'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
'Some structural damage' from wildfire near Fort Nelson, B.C., mayor confirms
More than one home has been damaged or lost due to a massive wildfire outside of the B.C. community of Fort Nelson, the mayor confirmed Wednesday.
'Very expensive lunch': Sask. driver says he got a cellphone ticket for using his points app in the drive-thru
A warning from a Saskatoon driver about using your fast-food app while in the drive-thru line — a trip to get some free lunch cost him a lot more than he bargained for.
B.C. YouTuber ordered to pay $350K for 'relentless' online defamation campaign
An 'unrepentant' YouTuber has been ordered to pay $350,000 in damages as compensation for a 'relentless' campaign of defamation waged online against a business owner and his company, the B.C. Supreme Court has ruled.
Chief says grave search at B.C. residential school brings things 'full circle'
Chief Robert Michell says relief isn't the right word to describe his reaction as the search begins for unmarked graves at the site of a former residential school he attended in northern British Columbia.
'Endless Shrimp' just one misstep for Red Lobster as it eyes bankruptcy protection
While it's unclear what these closures might mean for the 27 restaurants in Canada, Red Lobster is expected to file for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. this month.
B.C. man shot sex worker in the back during drug-fuelled birthday, court hears
A man from B.C.'s Lower Mainland has been sentenced to four years behind bars after shooting a sex worker in the back during a drug-fuelled 43rd birthday.
'Inhumane conditions': 68 dogs pulled from Winnipeg home
Nearly six dozen dogs were seized from a home Wednesday morning by the Winnipeg Humane Society. It is the largest known seizure of animals in the city’s history.
Ontario's 'Crypto King' Aiden Pleterski arrested
Of the $40-million Aiden Pleterski was handed over two years, documents show he invested just over one per cent and instead spent $15.9 million on "his personal lifestyle." The 25-year-old Oshawa, Ont. man was arrested and charged with fraud and money laundering on Tuesday.
Driver said he smoked pot oil, took medication before Florida crash that killed 8 Mexican workers
A man with a long record of dangerous driving told investigators he smoked marijuana oil and took prescription drugs hours before he sideswiped a bus, killing eight Mexican farmworkers and injuring dozens more, according to an arrest report unsealed Wednesday.