View Full Version : X-Men: TAS "Beauty And The Beast" Talkback (Spoilers)
Continuing the X-Men: The Animated Series talkbacks!
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Episode #23: Beauty And The Beast
Original Airdate - 15th January 1994
Beast falls in love with Carly, a blind patient of his. The two are kept apart by Carly's father who looks down upon the mutant race. But when the Friends of Humanity (an anti-mutant organization) kidnaps Carly, her father turns to Beast who must now risk his life to try and save her.
Comments?
Having been able to revisit a big part of my childhood this year when they began showing the old Spider-Man and XMen cartoons on cable here; I have been able to see both shows in (almost) their entirety. I remembered a lot; but in some cases I didn't remember whole episodes just bits and pieces from the series. I've been able to 'fill up' by watching the show all the way through this year.
I am half thinking they are right to have that coup de grace in this episode; while the other half of me kind of wanted such a cool Wolverine moment/final showdown with the FOH for another episode. On one hand, as Jubilee says Wolverine is the foil to Beast's emotional outbursts; so to see a Beast-like turn from him worked. But, the fact that he knew to use the Creed Senior link, more could have been more of that - plus that meant that Beast would have been on for more time.
The romantic part of the plot was believable; and once again showed Beast as a complete three dimensional character. Makes you wonder how good they could have done if they gave him more focus. In less than 30 minutes, he gets better development than Storm did in all her episodes if you ask me! To tackle vilification like the X-Men franchise has done for so long is one thing; but to focus on the topic in this episode - the point where it drives apart two people who love each other - that's getting into very poignant territory.
When I was a nipper and watched this in the mornings; the ones I could watch any time I wanted (because I had it on tape) was the series two-part Sentinels opener. I would watch Beast get imprisoned repeatedly and then when X-Men was on tv see if he was still in jail or not. At the time yeah I was more into the group and Wolverine's backstory as that was what they were feeding us early on (him vs Sabretooth; the hints of Weapon X) so Beast didn't get a look in as he was out of commission at first. If I ever wanted to sit down with an X-Men comic, I'd want to make sure it was a good Beast story.
Beast's VA was great. It was always fun to see this truly animal looking mutant but hear such an eloquent and distinguished voice out of him. It's a crime that he didn't get used and was only given wise old proverbs to say; while I did like that he could have done a bit more. The VA of course did all he could with what he was given.
Overall, I gave this episode five stars because it showed multiple signs of great storytelling. The FOH subplot was tied up very nicely and done in a clever way - a fitting way to take out one of the better antagonists in the series. Like I said, to use the plotline of one of the characters having a relationship with a human and encounter vilification from the latter's family for daring to 'inter-breed' is different to the usual type of abuse FOH (funnily enough) and their ilk dish out to our favourite band of mutants.
Most of all, though my man Beast gets a look-in, finally. The writers did so well with one episode of focus on Beast than I think they did in the more popular stories including those big fandangled comic sagas they adapted. When the loop of X-Men Evolution finishes and the pilot episode is shown, I'll start setting the VCR to tape that - which episodes should I watch of that so I can get more contemporary stuff of the blue guy?
If you've managed to get all the way down here; well done!
I'm not going to lie, I started this because I never could resist a good rambling about how good it is.
As a huge fan of this version of Beast, I think it's a great shame that was practically his only 'focus' episode. The creative team obviously thought Beast worked better in a team, rather than concentrate on his solo efforts. The same could be said for Gambit, who also only got one focus episode.
I always thought the Friends Of Humanity was a great idea, a fantastic foil for the mutants. They work so well, because, as Jean pointed out, if the mutants act violently towards them, the FOH are essentially proving the message they are trying to deliever. That mutants are too dangerous to be around 'normal' human beings. It was especially sweet to see Wolverine of all people prove them wrong, as Wolverine would've preffered to beat the living snot out of them.
The love angel between Beast and Carly was arguably one of the best the series did. I was so close to having a teary eyed moment when they had to say goodbye, and I've never cried at a cartoon before in my life. There was some great character development here from Beast, especially if you've seen 'The Mutant Agenda/Mutants Revenge' crossover from Spider-Man, which revealed how Beast came to be like he is, a product of his own hatred towards himself.
Beast was a character I've always felt a great sympathy for, more than likely because of the fact he was jailed for the first season. The scene in 'Enter Magneto', in which he appears before Court and is denied bail was truly a defining moment in this series for me. I never read the comics before watching this show, so this was my first introduction to all of the X-Men. Beast was a specifically enhanced for me because he had an outstanding voice actor.
If you've managed to make it all the way down here, you'll no doubt be unsurprised when I give this episode a ***** rating.
I would say this is my favourite episode. I've really come to like Beast the most in the show; and I'll agree with you Spidey that he was criminally underused. The Spiderman crossover, like you, I enjoyed because it was about Beast and also for me it told me more about Beast than I ever knew. Jubilee's "Beast going crazy and Wolverine using his brain? Wow!" summed the show up for me the best - it was great to see Beast come out of the shell the makers had him in for the whole time this show was on.
Beast wasn't underused IMO, it's just that he was rarely the main focus of many episodes, as in, the central character. A good example would be Obsession, the Archangel episode, which had a subplot involving Beast and Apocolpyse's ship.
If you don't mind, I'm going to disect your post!Cool.
I am half thinking they are right to have that coup de grace in this episode; while the other half of me kind of wanted such a cool Wolverine moment/final showdown with the FOH for another episode. On one hand, as Jubilee says Wolverine is the foil to Beast's emotional outbursts; so to see a Beast-like turn from him worked. But, the fact that he knew to use the Creed Senior link, more could have been more of that - plus that meant that Beast would have been on for more time.
The FOH did appear again in an episode towards the end of the show's run, called Blood Lines in which it was revealed that Sabertooth wasn't the only mutant Creed was related too. Mystique was his mother, and Nightcralwer and Rouge are his brother and sister. It was a good episode, and had a great ending for Creed that I won't ruin for you here.
True. Undoubtedly the best romantic plot of the show, and some great development for Beast. Would've been interesting to see some of the others get some episodes like this. People like Storm could've used it
[QUOTE=Crow]Beast's VA was great. It was always fun to see this truly animal looking mutant but hear such an eloquent and distinguished voice out of him. It's a crime that he didn't get used and was only given wise old proverbs to say; while I did like that he could have done a bit more. The VA of course did all he could with what he was given.
I think everyone else who has portrayed him as got it wrong. They either trying to sound too intelligent, or too beastial. This version had a great mix of both. Undoubtedly the best Beast voice ever. I always liked his little poems and verses he would recite, the often gave a great understanding of the scene. The Evo Beast did in the Christmas episode, which put a nice smile on my face.
When the loop of X-Men Evolution finishes and the pilot episode is shown, I'll start setting the VCR to tape that - which episodes should I watch of that so I can get more contemporary stuff of the blue guy?
If you've managed to get all the way down here; well done!
Obsession is a good one. Cold Comfort deals with some of his past, with Iceman. The first few episodes of season 2, in which the Friends Of Humanity story started are probably the best ones. I'm just sorry we don't have our X-Men site ready, that probably could've helped a lot.
Beast wasn't underused IMO, it's just that he was rarely the main focus of many episodes, as in, the central character. A good example would be Obsession, the Archangel episode, which had a subplot involving Beast and Apocolpyse's ship.
Good point. That is one of the Apocalypse arcs I liked in the show.
The FOH did appear again in an episode towards the end of the show's run, called Blood Lines in which it was revealed that Sabertooth wasn't the only mutant Creed was related too. Mystique was his mother, and Nightcralwer and Rouge are his brother and sister. It was a good episode, and had a great ending for Creed that I won't ruin for you here.
I have missed a lot of the final year or thereabouts; is that before or after the animation company switch?
I think everyone else who has portrayed him as got it wrong. They either trying to sound too intelligent, or too beastial. This version had a great mix of both. Undoubtedly the best Beast voice ever. I always liked his little poems and verses he would recite, the often gave a great understanding of the scene. The Evo Beast did in the Christmas episode, which put a nice smile on my face.
On the Entertainment Board a while back, I was mistaken for hanging crap on the X Men movies because I talked about Cyc and Storm's handling in them. I wasn't, as I love the X movies heaps - one thing I ask of them though is that Beast is done well. In the second one, a Hank McCoy shows up. I'll be waiting for him in X3 and beyond with baited breath to see what happens with him.
Obsession is a good one. Cold Comfort deals with some of his past, with Iceman. The first few episodes of season 2, in which the Friends Of Humanity story started are probably the best ones. I'm just sorry we don't have our X-Men site ready, that probably could've helped a lot.
Thanks.
One of, if not the very best episodes of X-Men airs today.
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Episode #23: Beauty And The Beast
Original Airdate - 15th January 1994
Beast falls in love with one of his blind patients Carly, who is the daughter of a mutant-hater. Meanwhile, Wolverine infiltrates the Friends of Humanity headquarters.
Comments?
Ahhh hindsight's an interesting thing when looking at old posts.
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