For some reason, in recent years, rather than focus on new content, Cartoon Network has decided to create reboots of their old properties, in an attempt to make easy money. While the basic idea of each reboot is basically the same as the original, the shows feel completely different and are almost entirely different shows. Although the upcoming Disney reboot of "Duck Tales" looks promising, the continuation of Samurai Jack served as a good conclusion to the series, and "Justice League Action" feels like a fun homage to Batman: The Brave and the Bold, these three Cartoon Network shows serve as a great example of why it is better to just leave some shows in the past, as to not taint their legacies.
1. Ben 10
Gonna be honest, "Ben 10" is easily the best out of the reboots, and it feels like it at least kept some of the qualities that made the original great; the same team that created the original is back writing, Ben is still voiced by Tara Strong, and for the most part, they kept the same aliens from the original. While these qualities are great, the show still has major flaws. For one, the cast is a bit off, as Gwen and Grandpa Max's voice actors were changed, in addition to their personalities feeling different; Gwen is inconsistent and feels almost like a Ben clone at times. Grandpa Max feels the most different, as he feels contradictory at times; sometimes he is oblivious due to his older age, and other times he shows interest and understanding in hobbies that make no sense based on other episodes, creating the illusion that he acts young for age, even though his age is also used to create obliviousness. The biggest change to the show that heavily hurts it is its tonal shift, and shorter episode length; each episode is now ten minutes and has a much bigger emphasis on comedy. Gone are the long, epic showdowns with interesting and memorable villains, and now, only brief, wacky interactions occur with villains that appear once and never return, remain. While still being enjoyable, due to its similarity to the original, "Ben 10" clearly indicates the problem with newer reboots, due to the presence of comedy over action, in what were originally action cartoons.
2.Teen Titans Go!
Again, the major problem with "Teen Titans Go!" is the complete tone shift from action to comedy. The original "Teen Titans" is full of amazing action scenes, with interesting plot lines that span multiple episodes, with original, and unique villains that are still iconic today. "Teen Titans Go!" has none of this, and is almost entirely based around comedy; this itself is not inherently a problem, however, the comedy is pretty bad. The comedy is based all around utter nonsense and randomness and tries way too hard to connect with a target audience of five-year-old children. The culprit of this major change is the creators who never even saw the original show. How could a reboot possibly be done right if the creators never saw the original source material? At least the original voice cast returns.
3. The Powerpuff Girls
"Powerpuff Girls" is easily the worst out of these three reboots. Again, too much comedy that tries to connect too hard with young viewers; the characters randomly throughout modern slang in an attempt to be "trendy" and "cool", which instead comes out as annoying and trashy. The action is almost entirely gone and is replaced with more comedy and nothingness. At the same time, gone are the extremely memorable villains, and in their place, are hollow cutouts of the original versions. The main cast feels different too, mainly because the entire voice cast has been replaced; the characters have different personalities and new voices, that completely clash with the original. The original creator Craig McCracken stated a while ago that The Powerpuff Girls was ready to end, and this forced reboot by Cartoon Network, under a new team's supervision proves just how forceful, and unnecessary these reboots can be.
