Sonic Christmas Blast

"Sonic Christmas Blast" was a Christmas television special for the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon series produced by DiC Entertainment, who also produced the Saturday morning cartoon series that had run alongside it. It aired on the USA Network in 1996, nearly three years after the original series had been canceled. When Toon Disney aired the Adventures series, Sonic Christmas Blast was regularly shown in their annual Christmas marathons.

The special was advertised in Sonic the Hedgehog #41 comic book as An X-Tremely Sonic Christmas. This suggests the special was intended to promote the Sega Saturn game Sonic X-Treme, which was unfortunately delayed (and later cancelled). As a result, the special was changed to be named after the Sonic game that did come out in time for Christmas, Sonic 3D Blast.

Synopsis
Christmas Eve has come to Robotropolis (erroneously pronounced with two "T"s in this special), and everyone in town is gathered around the Jumbotron in the middle of the square so they can see Santa Claus make a very important announcement - he's retiring, and for some reason, he has picked Dr. Robotnik, alias Robotnik Claus, as his replacement! Of course, being the greedy porker he is, Robotnik demands that the children give him presents for Christmas instead of the other way around.

Meanwhile, Sonic recruits Tails to help him find some Christmas presents for Princess Sally. This confuses Tails, because Sonic just agreed with Sally that they wouldn't get each other anything this year. It turns out that every year they make this agreement, Sally ends up getting Sonic a bunch of cool stuff (such as a ring on his finger she gave him last year that becomes important later on), while Sonic usually takes the agreement seriously and doesn't get her anything. This year, however, Sonic's decided to actually get Sally a bunch of presents.

The duo arrives at Robotropolis only to find that all the stores in the local mall are empty. A nearby kid shows and alerts Sonic (and Tails) about Santa's retirement and Robotnik taking over the chore. Just then, Scratch and Grounder show up with a Santa robot who was actually giving the retirement announcement earlier and try to kill them, but of course, they fail miserably. Sonic, disguised as a garbageman, then tricks the henchbots into telling him where the real Santa is.

In spite of attacks by some SWATbots (who look nothing like those seen in the Saturday morning cartoon), Sonic manages to free Santa, but it doesn't change the fact that Robotnik still has all the presents. Just then, Santa recognizes the squiggle on the ring that Sally gave Sonic last year as being the same as a squiggle on an ancient cave painting that reveals the secret of achieving ultimate speed. Apparently, the one who wears the ring (Sonic) must pass three tests of skills.

Sonic passes the tests easily, in spite of Scratch and Grounder's attempts to stop him and then he uses his new super speed to steal back the presents Robotnik has taken (as well as the doctor's clothes) and redistribute the presents all over Mobius. After the hedgehog delivers Sally's presents, Santa, impressed with the job, decides to retire after all and turns his job over to Sonic.

Trivia

 * This was the final episode of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. Therefore in that universe, Sonic is now Santa Claus.
 * Princess Sally makes her first and only appearance in Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog in this special.
 * Sonic talks to a bird (possibly a Flicky) in a tree in one scene. This was most likely tacked in to help promote the concept of Sonic 3D Blast. Also the title uses the term "Blast" and the Sonic 3D Blast font.
 * Tails is not voiced by Christopher Welch like he is in all the other episodes of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. Instead he is voiced by Chris Turner. Sonic is still voiced by Jaleel White, however.
 * Robotnik has robot helpers that look similar to Heavy from Knuckles' Chaotix and Humpty from Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine.
 * This is the only time Santa appeared in the series.
 * This episode/special could be considered a crossover between Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM).
 * Swatbots from Sonic the Hedgehog SatAM appear in the special though they look nothing like their SatAM counterpart.
 * When disguised as a garbage man, Sonic tells Scratch and Grounder they'll have to pay a fine of ten thousand Robotnibucks. But in previous episodes of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, the currency was referred to as Mobiums. This could be either a mistake on the screenwriter's part or more likely giving the series a joke.
 * Sonic has strangely five fingers in this special, unlike his appearance in the other Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog episodes, but is randomly shown with four.
 * This marks the final animated appearances of Princess Sally and Scratch and Grounder thus far.
 * This also marks Long John Baldry's final voice role as Dr Robotnik.