Sonic the Hedgehog (animated series)

The action of the animated series takes place in the 33rd century, on the planet Mobius, largely inhabited by anthropomorphic animals. A mad scientist named Julian Ivo Robotnik with the help of his assistant and nephew Snivli, as well as an army of robot soldiers called SWATbots, invades and conquers Mobius capital - Mobotropolis. He captures the palace of King Maximilian Acorne and declares himself the new king. The robotic worker soon captures a large part of the townspeople, including the old hedgehog inventor Sir Charles and his invention, called a roboticizer ( English Robotisizer ), capable of transforming living creatures into robots. With the help of the device Robotnik begins to "robotize" his captives; among them is Charles himself.

Those who managed to escape from the army of the doctor are hiding in the village of Nothol in the Big Forest. Under the leadership of the squirrel, Princess Sally Acorn (the king’s only heir), they form a group of Freedom Fighters , hoping to put an end to Robotnik’s power. In addition to Sally, the group includes high-speed nephew Charles Hedgehog Sonic , his best friend fox Miles Prauer , mechanic mechanic Walrus Rotor, former palace guard French coyote Antoine Depardieu, and half-robotic rabbit Bunny Rabbot. Throughout the animated series, Freedom Fighters confront Robotnik and his insidious plans.

Sonic the Hedgehog was conceived as a replacement for the prototype of the animated series Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog . Judging by the screenshots printed in Sonic the Poster Mag in 1993, the show's early concept included a completely different lineup of Freedom Fighters. With the exception of Sonic, the team included characters based on the animals that he saved in the first game : Princess Acorn, rabbit Johnny Lightfoot, Penguin Tux, walrus Joe Sushi, Rooster Chirps, pig Porker Lewis and bird Flicka, while Tails was absent ^[1] . In addition to Sonic, the only character from the original composition that appeared in the animated series was Princess Acorn, but her design underwent changes. At the same time, in the pilot issue of “Heads or Tails”, her appearance was different from her usual appearance in a different color scheme: for example, her coat was pink and not brown, as in subsequent series. However, this design by Sally was used in early releases of the Sonic the Hedgehog comics, the Sonic Christmas Blast special edition, and the Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball game .

Cancel a series

In total, 26 episodes of Sonic the Hedgehog were released, combined in 2 seasons, after which the production of the animated series was canceled. According to screenwriter Ben Hurst, the reason for this was the competition with a number of other series, including Mighty Morphin Power Rangers . As a result, Sonic the Hedgehog 's ratings dropped, and the new ABC president was not interested in showing the third season ^[2] .

Before the news of the cancellation of the animated series became known, sketches of the plot of the new season were made. For several years, Ben Hurst laid out some details of what Sonic the Hedgehog should have consisted of if he continued to go out. According to him, Snivli was to become the new villain for a while, and then Ixis Naugus. Tails' role in the team was to be increased; it was planned to introduce a character who was supposed to be Sonic's rival for Sally's heart; at the end of the season (if Sega wanted it) Knuckles should have appeared. The plans also included the story of Nicole, Sally's laptop computer, which was supposed to be the usual Mobian and princess friend in the past; and also the disclosure of some details about the Mobius backstory ^{[3] [4] [5]} .

Comics and books

• The world and universe of the animated series were used in the Archie Comics Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series . Despite the fact that comics began to be published in July 1993, and the premiere of the animated series took place only in September, their development was carried out in parallel, and it is the comics that are the adaptation of the animated series. At first, comics were less gloomy; their carefree tone was more reminiscent of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog than Sonic the Hedgehog , but gradually their plots became more serious. Due to the fact that both works were developed simultaneously, changes in the animated series did not always have time to be reflected in the comics. As a result, in the early releases Sally was presented in a completely different design than in the animated series, the walrus Rotor was called Boomer ^[6] , and Antoine bore a different surname - D'Culet. In addition to the universe itself, the animated series in the comics adapted its two series: “Ghost Busted” (Super Special No. 8) and “Cry of the Wolf” (No. 113). Gradually, comics began to appear characters from games, other cartoons and comics. Printed from 1993 to 2017, and including mini-series, special issues, and spin-offs, they are considered the longest running video game comics.
• Based on the animated series and comics by Michael Teitelbaum, several books for children published by Troll Associates were written for the American market in the 90s. Teitelbaum’s first book, Sonic the Hedgehog , was later adapted by Judy Nyer and illustrator Ron Zalm into a picture book and published by Watermill Press ^[7] .
• A series of three books featuring the characters of the animated series was written by John Michlig, illustrated by Art Movinny and published by Golden Books Entertainment under the banner “Look Look Books”. Originally available through Scholastic book clubs, a total of more than half a million copies of these books have been sold worldwide ^[8] . The fourth book was written by Parker Smith, illustrated by the Penry Creative and published under the banner of the Big Golden Book ^[7] .
• Another Sonic the Hedgehog character book has been published by Publications International. It was called Sonic the Hedgehog (Look and Find) and was a variation of Where's Wally? " ^[7] .

Games

• Sonic-16 is a canceled game that was supposed to be based on the animated series. The game was developed by Sega Technical Institute on the Sega Mega Drive console . In November 1993, a demo was presented demonstrating the concept of the game, but then the development of Sonic-16 was discontinued ^[9] .
• Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball is the only game featuring characters from Sonic the Hedgehog . In it, at bonus levels, the player must save Rotor, Bunny, the robotic dog Sonic Mattsky and Princess Sally, whose design was taken from the pilot series of the animated series. Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball was developed by Polygames and the Sega Technical Institute , published by Sega and released on the Sega Mega Drive platform in 1993, appeared on mobile phones in 2009, on Steam and iOS in 2010, and has also been included in various game collections several times. The game also came out in 1994 on the Sega Game Gear , and in 1995 on the Sega Master System , but in these versions the characters of the animated series are missing.
• With the help of the hack, in the game SegaSonic the Hedgehog, you can find sprites with the design of Robotnik from the animated series Sonic the Hedgehog ^[10] .

Other

• Apart from the comic books, SWATbot's robots later appeared in the animated series Sonic Underground and the game Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood .

• Princess Sally Acorn appears in a cameo role in Sonic Christmas Blast , a special episode of the animated series Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog , released in 1996. In this episode, her old design from the Sonic the Hedgehog pilot series was used.

• Sonic the Hedgehog on the Internet Movie Database
• Sonic the Hedgehog on Big Cartoon DataBase
• Sonic the Hedgehog on Cookie Jar Entertainment
• Sonic the Hedgehog on Sonic Retro
• Sonic the Hedgehog on the Sonic News Network
• Saturday Morning Sonic (English) - a site dedicated to the animated series