'It's been a wonderful ride': Reunited 'X-Men' cartoon voice cast excited to meet fans new and old at Calgary Expo
If you've spent any amount of time scrolling TikTok at 3 a.m. (it's OK -- we all have), you probably know the meme.
A guy looks at the camera and says, "You can't summon an entire generation with just one song." Then, the shot cuts to somebody hitting play on their device of choice and the song that is their rebuttal kicking in.
Sometimes, it's "Baba O'Riley". Sometimes, it's "Smells Like Teen Spirit". Opinions differ and so, there are others.
But if you did any amount of growing up in the '90s, your own answer might just as easily be the theme song to the Saturday morning "X-Men" cartoon, often celebrated as a high point in animated superheroics.
The impact of that show on that generation is massive.
And now, it's back again, picking up where it left off, complete with many of the same actors voicing the same characters, for a second generation in addition.
"Somebody got in touch with me and said they were doing 'X-Men' again, and I sort of went, 'Yeah, right. That was 30 years ago, darling -- I don't think so,'" said Alison Sealy-Smith, who was and is again the voice actor behind the character Storm.
"And then it all just sort of came together and it's been a wonderful ride."
Alison Sealy-Smith was and is again the voice actor behind the character Storm on the 'X-Men' cartoon series.
"It was the most euphoric experience I've ever had -- to go back into the very same studio (in Toronto) where we did the original record," said George Buza, the voice actor behind the character Beast, then and now.
Several members of the voice cast are at the Calgary Comics and Entertainment Expo this year, meeting with fans from both back in the day and today -- undoubtedly some from the same families, sharing the same excitement for each new episode.
"I think what's made it exceptionally wonderful this time around is we're much more aware this time of the impact of the show," Sealy-Smith told CTV News on Thursday.
At Calgary Expo with Sealy-Smith and Buza are Chris Potter, the voice actor behind the character Gambit in the original series and now bringing the character Cable to life in the new one, and Matthew Waterson, joining the legacy as the new voice actor behind the character Magneto.
George Buza was and is again the voice actor behind the character Beast on the 'X-Men' cartoon series.
Both Sealy-Smith and Buza say tapping their old iconic characters again was a quick and natural thing.
But both spent decades between stints as X-people doing many other things -- many other wonderful things.
And so of course, there was some question -- maybe some doubt.
Turns out, they needn't have been concerned.
"As soon as you saw the script and as soon as you started saying it, it just came back," Sealy-Smith said.
"It really was as if Storm had just been in here the whole time, just waiting for the chance to fly again."
"It was like getting back on a bike. Instant -- absolutely instant," Buza said.
"(Beast) was always there.
"The character was built on what was always me -- I identified very deeply with Beast."
Sealy-Smith, Buza, Potter and Waterson have been at Calgary Expo Thursday and Friday so far, and will be there Saturday and Sunday as well.
If that theme song did indeed start playing in your head before, you might consider swinging by the BMO Centre for a visit...
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.