Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog



Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog is an American animated series based on the Sega video game franchise, Sonic the Hedgehog. The series was produced by DIC Entertainment and Bohbot Communications and was first broadcast in September 1993, running for 65 episodes, with a christmas special airing in 1996. Another series featuring Sonic, simply titled Sonic the Hedgehog, was aired concurrently. Unlike the other series, Adventures had a light-hearted tone and quirky storylines.

Plot
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. 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 and his own incompetence.

The plots often used elements loosely borrowed from the storyline of the Sonic video games series. Two of Robotnik's henchbots, 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 the henchbot Scratch, Robotnik's mother 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.

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.

Characters
Sonic the Hedgehog (voiced by Jaleel White) — Sonic is the eponymous character and the protagonist of the show. He is speedy, quick thinking, cheeky, sly, carefree, but overall he is friendly deep down inside. As in the games, he runs faster than the speed of sound. Sonic is also somewhat of a ladies' man, flirting with females including Breezie, Merna, Ms Possum and others. Unlike most other Sonic continuities, Sonic does not fear water and can swim quite well.

Miles "Tails" Prower (voiced by Christopher Welch) — Tails is Sonic's best friend and sidekick. He is a young fox who was born with two tails, which enable him to fly, thus giving him his nickname "Tails". Tails is like a little brother to Sonic and Sonic can sometimes be a little too overprotective. Tails shares Sonic's love of chili dogs. According to one episode, Tails is four-and-a-half years old, whereas he is eight years old in most other Sonic continuities. Tails is just a child, but loves his adventures with Sonic. He is kidnapped by Robotnik to provoke Sonic on a regular basis. He is voiced by Chris Turner in the Sonic Christmas Blast special.

Dr. Ivo Robotnik (voiced by Long John Baldry) — Robotnik is the main antagonist of the series. He is a bumbling despot who seeks to rule Mobius, but his plans are always foiled by Sonic, in no small part due to Scratch and Grounder's stupidity. His catchphrase, which is said at least once per episode (usually when Sonic thwarts him), is: "I hate that Hedgehog!". In this version, he wants to conquer Mobius simply because he is evil. He is also shown to like anything and anyone that does evil.

History
Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog was created by DIC Entertainment and Sega Corporation, which produced a total of 65 episodes, and was syndicated by Bohbot Communications, now BKN International (in the original run, every episode began and ended with the "Bohbot Entertainment Presents" logo). The show's animation was outsourced to four animation studios: the Chinese subdivision of the Glendale-based Rainbow Animation Group in Shanghai, China, Hong Ying Animation Co., Ltd. in both Taipei, Taiwan and Suzhou, China, Sae Rom Production Co., Ltd. in Seoul, South Korea and Tokyo Movie Shinsha Co., Ltd. in Tokyo, Japan.

Another cartoon series based on Sonic, simply titled Sonic the Hedgehog, was also produced and launched in 1993 on ABC's Saturday morning line-up. 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 other series, which he describes as "serious and heavy"; he also described the staff as too busy to pay attention to the other series.

In addition to the original 65 episodes, DiC also produced an additional episode that originally aired in winter 1996, "Sonic Christmas Blast", which included aspects of the other Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon such as the city of Robotropolis, SWATbots, and a non-speaking cameo by Princess Sally Acorn.

The USA Network re-aired the original episodes of the show in the United States from 1995 to 1996, before Toon Disney picked the show up in 1998 for a four-year run. Cartoon Network also aired the show from 1996 to 1998. This TV subsequently aired the first 13 episodes of the show from 2010 to 2011.

Episodes
Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog has a total of 65 episodes spread over 1 season that were produced from September 1993 to December 1993. A christmas special based on the series, titled "Sonic Christmas Blast" aired in 1996.

Italy

 * Mediaset

Japan

 * TV Asahi