Sonic the Hedgehog (TV series)

Sonic the Hedgehog is an American-Italian animated television series created by DiC Entertainment and the Italian studio Reteitalia, in association with Telecinco.

The show is 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 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 which was broadcast concurrently, fans typically refer to this series as Sonic 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 by Archie Comics, which continued even twenty years after the cartoon's cancellation and still featured many of the cartoon's own characters.

The show ran for two seasons. The second season brought a few changes to the show, including the inroduction of Dulcy the dragon, changes to Sally and Rotor's designs, Robotnik losing his reverberating voice and a somewhat lighter overall tone. 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.

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 episodes 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 the summer of 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. On February 2, 2015, the show began streaming on Netflix and was removed on February 28, 2016.

Plot summary
The 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 five years old, making the storyline take place in the year 3235, also confirmed in the spin-off Archie comic). An evil scientist named Doctor Robotnik and his pet robot chicken Cluck invaded and conquered a huge city named Mobotropolis, with the help of his assistant and nephew Snively and his army of robot soldiers called Swat-bots. 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, 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 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, Charles' speedy nephew and Knothole freedom fighter's de feato leader, as well as his best friend Tails, a young two-tailed fox who can twirl his tails to fly.

Other Freedom Fighters include Rotor, a walrus with a knack for machines, Antoine, a French coyote and former palace guard with many personality flaws, and Bunnie Rabbot, a pretty Southern cyborg rabbit who was partially roboticized before being saved by Sonic. Last is the group's leader, Princess Sally, 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 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 Naugus. 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.

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

Voice cast

 * Jaleel White - Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Kath Soucie - Princess Sally, Nicole
 * Mark Ballou - Rotor Walrus (Season 1),
 * Cam Brainard - Rotor Walrus (Season 2)
 * Bradley Pierce - Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Christine Cavanaugh - Bunnie Rabbot
 * Jim Cummings - Dr. Robotnik/Julian, additional voices, Swat-bots
 * Rob Paulsen - Antoine Depardieu
 * William Windom - Charles Hedgehog "Uncle Chuck", Cat
 * Charlie Adler - Snively
 * Cree Summer-Francks - Dulcy
 * Dana Hill - Young Princess Sally
 * Tahj Mowry - Young Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Shari Belafonte - Lupe
 * April Winchell - Rosie, Ro-Becca, additional voices
 * Charlie Schlatter - Griff
 * Michael Bell - Naugus
 * Dorian Harewood - Ari, additional voices
 * Alaina Reed Hall - Female Nasty Hyena
 * Frank Welker - Cluck, Muttski, Kraken, Swat-bots, additional voices
 * Tim Curry - The King, Keeper of the Time Stones

Characters

 * For a full list of the characters in Sonic the Hedgehog, see here.

Main characters

 * Knothole Freedom Fighters
 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Princess Sally
 * Bunnie Rabbot
 * Rotor Walrus
 * Antoine Depardieu
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Dulcy
 * Doctor Robotnik
 * Snively

Recurring characters

 * Ari
 * Cluck
 * Sir Charles 'Uncle Chuck' Hedgehog
 * Griff
 * King
 * Naugus
 * Rosie
 * Swat-bots
 * Wolf Pack Freedom Fighters
 * Lupe

Reception
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, franchises that seemed cool when you watched them decades ago, but in all reality ...Looking back, those shows are so bad they're awesome. That's the kind of awesome Sonic The Hedgehog is."[13]

The show got good ratings on TV.com, mostly positive reviews, getting a 8.3 out of ten from voters of the website. IMDB, based on members reviews gave the show 7.1 out of ten, beating Sonic boom by 0.1.

Todd Douglass Jr. of DVD Talk found the show to be dated, though he said "Out of the 26 episodes that make up the complete series there were quite a few that were actually enjoyable. For instance, I got a kick out of "Ultra Sonic" where Sonic finds his now robotic Uncle Chuck. "Blast to the Past Parts 1 & 2" and "Doomsday Project" stood out alongside "Ultra Sonic" as the crème of the crop though there were a few episodes here and there that entertained on some level[14]

Home video release history

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

Season 3 (Aborted)
According to writer Ben Hurst, thirteen 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), only to betray them and be foiled by Antoine. 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, though in the end Sonic would eventually come out on top. Sonic would go through a major character change as well. Nicole's backstory would be told, revealing that she was once a Mobian child that was brainwashed into a computer program by Robotnik. At some point NICOLE would be restored to her former self, becoming a part of the Freedom Fighters.

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.

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". 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.

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. 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. The game was to be called Sonic Mars.

Trivia

 * The show's first produced episode, Heads or Tails, was aired as the 13th episode and final episode of season one. This episode features a number of inconsistancies with the rest of the show, such as slightly different designs (most noticeably Rotor and Sally, the later of which using an older design), characters behaving differently, more colorful animation and the reuse of several audio tracks from Adventures of Sonic The Hedgehog.
 * Before this show first premiered in England, Sonic the Comic (#12, 30 October 1993) showed pictures advertising a new Sonic cartoon and telling readers to watch out for it coming soon. Instead of the Freedom Fighters, the group was named the Freedom Team and consisted all the animals rescued by Sonic in Sonic the Hedgehog (1991). The members were: Sonic, Johnny Lightfoot (rabbit), Tux (penguin), Princess Acorn, Joe Sushi (walrus), Chirps (chicken), Porker Lewis (pig) and Flicky (bird). These characters were later used in all the Sonic novels released in the UK, and Johnny and Porker became part of Sonic's supporting cast in the "Sonic the Comic" stories. After radical changes to the show (basically making enormous alterations to pretty much everything in order to make it entirely different), it became this show.
 * Two episodes were adapted for the Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series published by Archie Comics. Specifically, "Ghost Busted" was adapted in Sonic Super Special #8, and "Cry of the Wolf" was adapted in Sonic the Hedgehog #113.
 * "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" was originally going to air on ABC, but ABC executives did not like that show and told DiC they had to make a different cartoon starring Sonic the Hedgehog. DiC quickly came up with this show, which premiered on ABC in fall of 1993.
 * The 13 episodes from the first season of this show ran on Saturday mornings at the same time as the 65 episodes (not including Christmas special) of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog were being shown during the weekdays.
 * Rotor is the only character to be played by two voice actors. Mark Ballou in Season 1 and Cam Brainard in Season 2.
 * Mark Ballou left the series by choice. He was asked to reprise the role for Season 2, but opted out at the last minute due to personal reasons. Cam Brainard took his place for the second season. Years after the series was cancel, Mark stated on an Internet interview that he regretted making that choice.
 * Snively is the only character in the series, to retain 'pupil-less' eyes throughout both Season 1 and 2. While Sally and Bunnie who had 'pupil-less' eyes in Season 1, both acquired pupils in Season 2.
 * Throughout the series, Snively went through very little changes in appearance. His gold belt buckle from Season 1, was gone in Season 2. His personality becomes much more pronounced in Season 2; while in Season 1 he was often merely in the background, obediently obeying Robotnik.
 * Rotor was originally going to be named "Boomer" in the series, according to the SatAM Sonic Bible. In "Heads or Tails", his fur was purple, and he had a slightly more "goofier" attitude. In Season 1, Rotor has grayish blue fur and more rounder than his "Heads or Tails" appearance. During Season 2 his fur was dark blue, had slightly different clothing, became a secondary character, and was involved in less action/screen time. As a result, Rotor is one of the fewest characters to undergo many changes in appearance and role play.
 * Robotnik's roboticised pet bird Cluck, only appeared in 9 episodes of Season 1. While he was absent and never mentioned in Season 2.
 * Sonic and Sally are the only characters that have appeared in every episode of the series.
 * Some believe that this series was based off of the long lasting Archie Sonic the Hedgehog comics. When it's the other way around, that the comic got ideas from this series when it was still in production. It takes longer to make an animated cartoon than it is in making a comic.

Videos
Alternate intro (storyboard) = Alternate intro (clip) = ABC promo #1 = ABC promo #2 = ABC promo #3 = Ending credits (Season 1) =