Teen Titans Go! is a comedic take on DC’s Titans, which follows Robin, Cyborg, Starfire, Raven, and Beast Boy as they do their best to stop crime, but often end up finding themselves in trouble. It’s hard to take them seriously, which is fun. The series debuted more than ten years ago, in 2013, has a feature film and will soon celebrate its 400th episode.
This episode showcases the Titans in stop-motion animation for the first time, as they celebrate being DC’s longest-running animated series. The all-star cast has other incredible projects they are a part of. However, they created a true family, which is incredible to witness. Cartoon Network will play all episodes of Teen Titans Go! ahead of the premiere of the 400th episode on November 30.
SRant screen interviewed Pete Michail (Showrunner), Tara Strong (Raven), Greg Cipes (Beast Boy), Khary Payton (Cyborg), Hynden Walch (Starfire), and Scott Menville (Robin) at New York Comic-Con to discuss the upcoming 400th episode of Teen Titans Go!. They reveal what they think has resonated so much with different generations of fans over the years, as well as what it was like to see their characters in stop-motion animation. They also talk about their most memorable interactions with fans.
Teen Titans Go! It resonated with many because fans can identify with the characters
“I think there is at least one character that everyone can identify with.”
Screen Rant: What do you think it’s about Teen Titans Go! What made it last so long and resonate with so many different generations?
Scott Menville: I’ll say it real quick and then I’ll let everyone hitch a ride. The characters. I think there is at least one character that everyone can identify with. There is one that connects with anyone, if not all of the characters. They’re all misfits who somehow found each other and somehow love each other, even if they don’t always show it because Robin has baby hands.
Hynden Walch: In the original, it started out as the Breakfast Club with superheroes. That’s how they thought at the beginning of the original show.
Greg Cipes: I think it’s our rebellious spirit that’s really so appealing.
Tara Strong: I think we all really love each other in real life and we’re family. We’ve been together for over 20 years and I think it was really smart for them to keep the same cast because people who fell in love with the original characters got to see us in a totally different world. But it’s still us and the show is so funny. You can’t help but laugh. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a show sustain itself with more fart jokes. Pete, I think you’re a genius at mastering obvious jokes, things you don’t think about that you’re thinking about but never verbalize.
I laugh a lot when I read the scripts. They are authentically funny. The music is great, the animation is beautiful. Wait until you see what happens in episode 400. It’s next level. I think they’re always surprising fans and keeping things fresh, even though they’re the same people. It’s always some new crazy adventure
Greg Cripes: That Superman killed us in 400.
Screen Rant: Think back to day one. Did you ever think this would be the longest-running DC animated series?
Scott Menville: Greg probably does.
Khary Payton: Here’s the thing: he’s not lying. It was funny. Scott and I tell the story all the time. We were working on a different project. We were each working with Greg and then we would fly to San Francisco to do this project and Greg would be obsessed with the old show and how the Teen Titans need to come back. He literally spat on the handshake contract with both of us and was like, do you guys agree? And I thought, yes, I agree.
And then every couple of months he would say, Ky, did you hear anything? Shall we go back? And I thought, no, I didn’t hear it. What are you talking about? I was at WonderCon a year before we came back. Sam Register comes to me, who is vice president of animation at Warner Brothers in the presidency, well, vice president at the time. And he said, we’re bringing the Titans back. And I swear to you, in seconds, hey Khary, what’s going on? Have you heard anything about Titans? The man is a wizard.
Greg Cripes: When prayers rise, blessings descend.
Tara Strong: But there are also a lot of factors that go into making a successful show and I think we’ve always been blessed to have great writers, great animators, storyboard artists, musicians, as well as this beautiful cast that loves each other. very. Many factors are needed to bring this magic, and we have been putting it together for a long time.
Pete Michail: And to add to that, none of us are here without the fans, man. I mean, they are the ones, and Sam is the biggest one. So yeah, man, that’s why we’re here celebrating 400 episodes.
Scott Menville: Speaking of the fans, one of the things we love is seeing families get to where the parents are, we love this show too because the writers write jokes for us and this show is our happy place when things are getting us down in the world. . And we love hearing that.
Tara Strong: I would say that as a cast we have more cosplayers than probably any cast or show in its entirety. We see Titans cosplay all the time. My favorite when they did this. Have you seen the old one? It was like a family that treated us when we were old. It was so funny. We were the old titans and they dressed like us.
Screen Rant: Speaking of fans, do any of you have a favorite fan interaction that sticks with you?
Khary Payton: The coolest thing is that there are some families that have come to see us over the years who will have a child with autism. And there have been a couple who literally listen to our show. It’s the only thing that calms them down if they have anxiety or something like that. Listen, when we got together, we thought we were going to make a great TV show, we were going to have fun and it was going to be silly. You don’t think about the fact that it could affect someone on that level.
But the truth is, out of all the popular things, every once in a while someone comes to a convention, there are always some that you can look into their eyes, and you know what they needed from that. They were the kid who came home alone and the parents were working, and they sat there and met friends on television. All these characters are different colors. They all come from totally different places, but they become family. I think that really resonates with people. And now these children have grown up and some of them are having children and many of them are having, many of them are having children. We’re crossing generations and that’s something I really didn’t expect, and I also didn’t expect to be able to meet these people, which is amazing.
Tara Strong: I have a favorite story. There was a girl dressed as a Raven. She looked like she was 14 or 15 and was talking and talking and talking and I looked over and saw her mother crying. And we hear that a lot, but there was something unusual. So I went to check on her and she said her daughter was severely autistic and hadn’t spoken for five years. And when she knew I was coming, she didn’t stop talking.
We hear a lot that this is the only chance I have to really bond with my son, and that’s so beautiful. And like you were saying about a personality of yours, the Titans represent so many different types of personalities where it’s like I didn’t know I was special until I saw Raven or Starfire or I thought I didn’t have friends until I started watching that show, and we talked to each other. the other. And another thing that Khary was saying is that when you’re doing a show on stage, you get instant feedback. But when we’re making a cartoon, we don’t really know how the fans will interact. So when we come and meet the fans, and they tell us how much what we did means to them, it really warms our hearts.
Showrunner Pete Michail has wanted to make a stop-motion episode for a long time
“For a variety of reasons, and it never worked.”
Screen Rant: Where did the idea for stop-motion come from?
Scott Menville: Just when you think these guys can’t surprise us anymore, Pete and the team continue to surprise us.
Pete Michail: We’ve wanted to do a stop-motion special for years, for various reasons, and it never worked out. So we reached that milestone and introduced Sam Register, our great leader, and he loved the idea, and we started working. I want to tease everything now and I’ll tell you about it, but…
Khary Payton: Tell them to watch November 30th when this thing comes out.
Scott Menville: I believe Cartoon Network is showing all the Titans episodes in order up to 400, which is crazy.
Screen Rant: What was it like seeing your characters in stop-motion?
Scott Menville: I grew up watching stop-motion, so it’s another bucket list. I mean, we were excited to get to 200. That was the bucket list. Being stop-motion characters is a bucket list. It’s like, so, thank you. Just like many Titans episodes, there’s a killer musical number in it. There is some battle action and there may be some toilet humor as well.
Hynden Walch: And we all look really, really cute in stop-motion. Adorable, actually.
Scott Menville is the heart of the Teen Titans in Go! Series
“A lot of the exposition and just the driving nature of the show comes from Scott’s energy.”
Screen Rant: Do you think you would get along with them in real life, if you met their character, if you came face to face?
Scott Menville: Unfortunately, I learned how much like Robin I am, obsessed with stupid little things sometimes. Why isn’t this traffic moving?
Khary Payton: No, he’s like Robin. But he’s more like old-school Robin, because he keeps this team in check. He is the heart of our show.
Tara Strong: Literally, he worked really hard. Much of the exposition and just the driving nature of the show comes from Scott’s energy. I remember that in the episode Night Begins to Shine he also played the hawk that sang outside. And to see him literally sing while flapping his wings and giving it his all, I think, that’s incredible. This should be the show. What am I watching here.
Scott Menville: You are very kind. I am nothing without my team. But also to be clear, I arrive at four o’clock, record my session and leave. Pete and the team are living this show many, many, many hours a day, day after day, working hard. And then somehow they still have the intestinal fortitude to keep fighting through 400 episodes, which is amazing.
Screen Rant: Pete, which character do you think you’d get along with the most?
Pete Michail: Starfire is the heart of the team. She really is.
Will Miss Minutes return to the MCU?
Tara Strong would love to play her again, as well as do a crossover with Teen Titans Go!
Screen Rant: Tara, will we ever see Miss Minutes in the MCU again?
Tara Strong: I could tell you, but I would have to prune you and it would be bad. I hope she comes back. She’s such a fun character. When I first auditioned, I didn’t even know what the program was, it was very secret. And then when I was on Zoom, Covid ended, and they said, it’s Loki. I was like, oh my God. Again, we talk about fans having this character who is initially giving exposition, but also has a very sweet voice that you might die if you don’t do what I say. Having her blow up so much with fans was very gratifying. So it’s great.
Greg Cripes: In Teen Titans Go! she’s going to play Miss Seconds.
Tara Strong: That would be great. It would be really fun to have a crossover, actually, one day.
Pete Michail: It would be a digital clock.
Scott Menville: Tara is in My Little Pony, but we have a really cute pegasus in Teen Titans Go!.
Tara Strong: It’s always fun when they do that for the fans.
About Teen Titans Go! Celebration of the 400th Episode
This continuation of the popular “Teen Titans” series takes a more comical view of superheroes, showing what life is like for teenagers when their capes are taken off. Funny things happen to Robin, Starfire, Raven, Beast Boy and Cyborg between saving the world and being normal teenagers, living together without adult supervision.
Teenagers, in their normal lives, deal with the everyday issues of adolescence that include such important things as staring contests to determine who does the laundry and a series of missions to build the perfect sandwich. But, of course, heroes still fight crime in Jump City when the need arises. Whatever the situation, they are always ready for an adventure – indoors or out.
Source: Rant Plus Screen