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Teen Titans (TV series)

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Teen Titans
File:Teen Titans Switched.jpg
Teen Titans, season one, volume two, "Switched"
Created bySam Register, Glen Murakami, Bruce Timm
Starring(see below)
Country of originUnited States, Japan
No. of episodes65
Production
Running time22 minutes
Original release
NetworkCartoon Network
ReleaseJuly 19, 2003 –
present

Teen Titans is an animated series that premiered on Cartoon Network on July 19, 2003 and is based on the DC Comics superhero team, the Teen Titans. The series is loosely based on The New Teen Titans comic books and its related series. It revolves around the main team members Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Raven. Titans Tower, is used as a headquarters for the team and is based on the comic book tower. Self-referential humor is used throughout the show with villains of the week for many episodes. Seasons two and four were based upon two of the most popular New Teen Titans arcs, "Judas Contract" and "Terror of Trigon" respectively. Many characters from the comics, such as Aqualad and Speedy, have appeared occasionally throughout the show. One unique quality of the show is that it is character driven and intentionally often focuses on the struggles the main characters have with being teen-aged superheroes. Many episodes deal with the relationships between the characters as friends, and with the personal limitations of the characters.

The animation style portrays a heavy anime-influence, represented by the art style as well as references to popular anime such as FLCL. The series's theme song also alternates between the English version and Japanese version of the song, both sung by the Japanese rock band Puffy Amiyumi.

A comic book based on the show, Teen Titans Go, written by J. Torres is being published by DC Comics.

Synopsis

Template:Spoiler While most episodes are not connected with a central plot, each season has several episodes devoted to a continuing storyline. The first season introduced Slade, an arch-rival of Robin and the Titans. The season two adaptation of "Judas Contract" brought Terra into the series. She eventually betrays the Titans to Slade, just as the original character had in the comic books. Season three focused on Brother Blood and the H.I.V.E. academy, and ended with the creation of the Titans East team, based primarily on the East Coast. The fourth season adapted the "Terror of Trigon" arc, showcasing Raven and her relationship with the father, the demon-god Trigon. Season five has begun airing. It focuses on the Brotherhood of Evil, long enemies of the Doom Patrol, a fellow heroic organization.

Criticism

Despite being very very popular with many viewers, some fans of the comics criticize the series for its childish nature.[1] The series is also disliked among some cartoon fans and otaku for its hybrid of western and eastern animation. [2]

The series's creators unabashedly admit that the focus audience for the show would be younger children. Executive Producer and Cartoon Network V.P. Sam Register has responded:

Justice League is awesome and Samurai Jack is awesome and we buy a lot of anime shows that're great, but those shows really are directed more towards the nine to fourteen age group and the six and seven and eight year olds, were not gelling with the Justice League and some of the more of the fanboy shows... The main mission was making a good superhero show for kids. Now if the fanboys happen to like the Teen Titans also, that's great, but that was not our mission.

— Sam Register, CBR News interview May 8, 2003

Secret identities

A quirk of the series is that the characters maintain their superhero identites while the concept of an alter-ego or secret identity is sometimes hinted at but rarely explored. In particular, there is some debate over which of the Robins actually leads the Teen Titans. While many signs point to Dick Grayson the original Robin. Producer Glen Murakami comments on secret identities:

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 (sic) 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

This policy has been broken in season five, wherein Beast Boy is referred to by his alternate name, Garfield. However, this was done as a plot point to reinforce the introduction of the Doom Patrol team. The Teen Titans characters continue to use his team name, Beast Boy. Starfire's and Cyborg's background and real names have been alluded to in earlier seasons. Cyborg chose the alias "Stone" in the episode "Deception", a nod to his real identity in the DC Comics universe, Victor Stone. The policy has never been an issue with Raven, who has no secret identity. Whether subsequent episodes will continue adhere to this rule or confirm the Grayson-themed hints remains to be seen.

Continuity

A source of controversy among fans has surrounded the place of the series in the DC Animated Universe. Series producer Bruce Timm has stated that there will be no crossover with Justice League Unlimited. Also, series producer and creator Glen Murakami has stated that the inspiration for the series is the 1980s The New Teen Titans series, and not the Justice League animated series. Although Batman does refer to the Titans in the Static Shock and Justice League crossover episode "Hard as Nails," there is no proof that the mentioned Titans relate in any way to the ones represented in this series. The issue of continuity ties in directly with the debate about Robin's secret identity: if Teen Titans fits into the larger DCAU, then Robin must be Tim Drake, contrary to the slighly ambiguous on-screen hints that he is Dick Grayson. However this is contradicted by the existence of a pre-Arsenal Roy Harper (the first Speedy), a pre-Tempest Garth as Aqualad and most recently the Wally West version of Kid Flash, all three of which hail from Grayson's era. There is not enough evidence to either prove or disprove its place in the continuity of Justice League Unlimited.

Cast

Heroes

Teen Titans

File:TitansReadyforAction.jpg
Teen Titans from left to right: Raven, Beast Boy, Cyborg, Starfire, and Robin
Role Actor
Robin Scott Menville
Cyborg Khary Payton
Raven Tara Strong
Starfire Hynden Walch
Beast Boy Greg Cipes

Titans East

Role Actor
Bumblebee T'Keyah Keymah
Speedy Mike Erwin
Aqualad Wil Wheaton
Más Y Menos Freddy Rodríguez

Other Titans

Allies

Doom Patrol

Villains

Major villains

Role Actor
Slade Ron Perlman
Brother Blood John DiMaggio
Trigon Keith Szarabajka Season One
Kevin Michael Richardson Season Four


H.I.V.E. Five

The Brotherhood of Evil Founding members

Episodic and minor villains
Since the show is of the "villain of the week" format, most villains are seen in only one episode. Others are seen quite often but only in the role of henchman to a major villain. Others have appeared in multiple episodes, but do not contribute to a major story arc or act as a major nemesis to one of the Titans team members.

See Minor characters in Teen Titans (animated series)

See also

References

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