The first season of the animated television series ''

Teen Titans The Teen Titans are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, frequently in eponymous monthly series. As the group's name indicates, the members are teenage superheroes, many of whom have acted as sidekicks to ...

'', based on the DC Comics series created by

Bob Haney Robert Gilbert Haney, Jr. (March 15, 1926 – November 25, 2004) was an American comic book writer, best known for his work for DC Comics. He co-created the Teen Titans as well as characters such as Metamorpho, Eclipso, Cain, and the Super-Sons. ...

and

Bruno Premiani Giordano Bruno Premiani (January 4, 1907 – August 17, 1984)
at the

Cartoon Network in the United States. Developed by

Glen Murakami Glen Murakami is an American animator, director and producer best known for his work on '' Batman Beyond'', '' Teen Titans'', '' Teen Titans Go!'', '' Ben 10: Alien Force'' and '' Ben 10: Ultimate Alien''. Murakami co-created, produced, and develo ...

Sam Register Samuel Barnard Register (born June 16, 1969) is an American television producer, animator, and businessman. He is the president of Warner Bros. Animation, Cartoon Network Studios, and Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe. Career Formerly Vice President ...

, and television writer David Slack. The series was produced by

DC Entertainment DC Entertainment is an American entertainment company that was founded in September 2009 and was based in Burbank, California. The company is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery that manages its DC Comics units and characters in other unit ...

and Warner Bros. Animation. It stars

Scott Menville Scott David Menville (born February 12, 1971) is an American actor who is known for his voice work in animated films, television series and video games. Life and career Menville was born on February 12, 1971, to television animator and writer ...

Hynden Walch Hynden Walch is an American actress. She is best known for voicing Starfire in the ''Teen Titans'' franchise and Princess Bubblegum in ''Adventure Time''. She also voiced Penny Sanchez in ''ChalkZone'', Amore and Lockette in the Nickelodeon ver ...

Khary Payton Khary Payton (born May 16, 1972) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as King Ezekiel on the horror drama series '' The Walking Dead'' and Dr. Terrell Jackson on the soap opera '' General Hospital'', as well as voicing Cyborg across v ...

Tara Strong Tara Lyn Strong (née Charendoff; born February 12, 1973) is a Canadian-American actress. She is known for her voice work in animation, websites, and video games. Strong's voice roles include animated series such as ''The New Batman Adventures ...

, and

Greg Cipes Gregory Michael Cipes (born January 4, 1980) is an American actor. He was a cast member in the reality television program '' Twentyfourseven'' and had recurring roles in ''MDs'' and '' Peacemakers''. His voice acting roles include Beast Boy in ...

as the voices of the main characters. The series revolves around a team of crime-fighting teenaged superheroes – Robin, the team's fearless leader; Starfire, an alien princess from Tamaran;

Cyborg A cyborg ()—a portmanteau of ''cybernetic'' and ''organism''—is a being with both organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline.

, the team’s tech-wizard who is half human and half robot;

Raven A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus ''Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between "crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigned ...

, a telepathic sorceress from Azarath; and

Beast Boy Garfield Mark Logan, better known as Beast Boy, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He has also gone under the alias Changeling. Created by writer Arnold Drake and artist Bob Brown, he is a shapeshifter wh ...

, a

shapeshifter In mythology, folklore and speculative fiction, shape-shifting is the ability to physically transform oneself through an inherently superhuman ability, divine intervention, demonic manipulation, sorcery, spells or having inherited th ...

who can transform into any and all types of animals. The show focuses on the Titans adventures in protecting the city. The first season also features an overarching storyline focused on the Titans' main villain

Slade Slade are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Wolverhampton in 1966. They rose to prominence during the glam rock era in the early 1970s, achieving 17 consecutive top 20 hits and six number ones on the UK Singles Chart. The ''British H ...

, a mysterious mastermind who takes an interest in Robin and also the latter's growing obsession towards stopping him at any cost. ''Teen Titans'' debuted on Cartoon Network on July 19, 2003 and concluded its first season on November 11. The season also aired on

The WB The WB Television Network (for Warner Bros., or the "Frog Network", for its former mascot, Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network launched on terrestrial television, broadcast television on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture be ...

Kids' WB Kids' WB (stylized as Kids' WB!) was an American children's programming service and brand of The WB that aired on the network from September 9, 1995, to September 16, 2006. The block moved to The CW (a result of the merger of Time Warner's The W ...

programming block from November 1, 2003 to February 28, 2004. The season premiered to strong ratings for Cartoon Network while displaying a moderate showing on Kids' WB; the series became Cartoon Network's highest rated new series at the time. While initial reaction to the series was mixed to negative, the season as a whole received positive reviews with many critics highlighting the series' storytelling and dialogue.

Production

The first season of ''Teen Titans'' aired on Cartoon Network. The season aired on

Saturday mornings at 8:30 A.M. EST, beginning on November 1, 2003. The series was first greenlit in late September 2002, with Japanese-American animator

signed on. The series' creation was inspired by the success of ''

Justice League The Justice League (also known as The Justice League of America) are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). The team was conceived ...

'', also based on

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with their f ...

characters. However, as opposed to ''Justice League'' and other DC animated television series, the intention behind ''Teen Titans'' was to create the series for a younger audience. Series producer and animator

noted that the series is "lighter and has humor" while staying true to the "intent of the characters." Murakami also noted that the process of transforming material from the comics into material suitable for the target audience was similar to what was done with both '' Batman: The Animated Series'' and ''

Batman Beyond ''Batman Beyond'' (known as ''Batman of the Future'' outside the United States) is an American superhero animated television series developed by Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, and Alan Burnett. It was produced by Warner Bros. Animation in collaborati ...

'': "We kind of have to take into consideration that were not making this cartoon just for fans of the comic book, the ones who know all the backstory and know all the continuity. We have to tell the Starfire story in half an hour! I think we took all those things into consideration, but there's just some things you can't do for children's programming." The series' mixes American style animation with Japanese anime. According to Murakami, the incorporating of anime came naturally, noting that he and

Bruce Timm Bruce Walter Timm (born February 5, 1961) is an American artist, animator, writer, and producer. He has contributed to building the modern DC Comics animated franchise, most notably ''Batman: The Animated Series'' (1992–1995) and the subsequen ...

were anime fans and the increased presence of anime at the time.

Cast and characters

The first season employs a cast of five main voice actors.

provided the voice of Robin, the Titans' leader and martial arts expert.

voiced

, a green-skinned

who can change into any animal.

Cyborg A cyborg ()—a portmanteau of ''cybernetic'' and ''organism''—is a being with both organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline.

, the half-robot half-human technological genius of the Titans, was portrayed by

played

, a sorceress from Azarath whose powers are triggered and controlled by her emotions. Starfire, a Tamaranian princess who still struggles to acclimate to Earth customs, was voiced by

. Walch also provided the voice for Blackfire, Starfire's older sister, in the episode "Sisters" while Menville played Robin's alter-ego Red X in the episode "Masks". In addition to the main cast, the season also employs several guest voice actors. Actor

Dee Bradley Baker Dee Bradley Baker (born August 31, 1962) is an American voice actor. Much of Baker's work features vocalizations of animals and monsters. Baker's roles include animated series such as '' Avatar: The Last Airbender'', '' Codename: Kids Next Door'' ...

provided the voice effects for Cinderblock, a humanoid concrete monster, appearing in two episodes of the season. Baker also provided the voice of

Plasmus Plasmus () is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is depicted as an enemy of the Teen Titans. Publication history Plasmus first appeared in ''The New Teen Titans'' #14 and was created by Marv Wolfman ...

in the episode "Divide and Conquer." Veteran actor

Ron Perlman Ronald Perlman (born April 13, 1950) is an American actor. His credits include the roles of Amoukar in '' Quest for Fire'' (1981), Salvatore in ''The Name of the Rose'' (1986), Vincent in the television series ''Beauty and the Beast'' (1987–19 ...

played

, the season's main villain, appearing in six episodes. The episode "Final Exam" featured the vocal talents of

Lauren Tom Lauren Tom (born August 4, 1961) is an American actress. Her roles include Lena St. Clair in '' The Joy Luck Club'', Julie in the NBC sitcom '' Friends'', Dot in the final season of ''Grace Under Fire'', and the voices for Amy Wong in '' Futura ...

, who voiced

H.I.V.E. The H.I.V.E., which stands for the Hierarchy of International Vengeance and Extermination, is a fictional terrorist organization appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The H.I.V.E. organization appeared on the fourth season of ...

members

Jinx A jinx (also jynx), in popular superstition and folklore, is a curse or the attribute of attracting bad or negative luck. The word ''"jynx"'' meaning the bird wryneck and sometimes a charm or spell has been in use in English since the seventeen ...

and

Gizmo A gizmo is a gadget, especially one whose real name is unknown or forgotten. Gizmo may also refer to: Technology * The Gizmo or "Gizmotron", an effects device for electric guitars * Gizmo key, found on certain flutes * Gizmos, interactive onli ...

, and

Kevin Michael Richardson Kevin Michael Richardson (born October 25, 1964) is an American actor. Known for his distinctively deep voice, he has mostly voiced villainous characters in animation and video games. In film, Richardson voiced Goro in '' Mortal Kombat'' (1995) ...

, who provided the voice of

Mammoth A mammoth is any species of the extinct elephantid genus ''Mammuthus'', one of the many genera that make up the order of trunked mammals called proboscideans. The various species of mammoth were commonly equipped with long, curved tusks and ...

. Tom also voiced Gizmo in the episode "Car Trouble." In the episode "Forces of Nature", Stuart Scott Bullock, better known as S. Scott Bullock, provided the voice of Thunder and

Quinton Flynn Quinton Flynn is an American voice actor and comedian, who has provided the English voices of video game characters such as Raiden in the ''Metal Gear'' series, Marcus Damon in ''Digimon Data Squad'', Lea and Axel in the ''Kingdom Hearts'' se ...

provided the voice for

Lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous release of an average ...

. Thunder and Lightning are supernatural brothers who use their powers to cause mischief-they would later become allies of the Titans in Season 5. In the episode "The Sum of His Parts",

Tom Kenny Thomas James Kenny (born July 13, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for voicing the titular character in ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' and associated media. Kenny has voiced many other characters, including Heffer Wolfe in '' ...

, the voice of

SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' (or simply ''SpongeBob'') is an American Animated series, animated Television comedy, comedy Television show, television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It ...

in the Nickelodeon series, provided the voices of Mumbo Jumbo and robot hermit Fixit, the episode's main villains. Recurring villain Dr. Light, voiced by character actor

Roger Bumpass Rodger Bumpass (born November 20, 1951) is an American actor. He is known for his long-running role as Squidward Tentacles on the American animated television series ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. He voices several other characters on the show as w ...

, debuted in the episode "Nevermore."

Keith Szarabajka Keith Szarabajka (; ; born December 2, 1952) is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Mickey Kostmayer on '' The Equalizer'', Daniel Holtz on ''Angel'', Gerard Stephens in ''The Dark Knight'' and Adam Engell in ''Argo''. I ...

filled the voice of Trigon. He later returns in Season 4 as the season's main villain, important to that season's story arc.

Tracey Walter Tracey Walter (born November 25, 1947) is an American character actor. He has appeared in more than 170 films and television series. Life and career Walter was born and grew up in Jersey City, New Jersey, as the son of a truck driver. He has ...

lent his voice to the main villain of the episode "Switched", Puppet King. The episode "Deep Six" featured the vocal talents of

Clancy Brown Clarence John "Clancy" Brown III (born January 5, 1959) is an American actor. Prolific in film and television since the 1980s, Brown is often cast in villainous and authoritative roles. Brown's film roles include Viking Lofgren in ''Bad Boys'' ...

(who portrayed the villain Trident), veteran actor and comedian

Dave Coulier David Alan Coulier ( ; born September 21, 1959) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, impressionist, and television host. He played Joey Gladstone on the ABC sitcom ''Full House'', voiced Peter Venkman on '' The Real Ghostbusters'', and vo ...

(who played Tramm and Captain), and actor and writer

Wil Wheaton Richard William Wheaton III (born July 29, 1972) is an American actor. He portrayed Wesley Crusher on the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', Gordie Lachance in the film '' Stand by Me'', Joey Trotta in ''Toy Soldiers'', an ...

(who voiced fellow hero

Aqualad Aqualad is the name of two fictional comic book superheroes appearing in media published by DC Entertainment. The first Aqualad, Garth, debuted in February 1960 in ''Adventure Comics'' #269 and was created by writer Robert Bernstein and artist ...

). The episode "Mad Mod" featured English actor

Malcolm McDowell Malcolm McDowell (born Malcolm John Taylor; 13 June 1943) is a British actor, producer, and television presenter. He is best known for portraying Alex DeLarge in '' A Clockwork Orange.'' He was born in the Horsforth suburb of Leeds and raised i ...

providing the voice of the titular character. Actor and singer

James Arnold Taylor James Arnold Taylor (born July 22, 1969), also known by his initials JAT, is an American voice actor, writer, producer and podcaster. He is known for portraying Ratchet in the '' Ratchet & Clank'' franchise, the main character Tidus in ''Final ...

provided the voices for Cash and Sammy in the episode "Car Trouble."

Reception and release

''Teen Titans'' debuted on Cartoon Network on July 19, 2003 with the highest ratings among boy 6–11 for the network. Ratings for the following two episodes showed growth across the target demographics, including a 78 percent rise in viewers age 6–11 and an 87% rise in boy viewers age 6–11. Season one completed its run on the network as the network's most successful new series, averaging 635,000 viewers among the kids 6–11 demographic (2.7 rating) and 1.021 million viewers in the kids 2–11 demographic (2.6 rating). The success of the series on the channel prompted Cartoon Network to order 52 more episodes of the series. The series debuted on Kids' WB with a moderate standing among kids 6–11 with a 3.5%/17 rating. The series ranked among the top ten programs in the target demographics, including kids 2–11, kids 6–11 and tweens 9–14. Initial reviews of the series were negative. KJB of

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa dist ...

gave the series a 4 out of 10 rating, writing that the series "fails to live up to the source material or its potential. The series is bogged down by an overly cartoony style that looks more like anime without most of the good points." KJB further added, "Teen Titans, from its after school special style attempts at storytelling to its painfully annoying signature tune, fails to meet even the lowest of expectations for this series." ''

Los Angeles Daily News The ''Los Angeles Daily News'' is the second-largest-circulating paid daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California. It is the flagship of the Southern California News Group, a branch of Colorado-based Digital First Media. The offices of the ''D ...

'' writer David Kronke offered a more mixed review, find the dialogue "occasionally witty", but ultimately dismissing the characters "too bratty to have any interest in saving the world or even in cleaning it up a little." Ethan Alter of ''

Media Life Magazine ''Media Life Magazine'' was an online publication that was started in May 1999 by Gene Ely. The publication covered all aspects of the media Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or da ...

'' also wrote a mixed review of the first two episodes. Alter praised the animation and action scenes, noting that the animation possess "a grace and fluidity" not seen on cable cartoon shows. However, his main criticism was towards the writing, noting that the stories have been "told a thousand times before in previous superhero cartoons." Despite initial reviews, the full season reviews were more positive. Filip Vukcevic of IGN awarded the season an 8 out of 10 score, writing "It's clear that ''Teen Titans'' is primarily aimed at children, so you're obviously not going to have anything too mature here. However, what you do get is some very focused, funny, and entertaining storytelling from a group of characters that, when they're gone, you'll actually miss." Writing for

DVD Verdict DVD Verdict was a judicial-themed website for DVD reviews. The site was founded in 1999. The editor-in-chief was Michael Stailey, who owned the website between 2004 and 2016, and the site employed a large editorial staff of critics, whose revi ...

, Mike Jackson gave the first season a mixed review. Jackson found the violence and demonic imagery troubling, saying that he would not let his son watch the show. However, Jackson praised the voice cast, particularly

, who voiced Slade. David Cornelius of

DVD Talk DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman. History Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...

classified the first season release as "Highly Recommended", except for those with the first two volumes. Cornelius commented that ""Teen Titans" goes big and broad and bold, to heck with the subtleties, and it actually works. The writers know how to balance the swift action with the crisp dialogue (Starfire's constant comic mishandling of the language has yet to grow stale), and the stories, while zany and far-fetched, become involving enough to capture the hearts of all ages."

Episodes

Home media release

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Vide ...

first released the first season on DVD into two parts. The first volume containing the first six episodes was released in 2004 while the second volume containing the last seven episodes of the season was released in 2005. It wasn't until 2006 that the studio finally released the complete first season. A manufacture-on-demand Blu-ray was released in 2018 by the

Warner Archive Collection The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the inte ...

References

{{Teen Titans and Teen Titans Go! Teen Titans (TV series) seasons 2003 American television seasons