Ben Hurst

This article is about a real-life person. Information in this article is about real-life people, companies, and objects, which do not relate to the in-universe Sonic series.

For other uses of Ben, see Ben (disambiguation).

Ben Hurst
Ben Hurst
Overview
Gender	Male
Birthday	21 May 1951
Birthplace	Los Angeles, California, United States
Date of death	10 August 2010
Nationality	American
Company(s)	DiC Entertainment
Job	Writer

Ben Hurst was an American writer who worked as writer and story editor for Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic Underground. He frequently collaborated with Patricia Allee.

History

Ben Hurst wrote one episode in the first season of Sonic the Hedgehog ("Sonic and Sally") in collaboration with Pat Allee, but for season two he became one of only three writers on the series (with Pat Allee and series creator Len Janson). In all, Ben wrote ten of the 26 episodes of Sonic the Hedgehog (four of which were collaborations with Allee), including some of the most popular episodes of the series, such as "Blast to the Past, Part 1" and "Part 2", and the finale episode, "The Doomsday Project". Hurst and Allee were also associate story editors for Sonic the Hedgehog.

Following the cancellation of Sonic the Hedgehog, Ben Hurst became active in the Sonic fandom, posting on websites such as the "alt.fan.sonic-hedgehog newsgroup" and revealing information about his plans for the unproduced third season of the show. He made several attempts to get the series renewed, but without success.

In 1999, Ben Hurst and Pat Allee were called to a 'cattle call' for writers on a new series, Sonic Underground. Although neither of them usually attend such meetings, they agreed to participate after assurances from the story editor that they would be assigned at least a few episodes. They were asked to write the pilot episode, which they did, after which Sega fired the current story editor and hired Hurst and Allee instead. Hurst and Allee attempted to remain faithful to the personalities of the characters that had been established in Sonic the Hedgehog, but were forbidden from making changes to the new direction of the show (Sonic's siblings, music, etc.). Hurst and Allee wrote the three-part origin story and several other episodes, and Hurst said that he made major (uncredited) edits to the scripts of other inexperienced writers that had been brought on board by the show's producer. Hurst also claims that a high point was assigning 6 scripts to Sonic the Hedgehog story editor Len Janson.

Following the cancellation of Sonic Underground, Ben Hurst became even more involved with the community, appearing for Q&As at both the 2005 and 2006 Sonic Amateur Games Expos. He was always more than happy to discuss his work with his fans. He passed away in August 2010 from complications relating to diabetes.

Credits

Writing

• Sonic the Hedgehog (TV series):
  • "Sonic and Sally" (with Pat Allee)
  • "Game Guy" (with Pat Allee)
  • "Sonic Conversion" (with Pat Allee)
  • "Blast to the Past, Part 1"
  • "Blast to the Past, Part 2"
  • "Dulcy" (with Pat Allee)
  • "The Void"
  • "Drood Henge"
  • "Spyhog"
  • "The Doomsday Project"
• Sonic Underground:
  • "Beginnings" (with Pat Allee)
  • "Getting to Know You" (with Pat Allee)
  • "Harmony or Something" (with Pat Allee)
  • "Wedding Bell Blues" (with Pat Allee)
  • "Tangled Webs" (with Pat Allee)
  • "Who Do You Think You Are" (with Pat Allee)
  • "Come Out Wherever You Are" (with Pat Allee)
  • "Mummy Dearest" (with Pat Allee)
  • "Healer" (with Pat Allee)
  • "Sonia's Choice" (with Pat Allee)
  • "Sleepers" (with Pat Allee)
  • "The Pendant" (with Pat Allee)
  • "Virtual Danger" (with Pat Allee)

Trivia

• The name of Ben Muttski, originally known as Muttski before the Super Genesis Wave strike on Mobius in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-off comics published by Archie Comics, was inspired by Ben Hurst's first name.
• According to former Archie Comics writer Ken Penders, Ben Hurst was once invited by Archie to write for Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series, but he declined the offer.

Gallery

Ben Hurst's season three announcement

External links

• Sonic the Hedgehog - Ben Hurst Interview (Part 1) at YouTube
• Sonic the Hedgehog - Ben Hurst Interview (Part 2) at YouTube
• Resource: Ben Hurst on SatAM at Saturday Morning Sonic