Teen Titans is an American animated television series created by Glen Murakami, based on the DC Comics characters of the same name. It is based primarily on the run of stories by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez in the early 1980s New Teen Titans comic book series.
Teen Titans premiered on Cartoon Network on July 19, 2003, and also premiered on Kids' WB!. Initially, only four seasons were planned, but the popularity of the series led to Cartoon Network ordering a fifth season. The final half-hour episode of the show, "Things Change", aired on January 16, 2006; it was later followed by a TV movie, Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo, that premiered on September 15, 2006, serving as the series finale.
Teen Titans became one of Cartoon Network's most beloved and critically acclaimed series, renowned for its character development and serious themes. During its run, the series was nominated for three Annie Awards and one Motion Picture Sound Editors Award. Spin-off media included comics, DVD releases, video games, music albums, and collectible toys. Reruns have aired on Cartoon Network's retro animation sister channel Boomerang. In 2013, the show spawned a spin-off, titled Teen Titans Go! .
Premise[]
The Teen Titans from left to right:
Cyborg, Robin, Beast Boy, Starfire, and Raven
Teen Titans is based primarily on stories by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez from the 1980s, featuring characters, storylines, and concepts introduced during the run, and incorporating a similar group of members. The five main members of the eponymous team in the series are Robin (Scott Menville), the intelligent and capable leader of the Teen Titans; Starfire (Hynden Walch), a quirky, curious alien princess from the planet Tamaran; Cyborg (Khary Payton), a half-human/half-robot cyborg who is known for his strength and technological prowess; Raven (Tara Strong), a stoic girl from the parallel world Azarath who draws upon dark energy and psionic abilities; and Beast Boy (Greg Cipes), a good-natured joker who can transform into various animals. They are situated in Titans Tower, a large T-shaped building featuring living quarters, a command center, and a variety of training facilities on an island just offshore from the West Coast metropolis of Jump City. The team deals with all manner of criminal activity and threats to the city, while dealing with their own struggles with adolescence, their mutual friendships, and their limitations.
The first season focuses on the Teen Titans' introduction to the mysterious supervillain Slade (Ron Perlman), who seeks to turn Robin into his apprentice. The second season is an adaptation of "The Judas Contract" storyline where new hero Terra (Ashley Johnson) joins the team while secretly plotting against them with Slade. The third season depicts Cyborg's conflict with the evil organization H.I.V.E. and their leader Brother Blood (John DiMaggio), prompting Cyborg to form the superhero team Titans East with Aqualad (Wil Wheaton), Speedy (Mike Erwin), Bumblebee (T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh), and Más y Menos (Freddy Rodriguez). In the fourth season, Raven finds herself unwillingly involved in a plot that threatens the existence of the world when her demon father Trigon (Kevin Michael Richardson) seeks to enslave the Earth. For the fifth season, the Teen Titans join forces with numerous other heroes to combat the Brotherhood of Evil, Beast Boy's longtime adversaries, and their army of villains.
Cast and characters[]
Main[]
- Main article: List of Teen Titans characters
- Scott Menville as Robin
- Hynden Walch as Starfire
- Khary Payton as Cyborg
- Tara Strong as Raven
- Greg Cipes as Beast Boy
Secret identities[]
Unlike most other superhero television series, the Teen Titans characters maintain their superhero identities at all times, with any hints at the concept of an alter ego or secret identity rarely explored.
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It was really important to me that little kids watching it could identify with characters. And I thought that the minute you start giving them secret identities then kids couldn't project themselves onto the characters anymore. And that was important to me. I know it's kind of important to have secret identities and stuff like that but we wanted everything to be really, really, iconic. Like, "Oh, there's the robot guy. There's the alien girl. There's the witch girl. There's the shape-changing boy. There's the…" We just wanted it really clean like that. We wanted it like old Star Trek. We just wanted it simple…
…And the whole "Who's Robin?" controversy is really kind of interesting to me. My big concern is just trying to make Robin cool. And just really set Robin apart from Batman. So if it seems like I'm avoiding the question, I sort of am. Because I don't think it's really important. My concern is how do I make Robin a really strong lead character without all that other stuff. And I feel that way about all the characters. How can I keep all the characters really iconic and really clean.— Glen Murakami, Drawing Inspiration: An Interview with Glen Murakami, April 2004[1]
The secret identity of Robin, an alias assumed by multiple characters in the comics, is never explicitly revealed in the series. However, several hints are provided to suggest he is Dick Grayson, the original Robin and founding member of the Teen Titans:
- Robin's alternate dimensional counterpart Larry in the episode "Fractured" is named Nosyarg Kcid—"Dick Grayson" spelled backwards.
- Robin's future counterpart in the episode "How Long Is Forever?" has taken on the identity of Nightwing, Grayson's second superhero alias.
- The main romance in the show is Robin's relationship with Starfire, whom Grayson would romance in the comics.
- A glimpse into Robin's consciousness by Raven in the episode "Haunted" shows the memory of two acrobats falling from a trapeze, a reference to the death of Grayson's acrobat parents being the catalyst for him becoming Robin.
- Further connections to the Batman mythos include two references in the episode "The Apprentice, Pt. II", when Robin responds to a suggestion by the villain Slade that he "might be like a father to [him]" with "I already have a father" (which transitions to a shot of flying bats) and a fight scene on the rooftop of a building labeled Wayne Enterprises.
The Teen Titans Go! episode "Permanent Record" would satirize the mystery of Robin's identity by explicitly giving his name as "Robin v.3: Tim Drake" (the third Robin), with "Dick Grayson" and "Jason Todd" (the second Robin) being written over. Subsequent episodes, however, establish him as Dick Grayson through vague flashbacks to his boyhood at Haley Circus.
In the comics, Starfire and Raven are the real names of their respective characters. While the show does not specify this with the latter, the former acknowledges "Starfire" as the English translation of her name in the season 5 episode "Go!" and her native name, Koriand'r, is used in the season 3 episode "Betrothed". The comic versions of these characters, however, also use the civilian aliases Kory Anders and Rachel Roth, which are not used on the show.
The policy of not mentioning the characters' secret identities would be broken in the season 5 premiere "Homecoming" when Elasti-Girl refers to Beast Boy by his real name, Garfield. Cyborg's real name in the comics, Victor Stone, is referenced in the season 3 premiere "Deception" when he uses "Stone" as an undercover alias, although the series does not identify this as his real name.
Episodes[]
- Main article: Teen Titans episode list
Each season contains a distinct story arc that is centered on a specific Titan on the team. (A similar setup was later used by WB/DC for The Batman.) Starfire is the only individual member who was part of the original roster to not have a season focused on her.
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | Season-centric Titan(s) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | |||||
| 1 | 13 | July 19, 2003 | January 26, 2004 | Robin | ||
| 2 | 13 | March 10, 2004 | August 21, 2004 | Terra | ||
| 3 | 13 | August 28, 2004 | January 22, 2005 | Cyborg | ||
| Special | January 3, 2005 | N/A | ||||
| 4 | 13 | January 29, 2005 | July 16, 2005 | Raven | ||
| 5 | 13 | September 24, 2005 | January 16, 2006 | Beast Boy | ||
| Movie | September 15, 2006 | N/A | ||||
Production[]
Soundtrack[]
The series is known for featuring both an English and Japanese version of its title theme song, created by Andy Sturmer and performed by the Japanese band Puffy AmiYumi. The title theme used in the regions where the show was broadcast varied; some would play only one version, while Japan - and the English language video editions - would use both, according to the respective episode's plot theme: The English lyrics for more serious stories, the Japanese version for more comedic tones.
The first-season episode "Mad Mod" also featured another song by Puffy AmiYumi, "K2G". In the feature-length film Trouble in Tokyo, a literal translation of the Japanese song, whose actual lyrics differ greatly from its English counterpart, is performed for comedic effect.
Cancellation[]
In mid-November 2005, TitansTower.com reported that prospects for a sixth season were looking extremely unlikely, and fans were urged to express their support for the show to Cartoon Network. Several days after this initial posting, word came that Cartoon Network had officially terminated the show. According to Wil Wheaton, the actor who provided the voice of Aqualad, the series was terminated by new Warner Bros. Feature Animation executives, who made the decision not to renew the series based on its sixth season pitch. Wheaton's story was contradicted by series story editor Rob Hoegee, who stated that the decision came from Cartoon Network, not WB, and that the crew was informed during the writing phase of season five that there were no plans for a sixth season. The show's producer David Slack indicated that he was given different reasons for the show's cancellation; either the ratings dropped after the "scary" season 4, or Mattel wanted the show dead because Bandai had the show's toy deal. Cartoon Network announced that Mattel had become its "master toy licensee" in 2006.
After the last episode, Warner Bros. Animation announced a feature film titled Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo. The film premiered at San Diego Comic-Con International and was shown on Cartoon Network first on September 15, 2006, before airing on Kids' WB on September 16, 2006, and finally releasing on DVD on February 6, 2007.
Crossover with Teen Titans Go![]
A mid-credits scene from Teen Titans Go! To the Movies featured the 2003 Titans' return, in which Robin states they've "found a way back".
In early 2019, Warner Bros. announced that a crossover featuring the Titans from both shows, titled Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans, was in development. On June 26, 2019, IGN released the official trailer on YouTube. The film premiered at the San Diego Comic-Con on July 21, 2019. This was followed by a digital release on September 24, 2019 and a DVD and Blu-ray release on October 15, 2019. The events of the film take place during the fifth season of Teen Titans Go!.
Legacy[]
The series was revisited as a series of shorts in 2012 for the DC Nation programming block on Cartoon Network. Dubbed New Teen Titans, the shorts began airing on September 11, 2012. The shorts featured the Titans in chibi form, with the principal cast members of the original series returning.
Ciro Nieli, one of the show's directors, would go on to create Disney's Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!, another superhero action show with a large anime influence, but premiered in 2004 on Jetix, and featured Beast Boy's voice actor Greg Cipes as the voice of Chiro, the show's main protagonist. Sam Register, producer of the series, also made his own show in 2004 with Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi on Cartoon Network; which was based on the pop duo who did the theme song, and also had an anime influence, but was created more to be a slapstick comedy in the veins of Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry.
Teen Titans Go! was announced as a spin-off, with many voices the same, but not significantly related in terms of story to both the Teen Titans series, and the New Teen Titans shorts. The series premiered on April 23, 2013.
Menville, Payton, Strong, Cipes, and Walch reprise their respective character roles as Robin, Cyborg, Raven, Beast Boy, Starfire and Blackfire in DC Super Hero Girls.
Payton reprise his role as Cyborg in Lego DC Comics: Batman Be-Leaguered, Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League vs. Bizarro League, Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League – Attack of the Legion of Doom, Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League – Cosmic Clash, Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League – Gotham City Breakout along with Cipes, Walch, and Menville (although he played the Damian Wayne Robin), Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: The Flash, and Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Aquaman: Rage of Atlantis. He has also reprised his role as Cyborg on Justice League Action.
Several character details from Teen Titans, like Raven's standard incantation Azarath Metrion Zinthos and Beast Boy's super-werewolf form from the episode "The Beast Within", were incorporated into the animated film Justice League vs. Teen Titans.
Impact on DC community[]
Teen Titans has never been established to be a part of the larger DC Animated Universe or The Batman animated series. Series producer Bruce Timm stated the series would not cross over with Justice League Unlimited. Despite this the series was alluded to in Static Shock, which is part of the DCAU like Justice League Unlimited, where Static asked Batman where Robin was to which Batman responded, "With the Titans...You'll meet them some day." The character Speedy, who first appeared in the episode "Winner Take All", later appeared in Justice League Unlimited with the same costume design and voice actor (Mike Erwin) as the Teen Titans incarnation (though he is older in appearance). Kid Flash was voiced by Michael Rosenbaum in his appearances in the show, who was the same actor who voiced the Flash in Justice League Unlimited; both characters are the Wally West incarnations. The follow-up series, Teen Titans Go!, has featured several appearances by Batman, but they have all been non-speaking appearances. Both Batman and Alfred Pennyworth appear in DC Nation's New Teen Titans "Red X Unmasked". In the season 2 episode of Teen Titans Go!, "Let's Get Serious", Aqualad (voiced by Khary Payton), Superboy, and Miss Martian of the Young Justice team appear.
Much like the DC Animated Universe (as well as X-Men: Evolution and Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends), the series has affected the comics that initially inspired it, including: Beast Boy adopting the series' purple and black outfit during DC's "52" storyline and later appearing with the pointed ears and fanged teeth originated by the series, future Cyborg having the same armor pattern of his animated counterpart in the Titans Tomorrow storyline, Raven adapting her animated counterpart's costume design in the "One Year Later" storyline, the characters Más Y Menos making appearances in 52 and the Final Crisis limited series, the character Joto was renamed "Hotspot" during 52 to match his cartoon counterpart, and the villain Cinderblock appearing in a fight with the comic incarnation of the Titans. Red X is later included in the mainstream comic publications through the two-issue teaser comic Future State Teen Titans and its follow-up series Teen Titans Academy.
Gallery[]
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ Walko, Bill (April 2004). "Drawing Inspiration: An Interview with Glen Murakami". TitansTower.com.
External links[]
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