| Original Series | Alien Force | Ultimate Alien | Omniverse | Reboot |
| General | Episodes | Theme Song | Pop-Up Trivia | Development | Continuity |
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 This article is about the original TV series. You might have been looking for Ben Tennyson, the 2006 video game, the comic book miniseries, the rebooted TV series, or the 2017 video game.
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Ben 10, later known as Ben 10 Classic or Classic Ben 10, is an American animated science fantasy series created by the group Man of Action and produced by Cartoon Network Studios. The pilot episode And Then There Were 10, aired on December 27, 2005, as part of a sneak peek of Cartoon Network's Saturday morning lineup.
It is the first series of the Classic Continuity, and also the first series of the entire franchise.
This series was followed-up by three sequels called Ben 10: Alien Force, Ben 10: Ultimate Alien, and Ben 10: Omniverse, and was later rebooted.
Summary[]
Ten-year-old Ben Tennyson, his ten-year-old first cousin Gwen, and their paternal Grandpa Max start a summer camping trip across the United States. Ben and Gwen don't like each other's company and start fighting from the moment they set off. At a stop at night, Ben wanders into the woods to cool off and is almost crushed when a meteorite crash lands in front of him. Upon examining it, he discovers it is an alien cargo pod housing a mysterious, watch-like device called the Omnitrix. As Ben reaches inside for it, the device attaches itself permanently to his wrist. The device gives Ben the ability to transform into ten unique alien life-forms, each with their own physiques, powers, and abilities (though he retains his ten-year-old personality).
Over the course of the show, the family trio meet and fight dozens of villains, ranging from petty thugs, supernatural beings, and everything in between; more is learned about what the Omnitrix can do, and what Gwen and Max are capable of to support Ben in discovering how to use it; and Ben must learn what it means to be a superhero.
Characters[]
Vehicles[]
Movies[]
Video Games[]
Cast[]
Live-Action Cast[]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Graham Phillips | Ben Tennyson |
| Haley Ramm | Gwen Tennyson |
| Lee Majors | Max Tennyson |
| Christien Anholt | Eon Eon (Transformation) |
| David Franklin | Heatblast |
| Carlos Alazraqui | Grey Matter |
| Daran Norris | Diamondhead |
| Dee Bradley Baker | Wildmutt |
| Beth Littleford | Sandra Tennyson |
| Don McManus | Carl Tennyson |
| Robert Picardo | Edward White |
| Aloma Wright | Doris Dalton |
| Tyler Patrick Jones | Cash Murray |
| Tyler Foden | JT |
| Alex Winter | Constantine Jacobs |
| Jeff Jensen | Mr. Hawkins |
| Michael Runyard | Mr. Whittington |
| Sab Shimono | Old Man |
| Bianca Brockl | Candace |
| Paige Hurd | Stephanie |
| Antoniette Spolar | Talent Show Teacher |
| Mitch Watson | Stage Manager |
| Andrew John Ferguson | Kid on Bike |
| Marilyn Zack | Woman in Curlers |
Soundtrack[]
All of the show's episode-to-episode soundtracks are synthesized, comprised of digital instruments and sounds made popular in the early 2000s. Most songs feature stringed instruments, synthesizers and drum samples to serve as modest background music, but sometimes during periods of high action, some rock elements like the electric guitar and more wild-sounding samples will come out. The soundtrack in some instances emulates the "alien sound" popularized in classic Hollywood sci-fi movies of the 1950s, with instrumentation similar to a theremin or other such electronic instruments.
Trivia[]
- The series was initially set to run for only two seasons.[AWN 1]
- Although the series was produced as two seasons with 26 episodes each,[note 1] it was written and aired as four seasons with 13 episodes each.
- The entire series takes place over the three-month summer vacation.[pop-up 1][1]
- In the initial stages of the Original Series' development:
- Gwen was written as a classmate who happened to be friends with Ben, and had no familial relation to him.[pop-up 2][CN 1]
- Gwen canonically wasn't even supposed to come on a road trip. She was going to a summer study program instead.[pop-up 3][2]
- The logo is designed by Peter Girardi.[AC 1]
- The black dots in the transformation sequences are Kirby dots.[AC 2]
- Ben 10 was produced in both 16:9 (HD) and 4:3 (SD/widescreen) formats, but was only aired in 4:3 due to restrictions put in place by Cartoon Network. As of June 14, 2015, all four seasons are available in HD and widescreen format on iTunes. Amazon Instant Video and Google Play has all four seasons in widescreen format.
- In 2016, Ben 10 was renamed Classic Ben 10 to differentiate from the 2016 reboot.
- In the latest reruns, the theme song has been shortened (except in the episodes Ben 10 vs. Negative 10: Part 1 and 2). The current airings on Boomerang have now gone back to the original theme song's length.
- In the Arab world, this was the only Ben 10 series that Venus Centre localized. The rest of the series was done by Image Production House.
- The theme song in the Arabic version from Venus Centre was changed to be the first thing to play, even before the cold open.
- The theme was a cover and had on-screen lyrics on all of the TV airings and direct-to-video releases.
- The Arabic version had the episode number as its title card until Season 4 where it would just show the episode title in Arabic.
- The director and writer credits and English episode titles were removed before it was added back in Season 4.
- The theme song in the Arabic version from Venus Centre was changed to be the first thing to play, even before the cold open.
- This series was the only BEN 10 series to be dubbed into Welsh.
Notes[]
References[]
Production Material[]
Backgrounds[]
Audio Commentary[]
Pop-Up Trivia[]
Cartoon Network[]
Other[]
Animation World Network[]
| TV Series | ||||
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| Classic Continuity | ||||
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| Ben 10 | Ben 10: Alien Force | Ben 10: Ultimate Alien | Ben 10: Omniverse | |
| Reboot Continuity | ||||
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| Ben 10 | ||||