Totally Spies!

Did You Know?

• A spin-off series called The Amazing Spiez! features four young teenage siblings as spies, with Jerry as a regular character; the three spy girls appear in the crossover episode 'Operation: Dude Ranch Disaster'.
• Totally Spies! had a crossover episode in season 5 titled 'Totally Mystery Much?' with Martin Mystery, another Marathon-produced series.
• A live-action television series produced by Gloria Sanchez Productions, Banijay Kids & Family and Amazon MGM Studios is in development at Amazon Prime Video.

Main characters

Clover is the fashion-focused member of the group, voiced by Fily Keita in French and by Andrea Taylor for the first six seasons and Ali Ryan from season seven onward in English. She is athletic, agile, and strong, but her impulsive and spontaneous nature means she often leaps into action without a second thought. Her spy suit is red. Clover typically shares the main protagonist role with Sam and is heavily involved in the show’s B plots, which revolve around social life and often influence the main storylines. Sam, voiced by Claire Guyot in French and by Jennifer Hale for seasons one through six and Kira Riley from season seven onward in English, is the intellectual of the trio. She acts like an elder sister, being rational, logical, and the most mature. Her spy suit is green. Sam serves as the de facto leader and shares main character duties with Clover, though she is usually not very involved in the B plots. Alex, voiced by Céline Mauge in French and by Katie Leigh for the first two seasons, Katie Griffin for seasons three through six, and Lori Felipe-Barkin from season seven onward in English, is the heart of the trio. She values her friendships with Sam and Clover above everything else and is affectionate and open with her feelings. Her spy suit is yellow. Alex acts in a deuteragonist role, as Clover and Sam split the main character duties. Jerry Lewis, voiced by Jean-Claude Donda in French and by Jess Harnell for the first two seasons, Adrian Truss for seasons three through six, and Gary Mack from season seven onward in English, is the founder of WOOHP. From seasons one through six, he is the agency’s president and the trio’s superior, assigning them missions and taking pleasure in summoning them at inconvenient times. Despite his age, he is athletic enough to help on missions and often displays a British phlegm that the trio teases him about.

Conception, development and production

The series was conceived following the rise of girl groups and female singers in the music industry. David Michel and Vincent Chalvon-Demersay developed the idea, which went into production within a year. Michel stated that the animation style was influenced by anime. Marathon Media intended to build the brand by forming a three-piece girl band, using the German talk show Arabella to select members. A panel of judges chose winners from 20 demo videos based on performance and viewer input. The band released a single through EMI in spring 2002, with plans for a full album, though this did not materialize. In spring 2001, it was announced the series would air on ABC Family in the United States in the fall and be distributed to European countries the following year. Fox Kids Europe acquired European merchandising rights in July 2001, excluding German-speaking territories. Michel explained that before the series, there were many boy action-adventure shows but few for girls, despite the popularity of Britney Spears and the Spice Girls. The characters were heavily inspired by the film Clueless, mixed with a James Bond format. The initial pitch received a moderate response, but after the first season aired, the Charlie's Angels film was released, and the market became filled with girl show properties.

Telecast and home media

Totally Spies! first hit American screens on November 3, 2001, via Fox Family/ABC Family, which is now known as Freeform. By spring 2002, the show had crossed the Atlantic, debuting across Europe on both pay-TV and free-to-air channels like Germany's ProSieben, France's TF1, the UK's Channel 4, and various localized Fox Kids networks. In July 2003, the series moved to Cartoon Network in the US, where it pulled in around 1.6 million daily viewers between the ages of four and ten, running there until September 10, 2010. Years later, in 2019, Universal Kids picked it up for weeknight airings, marking the first US broadcast of the show's sixth season. Since its French debut, the series has drawn over a million viewers in that country alone. Up in Canada, season six began on Teletoon on September 7, 2014, and on Télétoon the day before. The show's global reach has been massive, airing on TF1 in France, Teletoon in Canada, and a slew of US networks including Fox Family/ABC Family, Cartoon Network, and Universal Kids. In Latin America and Brazil, it popped up on Fox Kids, Jetix, Cartoon Network, and Boomerang, while Brazil's Rede Globo carried it on terrestrial TV. Other international outlets include ABS-CBN in the Philippines, ART Teenz and MBC 3 in the Middle East, Dragon Club in China, TVB in Hong Kong, and various Fox Kids, Jetix, Disney Channel, and Nickelodeon feeds across Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Down under, it aired on Network Ten and later on 10 Peach. In the UK, seasons three and four ran on POP from 2013 to 2014, with season five in 2015 and season six from 2016 to 2019; it also briefly appeared on sister channel Pop Girl. Scotland's BBC Alba and Ireland's RTÉ Two (from September 11, 2002, until 2009) also broadcast the show. Since 2012, an official YouTube channel has been posting most episodes and random clips every Saturday. As of April 2021, all six seasons are available on Amazon Prime Video, which holds exclusive US streaming rights.

Reception

The series received mixed reviews from critics. Joly Herman of Common Sense Media rated it 3 out of 5 stars, describing it as a decent show to watch occasionally but cautioning that more regular viewing might give viewers a slight headache. Joe Corey of Inside Pulse gave a more positive review, calling the show fun enough for small kids who want a Charlie's Angels undercover action show, noting that the trio balances the fun of espionage without making it too risky. Matt Hinrichs of DVD Talk gave a positive review, stating that the action in the first three seasons is 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, including both girls and boys, with a Pokémon-like appeal across age and gender. David Michel noted before season three that the male/female viewership split was consistently 50% boys and 50% girls across countries, contrary to predictions that the show would score low with boys. Scott Stoute of ScreenRant listed the show among his '10 Girl Cartoons (That Guys Secretly Love)'. The Parents Television Council, in a March 2006 report, noted no offensive language but expressed concern about the violence in an episode involving rats and the sexual content of a sunblock ad featuring a bikini-clad woman. In 2022, a writer for Architectural Digest praised the series for its interior design choices and its 'hyper Y2K, retro futuristic style'.