Miller initially developed the show's premise while in college, initially imagining the clones would be at a university rather than high school.
The series was originally developed in 2000 under the title Clone High School, USA!.
 The production was overseen by Touchstone Television.
It was originally pitched to the Fox Broadcasting Company, who purchased the show immediately but ultimately decided not to order it to series.
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.
All the original character designs were much different from what they would become even though the characters kept the same physical attributes and appearance.
Each episode was budgeted at approximately $750,000.

Despite being an MTV/Nelvana Co-production, the show was co-produced with Touchstone Television, marking as Disney's third adult animated series after The PJs and Clerks: The Animated Series.

In forming the show's central cast, they found themselves limited in the number of historical figures they could depict, in consideration with avoiding "litigious estates" (such as the families of Albert Einstein or Marilyn Monroe) and keeping in mind the viewership of MTV.
The show also parodies teen dramas, such as Dawson's Creek, which Lord and Miller watched in preparation to create the series.
The show's art design has been described as angular and "evocative of UPA at its best."
It is characterized by a flat and very stylized appearance resembling the animation used in Cartoon Network animated series from the 1990s and early 2000s, such as Dexter's Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls and Time Squad (Lord and Miller specifically cited Samurai Jack as an influence).
The character designs were all done by Carey Yost, known for his work on Dexter's Laboratory, Samurai Jack, The Powerpuff Girls, The Ren & Stimpy Show, and Timon & Pumbaa.
The characters and backgrounds were traditionally drawn, and frames and cels were frequently recycled.
Co-creator Chris Miller explained, "We like the snappy pose-to-pose animation, more for reasons of comic timing than anything else.
Things that aren't expected are funnier: If an anvil's going to fall on your head, it had better not take more than three seconds.
That's why we like the quick pose-to-pose stuff.
For scenes with more emotional content, the characters move a little slower and more fluidly".
Phil Lord added, "But we never want the viewer to be paying attention to the animation, because it's there to serve the jokes and the story.
We strip out extraneous movements, because we don't want to draw your eye to anything that's not part of a joke."
Gandhi is the most animated character on the show; he requires twice as many story-board poses as any other character.
Total Drama character designer Todd Kauffman did designs for the show's intro.

The series was produced by 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.

Clone High was notable for subtle jokes hidden in the animation.
There is an image of a dolphin hidden in almost every episode.
The use of dolphins (sounds or images) would be later featured in Lord and Miller's later work.
In the episode "Raisin the Stakes", there were numerous hidden messages, which appeared to be a parody of subliminal messaging.
Miller initially developed the show's premise while in college, initially imagining the clones would be at a university rather than high school. The series was originally developed in 2000 under the title Clone High School, USA!.  The production was overseen by Touchstone Television. It was originally pitched to the Fox Broadcasting Company, who purchased the show immediately but ultimately decided not to order it to series. 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. All the original character designs were much different from what they would become even though the characters kept the same physical attributes and appearance. Each episode was budgeted at approximately $750,000.
Despite being an MTV/Nelvana Co-production, the show was co-produced with Touchstone Television, marking as Disney's third adult animated series after The PJs and Clerks: The Animated Series.
In forming the show's central cast, they found themselves limited in the number of historical figures they could depict, in consideration with avoiding "litigious estates" (such as the families of Albert Einstein or Marilyn Monroe) and keeping in mind the viewership of MTV. The show also parodies teen dramas, such as Dawson's Creek, which Lord and Miller watched in preparation to create the series. The show's art design has been described as angular and "evocative of UPA at its best." It is characterized by a flat and very stylized appearance resembling the animation used in Cartoon Network animated series from the 1990s and early 2000s, such as Dexter's Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls and Time Squad (Lord and Miller specifically cited Samurai Jack as an influence). The character designs were all done by Carey Yost, known for his work on Dexter's Laboratory, Samurai Jack, The Powerpuff Girls, The Ren & Stimpy Show, and Timon & Pumbaa. The characters and backgrounds were traditionally drawn, and frames and cels were frequently recycled. Co-creator Chris Miller explained, "We like the snappy pose-to-pose animation, more for reasons of comic timing than anything else. Things that aren't expected are funnier: If an anvil's going to fall on your head, it had better not take more than three seconds. That's why we like the quick pose-to-pose stuff. For scenes with more emotional content, the characters move a little slower and more fluidly". Phil Lord added, "But we never want the viewer to be paying attention to the animation, because it's there to serve the jokes and the story. We strip out extraneous movements, because we don't want to draw your eye to anything that's not part of a joke." Gandhi is the most animated character on the show; he requires twice as many story-board poses as any other character. Total Drama character designer Todd Kauffman did designs for the show's intro.
The series was produced by 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.
Clone High was notable for subtle jokes hidden in the animation. There is an image of a dolphin hidden in almost every episode. The use of dolphins (sounds or images) would be later featured in Lord and Miller's later work. In the episode "Raisin the Stakes", there were numerous hidden messages, which appeared to be a parody of subliminal messaging.
Clone High