|
MAN OF ACTION ON BEN 10
by Newsarama
Tomorrow morning marks the official debut of the latest Man of Action project, Ben 10.
Making sure everyone is on the same page (as well as giving some insight on why a new Cartoon Network series pertains to comics), Man of Action is a studio of creators made up of Joe Casey, Joe Kelly, Steven Seagle, and Duncan Rouleau. While all have their own individual careers both in (and out) of comics, together, the group has been together for a few years, developing projects and ideas, offering them up for development, or pitching them to various outlets.
Ben 10 is one of theirs.
The series, which will strike some familiar chords with comic fans, stars Ben Tennyson, a ten year old who discovers a device which allows him to transform into one of ten different alien heroes. From there, wackiness, as always, ensues.
We caught up with Man of Action’s Men of Action to learn some more about the new series.
Newsarama: To start at the most basic, where did the idea come from? Was it something that Cartoon Network approached you about, or did you develop it, and pitch it?
Joe Casey: We went in and pitched about twenty ideas - Man Of Action, baby... we've got a million of 'em. Ben 10 was the one that stuck for what they were looking for. As for where the idea came from, who can say where these things really come from? Ideas tend to swim in the ether, don't they...?
NRAMA: That they do, but in the more practical sense, did Ben 10 have a specific “father” at Man of Action, a point man in its creation?
JC: Duncan had the initial spark of the idea, and once Cartoon Network responded to the name and the basic concept alone, the Man Of Action team got cracking, spit-balling ideas and fleshing out the idea.
NRAMA: The obvious question, coming at this from the comic book side of things, given all of your connections to comics – this is similar to Dial H for Hero. Why not try to spearhead that instead of this, with 10 powers/heroes?
JC: Simple - Cartoon Network wanted something original, and that's what we gave them.
NRAMA: Breaking the series down a little – give us a sketch of Ben. What kind fo kid is he?
Duncan Rouleau: Ben is your typical ten year old, except he doesn't know it. He tries to act older than his age. He's braver than he should be with the circumstances he is under.
NRAMA: And the device he finds - what is it, where did it come from, and what does it allow him to do?
DR: Part of that story line is going to unfold inside the series and we don't want to give away any secrets, but we can tell you that he is being injected with alien DNA that allows him to transform into a wild array of celestial life.
NRAMA: Back to the development process – you’re a group of creators, so how did it come down to who did what on Ben 10?
JC: We all worked on the series bible together, and we've written a few scripts for the first two seasons, in different configurations. For instance, Duncan and I co-wrote an episode, Joe Kelly and Steve co-wrote one. But then, Duncan and Steve and Joe Kelly wrote a few individual episodes on their own. Believe me, there's plenty of work to go around for everyone on this show.
NRAMA: How did you guys get hooked up with Cartoon Network?
DR: We were introduced to the then head of kid adventure development Sam Register who heard or magical storytelling and fell in love with Man of Action!
NRAMA: And how long ago did this ball start rolling?
Steve Seagle: The benevolent and sexy Matt Senreich of Robot Chicken fame was showing his first test of same - the incredibly funny "Real World as Super-Friends" parody around San Diego a few years ago. We had a TV at the Man of Action booth and laughed our asses off and said, "Hey! Let us play that!" Matt had met with the main men (and women) of Cartoon Network and asked if he could introduce us over there since they were actively looking for super-hero projects and we are all super-hero guys.
NRAMA: Of course, you also went outside of Man of Action – how was Dave Johnson involved?
JC: Dave came in to be the lead design guru on the show. What's great is, if you're at all familiar with Dave's work and how he draws, when you watch the show, you can see Dave's style coming through. It's very cool to see.
NRAMA: Back on the story side of things, what kind of adventures does Ben find himself having?
DR: The stories run a wide range of dangerous to just plain bizarre. Humor is an essential part of the show but the plots have a real life lessons interwoven. We wanted Ben 10 to be the kid equivalent of a grown up coming home from a hard day of work and cracking open a beer.
NRAMA: Minus the beer…
DR: Minus the beer.
NRAMA: Who else is in Ben’s world?
DR: Ben is on an never-ending summer vacation with his Grandfather Max - who has a mysterious past himself, and his bratty and somewhat smarter cousin Gwen, who is also ten. Together they form an odd mix of petty bickering and old fart wisdom. Somewhere in the middle of it all they find a real human that helps them get through the trails and tribulations that is the world of Ben 10.
NRAMA: We’ve followed Judd Winick on his days with Juniper Lee a little, and the series is pretty much a full timeish gig for him. Is it that way for all/any of you?
SS: As a studio, Man of Action’s primary desire is to generate and co-produce/creatively direct material for animation, television, film, live theater, video games and print - and we're actively involved in all of the above at the moment! So we serve as creative consultants for Ben 10 - idea men on call - and we also write a few episodes a season just for the fun of working on the show we created.
NRAMA: Even though this debuts “officially” as part of CN’s Saturday lineup Saturday, it’s been on prior to this, and well…tonight – right?
SS: It has been right. We actually got the heads up for the first "sneak peek" which was on December 27th, and we all gathered at one of the Action Houses and watched with the "action kids" who really got into it. It was great watching something that had fallen out of our heads be taken in by kids - the target audience. They loved it. As for outside world response - it's been great so far - though there hasn't been much - I suspect next week will see a lot more. For us as comic book guys, it's been fun to see Dave Johnson's designs - we've long admired his work.
NRAMA: Taking a larger view of Ben 10 as a property, it looks rather toyerific – is that an avenue that will be gone down with this property?
Joe Kelly: If all of our prayers and human sacrifices have been answered, then yes! Seriously, Ben has surprised us all by being an extremely hot property in the licensing world, so you can expect to see plenty of goodies in the near future.
NRAMA: Did that play any role in the creation of Ben? Not the toys per se, but the idea that in part, to catch on, the character would have to be one that kids could identify with, and want to pretend to be…and toys certainly help with that?
JK: Ideally, we want to tailor fit a concept to its audience. So in the case of Ben, we had an idea we loved, CN loved, and then it was a matter of hitting the specs that everyone felt reached the target during the development phase...but it always starts, and ultimately ends, with the idea that makes us all go, "Yeah, that one's cool..."
NRAMA: What kind of commitment is there between Ben, you guys and CN?
JK: We have a great relationship with CN and are actively involved in the progress of the show.
NRAMA: That said, and to wrap things up, are you actively working on more properties for CN, or is Ben it for now?
JK: There's nothing that we can discuss right now, but we're hoping to catch lightning in a bottle as often as possible.
Ben 10 airs tonight on Cartoon Network as part of Fridays at 9 and 9:30 pm, with “And Then There Were 10” and “Washington B.C.” episodes. It also airs Saturday morning, with two episodes (“And Then There Were 10” and “Krakken”) at 10 and 10:30 am.
|
