I think that a core difference that people forget about when criticizing and comparing the tones of Disventure Camp and Total Drama is that Disventure Camp is a fictionalized reality show while Total Drama is a parody of a reality show.
Disventure Camp has comedic moments, and it does in earlier seasons lean more into the evil host angle (especially with Kristal in season two, and with Derek, Emily, and Trevorās crimes), but overall its a lot more grounded in reality. Its focus on linear character arcs for a majority of its characters and the constant tender moments between characters makes the characters feel more human and more sympathetic. Theyāre not as tropey and their relationships are largely more developed. Its challenges can be physically difficult and sometimes over the top, but theyāre rarely built around causing pain or invoking disgust; theyāre mostly based around novelty, like a giant robot that hunts you down, a D&D themed simulation, scuba diving, a zombie apocalypse simulation, or a singing competition.
Conversely, Total Drama relies more on character tropes/stereotypes because these characters are meant to represent common TV and movie personalities/character archetypes. While some characters do get pretty well developed (Gwen in season one, Heather in season three, etc.), the show is largely focused on comedy partially deriving from common character archetypes and ungrounded personalities; one could even argue that some of the appeal of Total Drama characters is that, because they are so generic and have their lore scattered piece by piece throughout canon with some lore never even being canonized (last names, birthdays, home situations, etc.), it allows viewers to puzzle together their own idea of who the character is at their core to a degree and also makes them more relatable to the audience. Challenges in Total Drama are more wild, with the express purpose of putting contestants through hell, and they get away with making their challenges so nuts since they treat injuries as slapstick instead of a serious issue most of the time, while injuries in Disventure Camp go between slapstick and realistic (see: the differences in COCās elephant challenge vs. the challenge where Anastasia dislocates Ivyās shoulder). And, because the Total Drama competitors are all teenagers (Ridonculous Race cast and Blaineley not included), it also evokes ideas about the consequences of child actor/star exploitation (albeit in a pretty PG way). This is a ripe topic for fanfiction and fan speculation; part of the reason that you donāt find as much fanfic revolving around extensively developed characters and concepts in a lot of fandoms is simply because itās already been explored, so in this way, Total Drama encourages fan creation arguably more than Disventure Camp. Total Drama is also a bit of a period piece, since the casts are based on popular tropes and characters/media personalities at the time of their creation (the goth, the queen bee, the type A, Napoleon Dynamite, Sue Sylvester, Paris Hilton, etc.), while Disventure Camp characters are less based on common contemporary media tropes and more commonly on career or identity markers, or more timeless tropes (the spy, the ācrazy girlā, the deadbeat dad, the Olympic swimmer, the model, etc; there are exceptions, like Karol parodying a Karen or James parodying an influencer, but largely Iād argue they rely on more era nonspecific labels and, as of COC, they largely concern themselves with career or age as a label before personality type). The reason that Chris is so iconic as a host is because he is the quintessential chill guy egotistical douchebag reality TV host that you saw on every reality TV show in 2008. Meanwhile Kristal, Derek, and Trevor have all been more fleshed-out individual characters than stand-ins for, say, an asshole podcaster or tea channel girlie or washed-up actor forced onto The Masked Singerā tropes that weād probably associate with reality TV or reality content today. The exception here is arguably Emily, but even then, Iād argue that trashy tabloid reporters are a trope more associated with the 2000s and 2010s than the 2020s.
While Total Drama is a stand-out impossibly dangerous show, Disventure Camp largely follows the conventions of an actual reality show, it just implements concepts that you would need a crazy budget to execute (see: the VR challenges). A good way to sum it up I think is that Total Drama is what a reality show without laws would look like, while Disventure Camp is what a reality show without a spending cap would look like. The Total Drama cast is generic and relatable with little lore drops that you can piece together for fun, while the Disventure Camp cast is inherently written to be more complex and unique with little room for canonically-plausible personal headcanons. Total Drama is a comedic show with heartfelt moments, while Disventure Camp is a heartfelt show with comedic moments. I think both of them have their strengths; for example, Total Dramaās very slow build-up of characters allows them to write longer seasons without worrying about what the characters will do next or how to keep it entertaining. Disventure Camp, in my opinion, exhausts its characters a bit quicker, but the extensive lore and screen time that all of its characters get allow you to get more attached to the ones you enjoy most. Total Dramaās fluider animation helps its slapstick feel more natural than Disventure Campās does, but Disventure Campās animation allows for more detailed character designs. Total Drama characters are fun to come up with ideas for, and Disventure Camp tells you its ideas for its characters pretty straightforward. Total Dramaās filler/elimination fodder characters allow them to narrow their focus and really develop its finalists or semi-finalists (Gwen, Owen, Heather, Alejandro, Cameron, Lightning, etc.) while Disventure Campās equal attention to its characters makes the cast feel fuller and more human.
I donāt know if I worded this post very well, I honestly havenāt watched TD in a bit so maybe my memory is off but, yeah idk I feel like some people unfairly compare TD and DC sometimes when, in some ways, beyond just a difference in budget and time, the shows are meant to be tonally and thematically different. Total Drama is more about how reality TV exploits people while Disventure Camp is more about how a lot of people come to reality TV already hurting. In Total Drama the show itself is the evil, while in Disventure Camp, the show is a vehicle for the people within it to hurt each other. Do I sound crazy here please let me know
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