Marvel-Comics - X-Men the Animated Series Cast Reunion

By Mulder, 26 october 2020

Last month Chandler Poling had helped moderate and produce a panel featuring the cast of X-Men the Animated Series in remembrance of the actor Norm Spencer (Cyclops) who died on Aug 31st, 2020. This is the first time they've gathered in such a large group since they were making the series! The panel arrives nearly 30 years after the premiere of the show which happened Oct 31st, 1992.

In addition, the X-men cast members are reuniting Saturday November 7th at 10am PST / 1pm EST via Wizard World for a live zoom panel, plus signing autographs and answering fan questions during one on one live chats. More info at this link: https://wizardworldvault.com/collections/x-men-the-animated-series-november-7-14/x-men

Alison Sealy-Smith (Storm), Cal Dodd (Wolverine), Chris Britton (Mr. Sinister), Chris Potter (Gambit), George Buza (Beast), Lenore Zann (Rogue), Ron Rubin (Morph), Larry Houston (Producer/Artist/Director), Chandler Poling (Moderator) were present to this amazing panel as you can see in this video.

Timecode of the best moments :
1:55 – Were they aware their performance would impact people 30 years later?
6:35 – Chris Potter on his love of Gambit and feeling insecure at the beginning
8:35 – Alison Seely-Smith on her thoughts on playing Storm
21:28 – George Buza on identifying as Beast, and his experience being bullied growing up in the 50s.
24:53 – 1st audio excerpt of Norm Spencer (from podcast “Who Did That Voice?”) talking about landing the role of Cyclops
30:00 – 2nd audio excerpt of Norm talking about his cast mates which elicits a lot of laughs the cast.
31:15 – Lenore Zann on being caught on the Jumbo-tron with Norm Spencer
37:25 – Chris Potter saying when he thinks of the X-Men, he thinks of Norm
44:45 – Lenore Zann on how she was asked for her autograph on set while guest starring on Law & Order
50:45 – Alison Seely-Smith announces she will re-join the cast in person at their next convention – her first eventual appearance as Storm.
52:11 – Chris Britton on wearing a Mister Sinister Mask in the pandemic
56:05 – Cal Dodd on meeting an autistic fan and his daughter – and the impact Cal’s made on the fan’s life.
58:47 – Alison Seely-Smith on the importance of black superheroes being performed by black actors
1:00:13 – Larry Houston on Storm being an iconic black superhero, how he was the first person to bring Black Panther to animation, and his experience with fans wishing Alison Seely-Smith would make public appearances so they can meet her.
1:08:21 – The cast gives their thoughts and love to Norm Spencer in a very emotional send off.

More information on X-Reads Podcast:
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https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/x-reads-an-x-men-experience/id1473303610

Synopsis :
The show features X-Men similar in look and line-up to the early 1990s X-Men drawn by Jim Lee (specifically, the Blue Team established in the early issues of X-Men (vol. 2)), composed of Cyclops, Wolverine, Rogue, Storm, Beast, Gambit, Jubilee, Jean Grey, Professor X, as well as an original character, Morph (an adaptation of previous X-Men member Changeling).[citation needed]. The series deals with social issues, including divorce ("Proteus"), Christianity ("Nightcrawler" and "Bloodlines"), the Holocaust ("Enter Magneto", "Deadly Reunions", "Days of Future Past" and "The Phalanx Covenant") and AIDS hysteria ("Time Fugitives"), and feelings of loneliness ("No Mutant Is an Island"). Television was satirized in the episodes "Mojovision" and "Longshot". X-Men crossed over with the animated series Spider-Man, when Spider-Man seeks out the X-Men's help to stave off his progressing mutation. In the abbreviated form of the Secret Wars storyline, the Beyonder and Madame Web selected Spider-Man to lead a team of heroes including Storm against a group of villains. An earlier draft of "Secret Wars" involved all of the X-Men, but transporting the voice cast from Canada to Los Angeles, where production for the Spider-Man animated series was based, had been too costly in previous crossovers, so the episode was re-written to include only Storm, whose actress, Iona Morris, lived in Los Angeles. Hulk and She-Hulk were excluded from the episodes because the Incredible Hulk animated series featuring the characters was airing on rival network UPN.

X-Men
Based on X-Men by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby
Developed by Eric Lewald, Sidney Iwanter Mark Edens
Voices of Norm Spencer, Cathal J. Dodd, Lenore Zann, Iona Morris (1992–1993), Alison Sealy-Smith (1993–1997), George Buza, Chris Potter (1992–1996), Tony Daniels (1997), Alyson Court, Catherine Disher, Cedric Smith
Theme music composer : Ron Wasserman
Composers : Ron Wasserman, Shuki Levy, Noam Kaniel, Amotz Plessner
Executive producers : Avi Arad, Stan Lee, Joseph Calamari, Winston Richard, Eric S. Rollman
Producer : Will Meugniot
Production companies : Marvel Entertainment Group, Saban Entertainment, Graz Entertainment, AKOM
Distributor : 20th Television, Saban International
Original network : Fox Kids Network
Original release October 31, 1992 – September 20, 1997
Running time : 22 minutes

(Source : press release)