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Sonic the Hedgehog (TV series)

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Sonic the Hedgehog
Opening title card for Sonic the Hedgehog
GenreAction-Adventure
Comedy-drama
Science fantasy
Created byLen Janson
Directed byJohn Grusd
Mory Myrick
Voices ofJaleel White
Charlie Adler
Christine Cavanaugh
Jim Cummings
Bradley Pierce
Rob Paulsen
Mark Ballou
Kath Soucie
Frank Welker
Opening theme"Fastest Thing Alive" by Noisy Neighbors
ComposersMichael Tavera (Season one and theme)
Matt Muhoberac
John Zuker
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes26 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersAndy Heyward
Robby London
ProducerJohn Grusd
Running time20-22 minutes
Production companiesDIC Entertainment
Sega Corporation
Original release
NetworkABC
ReleaseSeptember 18, 1993 (1993-09-18) –
December 3, 1994 (1994-12-03)

Sonic the Hedgehog (promotionally titled Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog and also known as Sonic SatAM) is an American animated television series created by Len Janson and produced by DIC Entertainment with the partnership of Sega of America. The show is very loosely based on the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series and aired two seasons on ABC from September 18, 1993, until December 3, 1994[1] and reran until May 1995. The series received praise from fans and has since then gained a loyal cult following. An ongoing alternate continuity comic loosely based on the show has been published by Archie Comics since 1992.

Background

Initial run

The show's first season focuses its subplots on subject matter that is unusual for, and darker than, most American children's cartoons; placing its setting in a dystopian fantasy world, and using story concepts such as losing family members to war. The first season possesses some minced oaths and various innuendos.[2] Nevertheless, the cartoon remains family friendly, as this subject matter is depicted in a softened manner.

ABC decided that the second season would have several episodes devoted entirely to humor, while "darker" plot developments and possibilities, as well as all violence, were reduced in magnitude.[3] Due to concerns with her more human-like appearance compared to other characters [citation needed], Princess Sally wore a vest beginning in the second season, whereas in the first season she wore only a pair of boots. Further changes in design include a new color palette for Rotor, Bunny's upper arm no longer being roboticized (as opposed to her forearm and shoulder, which remained roboticized) and a flashier look for the creation of power rings in the power ring pool.

The series sharply contrasts with Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, another cartoon series starring Sonic, which had premiered in the same month. While Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog was very lighthearted and comical, Sonic the Hedgehog featured a more complex plot and dramatic atmosphere. This series is the primary inspiration for the Archie comic book series of the same name, which continues to use elements and characters from this series, albeit with a separate continuity.

Syndication

After the series' initial run, it was aired on the USA Network's Action Extreme Team in reruns from June 1997 to January 1998. Reruns aired in syndication from 2004 to 2005.[4]

The series aired in Canada on the CTV Network, with a bonus summer run between June 10 and September 2, 1995, that ABC did not replicate (they instead replaced it with reruns of Free Willy until September 2, 1995). Sonic the Hedgehog has not been re-run in Canada since its cancellation on CTV.

It initially had a complete run on the UK television channel Channel 4 from 1994 to 1996. Season one was broadcast in the Republic of Ireland on RTÉ Two in December 1994.[5]

Plot summary

The show takes place on a planet called Mobius sometime in its 33rd century. A human warlord and former scientist named Dr. Robotnik (voiced by Jim Cummings), and his assistant and nephew Snively (voiced by Charlie Adler), invaded and conquered Mobotropolis, the capital city of Mobius, with an army of robot soldiers called Swatbots.

The show's backstory explains that Robotnik had once been leader of the Mobotropolis War Ministry, and that his creation and use of Swatbots led the country's victory in "The Great War". In the war's aftermath, he was to be appointed Minister of Science by the King of Mobius, who had decided to close the War Ministry and dismantle the Swatbots following the War. However, Robotnik overthrew the kingdom and declared himself to be the new King. King Acorn is never seen or heard from again.

Robotnik captures most of the citizens, including an intelligent old hedgehog named Sir Charles Hedgehog and his crowning invention, the Roboticizer. This invention, created with the intention to prolong life, changes living creatures into robots, but had the unintended effect of robbing the individual of their free will. Robotnik uses this technology to enslave the population.

Some citizens managed to escape the coup, and fled to Knothole Village in the Great Forest to hide from Robotnik's army. Under Princess Sally, they formed a group called the Freedom Fighters to restore Mobius and end Robotnik's rule.

Characters

Freedom Fighters

  • Sonic the Hedgehog (voiced by Jaleel White, Tahj Mowry as younger Sonic) - Sonic is the 15 year old titular character and the protagonist of the series. He is a courageous and cunning hedgehog with an attitude, and is able to run at supersonic speeds. He is also a very capable fighter, and despite his bragging nature, he becomes highly selfless and direct in dangerous circumstances. He greatly misses his uncle, Sir Charles, who was roboticized. He is the only one able to use the Power Rings, usually to greatly increase his potential speed. He is the secondary leader of the Freedom Fighters. In season one, he appeared to be intelligent with a natural flair for cunning plans. In season two, his egotism and foolishness became more exaggerated. If the third season was produced, Sonic would have gone through some sort of temporary character transformation.
  • Sally Alicia Acorn (voiced by Kath Soucie, Dana Hill as younger Sally) - Sally is the princess of Planet Mobius and Sonic's love interest in this series. She is the strategist and primary leader of the Knothole Freedom Fighters, though she often refers to Sonic as the leader. Extremely intelligent, Sally usually hacks into Robotnik's computers to find important targets in Robotropolis. Though she is very cautious, she can also be as bullheaded as Sonic, and is surprisingly spontaneous when there is no danger. She utterly refuses to believe that her father is dead, and is constantly searching for him.
  • Bunnie Rabbot (voiced by Christine Cavanaugh) - Bunnie is a friendly cyborg with a southern accent, Bunnie was briefly captured, and had half of her body roboticized before she was saved, mid-transformation. Now her left arm and both her legs are mechanical. These robotic features, in addition to skill in martial arts, make her the brawn of the Freedom Fighters. Despite these advantages, she greatly desires to be normal again.
  • Antoine Depardieu (voiced by Rob Paulsen) - Antoine is clumsy, cowardly, pompous, coyote who speaks with a French accent and uses French mannerisms. He is a member of the Freedom Fighters. He often has trouble speaking English. He also has a crush on Sally. His rival was Sonic, who would make fun of Antoine for his shortcomings. His clumsiness often gets himself or other Freedom Fighters into trouble. In the first season, he was often portrayed as being intelligent, but too fearful to offer much help to anyone. In the second season, his clumsiness and cowardice became more exaggerated.
  • Tails (voiced by Bradley Pierce) - Tails is a 10 year old younger-brother figure to Sonic, whom he idolizes, Tails is the youngest freedom fighter (since the season two episode "Drood Hedge"). Often left behind in Knothole Village during missions, he is incredibly bright. (also if season three was produced, he would have matured and played a much larger role as an official member of the Freedom Fighter team, even showing a bit of a rebellious side).
  • Rotor (voiced by Mark Ballou (Season 1) and Cam Brainard (Season 2)) - Rotor is a walrus who is the mechanic of Freedom Fighters. He invents reliable gadgets for the Freedom Fighters in Knothole and on their missions. In season one, he accompanies the other Freedom Fighters on many missions. In the second season, he was completely redesigned, had a replacement voice actor, and stays behind to work instead of going on missions.
  • Nicole (voiced by Kath Soucie) - Nicole is a highly advanced, artificially intelligent portable personal computer that Sally uses to analyze and hack into Robotnik's machines. While generally a formal computer, in the episode "Super Sonic", it copies Sonic's lingo so he can understand what it says, much to the bemusement of Sally.
  • Sir Dr Charles Hedgehog (voiced by William Windom) - Known as "Uncle Chuck," he is an elderly inventor, as well as Sonic's warmhearted uncle. Chuck invented the roboticizer to allow people to live longer, but it had the unintended effect of robbing an individual of their free will. Robotnik later stole it and used it on him, turning him into one of many mindless drones and destroyed his "restaurant", Uncle Chuck's Chilli Dogs. With great difficulty, he regains control of his body and acts as a spy for the Freedom Fighters.
  • King Acorn (voiced by Tim Curry) - King Acorn is the rightful King of Mobius, and father to Princess Sally. He was dethroned during a coup immediately following the Great War, and banished to the Void, a crystalline universe from which none can escape.
  • Dulcy (voiced by Cree Summer) - Dulcy is a clumsy, loud-mouthed, young dragon who joined the Freedom Fighters in the second season. She often flies the Freedom Fighters to their destinations or rescues them. She also has powerful lungs, which can be used to blow enemies away, or freeze them solid with ice breath. She is terrible at landing, and often crashes into things mid-flight. She would have come into her full powers, if the show had a third season.

Villains

  • Dr. Julian Robotnik (voiced by Jim Cummings, reprising his role from the unaired pilot of AoStH) - Dr. Robotnik is the madman who conquered Mobotropolis ten years earlier. He is a brilliant, yet heartless warlord seeking nothing less than to encompass the whole world in his machinery and robotic minions. His goals are constantly thwarted by Sonic the Hedgehog, his sworn nemesis. His hatred for the hedgehog has turned into a desperate obsession to capture and roboticize Sonic himself, which is often his own undoing. He was later defeated in the episode Doomsday Project. In season one, Robotnik was portrayed as a fearsome dictator and he had a deep echo to his voice.[6] As season two was more lighthearted than season one, Robotnik was later depicted as an evil but incompetent villain rather than the fierce and intimidating foe he was originally shown to be, and he no longer had a deep echo to his voice.[7]
  • Snively (voiced by Charlie Adler) - Snively is Dr. Robotnik's miserable underling and assistant, as well as his nephew. Snively is constantly abused, teased and intimidated by his uncle. In season one, Snively appeared to be loyal to Robotnik. In season two, Snively was shown to despise Robotnik and talk about him behind his back. Snively's intelligence easily rivals his uncle's, but this trait is ignored. After Robotnik is defeated in "Doomsday Project", Snively himself plans to take over and run all of Robotropolis.
  • Naugus (voiced by Michael Bell) - Naugus is a powerful sorcerer, formerly Dr. Robotnik's mentor. He hates Robotnik for betraying and imprisoning him within the Void during The Great War. He wants nothing more than to see Robotnik suffer, but he cannot exist outside the Void for any extended amount of time. He was scheduled to reappear as one of the main villains in Season 3 alongside Snively before it was cancelled.

Episodes

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

In other media

Comics

Main article: Sonic the Hedgehog (comics)

The Sonic the Hedgehog comic done by Archie Comics was based on the Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon.[8] Themes and storylines in early issues of the comic paralleled the cartoon, while characters and locales are still currently used.[8] A fan made comic has been compiled by Fans United for SatAM that depicts the story that may have unfolded if the third season was ever produced.[9]

Video games

Numerous different video games were intended to use the Sonic the Hedgehog TV series license, although only one was ever completed and released. This was Sonic Spinball, released in 1993 for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, which contained references to the show, such as the inclusion of Princess Sally, Bunnie Rabbot, Rotor and Muttski. The franchise was also planned to be used in a game that had tentatively been titled Sonic-16.[10] A prototyped was being worked on by the U.S.-based Sega Technical Institute, however, Yuji Naka disliked the project and it was cancelled before it could be developed any further.[10] The team worked on another prototype, Sonic Mars, directly afterwards, which also would have used characters from the show, including Princess Sally and Bunnie Rabbot as playable characters, but was also cancelled.[11] The team would then go on to work on the infamous Sonic Xtreme project, which was also cancelled, but by that point, the game had dropped any connections to the television series.[11]

Reception

The program initially ranked #9 in its time slot with a rating of 5.2, an estimated 4.8 million viewers.[12] Mark Bozon of IGN criticized the show for not aging well, and being "so bad, it's good", comparing it to "...The Super Mario Bros. Super Show and The Legend of Zelda.[13] Todd Douglass Jr. of DVD Talk also found the show to be dated, though he found it enjoyable. "I got a kick out of 'Ultra Sonic,' where Sonic finds his now robotic Uncle Chuck," he wrote. " 'Blast to the Past Parts 1 & 2' and 'Doomsday Project' stood out alongside 'Ultra Sonic' as the crème of the crop."[14] GamesRadar called the show "the worst thing to happen to Sonic." It criticized its plot and original characters as "unwanted".[15] Bob Mackey of USgamer also found the show was poor.[16] Meanwhile, Doug Walker of That Guy With The Glasses called the series "a great show," and better than he remembered. He praised it for "literally taking nothing and turning it into something," with a strong story and good character development. [17]

Release history

DVD releases
DVD Name Ep # Release dates Additional Features
Region 1 Region 2 Region 4
The Complete Series[18][19] 26 March 27, 2007 September 10, 2007 — 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. Cover art by Ken Penders and released by Shout! Factory and Sony BMG Music Entertainment. The Region 2 version was distributred by Delta Music Group PLC in the UK.

This set was discontinued in 2012 along with Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog after Shout!'s deal with Cookie Jar Entertainment expired.

References

  1. ^ Sonic Retro - Sonic the Hedgehog (TV series)
  2. ^ Sonic the Hedgehog series episode "Super Sonic"
  3. ^ http://www.sonicsatam.com/information/the-satam-faq/
  4. ^ "FCC 398 Children's Television Programming Report". Licensing.FCC.gov. March 24, 2005. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  5. ^ RTÉ Guide: 10–16. December 1994. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. ^ Sonic the Hedgehog series episode "Sonic Boom"
  7. ^ Sonic the Hedgehog series episode "Sonic Conversion"
  8. ^ a b "Expanded Universes: Sonic the Hedgehog comics and cartoon". Destructoid.com. ModernMethod. March 4, 2009. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  9. ^ http://sonicsatam.com/sea3on/
  10. ^ a b Cifaldi, Frank (February 22, 2010). "Spun Out: The Sonic Games You Never Played". UGO.com. UGO Entertainment. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  11. ^ a b Fahs, Travis (May 29, 2008). "Sonic X-Treme Revisited". Retro.IGN.com. IGN Entertainment. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  12. ^ Source.
  13. ^ Bozon, Mark (February 28, 2007). "Sonic the Hedgehog - The Complete Series". Ie.DVD.IGN.com. IGN Entertainment. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  14. ^ Douglass Jr., Todd (March 2, 2007). "Sonic The Hedgehog - The Complete Series". DVDTalk.com. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  15. ^ "The absolute worst Sonic moments". Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  16. ^ http://www.usgamer.net/articles/on-saturday-mornings-sonic-the-hedgehog-turned-platforming-into-patho
  17. ^ Walker, Doug (Feb 18, 2009). "Adventures of Sonic The Hedgehog". http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/. Retrieved 7 September 2014. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help)
  18. ^ "Sonic The Hedgehog - The Complete Series". Amazon.ca. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  19. ^ "Sonic the Hedgehog: The Complete Series [4 Discs]". Reviews.BestBuy.com. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
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