(NOTE: As of December 2014, this article is invalid as The Critical Frog has recently thrown a rather large tantrum about how stupid Teen Titans Go has become and has thus has officially given up hope on it. We offer our humblest apologies and would now like to state that Teen Titans Go is the worst TV show ever and Frog will not confirm it's existence from here on out.)
A while ago, on Cartoon Network, there was a show about a group of teenage superheroes fighting crime and being teenagers. It was called Teen Titans. And it kicked ass.
Everything about the show was fantastic: the designs of the
characters and villains, the plots, the animation, everything. It was the
highlight of my week to sit down and watch the Titans battle villains after a
long day of school. This is, quite literally, the first TV show I fell in love
with. I used to watch the episodes whenever they came on. And when I couldn`t
get them on TV, I watched them online. It was a big part of my childhood to
watch the show. And when it was discontinued, I felt like I had lost something
very dear to me. It was, in the most appropriate usage of the term, a great TV
show.
A few years after Teen Titans was discontinued, I became
aware that a spinoff show was going to be released: Teen Titans Go, a
kid-friendly, comedy-based version of the cartoon. I was excited to hear that
the heroes of my childhood would be on the tube once again, and eagerly stayed
up to watch the premiere of the new series. With my Titans T-Shirt on and a
slice of pizza in hand, I began to watch the new series unfold. And what did I
see? Not the original Teen Titans, certainly.
There has been some argument among Teen Titans fans about
the credibility of the new show. On one hand, the Titans ARE featured
prominently and most of the time do maintain their personalities. On the other,
there isn`t much fighting and most of the villains only make appearances in
cameos. So as a fan of the original, what do I think?
I think it`s.....funny. Sometimes. Not particularly
groundbreaking or original, but for what it is, amusing. I can compare it to
the original in different aspects, but the original it isn`t. Let`s compare old
and new and see the big differences.
CHARACTERS
--------------------------------------
One of the biggest notable changes to the series was the change
in the overall attitudes and appearances of the characters. A prime example of
this is Robin, who went from a courageous if headstrong team leader, to a more
comedic figure. Robin in the new series is more of a comic foil for the
activities of the other Titans. Interestingly enough, the character that
appears to have changed the least is Starfire, the alien with an amusing speech
pattern. All the series appears to have given her is a more violent temper. Of
course, the change that outrages most fans is the redesign of my favorite
Titan, Raven. The original Raven is a dark and brooding figure who appears
emotionless. The new Raven attempts to hide comedic emotions behind her hood
and is seen playing with toy ponies (but as a brony, I`m not one to poke fun at
that) and dressing the Titan`s pet in a princess costume. The characters have
been clearly redesigned to fit a more comedic outlook on the superhero genre.
While I enjoy some of the comedic character redesigns, I prefer the original
Titans, with their more human personalities and traits. ADVANTAGE: ORIGINAL
VILLAINS
-----------------------------------
There`s not much competition here, but I want to point it
out anyways. While the original Teen Titans had an entertaining and delightful
rouge`s gallery of villains, Teen Titans Go really fails on delivering cartoon
versions of the baddies we know and love. My favorite villain, Slade, has yet
to appear, the devious Brother Blood only has a 1-second appearance (being
kicked in the face by Raven), and hilarious villain Control Freak only appears
in a dream sequence. Only the Hive 5 and some stock villains (like Cinderblock
and Dr. Light) remain. Ironically, the villains that would be appropriate to
use in a comedy, like Control Freak, are barely seen or not at all. But for
what they are, the reboots of the Hive 5 are somewhat enjoyable to look at,
although their standards of evil have dropped: their latest dastardly plot was
hanging around a "No Loitering" sign.
ADVANTAGE: ORIGINAL
PLOTS
---------------------------------
The plots are another important factor in the Titans saga:
while the original Titans had a somewhat dark storyline chain (beginning with
Slade and later going into Brother Blood and Trigon) interwoven with the
occasional comedy story (a guy named Ding Dong Daddy challenges the Titans to a
race), TTG goes for pure comedy, with quite a bit of it centered around Raven
(I.E, Raven breaks her tooth, Raven takes off her cloak, Raven splits into 5
versions of herself). As a fan of her, I sort of enjoy these, but some of the
plots are downright stupid in the new series (such as the `Burger Vs. Burrito`
debate). On the other hand, when they work, they`re pretty funny (like the
Dodgeball episode). Teen Titans Go plots are very hit or miss, as opposed to
Teen Titans, which is all hit, all the time. ADVANTAGE: ORIGINAL
LOW POINT
----------------------------------------
This category goes to whichever show had the most fantastic
low point, i.e the strangest, tackiest, or overall worst episode. It`s not exactly
one you WANT to win, per se, but it`s something.
Teen Titans- Mother Maye-Eye
This isn`t a BAD episode so much as surreal. In fact, I sort
of like it. In it, a witch hypnotizes the Titans into believing that she is
their mother (which would make the Robin-Starfire relationship very
complicated) and keeps up the hypnosis with endless helpings of magical pie.
After the Titans are dressed to look like wimps (complete with a bunny costume
for Beast Boy and a poofy yellow dress for Raven), they get beaten up by the
Hive 5 and return to the witch. Starfire suffers a bump to the head which
allows her to see the witch for what she truly is, and we also learn she takes
much more pie to be hypnotized (due to her 9 stomachs). She breaks everyone out
of the hypnosis and stops Mother Maye-Eye before she can bake the Titans into a
giant pie. It`s a funny idea, but it`s just so odd to see. The Titans acting
like dependent 6-year olds and singing when it appears Starfire will get in
trouble are interesting spectacles, but it all looks so out-of-style for the
show and characters. Raven was not meant to have pigtails and wear yellow.
Teen Titans Go- Chill Out
It was about the time this episode aired (very recently, in
fact) that I began to see what other people mean when they say Teen Titans Go
utterly destroys the reputation of the original. Up until this episode, I
really did try to enjoy the different direction the series was going in. The
episode is about how Starfire convinces the Titans to lay down their weapons
(or stop using their powers) and walk the path of peace. This involved taking
away Cyborg and Beast Boy`s video game, making Robin befriend a venomous spider
(which then bites him), and convincing Raven to unclench her fingers when she
is meditating. These efforts succeed until they enter a battle with the Hive 5,
where they almost give in to their violent natures, but then overcome the Hive
with the power of peace and love (mainly giving them flowers and hugging them).
This sounds ridiculous as it is, but then Starfire starts to sing a song about
peace and love being the best way to solve problems (am I the only one who
thinks that a girl with temper issues who can shoot eye lasers singing about
peace and love is freaking ironic?). Eventually all the Titans and the Hive get
in on the song, and without even a joke, the episode ends. This is definitely
the low point in the series, and considering that earlier in the show Raven
became a gold-costumed superhero who kicked things, that`s saying a lot. No
contest. Teen Titans Go has the worst moment in Titans history.
ADVANTAGE: TEEN TITANS GO
OVERALL OPINIONS: 3/1
Yes, the original owns Teen Titans Go in every category
except for low point. I mean, there`s no denying that the original Teen Titans
was handled better, but I`m not saying that Teen Titans Go is terrible. Given.
it has some bad moments, but otherwise it`s a decent little comedy and way to blow
15 minutes of your free time.
The issue with many complaints is that many people hold it
up to the original, a show I consider to be a classic superhero cartoon. But
what these people need to remember (as I`ve tried to tell my Skype friends) is
that this isn`t TRYING to be the original. It`s a comed for younger audiences,
with Titans jokes put in for fans of the original. And while these are very hit-or-miss, you
can`t compare it to a full-out action cartoon. If you look at it for what it
is- a comedy show designed to poke fun at the superhero lifestyle of the Titans
instead of an action cartoon, it`s tolerable. But it definitely isn`t the
original.
No comments:
Post a Comment