Teen Titans (TV series)


Teen Titans is an American animated superhero television series developed by Glen Murakami and Sam Register, based on DC Comics's superhero team of the same name. It premiered on Cartoon Network on July 19, 2003, and its first two seasons also aired 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, , 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 until June 1, 2014. In 2013, the show spawned a spin-off, titled Teen Titans Go!, which received a theatrical film released on July 27, 2018, titled Teen Titans Go! To the Movies.

Premise

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, the intelligent and capable leader of the Teen Titans; Starfire, a quirky, curious alien princess from the planet Tamaran; Cyborg, a half-human/half-robot who is known for his strength and technological prowess; Raven, a stoic girl from the parallel world Azarath who draws upon dark energy and psionic abilities; and Beast Boy, 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, who seeks to turn Robin into his apprentice. The second season is an adaption of "The Judas Contract" storyline where new hero Terra 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, prompting Cyborg to form the superhero team Titans East with Aqualad, Speedy, Bumblebee, and Más y Menos. In the fourth season, Raven finds herself unwillingly involved in a plot that threatens the existence of the world when her demon father Trigon 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 cast

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.
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. These include Robin's alternate dimensional counterpart Larry in the episode "Fractured" being named Nosyarg Kcid, Robin's future counterpart in the episode "How Long Is Forever?" having taken on the identity of Nightwing, his relationship with Starfire, and a glimpse into Robin's consciousness by Raven in the episode "Haunted" showing the memory of two acrobats falling from a trapeze. 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 " with "I already have a father" and a fight scene on the rooftop of a building labeled Wayne Enterprises. The Teen Titans Go! episode “Permanent Record” would later satirize the mystery of Robin’s identity by explicitly giving his name as “Robin v.3: Tim Drake”, with the names of Dick Grayson and Jason Todd being written over. Subsequent episodes, however, establish him as Grayson through vague flashbacks to his boyhood at Haley Circus.
The policy of not mentioning the characters' secret identities has been broken a couple of times. In Season 5, the Doom Patrol members refer to Beast Boy by his real name, Garfield. In "Go!", the Titans ask Beast Boy about his mask and he states it hides his true identity, though Raven points out that his green skin makes him instantly recognizable regardless of his clothing. Starfire was called by her real name Princess Koriand'r when they visited Tamaran in "Betrothed." When Cyborg goes undercover at H.I.V.E. Academy in "Deception," he takes on the alias "Stone" as a reference to his comic counterpart's real name, Victor Stone. Later seasons of Teen Titans Go! have, though infrequently, referred to Cyborg as Victor Stone and Beast Boy as Garfield Logan.

Episodes

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 movie, 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 are 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 "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 . The film premiered at San Diego Comic-Con International and was shown on Cartoon Network first on September 15, 2006, aired on Kids' WB on September 16, 2006, and finally released 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.
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 reprised their respective character roles as Robin, Cyborg, Raven, Beast Boy, Starfire and Blackfire in DC Super Hero Girls.
Payton reprised his role as Cyborg in ', ', ', ', ' along with Cipes, Walch, and Menville, ', and . 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 movie Justice League vs. Teen Titans.

Impact on DC continuity

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 as the Teen Titans incarnation. 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. 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, Superboy, and Miss Martian of the Young Justice team appear.
Much like ' and ', 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.

In other media

Comics

published a comic book series based on Teen Titans named Teen Titans Go!. The series was written by J. Torres and Todd Nauck, Larry Stucker was the regular illustrator. The series focuses on Robin, Raven, Starfire, Beast Boy, and Cyborg who are the main cast members of the television series. While the comic's stories stand independently, its issues were done so as not to contradict events established in the animated series' episodes. Often, Teen Titans Go! also referenced episodes of the show, as well as expanding on parts of the series.

Toys

released a line of action figures based on the Teen Titans animated series. The line included 1.5 inch "Comic Book Hero" mini figures, 3.5 inch action figures, 5 inch action figures, 6.5 inch plush Super-D Toys, and 10 inch figures. Amongst the characters included in the line were the main members of the Teen Titans, Titans East, and various allies and villains.

Reception

Critical reception

The series has received critical acclaim. Early into the series' run, Executive Producer and Cartoon Network Vice President Sam Register responded to criticism regarding the style of the show with a statement slightly contradicting Murakami's statement about wanting Robin to "be cool" with his metal-tipped boots:
However, while the series' creators initially stated that younger children were the intended audience for the series, Teen Titans Go! writer J. Torres notes that the progression and deeper themes of the show widened the appeal to a much broader audience:
In 2009, Teen Titans was named the 83rd best animated series by IGN.

Awards and nominations

;2005 Annie Awards
;2004 Annie Awards
;2004 Motion Picture Sound Editors Awards: