To get an idea of what some of the stories are like: In one episode, Robin must decide between the possibility of helping to establish a new senior center or planning a beach party. In another episode, the Titans visits a pie factory where the mystery meat is not what anyone expected. In another episode, the Titans gets sick of Beast Boy playing pranks until they find themselves dying off while trying to rescue him (but was it all just a prank)? These are the kinds of odd storyline plots for what essentially amounts to 11 minutes of jokes within every short episode. The humor and the characters are where this show excels and essentially the main reason it is such a blast.

Teen Titans Go! premiered to a lot of mixed enthusiasm from fans. This is, of course, something that will not be surprising to longtime fans of the five season running Teen Titans DC animated universe series. After all... who wanted to see a comedy version with the same characters? (I'd argue almost no one was asking for something like that... but who knows, I haven't done any polling on the topic).  

It's too bad the reaction was mixed from viewers instead of being positively embracive,  but I also understand where the fandom was coming from in approaching the topic. Upon initially hearing about the project, I thought Teen Titans Go! sounded like something that I would not enjoy at all. It sounded like a bad network joke made by Cartoon Network that wasn't done as something for fans of the past Teen Titans series.

I wanted to dismiss the existence of this series largely because of how much I love Teen Titans.  Then I caught a few minutes of it on TV and that didn't help either. I immediately wanted to write-it off again. The entire idea of having something that was strictly comedic with these characters made me feel baffled. So... when the opportunity to came to write about it, I had thought I could give it another shot but that it was unlikely that I would wind up enjoying it.

I was wrong. I thought the likelihood of me loving it was slim to none but I had hopes that it might surprise me and be decent. Luckily, I can now say that I actually love this series and I hope that more fans embrace it than dismiss it. It's an excellent series and it's one that those entirely new to the Teen Titans franchise should find much easier to embrace. As long as its quirky, offbeat humor is something that one can find humorous (and it surely is) then this is certainly a show that will bring in many new fans. Pretty much anyone who enjoys animated comedies could find something enjoyable about this program: it's got laughs, heart, and it's a bizarre and over-the-top creation.

There are a few solid reasons why fans of the original Teen Titans might still enjoy this series. Firstly, the entire original voce cast has returned to voice their respective characters. These amazing voice actors continue to do a great job with the characters and personalities and enjoyment is felt in spending time with these characters again. Secondly, it even retains (somewhat) the iconic theme song by Puffy Ami Yumi with a new remix of the theme.  

Surprisingly, the third example I would give is how the series pays homage and gives references to previous Teen Titans characters (such as Raven's demonic dad, who pays a visit in one odd episode). There are numerous moments throughout the episodes where a reference is made to episodes or characters that only those familiar with past Teen Titans episodes will pick up on. This is a nice thing to do for fans, who are the ones who will notice and appreciate these things.

Perhaps most importantly, I think older Teen Titans fans might enjoy this series as it is a quality creation. I have no doubt there are many other fans like myself who wanted to dismiss or have already dismissed the series based on their love of the earlier Teen Titans. One has to accept Teen Titans Go! for what it is: an entirely new, different, and altogether unique series that involves the same characters you already knew and loved but in a different way.

The personalities of the characters are the same as the previous series. This time it's just much goofier and sillier. We aren't meant to deal with the darkness or the serious undertones as this series isn't about doing those things. Teen Titans Go! is meant to make us laugh, smile, and simply enjoy ourselves while watching this series. The entire effort seems to be just for the (highly appreciable) sake of bringing happiness to the audience.  

This is truly a sketch-comedy with each episode intending to paint it's story primarily for laughs and for fun. Yet that's another part of the reason it works so well. It's a speedy fast program that delivers fun in spades while never wearing off its welcome.  Just sit back and enjoy this funny, delightful, and lovable series. Teen Titans Go! is worth checking out for any animation fan.

The DVD:

Video:

Teen Titans Go! is presented on DVD with a nice image quality presentation that keeps the colorful, fun, and unique style of the animation as beautiful as one might hope to find on a release of the series. The art is so bold and vibrant. The encodings by Warner Bros. on the release do a good job of presenting that aura of creativity and lushness without annoying or detrimental compression problems.

Audio:

The Dolby Digital 2.0 English audio is pretty good for a stereo audio presentation. The audio quality is relatively crisp. Dialogue is always distinguishable and the sound effects are quite zanily realized with the stereo front imaging of the audio. I enjoyed the whizz-bang of what became occasionally exciting sound mixing and thought that things sounded pleasantly good throughout these episodes.

Extras:

Unfortunately, the release does not contain any supplemental features. I usually do not find behind the scenes of dubbing featurettes that enticing but would have loved to see one here considering the reunion of the same voice cast of the original Teen Titans. Maybe a future release of the show could improve and offer fans a little something extra.

Final Thoughts:

Teen Titans Go! is exciting, fun, and a comedic goldmine that reunites the original Teen Titans voice cast for what is an animated sketch-comedy with the same characters from the earlier rendition. This series is zany, funny, and has a lot of offbeat humor. If you can be open to seeing the same characters from Teen Titans in a humorous and reference-laden way that isn't quite canon then the show is a blast to behold. Just consider this series it's "very own thing" and enjoy the goodness that awaits you.  

Highly Recommended.

Neil Lumbard is a lifelong fan of cinema. He aspires to make movies and has written two screenplays on spec. He loves writing, and currently does in Texas.