Clone High


Clone High is an animated sci-fi sitcom created by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Bill Lawrence for MTV. It premiered on November 2, 2002, in Canada, and January 20, 2003, in the United States. Set in a fictional high school populated by the clones of well-known historical figures, the series follows its central cast which includes adolescent depictions of Abe Lincoln, Joan of Arc, Gandhi, Cleopatra and JFK. The series also serves as a parody of teen dramas such as Dawson's Creek, Degrassi, and Beverly Hills, 90210; every episode is humorously introduced as a "very special episode" with narration provided by Will Forte.
Lord and Miller first developed the series' concept, originally titled Clone High School, USA!, while at Dartmouth College in the 1990s, later pitching it to executives of the Fox Broadcasting Company during their tenure at Disney, who ultimately decided to pass on the program. The rights were purchased by Viacom International to air on their cable channel MTV, producing the series between 2002 and 2003; Disney's television arm Touchstone Television retains a production credit. The show's design is heavily stylized and its animation style is limited, emphasizing humor and story over visuals. The Clone High theme song, "Master ", was written by Tommy Walter and performed by his alternative rock band Abandoned Pools. The series was produced by its co-creator Bill Lawrence, who also produced Scrubs, Spin City and Cougar Town. Many Scrubs alumni, such as Zach Braff, Donald Faison, Sarah Chalke, John C. McGinley, Neil Flynn, and Christa Miller, provided the voices of characters in Clone High for free, with Flynn also reprising his role from Scrubs as the Janitor in a recurring role. Writing and voice work were done at North Hollywood Medical Center, where Scrubs was filmed.
The first season premiered on now-defunct Canadian cable channel Teletoon's late-night programming block The Detour on Teletoon on November 2, 2002, and MTV in the United States on January 20, 2003. It became embroiled in controversy regarding its depiction of Gandhi soon afterward, which prompted over 100 people in India to mount a hunger strike in response. Shortly after, MTV canceled the series, which had been receiving low ratings; the last episodes of the first season were seen in 2016 on the rebranded MTV Classic in the United States. Clone High received mixed reviews from television critics upon its premiere, but it has since received critical acclaim and a cult following.
On July 2, 2020, it was announced that a revival of the series was in development at MTV Entertainment Studios with the creators Lord, Miller, and Lawrence returning. On February 10, 2021, it was announced that HBO Max had ordered two seasons of the revival, which premiered on May 23, 2023. The second season of the revival premiered with all ten episodes on February 1, 2024. On July 26, 2024, the revival of the series was canceled after two seasons, leaving the series on another cliffhanger.

Premise

Clone High is set in a high school in the fictional town of Exclamation, USA, that is secretly being run as an elaborate military experiment orchestrated by a government office called the Secret Board of Shadowy Figures. The school is entirely populated by the clones of famous historical figures who were created in the 1980s and raised with the intent of having their different strengths and abilities harnessed by the United States military. The principal of the high school, Cinnamon J. Scudworth, who wants to use the clones to create a clone-themed amusement park, dubbed "Cloney Island", has his plans for the clones and secretly tries to undermine the wishes of the Board. He is assisted by his robot butler/vice principal/dehumidifier, Mr. Butlertron, who is programmed to call everyone "Wesley" and speak in three distinct intonations.
The show centers on the clones of five famous figures: Abe Lincoln, Joan of Arc, Cleopatra, JFK, and Gandhi. The central plot of the show revolves around the clones going through day-to-day struggles and navigating boundaries. The show also involves Abe having to either realize and reciprocate the feelings of Joan of Arc, who is attracted to him, or stay with the vain and promiscuous clone of Cleopatra. Meanwhile, JFK's clone, a macho, narcissistic womanizer, is also attempting to win over Cleopatra and has a long-standing rivalry with Abe.

Characters

Season 1

  • Abe Lincoln is a clone of Abraham Lincoln and the main protagonist. He admires his "clonefather" Abraham Lincoln and feels that he is struggling to live up to him. He is in love with Cleopatra, and has an awkward and honest personality. Abe does not notice that Joan has feelings for him and unintentionally mistreats her by reinterpreting her advances as a sign of friendship.
  • Joan of Arc is a clone of Joan of Arc and Abe's closest friend and confidante. She is an intelligent, cynical, and angsty goth. She secretly has a crush on Abe and resents how he ignores her advances in favor of hooking up with Cleopatra. She holds progressive political views, and "somewhat naively support every special-interest cause".
  • Cleopatra "Cleo" Smith is a clone of Cleopatra VII and a self-absorbed, vain, and often mean-spirited popular cheerleader. Cleo exerts power over everyone using her appearance and intelligence. She has relationships with both JFK and Abe. She becomes Joan of Arc's foster sister when Cleopatra's foster mother begins dating Joan's foster grandfather. Her animation and character design are inspired by the depiction of people in Ancient Egyptian wall painting, drawn in profile with eyes highlighted by eyeliner.
  • JFK is a clone of John F. Kennedy and a handsome, popular, arrogant, and horny jock, as well as Abe's on-and-off rival for Cleo's affections. He speaks with a Boston accent and pursues women, whom he calls "broads".
  • Gandhi is a clone of Mahatma Gandhi and Abe's other best friend. He, like Abe, is struggling to live up to his "clonefather" Mahatma Gandhi. As a result, he rebelled against his "clonefather" and reinvents himself as a wild party animal and serves as the show's comic relief. Gandhi sees himself as a music artist and calls himself the "G-Man". He did not return in the revival series after members of India's parliament protested Clone High's depiction of Gandhi in 2003, shown to be still frozen in 2023.
  • Principal Cinnamon J. Scudworth is a mad scientist and the principal of Clone High, who initially secretly plans to use the clones as attractions for his hypothetical amusement park, dubbed "Cloney Island", and many of the series' subplots surround him trying to find ways to accelerate his plans. After these plans are thwarted, he freezes his original batch of clones for twenty years, immediately resuming Clone High in the adjoining years with new clones. Scudworth is usually the focus of the subplots of the show.
  • Mr. Besley Lynn Butlertron is Principal Scudworth's Mr. Belvedere-esque sane robotic butler and reluctant sidekick.

    Seasons 2-3

  • Candide Sampson is Principal Scudworth's strict, cold-hearted superior in the second and third season, put in charge by the Secret Board of Shadowy Figures as running Operation Spread Eagle. Principal Scudworth is shown to have a romantic interest in her. She is revealed to be Joan's new foster mother in "Sleepover".
  • Frida Kahlo is a clone of Latin artist Frida Kahlo, who is the most popular of the second generation of clones. She is shown to be a fan of skateboarding. She is a separate clone from the Frida Kahlo clone in the first season who appeared as a background character.
  • Harriet Tubman is a clone of Black American abolitionist Harriet Tubman, who is very preppy and Frida's best friend with dyed hair. She is a separate clone from the Harriet Tubman clone voiced by Debra Wilson in the first season.
  • Confucius is a clone of Asian philosopher Confucius, who is infatuated with online and many social media trends. He is a separate clone from the Confucius clone in the first season who appeared as a background character.
  • Topher Bus is a clone of Christopher Columbus, who tries to distance himself from his "clone-father" by shortening his name and appearing to be supportive of social movements and trends. This appears to be a façade, as he is shown to troll people online through anonymous, offensive comments.

    Episodes

Season 1 (2002–03)

This was the only season to be created in traditional digital ink-and-paint animation by Rough Draft Studios.

Season 2 (2023)

Seasons 2 and 3 were created by ShadowMachine Animation studio.

Season 3 (2024)

Production

Development

and Christopher Miller first met together while they were attending Dartmouth College. The profiles of Lord and Miller on the college's newspaper caught the attention to former Disney chairman Michael Eisner. Lord and Miller attended a two-minute interview with animation executives at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. The next day, they signed a development deal at Walt Disney Television Animation to create Saturday-morning cartoons. They spent a year trying to create a Saturday morning show but felt that they were not "Disney brand" enough to pitch it. They were later hired by Touchstone Television to create primetime programming,' and they wrote a few episodes of Zoe, Duncan, Jack and Jane and Go Fish. The show was originally pitched to the Fox Broadcasting Company, who purchased the show but decided not to order it to series due to a "regime change". Miller deemed it the "easiest pitch ever," considering the show's use of famous figures. Following Fox's rejection, MTV purchased the program in May 2001. Lord and Miller met and pitched the idea to their godfather Bill Lawrence, who started working on the first season of Scrubs at the time. Having difficulty affording an office, Lawrence helped Lord and Miller to have their offices at an empty part of North Hollywood Medical Center, where Scrubs was filmed. The show was at a low, limited budget, costing approximately $750,000 per episode. According to Miller during an interview with Entertainment Weekly in 2017, Clone High helped Lord and Miller learn about filmmaking, including editing and execution of timing.
The series started development after they graduated in college and landed a deal at Walt Disney Television Animation. While attempting to develop a Saturday-morning cartoon, Miller developed the show's premise with the clones attending at a university on a notebook. Lord later changed the show's setting to a high school, attempting to lean into the tropes of teen dramas, a popular genre at the time. While making lists of people "everybody heard of", they found themselves limited in the number of historical figures they could depict, in consideration with avoiding "litigious estates" and "keeping in mind" with the viewership of MTV. The show's depiction of Gandhi was based on people in high school and college Lord and Miller knew, who were of Indian descent that had a lot of boundaries and expectations by their families.' His "party guy" persona was borrowed from their research, through which Lord and Miller found out that he was a party guy when he was young and in law enforcement school.