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From scripts to episodes
|  | Like any multimedia production, the episodes of the animated series Code Lyoko underwent a long creation process. One key step in this process is writing the episode script. This script is a document created by the person who wrote the entire episode: the places and times, the events that take place, the characters' lines. You can find every script from seasons 1, 2, 3 and 4 of Code Lyoko as well as Code Lyoko Evolution on the [Conceptual Documents] page.
For the moment, we still haven't been able to obtain the script for episode 91 "Bad Connection".
When the writing directors had finished their work and the writing director had checked it, the episode scripts went to directing. The directors worked on several tasks, ranging from the creation of storyboards, creating the final animated episode and adding the characters' voices (dubbing).
However, somewhere between the script itself and the creation of the episode, some things were changed by the directors. Episodes that were too long had to be cut down, others made longer. Characters' lines and entire scenes could be modified for many reasons: it was too complicated to create the scene, it contained elements that were deemed too vulgar or too violent for a cartoon, or it didn't quite meet the director's preferences story-wise.
That is the basis of this file. The CodeLyoko.fr team took on the titanic task of comparing the scripts before they went along the creation pipeline, to the final episode that contains all the edits that had been made...and to list all of those changes. There were a lot of scenes that were removed before the episode made it to the screen.
Some of the changes are desirable, but other times, they're really worth a look at.
On this welcome page, we explain our methodology. Then we give a condensed summary of some of the changes that are of the utmost importance to a fan. For those who want to delve deeper, look towards the end of the file, where we reveal all the differences in every episode! Have a nice read! | | |
 | Methodology: comparing an episode to its script | |
| | To do this, we simply rewatched all 123 episodes (seasons 1 to 4, prequel & Evolution) for which we have the scripts. While VLC played the episodes in the background, the authors of the file scrutinised the episode's script, line by line, on the lookout for differences and recording them in Word once they found one. After that, they selected which changes to add to the file and formatted them appropriately.
You should know that the directors made a huge amount of small modifications and adjustments. As such, recounting everything that changed between the script and the episode is basically useless. So here is a quick little introduction on what we have and haven't kept.
What we haven't picked out...
| Insignificant scene order changes... |
In the script...
Scene X1: Odd destroys a Krab, turns and realises the Scyphozoa has captured Aelita.
Scene X2: On Earth, the Xanafied person forces open the Laboratory door.
Scene X3: Odd chases the Scyphozoa away. Aelita enters the Tower and enters the Code Lyoko.
Scene X4: The Xanafied person approaches Jeremy with a threatening look, then falls unconscious. | In the episode...
Scene X1: Odd destroys a Krab, turns and realises the Scyphozoa has captured Aelita. Odd shoots and frees her.
Scene X2: On Earth, the Xanafied person forces open the Laboratory door. He approaches Jeremy with a threatening look.
Scene X3: Aelita enters the Tower and enters the Code Lyoko.
Scene X4: The Xanafied person falls unconscious. |
| Minor changes in the action or the heroes' lines... |
In the script...
Ulrich: Activated tower...Lyoko...battles...enemies! Don't you guys feel like you've had enough?
Episode 29 - Exploration | In the episode...
Ulrich: Activated towers, Lyoko battles, danger...aren't you guys starting to get sick of all this?
Episode 29 - Exploration |
| The addition or removal of recurring filler scenes... |
- Virtualisation sequences
- Entering the Code Lyoko and launching the return to the past
- The Skidbladnir leaving the Hangar
- Shot to set the scene at Kadic, outside or in the cafeteria
- Etc... |
What we have picked out...
| Interesting changes to the characters' dialogue. |
In the script...
Aelita: Stones. Aelita Stones. Like the rock group. I'm Odd's cousin from Holland!
Episode 27 - Nouvelle donne | In the episode...
Aelita: Stones. Aelita Stones. Like the rock group. I'm Odd's cousin from Canada!
Episode 27 - New Order |
| Actions in the scripts that weren't applied in the episodes. |
Example: Aelita discovers the Hermitage
It seems very sinister despite the sunny weather, a little like a house from a horror film, with wind roaring through the cracked roof tiles and the garden in a wild state...
It may only be an impression, but we think we can hear the wind call: "Aelita... Aelita...."
Episode 27 - New Order |
| Scenes that were changed...or even cut! |
- Action scenes on Lyoko during which the fights happen differently or with other monsters.
- Slice of life scenes at Kadic Academy where we learn more about the characters and their relationships.
Example: Odd, Ulrich and Yumi discover the Hermitage
Ulrich (to Odd): Your dog is such a chicken!
Yumi (unsettled): I don't blame him... It's like a house from a horror movie!
Ulrich (sarcastic, to Yumi): You should just ask William to protect you.
Yumi (gobsmacked): Ahhh...he's the reason why you've been so mad at me!
Ulrich (angry): Maybe.
Odd: Stop! I've had more of your squabbling than I can swallow! Let's go have a look inside...
Episode 27 - New Order |
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| Change in direction during seasons | |
| | Some changes that the directors made didn't just concern a single episode, but recurring sequences or story points that recur throughout the season. Rather than listing these points in each episode, we've listed them here!
Season 1
 | In the writers' original concept for Lyoko Towers in season 1, the second floor didn't exist. In fact, in the descriptions at the end of the episode, Aelita flies to the top of the tower and reaches an interface floating in mid-air. She typed in the Code Lyoko while levitating in front of it. |
 | In the scripts for season 1, the episodes always began with a flash-forward, in other words a future scene from the episode. It was always the scene showing XANA's attack and the climax of the suspense. Evidently, we know that the heroes always save the day at the last second in season 1, but the start of the episode would've given us a taste of the final action. It's reminiscent of the opening of each episode of Evolution. |
 | Finally, Code Lyoko episode 23 "Rock Bottom?" ("36ème dessous" in French) teaches us a bit about the names of certain characters in season 1. On one hand, the script tells us that Samantha's original name was..."Francesca"! While certainly very charming, it sounds a bit Russian for a dark-skinned girl!
Hang onto your seat, we learn in a deleted scene that Jim's surname was originally...Spinalunga! |
Season 2
 | The Code Earth is an important thing introduced at the end of season 1, allowing Aelita to be materialised from a Way Tower. It's quickly forgotten about in season 2. Jeremy does mention it briefly but Aelita is more often brought back to Earth using a Return to the Past. In the scripts, it's a little different: not only was it called Code "TERRA," but it was also supposed to be typed into the Tower interface, like the Code LYOKO. |
 | In the last episode of season 1, Odd told the principal that "Stones", Aelita's fictional last name, is from Holland. In season 2 however, Aelita becomes Odd's Canadian cousin. In the scripts, Aelita remained of Dutch origin, which is mentioned on several occasions (episodes 27, 28, 30). The directors changed the nationality so that it would make sense that Aelita was fluent in French, and by extension English in the dub. |
 | In certain video games or production documents, Mantas are often called "Flying Mantas" even in the French. The scripts of season 2 are no exception: that should be what the heroes call XANA's blue monsters. In the end, the French version cut the name down to just Manta. |
 | The way Mantas appear in Sector 5 was changed along the way. In the scripts, there's mention of mysterious "Manta Nests" that visibly grow larger until they break open and the Mantas are released. This "nest," which the heroes keep an eye on while Aelita is working on the interface, is said to be suspended in the Celestial Dome. |
 | Speaking of XANA's monsters, when the Scyphozoa drained Aelita's memory in season 2, it was more than just that in the scripts. It also progressively drained her life points, potentially proving deadly to her if it succeeded. That's the reason why Aelita is weakened when she's caught by the Scyphozoa. |
 | To finish on a lighter note, let's talk about Jim's famous catchphrase in season 2. At first, the exact line in the scripts was "I don't want to talk about it." To reinforce the humour, it evolved to become "I'd rather not talk about it!" |
Evolution
 | The big bad of Code Lyoko Evolution has gone by many names. First known as Alan Meyer in promotional content, he became Ikonov in the concepts for Evolution before settling on his final name in the series itself: Tyron.
But he's still known as Ikonov in the episode scripts (as well as the official summaries). The reasons for these changes are explained in this file. |
 | The heroes' TransWatches, watches whose purpose was to measure their source code percentage, originally didn't simply connect to Jeremy's laptop. They connected to an interface called the dock, which was kept in the factory.
This element was shown in the conceptual drawings for Evolution, so this image gives you an idea of what it would look like. It's often mentioned in the scripts. |
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| Top 12 of the most incredible changes | |
| | This is the most interesting section in the file. Instead of making you go through the massive entirety of the file to find the most interesting bits, we've gathered a top 12 of the most fundamental changes. The differences listed below fundamentally change the way we look at a scene, an episode, or even the characters' long-term relationships.
Most of the time, there are three main reasons that justify the difference between the scripts and the episodes. The first is censorship due to "too much violence" between the characters (in red). The second concerns the romance scenes where the heroes kiss, or even behave in a borderline sexual way (in pink). The last one is when production necessitated a change to the story (in green).
 | 12th place
Evolution
Episode 15 "Spartan"
Type of scene: Daily life/relationship between characters
Characters involved: Yumi, Ulrich and William
Type of change: Filming constraint
Cause: Episode was already too long |
The logic of the relationships between characters sometimes seemed difficult to follow in Code Lyoko Evolution. One good example is episode 15 "Spartan," during which William seemed abnormally and suddenly hostile towards the group and irritated at Yumi. As it turns out, the reasoning was explained perfectly well in the script. A scene was cut. In it, Yumi is seen being close to Ulrich (as a reminder, this comes after episode 14 "Stowaway" when the two teens put all their cards on the table).
Witnessing this tenderness between the two teens, William reacts badly. This is the origin of his anger towards Yumi, which will have consequences in the episode. |
 | 11th place
Season 4
Episode 84 "Guided Missile"
Type of scene: Romance on Earth
Characters involved: Aelita & Jeremy
Type of change: Censoring!
Cause: Love-story/Presence of a kiss |
To the majority of older fans, there does exist a concrete relationship between Jeremy and Aelita. Although the two lovebirds have never shared a kiss since the "famous" one in episode 43, and there a number of hints suggesting a real romance (big fat cheesehead; the attack in the gym), the lack of a kiss throughout seasons 3 and 4 and the fake kiss with Odd in episode 73 confused the issue for fans who were less certain.
However, in this episode (which doesn't seem like much in the middle of the plot of season 4), there was the possibility of a scene. At the end of the episode, Aelita learns that Jeremy was the one who wrote her the anonymous postcard. She approaches him, thanks him, and then Jim arrives asking after Odd. In the script, after Aelita's thanks, she continues to softly approach the genius...and the script says no more of it. Production didn't deem it useful to include the scene in the episode and end it on a beautiful note. |
 | 10th place
Evolution
Episode 18 "Resolve"
Type of scene: Dream
Characters involved: Aelita, Anthea, the men in black
Type of change: Filming restraint
Cause: Limiting the number of actors to pay |
Everyone can recall the memorable flashbacks of Aelita's past that made up a large part of Code Lyoko's backstory. The 3 episodes in which they feature (52, 57 and 82) remain monumental in Code Lyoko...and an essential component of them is the famous men in black that kidnapped Anthea and pursued Franz.
Guess what? The men in black were initially going to be in Code Lyoko Evolution, in Aelita's nightmare in episode 18. In the dream space, Anthea ends up disappearing and a man in black was supposed to appear... This was cut from the episode. Regrettable when we know that Evolution was supposed to lift the veil on Franz Hopper's past. |
 | 9th place
Season 2
Episode 40 "Attack of the Zombies"
Type of scene: Action on Earth
Characters involved: William and Jeremy
Type of change: Censoring!
Cause: Violent scene |
Yes, in the excruciatingly cuddly world of cartoons, censoring is a reality. Imagine if a sweet little child was inspired by a scene between William and Jeremy and ended up dislocating his classmate's jaw so he could be "like in the cartoon." That would be a mess, obviously...
However, in the script of episode 40, while Jeremy was trying to get away from William to escape from the cafeteria, get through the zombie horde and reach the factory, William didn't content himself with simply pushing him to the ground to hold him back. He was rather more persuasive, as the image demonstrates! |
 | 8th place
Prequel
Episode 0 "XANA Awakens"
Type of scene: Action on Earth
Characters involved: Sissi & Odd
Type of change: Censoring!
Cause: Love-story/Physically suggestive |
A scene from this episode was cut a bit short. It was the scene where Ulrich kidnaps Kiwi and Odd chases after him. Odd runs into Sissi (literally) on a corner in the hallway and the scene is more or less unremarkable in the cartoon. The scriptwriter had planned it so that during the fall, Odd's hands found themselves — inadvertently — right where they shouldn't be.
It didn't overly bother Odd, but on the other hand, Sissi ordered him to quickly remove his hands. |
 | 7th place
Season 2
Episode 39 "A Bad Turn"
Type of scene: Action on Earth
Characters involved: Ulrich, William and a wrecked Krab
Type of change: Censoring!
Cause: Violent scene |
Episode 39! An episode you'll find multiple times on this page! Let's start with the scene after the destruction of the first Krab, when Ulrich threatens William, telling him to stay away from the group. Very soft.
In the script however, Ulrich actually kicked William after the Krab was destroyed, making it clear that he didn't want William anywhere near Yumi. A rather boorish technique, but easier than giving verbal threats.
You'll find that this "violent outburst" has an additional point of origin - check it out lower down! |
 | 6th place
Season 1
Episode 7 "Image Problem"
Episode 10 "The Girl of the Dreams"
Type of scene: Search on Lyoko
Characters involved: The Lyoko Warriors & the Guardians
Type of change: Scenario choice |
A large change on the menu this time, as it applies to two episodes! Let's start with episode 10 of Code Lyoko: it's the episode where Aelita goes missing for a long while, being held prisoner in a Guardian. It was a rather different story in the original episode as it wasn't anything to do with a monster: Aelita fell into a crevasse in the Mountain Sector and fell unconscious until Odd found her. Why didn't Jeremy's scan find her in this case? Because of the snowstorm raging around the crevasse, interfering with the program... A phenomenon that we never encounter in the series (in the virtual world, at least =P)
So what became of the Guardian? It was indeed present in episode 7 "Image Problem" where it imprisons Yumi. But it worked differently: it was generated by a pedestal at its base. This pedestal was linked to the activated tower via cables. Also, it wasn't Aelita who freed Yumi by generating a false image of her; Ulrich simply severed the famous cables and the Guardian disappeared.
The reasons for these changes? Visually, the Guardian wasn't a monster as such, but a virtual phenomenon generated by an activated Tower. Doubtlessly the directors preferred to use it in two episodes instead of one in order to minimise workload. |
 | 5th place
Season 2
Episode 28 "Unchartered Territory"
Type of scene: Daily life at Kadic
Characters involved: Sissi & Odd
Type of change: Censoring!
Cause: Love-story/Physically suggestive |
In this episode where Aelita discovers what life is like on Earth, Sissi sends Aelita to the boys' showers. What follows is an exchange of insults between Sissi and Odd, who's in a towel. In the script, Odd's towel slipped a little further down without our hero realising. And Sissi didn't miss the opportunity to remark that it wasn't very pleasant to look at. |
 | 4th place
Season 2
Episode 52 "The Key"
Type of scene: Fight on Lyoko
Characters involved: The Lyoko Warriors
Type of change: Story choice
Cause: Highlighting the heroes |
Everyone remembers the legendary final scene of episode 52 "The Key". Following a daunting fight, Aelita reaches her fake missing fragment. Before this, the heroes are overwhelmed by Creepers. Odd and Yumi are devirtualised while Aelita and Ulrich are forced to flee. The final Creepers are eliminated when the room falls apart, while the Mantas controlled by Hopper save the teens.
In the script, things were very different: the Mantas arrived in right in the middle of the fight. Under Hopper's control, the monsters used their lasers to rid the Lyoko Warriors of their Creeper problem. |
 | 3rd place
Season 2
Episode 42 "A Fine Mess"
Type of scene: Daily life & relationship between the characters
Characters involved: Ulrich & Odd
Type of change: Censoring!
Cause: Love-story/Physically suggestive |
This scene deserves its piece of fame. Indeed, it was probably the only "homosexual"-themed scene in the series. As such, it could serve as the cornerstone to all gay culture applied to Code Lyoko. Recall the original episode 42 "A Fine Mess". After a computer bug, Odd finds himself stuck in Yumi's body and vice-versa. He then gets up to some mischief in his friend's female body.
There was a scene in which Odd (in Yumi's body) hugs Ulrich to make Sissi angry. Milly and Tamiya catch him in the act and immortalise the moment in the Kadic News. In the script, the deception went a little further than this. Odd didn't content himself in merely hugging Ulrich, but gave him a big, dreamy kiss. Besides, we can't sideline this one since the blond punctuates the episode by saying, "Wow... You're a great kisser!"
The fanfiction writers that give Odd an unbridled sexuality might be right after all. |
 | 2nd place
Season 4
Episode 82 "Distant Memory"
Type of scene: Backstory
Characters involved: Waldo, Anthea and Aelita Schaeffer & the men in black
Type of change: Story choice
Cause: Goodness knows |
Here we have the shortening of another scene that's quite legendary in the series: the famous opening scene of episode 82 "Distant Memory." The very last backstory scene seen on screen, following on from the ones in episodes 52 and 57. Episode 82 aimed to shed light on the very brief flashbacks from episode 52. Notably, it confirmed that Anthea Schaeffer's disappearance was indeed due to her being kidnapped by the men in black. It doesn't reveal her fate, however...and it cast a long shadow on Waldo/Franz's role during the kidnapping, because we never saw him there.
In the script, he's very much present. He fought with the men in black, fled into the chalet, scooped up Aelita and escaped from under the nose of the men in black who had just kidnapped his wife. He told his daughter that her mother had gone "on a very long trip". A scene that was sadly cut, but only shed a tiny bit of light on the mystery, still leaving us guessing about Anthea's fate and Hopper's idleness in searching for his wife. |
 | 1st place
Season 2
Episode 39 "A Bad Turn"
Type of scene: Heroes' daily life
Characters involved: Yumi, William, eventually Ulrich
Type of change: Story choice
Cause: Love-story |
Episode 39 yet again...and a notable clarification. Story-wise, this is possibly one of the most important changes. Let's take the base scene: Yumi comes back home late at night and comes across William, who declares his love and tries to kiss her. Ulrich witnesses the scene and runs away, enraged. From there, Yumi dodges William and tells him she doesn't return his feelings.
In the cartoon, Yumi was troubled by William's declarations and, letting her guard down, she was caught off-guard and kissed by Ulrich's rival. The description in the script is even more meaningful: Yumi doesn't push William away violently, nor insult him. She pushes him softly and apologises for not returning his feelings. The end of the scene is identical: William understands that she is in love with Ulrich.
Now, what explanation can we find for this major change? It's still the only William/Yumi kiss in all of Code Lyoko...as well as Yumi's only "successful" kiss. Maybe the directors felt that Yumi's character should be shown as being more firm towards William...or possibly that it would be taken badly by fans if William succeeded where Ulrich failed.
A sadly cut scene...and a coherent clarification on the rest of the episode and Ulrich's violence towards William. |
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| | This second section is just as interesting as the one before it: this one concerns dialogue. Some sequences in the episodes are completely identical to the ones in the scripts...excluding certain words used by the heroes. But words are powerful and changes to lines can sometimes change our perception of a scene.
This section originally included a top 3 of dialogue changes, but we removed them for the English version of this page. Why? Well, the episode scripts are all written in French, so dialogue comparison can be a bit different when trying to compare it to the English episodes. From season 2 onwards, the French dialogue would often stray further from the original script while the English dialogue would generally stick to it. There are a lot of changes noted in the French version of this file that weren't changes at all in the English dub, so we've left them out. And that includes what were supposed to be the top 3 here! You'll be able to find more information and many examples of these in our French vs English file.
Sorry to disappoint you there, but other than that, here's a table recapping some of the changes to wordplay or comical lines.
| Characters | Line(s) from the episode | Lines(s) from the script | 
#0 - XANA Awakens | "You're right! Maybe it's the tomb of an Egyptian pharaoh, huh?" | "You're right! Maybe it's the tomb of Tutankhamen, huh?" | 
#48 - Is Anybody Out There? | "Well, Fritz Ungelbert has done it again! His third straight title! What a champ! He's amazing!" | "And all things come in threes: Fritz Ungelbert has assassinated his third wife by drowning her in his jacuzzi!" | 
#50 - Contact | "Feel like a little game of bowling?" | "Feel like a little game of Megapétank?"
(Pétanque is a French sport that's like boules.) | 
#52 - The Key | "Go with Sissi and your future's gloomy 'cause you're gonna lose Yumi!" | "Go with Sissi and your future ends 'cause you're gonna lose your friends!" |
And finally, for the big fans of GI-Jim... Here you'll find more of your favourite teacher's past jobs, cut between the script and the episode!
 | "Hm...this reminds me of when I was a removalist."
Script of episode 33 - Final Mix | "(in his dream) Go on Doug! Stop being such a sissy and put that zing in the jungle! (wakes up) Sorry...I was dreaming of when I was a pilot in the Royal Air Force!
Script of episode 54 - Lyoko Minus One | "Very good time! (dreamy) That reminds me of my youth, when I was a track sprinter. (...) I even beat a world record in my brother-in-law's garden! But it was never recorded, so I'd rather not talk about it!"
Script of episode 80 - Dog Day Afternoon | "...and from what you could see, I was well on my way to having a great career in sumo wrestling! I was even junior champion when I was your age! But I was forced to decide between sumo and ping-pong... In the end, I chose ping-pong because I already had the racquet."
Script of Evolution 18 - Resolve | |
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| | After seeing the best of the changes made to the original scripts, you can delve deeper by taking a look at the other pages in the file. All the differences have been revealed and presented on these pages, so they're quite long - especially season 1. What you've just seen is an overview; there are still plenty of interesting or funny things to discover!
One page covers 13 episodes, so each season is split into two pages. You can access them below.
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| Project history and credits | |
| | The project was initiated a long time ago. Two people had noticed that the episode scripts had some very noticeable differences when compared to the episodes themselves. Aquatikelfik was one of them, tackling it by putting some of the information on his blog. Shaka, editor for CodeLyoko.fr, was the other. He didn't have time to work on it right away, but he kept in mind the idea of looking for the most notable differences.
After the end of season 4 and before the start of Evolution, Aquatikelfik joined the CodeLyoko.fr team for some time in mid-2012. The collaboration was a source of motivation and Shaka and Aqua kicked off the file in the second half of 2012, beginning with season 1. With the arrival of the new series Evolution at the end of 2012, the work it would entail and Aqua's drifting away from the site team largely put a stop to the project.
It was completed by Shaka and Etienne (alias Dude Dudu) between the months of October and December 2013. Feeling close to the end of the project, Shaka then enlisted the help of three artists from the Community to help decorate the file so it could be released.
In the following years, A_QueenOfFairys took on the mammoth task of translating the whole file into English.
Finally, following a number of inquiries, Dude Dudu succeeded in getting his hands on the scripts for season 4 (with the exception of 91...). But it would have to wait several months before the site team, who were largely occupied with other things, could find the time to finish the file and put the season 4 content online, during the month of October 2017.
Original idea and project commencement
Shaka and Aquatikelfik
Comparison of scripts to the episodes
Aquatikelfik (Season 1), Shaka (Season 1, Season 2, Season 3), Etienne (Season 3, Season 4 & Evolution)
Adaptation for online viewing
Shaka
Illustrations
Shaka (images from the series & requests), Poppy (graphical edits), Lénaelle & Nelbsia & Queen (illustrations)
English adaptation
A_QueenOfFairys | | |
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[File]
Planned ideas never acted on.
These are the ideas the producers had for each season as a whole - the planning that was done before the writers started work on the episodes. | 
The deleted scene from episode 65.
A scene that wasn't mentioned in the script. It was fully animated, but it was removed from the episode after its creation because of "too much violence". |
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