
Teen Titans Go! To the Movies

Teen Titans Go! To the Movies a 2018 American animated superhero musical comedy film based on the television series "Teen Titans Go!", which is adapted from the DC Comics superhero team of the same name. This film is written and produced by series developers Michael Jelenic and Aaron Horvath, and directed by series producer Peter Rida Michail and Horvath. The events of the film take place during the fifth season of the series. It is the most recent feature film to date from Warner Bros. Animation to be released theatrically outside of Warner Animation Group.
The film features the voices of Greg Cipes, Scott Menville, Khary Payton, Tara Strong, and Hynden Walch reprising their respective roles from the series, while Will Arnett (who also produced the film) and Kristen Bell join the cast. It was theatrically released in the United States and Canada on July 27, 2018 and became generally available on November 23, 2018, by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film was a box office success, grossing over $52.1 million worldwide against a $10 million budget, and received critical praise for its stylized animation quality, cast, score, humor, and storyline.
Plot.
In Jump City, the Teen Titans arrive to stop Balloon Man. When he fails to recognize them, the Teen Titans jump into a rap song to introduce themselves ("GO!") and become distracted, forcing the Justice League — Superman, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman — to intervene and defeat him. They criticize the Titans for their childishness and inability to take their positions as superheroes seriously, while raising the fact that they do not have a feature-length film to prove their legitimacy as superheroes.
While at the premiere of "Batman Again", the Titans' team leader, Robin, is derided by the audience after a misunderstanding leads him to believe they are making a film about him. At the rest of the team's suggestion, Robin resolves that in order to get a film made about him and the Titans, they need an arch-nemesis. Nearby, Slade breaks into S.T.A.R. Labs to steal a crystal. The Titans arrive and attempt to stop him, but he swiftly defeats and insults them.
The next day, Starfire, Cyborg, Raven and Beast Boy create a film to cheer up Robin, but he turns it off prematurely believing they are making fun of him. He declares that they will go to Hollywood to have a film made about them ("Upbeat Inspirational Song About Life"). Upon arriving at Warner Bros. Studios, they encounter director Jade Wilson, who is responsible for all the Superhero films being made. She turns down the Titans' request to be in a film ("My Superhero Movie"), explaining that the only way she would make one about them is if they were the only superheroes in the world. The Titans take her words literally, and go back in time to prevent the origins of the other superheroes ("Crystals" and "Back in Time"), but this only ends up ruining the present, forcing the Titans to go back in time again and undo their blunder.
Slade next arrives at Wayne Tech to infuse the crystal's power and the Titans arrive to stop him, this time putting up an actual fight. They secure the crystal, but Slade escapes, resolving to split Robin from his teammates.
The next day, Jade invites the Titans back to Hollywood and announces that she will make a movie about them due to their fight with Slade. While Robin is given a tour of the premises, Starfire, Raven, Cyborg and Beast Boy venture out and cause mischief ("Shenanigans"). They find a device labeled "DOOMSDAY" and try to destroy it, believing it to be a dangerous weapon. But Jade arrives and explains that D.O.O.M.S.D.A.Y. is an acronym for a new streaming service for the new movie she is making. She resolves to drop the rest of the Titans from the film and make it solely about Robin, who after a brief pause, accepts, much to the dismay of his team. Robin sadly tells them that they are holding each other back and believes they should go their separate ways.
Robin makes his movie, but soon begins to regret his decision and misses his friends. As he makes the final scene of his movie, he interacts with a prop version of the Titan Tower door panel, a light falls and knocks him out. He awakens and finishes the scene where Jade reveals that they are now in the tower for real, and that she is actually Slade himself in disguise. He steals the crystal back and traps Robin, telling him that having made numerous superhero movies was part of his plot to keep all the heroes busy while he invaded their cities to build D.O.O.M.S.D.A.Y., a device that can control minds and allow him to conquer the world. He then destroys the entire Titans Tower, but Robin safely manages to escape the exploding building. In the aftermath of the wreckage, Robin calls his friends and apologizes to them, who happily make peace with him.
At the premiere of "Robin: The Movie", the Titans arrive and unmask Slade, but Slade unleashes the crystal's power to control the other heroes and sends them after the Titans. Robin goes after Slade while the rest of the team leads off the heroes. However, Slade manages to use his new power to control Robin, and tells him to attack his friends. When he has them cornered, they show him the rest of the movie they made for him, revealing that they believe he is a real hero and their friend who united them from the beginning. This causes Robin to come to his senses. Slade attempts to fight them with a giant robot, but the team uses a song ("GO! (Battle Remix)") to take out Slade, though it is unknown what happened to him after he laughs at his defeat, altogether while also destroying the crystal, snapping the other heroes out of their trance. They all congratulate the Titans for their heroic efforts with Robin admitting that he has learned to be himself without needing a movie, When he tries to go on, everyone demands that they cut to the credits immediately with Robin attempting to stall so that "kids can ask their parents questions." Starfire breaks the fourth wall to say to go right to the credits, but Robin stops just before the film ends telling kids to "ask their parents where babies come from."
In a mid-credits scene, the Teen Titans from the 2003 series appear on a distorted screen telling the audience that they "found a way back". In a post-credits scene, the Challengers of the Unknown, who were trapped in a portal by Raven at the "Batman Again" premiere earlier in the film, are still trapped, with Professor Haley postulating that they missed the movie.
Production.
On September 25, 2017, Warner Bros. announced the film and its release date of July 27, 2018, with the show's cast reprising their roles. A month later, the film's title and teaser poster debuted, and it was announced that Will Arnett, who voices Batman in "The Lego Movie" franchise, and Kristen Bell had joined the cast. The film marks the first time Warner Bros. Animation has released a theatrical film since Warner Animation Group's formation in 2013 and also the first fully 2D animated theatrical feature from Warner Bros. Pictures since "Clifford's Really Big Movie".
On March 12, 2018, it was announced that musicians Lil Yachty and Halsey were part of the cast, as Green Lantern and Wonder Woman, respectively, with Nicolas Cage revealed as Superman the same day. Cage himself was originally slated to portray Superman in Tim Burton's canceled Superman film, "Superman Lives", in the 1990s. Jimmy Kimmel was announced to voice Batman in the film through an extended cut of the trailer.
Music.
The "Teen Titans Go! To the Movies" soundtrack was released on July 20, 2018. The soundtrack consists of songs that the cast sing throughout the movie that serve mostly as musical pop culture references and parodies, and the musical score composed by Jared Faber.
Release.
The film was released in theaters in the United States on July 27, 2018, by Warner Bros. Pictures and became generally available on November 23, 2018, followed by a United Kingdom bow a week later. It was released in Australian theaters on September 13, 2018. An early screening was held on June 22 at Vidcon 2018, for both badge members and YouTubers. The film was also shown at the San Diego Comic-Con International on July 20, 2018. DC Comics announced that Teen Titans Go! To the Movies hold a watch event on November 22, 2018 and release Teen Titans Go! To the Movies for general availability on the next day. The film's theatrical release was preceded by "#TheLateBatsby", a short film based on Lauren Faust's forthcoming "DC Super Hero Girls" television series. Teen Titans Go! To The Movies was generally available for download from MSDN and Technet on November 7 and for retail purchase from November 23, 2018. The film was set to make its network television premiere on TBS on September 12, 2020, but was removed from the schedule and replaced by an airing of "Sherlock Gnomes" for unknown reasons. The film made its official network television premiere on Cartoon Network on November 25, 2020.
Home media.
"Teen Titans Go! To the Movies" was released on digital copy on October 9, 2018 and was released on DVD and Blu-ray on October 30, 2018.
Reception.
Box office.
"Teen Titans Go! To the Movies" has grossed $29.6 million in the United States and Canada, and $22.3 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $52 million, against a production budget of $10 million.
In the United States and Canada, "Teen Titans Go! To the Movies" was released alongside "", and was initially projected to gross around $14 million from 3,188 theaters in its opening weekend, with a chance to go as high as $19 million. However, after making $4.6 million on its first day (including $1 million from Thursday night previews), estimates were lowered to $10 million, and it ended up debuting to $10.5 million, finishing 5th at the box office.
Critical response.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a "Certified fresh" rating of 91% based on 132 reviews, with an average rating of 7.25/10. The site's critical consensus reads, ""Teen Titans Go! To the Movies" distills the enduring appeal of its colorful characters into a charmingly light-hearted adventure whose wacky humor fuels its infectious fun – and belies a surprising level of intelligence." Several critics have called the movie, "Deadpool for kids". On Metacritic, the film has a score of 69 out of 100 based on reviews from 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.
Laura Prudom of IGN gave the film a score of 8/10, calling it a "gleefully unhinged deconstruction of superhero tropes that isn't afraid to take aim at the rest of DC's cinematic roster". Owen Glieberman of "Variety" said ""Teen Titans GO!" is fun in a defiantly super way, and that's a recommendation." Frank Scheck of "The Hollywood Reporter" wrote that "Considering the somberness that afflicts so many DC universe releases, the tongue-in-cheek, albeit admittedly juvenile humor of "Teen Titans Go! To the Movies" should come as a welcome relief to fans."
David Betancourt of "The Washington Post" opined, ""Teen Titans Go! To the Movies" is a laugh-a-minute ride that hits you with the jokes from the very first frame. From the cute shots at Marvel Studios to the self-deprecating tone on the state of DC movies, you’ll leave the theater with a new set of superhero abs from laughing so hard."
Brandon Katz of "The New York Observer" said that the film is "a fun parody of sorts that gently skewers our superhero obsessed culture, and while there may be one too many gags thrown in there which can get a bit tiresome after awhile, it's an enjoyable movie for both kids and adults." Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com rated the film 3/4 stars, saying "It's not a film designed to break ground or even offer too much social commentary on the role of superheroes in modern culture. It's built with the primary goal of making you laugh and forget your problems for just under 90 minutes, and it does exactly that."
GameSpot's Chris Hayner, while finding fault with what he deemed excessive toilet humor and some dragging in the film, said that "In a superhero movie landscape where the world is constantly being destroyed by massive CGI abominations, this is a refreshing change... it doesn't forget how funny and exciting these types of movies can be."
Sequel.
An episode of "Teen Titans Go!" premiered about a month after the film's release. The episode, titled "Tower Renovation", was about the Titans attempting to rebuild Titans Tower after Slade destroyed it in the events of the film.
In October 2018, Warner Bros. announced that a stand-alone sequel serving as a crossover featuring the Titans from both the "Teen Titans Go!" and the original 2003 versions entitled "Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans" would premiere at San Diego Comic-Con 2019. The trailer was released on June 26, 2019, the film itself being digitally released on September 24, 2019 and physically released on October 15, 2019. The film premiered on Cartoon Network on February 17, 2020.