- 4,104
- 2,145
Okay, so here's a CRT of a thing that I recently realized needs investigation. So, in the final episode of Total Drama All-Stars, Camp Wawanakwa sunk. That's pretty much common knowledge in the Total Drama verse. However, after watching TDI 2023, both Season 1 and the leaked Season 2 episodes through and through, I began to question it. It had nothing to do with the calculations made, but rather whether the feat exists in the series or not. See, here's the deal.
Total Drama is one of the more grounded cartoons I have seen, and the way the human characters handled the more realistic aspects (bear encounters, injuries based on realistic happening, etc.). Usually there's a visible explanation when there is a more grounded happening, yet for fantastical happenings, usually there isn't (I mean you tell me how anyone could survive a crate nuke). Despite the island's sinking, the island is back in its natural state as if the sinking never happened in the first place in the time-skip reboot. So what's the deal then? What happened to the island sinking feat in-universe? I only have two strong explanations and one weak explanation for it. The one weak explanation is from one of my pals, who claimed that there's a floating timeline deal going on there. That kinda got thrown out the window since Chris explicitly said that TDI 2023 took place 15 years after TDI 2007 and the few past appearances who showed up (Owen, Rock, Spud, Izzy, Duncan, and Courtney), Owen being the most relevant as he physically appeared in TDI 2023 Season 2 Episode 7, still exist with no changes in their physical appearances whatsoever, which I personally expected since Courtney looked exactly like her TDI self when she ran for president in one of the fever dreams the kids had in Total Dramarama, but that pretty much throws a monkey wrench into the whole floating timeline thing.
Now for the strong explanations. The first one leans more towards the sinking actually existing. This is a firsthand account on my end. I used to chat with one of the producers of Total Drama back in the days when Total Drama Pahkitew Island and The Ridonculous Race were the newest entries to the Total Drama franchise up until Total Dramarama was in the middle of development. Her name is Christine Thompson. In one of my Facebook DMs to her, I asked how they would explain the recovery of Wawanakwa should they make it exist again, to which Thompson replied that it would be explained as the island having been rebuilt like those manmade islands. You know, like the Palm Jumeirah or whatever.
However, thinking through it more, there are problems with that explanation. That being on the more logistics side of things that Vs debaters tend to get into when working with Word of God. The explanation goes against the criteria needed for valid Word of God statements.
-Christine Thompson's just a producer. That alone disqualifies her from Word of God.
-I also remember that it was her theory more than any actual reason for the reappearance of Wawanakwa. None of the writers brought it up.
-The showings go against the idea of Wawanakwa being manmade. This ranges from the rocky natural features of the island (ranging from a mine (which could only be feasible if a landmark is natural) to mountains) to the existence of a pet cemetery.
The one explanation I have that acknowledges the sinking of Wawanakwa in the first place wound up being a dead end.
The other strong explanation is that, and you would all hate me for this... The island's sinking was retconned out. I know what you're thinking... "But how?! Terry McGurrin said past seasons happened!" And while Terry McGurrin would be valid Word of God for HIS writings in particular, see, there are four relevant characters to the whole idea of Wawanakwa sinking. There are three characters who have been there in person (Chris, Chef, and Owen) and then there's Priya, the one contestant who somehow has fifteen literal years of Total Drama experience and wrote a book about the series that's so big that it's physically hard to lift. And that's the deal. See, the island itself lacked any signs that it had even sunk in the first place throughout the entirety of TDI 2023 (bear in mind, trees can only survive up to a month completely submerged, never mind 300+ meters underwater). Not only that, but after watching the reboot, I have found not one single mention of the island's sinking from any of the four relevant characters. Not from Chris, not from Chef, not from Owen (although his memory wasn't exactly the best from what I've seen of him in TDI 2023), and not even from Priya. Now the first three I can understand as thirteen years can have an effect on your memory, but for Priya, the one who had the most extensive knowledge of the series in hand as she literally put it in paper to a point where the book exceeds the minimum 50-lb lifting weight requirement for physical labor, to not acknowledge the island's sinking? Considering writing can exist longer than memories or even people, that's pretty damning.
Now, all this brings into question... Should we keep it or remove it? I'd say keep it unless we get a definitive answer as to whether the feat was retconned based on TDI 2023's lack of acknowledgement or not. As to HOW to keep it? I'd say mark it as a "Possibly" given TDI 2023 puts the feat's existence into question. Thankfully we can, as Terry McGurrin is active on Twitter, which is over here: https://twitter.com/standupmonkey
I'd say if you really want an answer, I'd write McGurrin the following statement: "@standupmonkey Despite your statements that past seasons happened, Camp Wawanakwa's sinking in All-Stars was never mentioned by anyone in TDI 2023, not even Chris, Chef, or Priya who has the most extensive knowledge of the Total Drama series. Was the island's sinking retconned?" I just sent him this statement to see if he'll take the bait, but until then, this is the best we can do to solve this.
Until then, stick with my suggestion of a "Possibly" being added to the feat's values. The purpose of this CRT is to launch an investigation an existing possibly retconned feat, not change it up.
Total Drama is one of the more grounded cartoons I have seen, and the way the human characters handled the more realistic aspects (bear encounters, injuries based on realistic happening, etc.). Usually there's a visible explanation when there is a more grounded happening, yet for fantastical happenings, usually there isn't (I mean you tell me how anyone could survive a crate nuke). Despite the island's sinking, the island is back in its natural state as if the sinking never happened in the first place in the time-skip reboot. So what's the deal then? What happened to the island sinking feat in-universe? I only have two strong explanations and one weak explanation for it. The one weak explanation is from one of my pals, who claimed that there's a floating timeline deal going on there. That kinda got thrown out the window since Chris explicitly said that TDI 2023 took place 15 years after TDI 2007 and the few past appearances who showed up (Owen, Rock, Spud, Izzy, Duncan, and Courtney), Owen being the most relevant as he physically appeared in TDI 2023 Season 2 Episode 7, still exist with no changes in their physical appearances whatsoever, which I personally expected since Courtney looked exactly like her TDI self when she ran for president in one of the fever dreams the kids had in Total Dramarama, but that pretty much throws a monkey wrench into the whole floating timeline thing.
Now for the strong explanations. The first one leans more towards the sinking actually existing. This is a firsthand account on my end. I used to chat with one of the producers of Total Drama back in the days when Total Drama Pahkitew Island and The Ridonculous Race were the newest entries to the Total Drama franchise up until Total Dramarama was in the middle of development. Her name is Christine Thompson. In one of my Facebook DMs to her, I asked how they would explain the recovery of Wawanakwa should they make it exist again, to which Thompson replied that it would be explained as the island having been rebuilt like those manmade islands. You know, like the Palm Jumeirah or whatever.
However, thinking through it more, there are problems with that explanation. That being on the more logistics side of things that Vs debaters tend to get into when working with Word of God. The explanation goes against the criteria needed for valid Word of God statements.
-Christine Thompson's just a producer. That alone disqualifies her from Word of God.
-I also remember that it was her theory more than any actual reason for the reappearance of Wawanakwa. None of the writers brought it up.
-The showings go against the idea of Wawanakwa being manmade. This ranges from the rocky natural features of the island (ranging from a mine (which could only be feasible if a landmark is natural) to mountains) to the existence of a pet cemetery.
The one explanation I have that acknowledges the sinking of Wawanakwa in the first place wound up being a dead end.
The other strong explanation is that, and you would all hate me for this... The island's sinking was retconned out. I know what you're thinking... "But how?! Terry McGurrin said past seasons happened!" And while Terry McGurrin would be valid Word of God for HIS writings in particular, see, there are four relevant characters to the whole idea of Wawanakwa sinking. There are three characters who have been there in person (Chris, Chef, and Owen) and then there's Priya, the one contestant who somehow has fifteen literal years of Total Drama experience and wrote a book about the series that's so big that it's physically hard to lift. And that's the deal. See, the island itself lacked any signs that it had even sunk in the first place throughout the entirety of TDI 2023 (bear in mind, trees can only survive up to a month completely submerged, never mind 300+ meters underwater). Not only that, but after watching the reboot, I have found not one single mention of the island's sinking from any of the four relevant characters. Not from Chris, not from Chef, not from Owen (although his memory wasn't exactly the best from what I've seen of him in TDI 2023), and not even from Priya. Now the first three I can understand as thirteen years can have an effect on your memory, but for Priya, the one who had the most extensive knowledge of the series in hand as she literally put it in paper to a point where the book exceeds the minimum 50-lb lifting weight requirement for physical labor, to not acknowledge the island's sinking? Considering writing can exist longer than memories or even people, that's pretty damning.
Now, all this brings into question... Should we keep it or remove it? I'd say keep it unless we get a definitive answer as to whether the feat was retconned based on TDI 2023's lack of acknowledgement or not. As to HOW to keep it? I'd say mark it as a "Possibly" given TDI 2023 puts the feat's existence into question. Thankfully we can, as Terry McGurrin is active on Twitter, which is over here: https://twitter.com/standupmonkey
I'd say if you really want an answer, I'd write McGurrin the following statement: "@standupmonkey Despite your statements that past seasons happened, Camp Wawanakwa's sinking in All-Stars was never mentioned by anyone in TDI 2023, not even Chris, Chef, or Priya who has the most extensive knowledge of the Total Drama series. Was the island's sinking retconned?" I just sent him this statement to see if he'll take the bait, but until then, this is the best we can do to solve this.
Until then, stick with my suggestion of a "Possibly" being added to the feat's values. The purpose of this CRT is to launch an investigation an existing possibly retconned feat, not change it up.
