What RUINED Ben 10?

in the early 2000s man of action was brought down to Cartoon Network to pitch 20 ideas in 20 minutes the idea of that got picked up went into development and shaped itself into what we know today as Ben 10 classic the show lined up nicely with the new rise of action cartoons but stood out being the one with the most world building and story development if you ask any Ben 10 fan you'd come to find out what draws people to the show more often than not is the universe it is created every alien that Ben turns into has a species homeworld and something to learn about it it was always special whenever been met another one of his aliens he could turn into and in the beginning of Benton's reign despite it being a cartoon after all it had a sense of reality tied to it the adventures felt grounded there were themes of exploration and mystery with all different elements of sci-fi and fiction the trio would encounter there were mutants mages Knights alternate dimensions time travel but it was all tied together and made sense nothing it did ever felt like a legitimate stretch and the art style of course was far better than it needed to be the classic series really built the foundation of what could have been one of the most successful animated franchises of all time but how do we go from that to this [Music] I'm curvy artists and I'm going to go over the legacy that is the Benton franchise [Music] the classic 2006 bed temp series was unlike anything else airing at the time while seeming like a typical action cartoon about an adolescent boy with extraordinary abilities many surprises and charming factors separated from all of its colleagues and from the multiple continuations video games spin-offs merchandise even getting a live-action treatment twice Cartoon Network was very aware of this - the first continuation of the series was titled Ben 10 alien force with the original series being successful in world building humor and action Dwayne McDuffie was brought on board to help add a new and less episodic story direction to the series after his success with shows like static shock and Justice League Unlimited this only strengthened the show as a whole tying each episode of the first two seasons with an overall narrative shaping up the main characters to be more three-dimensional and expressing the consequences and responsibilities Ben must take on at such a young age with the absence of his then presumed deceased grandfather you'll have to take it from here I know you can do it I believe in you in all of you at this period of time Ben 10 was in his prime in terms of quality this is where things change season 3 of alien force was perhaps the worst thing that ever came out of the Ben Tenn franchise the characters had changed drastically subverting a lot of growth they had the previous two seasons the story directions seemed to have an entirely different feel to it and aside from the first and last two-part episodes there was no story arc to follow before his passing Dewayne frequently visited the message boards on his official website where he would answer questions about all of his work but because of its massive popularity the boards were more or less dominated by Ben 10 fans including myself I recall at the time a brief statement about a potential alternate version of season 3 apparently the writers intended to continue down the road they had built during the first two seasons I do not recall much about the statement as I had read this about 6 or 7 years ago but the original plans for season 3 had something to do with Kevin mutating again and struggling to stay sane nothing we didn't get a whole lot of down the line anyway but with the impression that seasons 1 & 2 of alien force originally gave us I feel as though it would have been tackled a lot more different and perhaps with that type of subject matter Network got cold feet and wanted them to remake the story I actually tried to go back and search for the original statement but since Duane's passing his website got a design overhaul and a lot of the old boards are inaccessible even when using the wayback machine however about a year ago I came across an article that interviewed a Eugene's son who also mentioned there were other plans for season 3 but when trying to find it again for this video it was removed as well he was responsible for both the best and the worst episodes of season 3 so if anyone knew anything he probably did I ended up contacting Eugene son via Twitter asking him for an interview and he actually responded saying he's interested but once I sent the email with the questions I did not receive a response the only thing I know for sure is that regardless of the improved storytelling in tone alien force had over the classic series ratings were still higher whenever it was ten-year-old been in the spotlight rather than his 15 year old counterpart Cartoon Network believed that this was because bed was more likable when he was acting immature in egotistical so they demanded for Ben to be more like his child's self in the third season in hopes of boosting the ratings this became very obvious when you watch ovis smalls video comparing been in season 3 to the previous two I'm sorry I took Morningstar side over yours and more important that I wasn't watching your back it wasn't your fault I guess Morningstar had some kind of control over me it was my fault I was in such a hurry to build our team I ignored the danger if I'm going to be a good leader I'm going to need to show better judgment I'm not kidding Ben I'm really mad at you but you won't stay mad at me I'm adorable you're completely full of yourself which is forgivable because I'm so adorable it's a shame for Ben to lose all of that character development and it didn't even boost the ratings perhaps we will never learn the true story behind what the original plans for season 3 were and why the network requested them to change the story but whatever it was it gave us the haphazardly thrown together season 3 that we all know and acknowledge today with season three ended and left Bend with a device called the Ultimatrix another version of the Omnitrix that lacked some features the original had but gave Ben the option to evolve aliens into their ultimate forms no doubt a gimmick to try to attract attention to more viewers the concept was interesting but the execution was a bit poor which unfortunately becomes a trend with how things happen in the show until it's ending 1 out of the 33 aliens been had at the time only six of them had ultimate forms and they were rarely used by the end of the series he only unlocked two more some forms had improvements over the original selves offering new hooks in an expansion of their powers while some like cannonball just grew spikes however ultimate aliens seemed to be a hit then 10 was practically the Spongebob of Cartoon Network at the time getting the most treatment in their crossover games like Punch Time Explosion Fusion fall and TKO having its own roller coaster weird Asian theater performances tons of merchandise and a CGI tie-in movie that revisited young Ben's adventures then had more character development and Ultimate Alien than he did in any other show dealing with multiple upon multiple losses death rage mortality and fame maybe you've forgotten something i'm ben tennyson wielder of the most powerful weapon in the universe I stopped the hybrid invasion I defeated Vilgax in hand-to-hand combat and I've beaten the forever Knights more times than I can count what brought Altima alien down is the show still had to compensate for the events of alien 4 season 3 the show didn't get too heavily into retcons until omniverse so ultimate aliens still tried to fit into the story that alien force had left it despite how many lessons Ben had learned or obstacles he overcame he would still slip into his ten-year-old selfs personality should the story call for it that was perhaps the biggest problem with ultimate alien as plot and characters were very story dominated Dagon a multi-dimensional demon claimed Gwen was the most powerful being in her universe but if you ever need to take her out just throw a very average-looking welding torch at her and that's it remember that time you flew Gwen it would also switch between story episodes and filler episodes unwittingly where in one episode they learn of the map of infinity which is the start of season 2 s half of the story arc and the next episode they're helping his childhood bullies with their web show this isn't to say that the filler episodes are a bad thing but the episodes themselves fall short of interest and would cycle themselves into the main story at the worst of times making it hard for viewers to maintain an interest into what's actually happening the idea versus execution issue carries itself all the way to the end where Vilgax has fused with the Dagon and then wields Ascalon along with the Ultimatrix sounds like the making of an epic battle with over 100 episodes worth of build-up and here we are again me on the cusp of total victory you the last man standing who will it be Diamondhead swamp fire one of your tiresome ultimate aliens perhaps you have yet another new transformation to spring on me the fight lasts for less than a minute and consists of them running at each other and Ben stabs him you stabbed me and that's it it's over this inconsistency in tone led to a decline in viewership Cartoon Network decided Ben Tenn needed one last overhaul and the world was introduced to Ben 10 omniverse the idea of Ben 10 omniverse was to take the best elements of all three previous shows and stitch them together into something congruent and flush out the world beyond just a band when in heaven this ended up not being the case I recall the very first promotional image of Ben 10 omniverse that ever appeared which is this image right here almost immediately there was backlash from the fans before I continue I would like to say I really appreciate on the versus art style it allowed for more dynamic movement in expressions the backgrounds were impeccably detailed and the ensemble cast of characters brought new life into the show I believe the reason people did not like on the verse is just due to change for instance when Teen Titans go premiered the art style was the fan bases biggest problem and praised how the original Teen Titans look the story's the same with Ben 10 as people were bashful towards the new art style and praised how the ultimate alien force era looked however both Teen Titans and omniverse have the same art style being designed by Derek J Wyatt who is also responsible for Transformers Animated and Scooby mystery Incorporated two other shows that were renowned for their bold and fresh execution of their franchises I would also like to point out the difference between art style and animation art style is how the characters are designed and presented while animation is the actual movement of the characters and how they interact with themselves in their environment when people say the animation of omniverse is bad I think they are confused with the art style as the animation is far superior to ultimate alien force but it's still not quite on par with the classic series moving on the network also wanted to further push for Ben to suppress himself into his younger roots even featuring episodes based entirely around his younger self in hopes of emulating the success of the classic series what the network does not understand is that what gives the classic series its charm is because it is Ben's origin it starts Ben off with his cocky and immature self and grows him into a more responsible in combative hero we enjoy watching young Ben because he's yet to experience the universe threatening situations he will in the future but after he already has him regressing back into his previous personality is almost insulting as if everything he went through did not mean anything so omniverse yet again negates the character development from Ultimate Alien in favor of keeping Ben immature and impulsive Oliver's really wanted to push for the younger audience that it would advertise more of the comedic moments of the show rather than the action orientated moments the newest Cartoon Network original series Ben 10 alien force the new a new side it would also highlight the newer and more colorful transformations like blocks at this point Ben Tenn has distanced itself so far from its grounded feeling I apologize but there is no way you can convince me there is an entire planet of the sentiment Lego gorillas yet here he is in the show if you try picturing blocks in the classic series continuity it just wouldn't make sense Ben 10 omniverse also suffered the most out of the series by tons of executive meddling episodes would get aired out of order causing continuity problems like events getting brought up before they even happened and been using aliens he had not yet a locked band I also had an influence over the production of omniverse requesting for there to be a way for one alien to use another aliens abilities for the sole fact that they could build a toy line around it leading to the creation of skirt a slime beyond that attaches himself to the AH feat Rick's in samples the DNA into weapons steamed around Ben's transformations because why not Ben 10 omniverse didn't really seem like it had an idea of what kind of show it wanted to be until far later into its run as season six through eight almost felt like a completely different show than seasons one through four was season five being the bridge in between the two eras but by that time it was already too late Ben 10 got the majority of its funding by toy sales and with the show being out for so long and taking a more mature tone ship the audience grew older the fanbase was still there but they were losing interest in buying toys and merchandise Cartoon Network hoped to use omniverse to gain more viewers from a younger audience but that only resulted in them losing the majority of the fans they already had based on their advertisement I used blocks as an example a lot as I am personally not a fan of him but I believe he did play a big part in omni vs. downfall as i gave the impression of the show being more childlike than it actually was and treated him as the staple alien of the show's advertisements like heat blast and swamp fire were to the preview series however in the show blocks isn't used nearly as much as the advertisements would convince you and the show tackled a lot more complicated elements for down the line sometimes even surpassing Ultimate Alien but with the decline of toy sales omniverse was losing its funding and Cartoon Network burned off the final three seasons at 6:00 a.m. time slots with no advertising in hopes to make back some of the money and tax returns by purposely giving the show bad ratings it was a similar fate that generator Rex had suffered previously omniverse was failing and Cartoon Network set it up to crash and burn in its end Benton was a series of constant changes in characters continuity tone and art style it made it very challenging to be a fan of the show all the way through if there was something key you liked about the show chances are it would be changed down the line with its universe being imploded on by network demands over and over what other option was there to just start over and reboot it I'll admit I am NOT a huge fan of the reboot but that is because it is not for me I think the art style is fun and at first glance seems like another Steven universe ripoff but it has many elements that gives it its own charm sound familiar the animation is also very smooth which can be fully perceived during the transformation sequences there is no doubt it is a downgrade from the original franchise though the characters do not have distinct personalities especially Grandpa Max who may as well not even be in the episodes and aside from the ami tricked four-part special none of the episodes really matter in terms of storytelling it's a show made to entertain kids and sell toys and it seems to be doing very well for itself the problem with the reboot is it implies a list of expectations that the previous four shows have set for it and it does not meet any of them you have to treat the show like its own entity even though it carries the Benton name I have come to terms with the existence of the reboot and if it comes down to it you may even call me a supporter but I still believe that our Ben Tennyson still has stories to tell we never got to see him put the master control to everyday use or see him on his path to becoming Ben 10,000 people may argue that once a character has reached his limits in terms of power in Ben's case mastering alien X that their stories are rendered off meet and there is nowhere else to go I would argue that if your stories are solely based around how powerful the hero must be to defeat the villain you're not telling a good story then can have master control and be a leader in the plumber Academy and still tell a compelling story this is where five years later comes in five years later is a crossover continuation of Danny Phantom and the original Benton saga giving each show their well-deserved ending as they were both mistreated by their networks towards the end of their run it is written in a way that any reader can understand what is happening than being a fan of only one franchise or neither if you have never seen Benton or Danny Phantom you could still follow and enjoy the story the first four chapters are available at kirova website comm with the fifth chapter set to release this December 27th on Benton's 12th anniversary if you enjoy the story please tell your friends and join our discord to discuss the series share art and meet other passionate fans of the franchise's being the Benton fan was not just a hobby it was an experience the message boards the speculation of new aliens and the theories about how the logistics of the show would apply to the reality we live in it may not seem like much but if you give it a try you can understand why there are more passionate fans than casual ones and it is truly 10 of a kind thank you so much for watching my video you can stay up to date with my projects on all of my social medias listed below and check out my best work on my website which is mobile friendly and as always keep it fizzy [Music]

Channel: The Ink Tank

Views: 4,971,803

Keywords: ben 10, alien force, ultimate, omniverse, omnitrix, tara strong, yuri lowenthall, dceu, dc, marvel, comics, 5 years later, danny phantom, butch hartman, 5yl, crossover, reboot, 2016, classic, original, comparrison, essay, list, cartoon network, dwayne mcduffie, superman, goku, alien x, death battle

Id: cfdzLlEV5oM

Length: 18min 10sec (1090 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 11 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/A_WILD_CUNT_APPEARED]

Never knew the third season of alien force was hated. Well still I'd argue up until the shit show that is omniverse Ben 10 was legitimately a phenomenal show.