Ryan Drummond



Ryan Drummond (Born: January 10, 1973) is an American voice actor/entertainer who voiced Sonic as well as Metal Sonic. He was the voice for Sonic from Sonic Adventure to Sonic Advance 3.

Sonic voice credits

 * Sonic Adventure - Sonic
 * Sonic Shuffle - Sonic and Knuckles
 * Sonic Adventure 2 - Sonic
 * Sega Superstars - Sonic
 * Sonic Adventure 2: Battle - Sonic
 * Sonic Heroes - Sonic and Metal Sonic
 * Sonic Battle - Sonic
 * Sonic Advance 3 - Sonic
 * Sonic Rush (He was originally to voice Sonic before the voice switch to Jason Griffith.)

Voice Actor Controversy
In 2003 4Kids Entertainment acquired the US dubbing rights for the anime Sonic X. In the Japanese version of Sonic X, the video game voice actors (Seiyu) reprised their roles. Instead of using the established US video game voice actors, 4Kids hired their own actors to provide the voice over for Sonic X. After unprofessional and questionable lack of communication, Ryan was then contacted by 4Kids employee Michael Haigney who was the producer of Sonic X. He claimed 4Kids could not use Ryan and the other video game voice actors, because they did not live in New York where 4Kids is headquartered. Ryan replied that he would have gladly relocated to New York at his own expense. Ryan was replaced by Jason Griffith who voiced Sonic in Sonic X.

Sega never made an official announcement about the replacement. Instead Ryan had to contact Sega to inquire about the voice over work for Shadow the Hedgehog. After hearing about his firing, Ryan informed fans via e-mail. His e-mail states that Sega of Japan hired the 4Kids voice actors in secret. Former Sega of America (SOA) president Simon Jeffery confirms Sega of Japan controls all voice actors including those in the US.

Adding to the controversy, Griffith's replacement in 2010, Roger Craig Smith, was simply offered the job by Sega while Ryan and Jason auditioned and earned the role of Sonic the Hedgehog. To this day fans are still angry about the voice actor change and want Ryan to voice Sonic again. Many fans still prefer Ryan’s more energetic style, as opposed to Jason’s calmer delivery and Roger’s older voice.

Trivia

 * Despite sharing the same last name, Drummond is not to be confused with Brian Drummond, another voice actor who worked on Sonic Underground. Ryan Drummond has one brother, Aaron Drummond, who is a writer.
 * Ryan is a member of the A.Y.U. Quartet.