Producer/Director of the X-Men, Fantastic Four 2nd season, Capt Planet, Jonny Quest, GI JOE, GI JOE Movie, The Karate Kid, Care Bears. Comic book fan & MCU fan.
It is fun to see my unauthorized use of cameos fully embraced by the highly-talented X-Men '97 team, albeit now with full official clearances. I knew it would make the show more enjoyable, but I couldn't convince others my fanboy instincts were correct. Now they know I was right.
I added that Morph morphing performance in "Courage" because the writing had not taken full advantage of his powers. Morph can be a very formidable character on his own & overwhelm any storyline. This fanboy-director is very pleased to see him being used judiciously in X-Men '97.
Only a very few sharp-eyed X-Men fans spotted the cameo of Madelyne Pryor (the Goblin Queen) I added when Jean Grey mind-scanned Cable's mind in "Time Fugitives Part 1".
Jean Grey has the ponytail.
Madelyn had full hair.
X-Men '97 Director Chase Conley, Lenore Zann aka ROGUE and me, X-Men '92 Producer/Director
Larry Houston, at a dinner together. We discussed many things, including how anime greatly influenced our cinematic instincts greatly.
#chaseconley
@ZannLenore
I had a great career in the 80s and 90s being the Director on several series: FF season 2, Capt Planet, Jonny Quest, the Karate Kid, Pryde of the X-Men, RoboCop Alpha Commando, Care Bears, and Producer/Director of the X-Men. Now a consultant on X-Men'97.
From Dark Phoenix:
An example of how I tried to bring key comic book panels to life. Colossus was not a permanent member of the team, so we used Rogue.
@Marvel
@Kevfeige
@MarvelStudios
I'm very proud to have directed the FIRST animated BLACK PANTHER episode ever, matching the Jack Kirby look and story of his two-part comic book debut as closely as possible. I included BP in my X-Men "Sanctuary" episode, too. Voiced by Keith David. 😊
Remembering today, the passing of actor Norm Spencer aka Cyclops, the powerful voice of authority in the X-Men series & also the voice of our "Previously, on X-Men" recaps. Norm, know that you are greatly missed 😞 but never forgotten.
@MarvelStudiosCA
@Marvel
@MarvelStudios
I added these cameos and had Morph shift into characters from Wolverine’s past, a ploy I thought Morph would use to undetermine Logan's determination to help him. I thought of him as Post-Tramatic-Stress Morph during the production of Season 2.
I'm not sure when I did this interview, but I once had black hair *sigh*. That intro just flowed out of my subconscious. No planning. Just drew it. I would add that I also drew/directed the first Pythona sequence & Sgt Slaughter sequence sneaking into the Terrordrome.
@xmendirector
Larry Houston remenices on his experience working on the
#GIJoe
series and how he came up for the idea of the Movie's incredible Fourth of July battle scene!
My son Adrian, when he was about 8yo, loved the original Power Rangers moreso than his Dad's X-Men show back in the 90s. Still does today. That was his favorite childhood show. So this hit him hard, the realization that now two of the original members of the OG team are gone 😢.
I directed key Jack Kirby panels into "Prey of the Black Panther", his FIRST animated appearance. Keith David was perfect as the 1st BP, as Goliath in Gargoyles, as Despero in JL, as Spawn, & as Mongul in Young Justice.
@ImKeithDavid
@Marvel
@theblackpanther
@FantasticFour
I drew about twelve He-Man Mini-Comics for Mattel in the 80s, after-hours from Marvel Prods. These books were included with the action figures.
#xmentas
#Mattel
#HeMan
#hemanminicomics
Greg Maraio at X-Men Addicts on Facebook: "For those who asked. Here’s the full progression of 1:1 storm from start to finish."
He's also done Rogue and Jean Grey and others.
I storyboarded most X-Men fights. This one was a favorite, inspired by lots of old B/W TV Westerns' saloon brawls I watched. Lock the POV camera & let the brawlers go at it, letting them move in & out & back into scene again, with POV refocusing to Jubilee at the end.
#xmentas
@vspates1
Tip
#1
: Watch a film YOU like, from YOUR favorite director, without sound, then analyze the shot selection. Figure out WHY you like so much. That'll help you improve your shot selection.
October 31, 1992 - X-MEN: THE ANIMATED SERIES, produced by Larry F. Houston, Will Meugniot, character designs by Rick Hoberg, story editor Eric Lewald & Julia Lewald, debuted on the Fox Network, as part of its Fox Kids Saturday morning lineup.
@Marvel
@MarvelStudios
@xmentas
In celebration of the 30th anniversary of X-Men the Animated Series. Can you believe it's been almost 30 years (Oct 31st)?! Which episode was the first one you saw?
After Dave Cockrum.
#artoflucas
#XMenx
This turned out to be my best work. It had a theatrical budget and Producer Osamu Yoshioka of Toei Animation, made sure they animated everything I drew. All by hand. No computers back then.
TO ME, MY X-MEN!
As we are all celebrating the fantastic success of X-Men '97, I want to also celebrate the three fanboy-directors who pioneered the pilot "Pryde of the X-Men" & the 1992 X-Men Animated Series:
@WillMeugniot
,
@rickhoberg
, & Larry F. Houston.
My forever brothers.
I might've posted this before, but this wasn't in the original script. I made up this face-off sequence & Gladiator approaching Earth, seeing only his fists. Gladiator even had a "Jaws" impending doom music cue. I knew fans would enjoy seeing a Juggernaut vs "Superman" face-off.
Everything that happened inside the subway car, that was not in the script. When I saw the original storyboard, I knew it needed...more, so I invented new stuff that included Yuriko, Sabretooth, & Deadpool. I thought the fans would like that. I will post the boards soon.
I remember, as a kid in the 90s, being so desperate for Deadpool content that this 9 second illusionary appearance in the X-Men animated series was enough to drive me and my friends absolutely wild.
When I was directing on The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, I had the pleasure of working with Carl Lumby as Col. William Marcus in "Other Space". I loved his portrayal of Isaiah Bradley in The Falcon & the Winter Soldier"
#DisneyPlus
#MarvelStudios
#FalconAndTheWinterSoldier
Artist Steve Lightle passed away from a covid related heart attack a year ago today. He was a regular joe, we would talk for hours sometimes on many subjects unrelated to comics, he really loved the fantasy lore of the Legion of Super-Heroes.
RIP my friend.....
Article from 2017.
"What I think people don’t understand is X-Men wasn’t canceled. It had actually been scheduled to be 65 episodes and had been extended past the original order. When it was done, it was like “well, contract fulfilled. We did it."
This is one of several Black Panther scene I drew in the '96 FF episode "Prey of the Black Panther", with BP in his original outfit within his techno-jungle where he challenged the FF. Keith David is the voice of T'Challa.
#FF
#fantasticfour
#Wakanda
#marvel
#marvelfilms
Heart breaking news today. Don Jurwich, the producer/director of Scooby Doo Where Are You?, Super Friends, Spider-Man & His Amazing Friends, & GI Joe, A Real American Hero has passed away in his sleep at 87. Don was my friend & mentor to many of us who rose through the ranks 1)
Bishop Cosplayer & me at my table at SDCC 2023. It was a great 4-day event that, without celebrities, the Attendees supported retailers & bought Comics & Collectibles, now a Comic Con about Comic Books again. Some vendors actually sold out of inventory halfway through the event.
Happy news to start the day - trailer for
#XMen97
on YouTube hits over 6 million views and is STILL
#1
trending! Happy
#Friday
Feeling everyone -
#xmen
#xmentas
🌟
On this day 27 years ago Astonishing X-Men was released. One Man's Worth was written by Richard Mueller. Editor Bob Harras loved the rogue timeline idea & it became the genesis for Astonishing. It took me 9-12 months to finish each episode while publishing took months.
My first job in Animation was working at Filmation Studios. Owner Lou Scheimer broke a glass ceiling by hiring me as the first black saturday morning storyboard artist in Hollywood. My friend Bruce Timm started here too, as well as Artist Geoff Darrow & Marvel Artist Paul Smith.
Good times! My first job in Animation was working at Filmation Studios. Owner Lou Scheimer broke a glass ceiling by hiring me as the first black saturday morning storyboard artist in Hollywood. Lou was one of the few animation execs that actually liked artists & cartoons.
In 1995, I was interviewed by Marvel in "X-MEN: YEAR OF THE MUTANTS COLLECTORS PREVIEW". Those were the fun days where all of my trivia knowledge of the X-Men was absolutely essential & useful.
I remember adding the underground monorail system to the mansion topography so that there was time for this confrontation to take place uninterrupted by their pursuers. I remember storyboarding this sequence too. Norm Spencer gave us a great performance in this episode.
Montage of images from 1994 Fantastic Four episode "Prey of the Black Panther," that I directed. This, his first fully animated debut, his first cameo in X-Men, & as a prop way back in Spiderman & his Amazing Friends S3 Ep 01, were all drawn by fanboy me.
#xmentas
#DisneyPlus
On February 19, 1994, the X-Men crew dedicated an episode to Jack "King" Kirby, co-creator of the X-Men, who had passed away February 6th at age 76. I just today found my VHS copy of that episode. It only ran ONCE, unfortunately.
@xmentas
@xmen
@Kevfeige
@disneyplus
@XMenMovies
I think this is from Marvel Productions in 1991 just before I left to go to Graz Entertainment where FOXKIDS CEO Margaret Loesch hired me, Will Meugniot, Rick Hoberg & Eric Lewald to do the 90s X-Men series. Yes, its a mess but I knew where everything was.
@xmentas
I have this very long cel setup of the scene I storyboarded, where I added cameos to the scene of Spider-Man in a special jail cell.
1981 Spider-Man.
Director: Art Vitello.
@SpiderMan
@Marvel
I enjoyed revising this sequence into becoming this dramatic reveal of Gladiator, and for adding the unscripted Juggernaut vs Gladiator moments. My inner fanboy still enjoys it. 😎
The GI Joe Movie Intro, with the theatrical budget they gave me, is my best animation effort, alongside The X-MEN Intro I drew. Each one brings back such great memories. I love them both.
#GIJoe
#GIJoeMovie
#Xmen
#Marvel
#DisneyPlus
#xmentas
Today is when
#GIJoe
the Movie was released.
Let’s celebrate by watching this video of the awesome opening directed by
@xmendirector
and sing along to the theme song
I'm late with this posting:
First aired, Sept 12, 1983. I was promoted to Director & storyboarded the opening sequence, Show 1 Act 1 of "The M.A.S.S. Device". I got to set the style and fun for the rest of the series.
@GIJoeMovie
@GIJoeOfficial
@Hasbro
@YoJoeCom
@HasbroPulse
Trivia: Just for fun, in Part 1 of the Savage Land episodes, I included a cameo of myself & Director Frank Squillace, at our drawing desks, as part of the public in awe of seeing Sauron & Storm fly right by us. I used the same panels in the F4 as the Silver Surfer flew by us.
My first job in Animation was working as a Storyboard Artist at Filmation Studios. Owner Lou Scheimer broke a glass ceiling when he hired me as the first black saturday morning storyboard artist in Hollywood. Good times!
#louscheimer
#filmation
@disneyplus
@xmentas
My latest X-Men cover! An exclusive variant based upon the original Uncanny X-Men issue # 266. It will be available soon through Arsenal Comics in Ventura, CA & Cape & Cowl Comics in Oakland, CA.
#arsenalcomicsandgames
.
From Dark Phoenix:
An example of how I tried to bring another key comic book panel to life: Lilandra conferenced with the Kree Intelligence and Skrull Empress.
@Marvel
@Kevfeige
@MarvelStudios
I just found an old polaroid of my days as the first season Director of CAPTAIN PLANET. DIC Animation sent me to NATPE Las Vegas to represent the show to affiliates, along with the CP cosplayer. *sigh* I miss my black hair.
#captainplanet
#DIC
#xmentas
#DisneyPlus
#xmen
Its finally here,
my first X-Men Cover. Yay!🥳 .
It was so much fun to talk with X-Men fans again & signing their books & X-Men toys.
Time just flew by because of all the fans that showed up! It felt like I was back at a ComicCon again
@xmen
@xmentas
@disneyplus
@xmen_universe
🥳Happy Birthday Wishes, Robert N. Skir ! Your script, "A Rogue's Tale" is the most definitive Rogue backstory done thus far and the most celebrated.
@ZannLenore
@Marvel
@disneyplus