The fifth and final 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 DC ...

'', based on the DC comics series of the same time by Bob Haney and Bruno Premiani, originally aired on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...

in the United States. Developed by Glen Murakami, Sam Register, and television writer

David Slack David Slack is an American animation and television writer and producer. He has written and/or produced on such shows as ''Law & Order'', ''Lie to Me'', ''In Plain Sight'', ''Teen Titans'', ''Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi'', ''Jackie Chan Adventures'', ''Gen ...

. 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 units, ...

and Warner Bros. Animation. The series focuses on a team of crime-fighting teenage superheroes, consisting of the leader

Robin Robin may refer to: Animals * Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae * Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), including: **European robin (''Erithacus rubecula'') **Bush-robin **Forest rob ...

, alien princess Starfire, green shapeshifter Beast Boy, the dark sorceress

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 t ...

, and the technological genius Cyborg. This season focuses on Beast Boy as he deals with his past involving the

Doom Patrol Doom Patrol is a superhero team from DC Comics. The original Doom Patrol first appeared in ''My Greatest Adventure'' #80 (June 1963), and was created by writers Arnold Drake and Bob Haney, along with artist Bruno Premiani. Doom Patrol has appe ...

, and helps the Titans unite heroes to stop the Brotherhood of Evil. The season premiered on September 24, 2005 and ran until January 16, 2006, broadcasting 13 episodes.

Warner Bros. 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 Video ...

released the fifth season on DVD in the United States and Canada on July 22, 2008. Upon its release, the season received critical acclaim with many critics regarding it as the best season of the series. It was praised for its variety of storylines and its expanded cast of characters.

Production

Season five of ''Teen Titans'' aired on

from September 24, 2005 to January 16, 2006. The season was produced by

and Warner Bros. Animation, executive produced by Sander Schwartz and produced by Glen Murakami, Bruce Timm and Linda M. Steiner. Staff directors for the series included Michael Chang, Ben Jones and Alex Soto. The episodes for the season were written by a team of writers, which consisted of Richard Elliott, Melody Fox, Rob Hoegee, Greg Klein, Thomas Pugsley, Simon Racioppa,

, and Amy Wolfram. Producer Murakami worked with Derrick Wyatt, Brianne Drouhard, and Jon Suzuki on character design while Hakjoon Kang served as the background designer for the series. The season employed a number of storyboard artists, including Eric Canete, Colin Heck, Kalvin Lee, Keo Thongkham, Scooter Tidwell, Alan Wan and Matt Youngberg.

Cast and characters

The five voice actors for the main characters - Scott Menville, Hynden Walch, Greg Cipes,

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 Khary Payton - reprise their roles in the fifth season as

, Starfire, Beast Boy,

, and Cyborg, respectively. In addition to her role as Raven, Strong voiced Elasti-Girl in the two-part episode "Homecoming" and Kole in the episode "Kole". Walch also provided the voice for Madame Rouge, a main villain who is a part of the Brotherhood of Evil, and the character Teether in episode "Hide and Seek".

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'', ...

recurs in the season, providing voices for several characters, including Le Blanc, Gnarrk, Cinderblock, Silkie, and Wildebeest.

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 ''Futurama'' ...

reprises her role as Jinx in three episodes of the season.

Glenn Shadix William Glenn Shadix (April 15, 1952 – September 7, 2010) was an American actor and comedian. He was known for his role as Otho in Tim Burton's horror comedy film ''Beetlejuice'' and as the voice of the Mayor of Halloween Town in ''The Nightmare ...

appeared in the series, voicing the season's main villains The Brain and

Monsieur Mallah Monsieur Mallah is a fictional character, a superintelligent anthropomorphic gorilla supervillain in the . He is the loyal servant of and, in time, the partner to Gorilla Grodd, and the Brain while serving as an enemy of the Doom Patrol and the ...

. Freddy Rodriguez recurred in the season as hero twins

Más y Menos Más y Menos are fictional superhero twins, around the age of 12, from the ''Teen Titans (TV series), Teen Titans'' animated television series, affiliated with the Titans East team. They are among the few heroes on the series not to have originate ...

. Season five of ''Teen Titans'' featured numerous guest actors providing voices for recurring and guest characters. Diane Delano appeared in this season as

Pantha Pantha is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Publication history Pantha first appeared in '' New Titans'' #73 (February 1991) and was created by Marv Wolfman and Tom Grummett. Fictional character bio ...

in the eleventh and twelfth episodes of the season. Jason Marsden voiced characters Billy Numerous and

Red Star A red star, five-pointed and filled, is a symbol that has often historically been associated with communist ideology, particularly in combination with the hammer and sickle, but is also used as a purely socialist symbol in the 21st century. I ...

in two episodes. Michael Rosenbaum voices the character

Kid Flash Kid Flash is the name of several fictional superheroes appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, originally created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino Carmine Michael Infantino (; May 24, 1925 – April 4, 2013) was an American comics ...

in "Lightspeed" and "Titans Together". In the two-part episode "Homecoming", members of the

, Beast Boy's former team, appear.

Xander Berkeley Alexander Harper Berkeley (born December 16, 1955) is an American actor and voice actor. Since beginning his career in the early 1980s, he has appeared in over 200 film and television projects. His film roles include '' Terminator 2: Judgment Da ...

returns to the series, voicing Mento and Brotherhood of Evil member

General Immortus General Immortus is a character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He has also been called "The Forever Soldier" or "The Forever General". Publication history He first appeared in ''My Greatest Adventure'' #80, the first s ...

. The episode also features the voices of Peter Onorati, voicing Robotman and Judge Reinhold, voicing Negative Man. The episode "For Real" features

T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh (born Crystal Walker; October 13, 1962) is an American actress and singer. In addition to her status as an original cast member of the Fox sketch comedy series ''In Living Color'' (1990–1994), Keymáh is also known for ...

, Mike Erwin and

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 (film), Stand by Me'', Joey Trotta in '' ...

reprising their roles as

Bumblebee A bumblebee (or bumble bee, bumble-bee, or humble-bee) is any of over 250 species in the genus ''Bombus'', part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct related gener ...

Speedy Speedy refers to something or someone moving at high speed. Speedy may refer to: Ships * HMS ''Speedy'', nine ships of the Royal Navy * ''Speedy''-class brig, a class of naval ship * ''Speedy'' (1779), a whaler and convict ship despatched i ...

and Aqualad. Actor

Ed O'Ross Ed O'Ross (born Edward Orss; July 5, 1949) is an American actor. Some of his prominent roles are as Itchy in ''Dick Tracy'', Colonel Perry in '' Universal Soldier'', Lt. Touchdown in '' Full Metal Jacket'', ruthless Georgian mobster Viktor Rosta ...

appeared in the episode "Snowblind" providing the voice for the Raskov. Veteran voice actor Rodger Bumpass, the voice of Squidward Tentacles in ''

SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' (or simply ''SpongeBob'') is an American animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It chronicles the adventures of the title character a ...

'', reprises his role of Dr. Light in the episode "Kole". The episode "Hide and Seek" features veteran voice actress

Russi Taylor Russi Taylor (May 4, 1944 – July 26, 2019) was an American voice actress. She is best remembered as the official voice of Minnie Mouse from 1986 to 2019, and was notably married to voice actor Wayne Allwine, the voice of Mickey Mouse, until his ...

providing the voices of characters Timmy Tantrum and Melvin.

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) ...

returns to the series, providing the voice for

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, ...

and

See-More This is a list of major and minor characters featured in the Cartoon Network and Kids' WB animated series '' Teen Titans''. Overview Primary Teen Titans Robin * Voiced by: Scott Menville Robin is the leader of the Teen Titans. Despi ...

in the episode "Lightspeed". In the episode "Revved Up", rock singer David Johansen voiced the villain Ding Dong Daddy Dowd. The episode "Go" features actor

Gary Anthony Sturgis Gary Anthony Sturgis is an American actor, musician, writer, director, producer, teacher and entrepreneur, known for his role as Bar Patron and other characters in the television series '' America's Most Wanted'', and for providing the voice of E ...

voicing the Gordanians and Trogaar. In the season finale "Things Change", Ashley Johnson and

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'' (1987–199 ...

reprise their roles as Terra and Slade respectively.

Reception

The season received critical acclaim. Mac McEntire of

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 reviews ...

awarded the fifth season story a score of 85, deeming it a "flat-out excellent final season." McEntire commended the show's evolution from season one, noting that the season features "smart, emotional and exciting stories within the context of ''Teen Titans''", as well as the introduction of various new characters in the season from the world of the ''Teen Titans'' comics. John Sinnott, writing for DVD Talk, deemed the fifth season release as "Highly Recommended." Sinnott commented that with the expanded cast of villains and superheroes in the season, "the shows in this set never get dull." Sinnott also highlighted the alterations made on DC characters to fit within the series' context as a strong point. Sinnott concluded that the season is "stronger than the preceding season" and "hits all the right marks." Randall Cyrenne of Animated Views praised season five as the strongest season, noting that it found "a more even tone that allowed the season to feel cohesive."

Episodes

DVD release

The DVD boxset was released on July 22, 2008 in the United States and Canada. It features a series title Teen Titans: Know Your Foes, featurette which is segmented for each of the series main villains.

References

{{Teen Titans and Teen Titans Go! Teen Titans (TV series) seasons 2006 American television seasons