During the late '70s and throughout the '80s,the X-Men became one of Marvel's most popular comics. But it wasn't until 1992 that the characters truly became pop culture icons in X-Men: The lively Series. Fox didn't initially realize it had a hit on its hands, but X-Men quickly won over legions of fans while paving the way for the X-Men live-action film in 2000.
Source: blastr.com