The Teen Titans are a well-known group of superheroes, and as the title suggests, they are comprised entirely of teenagers. The team has been around since the silver age of comics, but the 2003 animated show introduced these vibrant characters to the majority of fans.
It quickly became a beloved cartoon series, and despite aiming for children as the target audience, it struck a chord with adults too. The show has been hailed for its creativity and ability to tackle storylines in a thought-provoking manner. However, Glen Murakami, the creator of the series, believes its secret weapon was in a special anime style.
What was the show Teen Titans about?
The show revolves around a team of adolescent superheroes. It was created by Glen Murakami, David Slack, and Sam Register. The show ran for five seasons, with its premiere in 2003, and it ended its incredible television run in 2006.
The series relied on humor and wit to tell the stories of the group, as they embarked on audacious missions to save the world. Led by Robin, the show allowed characters such as Starfire and Beast Boy to jump from the pages of the comic books to the small screen.
Unlike most other projects from DC, the animated series relied solely on the characters’ superhero identities. While there might have been clues about their secret identities, this aspect was never explored.
The series left a lasting impression, and not just because of the plot. Thanks to its success, the studio might develop a live-action Teen Titans movie soon. One of the biggest reasons behind the popularity of the series is that the creators dared to use an anime style that was not very popular at the time.
What is ‘super-deformed’ animation, that was seen on the show?
The Teen Titans played a massive role in establishing DC as the authority when it came to its animated universe. Since the show’s inception in 2003, the creators always tried to push their creative boundaries, which translated remarkably well onto the screen.
Visually, the show was unmatched, and the reason behind it was that it drew heavily from Japanese anime. As a result, the finished product set the bar for storytelling in animated shows at the time.
“We’re doing something that I think anime fans are familiar with; its called Super D. It’s the equivalent of, say, a Tex Avery take … I guess it gets kind of surreal, but it seems it’s an effective way of telling the story, of conveying emotion in a really stylistic way,” Murakami elaborated on Animation World Network.
So what exactly is super-deformed animation? It is an anime style used to exaggerate emotions. On the show, the creators used it to convey an emotion, to the point that it provided comic relief.
Teen Titans remains one of the best cartoons that DC has ever produced. The love that the show evoked has endured all these years.