REPORT PROPOSAL - BEN 10
In the same vein as the She-Ra research post, this post will be looking into the show Ben 10 from 2005, and it's reboot from 2016 of the same name. For the sake of this post, I will not be looking into the sequel series Alien Force, Ultimate Alien or Omniverse.
BEN 10 (2005)
Ben 10 (also known as Ben 10 Classic) was an animated series created by Man of Action and produced by Cartoon Network Studios. It ran from 2005 until 2008 on Cartoon Network.
The series followed 10 year old Ben Tennyson on a road trip with his cousin and grandfather, where he finds an alien watch that locks onto his wrist. This watch, the Omnitrix, allows Ben to transform into 10 different aliens with different properties and personalities. As the series progressed with various story arcs, Ben lost and gained new aliens. Throughout the stories, more recurring characters (mostly villains) were introduced, including the primary antagonist Vilgax, as well as smaller antagonists like Kevin Eleven and Zs'Skayr.
When the show came to the end of it's original run after 3 years, a sequel series took it's place 3 days later. Entitled Ben 10: Alien Force, it's set 5 years after the original series, taking a darker tone. This series got a companion series 2 years later, Ben 10: Ultimate Alien. In 2012 the final instalment of the original Ben 10 canon, Ben 10: Omniverse, came out, set 1 year after Alien Force and told stories of both 16 and 11 year old Ben Tennyson. Omniverse came to an end in 2014.
The series also got multiple feature length films, ranging from canonical animated films to live action films.
Focusing on the original series, it was recieved incredibly well. Rotten Tomatoes, despite having no critical consensus, holds an audience score of 100%. iMDB scores the series 7.2/10 and TV.com gives it 8.5/10. Common Sense Media gives the show a 3/5, citing it as "...[E]very boy's dream" for it's action and alien theming.
BEN 10 (2016)
In 2016, Cartoon Network released a reboot of the Ben 10 series, still being created under Man of Action with some cast members returning; most notably Tara Strong as the titular character. As of the time of writing this, the series is still running, making this series the single longest running series in the entire Ben 10 franchise.
The premise of the reboot is exactly the same as the series it's rebooting; Ben Tennyson finds a watch that turns him into 10 different aliens while on a road trip with his cousin and grandfather. Many of the recurring characters from the original series return, including antagonists Vilgax and Kevin.
Some small changes were made to differentiate this series from the original. The biggest being the lineup of aliens Ben has access to; Ghostfreak, Ripjaw and Wildmutt have been removed, and replaced with Cannonbolt, Wildvine and Overflow. The art style has changed too; this is common with reboots. This new art style replaces the more earthy tones and sharper linework with rounder shapes and more vibrant, saturated colours.
Currently, the consensus on this series is not very positive. iMDB has the series rated at 2.5/10, and TV.com rates it at 3.9/10. However, Common Sense Media has rated the reboot 3/5, the same as the original. It should be noted that, while CSM's scores do not reflect the quality of the show, their scores can influence decisions for people to tune in.
It seems that there's not one singular reason the series is being panned. In his review for Collider, Dave Trumbore writes that "[T]he different style of animation, the disconnection from the previous series, and the sillier nature of the storytelling" is what is driving people away. The iMDB reviews that have been designated "most helpful" don't cite any specific reason for their poor reviews, aside from it just being bad.
BEN 10 (2005)
Ben 10 (also known as Ben 10 Classic) was an animated series created by Man of Action and produced by Cartoon Network Studios. It ran from 2005 until 2008 on Cartoon Network.
The series followed 10 year old Ben Tennyson on a road trip with his cousin and grandfather, where he finds an alien watch that locks onto his wrist. This watch, the Omnitrix, allows Ben to transform into 10 different aliens with different properties and personalities. As the series progressed with various story arcs, Ben lost and gained new aliens. Throughout the stories, more recurring characters (mostly villains) were introduced, including the primary antagonist Vilgax, as well as smaller antagonists like Kevin Eleven and Zs'Skayr.
When the show came to the end of it's original run after 3 years, a sequel series took it's place 3 days later. Entitled Ben 10: Alien Force, it's set 5 years after the original series, taking a darker tone. This series got a companion series 2 years later, Ben 10: Ultimate Alien. In 2012 the final instalment of the original Ben 10 canon, Ben 10: Omniverse, came out, set 1 year after Alien Force and told stories of both 16 and 11 year old Ben Tennyson. Omniverse came to an end in 2014.
The series also got multiple feature length films, ranging from canonical animated films to live action films.
Focusing on the original series, it was recieved incredibly well. Rotten Tomatoes, despite having no critical consensus, holds an audience score of 100%. iMDB scores the series 7.2/10 and TV.com gives it 8.5/10. Common Sense Media gives the show a 3/5, citing it as "...[E]very boy's dream" for it's action and alien theming.
BEN 10 (2016)
In 2016, Cartoon Network released a reboot of the Ben 10 series, still being created under Man of Action with some cast members returning; most notably Tara Strong as the titular character. As of the time of writing this, the series is still running, making this series the single longest running series in the entire Ben 10 franchise.
The premise of the reboot is exactly the same as the series it's rebooting; Ben Tennyson finds a watch that turns him into 10 different aliens while on a road trip with his cousin and grandfather. Many of the recurring characters from the original series return, including antagonists Vilgax and Kevin.
Some small changes were made to differentiate this series from the original. The biggest being the lineup of aliens Ben has access to; Ghostfreak, Ripjaw and Wildmutt have been removed, and replaced with Cannonbolt, Wildvine and Overflow. The art style has changed too; this is common with reboots. This new art style replaces the more earthy tones and sharper linework with rounder shapes and more vibrant, saturated colours.
Currently, the consensus on this series is not very positive. iMDB has the series rated at 2.5/10, and TV.com rates it at 3.9/10. However, Common Sense Media has rated the reboot 3/5, the same as the original. It should be noted that, while CSM's scores do not reflect the quality of the show, their scores can influence decisions for people to tune in.
It seems that there's not one singular reason the series is being panned. In his review for Collider, Dave Trumbore writes that "[T]he different style of animation, the disconnection from the previous series, and the sillier nature of the storytelling" is what is driving people away. The iMDB reviews that have been designated "most helpful" don't cite any specific reason for their poor reviews, aside from it just being bad.
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