Teen Titans is an American animated adventure series of the superhero fantasy genre. The show is based on the DC Comics superhero team the Teen Titans, and was created by Glen Murakami. The show was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired for five seasons on Cartoon Network from July, 2003 to January, 2006, spanning a total of sixty-six episodes. A feature length animated TV movie was produced in 2006 called Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo. The series was repackaged in 2013 as Teen Titans Go!.
The Teen Titans originally made their cartoon debut in 1967 as a series of four 7-minute animated shorts, which were packaged as part of the Superman-Aquaman Hour of Adventure. These episodes included a teen of four heroes comprising Aqualad, Kid Flash, Speedy, and Wonder Girl. The stories were written by comic book author George Kashdan. These were the first television appearances of all four characters.
The 2003 iteration of the team consisted five core characters, but also included other young heroes that would float in and out of the series as needed. The main cast of the show included Scott Menville as the voice of Robin, Greg Cipes as Beast Boy, Khary Payton as Cyborg, Hynden Walch as Starfire, and Tara Strong as Raven. Actor Ron Perlman lent his voice to Slade, also known as Deathstroke the Terminator, who was the main antagonist of the series.
Theme song[]
The theme song for the Teen Titans animated series was written and composed by Japanese performers Ami Onuki and Yumi Yoshimura. Onuki and Yoshimura are famous within Japanese anime circles and the track "Teen Titans Go!" was released on their 2003 album NICE. The song has been released both in its original Japanese as well as an English translation, both of which have been featured on alternating episodes of the Teen Titans. It is interesting to note that episodes in which the theme is sung in Japanese are intended to be comedic and funny, while the ones sung in English are intended to have a more serious tone.
The second and fourth seasons of the show, were based on two plots that were in the New Teen Titans comics. Season two was based on the "Judas Contract" story arc, and season four was based on the "Terror of Trigon" story arc.
Comics connections[]
The following is a list of key issues produced by DC Comics that may help to serve as a guide towards understanding the characters, items, and settings featured in the Teen Titans cartoon series.
