the most difficult cases worldwide. When he needs them, Jerry can "WOOHP" them to his office at the press of a button from wherever they might be. This is usually done via vacuum tunnels that lead to the office, but they have also been blasted to their destination via rocket ship, teleported, picked right off the freeway via helicopter, and scooped up by a passing train. On missions, Jerry provides the spies with information, analyzes clues, and occasionally steps in to give them a hand.

In season three, Jerry added G.L.A.D.I.S. to his office. G.L.A.D.I.S. (Gadget Lending And Distributing Interactive System), is a computer he designed to help him run WOOHP, but G.L.A.D.I.S. tends to have a mind of her own. G.L.A.D.I.S. has been met with a fair share of hostility from fans, which claim that because she now distributes the gadgets she tends to reduce Jerry to a subordinate role in WOOHP, even though he is the founder and administrator. After two seasons, G.L.A.D.I.S. was written off the show in Season five as having been destroyed and recycled due to its attitude.

WOOHP is shown to actually have three branches. One in America, one in Europe, and one in Australia. In addition, it was revealed to have a sister organization: WOOAP, the World Organization of Animal Protection.[3]

Totally Spies Spinoff Series

It has been confirmed by Guillaume Rostain, executive producer of Marathon Media, that there will be a Totally Spies spinoff.[4] It is currently in development. Not much information has been released about this spinoff. It will feature new characters as spies, but Sam, Clover, and Alex are said to be making appearances throughout the series. It has yet to be confirmed whether or not Jerry and Mandy will be making appearances.

Media

Main article: List of Totally Spies episodes

Totally Spies features a total of 4 seasons with 104 episodes, with an additional 25 episode fifth season airing in Canada, France, Poland, The Netherlands, U.K., Ireland, Romania, Estonia and Russia and Asia (through Disney Channel Asia).

Video games

The Totally Spies series was initially followed up with two video games titled Totally Spies! and Totally Spies! 2: Undercover. Both were developed by Mistic Software and published by Atari for the Nintendo GBA and/or DS.. [5] [6] IGN rates Totally Spies! 2: Undercover with a score of 4.0/10 citing poor overall game presentation. Totally Spies! 3: Secret Agents has been recently released in Europe and Australia for the Nintendo DS. [7] Totally Spies!: Totally Party has also recently been released in North America, Europe and Australia for the PlayStation 2, Wii and PC. [8] [9]

Reception

Most receptions are positive. The show is elected as 'Best performing cartoon' (Channel 4, UK), has the best ratings (Fox kids UK), and is number 1 in its timeslot in France (TF1), Italy (Italia Uno), the Netherlands (Fox Kids, now Jetix), Brazil (TV Globo) and the US (Cartoon Network). The show is also been sold to more than 100 countries.[10] In 2004, it was Cartoon Network's second highest rated show.[11] Most surprising is perhaps that the show is popular among girls and boys, with, according to David Michel (Co-creator and co-producer of Totally Spies) "(...) a 50% boys 50% girls audience ratio, whereas everybody was predicting the show would score very low on boys".[12] It is also so popular, that, in some parts of the world, a whole range of merchandising was put on the market, with Totally Spies stationary, dolls, DVDs, computergames, quilt covers, and even costumes.[13][14][15][16] McDonalds also had their own Totally Spies merchandising, having Totally Spies gadgets put with ones McDonalds happy meal,[17] and a performance of 'the spies' in the nearest restaurant if one would finish a colouring picture.[18]

Most of the negative reactions and criticism are because the show is said to mimic anime.[19]

Cast

Broadcasting

Totally Spies aired in at least 45 countries, with the Disney based Jetix network provided broadcasting for most of those countries. Also, the international French-language channel TV5 has aired the show since March 2008.

In other countries, Totally Spies! airs on Jetix where Jetix exist except the United States. In most of Asian region, it airs on Disney Channel Asia.

References

  1. ^ Spies Movie announcement release
  2. ^ "Totally Spy". Retrieved 2008-08-13.
  3. ^ WOOAP is mentioned in the resolution of episode #121
  4. ^ News from Mr. Guillaume Rostain, and Zero to Hero Screencaps!
  5. ^ "[1]" GameSpot. URL last accessed 2007-10-20
  6. ^ "Totally Spies! 2: Undercover Review (DS)". IGN. 2007-01-18. Retrieved 2007-09-21.
  7. ^ "[2]" IGN. URL last accessed 2008-01-12
  8. ^ "[3]" IGN. URL last accessed 2008-01-12
  9. ^ Amazon.com: Totally Spies! Totally Party!: Video Games
  10. ^ http://www.geocities.com/pathfinder_0200/dfactoid.htm Geocities, factoid Totally Spies
  11. ^ http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/press-release/2004-06-21/tokyopop-to-publish-totally-spies-cinemanga+totally+spies+anime
  12. ^ http://www.geocities.com/pathfinder_0200/dminterview.htm Geocities, interview with David Michel
  13. ^ http://www.totallyspies.com/home_uk.html Totally Spies.com (English)
  14. ^ http://www.woohp.org/content/view/39/45/ Woohp. org, Totally Spies merchandise
  15. ^ http://www.toywiz.com/totallyspies.html Toywiz.com
  16. ^ http://www.atamaii.com/totally-spies.html Atamaii.com
  17. ^ http://www.livemagazine.org/artikel/37019/happy_meal_voor_april_en_mei_2007.html Livemagazine.org
  18. ^ http://www.mcdonalds.nl/files_content/DEFWT_kleurplaat_Tot-Spies_210x297.pdf McDonalds colouring picture link
  19. ^ "Answerman: Saturday Surprise". Answerman. 2002-07-13. Retrieved 2008-08-09.
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