Totally Spies!

***Totally Spies!*** is an animated television series created by Vincent Chalvon-Demersay and David Michel and mainly produced by French company Marathon Media (and co-produced with Canadian company Image Entertainment Corporation for seasons 3 to 5). The show was made to resemble anime in artwork and was originally based on the concept of a girl group. It focuses on three teenage girls in Beverly Hills, California, United States, who work as undercover super agents.

*Totally Spies!* was first seen on November 3, 2001, on ABC Family (now Freeform) in the United States before moving to Cartoon Network less than 2 years later. It premiered on TF1 in France on 3 April 2002, and on Teletoon in Canada on September 2, 2002. Since the series debut, 156 episodes have been broadcast, completing its sixth season to date, that includes several specials.

Several products tied to the series have been released, which include a series of comic books, novels and video games. A prequel theatrical movie production named *Totally Spies! The Movie*, made and released between the fifth and sixth seasons and co-produced with Italy, was released in 2009 in France.

## Premise

The series centers around the adventures of three teenage girls from Beverly Hills—Sam, Alex, and Clover—who live a double life as spies working for the World Organization of Human Protection (WOOHP). The girls are recruited by the organization's leader, Jerry Lewis, to solve worsening crime conditions that arise across the globe. Their primary missions involve dealing with disgruntled and vengeful criminals who have been wronged in some form during their past. Other missions have some same villains plotting revenge on the spies by ruining their personal lives. Framing each episode is a subplot that focuses on the girls' daytime lives as high school (and later university) students, dealing with relationships and their longtime high school rival Mandy. Each of the three girls has a spy suit with a heart-shaped silver belt and spy suit with identical colours and high-heeled shoes.

### Main

* Sam is the intellectual of the group; she acts as a rational logical thinker in getting through the problems they encounter on their missions. She has long red hair, green eyes and wears a green catsuit.
* Alex is the best friend character and the tomboy of the group, serving as the glue that holds their friendship together. She is affectionate and likes to express her feelings. She likes animals, and sometimes acts childish compared to the other two. She has short black hair, brown eyes, and wears a yellow catsuit.
* Clover enjoys shopping, fashion, and good-looking guys. She is not only athletic and strong, but also impulsive and spontaneous. She has chin-length blonde hair, blue eyes and wears a red catsuit.

### Recurring

* Jerry Lewis is the girls' boss at WOOHP (he's the founder and head of the organization), appearing as a middle-aged balding man in a suit. He is very protective of the girls, often invading their privacy to ensure that they are safe. Despite having a sedentary role in WOOHP's affairs, Jerry has displayed some martial arts skills when occasionally assisting on the girls' missions. He provides the various gadgets that the spies use on each mission.
* Mandy is a classmate/rival to the girls in their lives outside of WOOHP. Mandy's rich, beautiful and popular, but also very mean, rude, snobby and self-centered. While she does serve as a rival to all three girls (to each of them as individuals as well as to all three of them as a group), Mandy's typically portrayed as being more of a rival to Clover than she is to Sam or Alex. Mandy has long black hair, violet eyes and a high-pitched nasally voice and is often seen wearing purple.
* G.L.A.D.I.S. (**G**adget **L**ending **A**nd **D**istribution **I**nteractive **S**ystem), a computer system with robotic arms that assists in gadget handling during the third and fourth seasons. GLADIS ultimately proved to be unpopular with fans of the show and was written out of the series early in the fifth season almost entirely due to fan complaints.

## Voice cast

### English-language version

* Jennifer Hale as Sam and Mandy
* Andrea Baker as Clover
* Katie Leigh (Seasons 1 and 2) and Katie Griffin (Seasons 3–6) as Alex
* Jess Harnell (Seasons 1 and 2) and Adrian Truss (Seasons 3–6) as Jerry Lewis
* Stevie Vallance as G.L.A.D.I.S. (Seasons 3 and 4)

### French-language version

* Claire Guyot as Sam
* Fily Keita as Clover
* Céline Mauge as Alex and Mandy
* Jean-Claude Donda as Jerry
* Laura Préjean as G.L.A.D.I.S. (Seasons 3 and 4)

## Development and production

The show's conception came from the rise of girl band and female singers in the music industry. Wanting to capitalize on the niche, David Michel and Vincent Chalvon-Demersay put their idea into development, which later shifted into production within a year. According to Michel, the series' animation style was intended to incorporate anime influences. The production company, Marathon Media, intended on building on the series brand by forming a three-piece girl band, utilizing German talk show *Arabella* to create it. Using a panel of judges, 20 demo videos were selected and the winners were selected based on the strength of their performance and the show's viewers. The band was selected and released a single in the spring of 2002, through EMI. According to managing director Dirk Fabarius, "The plan is to eventually create an entire album and establish and promote Totally Spies as a real band." While the idea did not materialize, the series was promoted through other merchandising. It was announced in the spring of 2001 that the series would air in the autumn on ABC Family, and would be distributed to the European countries in the following year.

In an interview with WorldScreen.com, Michel said that prior to his show, there were a lot of boy action-adventure shows and practically nothing for girls, yet in pop culture, there was Britney Spears and Spice Girls. He said that the characters are heavily inspired by the movie *Clueless* and wanted to mix that with a James Bond format. When they first pitched the show, it had a moderate response, but when the first season was broadcast, the *Charlie's Angels* film came out, and suddenly the market was full of girl show properties.

According to an article "Achieving a Global Reach on Children's Cultural Markets" by Valerie-Ines de la Ville and Laurent Durup, the series was originally designed to reach an American audience, but has garnered appeal from its humor "based on a stereotypical European vision of American references" while "appearing to be original and innovative to the U.S. audience". Producer and artistic director Stephane Berry said that the style "is a melting between the American style, which associates action and comedy, and Japanese design for the aesthetic environment and the emotions expressed through the large eyes of the characters." Some of the common references have included *Charlie's Angels*, Beverly Hills, *The Avengers*, James Bond and its gadgets, anime, and *Cat's Eye*.

The head writers for the show were Robert and Michelle Lamoreaux who were based in Los Angeles, and who had worked on Nickelodeon shows. Demersay and Stephane Berry had both previously worked with Saban entertainment in Europe In a GeoCities interview, Kate Griffin, who voices Alex, mentioned that the typical session for the three girls is that they would record as an ensemble, but through a phone patch, with Hale and Baker calling from Los Angeles, and herself in Toronto.

Following the end of the fifth season, the series's movie, *Totally Spies! The Movie*, was produced and released to theatres in France on 22 July 2009. The movie received a television release in the United States, on April 25 the following year, coinciding with the airing of the series' fifth season there.

In August 2011, Marathon Media confirmed that production for the sixth season was underway and set to premiere in 2013. The sixth series would be produced solely by Marathon in association with TF1 and The Walt Disney Company France. It was later confirmed that 26 episodes would be produced and that the show would be licensed in Spain and Latin America, with European territories following suit. To coincide with the sixth season's premiere, Zodiak Kids CP Paris, in association with Château de Versailles Spectacles (CVS) and TF1, organized an event at the Palace of Versailles, taking place during the summer of 2013. The event would be preceded with activities including a screening of a special featuring the spies on a mission in the palace gardens.

## Episodes

*Main article: List of Totally Spies! episodes*
## Episodes

### Season 1 (2002-2003)

1. A Thing For Musicians
2. Queen For A Day
3. The New Jerry
4. The Getaway
5. Eraser
6. Model Citizens
7. The Fugitives
8. Abductions
9. Child's Play
10. Silicon Valley Girls
11. Spy Gladiators
12. Shrinking
13. Aliens
14. Man or Machine
15. Wild Style
16. Black Widows
17. Passion Patties
18. Stuck In The Middle Ages With You
19. Evil Boyfriend
20. Game Girls
21. Iceman Cometh
22. Spies vs. Spies
23. Do You Believe In Magic?
24. Soul Collector
25. A Spy Is Born Part 1
26. Malled

### Season 2 (2003-2004)

1. A Spy Is Born Part 2
2. I Want My Mummy
3. Evil Hair Salon
4. The Yuck Factor
5. It's How You Play The Game
6. Here Comes The Sun
7. Green With N.V.
8. Boy Bands Will Be Boy Bands
9. I, Dude
10. Mommies Dearest
11. Zooney World
12. First Brat
13. W.O.W.
14. Stark Raving Mad
15. Starstruck
16. S.P.I.
17. Animal World
18. Nature Nightmare
19. Alex Quits
20. Totally Switched
21. Ski Trip
22. The Elevator
23. Matchmaker
24. Brain Drain
25. Fashion Faux Pas
26. Toying Around

### Season 3 (2004-2005)

1. Physics 101 Much?
2. Freaky Circus Much?
3. Computer Creep Much?
4. Space Much?
5. Morphing Is Sooo 1987
6. Evil Coffee Shop Much?
7. Forward To The Past
8. Planet of The Hunks
9. Super Nerd Much?
10. The Incredible Bulk
11. Dental? More Like Mental
12. Escape From WOOHP Island
13. Scam Camp Much?
14. Evil G.L.A.D.I.S. Much?
15. Super Agent Much?
16. Evil Airlines Much?
17. Creepy Crawly Much?
18. Truth or Scare
19. Feng Shui Is Like Sooo Passe
20. Evil Valentine's Day
21. Halloween Is, Like, So Pagan
22. Power Yoga Much?
23. Head Shrinker Much?
24. Evil Promotion Much? Part 1
25. Evil Promotion Much? Part 2
26. Evil Promotion Much? Part 3

### Season 4 (2005-2006)

1. The Dream Teens
2. Futureshock!
3. I Hate The 80s
4. The O.P.
5. Evil Jerry
6. Alex Gets Schooled
7. Attack of The 50 Foot Mandy
8. Deja Cruise
9. Arnold The Great
10. 0067
11. Mime Your Own Business
12. Mani-Maniac Much?
13. Evil Bouquets Are Sooo Passe...
14. Evil Heiress Much?
15. Evil Ice Cream Man Much?
16. Sis-KABOOM-Bah!
17. Beauty Is Skin Deep
18. Like, So Totally Not Spies Part 1
19. Like, So Totally Not Spies Part 2
20. The Suavest Spy
21. Spy Soccer
22. Spies On The Farm
23. Spies In Space
24. Totally Busted Part 1
25. Totally Busted Part 2
26. Totally Busted Part 3

### Season 5 (2006-2007)

1. Evil Graduation
2. Evil Roomate
3. Evil Professor
4. The Granny
5. Another Evil Boyfriend
6. Return of Geraldine
7. Evil Sorority
8. Evil Gymnasts
9. Evil Pizza Guys
10. Evil Show Designer
11. Virtual Stranger
12. WOOHPersize Me!
13. Evil Hotel
14. Totally Mystery Much?
15. Evil Sushi Chef
16. Miss Spirit Fingers
17. Mime World
18. Evil Mascot
19. The Show Must Go On... Or Else
20. Zero to Hero
21. WOOHP-tastic!
22. So Totally Not Groove-y
23. Ho-ho-ho-no!
24. Totally Icky
25. Totally Dunzo Part 1
26. Totally Dunzo Part 2

### Season 6 (2013-2014)

1. The Anti-Social Network
2. Nine Lives
3. Vide-O-No!
4. Super Mega Dance Party Yo!
5. Pageant Problems
6. Grabbing the Bully by the Horns
7. The Wedding Crasher
8. Celebrity Swipe!
9. Super Sweet Cupcake Company
10. The Dusk of Dawn
11. Dog Show Showdown
12. Mandy Doll Mania!
13. Evil Ice Skater
14. Inferior Designer!
15. WOOHP-Ahoy!
16. Trent Goes Wild
17. Little Dude
18. Totally Switched Again
19. Clowning Around!
20. Astro-Not
21. Baddies on a Blimp
22. Jungle Boogie
23. Danger TV
24. Solo Spies
25. So Totally Versailles! Part 1
26. So Totally Versailles! Part 2

## Broadcast

*Totally Spies!* premiered on November 3, 2001 on ABC Family (now Freeform). It later premiered in Europe on pay-TV and terrestrial channels such as Germany's ProSieben, France's TF1, United Kingdom's ITV 1 or the localised Fox Kids channels throughout the region during the spring of 2002. The show moved to Cartoon Network in July 2003 in the United States, where it attracted 1.6 million viewers (aged 4–10) daily and continued airing until September 10, 2010. The show currently airs weeknights on Universal Kids. *Totally Spies!* has attracted over one million viewers in France since its debut. It was re-licensed and its sixth season, along with *Totally Spies! The Movie* and the show's spin off *The Amazing Spiez!* The show aired its sixth season in France and is being broadcast around Europe. In Canada, season 6 began airing on September 7, 2014 on Teletoon, and on 6 September on Télétoon. The show has been broadcast worldwide on various networks, such as TF1 in France; Teletoon in Canada, Cartoon Network in the USA; Fox Kids, Jetix, Cartoon Network and Boomerang in Latin America and Brazil on pay-television; Rede Globo in Brazil on terrestrial TV; MBC 3, Spacetoon, Spacetoon English and ART Teenz in the Arab World; 4Kids TV, Jetix, Disney Channel and Nickelodeon channels in Asia, Africa, and Europe. In Australia, it was shown on Network Ten and later on 10 Peach (formerly Eleven) as part of their Toasted TV block. Seasons 3–4 was aired on POP in the UK from 2013. Season 5 started airing in 2015 and season six the following year in 2019. It was also briefly aired on its sister channel, Pop Girl. It was aired on BBC Alba in Scotland. Season 1 aired on Disney Channel and Disney XD. It aired in the Republic of Ireland on RTÉ Two from 10 October 2002 until 2009.

## Reception

Joly Herman of *Common Sense Media* gave the series a mixed review, writing that "We think it's a decent show to catch once in a while, but anything more regular might give viewers the like, slightest headache." Joe Corey of *Inside Pulse* had a more positive review, calling the show "fun enough for small kids who want a Charlie's Angels undercover action show. The trio does their best to balance the fun of being in the espionage game without it being too risky." Matt Hinrichs of *DVD Talk* gave a positive review, calling the action in the first three seasons "decently written enough for adults to enjoy." The Parents Television Council, in their March 2006 report, noted that the show did not contain offensive language but expressed concern about the "nature of the violence of the show" in an episode where rats were released to psychologically torture Jerry and Clover, and the sexual content exampled by a sunblock ad by a bikini-clad woman.

The show was also described as risky because it had targeted girls with a genre typically associated with boys' shows and that it was animated when the girls were more interested in live shows. After four seasons, the show had reached over 130 countries and was met with enthusiasm among ages 6–11 that included both girls and boys, and had a Pokémon-like appeal to a broad range of age and gender. In an interview before season three, David Michel said, "The one thing that surprised us the most is the consistency in the male / female viewership split: from Brazil to Italy, we have a 50% boys 50% girls audience ratio, whereas everybody was predicting the show would score very low on boys." Scott Stoute of ScreenRant listed the show among his "10 Girl Cartoons (That Guys Secretly Love)" list.

The series has funding participations with TF1 and The Walt Disney Company France for season 6.

## Media

### Home video and DVD

Goodtimes Entertainment released the first twelve episodes of the show's first season on VHS and DVD in 2004 in three volumes: *Totally Spies Volume 1: First Secret Missions*, *Totally Spies Volume 2: The Getaway*, and *Totally Spies Volume 3: Spies Attack*. Coinciding with the production and release of the show's sixth season, New Video Group/Flatiron Film Company acquired American DVD rights for the series as well as some digital rights for the first three seasons of the series. They've released the first and second seasons (in two volumes each), as well as a box set containing seasons one through three. The third season was finally released in two volumes on January 14, 2014.

Totally Spies DVDs are also released in the UK by Sanctuary Visual Entertainment in 2005 and 2006, *Totally Spies – First Secret Missions* and *Totally Spies – Spy Gladiators*.

### 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 Game Boy Advance and/or Nintendo DS. IGN rated *Totally Spies! 2: Undercover* with a score of 4.0/10 citing poor overall game presentation. *Totally Spies! 3: Secret Agents* was released in Europe and Australia for the Nintendo DS. *Totally Spies! Totally Party* was released in North America, Europe and Australia for the PlayStation 2, Wii and PC.

### Spin-off and crossover

A spin-off series called *The Amazing Spiez!* features new characters as spies, retaining Jerry as a regular character in the show. While the series focuses on four young teenage siblings—Lee, Megan, Marc, and Tony Clark, the three spy girls make an appearance on the crossover episode "Operation: Dude Ranch Disaster" from season 1. The show had its world premiere on 15 March 2009, on Disney Channel Asia; and its US premiere on April 26, 2010, on Cartoon Network. In Canada, the show premiered on September 2, 2010 on Teletoon. Only the first season and ten Season 2 episodes aired in the US.

*Totally Spies!* also had a crossover episode in season 5 titled "Totally Mystery Much?" with *Martin Mystery*, a Marathon-produced series that aired from 2003 to 2006.

### Comics and books

A *Totally Spies!* comics were released monthly in Sweden. Five books with about 90 pages came out in Brazil as well. Each book represents an episode from the series. There is another comic called *Totally Spies Unleashed*; this opens with "I Hate the 80s!", in which a bad guy, Boogie Gus, has invented a retro ray that de-ages people. The second story, "Attack of the 50 Ft. Mandy", turns their nemesis into a giant in a plot that involves a beauty contest and an escaped evil scientist. Chapter books have also been released.