''Totally Spies!'' is a French
anime-influenced animated spy-fi series created by
Vincent Chalvon-Demersay and David Michel mainly produced by French company
Zodiak Kids & Family France, with seasons three to five being co-produced with Canadian company
Image Entertainment Corporation
Image Entertainment Corporation is a Canadian animation production company based in Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. the company was founded in 2000 by company president Sylvain Viau and specializes in 2D Animation, 2D and 3D computer graphic ...
. It focuses on three teenage girls from
Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hills ...
, who work as undercover agents for the World Organization of Human Protection (WOOHP).
Prior to its debut in France on 3 April 2002 on
TF1
TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network.
TF1 is part ...
's
TFOU block, the series was first shown in the United States on 3 November 2001 on
ABC Family
American cable television, cable and satellite television network Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through four different owners and six different name changes dur ...
before moving to
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...
, and later to
Universal Kids for the sixth season. It premiered in Canada on
Teletoon
Cartoon Network (formerly Teletoon) is a Canadian English-language discretionary specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment. The channel primarily broadcasts animated series aimed at children and teenagers. It was launched on October 17 ...
on 2 September 2002 for the English version, and on
Télétoon for the French version. During its original run, the show spanned five seasons, with 130 episodes and several specials. In 2011, the series was moved to
Gulli, with the release of the sixth season in 2013. Following a second hiatus that lasted ten years, a seventh season was premiered in France via Gulli on 12 May 2024, and internationally through both
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...
and
Discovery Kids on 4 January 2025; the series is renewed for an eighth season.
''Totally Spies'' developed a
cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The latter is often called a cult classic. A film, boo ...
worldwide. The series also spawned a
media franchise
A media franchise, also known as a multimedia franchise, is a collection of related media in which several derivative works have been produced from an original creative work of fiction, such as a film, a work of literature, a television program, o ...
with several products tied to it, including various
comic book
A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...
s,
novel
A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...
s and
video game
A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...
s. A
prequel
A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work.
The term ...
film, ''
Totally Spies! The Movie'', was released theatrically in 2009 in France. A spin-off series titled ''
The Amazing Spiez!'' premiered in 2009 and ran for two seasons.
Premise
The series focuses around the adventures of three teenage girls from
Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hil ...
,
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
–
Sam,
Clover
Clovers, also called trefoils, are plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution with the highest diversit ...
, and
Alex
Alex is a given name. Similar names are Alexander, Alexandra, Alexey or Alexis.
People
Multiple
* Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people
* Alex Cook (disambiguation), multiple people
* Alex Forsyth (disambiguation), multiple people
* Al ...
– who live a double life as
secret agents working for the World Organization of Human Protection (WOOHP). The girls are recruited by the organization's leader,
Jerry, to solve worsening crime conditions that arise across the globe. The spies sport colourful latex
jumpsuits and are provided with various gadgets to aid in their investigations. Their primary missions involve dealing with disgruntled and vengeful criminals who have been inconvenienced in some form in the past. Other missions have the same villains plotting revenge on the spies by ruining their personal lives. Framing each episode is a subplot that focuses on the girls' everyday lives as high school (and later university) students, dealing with relationships and their longtime high school nemesis
Mandy.
Main characters
* Sam (voiced by
Claire Guyot in the French dub,
Jennifer Hale (seasons 1–6) and Kira Riley (season 7–present) in the English dub), is the intellectual of the trio. She acts as an elder sister to her friends, being rational, logical, and the most mature of the group. More sensible than Alex and less superficial than Clover, her intelligence and composure allow her to find effective solutions to complicated problems.
Her spy suit is green.
* Clover (voiced by
Fily Keita in the French dub,
Andrea Taylor (seasons 1–6) and Ali Ryan (season 7–present) in the English dub) is the fashionable one of the trio. While she is athletic, agile, and strong, she is also impulsive and spontaneous, never thinking twice before jumping into action. She is always ready to teach villains a lesson, even if she has no chance of winning against them.
Her spy suit is red.
* Alex (voiced by
Céline Mauge in the French dub,
Katie Leigh (seasons 1–2);
Katie Griffin (seasons 3–6) and Lori Felipe-Barkin (season 7–present) in the English dub) is the heart of the trio. She values her friendship with Sam and Clover above all else and will do anything to keep the trio united and happy. Although she admires Sam and Clover, she effaces somewhat in their presence. She is very affectionate and unafraid to show her feelings.
Her spy suit is yellow.
* Jerry Lewis (voiced by
Jean-Claude Donda in the French dub,
Jess Harnell
Jess Harnell (born December 23, 1963) is an American voice actor. His roles include Wakko Warner in ''Animaniacs'', Captain Hero in '' Drawn Together'', Jerry in the first two seasons of '' Totally Spies!'', Ironhide in the first three ''Tr ...
(seasons 1–2); Adrian Truss (seasons 3–6) and Gary Mack (season 7–present) in the English dub) is the founder of WOOHP. From seasons one to six, he is the president of the agency and the trio's superior. He assigns the trio with missions and takes a certain pleasure in summoning them at inopportune moments. Despite his age, he is sufficiently athletic when helping the trio on certain missions. He remains attached to his cultural roots and often plays with his British phlegm with the trio, who do not hesitate to tease him about his cheesy gentlemanly demeanor.
* Mandy (voiced by Céline Mauge in the French dub, Jennifer Hale (seasons 1–6) and Sarah Naughton (season 7–present) in the English dub) is a classmate and rival to the girls in their lives outside of WOOHP. Rich, popular and charismatic, she is in perpetual conflict with the trio, locking heads with them over boys, contests or clothing they covet.
* G.L.A.D.I.S. (seasons 3–4; voiced by
Laura Préjean in the French dub and
Stevie Vallance in the English dub) is an
artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...
that assists Jerry in distributing gadgets during the third and fourth seasons. G.L.A.D.I.S. was dropped from the series before the fifth season, having been sent by Jerry to WOOHP's recycling facility.
* Zerlina (season 7; voiced by Déborah Claude in the French dub, and by Alana Barrett-Atkins in the English dub) is Jerry's daughter and the new president of WOOHP following her father's retirement.
* Toby (season 7; voiced by Gauthier Battoue in the French dub and Arjun Biju in the English dub) is a young high-tech genius that assists Zerlina in the creation and distribution of the girls's gadgets.
* Glitterstar (season 7; voiced by Geneviève Doang in the French dub and Jody Doo in the English dub) is the manager of Bubble Spy Cafe, run by WOOHP, the World Organization Of Human Protection. Despite this, she does not know of the girls' secret spy life.
Episodes
Development and production
Seasons 1 to 5
The series' conception came from the rise of girl groups 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 influenced by
anime
is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
.
The production company,
Marathon Media, intended on building on the series brand by forming a three-piece girl band, utilizing German talk show ''
Arabella
''Arabella'', Op. 79, is a lyric comedy, or opera, in three acts by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, their sixth and last operatic collaboration.
Performance history
It was first performed on 1 July 1933 at the D ...
'' 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 series' 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 Spring 2001 that the series would air in the fall on
ABC Family
American cable television, cable and satellite television network Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through four different owners and six different name changes dur ...
in the United States, and would be distributed to the European countries in the following year.
Fox Kids Europe acquired European merchandising rights to the series in July 2001, excluding German-speaking territories.
In an interview with WorldScreen.com, Michel explained that prior to the series, there were a lot of boy action-adventure shows and practically nothing for girls, yet in pop culture, there was
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...
and
Spice Girls
The Spice Girls are an English girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Mel B ("Scary Spice"), Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"), Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"), Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"), and Victoria Beckham ("Posh Spice"). They have sold over 10 ...
. He explained that the characters are heavily inspired by the movie ''
Clueless'' and wanted to mix that with a
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...
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 explained 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
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hil ...
, ''
The Avengers'',
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...
and its gadgets, and ''
Cat's Eye''.
The head writers for the series were Robert and Michelle Lamoreaux who were based in Los Angeles, and who had worked on
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...
shows. Demersay and Stephane Berry had both recently worked with
Saban Entertainment
BVS Entertainment, Inc., previously known as Saban Productions, Saban Entertainment and Saban International, is a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company. Founded on April 24, 1980, as a music production company by Haim Saban and Shuki Levy, it ...
in Europe. In a
GeoCities
GeoCities, later Yahoo! GeoCities, was a web hosting service that allowed users to create and publish websites for free and to browse user-created websites by their theme or interest, active from 1994 to 2009. GeoCities was started in November 1 ...
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' movie, ''Totally Spies! The Movie'', was produced and released to theatres in France on 22 July 2009. The movie received a telecast release in the United States, on 25 April the following year, coinciding with the airing of the series' fifth season there.
Seasons 6 to present
In August 2011, Marathon Media confirmed that production for the sixth season was underway and set to premiere in 2013, with
Jennifer Hale,
Andrea Baker
Andrea Baker (née Taylor) is an American actress. In film, she is known for her role as Peggy Jane in the 1998 film ''Pleasantville (film), Pleasantville'', as well as her voice roles portraying List of characters in Totally Spies!#Clover, Clove ...
,
Katie Griffin and Adrian Truss reprising their roles. The sixth series would be produced only by Marathon in association with
TF1
TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network.
TF1 is part ...
and
The Walt Disney Company France
The Walt Disney Company France (), formerly Walt Disney Mickey Mouse, S.A. and Walt Disney Productions France, is one of The Walt Disney Company's international divisions and also European divisions. It is headquartered in Paris, Île-de-France. ...
. It was later confirmed that 26 episodes would be produced and that the series 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
The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...
, taking place during Summer 2013.
The event would be preceded with activities including a screening of a special featuring the spies on a mission in the palace gardens.
On 8 January 2022, Thomas Astruc, the creator of ''
Miraculous Ladybug'', who had previously worked on ''Totally Spies!'', announced on Twitter that a new season of the latter was "in the making". On the 13th, revised character designs for Sam, Alex and Clover were revealed. It was originally set to premiere in 2023, but was later pushed back to 2024. The upcoming series will be produced by Zodiak Kids & Family Studio France, with Ollenom (Production subsidiary of fellow Zodiak Kids & Family subsidiary Monello Productions) as co-producer, and French-broadcaster
Gulli and Latin American-broadcaster
Discovery Kids as participators.
On 25 April 2023, it was announced that
Warner Bros. Discovery had acquired broadcast rights to the series in the United States and
EMEA
Europe, the Middle East and Africa, commonly known by its acronym EMEA among the North American business spheres, is a geographical region used by institutions, governments and global spheres of marketing, media and business when referring to t ...
regions, where the series would air on
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...
in the United States and stream on
Max
Max or MAX may refer to:
Animals
* Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog
* Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE)
* Max (gorilla) ...
in EMEA regions. In September 2023,
Andrea Baker
Andrea Baker (née Taylor) is an American actress. In film, she is known for her role as Peggy Jane in the 1998 film ''Pleasantville (film), Pleasantville'', as well as her voice roles portraying List of characters in Totally Spies!#Clover, Clove ...
(the voice actress of Clover) confirmed on her Twitter that she and the rest of the voice cast would not be returning, their roles were recast to Kira Riley, Ali Ryan, Lori Felipe-Barkin and Gary Mack respectively.
On 13 June 2024, it was announced that the show has been renewed for an eighth season.
Telecast and home media
In the U.S., ''Totally Spies!'' premiered on 3 November 2001 on Fox Family/ABC Family (now
Freeform). It later premiered in Europe on pay-TV and terrestrial channels such as Germany's
ProSieben
ProSieben (, ''sieben'' is German for "seven"; often stylized as Pro7) is a German free-to-air television network owned by ProSiebenSat.1 Media.
It was launched on 1 January 1989. It is Germany's second-largest privately owned television company ...
, France's
TF1
TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network.
TF1 is part ...
, United Kingdom's
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
and the localised
Fox Kids
Fox Kids (originally known as Fox Children's Network and later as the Fox Kids Network; stylized in all caps) was an American children's programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channels. Originally a j ...
channels throughout the region during the spring of 2002.
The show was moved to
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...
in July 2003 in the United States, where it attracted 1.6 million viewers (aged 4–10) daily
and continued airing until 10 September 2010. In 2019, the show aired weeknights on the
Universal Kids channel, which broadcast the show's sixth season for the first time in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
.
''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 spin-off ''
The Amazing Spiez!''. The show aired its sixth season in France and is being aired around Europe. In Canada, season 6 began airing on 7 September 2014 on
Teletoon
Cartoon Network (formerly Teletoon) is a Canadian English-language discretionary specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment. The channel primarily broadcasts animated series aimed at children and teenagers. It was launched on October 17 ...
, and on 6 September on
Télétoon. The show has been aired worldwide on various networks, such as
TF1
TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network.
TF1 is part ...
in France;
Teletoon
Cartoon Network (formerly Teletoon) is a Canadian English-language discretionary specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment. The channel primarily broadcasts animated series aimed at children and teenagers. It was launched on October 17 ...
in Canada,
Fox Family/ABC Family,
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...
,
Universal Kids in the US;
Fox Kids
Fox Kids (originally known as Fox Children's Network and later as the Fox Kids Network; stylized in all caps) was an American children's programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channels. Originally a j ...
,
Jetix
Jetix (stylized in all caps) was a children's entertainment brand owned by The Walt Disney Company. The brand was for a slate of action and adventure-related programming blocks and television channels. Jetix programming mainly originated fr ...
,
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...
, and
Boomerang
A boomerang () is a thrown tool typically constructed with airfoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight, designed to return to the thrower. The origin of the word is from Australian Aborigin ...
in Latin America and Brazil on pay-TV;
Rede Globo
TV Globo (stylized as tvglobo; , ), formerly known as Rede Globo de Televisão (; shortened to Rede Globo) or simply known as Globo, is a Brazilian free-to-air television network, launched by media proprietor Roberto Marinho on 26 April 1965 ...
in Brazil on terrestrial TV;
ABS-CBN
ABS-CBN is a leading Philippine media and content company. It serves as the flagship media brand of ABS-CBN Corporation, a subsidiary of Lopez Holdings Corporation. Once the country's largest free-to-air television network, ABS-CBN has since ...
in the Philippines on terrestrial TV;
ART Teenz,
MBC 3 in the Middle East;
Dragon Club in China;
TVB
Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB; zh, t=電視廣播有限公司) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong. The company operates five free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Hong Kong, with TVB Jade as its main Canton ...
in Hong Kong;
Fox Kids
Fox Kids (originally known as Fox Children's Network and later as the Fox Kids Network; stylized in all caps) was an American children's programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channels. Originally a j ...
,
Jetix
Jetix (stylized in all caps) was a children's entertainment brand owned by The Walt Disney Company. The brand was for a slate of action and adventure-related programming blocks and television channels. Jetix programming mainly originated fr ...
,
Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...
, and
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...
channels in Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania. In Australia, it was shown on
Network Ten
Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's Paramount Networks UK & Australia, UK & Australia division and is o ...
and later on
10 Peach (formerly Eleven) as part of their Toasted TV block. Seasons 3–4 was aired on
POP in the United Kingdom from 2013-14. Season 5 started airing in 2015 and season 6 the following year in 2016 until 2019. It was also briefly aired on its sister network,
Pop Girl. It was aired on
BBC Alba in Scotland. Season 1 aired on Disney Channel and
Disney XD
Disney XD is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by the Disney Branded Television and Disney Entertainment units of The Walt Disney Company. The channel is aimed primarily at older children ages six to eleven years old ...
. It aired in Ireland on
RTÉ Two from 11 September 2002 until 2009.
Since 2012, the show has had an official YouTube channel that has uploaded the majority of the episodes and even the film, and normally uploads random clips every Saturday. As of April 2021, all six seasons of ''Totally Spies!'' are also available on
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...
, which currently has the exclusive streaming rights in the U.S.
In 2004, Goodtimes Entertainment released the first twelve episodes of the show's first season on
VHS and
DVD 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 US 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 14 January 2014. As of 2020, these DVD sets are now out of print and very hard to find. Totally Spies DVDs are also released in the United Kingdom by Sanctuary Visual Entertainment in 2005 and 2006, ''Totally Spies – First Secret Missions'' and ''Totally Spies – Spy Gladiators''. This is released on
DVD &
Blu-ray
Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
in the U.S. by
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment LLC (UPHE) is the home video distribution division of Universal Pictures, an American film studio owned by NBCUniversal, the entertainment unit of Comcast.
UPHE is the home video distributor for all of the ...
.
Reception
Joly Herman of ''
Common Sense Media
Common Sense Media (CSM) is an American nonprofit organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children. '' gave the series a mixed review, rating the show 3 out of 5 stars and 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."
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
is a Japanese media franchise consisting of List of Pokémon video games, video games, Pokémon (TV series), animated series and List of Pokémon films, films, Pokémon Trading Card Game, a trading card game, and other related media. The fran ...
-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
Parents Television Council
The Parents Television and Media Council (PTMC), formerly the Parents Television Council (PTC), is an American media advocacy group founded by Conservatism in the United States, conservative political pundit L. Brent Bozell III in 1995, which ...
, 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.
In 2022, a writer for the ''
Architectural Digest'' magazine praised ''Totally Spies!'' for its
interior design
Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. With a keen eye for detail and a Creativity, creative flair, an ...
choices and its "hyper Y2K, retro futuristic style".
Other media
Video games
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 26 April 2010, on Cartoon Network. In Canada, the show premiered on 2 September 2010 on
Teletoon
Cartoon Network (formerly Teletoon) is a Canadian English-language discretionary specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment. The channel primarily broadcasts animated series aimed at children and teenagers. It was launched on October 17 ...
. 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.
Live-action TV series
A live-action television series produced by
Gloria Sanchez Productions,
Banijay Kids & Family and
Amazon MGM Studios
Amazon MGM Studios is an American film and television production and distribution company owned by Amazon, and headquartered at the Culver Studios complex in Culver City, California. Launched on November 16, 2010, it took its current name on O ...
is in development at
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...
and will premiere in 2025.
Comics and books
''Totally Spies!'' comics were released monthly in
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
. 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.
Notes
References
External links
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{{Portal bar, Television, France, Canada, Speculative fiction, Fantasy
2000s Canadian animated comedy television series
2010s Canadian animated comedy television series
2000s Canadian children's television series
2010s Canadian children's television series
2000s Canadian high school television series
2000s French animated television series
2001 animated television series debuts
2001 Canadian television series debuts
2001 French television series debuts
2002 Canadian television series debuts
2002 French television series debuts
2010s Canadian high school television series
2010s French animated television series
2020s French animated television series
2013 French television series endings
2015 Canadian television series endings
Animation controversies in television
Banijay franchises
Canadian anime-influenced animated television series
Canadian children's animated action television series
Canadian children's animated adventure television series
Canadian children's animated comedy television series
Canadian television series revived after cancellation
Canadian English-language television shows
Fiction about mind control
Fictional Muay Thai practitioners
French anime-influenced animated television series
French children's animated action television series
French children's animated adventure television series
French children's animated comedy television series
Teen animated television series
Teletoon original programming
Television controversies in Canada
Television controversies in France
Television series by Banijay
Television series by Image Entertainment Corporation
Television series revived after cancellation
Television shows adapted into video games
Television shows set in Beverly Hills, California
Television shows set in California
Television shows set in Malibu, California
Animated television series set in California
TF1 original programming
Canadian spy television series
French spy television series