X-Men: The Animated Series

The series follows the X-Men, mutants born with superhuman abilities who operate under Professor Charles Xavier.

Xavier believes humans and mutants can coexist and trains the X-Men to use their powers to protect both sides.

Magneto, a powerful mutant who has lost faith that humans will accept mutants, often stands in opposition.

Alongside battles with villains and various threats, the team must cope with fear and hostility toward mutants from human society, and with efforts to locate, register, imprison and even destroy them.

At the start of the series Jubilee, a young mutant just discovering her powers, serves as the viewer's entry point into the world of the X-Men.

Professor Charles Xavier (Professor X) - founder and leader of the X-Men. A mutant with powerful telepathic abilities who believes in coexistence between humans and mutants.

Cyclops - one of the team's leaders.

Can fire powerful optic beams and must use special glasses or a visor to control them.

Jean Grey - a mutant with telepathic and telekinetic abilities.

Her relationship with Cyclops is one of the series' central bonds.

Wolverine - a tough fighter with rapid healing, heightened senses and an adamantium skeleton and claws.

His ties to Cyclops and Jean Grey often create tension within the team.

Storm - can control the weather and create winds, lightning and storms.

Rogue - can absorb others' memories, powers and abilities through touch.

As a result she struggles with physical contact.

Gambit - a charismatic mutant who can charge objects with kinetic energy and turn them into weapons.

He is especially associated with the playing cards he throws at enemies.

Beast - a scientist and intellectual with superhuman strength and agility and a blue, furry appearance.

Through his character the series often explores society's attitude toward mutants.

Jubilee - a teenager who can create colorful energy bursts.

At the start of the series she discovers the mutant world and joins the X-Men.

Magneto - one of the world's strongest mutants, able to control magnetic fields.

Unlike Xavier, he doubts that peaceful coexistence between humans and mutants is possible.

Many other characters from the X-Men universe appear during the series, including Bishop, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Iceman, Cable, Mystique, Sabretooth, Apocalypse, Mister Sinister and Juggernaut.

X-Men also aired in Israel with a Hebrew dub during the 1990s.

The Hebrew version featured a large voice cast including Eli Gorenstein, Asnat Yeshinsky, Mummy Levy, Nir Friedman, Sivan Shavit, Ravit Perera, Yossi Meir, Yehoachin Friedlander, Yasmin Gamiel, Yael Karavan, Haim Eden, Yoel Lerner, Shai Zornitzer, Moti Dichne and Ami Mendelman.

Documented roles include: Professor Xavier - Yehoachin Friedlander; Magneto - Moti Dichne; Jubilee - Yael Karavan; Juggernaut - Ami Mendelman.

Hebrew version crew: voice direction - Shai Zornitzer; translation - Meira Tanenbaum; production - Chen Sidi; production management - Sharon Malmed-Elqana; recording and mix - Haim Eden; mix and voice QC - Ziv Sidi; language editing - Devora Ben Israel; video editing - Raz Danieli.

Shai Zornitzer also acted in the Hebrew version in addition to directing the voices.

The series was produced in the early 1990s following earlier attempts to bring the X-Men to television and the comics' growing popularity.

As early as 1989 the pilot Pryde of the X-Men was produced, intended as the basis for an animated series but not continued as a full run. Some production staff from that pilot, including Larry Houston, later worked on the 1992 series.

Key figures on X-Men included Eric Lewald, Sidney Iwanter and Larry Houston.

The series was produced in partnership by Marvel and Saban Entertainment, with much of the animation work done by AKOM in South Korea.

The two-part Night of the Sentinels aired in late 1992 before the regular broadcast schedule began.

X-Men drew heavily on the Marvel Comics universe and adapted several famous story arcs.

Stories adapted in the series include The Phoenix Saga, The Dark Phoenix Saga, Days of Future Past, Weapon X, Proteus and The Phalanx Covenant.

The adaptations did not copy the comics exactly.

Characters and events were adjusted to the TV series continuity and format, and elements from several different comic stories were sometimes combined.

One of the series' notable traits was its handling of relatively complex themes for a children's animated show.

Mutants are portrayed as a minority society fears and sometimes seeks to control or remove.

Through their treatment the series explores discrimination, prejudice, persecution, identity and acceptance of the other.

The Sentinels, robots built to find and capture mutants, become from the start of the series one of the clearest expressions of human fear of mutants.

Beast's arrest and trial early in the series also lets the plot examine mutants' status in society.