Do you happen to remember a little show by the name of "Teen Titans"? It premiered on Cartoon Network in 2003 and had a decent run of 5 seasons until it was canceled in 2005 with a follow-up movie in 2006. The series was known for exploring dark story lines and developing their characters along the way and the cancellation made many fans sad to see such a good show go, however if they’d known the absolute horror that awaited them they might have been happy to let it die a good death.
That horror is "Teen Titans Go". "Teen Titans Go" actually makes me so angry it gives me energy, so buckle in readers, this one’s going to get dirty. First of all, let’s go over what made the original Teen Titans such a good show. We’re going to go over my favorite aspects of the original Teen Titans and weep over the shortcomings of Teen Titans Go, from the artwork to the characters, and finally some ideas on how to fix this heinous show.
First, let’s talk about the characters. You have Robin, who may have left Batman and perhaps not on the best on the best of terms, to travel to Jump City and watch over, since he wants to strike out on his own and become his own superhero, rather than Batman’s sidekick. He’s not originally planning on starting a new team. He’s the unquestionable leader of the group as you see in the very first episode, where he’s taken out of the battle and suddenly the Titans lose. It’s only after he comes back that they’re able to defeat the enemy. He’s also the only Titan without super powers and this leads to his character arc. A few episodes center on Robin’s need to perform, his need to progress, his need to get results as a crime fighter. These are traits you could easily argue was instilled in him by a demanding Batman and something that easily could have run him out of Gotham and into Jump City.
Next, you have Cyborg who is half man and half machine and a real technophile; he’s the Q of the group, responsible for building the T-car, the T-ship, and any other vehicle he could slap a T in front of it. There’s a heartbreaking episode where we find out Cyborg, once Victor Stone, was a promising young athlete who was grievously injured in an accident. He loses his friends and family but finds a new home with the Teen Titans.
Now Starfire, the resident alien, serves as the show’s way to talk about xenophobia and culture shock. There’s an episode where someone from a neighboring planet to her home planet comes to Earth and calls her Troq, a racist term in their shared star-system. She has a number of episodes where she has a hard time fitting in with the rest of the group as she’s grown up on another planet and finds most of Earth’s customs very exciting if a little confusing. She’s the member of the team who seems to have a never-ending well of kindness and optimism that really made her a fan favorite.
Next up is Beast Boy; who is the other optimist of the group. Lighthearted and sweet, he provides a lot of the comic relief and serves as a good comedic foil to Robin’s, sometimes, overwhelming brooding. He has a fantastic story arc when another super-powered teen, Terra, comes to town. Through the series, he has a number of encounters with her where things are heading toward a romantic relationship only to be thwarted by betrayal and the main villain. He also used to be part of the Doom Patrol, another superhero group before joining the Teen Titans.
Last and my absolute favorite, we have Raven. I love Raven so much. She has a stunningly depressing back story. Her mother was basically raped by the demon Trigon, attempted suicide when she couldn’t become Trigon’s queen, and had Raven in another dimension where an Azerathian priest attempted to throw an infant Raven into Limbo to avoid creating a door for Trigon to access their universe. She was raised in the Azerath Temple and taught how to control her powers, meditate, and suppress her emotions, Elsa from Frozen style. She’s dark and cynical and unsure of herself. One of the arcs she goes through shows how easily she can be manipulated. A spirit stuck in a book tells her she’s normal and beautiful and most of all worthy of love.
In “Teen Titans Go”, the producers Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic did manage to make one right decision in bringing back the original voice actors, but that's where the good decisions end. The character’s personalities are all slashed down to a couple of words descriptions. Robin is the “Leader”, Cyborg is “Robot Dude-Bro”, Beast Boy is the “Class Clown”, Starfire is the “Weird Alien Girl” and Raven is the “Goth Chick”.
There are no more dark backgrounds or thought out character development; there is nothing to challenge viewers or make them think past ‘Oh no! Is Robin going to pass his drivers’ test this time?!’ AND WHY IS RAVEN A BRONY?? WHY ARE THERE BRONIES IN THIS UNIVERSE? WHO ARE YOU APPEALING TO??
From the very first episode of “Teen Titans”, this show had a plot. ‘Final Exam’ introduces our main characters, the team dynamic, a group of low-grade villains, and the main villain, Slade. In 30 minutes you knew that the Titans didn’t necessarily always get along with each other, but they all respected and cared for each other. You know that there are many different kinds of super powers and that they live in a world where that’s fairly normal, and you know that the main villain has an obsession with Robin and his whole team. They deal with the potential dangers of fighting crime when they imply that Robin may have died in the fight with the students of The Hive. Because of these events, we learn that this is the world where people can and do die, no matter how super powered or strong are.
In just the first two episodes of "Teen Titans Go", you can see that someone said the Teen Titans were too dark and edgy and they needed to be made funnier, and also cheaper to animate. Much cheaper. Gone are the shadows, dramatic angles, cool lighting, and well-choreographed fight scenes. Instead, we get slapped in the face with neon colors that stab at your eyes and cut-away scenes where characters are reduced to near stick figures BECAUSE IT HAD TO LOOK EVEN CHEAPER.
“Teen Titans Go” is a depressing end to a TV show that so many people loved. You might be reading this thinking, ‘Calm down, it’s just a kid’s show’ but that is exactly my point. These shows shouldn’t just be something you plunk your kid down in front of to watch mindlessly for the next 30 minutes, it should inform as well as entertain, challenge them, show them ideas and tropes and narratives that mean something. You have these kids’ attention, why not do something with it; create something worth watching, put in the effort to make something good and not just profitable.
Let me know what you guys think in the comments.
