New Book Provides BTS of X-Men: TAS
Growing up in the early-90’s, Saturday morning’s meant more than getting to sleep in and not having to go to school. That was nice, sure, but the priority was always on the cartoons. This weekly ritual would start at 8 A.M. with Bobby’s World and conclude at noon with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. No matter how many years have passed since, no matter what experiences I have had, sitting on the floor with my legs crossed watching those shows remain some of my fondest memories. I may not be able to remember the name of my neighbor’s kid, I may not recall the name of the company that handles our escrow, but I will always remember when Tommy was unveiled as the Green Ranger and when Morph ruined Jean and Scott’s wedding.
For an 8-year old kid living in the middle of nowhere in Demossville, Kentucky, X-Men: The Animated Series is the show that I connected with the most. There were no comic shops, Blockbusters, or retail stores around us, so I would watch X-Men on Saturday mornings, spend my free time drawing levels for my future X-Men video game, or I would spend those summer afternoon’s playing X-Men outside with my cousins. I was always Gambit until Gambit charged a rock with his kinetic energy and accidentally blasted Magneto (aka cousin Anthony) in the eye with it. The impression that show had on me is impossible to measure. While I loved Bobby’s World, Eek The Cat, and Power Rangers, I obsessed over X-Men: TAS.
A few years back, I spent my honeymoon on the beach reading ‘Previously on X-Men,’ an excellent book by X-Men: TAS writer, Eric Lewald. In that book, Eric talks extensively about the struggles of producing the X-Men series that I watched each and every Saturday. It’s an absolutely fantastic read for not just fans of the series but for anyone that wants to know more about the ups and downs of being a showrunner for an animated series. When you watch it as a kid, the show looked so polished and was a hit with everyone that I went to school with. You don’t think about all of the work that took place behind the scenes, but Eric goes into great detail about it all. While reading ‘Previously on X-Men,’ there were times that I tried to picture what Eric, his wife, Julia, and the other members of that team were seeing. For those that needed more, X-Men: The Art and Making of the Animated Series is here to give us more than even the most die-hard X-Men fan can handle.
This gem of a book–also by Eric and Julia Lewald–provides 288 pages of mesmerizing X-Men: TAS history. Concept art, production cels, storyboards, scripts, it’s all there and more. Do you want to see which comics inspired the character’s final designs? Want to see the storyboard for that iconic intro? Do you want to see the sheet music for that theme that is now playing in your head as you read this? It’s all there. Providing the mortar for this compilation are stories and insights from those that brought us the show. Not only is it fascinating to see, but it also gives you a new respect for the animation process in general.
It’s an incredible collection and a must-have for any fan of the series.
