Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race (also known as Total Drama: The Ridonculous Race or simply The Ridonculous Race) is a Canadian animated television series which lampoons the conventions commonly found in reality television (specifically The Amazing Race). The show is a spin-off of the original Total Drama series created in 2007 and the second series created as part of the overall franchise. The series is created by Fresh TV Inc. and distributed by Cake Entertainment. The series originally premiered in the United States on Cartoon Network on September 7, 2015, while in Canada, the series premiered on the Canadian version of Cartoon Network on January 4, 2016. It also aired on ABC3 in Australia, starting December 23, 2019, and CBBC (via BBC iPlayer) in the United Kingdom. The series consists of 26 episodes.
Plot There are 36 racers, divided into teams of two, who visit a different country or location in every episode and perform in "legs". Teams must race to the "Chill Zone", the finish line for each leg taking on the form of a gold "Carpet of Completion". The first team to arrive there have the advantage of starting early, while the team finishing last may face elimination. In each of the 26 episodes, each team is required to press a button on any "Don-box" they meet to receive clues that let them decide which challenge they will have to complete.
Each challenge contains a task that teams must complete to advance throughout the leg. Challenges come in four different types: "All-In", which has both members of each team complete a task together; "Botch-or-Watch", which requires one member of each team, usually the team member who did not take on a prior challenge's component, to perform a task; "Either-or", in which teams are given a choice between two different tasks that have to be completed in the same manner as an "All-In"; and "Superteam", in which multiple teams complete together as a team to finish a task.
Characters and cast Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race has 32 brand new contestants and four contestants from the original Total Drama series. Unlike the original series, contestants compete in teams of two throughout the season, resulting in a total of 18 teams. ContestantVoiceTeam nameFinishFinishPlacementEpisode Leonard Clé Bennett 2 Tammy Nicki Burke Gerry David Huband 3 Pete Adrian Truss Ellody Emilie-Claire Barlow 4 Mary Katie Griffin Laurie Emilie-Claire Barlow 6 Miles Katie Griffin Jen Ashley Botting 7 Tom Jeff Geddis Kelly Julie Lemieux 9 Taylor Bryn McAuley JayLyon Smith 11 Mickey Chet Darren Frost 14 Lorenzo Carlos Díaz Rock Spud Carter Hayden Dwayne Neil Crone 16 Junior Jacob Ewaniuk Noah Carter Hayden 18 Owen Scott McCord Crimson Stacey DePass 20 Ennui Carter Hayden Brody Returned to game 21 Geoff Ryan Joseph Motiki 23 Stephanie Nicki Burke Carrie Kristin Fairlie 24 Devin Jeff Geddis Emma Stacey DePass 25 Kitty Stephanie Anne Mills Jacques Scott McCord 26 Josee Julie Lemieux Brody Scott McCord Geoff Dan Petronijevic MacArthur Evany Rosen Sanders Nicole Stamp Quebec Version: ContestantVoiceTeam nameFinishFinishPlacementEpisode Léonard Marc St-Martin 2 Heidi Marika Lhoumeau Gerry François L'écuyer 3 Pierre Philippe Martin Élodie Natalie Hamel-Roy 4 Marie Éveline Gélinas Laurie Natalie Hamel-Roy 6 Michèle Catherine Proulx-Lemay Jen Élisabeth Lenormand 7 Tom Nicholas Savard L'Herbier Karine Marika Lhoumeau 9 Charlotte Éveline Gélinas AlainKevin Houle 11 Maxime Serge Benoît Éthier 14 Lorenzo Claude Gagnon Roch Alexandre Fortin Bob Christian Perrault Denis Patrick Chouinard 16 Denis Junior Julie Beauchemin Lucas Philippe Martin 18 Gontran Patrick Chouinard Cramoisi Camille Cyr-Desmarais 20 Lassitude Claude Gagnon Brice Returned to game 21 J.F. Antoine Alexandre Fortin 23 Stéphanie Myriam de Verge Charlie Geneviève Désilets 24 Devin Marc St-Martin Emma Camille Cyr-Desmarais 25 Cathou Rachel Graton Jacques Benoît Éthier 26 Josée Fanny Rainville Brice Christian Perrault J.F. Sébastien Rajotte MacGuire Julie Beauchemin Santerre Rose-Maïté Erkoreka
Elimination table
This table summarizes the order in which the teams have ranked overall throughout the series. The teams are listed in reverse order of elimination.
Team Label Position (by leg) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Police Cadets 3rd 2nd 1st 3rd 11th 13th 7th 8th 8th 5th 2nd 1st 9th 3rd 5th 7th 6th 3rd 1st 1st 2nd 2nd 3rd 2nd/1st Brody & Geoff Surfer Dudes 13th 6th 3rd 15th 5th 4th 8th 1st 9th 6th 5th 2nd 8th 8th 6th 1st 1st 7th 5th 6th 1st Jacques & Josee Ice Dancers 1st 3rd 2nd 1st 3rd 1st 1st 3rd 4th 4th 4th 10th 1st 1st 7th 2nd 2nd 6th 2nd 1st 1st 4th 1st 2nd Emma & Kitty Sisters 8th 11th 10th 9th 10th 7th 3rd 5th 1st 3rd 7th 5th 4th 4th 8th 6th 3rd 4th 4th 3rd 4th 4th 1st Carrie & Devin Best Friends 2nd 1st 4th 14th 7th 11th 10th 2nd 12th 10th 9th 4th 1st 7th 2nd 3rd 5th 5th 4th 5th 3rd 3rd 6th Ryan & Stephanie Daters / Haters 5th 5th 8th 6th 6th 10th 13th 5th 1st 3rd 3rd 6th 3rd 5th 2nd 3rd 2nd 4th 1st 2nd Crimson & Ennui Goths 18th 14th 13th 8th 1st 2nd 12th 10th 7th 8th 10th 8th 7th 2nd 4th 4th 6th 1st 1st Noah & Owen Reality TV Pros 6th 8th 16th 2nd 4th 12th 2nd 4th 2nd 2nd 11th 6th 5th 6th 8th 4th 9th Dwayne & Junior Father & Son 4th 17th 5th 4th 8th 6th 6th 6th 6th 11th 6th 10th 3rd 5th 7th Rock & Spud Rockers 11th 9th 15th 13th 14th 14th 9th 11th 11th 1st 9th 9th Chet & Lorenzo Stepbrothers 16th 15th 6th 7th 9th 5th 4th 7th 10th 7th 8th 7th 2nd 12th Jay & Mickey Adversity Twins 14th 12th 12th 12th 12th 7th 11th 9th 3rd 9th 13th Kelly & Taylor 12th 13th 11th 10th 13th 3rd 5th 12th 14th Tom & Jen Fashion Bloggers 10th 10th 7th 5th 2nd 9th 15th Laurie & Miles Vegans 9th 16th 14th 11th Ellody & Mary Geniuses 7th 7th 9th 17th Gerry & Pete Tennis Rivals 17th 4th Leonard & Tammy LARPers 15th
Key
Each column shows the results of the leg of the race from that episode of the series.
A team placement indicates the team was eliminated. A team placement indicates the team withdrew from the race. An team placement indicates the team came in last on a non-elimination leg. A or a indicates that the team found a Boomerang and could choose a team to repeat the previous task, while a or indicates the team who received it. Matching coloured symbols ( and ) indicate teams who worked together during the leg as a result of a Superteam twist.
Notes
Noah & Owen initially arrived 11th, but were issued a 20-minute penalty for failing to ride their cheese wheel down the river and roll it to the Chill Zone as instructed, since Owen had consumed the whole cheese. Five teams checked in during their penalty time, dropping them to 16th. Dwayne & Junior initially arrived 1st, but were issued a 20-minute penalty for Dwayne reading the Travel-Tip before reuniting with Junior on the beach. Three teams (excluding Tom & Jen) checked in during their penalty time, dropping them to 4th. Tom & Jen initially arrived 2nd, but were issued a 20-minute penalty for arriving at Calanque de Maubois by yacht instead of train as instructed. Two teams checked in during their penalty time, dropping them to 5th (after Dwayne & Junior). Kelly & Taylor initially arrived 7th, but were issued a one-hour penalty for Taylor failing to follow Kelly back through the geyser field after incorrectly repeating the Icelandic phrase during the All-In, when she was instructed to do so. Six teams checked in during their penalty time, dropping them to 13th. Laurie & Miles initially arrived 1st, but were issued a 30-minute penalty for Miles making both components of the Brazilian carnival costume during the All-In, when she and Laurie were instructed to make one each. All other teams checked in during their penalty time, dropping them to last and resulting in their elimination. Crimson & Ennui initially arrived 6th, but were issued a 10-minute penalty for switching positions during the All-In. Six teams checked in during their penalty time, dropping them to 12th. Leg 14 was a double-elimination leg, where the last two teams to reach the Chill Zone were eliminated. Jacques & Josee initially arrived 1st, but were issued a 10-minute penalty for arriving at the Chill Zone on foot, when they were instructed to ride burros there. MacArthur & Sanders checked in during this time, dropping them to 2nd. Jacques & Josee initially arrived 1st, but were issued a 30-minute penalty for failing to collect a ball from the bottom of the borehole as instructed, since they had instead stolen the ball from Emma & Kitty while suspended on the way down. This did not affect their final placement. Jacques & Josee initially arrived 1st, but were issued a one-hour penalty for disconnecting the trailing carriages of the train that transported them to the Chill Zone. Three teams checked in during this time, dropping them to 4th. In Leg 24, Carrie & Devin checked in the Chill Zone in 3rd place and were declared safe. While they celebrated, trailing team Emma & Kitty accidentally knocked Devin off the cliff where the Chill Zone was located after losing control of their emu from the Botch-or-Watch. Carrie & Devin were forced to withdraw from the race due to Devin's injuries and had to choose a previously eliminated team to replace them. Brody & Geoff were chosen to return to the race. Jacques & Josee were last to arrive at the mid-point Chill Zone in Central Park and were eliminated in the middle part of the Final Leg. The Final Leg has two endings, depending on the location of the audience. Brody & Geoff are the winners in Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada (Crave), Denmark, France, Israel, Latin America, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania (Megamax), Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom (BBC iPlayer), and the USA. MacArthur & Sanders are the winners in Canada, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Romania, and the USA (Netflix).
Production Production took place from January 1, 2014 to October 30, 2015. It was announced that Alex Ganetakos was producing the show, Terry McGurrin was writing the screenplay, and that Chad Hicks was directing. The new host Don was revealed in a Fresh TV post in October 2014. It was confirmed that 26 episodes would be picked up for the show and that it would air sometime the same year. However, one of the producers, Alex Ganetakos, stated that many Ridonculous Race seasons are possible if the first season is successful. In June 2015, the entire first episode was leaked online, revealing all of the characters three months before Fresh TV could release their designs on their website.
Casting Even though some of the characters from the main series do make appearances, the spin-off series has a predominantly new cast. In fact, there are only four characters returning from the original series, while the rest are brand new characters. Kristin Fairlie, the voice actor for the character Bridgette from the original series, was cast to voice one of the new contestants, Carrie. Scott McCord (voice of characters Owen and Trent in the original series) as well as Carter Hayden (voice of Noah in the original) were also revealed to be returning to the cast, and were seen in the recording studio together. It was later confirmed that the actors were indeed going to voice the characters Owen and Noah. It was eventually revealed that the first pair is to be the aforementioned character Carrie and her best friend Devin, who is played by Jeff Geddis. In February, the second pair was revealed: Stephanie and Ryan. The two are voiced by Nicki Burke of Dead Rising 2 and Joseph Motiki, from Rescue Heroes. In a new promotion by Cake Entertainment, Geoff was also revealed to be among the returning cast, teamed up with Brody, one of his friends from home. The father-son team of Dwayne and Dwayne Jr. was also revealed.