Teen Titans Go! has already achieved several impressive milestones, but the show’s latest milestone is the most impressive to date. With today’s new episode, Teen Titans Go! not only delivers its 400th episode, but it also becomes DC’s longest running animated show ever. To celebrate such an occasion, DC teamed up with Stoopid Buddy Stoodios to create a one of a kind 400th episode special that brings the Teen Titans Go! favorites into the world of stop motion, and we had the chance to talk to Tara Strong about seeing Raven in stop motion, hitting such a massive milestone, the possibility of a stop motion Titans holiday special, and of course, Robin’s tiny hands.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Not many shows hit 50 episodes, none the less 400, and it’s all still a bit surreal for Strong. “It’s literally the longest running DC animated show ever. Which is insane when you think about, like for me growing up having the Super Friends and Justice League and all the different things, like for Teen Titans go to be the longest is pretty extraordinary,” Strong said. “And it’s so much fun. I mean, I love the fact that we’ve been bringing joy to people and their families for 400 episodes.”
Part of what makes the show so delightful is the chemistry amongst the cast, who over the past 20 years have become family. “I think it’s so many things that go into that sort of magic soup that make it so delicious. First of all, we’ve been together over 20 years. Of course we started with the original Teen Titans. It’s the same people that brought those characters to life, so the essence of those characters are still there, but in a way that’s really funny for both parents and kids,” Strong said.
Another aspect that has become a hallmark of the show is it’s ability to feature big action with a wonderful dose of silliness thrown into the mix, and that’s one of Strong’s favorite elements of the show. It turns out it’s also the same way behind the scenes. “It’s super silly. I think that the humor is kid friendly and funny and irreverent and stupid and silly and like you just, you can try to hate it if you want to, but you’re going to laugh,” Strong said. “And like I laugh every time I read a script, every time we’re doing a recording, which since COVID we do just like this on Zoom And I’ll definitely like ruin takes for people because I’m laughing at their performance. It’s just an authentically funny show, which means we have brilliant writers, we have brilliant animators, we have amazing producers and song people.”
[RELATED: Teen Titans Go! EP and Cast Celebrate 10th Anniversary with Week-Long Marathon, Tease Epic 400th Episode, and More]
“We are a family. We’ve been through so much life together. Marriages, divorces, children, death of parents, moving, like all these different things. We are such a family. Like, we were just all together at New York Comic-Con and having dinners together and reminiscing and like, I think when you have that kind of connection, it translates into an ensemble cast on top of the fact that all these actors were so symbiotic with these characters. Like, Greg Cipes is Beast Boy, you know, no question. Khary, so brilliant. Hynden, so brilliant. I can’t imagine anyone else playing these characters. Scotty works harder than anybody. He’s definitely like the leader. He’s just always giving it all,” Strong said. “Like, everyone’s just always giving all of themselves in order to spread that love, that fun, that joy to the fans. And then the fans give it right back to us by embracing the show and loving the show, and that’s a testament to the fact that we’ve made it to 400 and hopefully we’ll make it to 10,000.”
The Big 400
400 episodes is a big time milestone, and the 400th episode goes equally big. Amazing musical number? Check. Surprising antagonist? Well, it’s Superman, so check, check, check. Moving into Stop Motion animation? Check to the max, and the team clearly put everything into making this special worthy of the occasion.
“People don’t realize how many things go into making an animated series., and I just think everybody has been top of their game, conscientious, and nobody’s phoning it in. No one’s like, oh, let’s just do an episode about that, right? Like everything’s been funny and even the 400th episode, when you think of how are you going to make that special, and whenever you have a very long running series, if you’re going to Go to feature or have a milestone series, you have to have a big story, and this one really does,” Strong said.
“You know, Superman basically tries to take us out, we’re fighting for our lives, and then we step into this stop motion world done by Stoopid Buddy, who’s just, everything they do, so brilliant,” Strong said. “If you ever get a chance to tour their studios, I highly recommend it because the meticulous nature of how they do their work and how much care they put into their work. This special is really going to just delight people. It’s just so funny. And, you know, every episode is different and surprising and silly and it keeps it fresh. I think people keep coming back because they never know what they’re going to get and it’s always going to make them laugh.”
Teen Titans Go! Stop Motion Holiday Special…When?
Few things are as synonymous with the Christmas season than the classic stop motion films like Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer and Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, so it’s hilarious to see the Titans given the same treatment in the 400th episode. Seeing Raven and the crew in stop motion is comedy gold, so I had to ask if she would love to see the Titans crew get their own holiday special in the vein of those other classics, and she is all in.
“Okay, I’ll answer the second one first. Hell yes. Heck, yeah. That would be amazing,” Strong said. “They should definitely do that. Like a musical like, oh, my God. Like a Guardians. You know, they did the Guardians Christmas special, but Stop Motion. That’d be hilarious. Hell yeah. It would be so fun if they had like some little throwbacks to the old stuff that we watched. You know this, the old Rudolph and stuff like that.”
As for seeing Raven in stop motion for the first time, Strong said, “So if I had to say it in one word, I would say hilarious, because it is hilarious. They did them so hilarious, but secondly, I really want to give kudos to all of the artists that worked at Stoopid Buddy Studios, because they really captured the essence of these characters and how they moved, and they’re so meticulous. It takes so long. They’re so conscientious about bringing these characters to life, honoring who they are and how they relate to each other. So, yes, it was hilarious, but it was also so brilliant, and anytime you’re doing an animated show, a stop motion show, any show, it takes a village, and this village worked really, really hard, and I think it shows.”
Last but not least, one of the many memorable moments in the 400th episode has to do with Robin’s very small hands, which somehow are even more hilarious in stop motion form. So I had to ask, why are Robin’s hands so tiny?
“He was just born that way,” Strong said. “Like, don’t beat him up for it. You know, it’s tragic.” I noted that the baby hands are adorable in stop motion, and she agreed, saying, “It’s so hilarious in stop motion. And also, we’re really hilarious when we’re, like, doing group interviews like we just did at New York Comic-Con and Scotty Menville was like, ‘I don’t have baby hands!’ We’re like, yeah, yeah, you do.”
You can watch Teen Titans Go! Four Hundred on Cartoon Network, and it will re-air on Sunday at 2:45 PM. You will also be able to watch the 400th episode on the Cartoon Network App and on Max at a later date.
What’s your favorite moment from the Teen Titans Go! 400th episode? You can talk all things Titans with me on Threads and Twitter @mattaguilarcb and on Bluesky @knightofoa!