Before Marvel and FOX produced X-Men: The Animated Series in the 90s, marvel made another attempt at making a X-Men cartoon series in 1989 with Pride of the X-Men. A pilot episode was produced, but nothing happened beyond that. That pilot was developed by Japanese animation studio Toei, which also worked on Dragon Ball Z.
The story would have centered on Kitty Pryde, a young girl who discovers she has mutant powers when she starts darting through objects. Soon after her powers manifest, she is approached by Professor Charles Xavier, who invites her to join his school for gifted young mutants.
Once at the X-Mansion, Kitty, now codenamed “Sprite”, meets the characters Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Dazzler. They act as Professor X’s students and superhero team.
The main villain of the pilot is Magneto, along with his Brotherhood of Mutants, consisting of the White Queen, Pyro, Blob, Juggernaut and Toad. Magneto aimed to deflect a comet to hit Earth, which would cause chaos and pave the way for mutant dominance.
The X-Men, with Kitty’s help, confront and fight the Brotherhood to prevent Magneto’s plan from succeeding. It’s a shame this series never existed, it really seems like it would have made a great X-Men cartoon! I actually like the animation and art style more than what we got X-Men: The Animated Series. It seems like a more dynamic series.
One of the notable things about the project is that Wolverine, interestingly, had an Australian accent in this version, which was a departure from his typical Canadian background. His voice was provided by Patrick Pinney. Other voice actors included John Stephenson in the role of Professor Michele Bell like Cyclops, Neil Ross as Nightcrawler, Dan Gilvezan in the role of Colossus, Kath Soucie in the role of Kitty, Count Boen (Doctor Silberman from Terminator) was Magneto and actor of Skeletor Alan Oppenheimer expressed the Blob.
The pilot was supposed to launch a 65-episode syndicated series. The pilot aired in 1989 and was also released on VHS but was never revived. The series also later served as the basis for Konami’s X-Men arcade game.
You can watch the entire pilot episode below. If you’ve never seen it, I hope you enjoy it!
Despite the fact that this particular version of the X-Men didn’t go beyond the pilot, the early ’90s saw the production of X-Men: The Animated Serieswhich became a huge success and introduced many kids to the world of the X-Men.
by Joey Paur
Source: Geek Tyrant
Lloyd Grunewald is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. He is a talented writer who focuses on bringing the latest entertainment-related news to his readers. With a deep understanding of the entertainment industry and a passion for writing, Lloyd delivers engaging articles that keep his readers informed and entertained.
