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Saturday, March 30, 2013

WonderCon: Teen Titans Go! Isn't Afraid To Go To Weird Places

The Teen Titans are popular, iconic characters and there's been a lot of buzz about how the new series Teen Titans Go! will handle them. Producers/writers Michael Jelenic and Aaron Horvath were joined by voice talent Greg Cipes and Khary Payton at WonderCon to share the debut episode and to discuss the different, funnier direction.

It's no secret fans are skeptical about the strictly comedic take on the super team, but the overall reaction to the episode seemed positive. Laughter drowned out the punchlines at some points. The premiere episode (split into two eleven minute stories as they all will be) showed just how silly things are going get. It's reminiscent of the Star Wars: Detours clips.

The first story was about the legend of a perfect sandwich and featured Raven watching and loving a show called Pretty, Pretty Pegasus. The second story was about poking fun at Robin for not having superpowers (which seems to be a consistent joke actually) and then getting them and learning they are a curse. Each one was full of easter eggs for comic book fans and plenty of gags and food.

Sam Register, who was a co-producer on the 2003 Teen Titans, moderated the panel and admitted bringing it back was nerve-racking. “This was a very scary show to make. I worked on the first series, and it was so loved. This was a scary thing to do.” He said the premiere is just the beginning of how insane the show is.

Jelenic and Horvath both agreed it's been relatively easy to adapt the characters into this funny format. “The easy part is bringing back the same guys [voice talent]. They created characters that were so iconic that it was easy to change them from an action section to a comedy setting,” stated Jelenic.

They emphasized the 11 minute format is perfect for the type of jokes they're doing. Jelenic said, “It's just long enough to do some really weird stuff but not long enough to overstay your welcome. The abrupt ending works.” You can hit the reset button.

What do they mean by weird? Register said there will be puppets, kittens, and meatballs. You get the idea. Additionally, any character who appeared in the original Teen Titans series is up for grabs. You might see Blackfire, and you will see Speedy, Terra, Titans East, and Más y Menos. Many characters who return from the original series will be voiced by the same actors.

Lest you think it's all jokes all the time, there is action in the series. The episode showed at the panel was full of superheroes beating up bad guys. Jelenic said, “All the action is cool. It's a little silly, but the characters come off as cool superheroes. We don’t want to make fun of them. They are the best superheroes in the world.”

Check out the premiere on Tuesday, April 23, at 7:30pm on Cartoon Network.

Amy Ratcliffe is a writer for IGN TV. You can follow her on on Twitter at @Amy_Geek and IGN at  alratcliffe.


Source : ign[dot]com

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