Teen Titans Cartoon this Saturday!

[Inazuma]

Just a reminder, Teen Titans premeires on Cartoon Network this coming Saturday night. Check your local listings for exact time.

We'll be statting Robin, Cyborg, Starfire, Raven and Beastboy soon after.

[mrobviousjosh]

cool. Thanks for the reminder. That looked like it'll be good.

[Mucknuggle]

What's Teen Titans? Could you provide a link?

[Inazuma]

http://www.teentitans.com

That will forward you to the cartoon network site. The show is based off the DC comic book. Batman's sidekick and a bunch of younger heroes form their own team. Sort of a Juvenile Justice League. Heh.

[Sketchpad]

The first issue of the new comic hit shelves today ... that, combined with Outsiders, makes an interesting read I highly recommend it ...

As for the cartoon ... I'll wait and see. Something that bugged me was an interview with someone saying that Robin would have very little to do with Batman besides the innuendo of name. Being a long time Titans fan, this irks me.

[Kid Vorpal]

You have to believe there'll be at least ONE "cross-over" episode with some of the JLA, if not just the good ol' Dark Knight himself.

They'd almost be fools NOT to do one.

[Inazuma]

The first issue of the new comic hit shelves today ... that, combined with Outsiders, makes an interesting read I highly recommend it ...

As for the cartoon ... I'll wait and see. Something that bugged me was an interview with someone saying that Robin would have very little to do with Batman besides the innuendo of name. Being a long time Titans fan, this irks me.

I don't see that as a bad thing. It's Teen Titans, not Batman or Justice League. The Dark Knight shouldn't show up frequently. The focus should be on Robin and the other kids. A one-time cross-over would be cool, but beyond that, let the Titans keep the stage to themselves.

[mrobviousjosh]

You have to believe there'll be at least ONE "cross-over" episode with some of the JLA, if not just the good ol' Dark Knight himself.

They'd almost be fools NOT to do one.

Very true. Now that will be an episode to look forward to in particular.

[Kenpo Wolf]

I've been a fan of the Titans, in all its incarnations, since the mid 80s. With that being said, I will not watch this travesty due to the stupid looking animation. I would rather have seen something more like the recent X Men cartoon

[REG]

I think they use the same animation studio that does Justice League, Batman: The Animated Series, Batman Returns(?) and Superman. All of them are DC Comic-based characters.

X-Men: Evolution uses a different animation (or is it anime?) studio.

Good cartoons are hard to find for our own adult taste.

[DocObvious]

While I don't think I'd go as far as calling the animation a travesty, I have to say that I'm getting very tired of the style of animation used for all of the WB/DC characters. Sure, it was fresh and innovative when it was used on "Batman: The Animated Series" and maybe even for the Superman series. But by the time Justice League came around, I found myself wishing they'd done something visually different and now with Teen Titans I'm just plain sick of it.

Enough already! Doesn't anyone besides Bruce Timm and his immitators do animation anymore?!

[Bailywolf]

They cover the issue in JLA, but you know what I wonder about a teen superteam? Who bankrolls the operation? Those gadgets, super-vehicles, HQ's, and whatnot can't come cheep.




But I'll sure as heck be tuning in to check it out.

-B

[Witchblade]

I think I'm with Kenpo Wolf on this one (even if the sentiment is not quite as strong). From what I've seen, I'm just not interested. I'll give it a chance, but it's going to have to do really well to impress me enough to make me a regular viewer. Judging from the trailers, the characters seem almost like preschoolers, as opposed to teens.

I'm not sure if I've been seeing the same trailers as DocObvious, however. I don't see as much Bruce Timm influence as I do anime. The trailers seem to illustrate a show that is very much in the classic anime style (BESM). That alone may make it worth watching.

[Sketchpad]

Taken from CBR News: (GM is Glen Murakami, producer of the show)

Q: How is Robin in "Teen Titans" different from the Robin we've seen in "Batman?"

GM: In "Teen Titans," we don't even really think of Robin as part of the "Batman and …." team. I'm trying to treat him as a brand new character that people have never seen before. He's the leader instead of the sidekick. He's independent. He's not in the shadow of his father figure, nor is he going to react in the same way Batman might. In fact, we'll never mention Batman at all in the series.

As for the animation studio, it's not Timm ... they're aiming for a more kid/anime style, which doesn't bother me as much as not tying the characters into the DC Continuity. Don't get me wrong, I love the idea that a Titans cartoon is coming out, but I'm a bit skeptical about how well it'll work as a Titans cartoon. The Titans comic has a nice back story and some great characters ... most of this seems to be dumped for people who've never heard of the Titans

[Inazuma]

I think I read, like, one issue of TT during the 80's. Cyborg was in it. That's all I remember. Anyway, I like to think it will give me the chance to enjoy the show on its own without a lot of expectations from the comics.

X-Men Evolution diverges wildly from the comics, too, remember, and a lot of people like it. Heck, I always hated Toad in the comics, but I love him on the show. They actually made Scarlet Witch interesting, too.

So I'm going to wait and see a few episodes of Teen Titans before I judge it.

[Tumbler]

Why on earth would you try to treat Robin as a character that people have never seen before? Most people on the planet have heard of him. If they really meant this statement, they would have created a different character. Maybe they want to eat their cake and have it later.

Let's see, what I remember of titans comics, robin (dick, I assume this one will be tim) was a leader, independent, but still connected to batman (the most recognizable comics character in the world). It seems odd to me that they feel it necessary to disassociate themselves from the animated legacy, but I'm not a television producer, so what do I know.

I'll watch it anyway, but I never did like the cyborg/beastboy duo. Beastboy always seemed like a plas ripoff to me.[/quote]

[Inazuma]

I think they just want the show to stand on it's own merits and not be dependant on "grown-up guests stars." If they were repeatedly showing or talking about Batman and so forth, the show would be seen as another Batman vehicle. They want to leave him on Justice League where he belongs.

[jeff]

I just wish they'd make a Legion of SuperHeroes cartoon.

[Nuclear Platypus]

Batman Returns(?)

Batman Beyond is probably what you're thinking of. It's a possible outcome for the Batman franchise. I personally liked the episode were Mr. Freeze returns (Meltdown).

Yeah, I'd say Teen Titans is quite anime-ish, at least from some of the tv spots: Starfire dragging someone off to meet her new friends and Beast Boy losing to Cyborg at a video game for example.

I remember Cyborg was previously a member of the Superfriends on an updated version in the 80's (pre-Crisis I believe) that had Firestorm as another member. Yup, there was even a teamup between Darkseid and Brainiac (the shiny robot version). Does anyone else remember that?

As for X-Men Evolution, yeah TPTB frelled with character backgrounds but it's not that bad. The previous 2 X-Men cartoons (ok, 1 was a pilot movie that became the basis for a 6-player 'quarter eater') were far more faithful to the comics tho the Spiderfriends / X-Men episodes (at least 2) are kinda painful to watch.

[Inazuma]

Here's an interesting thought: Just how "loyal to the comics" do superhero shows and movies need to be? A line has to be drawn somewhere. Those making the show or movie need creative freedom, do they not? And they are different mediums.

[Strict31]

While I found myself questioning the Anime style and japanese pop culture ambiance the adverts have, I haven't found it to be a travesty just yet. I might...that remains to be seen. I'm just wondering...why? The technicolor block logo seen on the adverts and website have a sixties design feel to them, the music seems to have a japanese feel that even anime tends to lack...what's up with that? I mean, I guess to be fully honest, I understand the anime style. If the kids wish hard enough, they can almost imagine Yu-gi-oh or Ash and Misty running alongside Robin and Cyborg...

I don't think we're exactly the audience the show is targeting, now that I ponder this. Same thing was done with Enterprise. Target a new show to a new demographic and you tend to piss off those who would normally have flocked to the show BECAUSE THEY"VE LOVED IT FOR MORE THAN TWENTY YEARS, while attracting exactly zero members of the demographic you actually were targeting...

I mean, let's be real for a second: did the Sci-Fi Channel actually gain more of an audience by cancelling Farscape and putting on DreamTeam, Scare tactics and Tremors? Enterprise has lower numbers than Voyager, and that's saying quite a lot. Are these guys paying attention here? Spiderman made the bucks because it had a loyal following and managed to remain true without a whole bunch of gimmicks to target a new demographic. See? The formula works.

I don't wanna give the impression that I'm not gonna give the cartoon its due. I'm gonna be there with bells on. But I'm also aware, and have stated this a couple of times on the board, that we--as in us--are not the folks people make shows for. We're too freaky to be considered a genuine demographic. That will all change once I rule the world, however. You're all invited to the new regime.



What? Why are you all moving away from me?

Strictly Speaking

[Tumbler]

TV and movie versions of comics characters should be "loyal" to the comic at least in the sense of maintaining the core backstory and personality of the character. Otherwise, they are just trying to capitalize on the name brand aspect of a character, or they can't come up with something original. So, if you want to make a spiderman movie where his webs come out of his wrists because you don't think people will buy the super science explanation or you just don't want to take the time for peter to build the shooters, fine. Alternately, if you are Tim Burton and really want to make a Superman movie but can't stand the idea of people flying, step back and make a different movie.

Sure, X-Evolution changes the story and relative ages of some of the characters, but scott and jean still have a romance, scott is still a bit of a do gooder, rogue is still messed up, magneto is still the bad guy. All that is fine by me. But when creators go around spouting about how their new thing is so cool because decades of storytelling is too simple or cheesy or stupid or whatever and our new thing is so much better because we put robin in green tights instead of underoos and disconnected him from Batman, that's crap. Change the costume, no problem. Ditch the bat, make up another character. I mean, would you make a bucky cartoon without any reference to cap. Batman doesn't have to be in the show or even come up in the first episode, but if no teen character is ever interested in the relationship, I'd think that was a bit odd.

[Inazuma]

Robin has worn tights in comics before. That's hardly new.

And Bucky is hardly as well-known to the public as Robin. The point is you CAN disconnect him from Batman and still expect people to recognize the character. Robin is an iconic character, the poster boy for all teen superheroes.

[mrobviousjosh]

Robin has worn tights in comics before. That's hardly new.

And Bucky is hardly as well-known to the public as Robin. The point is you CAN disconnect him from Batman and still expect people to recognize the character. Robin is an iconic character, the poster boy for all teen superheroes.

True, and it has clearly been shown that he has the potential to be his own character by his undertaking of the role as Nightwing. Yes, I'm referring to Dick Grayson but he's still Robin.

[Tumbler]

Yes, but as I said earlier, the titans comics clearly established Dick's robin as a leader, independent, as well as basically a teen pop icon, all while maintaining the connection to his mythology.