Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog is an American animated series produced by DiC Animation City and Bohbot Entertainment that was based on the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series produced by Sega. Running from September 6 - December 3, 1993, sixty-five episodes were produced for first-run syndication.
Premise[]
Dr. Robotnik as he appears in the very first episode, 'Super Special Sonic Search and Smash Squad'.
The series follows the adventures of the titular character Sonic the Hedgehog and his sidekick Tails as they attempt to stop Dr. Robotnik and his array of robots from taking over the planet Mobius.
The plots often used elements loosely borrowed from the storyline of the Sonic video games series. Three of Robotnik's henchbots, Scratch, Grounder and Coconuts, are directly based on badniks that appeared in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. The series also incorporated several recurring original characters not seen in the games, such as Robotnik's mother, Stinky the Badger, and Wes Weasley, a salesman and con-man, not dissimilar to Phil Silvers. The show's other characters largely consist of non-human creatures, such as anthropomorphic animals and robots.
Episodes of the show normally revolved around Sonic and Tails foiling Robotnik's latest villainous scheme to dominate the zany, colorful world of Planet Mobius. At the end of each episode, Dr. Robotnik's plan would ultimately fail due to Sonic's efforts, his own incompetence and the stupidity of his henchbots, after which he says, "I HATE THAT HEDGEHOG!".
The end of the show is bookended by an additional segment called "Sonic Says" (or "Sonic Sez", as Tails misspelled it on screen). This segment teaches viewers life lessons about subjects such as alcohol abuse and general safety. The segment was edited out during the original UK broadcasts.
Voice cast[]
- Jaleel White as Sonic the Hedgehog
- Christopher Stephen Welch as Miles "Tails" Prower
- Long John Baldry as Dr. Robotnik
- Phil Hayes as Scratch
- Garry Chalk as Grounder
- Ian James Corlett as Coconuts
Additional voices[]
- Kathleen Barr
- Michael Benyaer
- Jay Brazeau
- Jim Byrnes
- Babz Chula
- Jennifer Copping
- Michael Donovan
- Kyle Fairlie
- Terry Klassen
- Wally Marsh
- Scott McNeil
- Shane Meier
- Jane Mortifee
- Pauline Newstone
- John Stocker
- Jayleen Stonehouse
- John Tench
- Venus Terzo
- French Tickner
- Lee Tockar
- Louise Vallance
- David Ward
- Cathy Weseluck
- Alec Willows
- Dale Wilson
Production[]
Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog was created by DiC Animation City and Sega of America, Inc., which produced a total of 65 episodes each for its one season, and was syndicated by Bohbot Entertainment, now BKN International (in the original run, every episode began and ended with the "Bohbot Entertainment Presents" logo), and the Italian Reteitalia S.p.A., part of Fininvest. The show's animation was outsourced to four animation studios: the Chinese Rainbow Animation, the Taiwanese Hong Ying Animation, the Korean Sae Rom Production, and the Japanese Tokyo Movie Shinsha. Pierre DeCelles was Senior Animation Director in Asia, he described the show as "fun and humorous".
Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM)[]
Adventures was not the only Sonic-centered cartoon series to make the airwaves in 1993. ABC launched its own series, Sonic the Hedgehog, around the same time that the syndicated series premiered. This particular cartoon, which like the syndicated series was produced by DiC and featured Jaleel White as the voice of Sonic, was different in animation style and subject matter. The Saturday morning series portrayed Dr. Robotnik as the tyrannical ruler of Mobius as opposed to the evil scientist he was in the syndicated series, did not feature the comic relief characters that the syndicated series did, and portrayed Sonic as less of a superhero figure. Animator Pierre De Celles said in an interview that neither he nor the rest of the staff working on Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog knew about or competed with the ABC series, claiming they were too busy to pay attention to the other series.
Broadcast and distribution[]
First-run broadcast[]
The series was shown through syndication in the United States in 1993 on weekday afternoon. In the United Kingdom, the series was screened on Channel 4 in 1993 on Sunday mornings at 9:00, but with the "Sonic Says" segments edited out. They were also edited out on the UK VHS releases of the series. The weekday mornings airings in Australia on Seven Network as part of Agro's Cartoon Connection retained the segments. The cartoon was broadcast in the Republic of Ireland on RTÉ Two in 1993 on weekday afternoons.
Rebroadcast[]
USA Network re-aired the original episodes of the show in the United States from 1994 to 1996, before Toon Disney picked the show up in 1998 for a four-year run. This TV subsequently aired the first 13 episodes of the show from 2010 to 2011. Netflix, however, put the first 20 episodes on there.
In the UK, Channel 4 and POP! (2003–2010, 2013–present) re-aired the show with the "Sonic Says" segments restored. The show was re-aired on in Australia Saturday mornings on Network Ten as part of Cheez TV from 1993 to 1999, Nick Jr. from 1995 to 2001 and 2014–present and Disney Channel from 1996 to 2002 and 2014–present Sweden rebroadcast the show on TV3, while RTL4 did the same in The Netherlands. Germany also rebroadcast the show on RTL II. KidsCo subsequently acquired the rebroadcast rights for several regions, including the UK, Australia and Portugal. Spacetoon started rebroadcasting the show for the Arab world in 2005.
UK VHS releases[]
- Abbey Home Media (1993–1994)
- 4 Front Video (1997)
| VHS Title | Release Date | Episodes |
|---|---|---|
| Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog Volume 1 | 1993 | The Super Special Sonic Search and Smash Squad!, Subterranean Sonic, Lovesick Sonic |
| Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog Volume 2 | 1994 | Best Hedgehog, The Robotnik Express, The Birth of the Salesman, Slow Going |
| Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog Volume 3 | 1994 | Too Tall Tails, Big Daddy, Tails New Home |
| Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog Volume 4 | 1994 | Close Encounters of a Sonic Kind, Sno Problem, Tails in Charge, Grounder the Genius |
| Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog Volume 5 | 1994 | Blackbot the Pirate, Hedgehog of the Hound Table, Robotnik's Pyramid Scheme, Prehistoric Sonic, Trail of the Missing Tails |
| Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog Volume 6 | 1994 | Honey, I Shrunk the Hedgehog, The Mobius 5,000, Spaceman Sonic |
| The Adventures Of Sonic The Hedgehog - Sonic Breakout | 1994 | Sonic Breakout |
| The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog - The Biggest Ever Video | 1994 | Road Hog, Robolympics, The Little Merhog, The Birth of a Salesman, Robotnik's Rival, Tails' New Home, Love Sick Sonic, Sonically Ever After, Hero of the Year |
| The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog - Momma Robotnik's Birthday | 1994 | Momma Robotnik's Birthday, Grounder the Genius |
| The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog - High Stakes Sonic & Sonic Breakout | 1997 | High Stakes Sonic, Sonic Breakout |
DVD releases[]
Shout! Factory and Vivendi Entertainment have released all 65 episodes of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog on DVD in Region 1 in three volume sets. Numerous single disc releases were released containing a handful of episodes based on a specific theme. They were produced by NCircle Entertainment and were sold at stores such as Sears, Target, and Toys "R" Us.Template:Citation needed
The first volume, released on July 17, 2007, features the first 22 episodes along with two featurettes: "A Conversation With Artist Milton Knight" and "How to Draw Sonic the Hedgehog".
The second volume was released on December 9, 2008, and features episodes 23–44 with the featurette "How to Draw Dr. Robotnik". The third volume contains the final 21 episodes of the series, plus the "Sonic Christmas Blast" special and the featurette "How to Draw Tails". These episodes were not compiled in the correct airdate order in the final volume.
These sets were discontinued in 2012 along with Sonic the Hedgehog after Shout!'s deal with Cookie Jar Entertainment expired.
In Region 2, Delta Home Entertainment released Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog: The Complete Series on DVD in the UK on June 11, 2007.
Reception[]
The show met with mixed reviews. Randy Miller III of DVDTalk said, "While it's obvious that The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog [sic] won't ever be mentioned in the same sentence with Disney, Pixar or Studio Ghibli (except for this one), there's enough goofy fun here to entertain any resident of the 16-bit gaming era." Michael Rubino of DVD Verdict criticized the show for being dated, contrived, and bloated with chili dog jokes.
The show's popularity resurfaced in the mid-2000s. On video sharing site YouTube, fans created mashups and remixes of the series that spawned Internet memes, most of which place an emphasis on the series' campy dialogue.
Episodes[]
| No. | Title | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Super Special Sonic Search & Smash Squad" | Bruce Shelly & Reed Shelly | September 6, 1993 |
| 2 | "Subterranean Sonic" | Robert Askin | September 7, 1993 |
| 3 | "Lovesick Sonic" | Bruce Shelly & Reed Shelly | September 8, 1993 |
| 4 | "Slowwww Going" | Jack Hanrahan & Eleanor Burian-Mohr | September 9, 1993 |
| 5 | "High Stakes Sonic" | Robert Askin | September 10, 1993 |
| 6 | "Sonic Breakout" | Douglas Zip Purgason | September 13, 1993 |
| 7 | "Trail of the Missing Tails" | Bob Forward | September 14, 1993 |
| 8 | "Close Encounter of the Sonic Kind" | Douglas Zip Purgason | September 15, 1993 |
| 9 | "Momma Robotnik's Holiday" | Francis Moss | September 16, 1993 |
| 10 | "Big Daddy" | Jess Borgeson | September 17, 1993 |
| 11 | "Sonic's Song" | Kevin Donahue & Donald P. Zappala | September 20, 1993 |
| 12 | "Birth of a Salesman" | Steven J. Fisher, Bruce Shelly & Reed Shelly | September 21, 1993 |
| 13 | "Best Hedgehog" | Martha Moran | September 22, 1993 |
| 14 | "The Robotnik Express" | Doug Booth | September 23, 1993 |
| 15 | "Too Tall Tails" | Rowby Goren | September 24, 1993 |
| 16 | "Tails' New Home" | Bruce Shelly & Reed Shelly | September 27, 1993 |
| 17 | "Over the Hill Hero" | Francis Moss | September 28, 1993 |
| 18 | "Blank-Headed Eagle" | Dennis O'Flaherty | September 29, 1993 |
| 19 | "The Mystery of the Missing Hi-tops" | Kevin Murphy & Ed Ferrara | September 30, 1993 |
| 20 | "So Long Sucker" | Cydne Clark & Steve Granat | October 1, 1993 |
| 21 | "Sonic Gets Thrashed" | Cydne Clark & Steve Granat | October 4, 1993 |
| 22 | "Pseudo Sonic" | Cliff Macgillivray | October 5, 1993 |
| 23 | "Grounder the Genius" | Doug Molitor | October 6, 1993 |
| 24 | "Tails in Charge" | Martha Moran | October 7, 1993 |
| 25 | "Sno Problem" | Sandra Ryan | October 8, 1993 |
| 26 | "Submerged Sonic" | Bob Forward | October 11, 1993 |
| 27 | "Boogey-Mania" | Rowby Goren | October 12, 1993 |
| 28 | "Musta Been a Beautiful Baby" | Gordon Bressack | October 13, 1993 |
| 29 | "Robotnik, Jr." | Robert Askin | October 14, 1993 |
| 30 | "Full Tilt Tails" | Robert Askin | October 15, 1993 |
| 31 | "MacHopper" | Doug Booth | October 18, 1993 |
| 32 | "Momma Robotnik Returns" | Francis Moss | October 19, 1993 |
| 33 | "Spaceman Sonic" | Bruce Shelly & Reed Shelly | October 20, 1993 |
| 34 | "Mad Mike, Da Bear Warrior" | Doug Booth | October 21, 1993 |
| 35 | "The Last Resort" | Gordon Bressack | October 22, 1993 |
| 36 | "Robotnik's Rival" | Gordon Bressack | October 25, 1993 |
| 37 | "The Magic Hassle" | Douglas Zip Purgason | October 26, 1993 |
| 38 | "Sonic the Matchmaker" | Robert Askin | October 27, 1993 |
| 39 | "Tails Prevails" | Bob Forward | October 28, 1993 |
| 40 | "Zoobotnik" | Rowby Goren | October 29, 1993 |
| 41 | "Attack on the Pinball Fortress" | Bob Forward | November 1, 1993 |
| 42 | "Mass Transit Trouble" | Kevin Murphy & Ed Ferrera | November 2, 1993 |
| 43 | "Coachnik" | Doug Molitor | November 3, 1993 |
| 44 | "Untouchable Sonic" | Dennis O'Flaherty | November 4, 1993 |
| 45 | "Super Robotnik" | Rowby Goren | November 5, 1993 |
| 46 | "Robolympics" | Jeffrey Scott | November 8, 1993 |
| 47 | "Magnificent Sonic" | Jeffrey Scott | November 9, 1993 |
| 48 | "Black Bot Sonic" | Jeffrey Scott | November 10, 1993 |
| 49 | "Hedgehog of the "Hound" Table" | Jeffrey Scott | November 11, 1993 |
| 50 | "Robotnik's Pyramid Scheme" | Jeffrey Scott | November 12, 1993 |
| 51 | "Prehistoric Sonic" | Jeffrey Scott | November 15, 1993 |
| 52 | "Baby-Sitter Jitters" | Jeffrey Scott | November 16, 1993 |
| 53 | "Honey, I Shrunk the Hedgehog" | Jeffrey Scott | November 17, 1993 |
| 54 | "Robotnikland" | Jeffrey Scott | November 18, 1993 |
| 55 | "The Mobius 5000" | Jeffrey Scott | November 19, 1993 |
| 56 | "The Little Merhog" | Jeffrey Scott | November 22, 1993 |
| 57 | "Road Hog" | Jeffrey Scott | November 23, 1993 |
| 58 | "The Robots' Robot" | Jess Borgeson | November 24, 1993 |
| 59 | "Tails' Tale" | Bruce Shelly & Reed Shelly | November 25, 1993 |
| 60 | "Hero of the Year" | Bruce Shelly & Reed Shelly | November 26, 1993 |
| 61 | "Fast and Easy" | Bruce Shelly & Reed Shelly | November 29, 1993 |
| 62 | "Lifestyles of the Sick and Twisted" | Kevin O'Donnell | November 30, 1993 |
| 63 | "Sonic Is Running" | Doug Molitor | December 1, 1993 |
| 64 | "Robo-Ninjas" | Francis Moss | December 2, 1993 |
| 65 | "Sonically Ever After" | Gordon Bressack | December 3, 1993 |
External links[]
- Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog at DHX Media
- Production Notes and Corrections by Pierre DeCelles at [1] www.crashdownstudio.com