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The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog pilot is a pilot episode of the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog television series created in 1992. It was created as a proposal for the series and never aired, but it was shown off at CES 1993.[2]
While footage of the episode has appeared in episodes and some commercials, the full finished pilot was considered lost for many years,[3][4] but on 4 March 2009, a workprint version of the pilot was released by Milton Knight and posted on YouTube by Dan Variano. The full finished pilot still currently remains lost, however, high-quality clips of the latter have surfaced in high quality.
Synopsis[]
The unaired pilot that was made to pitch the show.[3]
Overview[]
The episode was produced in-house in America, rather than being outsourced to Asia as the series was. It was unaired and was not included on any of the DVD releases of the series.
The only version available is a rough cut of the final film and is seven minutes long, there is also a timecode present and the film also appears to have not yet being telecined. There have also been some claims on the Lost Media Wiki that there are multiple scenes of the episode that remain unseen. While the already found workprint version of the pilot appears to be in poor quality, the partially found clips of the final version appear in incredibly high definition compared to the workprint version.
The footage of the workprint is not as polished as the series that followed it. There is some dialogue missing and it features no music nor sound effects. Only three voice actors appeared in the pilot: Gary Owens (the narrator), Jaleel White (the voice of Sonic), and Jim Cummings (the voice of Robotnik, Scratch or Grounder, and various others). Owens' narration was written out of the series when it was produced, but Jaleel White did go on to play Sonic in the series. Jim Cummings was replaced by Long John Baldry (Cummings did voice the doctor in the SatAM show, though) and Phil Hayes took over as the role for Scratch. The Sonic Says segment also featured an uncredited voice for Tails, although it is rumored that Russi Taylor (the voice of Minnie Mouse, Birdie the Early Bird and Strawberry Shortcake) provided his voice. Although much of the visual design was carried over through the series, some stylistic elements were changed (such as the voice-over narration by Gary Owens).
There are several more recognizable references to the video games than what is featured in the series proper. Emerald Hill Zone is featured as place, where Robotnik's big top is located. There are many Badniks from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 featured such as Mashers, Octus and Chop Chops. Robotnik is also seen utilizing the Egg-O-Matic with a wrecking ball attached on the chain in which location that may be Green Hill Zone hence its background.
The short film is perhaps most notable for a short scene halfway through in which Robotnik attempts to crush Sonic under a giant weight, but ends up being squashed himself (twice). This short piece of animation was used in the ending credits of the actual series. Some more footage from the pilot was used when Scratch and Grounder were watching TV in "Untouchable Sonic" with full stereo sound mix and one scene in "Trail of the Missing Tails", which all hints the pilot was a finished product in some format, and the scene where Robotnik stands on stage in front of a robot audience was used as the Continue screen for the game Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine. A few clips from the pilot were notably used in the TV commercial for the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 LCD game. Several high-quality clips were later seen in a behind-the-scenes video for Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood.[5] A small clip can also be seen on the mini tv which sawed the sonic satam's early intro on ces 1993.[6]
In 2022 Discotek released the entire Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog series on Blu-Ray DVD, and only the already found workprint version of the pilot was included as a bonus feature.[7]
At some point, DiC writer Phil Harnage uploaded the script of the pilot on Dropbox.[8]
It was stated by Kent Butterworth on Linkedln that the only-available workprint version is not the full pilot. When asked about the whereabouts of the final version, he stated the actual episode might still be in DiC's (now owned by Wildbrain) archives or otherwise Sega's.[9]
Appearances[]
Characters:
- Badniks (first appearance)
- Dr. Ivo Robotnik (first appearance)
- Miles "Tails" Prower (first appearance)
- Sonic the Hedgehog (first appearance)
Locations:
- Mobius (first appearance)
- Dr. Robotnik's Fortress (first appearance)
Objects:
- Hi-tops (first appearance)
Vehicles:
- Egg-O-Matic (first appearance)
- Egg-O-Matic Tunnelizer and Town Terrorizer (first appearance)
Misc.:
- Triple Spin (first appearance)
Plot[]
This episode opens with Sonic running down a pathway when he comes along a wanted poster featuring himself and stops to look at it. Although the wanted poster has a specific amount of the money listed as the reward for his capture, Dr. Robotnik is seen saying that whoever catches Sonic can name their own reward. Sonic interrupts the meeting and takes off, and Robotnik's minions inside quickly give chase. Fortunately, a bull which charges Sonic runs into his pursuers instead and allows Sonic to run away freely. Robotnik launches a cactus at Sonic, but he easily outruns it and the cactus eventually gets tired and, literally, runs back into the cannon, which explodes in Robotnik's face. Robotnik is shown later testing a button-activated heavy weight. He sees Sonic speed by and presses the button in hopes that the press will crush Sonic. However, when he walks up to the weight, he sees nothing. Sonic (who has swiped the remote control button) pops up from under a manhole and flattens Robotnik. He inadvertently throws the remote down onto the ground directly underneath the weight, and speeds off. The flattened Robotnik gently floats down on to the button, where he gets smashed again. He's later seen being inflated by Scratch.
Next, Robotnik comes up with a plan to steal the water supply of a town, but Sonic comes to their aid by reversing the suction of the vacuum to put the water back. Then, Robotnik tries drilling a hole underneath Sonic as he is relaxing in the sun, but Tails flies down and hits a lever that causes the machine to move forward and it drills out the side of a cliff. Robotnik again tries to attack the town but is quickly thwarted by Sonic as he uses his spindash to destroy the arms on the machine. The scene quickly cuts to Robotnik mounting his Egg-O-Matic with a wrecking ball connected to a chain and chasing Sonic. Sonic wraps the machine in tape which prevents Robotnik from accessing the controls as it crashes into the side of a cliff.
The last scene has Sonic signing off the show while standing in front of the shows logo. He breaks the fourth wall saying that he is fast and Robotnik is furious, and later that the series will premiere in the fall of 1993.
At the end of the pilot, a Sonic Says segment plays, in which Sonic warns Tails about crossing the road without looking both ways first.
Credits[]
Crew[]
- Kent Butterworth (producer, director, storyboard)
- Milton Knight (animation, storyboard, layout, Robotnik character design)
- Ed Love (animation)
- Gary Paul Terry (storyboard, layout, Scratch and Grounder character design)
- Eddie Fitzgerald (storyboard)
- Mike Fontanelli (design)
- Marc Schirmeister (design)
- Jordan Reichek (design)
Voice cast[]
- Gary Owens (narrator)
- Jaleel White (Sonic)
- Jim Cummings (Robotnik, Badniks, additional characters)
- Russi Taylor (Tails)
Trivia[]
- The pilot's art style alongside character designs are a tad different than seen in the final show:
- The pilot consists smoother animation compared to the final series.
- Sonic's design in this pilot is seemingly mildly different than what appeared in the final product, notably resembling his later-created Underground and SatAM counterparts.
- Tails is a slight color of orange like he is in the games, whereas in the final series, he is brown. It's unknown why this was changed in the final series.
- The scene of where Dr. Robotnik has gathered all the Badnik bounty hunters together was redone into the series premiere.
- Parts of the pilot are also briefly seen in the episode "Untouchable Sonic", though with new background music, sound effects and voice clips not used in the original version. In addition, due to this episode's audio being unheard in the workprint, It's currently unknown how much of the final show's soundtrack may have originated from the pilot or if it used a completely different soundtrack.
- The scene where Sonic speeds down the hill was also heavily reused in "Trail of the Missing Tails", although the scene where Sonic gives a thumbs up pose was replaced with him just zooming out of the scene.
- This scene was also used in the episode "Pseudo Sonic" but instead of going down they go up.
- The official Shout! Factory website says the volume 2 box set of the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog television series released in 2008 (one year before more content of the pilot has been discovered) contains the original pilot, but it is not included in the set. It was either an error or suggesting the pilot was intended to be released on the latter.
- Although Scratch was voiced by Jim Cummings, the former is nowhere seen to be speaking, unless the rumored missing scenes may have contained his dialogue.
- The scene where Robotnik attempts to crush Sonic with a giant weight is used for the show's end credits in following episodes.
- The wanted poster featuring Sonic has his arms miscolored as blue.
- This pilot was made the same year as Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was produced.
References[]
- ↑ Full Pilot Episode Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog - Full Pilot Episode on YouTube (provided by animator Milton Knight)
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzOusYBwh8g
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 https://lostmediawiki.com/Adventures_of_Sonic_the_Hedgehog_(partially_lost_unaired_pilot_of_DIC_animated_series;_1992)#cs-comment-74977
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I15nYZ4dwlo
- ↑ Sonic Chronicles - Behind the Scenes 1. SegaAmerica (5 September 2008). Retrieved on 26 August 2022.
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzOusYBwh8g
- ↑ https://www.dropbox.com/sh/c98onjl6w9rklg5/AADaXsjFEBwvMANSogZcRo8xa/Adventures%20of%20Sonic%20the%20Hedgehog?dl=0&subfolder_navAdventures of Sonic the Hedgehog pilot script
- ↑ https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/ycgo0s6p5di6u9yzhse4t/AGT7pdm3B15yYHY-cPXg1DE/Adventures%20of%20Sonic%20the%20Hedgehog/1992-10-08%20-%20Sales%20Promo-Pilot%20Script%20(Phil%20Harnage%20File)?dl=0&preview=1992-10-08+-+AoStH+Sales+Promo-Pilot+Script.pdf&rlkey=7ykkhk7cddttd16du5bygkwah&subfolder_nav_tracking=1
- ↑ https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wfEgXfQfzb5be_DC45ZqtTmR5dwp0TT7/view
