Totally Spies!: Difference between revisions

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'''''Totally Spies!''''' (2001-) is an animated show produced by French company [[Marathon Media]]. [[Power Trio|Three]] [[Action Girl|action girls]] -- Alex, Clover and Sam (two [[Tomboyish Name|tomboyish names]] out of three) -- are (totally) spies (and also [[Ordinary High School Student|ordinary high school students]]) working for WOOHP, the World Organization Of Human Protection. In each episode, the girls battle the plans of some variety of [[Mad Scientist]] or [[Super Villain]] with an axe to grind while also dealing with their personal lives (including their collective high school rival Mandy). Like ''[[Kim Possible]]'', ''Totally Spies!'' mines both spy and teen clichés, though ''Kim Possible'' was the only show to end a season on a [[Cliff Hanger]].

''Totally Spies!'' is notable for being one of the first Western-made animated series to employ selected [[Japanese Visual Arts Tropes]], such as [[Cross-Popping Veins]] and [[The Sweat Drop]], under the assumption viewers were already familiar with them (as opposed to employing them to [[Animesque|evoke the anime style]], a la ''[[Teen Titans (~~Animation~~)|Teen Titans]]'').

''Totally Spies!'' is notable for being one of the first Western-made animated series to employ selected [[Japanese Visual Arts Tropes]], such as [[Cross-Popping Veins]] and [[The Sweat Drop]], under the assumption viewers were already familiar with them (as opposed to employing them to [[Animesque|evoke the anime style]], a la ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]'').

The show is also notable for being a treasure trove of [[Author Appeal]]; each episode was seemingly dedicated to at least one different type of [[Fetish|fetishes]]. Each of the three spies has their own specialty: Clover is the [[I Have Your Index|designated hostage]] and is frequently a victim of various [[Involuntary Transformation|transformations]], Alex has [[Butt Monkey|freakishly bad luck]], and Sam will often be [[Brainwashed]]. At times, Jerry also seems to take a little too much joy in tossing the girls into dangerous situations.

In short: ''[[~~Charlies~~ Angels]]'' [[X Meets Y|meets]] ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' with more [[Fetish Fuel]] than either of those shows ever had.

In short: ''[[Charlie's Angels]]'' [[X Meets Y|meets]] ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' with more [[Fetish Fuel]] than either of those shows ever had.

The show totally received [[Totally Spies ~~the~~ Movie|a movie]], as well as a [[Spin-Off]] (''[[The Amazing Spiez]]'').

The show totally received [[Totally Spies! The Movie|a movie]], as well as a [[Spin-Off]] (''[[The Amazing Spiez]]'').

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=== ''Totally Spies!'' provides examples of: ===

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* [[Animesque]]

* [[Art Evolution]]: Very noticeable from about Season 3 onward (like how the girls -- and everyone else -- finally got belly buttons to go with their assortment of [[Bare Your Midriff]] outfits).

* [[Attack of the ~~Fifty~~ Foot Whatever|Attack of the 50-Foot Mandy]]

* [[Attack of the 50 Foot Whatever|Attack of the 50-Foot Mandy]]

* [[Bare Your Midriff]]: They're teenage girls from Beverly Hills. Do we really need to explain this one?

* [[The Baroness]]: Rosa Klebb type.

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* [[Chekhov's Gun]]: The ''entire series''.

** Give the spies a hairdryer and they'll save the world with it. Sometimes because [[Abnormal Ammo|it shoots tornadoes]].

** Occasionally subverted, because they don't always use every gadget they're given in an episode. Although sometimes, there's a [[Plot Tailored to ~~The~~ Party]] just to make sure they ''do''.

** Occasionally subverted, because they don't always use every gadget they're given in an episode. Although sometimes, there's a [[Plot Tailored to the Party]] just to make sure they ''do''.

** Also lampshaded in one episode, where Sam mentions they never needed the Laser Nail File, and right after that Clover breaks a nail.

* [[Cliff Hanger]]

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* [[Death Trap]]: "This machine will forcefeed you cookies until you explode!"

* [[Demon Head]]: Happens to Sam and Martin Mystery in episode "Totally Mystery Much?"

* [[Distracted By the Sexy]]: Used as a background gag as a couple of guys walk into each other due to being focused on Sam.

* [[Distracted by the Sexy]]: Used as a background gag as a couple of guys walk into each other due to being focused on Sam.

* [[Distressed Dude]]: Counting this show and ''The Amazing Spiez'' spin-off, Blaine and Dean both get their fair share of scenes where they end up bound and gagged.

* [[Dueling Shows]]: Started around the time ''[[Kim Possible]]'' did.

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*** This may also be a bit of the creators actually DOING the research, as the Lumière Brothers were the inventors of film over in France.

** And Jerry strongly, strongly resembles [[Batman]]'s butler Alfred Pennyworth as he appears in many comics depictions, particularly during the 70's -- present (despite being more in the [[Bunny Ears Lawyer]] side at times).

* [[Fail O'Suckyname]]: League Aiming to Menace and Overthrow Spies ([[Fun ~~With~~ Acronyms|L.A.M.O.S.]])

* [[Fail O'Suckyname]]: League Aiming to Menace and Overthrow Spies ([[Fun with Acronyms|L.A.M.O.S.]])

* [[Fan Service]]: Being a kid's show, the fanservice here is pretty mild. Nonetheless, the spies wear skin-tight uniforms and there are occasionally shots which emphasize their attributes, such as in "It's How You Play the Game" when the camera is stuck on Alex's and Sam's hinders as they crawl across the ice.

* [[Fantastic Voyage Plot]]: In "The Yuck Factor", the Spies fought a trio of villains who tried to take over WOOHP from inside Jerry's brain.

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'''Jerry:''' [[Totally Radical|No freakin' way!!]]<br />

'''Sam:''' O.. kay, this is the weirdest moment ever. }}

* [[Plot Tailored to ~~The~~ Party]]: Occasionally, a completely improbable situation pops up, demanding the use of a gadget that would be unused otherwise, or an otherwise useless gadget gets a highly unusual use (such as the super-spicy gum used by Alex that allowed her to [[Refuge in Audacity|sweat enough to slip tightly-tied ropes off her, despite the fact that she was still wearing her spysuit]]).

* [[Plot Tailored to the Party]]: Occasionally, a completely improbable situation pops up, demanding the use of a gadget that would be unused otherwise, or an otherwise useless gadget gets a highly unusual use (such as the super-spicy gum used by Alex that allowed her to [[Refuge in Audacity|sweat enough to slip tightly-tied ropes off her, despite the fact that she was still wearing her spysuit]]).

* [[Power Trio]]:

** [[Beauty, Brains, and Brawn]]: Clover, Sam and Alex.

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* [[Royals Who Actually Do Something]]: Though she was slightly inept, episode 2 has the queen of Lyrobia jumping into action along side Alex & Sam when Clover is kidnapped.

* [[Rule of Cool]]: All the gadget Jerry gives the girls; the show would be nothing without it.

* [[Rule 34~~|Rule34~~]]: See the link in [[Abridged Series]], above.

* [[Rule 34]]: See the link in [[Abridged Series]], above.

* [[Running Gag]]: The U.P.W.A.T.I. underwater breathing suit. Whenever it pops up in the gadget roster, one of the girls always responds with "Up-whatie?"

* [[Sauna of Death]]: The girls are locked in one by their brainwashed mothers.

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* [[Shout-Out]]: Multiple times.

** References to ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' are probably an inside joke, as at least one of the voice actors -- namely [[Katie Griffin]], who plays Alex -- also voiced Raye in the early DiC-dubbed episodes of that show.

** ''[[~~Charlies~~ Angels]]'', when a villain impersonating Jerry accidentally calls Alex "Farrah".

** ''[[Charlie's Angels]]'', when a villain impersonating Jerry accidentally calls Alex "Farrah".

** WOOHP sounds suspiciously similar to WOOC(P), the employer of the protagonist of ''The Ipcress File'' and other [[Len Deighton]] novels.

** There is a [[Shout-Out]] to Tsukasa Hojo's ''[[Cat's Eye]]'' in EVERY SINGLE EPISODE. More precisely, the tomboyish brunette [[Action Girl]] with a yellow [[Spy Catsuit]] Alex is an [[Expy]] for Ai Kisugi, the youngest of the three sisters. It's much easier for the French viewers to figure it out, since Ai was named ''Alex'' (short for Alexia) in the French dub. It also helps that ''[[Cat's Eye]]'' was broadcast multiple times on French public channels in the '80s (and well beloved). And yes, it was displayed on kids programs. Which the creators of the show grew up watching. [[Values Dissonance|Explains a lot, doesn't it?]]

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** Also when Jerry's mother, in a flashback, rises from the sea in an orange bikini with a white belt.

** ''[[King Kong]]'', when the gorilla climbs up a skyscraper with Alex on its back in the episode "Animal World".

** Averted with GLADIS. Despite what many would think, this show's [[Portal (~~Video Game~~)|GLADIS]] actually came first.

** Averted with GLADIS. Despite what many would think, this show's [[Portal (series)|GLADIS]] actually came first.

** Also, GLADIS' main interface looks a lot like Shirka from ''[[Ulysses 31]]''.

** Margie from "Brain Drain" shouts [[Mommie Dearest|"NO WIRE HANGERS!"]]