Woo-hoo!! Stank-ball!!! (A PRO-Teen Titans topic)

[GuilewasNK]

I just watched the episode "Spellbound" again (thats why I made myself a new sig image complete with Stank-Ball reference). Teen Titans is just an enjoyable show to watch. God, when Cyborg hit Beast Boy with the Stank-ball I almost lost it. Very funny.

[sblymnlcrymnl]

That's great, nice sig Guile.

[GuilewasNK]

Thanks, I just wish I could have made it clearer but it was from a VHS capture.

[JSweeney]

Domo kotsu uru mamoru yo, Teen Titans
Suki kidai naku randemo taberu yo, Teen Titans
Shin kami dari kari oyai
Okuga san su ika shakai
Omae mo wa nari mounai, Teen Titans, GO!

Okida koidei yopei oku dayou, Teen Titans
Mono yami haku daiketsu shichau yo, Teen Titans
Kas rana suke ju kontoro
Mama na daichu kontoro
Megau dou wa hate shinai, Teen Titans, GO!
1,2,3,4, GO! Teen Titans!

* When there's trouble, you know who to call (TEEN TITANS!)
From their tower, they can see it all (TEEN TITANS!)
When there's evil on the attack
You can rest knowing they got your back
'Cause when the world needs heroes on patrol

TEEN TITANS, GO!
TEEN TITANS, GO!

With their super powers, they unite (TEEN TITANS!)
Never met a villain that they liked (TEEN TITANS!)
They got the bad guys on the run
They never stop until the job gets done
'Cause when the world is losing all control

TEEN TITANS, GO!
TEEN TITANS, GO!

If your heart is black, you better watch out
You cannot escape the team
When they catch you, there won't be any doubt
You've been beaten by the teens
beaten by the teens

T-E-E-N! T-I-T-A-N-S! TEEN TITANS! LET'S GO!
T-E-E-N! T-I-T-A-N-S! TEEN TITANS! LET'S GO!
T-E-E-N! T-I-T-A-N-S! TEEN TITANS! LET'S GO!
T-E-E-N! T-I-T-A-N-S! TEEN TITANS! LET'S GO!

* (repeat)

TEEN TITANS, GO!
TEEN TITANS, GO!

One, two, three, four, GO!
TEEN TITANS!

[GuilewasNK]

Thanks for the Japanese lyrics JSweeney! I had been wondering what they said. Cool stuff.

[Wombat]

I like that Robin is Dick Grayson, he was the best Robin IMO

[evilmax17]

This show is total garbage. It's in the vein of the current trend of "Americans making cartoons that impersonate anime". The theme song is in japanese, yet its an American show? I'm not a fan, but by the same token, i'm not a goth or emo punk either. In a word, lame.

[GuilewasNK]

This show is total garbage. It's in the vein of the current trend of "Americans making cartoons that impersonate anime". The theme song is in japanese, yet its an American show? I'm not a fan, but by the same token, i'm not a goth or emo punk either. In a word, lame.

No soup for you! Come back, one year! :wink:

You probably are in the minority in your feelings but thats cool. I think impersonation is the highest form of flattery. To be honest, the majority of toons not produced by WB or Disney suck in quality here in the US. Shows like ATHF are great but it is rare to see quality Anerican action toons that haven't been influenced by anime in some way.

[Moxio]

Heh, although I can't say I'm an OMFG fan on Teen Titans, I have watched a select few of their episodes.

POTENTIAL SPOILERS





The ones where Terra sided with Slade, two- or three-part episodes were great.

[GuilewasNK]

Heh, although I can't say I'm an OMFG fan on Teen Titans, I have watched a select few of their episodes.

POTENTIAL SPOILERS





The ones where Terra sided with Slade, two- or three-part episodes were great.

Agreed. Some of the episodes are crazy and some are deadly serious. That's part of what I like about it. The show can pull both off believably.

[evilmax17]

But see, there's a difference between being "influenced" by something, and riding the coat-tails of something that's popular right now. Anime has just started it's move from being a cult-favorite to being in the mainstream, and shows like Teen Titans and Totally Spies are using it like a gimmick to try and gain popularity.

I mean read the trivia section on IMDB for chrissakes. "This series borrows heavily from FLCL." Well, the thing is, we already HAVE FLCL, so why bastardize it? Anime serves it's purpose, and fills a huge gap that's present in American cartoons. There haven't been many American action toons, and when there have been, they've never been better than anime. The solution isn't to copy anime to try and fill the void, it's to try and think of something that's new and creative in it's own right.

So you'll have to excuse me if I prefer originality over bandwagon-fad shows. If they want more anime-like programming on tv, they should just show more anime, and not any of this cheap knockoff stuff. It's like playing with a cheap third-party controller, it doesn't feel nearly as good as the original.

[Camre]

Yes, I do watch the show when its on. Yes, I can be good. But yes, Evilmax does have very valid points there. It seems to happen to lots of things. They start out small or "underground" and develop a loyal fanbase. Then as popularity comes, they get bigger until every joe schmoe knows about them and they lose the uniqueness. Especially in music, which I have lost some good bands to media whoring...

[GuilewasNK]

From Wikipedia...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tezuka_Osamu

"Osamu Tezuka (Tezuka Osamu, November 3, 1928 - February 9, 1989) was a Japanese manga artist and animator best known as the creator of Astro Boy.

His prolific output and his pioneering techniques and genres earned him such titles as "the father of manga" and "the god of manga." The distinctive "large eyes" style of Japanese animation was invented by Tezuka, who based it on cartoons of the time such as Betty Boop by Max Fleischer and Mickey Mouse by Walt Disney."



You were saying what about originality?

That right there is why it shouldn't even be a part of the argument. Everyone copies everyone and the US style was adopted by the Japanese first.

[Tromack]

From Wikipedia...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tezuka_Osamu

"Osamu Tezuka (Tezuka Osamu, November 3, 1928 - February 9, 1989) was a Japanese manga artist and animator best known as the creator of Astro Boy.

His prolific output and his pioneering techniques and genres earned him such titles as "the father of manga" and "the god of manga." The distinctive "large eyes" style of Japanese animation was invented by Tezuka, who based it on cartoons of the time such as Betty Boop by Max Fleischer and Mickey Mouse by Walt Disney."



You were saying what about originality?

That right there is why it shouldn't even be a part of the argument. Everyone copies everyone and the US style was adopted by the Japanese first.

Bravo, good sir. You just told him.

[evilmax17]

If all you could find to back your arguement up is a quote about how Tezuka Osamu liked Betty Boop, then you don't have much to stand on. Do you know why they call him the "Father of anime"? Because he made some of Japan's very first animated cartoons (they wouldn't be called "anime" until much later). Back then, the cartoons that he "based his cartoons on" were ALL THERE WAS. I guess you'd want to say that because Tezuka wanted to "copy" the americans by making a cartoon at all is uncreative, because he wasn't the first person to discover claymation?

If you compare Astro Boy or Kimba the White Lion to either Betty Boop or Mickey Mouse, you'll realize that the big eyes are as far as the comparisons go. In fact, to even make the "big eye assetion" is rediculous in the first place, because it wasn't identified as a cultural form of animation, as anime is to Japan. Like I said before, the amount of cartoons produced up until Astro Boy could likely be counted on the hands of a small group of people.

Teen Titans (and Totally Spies) don't just copy the visual style of anime. If the characters were drawn in an anime-style, then fine, so be it. But it goes beyond that, it tries so hard to get the viewer to notice that it's trying to be anime, by doing things like showing the sweatdrop on a characters forehead, by having all of the characters make typical-anime faces when they yell or cry. This isn't something as subtle as "their eyes look anime-ish", these are repetitive and in-your-face things that the producers of Teen Titans do. "LOOK! SEE! WE'RE ANIME! SEE!? LOOK AT THIS ANIME FACE! YOU KNOW THAT THING THAT ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS ARE TALKING ABOUT????????? WELL THIS IS IT TOO!!!!!!!" The Japanese theme song just pushes this further, how can you not see that this show is the product of a boardroom meeting. "You know that Pokemon is pretty popular with the kids, maybe this 'anime' thing is something we should look into."

So no, Teen Titans isn't creative, despite what you say. You're allusion that Tezuka Osamu wasn't creative because he based his drawings on the few available cartoons at the time is not only silly, it's borderline offensive. As I said (but didn't elaborate on), watch the first episode of Astro Boy, and compare it to some of the cartoons that were produced during that time.

[GuilewasNK]

I changed the topic to Pro-Teen Titans which is what I should have done in the first place, lol.

Apu > "Thank you come again!!"

[Bivensra]

Disagree w/ the comment about there not being many good non Anime American toons. GI Joe was great, Thundercats, Dungeons and Dragons, Silverhawks, etc. I may be dating myself but these were good toons and Thundercats and Silverhawks were not based on toys. When I was in grade school parent groups had issues with D&D (b/c some kids took it too far) and some religious groups had a problem w/ TCats and Silverhawks. You can go even further back and look at the Herculoids, Space Ghost, Thundar the Barbarian, the animated Tarzan and Zorro series. Man those were the days. Oh, yeah I name these toons realizing that some of them may have been animated in Japan but they were American stories created by Americans.

[zionoverfire]

I'll I've got to say is that I'm glad I'm not an epileptic.

[moiety]

Disagree w/ the comment about there not being many good non Anime American toons. GI Joe was great, Thundercats, Dungeons and Dragons, Silverhawks, etc. I may be dating myself but these were good toons and Thundercats and Silverhawks were not based on toys. When I was in grade school parent groups had issues with D&D (b/c some kids took it too far) and some religious groups had a problem w/ TCats and Silverhawks. You can go even further back and look at the Herculoids, Space Ghost, Thundar the Barbarian, the animated Tarzan and Zorro series. Man those were the days. Oh, yeah I name these toons realizing that some of them may have been animated in Japan but they were American stories created by Americans.

I think he was referring to current cartoons. 80's - mid-90's cartoons IMO were excellent.

[Bivensra]

I actually like the new Batman cartoon. I like the fact that they took risks w/ character designs. BM historians may take issue but it is different similar to Batman beyond and Smallville. The TMNT cartoon is good as well and Justice League def feels American made.

[Strell]

The last good american cartoon was Invader Zim.

[jmcc]

The last good american cartoon was Invader Zim.

And the last GREAT American cartoon was Futurama.

[sblymnlcrymnl]

The last good american cartoon was Invader Zim.

And the last GREAT American cartoon was Futurama.

And the next GREAT American cartoon is Family Guy.

[jmcc]

The last good american cartoon was Invader Zim.

And the last GREAT American cartoon was Futurama.

And the next GREAT American cartoon is Family Guy.

Bah. I got no love for Family Guy.

edit: nor hoes.

[sblymnlcrymnl]

The last good american cartoon was Invader Zim.

And the last GREAT American cartoon was Futurama.

And the next GREAT American cartoon is Family Guy.

Bah. I got no love for Family Guy.

It's no Futurama, but what else is there?

[jmcc]

I'm pinning my hopes on Venture Brothers.

[sblymnlcrymnl]

I'm pinning my hopes on Venture Brothers.

Ah, I see. I haven't really gotten into that one yet.

[Strell]

Let me correct myself. Invader Zim is the only worthwhile action American cartoon in the last several years, since that was the topic at hand.

[GuilewasNK]

Disagree w/ the comment about there not being many good non Anime American toons. GI Joe was great, Thundercats, Dungeons and Dragons, Silverhawks, etc. I may be dating myself but these were good toons and Thundercats and Silverhawks were not based on toys. When I was in grade school parent groups had issues with D&D (b/c some kids took it too far) and some religious groups had a problem w/ TCats and Silverhawks. You can go even further back and look at the Herculoids, Space Ghost, Thundar the Barbarian, the animated Tarzan and Zorro series. Man those were the days. Oh, yeah I name these toons realizing that some of them may have been animated in Japan but they were American stories created by Americans.

I think he was referring to current cartoons. 80's - mid-90's cartoons IMO were excellent.

That is what I was primarily talking about, yes. I loved GI Joe, Transformers, Thundercats, He-Man and She-Ra. Great shows IMO. I remember Space Ghost, Thundarr, Herculoids, Teen Force. Those were all good for their time.

In the early 90's, with the exception of Batman, more toons were turning to comedy in the US (Simpsons and Animaniacs being notable). Also, shows like Ducktales and Darkwing Duck were decent. Most were crap like Captain Planet and Double Dragon (with their God-awful use of shading). X-Men had its moments but the animation, art and shading was very poor. The voices and stories were decent for the most part though. Spider-Man was probably the only other action toon worth mentioning from that time. Batman was THE definitive american TV toon of the decade and the creators themselves said it did more to pave the way for Superman, Batman Beyond, Justice Leagues and Teen Titans than anything else.

I would like to see WB take the art style in JLU and use it in a non-DC licensed show just to see how it could do.

I do agree that Futurama was the last great American toon (excluding Justice League). Family Guy is good but there are times it simply tries too hard to be the successor to the Simpsons. Futurama is just better written even moreso than the Simpsons IMO.

[davidmt]

Re: Late 80's + early 90's cartoons

What I hated was the crappy awful animation. It was before computers were used for animation, and you could really see the cheapness and bad quality.

Ever notice an American cheezy cartoon from that era where they do a freeze-frame for a second or two? Its like they hit pause on the VCR.

[Machine]

I don't care if a cartoon is original or influenced by something else - as long as I am entertained, that's all that matters. The cartoon may be influenced by modern anime, but the characters have been around for a VERY long time. I'm just happy to see them get a show. I'd be ecstatic if they would expand the roster to include some of the other Titans and Titan villains from the comics. They've managed to get in the Mad Mod, Deathstroke, Thunder & Lightning, Terra and some others but the Titans universe is so rich that there's plenty more great material for them to use. I really want to see Mallah and the Brain.

[GuilewasNK]

I know what you mean Machine. To be honest I knew nothing of Teen Titans before the show came on. Now that it is, I have looked up some of the comic info and was surprised at what I learned such as other characters that were members.

[KingNES]

Teens titans while borrowing heavily on many fronts is a great series. when it 1st started, to be honest i couldnt stand it, then i watched and watched and found it to be quite funny. It also borrows heavily from Chuck Austin (producer of tom and jerry and many older classic looney toons) with its slap stick humor. It also is serious with the whole terra/slade arc as well. There is NO series today that doesnt borrow from something or someone else. While Gainex is great, they too borrow from influences as well as Gonzo, JC Staff and many other great Anime studios. Its the nature of the beast. If u dont like it, dont watch it. But dont think for a minute its bad cause it was influenced or borrowed from something else. It entertains and that alone is doing a great job.