Sonic the Hedgehog (TV series)

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Not to be confused with Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog.
For other uses, see Sonic the Hedgehog.
Sonic the Hedgehog

Opening title card for Sonic the Hedgehog.
Format Animated series
Created by DiC Entertainment
Sega Corporation (characters)
Starring Jaleel White
Kath Soucie
Jim Cummings
Rob Paulsen
Christine Cavanaugh
William Windom
Country of origin Flag of the United States United States
Language(s) English
No. of seasons 2
No. of episodes 26 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time 30min
Broadcast
Original channel Flag of the United StatesABC / Flag of Canada CTV
Original run September 18, 1993 – December 3, 1994
Chronology
Related shows Sonic Underground, Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic X
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Sonic the Hedgehog is an American animated series created by DiC with partnership of Sega of America, also known as SatAM because it was originally aired in the United States as a Saturday morning cartoon. It was loosely based on the video game series of the same name. The series aired from September 18, 1993 to December 3, 1994 on ABC.

The series had a dark atmosphere about it and this sharply contrasts with Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog that premiered in the same month and was much more light-hearted in tone: Adventures..., for example, had Robotnik as a bungling villain assisted by equally-incompetent robots, while this series portrays him as a ferocious dictator.

Contents

[edit] Production

The series ran for about 2 seasons. A third season was in the early planning development when ABC cancelled the series because of low ratings. After Sonic the Hedgehog was cancelled, the series was aired on the USA Network's USA Action Extreme Team as a rerun, albeit with some edits made for time and commercials.

The series was also telecast in Canada on the CTV Network, although it was aired between September 18, 1993, and September 2, 1995. The possible reason for CTV airing the series during the summer of 1995, which ABC never did, was to simply run the rest of the 1994-1995 broadcast year out. The series has not been aired in Canada since its cancellation.

The program was recently broadcast on the UK television channels Pop and ITV2. It initially had a complete run on Channel 4 which began on Saturday mornings but for season 2 was moved to Sunday mornings.

Despite its cancellation and limited recent airings, the series enjoyed a small but loyal fanbase. This was also the partial basis for the comic book series entitled Sonic the Hedgehog, which continued even a decade after the cartoon's cancellation and still featured many of the cartoon's own characters.

The entire series was released on DVD by Shout! Factory on March 27, 2007. See below for more information about this release.

[edit] Plot summary

The show takes place on a planet called Mobius sometime in the 33rd century. An infamous mad scientist named Dr. Julian Ivo Robotnik (Jim Cummings) who owned a pet robot chicken named Cluck, invaded and conquered a huge city named Mobotropolis, with the help of his assistant and nephew Snively (Charlie Adler) and his army of robot soldiers called SWATbots. He then used a giant airship called the Destroyer to turn Mobotropolis into a new city, renaming it Robotropolis, a polluted city of factories, warehouses and mining facilities. This invasion occurred on Friday the 13th, 3224, in an unknown month (Blast to the Past Pt. 1 and 2). It is possible though according to a calendar of the future year that the invasion could have occurred on Friday, September 13, 3224 or Friday, December 13, 3224[1].

Robotnik soon abducted the city's king, Maximillian Acorn (Tim Curry), exiling him to a dimensional warp known as "The Void" and made the palace his own personal headquarters. From there, he captured the rest of the citizens, including an intelligent old hedgehog named Sir Charles Hedgehog (William Windom), a.k.a. Dr. Hedgehog and Uncle Chuck, and his nephew's dog Muttski, and used a machine called the Roboticizer to turn them into robot slaves.

Those who managed to escape retreated into the Great Forest and built a village named Knothole to hide from Robotnik, including a group called the Freedom Fighters, among them the protagonist, Sonic the Hedgehog (Jaleel White), Charles' speedy nephew and the main character of the series, as well as his best friend Tails (Bradley Pierce), a young 2-tailed fox who can twirl his tails to fly.

Other Freedom Fighters include Rotor (Mark Ballou/Cam Brainard), a walrus with a knack for machines which rivals that of Sir Charles, Antoine (Rob Paulsen), a French coyote and former palace guard with many personality flaws, and Bunnie Rabbot (Christine Cavanaugh), a pretty southern cyborg rabbit who was partially roboticized before being saved by Sonic. Last is the group's leader (although she at times refers to Sonic as the leader), Princess Sally Acorn (Kath Soucie), the king's only daughter (a chipmunk and a short-tailed squirrel) and Sonic's future girlfriend. Sally carries a sentient mini-computer named NICOLE.

For 10 years, the Freedom Fighters constantly foiled Robotnik's schemes. In the show's second season, a winged female dragon named Dulcy (Cree Summer) was a new star. Dulcy's mother Sabina was captured and roboticized along with most of her species. Another character was also introduced: an evil sorcerer named Ixis Naugus (Michael Bell), who was Robotnik's mentor. During the takeover, Naugus discovered a portal into the Void. Requesting Robotnik to bring him back to Mobius, Naugus went through the portal to explore it, but Robotnik betrayed him and sealed it, intent on trapping Naugus forever.

The series ran for 2 seasons when it was cancelled due to low ratings, as previous fans of the video game series did not like how far the show strayed from the games' storyline. The final episode, "The Doomsday Project", ended with a cliffhanger suggesting a new villain for season three. Many fans and newcomers have debated over whose eyes were in the background at the end of "The Doomsday Project". Some thought it was Knuckles the Echidna, while others thought Metal Sonic. On the popular website, Fans United for SatAM, and the series boxset (via interview, a bonus feature on disc four), Ben Hurst revealed that the eyes belonged to "Ixis Naugus. Not Knuckles. Not Metal Sonic. Ixis Naugus." He also mentioned at Sagexpo that Knuckles would have appeared at the end of Season 3, and would have been more of a main character in the fourth season, had the series been allowed to continue.[citation needed] No mention of Metal Sonic appearing in the series was made.

[edit] Airing history

[edit] Home video release history

[edit] DVD releases

DVD Name Cover Art Ep # Release dates Additional Features
Region 1 Region 2 Region 4
The Complete Series 26 March 27, 2007 See Below TBA This four disc boxset includes the entire 26 episodes from the series. Bonus features include: storyboards, concept art, storyboard-to-screen comparisons, deleted/extended scenes, a printable prototype script of the series pilot (Heads or Tails), and interviews with Jaleel White and head writer Ben Hurst. The individual cases and the DVDs themselves also feature fan art submitted to Shout! Factory during the box set's development phase [3].

Cover art by Ken Penders
Sonic The Hedgehog: Super Sonic 5 February 26, 2002 - - This single disc DVD includes five episodes from the series. Bonus features include: "Exciting Interactive Game", "Trailers" and "Scene Access". This DVD was pulled however when Buena Vista claimed to have distribution rights to the series. Some copies are still available to be purchased on Amazon.com and other sites like this. [4]
The Complete Series 26 See Above September 10, 2007 TBA This four disc boxset includes the entire 26 episodes from the series. Bonus features include: "Way Past Cool! A Conversation with Sonic Writer Ben Hurst", "The Fastest Thing Alive: A Conversation with Jaleel White", "Storyboard-to-Screen: The Doomsday Project - The complete episode shown with the animated storyboards", "Original Storyboards for an Unproduced Opening Title Sequence" and "Original DiC Concept Art Galleries". As on the R1 set, a "Printable Heads or Tails Pilot Script" is listed on the disc's extra menu, but the PDF file is nowhere to be found on any of the discs. Solicitations for the set also promised "Easter Eggs Galore" and "Fan art", neither of which appeared on the finished product. The boxset is marketed as Region 2, but is in fact Region 0 PAL. [5]
Sonic The Hedgehog: Sonic Boom And Other Episodes 9 - September 10, 2007 - This disc features nine episodes from the series, all from season one. The episodes included are as follows: Sonic Boom, Sonic & Sally, Ultra Sonic, Sonic & The Secret Scrolls, Super Sonic, Sonic Racer, Hooked On Sonics, Harmonic Sonic, and Sonic's Nightmare.[6]
Sonic, Las aventuras: Vol. 1 4 N/A N/A 2007 The first volume from the region 4 DVDs released in Mexico by Zima Entertainment. This single disc DVD includes four episodes from the series. The episodes included are as follows: Sonic Boom, Sonic & Sally, Ultra Sonic and Sonic & The Secret Scrolls.

Audio language: Spanish/English. A picture gallery is included as a bonus feature.
Sonic, Las aventuras: Vol. 2 4 N/A N/A 2007 The second volume from the region 4 DVDs released in Mexico by Zima Entertainment. This single disc DVD includes four episodes from the series. The episodes included are as follows: Super Sonic, Sonic Racer, Hooked on Sonics and Harmonic Sonic.

Audio language: Spanish/English. A picture gallery is included as a bonus feature.
Sonic, Las aventuras: Vol. 3 4 N/A N/A 2007 The third volume from the region 4 DVDs released in Mexico by Zima Entertainment. Episodes included on this single DVD: Sonic's Nightmare, Warp Sonic, Sub-Sonic and Sonic Past Cool.

Audio language: Spanish/English. Bonus feature: Picture gallery.
Sonic, Las aventuras: Vol. 4 4 N/A N/A 2007 The fourth volume from the region 4 DVDs released in Mexico by Zima Entertainment. Episodes included on this single DVD: Game Guy, Sonic Conversion, No Brainer and Blast to the Past (Part I).

Audio language: Spanish/English. Bonus feature: Picture gallery.
Sonic, Las aventuras: Vol. 5 4 N/A N/A 2007 The fifth volume from the region 4 DVDs released in Mexico by Zima Entertainment. Episodes included on this single DVD: Blast to the past (Part II), Fed Up with Antoine/Ghost Busted, Dulcy and The Void.

Audio language: Spanish/English. Bonus feature: Picture gallery.
Sonic, Las aventuras: Vol. 6 5 N/A N/A 2008 The sixth and last volume from the region 4 DVDs released in Mexico by Zima Entertainment. Episodes included on this single DVD: The Odd Couple/Ro-Becca, Cry of the Wolf, Drood Henge, The Spyhog and The Doomsday Project.

Audio language: Spanish/English. Bonus feature: Picture gallery.

[edit] VHS releases

VHS Name Cover Art Ep # Release dates TV Encode Description
Hooked on Sonics 2 October 21, 1994 NTSC Includes the episodes, Hooked On Sonics, and Warp Sonic.
Sonic Racer 2 December 19, 1994 NTSC Includes the episodes, Sonic Racer, and Sonic Boom. This volume was reissued in 2002, with new cover art. See below
Super Sonic 2 December 19, 1994 NTSC Includes the episodes, Super Sonic, and Sonic and Sally. This volume was also reissued in 2002, with new cover art. See below
Sonic Racer 2 February 26, 2002 NTSC Re-issue from the 1994 VHS edition.
Super Sonic 2 February 26, 2002 NTSC Re-issue from the 1994 VHS edition.

[edit] Differences with Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog

While Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog is known for its bright colors and whimsical humor, Sonic the Hedgehog featured darker and mature in tone stories which constituted a departure from the tone of the Sonic games of the time. To distinguish between the 2 series, fans typically refer to this series as SatAM, because it was a Saturday morning cartoon, while Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog aired on weekdays in syndication in the United States.

[edit] Theme song

The theme song ("Fastest Thing Alive") was produced by Noisy Neighbors Productions.[7]

Lyrics are as follows:

Blue streak speeds by

Sonic the Hedgehog

Too fast for the naked eye

Sonic the Hedgehog

Sonic, he can really move

Sonic, he's got an attitude

Sonic, he's the fastest thing alive

Look out when he storms through

Sonic the Hedgehog

Don't doubt what he can do

Sonic the Hedgehog

Sonic, he can really move

Sonic, he's got an attitude

Sonic, he's the fastest thing alive

He's the fastest thing alive

He's the fastest thing alive

[edit] Cast

[edit] Episode list

Main article: List of Sonic the Hedgehog (TV series) episodes

[edit] Season 3

Though the series ended with Season 2, there were more episodes planned. According to writer Ben Hurst, the third season would have featured Snively briefly attempting to take over, but he quickly fails.

He would then accidentally release Naugus from the Void, who would take over as the main villain with Robotnik as his lackey (Naugus is also the person whose eyes were seen behind Snively at the end of Season 2). The King would also be freed from the Void and Snively, reduced to nothing, would later defect to the Freedom Fighters (which briefly occurred in the Sonic Archie comic).

Furthermore, more developments would have come along between the relationship of Sonic and Tails, coming a little closer to the game relationship it strayed so far away from.[2] It has also been said that Sally is romanced by someone other than Sonic. Also, Hurst mentions that Tails would discover some great power hidden inside him and that he would save the Freedom Fighters from a great disaster.

[edit] Pre–Sonic the Hedgehog

In 1993 an article in Sonic the Comic (the British comic officially licensed by Sega Of Europe), it announced two new television series starring Sonic the Hedgehog, Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog. Within the four pages of plot synopsis and concept art, a group of screen shots that greatly differ from the rest appear without explanation. These screen shots have circulated through the Internet contributing to the theory of a cartoon series aborted before production which has been dubbed "The Mystery cartoon" also "Pre-SatAM" by Sonic fans.

One of these images, showing 'The Freedom Team' was later reused to promote the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog series, along with another, using similar art, presumably from the same timeframe.

While there has not been any confirmation from DiC on the matter, it is from Internet speculations that these images were a prototype for Sonic the Hedgehog, due to similarities (Sally Acorn, The Robotocizer, Freedom Fighters) with the series and their appearance within an article announcing Sonic the Hedgehog.

The supporting characters in the Pre-Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon are based on the small animals freed from enemies in the original Sonic the Hedgehog game - although wildly different in design, they all bear the same names as those attributed to the various video game animal characters listed in the UK book, Stay Sonic, which were also used in Sonic the Comic strips. Most notably, the image went on to inspire redesigns of Sonic the Comic supporting characters Johnny Lightfoot and Porker Lewis - while originally they were single the basic rabbit and pig video-game character designs, they were abruptly redesigned to be given humanoid proportions and the leather jackets the image depicted. Most notable in the image is the lack of Tails; it could be that the concept was drawn up before Tails' arrival in the series.[3]

[edit] Cancelled Video Game

In a recent interview with Peter Morawiec, a former programmer for Sega Technical Institute and the famed creator of Comix Zone, he had developed a prototype game based on the cartoon continuity, using a completely different engine than the traditional Sonic games. It would have been a second time that characters from the cartoon series would have shown up, and possibly the first video game appearances of both the cartoon version of Robotnik and Snively.[4]

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Time And Date.com [1]
  2. ^ Imdb.com
  3. ^ Before SatAM. SonicHQ. Retrieved on 2007-12-17.
  4. ^ [2]

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Sonic the Hedgehog comic and TV characters
Archie's comics
& DIC's cartoon
Sonic the Comic
Sonic X
Underground
AoStH
v • d • e
Sonic the Hedgehog features
Emerald/Ring
Other
Spin offs