Did you enjoy the funny New Teen Titans shorts spread throughout the past few months of DC Nation on Saturday mornings? Then there's good news — they're getting their own full fledged series this fall.
During San Diego Comic-Con, we sat down with Aaron Horvath (Animator on the criminally underrated Mad series) and Michael Jelenic (Producer of Batman: The Brave and the Bold) to learn about the newest addition to the DC Nation Saturday Morning Cartoon block, Teen Titans Go!
Teen Titans Go! features the same characters from the 2003 Teen Titans series, but adds an even more comedic tone, featuring chibi versions of the Titans to create an "action-sitcom". There's no continuity between Go! and the 2003 series.
At the same time, a lot of the original voice talent will return, including Greg Cipes as Beast Boy, Khary Payton as Cyborg, and Tara Strong as Raven, and many of the original animators and writers are back on board as well.
Teen Titans Go! will be a series of eleven minute episodes, with each episode being a self-contained comic episode — often featuring absurd endings, similar to the New Teen Titans shorts from this past Spring.
The duo feels the comedy for the series works a lot better in a self-contained format, and allows for programming flexibility. Michael Jelenic did some serialized teasers during his time on Batman: Brave and the Bold, and admits they are a lot of fun, but the serialized nature poses a problem for the viewer if the episodes air out of order.
At the moment, Aaron and Michael did not know if the J-pop duo Puffy AmiYumi will return to perform the show opening. If not, then a new version of the Teen Titans theme will be created, likely featuring a Korean or J-pop band.
Music will play a big role in the show — Aaron and Michael are pulling for Scooby Doo-style "song romps" to keep the tone of the show light and fun. I loved the Teen Titans Go! DC Nation shorts, so I'm stoked for an ongoing series. Will a Super Best Friends Forever ongoing series be coming in the near future as well? We can only hope.
Teen Titans Go! will air this Fall during the DC Nation block on Cartoon Network.