X-Men cartoon from the 90's. What a disappointment

[theFallenGod]

My friend just recently downloaded all 5 seasons of X-Men the Animated series from the early 90's.

I decided to give it another shot since I consider myself to be a little older and wiser now then when it first came on.

I realized that what I have always said about it was true.

1) The animation is sloppy and crude. Nothing is consistent. Sizes and dimensions change frequently. Plus it looks like the effects were done on a different layer than the animation. I saw an episode, (season 2 ep. 3) "Whatever it Takes" in which when Storm uses her power her eyes light up ON HER CHEEKS with her regular eyes above them.

2) The characters are completely one dimension and lack any soul whatsoever. These are my favourite characters ever created. I love them immensely. When I have no feeling towards anyone in the cartoon it says a whole hell of a lot.... Rogue is a walking, sassing redneck stereotype. Wolverine is a cold heartless loner who never wants to do anything with the team one minute than a full supporter of the team the next.

3) The dialogue is so awful it seems George Lucas could do a better job with it.

4) Too many people have really bad/annoying inconsistent accents.


I could go on by I won't.

Seriously, watching these cartoons is like going out to a fancy restaurant and watching your date smother his entire 5 star meal in ketchup.

It's just plain painful.


Any thoughts from anyone else?

 

[joshbloggs]

I have recently watched them all, and I tend to agree with you, but I really like them for nostalgic reasons. As a kid in the 90s I had never heard of the X men. These cartoons played on Saturday mornings and I loved them! I never got to see every single one though, so it was nice to complete them.

 

[80KGold]

I own a copy of all five seasons. I love that cartoon.

Even so, your points are funny. I chuckled as I read them, especially this one: "...when Storm uses her power her eyes light up ON HER CHEEKS with her regular eyes above them..." That's funny. I'm gonna watch that episode again, and look for that. LOL.

 

[BAMA32]

Sometimes, when I'm in pain, I'll imitate Professor X's pain noises. They're hilarious. The laughter helps alleviate the fact that I just dropped something on my foot.

Storm was the drama queen. "Arctic winds! Make ice!"

 

[soapstarjoe]

I agree, it really didn't age well. All the ladies had big 80's hair...and what was with Jean Grey's rat tail?

 

[tinkyjem]

ehhhh...... Most cartoons don't age well. Mainly because our memory builds it up. Thats like when I go back and watch episodes of Transformers (The Original) OMG cheesy be on compare, Jem! is the same way I loved it as a kid and have most on DVD....watch them from time to time but still cheesy. X-Men falls into the same realm.
Nostalgia always makes thing seem better than they were.
I LOVED X-Men when it was first on......but it was it was.
Ask any 8 year in the 90's and they loved it.
8 year olds don't care about character developement, they like action and explosions.

 

[AngelFromAbove]

I think that 90s cartoon is really what introduced me to the X-Men realm. I'm very glad that it existed for that reason alone as I thoroughly enjoy X-Men. I agree with your points though, especially after reading the comic books.

 

[stripes]

i couldnt finish reading your post, it was crushing all the good memories i had of the series

My friend just recently downloaded all 5 seasons of X-Men the Animated series from the early 90's.

I decided to give it another shot since I consider myself to be a little older and wiser now then when it first came on.

I realized that what I have always said about it was true.

1) The animation is sloppy and crude. Nothing is consistent. Sizes and dimensions change frequently. Plus it looks like the effects were done on a different layer than the animation. I saw an episode, (season 2 ep. 3) "Whatever it Takes" in which when Storm uses her power her eyes light up ON HER CHEEKS with her regular eyes above them.

2) The characters are completely one dimension and lack any soul whatsoever. These are my favourite characters ever created. I love them immensely. When I have no feeling towards anyone in the cartoon it says a whole hell of a lot.... Rogue is a walking, sassing redneck stereotype. Wolverine is a cold heartless loner who never wants to do anything with the team one minute than a full supporter of the team the next.

3) The dialogue is so awful it seems George Lucas could do a better job with it.

4) Too many people have really bad/annoying inconsistent accents.


I could go on by I won't.

Seriously, watching these cartoons is like going out to a fancy restaurant and watching your date smother his entire 5 star meal in ketchup.

It's just plain painful.


Any thoughts from anyone else?

 

[Harke the Boeotarch]

I loved it. It was so cool.

 

[Gomaki]

Lol... it seemed good at the time!

Even now, it's kinda funny for the cheese factor... but I can't take it seriously anymore.

Storm's lines WERE the best! "Hail! Fill the skies with blocks of ice! From the ends of the earth send limitless cold upon him!". So terrible.

 

[outrageous4u]

Charlatan! ! !

 

[spencer]

Bite your tongue, what you find fascinating now your nephews will laugh and talk about how primitive it was.

When I watched it as a kid I was so enthralled, I loved it!

But alas that how it is with all the old cartoons. It makes it difficult to watch because of animation. Like, I used to love Richie Rich and saw every episode. When I look at it now, I can't watch it at all. It's not the same.

And so I'm afraid to watch Thunder Cat's or Dungeons and Dragons cause I don't want to ruin my childhood forever.

 

[BAMA32]

Bite your tongue, what you find fascinating now your nephews will laugh and talk about how primitive it was.

When I watched it as a kid I was so enthralled, I loved it!

But alas that how it is with all the old cartoons. It makes it difficult to watch because of animation. Like, I used to love Richie Rich and saw every episode. When I look at it now, I can't watch it at all. It's not the same.

And so I'm afraid to watch Thunder Cat's or Dungeons and Dragons cause I don't want to ruin my childhood forever.

Thunda Thunda, Thunda Thunda, HOO-ooooooo!

 

[RobinGoodfellow]

I decided to give it another shot since I consider myself to be a little older and wiser now then when it first came on.

And this is pretty much why you shouldn't have wasted your time doing it. You didn't like it then, why did you figure you would like it now? The show was designed for kids in their early teens; in that regard, it does pretty well. You have the situation between Mystique/Rogue/Nightcrawler/Both Creeds explained and dealt with rather well for the 30-minute format, the sense of alienation comes off pretty well, and even the mangling of stories that usually happens was done better than usual; the ham-handed inclusion of Cable I could have done without, but otherwise they did okay.

You'll always be able to issues in animation. Even in the Disney classics you can find problems, be it miscoloration, out-of-synch vocalizations, and even bad foreshortening are all over the place. Throw in mutant powers, and it gets even weirder. And if you're slamming the fashion, it just shows a need to make fun of the series more than a need to honestly critique it; few shows survive that.

Overall, the 90's X-Men has issues, and I'm definitely not saying it's must-see TV. But, it's still a fun series; approach it in that regard, and it may at least enjoyable for you.

RG

 

[soapstarjoe]

I loved it back in the day...esp the Dark Phoenix Saga. I have nothing but positive memories of this series...but even then I thought...wow...Storm's hair is kinda poofy.