Episode Guide: Season Three Episode

"If you can't beat Mumbo... join Mumbo!" - Mumbo
Originally aired: January 8, 2005
Written by Louis Hirshorn and Joelle Sellner Directed by Ben Jones
The Amazing Mumbo is up to his old tricks. When the Titans try to stop the madcap magician in mid-performance, Mumbo pulls a fast one. With a wave of his wand, he sucks the Titans into his hat.... where our heroes discover a strange magical world of weirdness. Tom Kenny as Mumbo The song performed in this episode is called "Master of Your Fate" and is sung by Tom Kenny, who provides the voice of Mumbo. It is written and produced by Andy Sturmer. Muppet reference number one: The Muppet Mumbo announcer who appeared several times; Similar to the way Kermit would introduce a show or segment. The animated team thought the Muppets reference seemed appropriate given the theater/vaudeville theme of the episode. Muppet reference number two: The two older audience members in the balcony were a staple on The Muppet Show. They would often make jokes at the expense of the show. One of the old men in the balcony is modeled after character designer Derrick Wyatt. Derrick has also 'appeared' in two previous episodes. Mumbo at the piano is dressed as Liberace, a flamboyant famous piano player Mumbo's head against the 'golden circles within circles' is very similar to the classic Warner Brothers' cartoon opening sequence. This episode is directed by Ben Jones, who also directed X. Viewers will remember a strong John Woo influence in that episode, including Woo's signature white dove. With its magician theme, this episode has MANY white doves appearing. Producer/Story Editor David Slack on BUNNY RAVEN: "[THE BEAST WITHIN episode] was a difficult story to break, since it had to be done so quickly. The original show nine was going to be BUNNY RAVEN. But then I got a call from Amy, who was story editing that one. She didn't want to do just another romp episode. It was being developed as another chase set-piece like MAD MOD. [...] So Amy said, "I don't want to just do that - can Mumbo sing?" I was completely sold when she pitched the idea of doing a musical number, but we needed more time. So we moved that script back while Amy worked with Andy Sturmer on the musical piece for that episode." "[...] I was thrilled with that because it really did set that episode apart from our other 'crazy' episodes. I thought it was brilliant. " Story Editor/Writer Amy Wolfram on BUNNY RAVEN: "Well, we knew we wanted to bring back Mumbo. He was a character that we felt we could do more with. But we also wanted to have the Titans turn into animals. And we thought, "How can we do that?" And that seemed to fit with Mumbo's world - that would be something he would have power over. That he could create his own world inside his hat. " " Oh, [and the musical number] was fun. So much fun. I love musicals. And it seemed for Mumbo - the greatest showman in the world - that he would have a show-stopper. So the song came out of that. It was just to create something a little different for that episode. " In New Teen Titans #15 [1982], The evil General Zahl placed the Titans into a devolving pit - where they devolved into strange creatures. Robin and the others morphed into monkeys - but Starfire devolved into a cat-like creature. This suggests Tamaraneans are an evolved form of human-feline. Curious Starfire is transformed into a cat this episode! For more information on the comic book versions of the characters - including many images - visit titanstower.com's meeting room page.
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