After the success of Batman: The Animated Series, several other DC properties were turned into cartoons.  Along with Superman and The Justice League, the Teen Titans were also brought to the small screen in animated from.  The series had a lot to live up too.  The comic book was a fan favorite in the 80's producing a number of spin off series and even competing with Marvel's X-Men for a while.  Now the first six episodes of this ambitious TV show are avalible on DVD.

Originally appearing in the 60's, the Titans were kind of junior Justice League.  The team consisted of all of the sidekicks from DC's biggest stars; Robin, Kid Flash and Wonder Girl.  But you won't find 2/3 of those heros in this show.  This series is based on the revamped version of the comic that came out in 1982.  These Titans are five teenagers who live together in Titan Tower.  Batman's sidekick Robin is the unofficial leader of the group.  Cyborg, half machine and half human, provides the muscle of the group, and Beast Boy, who can change into any animal, (previously a member of the Doom Patrol,) provides a lot of the comic relief.  The group is rounded out by a pair of women; Starfire an alien who can fly and shoot power blasts from her hands, and the contemplative Raven, a mystic with the power to levitate objects and create solid shapes with her mind.

This is a great show.  The creators wisely decided not to try to emulate the comic book too closely.  They trimmed the number of Titans to a more manageable number for a show, and simplified the storylines so that it would be easier for children to understand.  The plots are simple, but not dumb or idiotic, they just cut of a number of subplots that wouldn't have played well on TV in any case.
 
The program has a lot of action and adventure.  There is a continuing storyline concerning Slade (Deathstroke in the comics,) a mysterious villain who is trying to destroy the Titans, and his various plots to destroy them.  The super-powered creatures he hires to  fight the Titans are all interesting adversaries, and Slade himself gives the show some continuity.

Teen Titans is also a very funny show.  There is a lot of humor incorporated, and most of it works pretty well.  From Beast Boy's practical jokes, (I loved the Beast Boy Insta-lube 9000) to Starfire's unfamiliarity with Earth cultures and Raven's very dark and dry sense of humor, each show has a good number of laughs.

One complaint I do have is that there is some unrealistic Tex Avery type humor that didn't always work.  In one episode, the Teen Titans are in a desperate battle against a trio of villains who have invaded their headquarters.  An exterior shot shows the Titan towers shimming from side to side as it shrinks and expands.  This 'cartoony' segment distracted from the seriousness of the battle.

The shows have very solid scripts and excellent writing.  One of the things that they do exceedingly well is quickly giving each member their own personality, but not making them a caricature.  Since the show is really character driven, every member of the team has strengths and weaknesses, and different episodes explore these traits in each character.

The animation is good, though it took a little to get used to the style they used.  Many of the character designs make the characters look like they belong in a straight comedy rather than an adventure show.  (Happily though, Starfire's hair was much shorter than in the comics.)  They also try to give the show an anime feel with some of he animation style.  Super deformed  features, something I've never cared for, are used to denote comic situations and strong emotions, but luckily they don't use this effect too often.

This DVD includes the first six episodes of the series on a single disc enclosed in a dreaded snapper case.  The episodes are presented in production order, not the order that they aired.

Audio:

There is an English stereo track on this DVD as well as stereo dubs in Spanish and French.  The sound was very good for a TV show.  The explosions and fight scenes were fairly dynamic and there was some use made of the front soundstage.  There wasn't any noticeable hiss or other common audio defects.  There were also subtitles in English, French and Spanish.

Video:

This show looked pretty good.  The fullscreen image was bright and clear, with nice looking colors and sharp lines.  There was a little bit of aliasing, causing some curving lines to have a stair-step effect, but this was minimal.  A nice looking show.

Extras:

A good selection of extras are included with this disc.

Comic Creations: 22 minute featurette that talks about the comic that the show is based on, and has interviews with Marv Wolfman and George Perez (who has owed me $5 since 1980 by the way,) the team that relaunched the Titans in the 80's.  The creative staff involved with the cartoon talks about how they adapted the comic for the small screen.  They discuss each hero, their powers and motivation, and how they fit into the team.  A lot of this was evident from the shows on this disc,

Music Video: The opening theme preformed by the Japanese duo, PuffyAmiYumi.  This funky-retro song is quite catchy, and I enjoyed this humorous video.

Find the Remote: A game you play with your remote.  You have to repeat the order that the Titans appear on the screen, and then locate the missing remote control.  If you find it you're rewarded with a short reel of action scenes from the show.

There are also a selection of trailers for other WB animated kids DVDs.

Final Thoughts:

Being familiar with the comic, but never having seen the show on TV, I was a little uncertain about how this comic would fare as a cartoon.  Luckily, the creative staff did a great job.  This isn't the comics just rewritten for TV, but the characters ported to a new medium.  There is a lot of action and adventure, with a good amount of humor too.  A great disc for kids, I throughly enjoyed it too.  Highly Recommended.