It seems incredible to me that this crude cartoon is favourably compared to the stylish Batman, Superman and Justice League cartoons of the same era. The X-men is positively Neanderthal by comparison.
Firstly the art is hackwork. The backgrounds are usually routine or sometimes absent altogether. The characters are inconsistently drawn with faces changing from frame to frame. I challenge anyone to freeze-frame and honestly be able to recognise any character by their facial features.
Colour is ugly and inconsistent too, ie Wolverine's arms will sometimes be drawn yellow, like his costume,and then revert to its normal flesh colour. A minor detail, perhaps, by one that speaks to the low editorial standards at work. Another example of laziness is when the X-men go to Genosha supposedly incognito, but Gambit is still wearing his full costume, which sort of gives the game away! My only explanation for this is that he is so undistinguished looking that no one would recognise him out of costume? He is so undistinguished, apparently, that no one recognises him even IN costume, but they do recognise the incognito Storm.
Next, everything seems rushed. The series begins confusingly with Jubilee being pursued by sentinels. then in Xavier's mansion then back again being caught by the sentinels. No explanation as to why she is allowed to leave is given and the X-men do not seem to notice her absence. Characters appear without introduction and we are expected to know who they are? I can only imagine that well read fans of the comic book would know who's who because you would be lost otherwise. In the trial of the Beast, Sabretooth suddenly appears out of nowhere. I had to rewind to see if I had missed anything but I hadn't.
The stories themselves are mostly good, but they have been lifted from classic comicbooks, they should be. It must be said that the cartoon version does not add anything to the original. In most cases, these stories are presented in a simplified fashion which undermines the original intention; for example the suicidal sacrifice of Jean Grey was apparently too strong for children's TV and Proteus is turned into a childish version of one the X-men's best stories.
Although it improves in later series, early on there's no effort at any characterisation. The characters are stereotyped with their only interactions being aggression towards each other. Obviously the writers have taken the notion that conflict is the essence of drama literally but not allowed any time for getting to know each character. The most egregious example of this is Morph, who is unceremoniously killed off before we know anything about him, but, apart from a few melodramatic "Morph's gone!" this does not even have much impact upon the other X-men. Since there are no real characters, consequently dialogue is awful too, with some lines coming across as unintentionally funny.
Probably as a result of the bad writing, the vocal actors have little to work with and deliver hammy performances. Wolverine is constantly angry and others, such as Gambit, Cyclops and Cable are only marginally less so. Xavier's voice is just plain weird.
In the end, this is a cartoon with the look and psychological depth of a Scooby Doo cartoon. Nice enough for a Saturday morning (and undemanding audience) but nothing that can withstand repeated viewings like the DCU animations from the same period. To be fair. after the awful first series, it does improve. While it is still hideous to look at, the pacing and characterisation is a lot better. So I have upped my original grade.
Firstly the art is hackwork. The backgrounds are usually routine or sometimes absent altogether. The characters are inconsistently drawn with faces changing from frame to frame. I challenge anyone to freeze-frame and honestly be able to recognise any character by their facial features.
Colour is ugly and inconsistent too, ie Wolverine's arms will sometimes be drawn yellow, like his costume,and then revert to its normal flesh colour. A minor detail, perhaps, by one that speaks to the low editorial standards at work. Another example of laziness is when the X-men go to Genosha supposedly incognito, but Gambit is still wearing his full costume, which sort of gives the game away! My only explanation for this is that he is so undistinguished looking that no one would recognise him out of costume? He is so undistinguished, apparently, that no one recognises him even IN costume, but they do recognise the incognito Storm.
Next, everything seems rushed. The series begins confusingly with Jubilee being pursued by sentinels. then in Xavier's mansion then back again being caught by the sentinels. No explanation as to why she is allowed to leave is given and the X-men do not seem to notice her absence. Characters appear without introduction and we are expected to know who they are? I can only imagine that well read fans of the comic book would know who's who because you would be lost otherwise. In the trial of the Beast, Sabretooth suddenly appears out of nowhere. I had to rewind to see if I had missed anything but I hadn't.
The stories themselves are mostly good, but they have been lifted from classic comicbooks, they should be. It must be said that the cartoon version does not add anything to the original. In most cases, these stories are presented in a simplified fashion which undermines the original intention; for example the suicidal sacrifice of Jean Grey was apparently too strong for children's TV and Proteus is turned into a childish version of one the X-men's best stories.
Although it improves in later series, early on there's no effort at any characterisation. The characters are stereotyped with their only interactions being aggression towards each other. Obviously the writers have taken the notion that conflict is the essence of drama literally but not allowed any time for getting to know each character. The most egregious example of this is Morph, who is unceremoniously killed off before we know anything about him, but, apart from a few melodramatic "Morph's gone!" this does not even have much impact upon the other X-men. Since there are no real characters, consequently dialogue is awful too, with some lines coming across as unintentionally funny.
Probably as a result of the bad writing, the vocal actors have little to work with and deliver hammy performances. Wolverine is constantly angry and others, such as Gambit, Cyclops and Cable are only marginally less so. Xavier's voice is just plain weird.
In the end, this is a cartoon with the look and psychological depth of a Scooby Doo cartoon. Nice enough for a Saturday morning (and undemanding audience) but nothing that can withstand repeated viewings like the DCU animations from the same period. To be fair. after the awful first series, it does improve. While it is still hideous to look at, the pacing and characterisation is a lot better. So I have upped my original grade.