Worlds collide in Warner Bros. Animation's latest feature film Teen Titans Go! & DC Super Hero Girls: Mayhem in the Multiverse, with the wacky, irreverent Teen Titans teaming up with the Super Hero Girls to save their respective universes. Leading the Titans is Robin (Scott Menville), with the fourth-wall-breaking humor keeping the proceedings as funny as ever while the two teams learn to work together under extraordinary circumstances. While the fate of two worlds hangs in the balance, the Titans are going to be sure to have some fun saving the day.
In an exclusive interview with CBR, Scott Menville recalled how he pivoted his performance as Robin to fit with the heightened comedy in Teen Titans Go! He also shared how he approached this crossover film and looked back on his extensive voice acting career.
CBR: Scott, you've been voicing Robin and been a part of Teen Titans Go! for some time, but how was it getting to be a part of this project?
Scott Menville: This particular project was fun because, apart from a little crossover here and there with the DC Super Hero Girls, we get to really delve into the universe of both teams. I love the scenes where the Titans and the Super Hero Girls are interacting together. There's a bit where Starfire seems like the most normal one and wants to be part of their team, and then she says something that makes you realize she belongs with Teen Titans Go! -- she's just as crazy as they are. I like to see how they interact with each other but still [stay] true to who they are at their core.
As someone who's voiced an iteration of Robin in the original Teen Titans series, do you remember getting the pitch that Teen Titans Go! was going in a completely different, wackier direction?
Absolutely! [laughs] I feel protective of the characters I play, and I feel very protective of the original Teen Titans Robin. When I came into this one, I think I had the hardest time, for the first couple sessions, of getting on board with Teen Titans Go! I'd be like, "Robin wouldn't say something like that. This isn't true to who he is." They had to explain that this is a totally different show. Once I got that, the sky was the limit, and since it was comedy, I play him louder, faster, harder, and funnier. There was a little bit of a learning curve at the beginning.
Other than going deeper into the comedy, we also get to see your musical side. How is it leaning into that aspect of your performance?
We've had musical numbers throughout the seasons of Teen Titans Go! and the feature film. I think, with me and the cast members, any time we get to sing, it's just an extra little treat, and it was fun to do this song. They record the voices first and animated later, so it was a treat for me to see the finished product once it was done and how they animated the dance moves.
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Animation is in your blood -- you come from an animation household. I feel like the first thing I saw that you act in was The Real Ghostbusters.
I did come from an animation household, and it's so funny that you mentioned The Real Ghostbusters because my dad -- the late, great Chuck Menville, who was prolific in the business -- that was his show. He was one of the writers/producers/story editors on that, and I did get to do an episode of that, but I started quite a few years earlier in the business doing cartoons for Hanna-Barbera.
Tara Strong, who is on this show with me, I call her my soul sister. We share the same birthday and started out as kid actors in the business. I was in L.A., and she was in Toronto. A lot of people will come up to me at conventions and say. "You were my childhood!" I'll say, "Thank you, that's such a big compliment. I was my childhood, too. I was 11 when I started!" [laughs]
As someone who has been prolific in the voice acting game for so long, how has it been seeing the industry change over the years?
There's been so many changes. Back in the day, you used to have Saturday morning cartoons and some syndicated afterschool programs that you would race home to watch, and if you had little league, ballet practice, or whatever was your thing, you were missing it that day. Now with streaming, Cartoon Network, and all these different outlets, there's so much animation and content. It's a really cool thing that the industry is realizing how important animated shows are to people. In the past, they might have brushed over it, thinking it was a kids' show, but it's really not.
With Teen Titans Go!, a lot of adults come up to me saying they love the show and watch it with their kids or that they watch it, and they don't even have kids. It's their happy place. Coming home after a rough day and binge-watching episodes makes them laugh. I love to hear that.
As someone that's portrayed a variety of Robins over the years, what has remained a constant and what has evolved in your performance as iterations of this character?
I think no matter what version I'm portraying, at the very core, Robin is focused and driven. Whether it's a gritty, serious Robin trying to take down Slade or crazy Teen Titans Go! Robin, who has to have everybody know he doesn't have baby hands, he's driven to make that happen. Other than that, it's up to the writers and whatever [the] tone is of the project that I'm working on to see where I can push it, how grounded or out there to make it.
For this specific project, how was it working with Gene Vassilaros as the voice director?
It's always fun to work with Gene. I've worked with Gene on other projects, too, and it's always great. It was cool to hear his take, and there was one line that was something that Cyborg or Beast Boy would say, but Robin would never say. I told Gene, "I'll say it if you want, but Robin's never said something like this in the course of the series." Before I could get my sentence out, he told me to change it however I wanted since I know this character. Gene's really cool, and he has great ideas, and, like any great voice director, he knows how to push and prod, give good notes, and have fun while doing it.
After seeing Teen Titans Go! take on the DC Universe and even Space Jam, what would you like to see the Teen Titans Go! crew skewer next?
My favorite stuff is when we poke fun at ourselves. In the 200th episode, the Titans have to make an episode of the show. It's horrible, and we failed at it. There are so many jokes about what the show is and that we have to hear from haters on the internet. I love just poking fun at ourselves. That's great. [laughs]
Directed by Matt Peters and Katie Rice, Teen Titans Go! & DC Super Hero Girls: Mayhem in the Multiverse is available now on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital HD.