The X-Files: Animated Series (Fanmade Concept)

Disclaimer: These are just fun little fan made concepts I did and not “lost media” or “real screenshots”. I do not own the X-Files! Again, this is all just for fun and it's all fan made.

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What if… The X-Files had a 90s/2000s cartoon?

I call it: “The X-Files: Animated Series” or "The X-Files: The Animated Series". 

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The X-Files: Animated Series or The X-Files: The Animated Series is an American sci-fi cartoon series based on the X-Files created by Chris Carter. It ran from 1998 to 2000 on Fox Kids. Most of the cast return and David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson reprise their roles as Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, respectively. The series is much milder than the original X-Files series, as it contains less blood and violence.

Like the original, the duo investigate various X-Files. Some episodes are a “Monster of the Week” format and some are story driven (or two-parters). In the series finale, Mulder saves Scully from an evil alien group. They then kiss each other and walk out in the sunset.

The series spawned some merch including action figures and T-shirts. A video game was released in 2000 for the Game Boy Color.

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I don’t know what synopsis I came up with. 0-0

Imagine someone accidentally falling for this. And spreading it around…

First off, I don’t know much about the X-Files; I wasn’t born in the 90s. I’ve only been watching cable reruns on a channel called COMET. But maybe someday, I might give the series a chance; some episodes I’ve seen made me uncomfortable but not much. I can’t remember that one episode where they played the same darn sound effect over and over (it sounds like those reality show sounds) but it got annoying when I kept seeing it in reruns and it led me to muting the audio.

Update (3/13): The episode is titled “Oubliette”, Season 3 Episode 8. That’s the episode I’m referring to with that one repeated sound effect.

So, this is different from my usual anime art style that I do. I’ve been having this idea ever since I discovered a clip of an obscure cartoon called “Eek! The Cat” that had an episode where Dana Scully and Fox Mulder make a cameo appearance. 

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2VuffjHXeQ)

And I already know about their appearance in “The Simpsons”.

Besides that, what led me to draw these concepts? A cartoon series called “Men in Black: The Series”. One of the characters, Agent L, her design reminded me of Scully. And that's when I began sketching.

I also created the logo. I took the regular X-Files logo, moved “The” above the X, and added “Animated Series” below. The words spelling out “Animated Series” were made using a font generator.

Dana Scully

I used reference images of Agent L for the face and pose of the mouth. As for the hair, I had a tough decision between Scully’s appearance in “Eek! The Cat” and “The Simpsons”. When I was looking at Scully’s hair in “Eek!”, I didn’t like the spikiness on the front of her hair. I decided to go with her appearance on “The Simpsons”. I did reference a bit of Agent L’s hair too.

While doing the sides was easy, drawing her hair in the front view was tough. I looked at reference images of Scully and I said “screw it”, and drew it on my own without reference. For the palette, I used the Simpsons colors for her hair and lips. For her eyes, eyelash, and skin (although I’ve been altering the colors of her skin in some drawings), I used Agent L. Her outfit’s colors come from her appearance in “Eek!”

Fox Mulder

I started with Dana first because I knew she would be easy for me. As for Mulder, he was tough. But, after looking at an image of Agent L, I decided what character I’ll use as reference: Agent K. However, I altered his appearance because I didn’t want Mulder to look like an “old man”. I also noticed Agent K looks different in some images; does the agent’s appearance (or character design) change in each season or episode? I haven’t watched the series in a while; the last time I did was on a channel called the Hub (now Discovery Family).

For his palette, I used the Simpsons for his hair, and outfit. His skin palette comes from Agent K and his eye palette is borrowed from Scully’s eye color, just changed up a bit by me. His outfit palette I believe comes from a cartoon called "Extreme Dinosaurs" where there was a parody of Mulder and Scully while the blue comes from The Simpsons.

Now it’s time for the fun part…

The fake screenshots and posters!

Let’s start with the fake promo posters first.

Promo #1

I picked FOX Kids because… why not? The X-Files aired on FOX. Originally, the date was gonna say “10/13” (referencing the production company and Chris Carter’s birthday) but when I did research, I couldn’t find a 10/13 on a Saturday. But luckily, I found “11/21” on a Saturday in 1998. So I picked that date. I found out that 1121 is a number that commonly appears in the show. I was nearly gonna put “Special Preview 10/13 on Fox” but nah. 

The top originally said “I Want to Believe”, a reference to Mulder’s poster in his office. But I changed it to “The Truth is Out There”, which references the saying in the opening credits of the theme.

As for Mulder and Scully’s poses, I used this image as reference. I did trace over it though because I was having a hard time doing the pose. I hate tracing, but I had to do it.

This promo poster would be reused in one of my fake screenshots (seen above and below).

Promo #2

This one is my favorite. 

It is based on this promo image:

I used different colors for the outline so I can have that “old school VHS look”. By the time I added shading, I was blown away about how good it looked. And it made me think, “why didn’t we get an X-Files cartoon series back in the day?”. 

Some cartoons have poked fun or referenced the series. That would’ve been so cool to be honest: the series would’ve been story driven or something like, I dunno, “Archie’s Weird Mysteries”. I can think of one mature rated show that has a cartoon spinoff: Tales from the Crypt. Although I’m not that much familiar with the Crypt series, Tales from the Crypt is a dark, not-for-kids TV series, but it has a cartoon series titled “Tales from the Cryptkeeper” that’s made for kids!

We nearly had an X-Files cartoon without Mulder and Scully (and it was gonna be a comedy) but it’s not moving forward. Good. And then they’re bringing back the X-Files again without Mulder and Scully and to make it more “diverse”. We already had an ending… I swear, these modern companies bring back old IPs and ruining them (looking at you, upcoming CG Gargoyles revival…) -_- 

But enough complaining, let’s continue with the fake commercials.

We’ll be back after these messages…

So for image #1, I took a photo from a YouTube video and edited it to include the X-Files. The image originally came from a “Space Goofs” promo. I kept the Fox Kids logo and the “All New Saturday!” sign. However, I edited the time to say 9:00 am instead of 9:30 am. I added Scully there to show that she’s talking to the viewer, announcing the time and day. I added some noise and a VHS overlay.

Same with image #2. The image originally comes from a Ultimate Goosebumps promo, ripped from a YouTube thumbnail I found on Google. This image I actually made first before the Scully one just to see what a “X-Files Animated Series” Fox Kids Promo Ad would look like. But basically the same thing, just the logo is centered and not moved.

For both, the colors of the logo and background reference a promo poster.

…And now, back to the show!

Screenshot #1

This is (kind of) a redraw of a screenshot from MIB: The Series. I did what I could with the background’s colors. 

For this scene, I’m imagining Scully looking at an X-File or talking to Mulder about a case. Or not believing what Mulder is saying, lol.

Screenshot #2

The “TV-Y7” is ripped from some Goosebumps episode airing on Fox Kids; it came from a YouTube thumbnail.

Again, the art is reused from Promo #1 except I added the logo below it. This one was a test screenshot, as I was curious what the show’s opening would be like when it starts. I can picture the X-Files theme playing, but a bit remixed?

Screenshot #3

Another redraw of a MIB: The Series screenshot. 

I want to show that Scully is in danger here.

Oh, and I realized that gaussian blur exists in Procreate, so I used that to blur up the line art a bit.

Screenshot #4

A redraw from a MIB: The Series screenshot.

Not sure what to caption this one. I guess they are at someone's house investigating. Mulder seems surprised.

Screenshot #5

You get it... another MIB: The Series screenshot redraw.

I wasn't sure where this would take place, so I decided that this "final scene" of an episode should take place in an elevator. Scully comes up to Mulder and asks if they want something to drink together after a successful case.

My brain forgot about how tall Mulder is supposed to be here; let's pretend he's leaning a bit or that the "animators" made an error. I finished an Anthropology midterm last week, bear with me. I get easily distracted and forget stuff.

The X-Files Animated Series… on the Game Boy Color???

But wait… there’s more?

This is a fake box art concept for an X-Files Animated Series GBC game. Guess what made me create this idea. If you said Men In Black, you’re right!

The Men in Black cartoon had 2 GBC games, but I always keep thinking about the first one with the full motion video for its intro (the music is not great except for one level).

This cover is based on the promo image shown above; I said I used it for the commercial’s background and logo colors. 

I’m betting you play as Mulder trying to free Scully from evil aliens. That’s my guess. And after you beat it, you get to play as Scully saving Mulder. Just like the PS2 X-Files game where you play as both Mulder and Scully.

But what about-

Yes, I know you’re gonna say it. Where’s the Cigarette Smoking Man? Where’s Walter Skinner?

I’m only working with Mulder and Scully for now. Sorry if I can’t do the other characters. I’m just a busy girl focusing on college and college is important to me. I drew these concepts because I needed a break from all the reading in one of my classes and to relax my mind. 

This was fun and I hope to come back to the X-Files Animated Series concept in the future.

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Let me know what you think! If you like these concepts, consider donating (or commission; message me first before commissioning me) at: 

ko-fi.com/wimbearn

It helps me as a small artist and I will be using the money for good things such as buying art supplies or saving my money for self-publishing my original comic (which hasn’t been out to the world yet).