Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog
Encyclopedia
The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (also known as: AoStH) is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 animated series that was first broadcast in September 1993, and only for one season. It follows the escapades of the video game character Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog (character)
, trademarked Sonic The Hedgehog, is a video game character and the main protagonist of the Sonic video game series released by Sega, as well as in numerous spin-off comics, cartoons, and a feature film. The first game was released on June 23, 1991, to provide Sega with a mascot to rival Nintendo's...

, and his sidekick Miles "Tails" Prower
Miles "Tails" Prower
, better known by his nickname , is a character, as well as the main deuteragonist in the Sonic the Hedgehog series of video games, comics, animated series and film released by Sega....

, as they attempt to stop the evil Doctor Ivo Robotnik and his array of vicious robots from taking over the planet Mobius. However, Sonic always finds time to indulge in as many chili dogs as he can get his hands on. This series is very much a slapstick
Slapstick
Slapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated violence and activities which may exceed the boundaries of common sense.- Origins :The phrase comes from the batacchio or bataccio — called the 'slap stick' in English — a club-like object composed of two wooden slats used in Commedia dell'arte...

 type comedy–especially with the incredibly melodramatic explosions and quirky storylines–but Sonic is always portrayed as being skilled and clever, whereas Scratch and Grounder are clumsy and often serve as Robotnik's foil
Foil (literature)
In fiction, a foil is a character who contrasts with another character in order to highlight particular qualities of another character....

.

Production

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog was created by DIC Entertainment
DiC Entertainment
DIC Entertainment was an international film and television production company. In addition to animated television shows such as Ulysses 31 , Inspector Gadget , The Littles , The Real Ghostbusters , Captain Planet and the Planeteers , and the first two seasons of the English adaptation of...

 & SEGA Corporation, which produced a total of 66 episodes for its first season, and was syndicated by Bohbot Communications, now BKN
BKN
Bohbot Kids Network was a syndicated animation block created and distributed by Bohbot Entertainment, an animation production company founded by Allen J...

 International (in the original run, every episode began and ended with the "Bohbot Entertainment Presents" logo).

The plots often used elements loosely borrowed from the storyline of the Sonic video games series. When the cartoon began, the Sonic games were still quite new, and lacking much "canon", so the cartoon's writers had little in the way of guidelines to write by.

Later, DiC ceased production on this cartoon to spend more time on a darker, much more plot-intensive series which also used Sonic as a main character, Sonic the Hedgehog: The Animated Series
Sonic the Hedgehog (TV series)
Sonic the Hedgehog: The Animated Series is an American animated series produced by DIC Entertainment with the partnership of Sega of America and was based on the Sonic the...

(commonly known as SatAM). The other cartoon series was launched on ABC's
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

 Saturday morning line-up. DIC felt that Sonic the Hedgehog: The Animated Series
Sonic the Hedgehog (TV series)
Sonic the Hedgehog: The Animated Series is an American animated series produced by DIC Entertainment with the partnership of Sega of America and was based on the Sonic the...

was more in-line with the demands of their target audience.

Post-production

After the original airing, DiC created one more episode in the winter of 1996, "Sonic Christmas Blast", which has features from the other Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon such as Princess Sally Acorn
Sonic the Hedgehog (TV series)
Sonic the Hedgehog: The Animated Series is an American animated series produced by DIC Entertainment with the partnership of Sega of America and was based on the Sonic the...

 in a non-speaking cameo. It also has Sonic and Tails visiting Robotropolis, which has a human population and a name pronounced with two "T"s (as in "robot-tropolis", instead of "robo-tropolis). In this episode, Robotnik replaces Santa with a robot duplicate and demands that everybody gives him Christmas presents instead of getting some from Santa. Sonic, Tails, and Santa team up to save the holiday. The letters page of issue #41 of the Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog (comics)
Sonic the Hedgehog is an ongoing series of American comic books published by Archie Comics, featuring Sega's mascot video game character of the same name. The comic book series debuted in the United States as a 4 part mini-series published between November 1992 and February 1993...

comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...

 promotes the special as "An X-Tremely Sonic Christmas." as this episode was originally going to be a tie in for Sonic X-treme
Sonic X-treme
Sonic X-treme is a canceled platform video game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Early version were considered for several systems until ending up as being developed by Sega for the Sega Saturn, with the intended release being around Christmas of 1996. However, after getting stuck in development...

on Sega Saturn
Sega Saturn
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe...

. However, the game was cancelled, and the title was changed to tie in with Sonic 3D Blast
Sonic 3D Blast
Sonic 3D is an isometric platform game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It was developed in the United Kingdom by Traveller's Tales and published by Sega. The Japanese version was also Sega Saturn exclusive...

instead.

Premise

Pierre De Celles, an animator who worked on Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, described the show as "fun and humorous."

The central protagonists are Sonic the Hedgehog and Tails while the main antagonists include Dr. Robotnik and his two hench-bots Scratch and Grounder (with a third robot, Coconuts, appearing on occasion).

There are many occasional minor characters and robots too, such as Dr. Robotnik's mom; Wes Weasley, a salesman and con-man, not dissimilar to Phil Silvers
Phil Silvers
Phil Silvers was an American entertainer and comedy actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah." He is best known for starring in The Phil Silvers Show, a 1950s sitcom set on a U.S...

. The city has more non-human creatures, like anthropomorphic animals and robots than other projects. Planet Mobius is a zany, colorful cartoon
Cartoon
A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...

 world in this show, much unlike the other "Planets Mobius".

In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, the series was screened on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

 in 1993 on Sunday mornings at 9:00 which had the "Sonic Sez" segments edited out, possibly because of either time constraints or they were more aimed at American audiences and that many of the subjects were considered too controversial. They were also edited out on the UK VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....

 releases of the series. However, the segments were intact on the TCC
The Children's Channel
The Children's Channel, also known as TCC, was a television station in the United Kingdom, Benelux and Scandinavia, which was owned by Flextech . It began broadcasting on 1 September 1984, and was closed on 3 April 1998...

 and POP! airings, as well as the DVD boxset.

In Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, the show was aired on Agro's Cartoon Connection
Agro's Cartoon Connection
Agro's Cartoon Connection was an Australian children's television show that aired on the Seven Network from 1989 to 1997. Shown on weekday mornings, it was primarily hosted by Agro, a puppet played by comedian Jamie Dunn...

 on weekday mornings, on Cheez TV
Cheez TV
Cheez TV was an Australian children's cartoon show, created by Bill McQueen, that aired on weekday mornings on Network Ten. It began broadcasting on 2 July 1995 and it ended on 31 December 2004 with the presenters leaving. After eight months of being without presenters, it officially ended on 20...

 on Saturday mornings and on Nick Jr Unlike in the UK, all "Sonic Sez" segments were left intact.

In France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, the French dub of the show had a theme song on the intro. Lyrics were done by Alexis Tomassian
Alexis Tomassian
Alexis Tomassian is a French dubbing actor born on July 13, 1979.-Television animation:*All Grown Up! *American Dragon: Jake Long *Avatar: The Last Airbender...

. In Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, an identical intro was used, but the theme song was completely sung in Italian and it was performed by Cristina D'Avena
Cristina D'Avena
Cristina D'Avena is an Italian singer and actress. She sings for television and animation series, and has recorded numerous albums, selling nearly 6 million copies....

.

Relation to Sonic the Hedgehog: the Animated series
Sonic the Hedgehog (TV series)
Sonic the Hedgehog: The Animated Series is an American animated series produced by DIC Entertainment with the partnership of Sega of America and was based on the Sonic the...

De Celles said in an interview that the staff of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog did not possess an awareness of, nor a sense of competition against, the Saturday series
Sonic the Hedgehog (TV series)
Sonic the Hedgehog: The Animated Series is an American animated series produced by DIC Entertainment with the partnership of Sega of America and was based on the Sonic the...

, which he describes as "serious and heavy"; he also described the staff as too busy to pay attention to the other series.

Main characters

  • Jaleel White
    Jaleel White
    Jaleel Ahmad White is an American actor and screenwriter. He is best known for his role as Steve Urkel from Family Matters and voicing the character of Sonic the Hedgehog and other characters for Sonic the Hedgehog media....

     as Sonic the Hedgehog
    Sonic the Hedgehog (character)
    , trademarked Sonic The Hedgehog, is a video game character and the main protagonist of the Sonic video game series released by Sega, as well as in numerous spin-off comics, cartoons, and a feature film. The first game was released on June 23, 1991, to provide Sega with a mascot to rival Nintendo's...

    - The main protagonist of the series and hero of the show, he is speedy, quick thinking, cheeky, carefree, but overall he is friendly deep down inside. As in the games, he runs faster than the speed of sound. A catchphrase often said by Sonic was "I'm waitiiiiing" when annoyed, getting impatient or when something is not happening when it should. Sonic's also somewhat a ladies' man, including Breezie, Ms Possum and others.

  • Christopher Evan Welch (excluding Sonic Christmas Blast, where he is voiced by Chris Turner) as Miles "Tails" Prower
    Miles "Tails" Prower
    , better known by his nickname , is a character, as well as the main deuteragonist in the Sonic the Hedgehog series of video games, comics, animated series and film released by Sega....

    - Sonic's best friend and sometimes hero. To Sonic, Tails is like a little brother to him, sometimes he's a little too overprotected, Tails loves chili dogs, as much as Sonic does, Tails' appetite is even bigger. According to one episode, Tails is "four in a half" years old. Tails is just a kid, but loves his adventures with Sonic. He is kidnapped by Robotnik to use as bait for Sonic on a regular basis.

  • Long John Baldry
    Long John Baldry
    John William "Long John" Baldry was an English and Canadian blues singer and a voice actor. He sang with many British musicians, with Rod Stewart and Elton John appearing in bands led by Baldry in the 1960s. He enjoyed pop success in the UK where Let the Heartaches Begin reached No...

     as Doctor Ivo Robotnik: The main antagonist of the show, a bumbling despot who seeks to rule Mobius and control the world, but his plans are always foiled by Sonic, in no small part due to Scratch and Grounder's stupidity. His catchphrase, which is uttered at least once per episode (usually when Sonic thwarts him), is: "I hate that Hedgehog!"

  • Phil Hayes and Garry Chalk
    Gary Chalk (actor)
    Gary Chalk is an English-born Canadian actor, tri-national US-Canadian-UK citizen and voice artist. He has lend hit voice in over 30 animated television series and has been in films such as The Fly II and Freddy vs. Jason....

     as Scratch and Grounder: They are a pair of robots created by Robotnik to capture Sonic. The two are extremely incompetent to the point where they struggle with even simple tasks, and are highly gullible, easily being tricked by Sonic no matter how bizarre, obvious, or pathetic his disguises are. Their constant failures result in the two regularly being abused, both verbally and physically, by Robotnik. They also constantly fight about which of the two are Robotnik's "favorite" but mostly just fight in general. This is one of the main reasons that they always fail at catching the speedy blue hedgehog. Scratch was originally created by Robotnik to be a super-robot that could easily catch Sonic for him, but a malfunction created Scratch, a product almost the exact opposite of what Robotnik wanted. He attempts to clone Scratch sometime later, but Scratch pulls a lever that Robotnik did not, resulting in the creation of Grounder. Scratch resembles a tall, humanoid chicken
    Chicken
    The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...

    , and Grounder is a small green Swiss Army knife
    Swiss Army knife
    The Swiss Army knife is a brand of pocket knife or multi-tool manufactured by Victorinox AG and Wenger SA. The term "Swiss Army knife" was coined by US soldiers after World War II due to the difficulty they had in pronouncing the German name....

    -like robot with tank tracks and drills replacing his hands and nose.

  • Ian James Corlett
    Ian James Corlett
    Ian James Corlett is a Canadian animation voice artist, writer, and musician. He is the creator of Studio B Productions' animated series Being Ian and Yvon of the Yukon....

     as Coconuts: He is a small robot monkey, who is demoted to Robotnik's janitor. Unhappy with his position, he attempts to capture Sonic with the hope of obtaining a promotion. Despite appearing in the show's opening sequence, Coconuts appears less often than Scratch and Grounder. Whenever he does appear, he usually attempts to go after Sonic on his own and make sure that Scratch and Grounder do not beat him to the punch, though he will occasionally join forces with them. Despite his low status and general disrespect by his peers, Coconuts has proven that he is much smarter than Scratch and Grounder, often being the only one to see through Sonic's disguises. His plans also come close to succeeding, until Scratch and Grounder come along and ruin them.

Other characters

  • French Tickner as Professor Dinglehopper Von Schlemer: A brilliant but goofy scientist who is an ally of Sonic and Tails. Despite having the intelligence to invent many contraptions, he often forgets his name and keeps being remind by Sonic and Tails. He keeps himself entertained with his Dream-A-Ma-Jig contraption which brings the user's dreams to the real world. He often helps Sonic and Tails with dangerous missions.

  • Michael Donovan
    Michael Donovan
    Michael David Donovan is a voice actor for many TV shows and anime. He is most known for his voice on the series ReBoot for his voices of Phong, Mike the TV, Cecil, and Al. He has also provided the voice of Sabretooth for X-Men: Evolution and Carnage for Spider-Man Unlimited. He played the lead...

     as Wes Weasely: A weasel salesman who has no interest into the person he is selling his items to as long as they have money for him to earn. He often makes deals with Doctor Robotnik, who hates him due to many of his products backfiring his schemes to capture Sonic and take over Mobius. Robotnik's minions often were stupid enough to purchase his items despite the trouble he caused to them. Weasely often tricks both Robotnik and Sonic, which means he has a neutral alignment.

DVD releases

Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory is an entertainment company founded in 2003 that was started by Richard Foos , Bob Emmer and Garson Foos initially as a specialty music label...

 has released all 65 episodes of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog on DVD in Region 1 in 3 volume sets. Volume 3 was released as a Shout! Factory select title, available exclusively through their online store.

The volume contains the final 21 episodes of the series, plus as announced on the Shout! forums on Jan. 6, 2010, Sonic Christmas Blast. Sonic was then released in 2 series on 2 DVD Boxsets.

In region 2, Delta Home Entertainment released Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog: The Complete series on DVD in the UK on June 11, 2007.
DVD Name Ep # Release Date Additional Information
Volume 1 22 July 17, 2007 Contains episodes 1-22
  • "A Conversation With Artist Milton Knight"
  • "How To Draw Sonic The Hedgehog"
Volume 2 22 December 9, 2008 Contains episodes 23-44
  • "How To Draw Dr. Robotnik"
  • Volume 3♦ 21 March 16, 2010 Contains episodes 45-65
  • "How To Draw Tails"

  • ♦ - Shout! Factory select title, sold exclusively through Shout's online store

    UK VHS releases

    • Abbey Home Media (1993–1994)
    • 4 Front Video (1997)
    • Delta Home Entertainment (2007–present)

    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
    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 - The Biggest Ever Video 1994 Road Hog, Robolympics, The Little Merhog, 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
    The Adventures Of Sonic The Hedgehog - High Stakes Sonic & Sonic Breakout 1997 High Stakes Sonic, Sonic Breakout

    Broadcast History

    • USA
      • Syndication (1993–1995)
      • USA Network
        USA Network
        USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...

         (1995–1996)
      • Toon Disney
        Toon Disney
        Toon Disney was an American cable television channel owned by The Walt Disney Company. A spinoff of Disney Channel, it mostly aired children's animated series and some live action programming. Its format had similarities to those of Cartoon Network and Nicktoons...

         (1998–2002)
      • This TV
        This TV
        This TV is a United States general entertainment television network, with a large emphasis in its programming on movies....

         (September 27, 2010–September 25, 2011, first 13 episodes only)

    • UK
      • Channel 4
        Channel 4
        Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

         (1993-4)
      • The Children's Channel
        The Children's Channel
        The Children's Channel, also known as TCC, was a television station in the United Kingdom, Benelux and Scandinavia, which was owned by Flextech . It began broadcasting on 1 September 1984, and was closed on 3 April 1998...

      • POP (2004-?)
      • KidsCo
        KidsCo
        KidsCo is an international children's entertainment brand founded by Canadian broadcaster Corus Entertainment's Nelvana Enterprises, American-based producer DIC Entertainment, and European broadcaster Sparrowhawk Media Group in April 2007. By the end of 2007, Sparrowhawk was purchased by media...

         (2011–present)

    • Australia
      • Seven Network
        Seven Network
        The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...

         (1994-1996)
      • Network Ten
        Network Ten
        Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...

         (1997-2000)

    • Sweden
      • Filmnet
        Filmnet
        Nova Cinema is a premium television service available in Greece that broadcasts blockbuster movies and hit series. It is the only 24/7 Movie service in Greece and it launched in 1994. It is owned by Forthnet, who own and operate Nova a DTH satellite service and Nova Sports—a sports channel.Nova...

      • TV3
        TV3 (Sweden)
        TV3 is a television channel targeted at a Swedish language audience owned by Viasat . It was founded on 31 December 1987 by entrepreneur Jan Stenbeck as joint Scandinavian channel, but Denmark and Norway soon got their own versions of TV3...


    • Arab World
      • Spacetoon
        Spacetoon
        Spacetoon is the first free-to-air animated series and channel in the Middle East broadcast from Dubai Media City.- About Spacetoon :Apart from Arabic, the Group launched an English language channel, in 2005 that broadcasts in the Middle East and North Africa, and a channel dedicated to teens...

         (under Adventure Planet, as of 2005)

    • Netherlands
      • Filmnet
        Filmnet
        Nova Cinema is a premium television service available in Greece that broadcasts blockbuster movies and hit series. It is the only 24/7 Movie service in Greece and it launched in 1994. It is owned by Forthnet, who own and operate Nova a DTH satellite service and Nova Sports—a sports channel.Nova...

      • RTL4

    • Argentina
      • PakaPaka

    • Portugal
      • SIC (30 October 1995 - 25 July 1997) {Buéréré}
      • KidsCo
        KidsCo
        KidsCo is an international children's entertainment brand founded by Canadian broadcaster Corus Entertainment's Nelvana Enterprises, American-based producer DIC Entertainment, and European broadcaster Sparrowhawk Media Group in April 2007. By the end of 2007, Sparrowhawk was purchased by media...

         (2010–present)

    See also


    External links

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