Sonic the Hedgehog (TV series)

Sonic the Hedgehog is an American animated television series created by DiC, 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 sharply contrasts with Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, a syndicated series that premiered in the same month.

While Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog is known for its bright colors and whimsical humor, Sonic the Hedgehog featured darker stories which constituted a departure from the tone of the Sonic games of the time. To distinguish between the two 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. The show was also the partial basis for a comic book series called Sonic the Hedgehog, which continues even 17 years after the cartoon's cancellation and still features many of the cartoon's own characters.

The show ran for two seasons. A third season was in the early planning stages until ABC canceled the show because of low ratings (thought to result from competition with FOX Kids' Power Rangers). After SatAM was canceled, reruns of the show appeared on USA Network's USA Action Extreme Team. Boomerang aired the show during Boomeraction in 2009.

The series was also televised in Canada on the CTV Television Network between the same dates ABC did, but also went beyond ABC's cancellation date of December 3, 1994, and ran one last summer rerun cycle between June 10 and September 2, 1995, where CTV ran the Season 2 eps in order, with "Game Guy" airing first and "The Doomsday Project" bidding SatAM farewell to Canada. A potential reason for CTV airing the show during those dates of Summer 1995, which ABC never did, was to simply run the rest of the 1994-1995 broadcast year out. The show has not been re-broadcast in Canada since its cancellation.

The program initially had a complete run on Channel 4 on Sunday mornings. It was partly recently broadcast on the UK television channels Pop and ITV2.

Despite its cancellation and limited recent airings, the show enjoys a large and loyal internet fanbase.

In response to popular demand, the entire series was released onto DVD by Shout! Factory on March 27, 2007. More information about this release can be read below. As of February 29, 2012, Netflix now streams Sonic SatAM.

Plot summary
thumb|left|300px|IntroThe show takes place on a planet called Mobius sometime in the 33rd century (in one episode, "Blast to the Past Pt. 1", it was mentioned the year was 3224, when the characters were just 5 years old, making the storyline take place in the year 3235, also confirmed in the spin-off Archie comic). An evil scientist named Dr. Julian Ivo Robotnik (Jim Cummings) and his pet robot chicken 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 and warehouses. This invasion occurred on Friday the 13th, 3224, in an unknown month (potentially either September 13, 3224 or December 13, 3224) ("Blast from the Past" Parts 1 and 2).

Robotnik soon invaded the castle home of the city's king, Maximillian Acorn (Tim Curry), exiling him to a dimensional warp known as "The Void" and making the palace his own personal headquarters. From there, he captured the rest of the citizens, including a brainy old hedgehog named Sir Charles Hedgehog (William Windom) and his dog Muttski, and used a machine called the Roboticizer (Invented by Sir Charles to allow the elderly to live longer) 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, and formed a group called the Freedom Fighters; among them the protagonist, Sonic the Hedgehog (Jaleel White), Charles' speedy nephew, as well as his best friend Tails (Bradley Pierce), a young two-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, 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, Princess Sally Acorn (Kath Soucie), the king's only daughter. Sally carries a sentient mini-computer named NICOLE.

For ten 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 her species.

The show ran for two seasons before it was canceled. The final episode, "The Doomsday Project", ended with a cliffhanger suggesting a new villain for season three; it was later revealed that the villain would have been a sorcerer from a previous episode named Ixis Naugus (Michael Bell). There were rumors of a third season, but it was never produced.

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 semi-official SatAM website, Ben Hurst revealed that the eyes belonged to "Ixis Naugus. Not Knuckles. Not Metal Sonic. Ixis Naugus." He also did not specify if Knuckles and Metal Sonic would appear later on in the series, had it been able to continue.

Super Sonic DVD (2002)
A DVD of five first-season episodes was available from DiC and Lions Gate Home Entertainment under the title Sonic the Hedgehog: Super Sonic, which was released on Feb. 26, 2002. However, this was pulled when Buena Vista claimed to have distribution rights to the series.

The five episodes that were on this disc, all from Season 1, were:
 * 1) "Super Sonic"
 * 2) "Sonic Racer"
 * 3) "Sonic Boom"
 * 4) "Sonic and Sally"
 * 5) "Sonic and the Secret Scrolls"

Sonic Forever
This DVD contains six "episodes" from Season 2, although four of these are half-length cartoons, two of which made a single episode. There is therefore material for four full episodes:
 * "No Brainer"
 * "Blast to the Past, Part 1"
 * "Blast to the Past, Part 2"
 * "Fed Up With Antoine" (half-length, originally with "Ghost Busted")
 * "Ghost Busted" (half-length, originally with "Fed Up With Antoine")
 * "The Odd Couple/Ro-Becca"

The Complete Boxset
It was thought that the Super Sonic DVD would be the show's lone DVD release. However, on September 18, 2006, it was announced that a Boxset entitled Sonic The Hedgehog: The Complete Series would be released by Shout! Factory in partnership with DiC on March 27, 2007. More details to the above information can be found here and here. Bonus features including a printable script of "Heads or Tails", interviews with the voice of Sonic (Jaleel White) and the story writer, and opening sketches are included as extras, along with all the covers save the front of the box being decorated with fan-art.

Other Releases
A box set of the first 12 episodes has been released in Korea and a box set is currently planned for the UK

Theme Song
The theme song ("Fastest Thing Alive") was produced by Noisy Neighbors Productions. video

Vocal Talents

 * Jaleel White - Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Kath Soucie - Princess Sally Acorn, NICOLE
 * Rob Paulsen - Antoine Depardieu
 * Christine Cavanaugh - Bunnie Rabbot
 * William Windom - Sir Charles 'Uncle Chuck' Hedgehog
 * Jim Cummings - Dr. Ivo Robotnik/Julian/Additional Voices/SWATbots
 * Charlie Adler - Snively
 * Cree Summer-Francks - Dulcy the Dragon
 * Bradley Pierce - Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Mark Ballou - Rotor (season 1)
 * Cam Brainard - Rotor (season 2)
 * Dana Hill - Young Princess Sally
 * Tahj Mowry - Young Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Shari Belafonte - Lupe
 * April Winchell - Rosie the Nanny, Ro-Becca, additional voices
 * Charlie Schlatter - Griff
 * Jason Marsden - Dirk
 * Michael Bell - Ixis Naugus
 * Dorian Harewood - Ari
 * Alaina Reed Hall - Female Nasty Hyena
 * Frank Welker - Kraken
 * Tim Curry - King Maximillian Acorn

Character Cast
Freedom Fighters
 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Princess Sally Acorn
 * Antoine D'Coolette
 * Bunnie Rabbot
 * RotorSonic-and-Sally-Sonic-SatAm.jpg
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Dulcy the Dragon

Villains
 * Doctor Robotnik
 * Snively
 * SWATbots
 * Ixis Naugus

Other Characters
 * King Acorn
 * Sir Charles 'Uncle Chuck' Hedgehog
 * Cat
 * Ari
 * Lupe
 * Rosie
 * Griff
 * Pollo and Drik
 * Wolf Pack Freedom Fighters

Background Characters

Several characters resembling those from the Archie Sonic comic books made cameos in several episodes of SatAM. However, these characters were never given names or speaking roles.
 * Geoffrey St. John
 * Hamlin
 * Dylan

Home Video Release History

 * 1994 (VHS, "Sonic and Sally" and "Super Sonic")
 * October 21, 1994 (VHS, "Hooked on Sonics")
 * December 19, 1994 (VHS, "Sonic Racer" and "Super Sonic")
 * February 26, 2002 (DVD, Five Episodes)
 * March 27, 2007 (DVD, Complete Boxset)

Season 1

 * 1) "Heads or Tails" (originally aired as #13)
 * 2) "Sonic Boom"
 * 3) "Sonic &amp; Sally"
 * 4) "Ultra Sonic"
 * 5) "Sonic and the Secret Scrolls"
 * 6) "Super Sonic"
 * 7) "Sonic Racer"
 * 8) "Harmonic Sonic"
 * 9) "Hooked on Sonics"
 * 10) "Sonic's Nightmare"
 * 11) "Warp Sonic"
 * 12) "Sub-Sonic"
 * 13) "Sonic Past Cool"

Season 2

 * 1) "Game Guy"
 * 2) "Sonic Conversion"
 * 3) "No Brainer"
 * 4) "Blast to the Past, Part 1"
 * 5) "Blast to the Past, Part 2"
 * 6) "Fed Up With Antoine/Ghost Busted"
 * 7) "Dulcy"
 * 8) "The Void"
 * 9) "The Odd Couple/Ro-Becca"
 * 10) "Cry of the Wolf"
 * 11) "Drood Henge"
 * 12) "Spyhog"
 * 13) "The Doomsday Project"

Season 3 (Aborted)
According to writer Ben Hurst, 13 episodes were originally planned for the third season but no scripts were written.

The planned third season would have featured Snively briefly taking over Robotnik's position. His attempts quickly fail in the process and Snively is forced to release Naugus (whose eyes were seen behind Snively at the end of Season 2), The King, and Robotnik from the Void. Naugus would eventually overthrow Snively as the main villain with Robotnik serving as his lackey, while Naugus uses The King as bait to lure the Freedom Fighters into a trap. Snively, reduced to nothing, temporarily joins the Freedom Fighters (which briefly occurred in the Sonic Archie comic). Sally's father would be recovered, but is forced to sacrifice himself into the void in order to trap Naugus again.

Furthermore, Tails matures and plays a much larger role as an official member of the Freedom Fighters, even showing a bit of a rebellious side and would save Knothole Village from a major disaster. Meantime, Dulcy would come into her full powers. It has also been said that Sally is romanced by someone other than Sonic and Sonic would go through a major character change. NICOLE's backstory would be told, revealing that she was once a Mobian child that was brainwashed into a computer program by Robotnik.

Robotnik and Snively's back story would have also been revealed. Robotnik and Snively were originally from Earth (Mobius' past) and in the year 2200, attempted to take over the space colony they were living in. Inadvertently destroying it instead, Robotnik and Snively narrowly escape with their lives, and were somehow sent into the distant future where they return to Earth, only to find it had became Mobius. Thinking that he was superior to the sentient animals that inhabited the planet, Robotnik set about to conquer it in any way he could.

Numerous attempts have been made by fans to revive the series or recreate the lost season, but most have failed. The semi-official SatAM page hosts an unofficial web comic that aims to reproduce many of Ben Hurst's ideas and give the series the conclusion it never had. Appropriately, it is known as "Sea3on," and it is currently the most successful of the attempted continuations, having started in 2009 and still ongoing every Monday.

Sonic Freedom Fighters?
Although it's an idea that has been pitched before, professional animator Matthew Sullivan (known for his work on The Simpsons, The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy and Family Guy) is preparing to pitch to Sega and DiC for a revival of the series, one that would've hopefully included writer Ben Hurst. Unfortunately, after Sullivan was questioned about this by fans on a forum, he failed to appear again, making fans believe this was all a hoax.

Pre-SatAM
In 1993 an article in Sonic the Poster Mag #1, a spin-off of the British Sonic/Sega comic Sonic the Comic officially licensed by Sega Of Europe, announced two new television series staring Sonic the Hedgehog, Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM). 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".

One of these images, showing 'The Freedom Team' was previously used (in Sonic the Comic #12) 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 widely considered that these images were a prototype for SatAM, due to similarities (Sally Acorn, The Robotocizer, Freedom Fighters) with the series and their appearance within an article announcing SatAM.

The supporting characters in the Pre-SatAM cartoon are most likely based on the small animals freed from enemies in the original Sonic the Hedgehog game. Most notable is the lack of Tails; it could be that the concept was drawn up before Tails' arrival in the franchise.

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

Airing History
USA

ABC (1993-1995)

UK

 * Channel 4 (1994-1996)
 * CBS action (1996-1999)
 * FX (1999-present)
 * Toonami (2001-2005)
 * POP (2002-2006)
 * Boomerang (2008-present)

Ireland

 * RTÉ Two (Season 1 Only) (December 1994)

Canada

 * CTV (1993-1995)

Sweden

 * TV3 (Viasat) (1995-1998)

Australia

 * Network Ten (1993-1999)
 * KidsCo

Taiwan

 * Disney Channel

Malaysia

 * TV2 (1995-1997)

South Korea

 * SBS (1993-1998)

New Zealand

 * TV2 - it screened on Sundays, originally at 9am as part of the 'What Now?' block, before being shifted to 8am

Turkey

 * Maxi TV

Brazil

 * Rede Globo (1994-1995)
 * SBT (1999-2002)

France

 * TF1 (1995-1996)
 * Mangas (2011)

Italy

 * Italia 1 (1994)
 * Fox Kids (2004)
 * Boing (2005)
 * Frisbee (2010)

Portugal

 * KidsCo TV

Turkey

 * Maxi TV