X-Men ‘97 is arguably the best show streaming right now. Just like every Saturday morning in the ‘90s, we’re all waiting for the next episode to drop so that we can groove to one of the best opening themes of all time. The creators of the show knew exactly who they were making it for, as it has more adult-oriented themes than the original, as well as a few heartwrenching moments. In a world where everything is rushing forward, X-Men ‘97 reminds us of the comfort that Saturday morning cartoons brought us.
Of course, the show wouldn’t exist without the original. I still remember biting my nails throughout the week about how Professor Xavier and his X-Men could possibly stop Apocalypse, and I find myself doing the exact same thing today. Fox really created something special with this cartoon, and you now have the opportunity to literally own a piece of it. Heritage Auctions is currently hosting a lot of production cels from the original X-Men animated series.
For the uninitiated, cels are used in hand-drawn animation to show frame-by-frame movement. They help the artist get a perspective of the previous frame while drawing the next one. At least eight of these cels are currently up for auction, and the most expensive one of them is only going for $80.
The first one features Wolverine, Cyclops, and Jean Grey from season 5, episode 14, titled Graduation Day. You may be wondering why it doesn’t look similar to the rest of the cels, but that’s because Fox had to outsource the art to another studio for that season, due to the original one being unavailable. As you can imagine, fans weren’t too happy with it, and that’s probably why it’s the least valuable one of the lot, only going for $35 at the moment. Surprisingly, Juggernaut features in two separate cels, one lifting a massive boulder, and chasing Jubilee in the other.
Also from season five, is a rather funny one featuring Beast and Rogue looking puzzled while an equally puzzled T-Rex stands behind them. I really don’t remember much about this episode, but the artwork looks ripe for becoming a meme. Storm features in two cels as well. The first shows her in conversation with Darkstar, while the second one shows her flying over a city like the goddess that she is. The latter would make a perfect frame for fans of the omega-level mutant.
Lastly, we have a brilliantly framed cel of the smooth-talking, card-tossing Cajun, Gambit. At $80, it’s the most valuable one of the lot, and that’s for a couple of reasons. Firstly, Gambit has always been a fan-favourite, but it’s also because of how underrepresented he’s been in the Fox and MCU movies. But, of course, the main reason is probably because of what happened in season one of X-Men ‘97. You rarely get a chance to own a prop or a piece of your favorite animated series, but these X-Men production cels are the closest you’ll ever get.
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