Ben 10: 10 Times the Fun & 10 Times the Action

Ben 10 is a stand out animated series on Cartoon Network.  If you’re an animation fan, and especially a lover of great action, you need to discover this excellently produced, terrific animated series.

Ben 10 tells the continuing adventures of ten-year-old Ben Tennyson, his resourceful grandfather Max and his brilliant cousin Gwen. While camping, a mysterious asteroid nearly collides with Ben.  Upon examination, he finds a device – the Omnitrix – which literally leaps up, attaching itself to Ben’s wrist. Soon, Ben discovers the device transforms him into various alien forms with awesome super powers, such as a fire wielding humanoid; a miniature technical expert and a crystal encrusted being whose skin shines brilliantly and is diamond hard.

Ben’s Forms

Four Arms
Diamond Head
Ghost Freak
Grey Matter
Heat Blast
Rip Jaw
Stink Fly
Upgrade
Wildmutt
X-CLR8

The show thrills as a generous mix of high octane action, family drama and effective comedy.  While it doesn’t have the complexity of sayBatman: The Animated Series or even Samurai Jack, the producers do a wonderful job of telling good stories, developing likeable characters and delivering top notch visuals.

Animation gives us stylized version of reality, especially when conveying movement and fast paced action. Animators relish the challenge of designing characters to be something other than what we experience in the real world. Anime, the Japanese hyper action packed cartoon style is perhaps the best example of this notion.  Anime characters don’t just walk, run, fly, fight or swim; they do it in a hyper realistic entertaining way.