Ben 10 is out to destroy 'em aliens

MANILA, Philippines - Ten-year-old Ben Tennyson is finally back from his summer vacation, and his life is a mess. Humiliated by his teacher, harassed by bullies, grounded by his parents, and cursed with a malfunctioning Omnitrix that’s vaporizing his homework, Ben jumps at the chance to get away from it all at the Total Alien Immersion training program on the far side of the galaxy. Little does Ben know that total immersion means he can never turn human again. Crashing back to earth and stuck in his alien form, Ben becomes the target of an all-new evil alien, Mechamorph, engaging in a deadly cross-world battle, where nothing is as it seems.

Cartoon Network will be premiering Ben 10: Destroy All Aliens, the first CGI animated movie for the Ben 10 franchise, which was entirely conceptualized and produced in Asia. Ben 10: Destroy All Aliens premieres on March 11 at 9 a.m. on Cartoon Network.

Cartoon Network recently interviewed Victor Cook, director of Ben 10: Destroy All Aliens. Here is an excerpt of the interview.

Destroy All Aliens took Ben back in time when he was 10 years old; any reason why?

VICTOR COOK: The original Ben 10 series is still hugely popular all over the world. Fans love the mix of action and humor and the character relationships between Ben, Gwen and Max. And it is just plain fun to revisit these early days when the Omnitrix is still new to Ben and he is learning about what it takes to “Hero Up.”

There is a new villain, Mechamorph Warrior, in this movie. Tell us a little about him.

Mechamorph is the same species as Upgrade, but with blue bodylines instead of green. The Mechamorph warrior is bent on revenge against Ben and his alien transformations. He mistakenly blames Ben for something he didn’t do and is on a relentless mission to destroy him, and to destroy all aliens.

Mechamorph’s personality is fierce, but like Upgrade, his shape is round and friendly. I decided early on to have this Mechamorph transform into a more threatening form. You’ll see the Mechamorph warrior morph from his “Upgrade shape” to a formidable “battle bot” shape, fully loaded with awesome high-tech weapons.

 How did the story for Destroy All Aliens come about?

Victor Cook, director, Ben 10: Destroy All Aliens

Cartoon Network Asia really wanted to revisit the original series characters, but present them in a new way in CG. The team brought in Marty Isenberg to develop some possible storylines. Together with executive producer Silas Hickey, we developed and made a CG short. With the short, we developed the CG models for Ben, Gwen, Four Arms and Way Big and the environment of Petropia. It tested what we could do with animation movement and action and was a springboard for the movie.

Why is the movie in 3D?

To be able to show the original Ben 10 characters in a way that hasn’t been done before. The medium allowed for the visual storytelling to be more dynamic and cinematic.

What are you most proud of about Destroy All Aliens?

Definitely all the hard work and passion everyone poured into making this movie. And of course my thanks to Cartoon Network Asia who invited me to be a part of bringing Ben 10’s first CG movie to life. The biggest highlight for me was watching the opening two minutes of footage at the Ben 10 panel at the 2011 Comic Con. Nothing beats watching audience reaction. It’s a real buzz.

What can Ben 10 fans look out for/expect when the movie comes out?

They will learn something new about one of the alien characters. They will see action that takes place in various locations around the world. They will see Ben and Gwen bickering. Did I also mention cool action sequences?