Sonic on T.V

The blue hedgehog's animated history...it's way past cool!!!

The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog

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Sonic SatAM

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Sonic Underground

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Sonic X

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The first two attempts made by U.S television at turning the unbelievably popular sonic video games into cartoons were actually amazing. They stood on their own, breaking away from the computer games entirely and creating their own brands of sonic entertainment. The adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and a show that has come to be known as "Sonic, SatAm" (due to its saturday morning time slot) aired almost simultaneously and invented brand new characters, who became vital to the success of the programmes due to their interaction with Sonic. In these shows, we were introduced to characters such as Robotniks moronic henchmen Scratch and Grounder, and also a previously unheard of group of "freedom fighters" who worked alongside Sonic to ensure the safety of their planet mobius and to stage the revolution against Doctor Robotnik. Jaleel White, who is also remembered as "Urkel" from "Family Matters", is the voice we have all come to associate with the spiky, way past cool hedgehog, and as these first two Sonic tv shows indicate, there was nobody better for the job. Due to the success of these programmes, Sonic SatAM in particular, kids throughout the world had their parents driven to insanity with quotes like "Iiiiiiii'mmmm waaaiiiitttiiiiinnnnnggg", "Up, Over and gone" and "way past cool". Unfortunately, Sonic SatAM was cancelled after two seasons and only 26 episodes, mainly due to the fact that it was placed up against the Power Rangers in a ratings battle on Saturday's which obviously the Power Rangers won. Sonic SatAM has left its mark however, and this is evident from the die hard fan websites scattered throughout the net. If they have anything to say about it, it wont be forgotten.

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Following the success of these two shows, Sonic was to make another animated outing. This time the show was called Sonic Underground, a show that was so ridiculously off the mark, that it was hard to tell if it was even a show about the same hedgehog invented by SEGA. Of course it had the name Sonic in the title, so that meant that it had to be cool, right?........WRONG! not only did this show stray as far away from the idea originally presented by the games as it possibly could, but it also introduced Sonic's brother and sister....OH COME ON PEOPLE. What the f*** was that? The idea of the show was that they were supposed to be the heir to their mothers throne...cause we all know that sonic had a queen for a mother...NOT. And their goal was to find their mother because she up and left due to the threat posed by the dastard Robotnik. Despite the fact that Jaleel White was once again involved, the show is regarded by many a sonic fan as a stinker.

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And then there was Sonic X. The show that makes anybody who enjoyed any of the three USA Sonic cartoons wretch in disgust and shout to themselves three little words......."THIS SUCKS ASS". First off, it was anime.Secondly, bar sonic and tails, none of the characters we had all become acquainted with in Sonic SatAM were in the show. Thirdly, it was set on earth.....EARTH for cryin' out loud. Oh and the voice acting is fairly atrocious in it aswell. A little bit of Urkel could have done wonders for that show.

Of course I'm sure there are people out there who like that Sonic X and Underground stuff, and dare I say, there may even be people out there who prefer them to the first two, but those people are clearly either insane or just havnt seen the originals. As far as the majority of Sonic fans are concerned though SatAM is where its at.

Comments

I won't care about faithfulness if the show is too silly and boring. I always prefered Sonic SatAM to any other Sonic cartoon.

There really isn't much wrong with Sonic X. It's more "canon" compared to the other Sonic series we've had. At least Sonic X is based on the actual game.

The reason why people hate Sonic X so much usually is because they've only seen the 4kids dub which does suck. The japanese version is better because it makes more sense to the 4kids version, especilly since they edited a lot of stuff out from it, and because it has better music which is more Sonic related than the US version. FUNimation should redub Sonic X like they did with One Piece, I'm actually able to sit through FUNimation's One Piece more than I was able to sit through the 4kids version, not to mention there's not as much stuff edited out.

also, the sonic games always took place on Earth; Mobius was just made up by US manuals

Sonic X was more faithful to the games; too bad it sucked

Sonic X is a horrible badly animated mess, but your review was really weak

anime can be good if done right (which is about 5% of the time), and I can't see what's so bad about having the actual ingame characters as opposed to a load of terrible new characters designed by furries

Sonic X didn't fail because it was anime or because it didn't have any of SatAM's horrible characters; that's just silly. It failed because it was a horribly animated, nonsensical piece of crap and basically everything that's wrong with Sonic right now.

i think sonic underground is cool!

Well my programming block is up but for now it is on this site.

http://soniconthe.net/viewtopic.php?t=1451&sid=6a53895853c3084e6d2c37ad06c6298f

PS: The reason why I put Sonic X on there is because I'm currently gonna be getting some fandubs of this show that I would put on that block.

I'm gonna be making an online TV block and I will put Sonic X on that block (I'll probably put all the other sonic cartoons eventually). Here's what the other shows will include.

Animaniacs
Rocko's Modern Life
The Super Mario Bros Super Show
Tiny Toon Adventures

I'll type a postnote as soon as I get it up.

Once again. a Nintendo/Sega truce of a Starfox/Sonic cartoon based on the SatAM series would have been, and still could be great!

Sonic is the bomb! I love him! I've seen all the shows and played the games. Personality, Sonic can't die.

I personaly thought Sonic X was Sega's last attempt at bringing back the blue blur to t.v. For one thing there was waaaaay to much romance. For another, the vioce actors were bad and cheap. But it did follow the games, potrayed the charaters as there normal selves, and it had tons of explosions, action, and its fair share of humor. I give it a 7.5. Thats good in my book.

I look at Sonic and Power rangers these days, and I wonder how the heck Power rangers beat out SatAM and got it cancelled? I saw one episode of Sonic Underground and didn't care for it. Adventures of Sonic was a really funny show, and I said all of those catchphrases for years, especially "I'm Waiiiiiiting!"

All the sonic shows rocked, but maybe its just because I'm a Sonic fan. SatAM and AoStH ruled, while SU is okay. And I'm mad that Sonic X made all of the voice actors from the anime were moved to the games as well!

Well, Underground was considered lame by a majority of the Sonic fandom (and rightfully so, because it's plot was utter nonsense and didn't focus on Sonic's main purpose as a hero) & Sonic X is simply an anime-esque show trying to make Sonic "hip" for today's generation, and guess what?

Today's generation sucks!

Disney is dead (thanks to Eisner), Nick has nipped itself in the butt (without Classic Nick, it is gone by the wayside), Cartoon Network is crap (most of it own shows stink), Adult Swim is astoundingly stupid (keeping Minoriteam & Boondocks but removing Futurama & Family Guy), FOX has been in the funeral home since having been bought out by 4Kids, and the WB! is now controlled by the FCC (i.e. no more Animaniacs! or shows like it that made WB! iconic).

AoStH was unique, but still "kiddified" for the audience. Meaning...it was focusing more on lame kid-friendly plotlines than an actual story.

SatAM had everything. Good characters, a good story, awesome voice acting, and a kick-ass theme song.

It IS the American-ized Sonic, for despite the fact that Sonic was made in Japan by SEGA, it wasn't until the US and other countries picked up on him that he became a true icon in the industry of games, movies, TV shows, etc.

Oh, forgot to say that SonicSatAM is still my favorite of them.

Having watched up to episode 53 of Sonic X, I must say that it's more interesting than I realized. I recently got back into it, though, I've still never watched a dubbed episode of it and I think I'll keep it that way. The third seasons, eps 53-78 I'm really interested in. I guess I'll get to see those some day. It's mostly supposed to focus on Tails, and Tails has always been a favorite for me. None of the other Sonic series we had rarely ever did anything dealing with Tails's character.

That aside, I did find this article to be poorly written due to the bias and illogical reasoning behind it, especially where Sonic X is concerned.

I remember when I was in Preschool I had to watch The Adventures of Sonic and the beginning of Power Rangers while getting ready to go in the morning. I also remember watching Sonic SatAM on Saturdays(obviously), and apparently only knew the difference because SatAM had that girl character in it. Now it's been almost 13 years since I was in Preschool, but I still have these(very vague) memories.

I have vague memories of "The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog". It seemed a lot more cartoony and slapstick than SatAM, if I remember correctly. I don't think it lasted long, did it? I remember SatAM much more vividly.

sonix X was a show loosely based on the sonic adventure series,one of the majore flaws was that it revalved to much around the human charactors which do not have much to do with the games anyway,there were only like 4 episodes that had anything to do with sonic adventure 1 and only 3 for sonic adventure 2 then afterwards you'd think theyd decide to make there next 5 episodes on the next game sonic heroes,but the only elements we get from that game are a few charactors(espio vecter and charmie) in one episode and then they go for a storyline that has nothing to do with the games,for example the alien robots have no real conection with the game anyway and that green alien girl is also a made up charactor with no real importants anyway and then thres the facted that sonic can stand outside of a starfighter in the vacume of space without a space suit of even an air mask,when they begin to do something that go's beyond the laws of physicks you know the shows taken a turn for the worse.

sonic TV shows,the old ones anyways are just a small blure in my memmirie,i've always found myself to be more of a fan of the games then the shows,the third show was even less based on the games then satam and sonic X just plane sucks.you know something else that sucks is that my 49 year old father (who is very inmature by the way) thinks its nesisary to sing the intro from satam sonic every time he see's the word sonic on anything and I mean any thing,when we pass by the fast food place sonic hill start singing,when were in a game store and I pick up one of the newer sonic titles hell start singing it out loud in the store,do you know how F-ing imbairissing that is,I mean it's shockinly surpprising he can remender the stupid intro theme from all those years ago when I can bairly remember it myself,all in all I'm a fan of the games dont care much for the shows (edspechaly satam sonic) P.S. please excuse any and all spelling mistakes you may have witnesst.

did she let you watch bugs bunny?

The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog was okay, never a favorite, though. I used to watch it before going to school every morning. Didn't care for Robotnik much, he was too...non-threatening.

Sonic SatAM is definitely, by far, my favorite. Sucks it only got two seasons. It had the potential to have more than that, especially since it was based on the comic books which did seem to be quite different from the games in general. I also liked Robotnik, as he seemed to be a true villain.

Sonic Underground, I've never seen, and as some tell me, I was spared. The concept does seem silly.

Sonic X was still aimed at kids for the original, given its time slot when it aired over there. The funny thing is that Sonic actually cursed in English. That threw me off completely. When I first heard "shit", I had to rewind to make sure I heard right.

That aside, I didn't find much wrong with Sonic X (original; I've never seen its dub), I just didn't know most of the characters - or much about them - since I don't know much about the Sonic Adventure games as I've never really played them much.

The fact that it took place on Earth and had humans, was a nice twist. It was new and different and I found the concept interesting, and I loved the intro (Sonic Drive by Hironobu Kageyama & Hideaki Takatori [well, the music, Kageyama's never had a good voice *points to original DBZ openings and second ending*) and ending (Mirai by Run & Gun).

I found it amusing in the beginning, but, it started to get boring for me so I just stopped watching it and didn't bother watching it when it finally did get overseas.

I have always loved and always will love the Sonic cartoons. I love Sonic X. Cream and Cheese look so much like my little cousins. Sonic in the new style looks like me. Amy is so cute, she is a tough chick with her Piko Piko hammer. Knuckles looks cute when he fights.

I once heard that Sonic X was for adults in Japan. Is this true?

Why do people think Sonic X is bad? Blame 4Kids.

Yeah, I admit, I was seduced by the Power Rangers... I'M SO SORRY SONIC!!! *cries*

SatAm is what made me like Sonic when i was little, not the game (never had a megadrive) The other shows just made me ignore it or hate it (for the Underground case)

Well, if anyone still wants a little more or Sonic SatAM why not check out the comics that are being published by Archie Comics. I have a lot of them myself. They're a great alternative for anyone who likes the characters and storylines of the show.

Someone hasnt seen Naruto, One Piece, Bleach or Fullmetal Alchemist then, but I would agree with you about Sonic X, the dub version is really crappy, but if you seen the original Japanese of any of the shows, you would come to appreciate it.

Other then that, I enjoyed Sonic SatAM the most specially for its opening theme, I still love that song lol. I only saw one episode of Sonic Underground and it was with Knuckles and they liked summoned instruments...so ya that is all I saw and as for Sonic X, the show was was good since it did go with the Adventure games on Dreamcast/Gamecube.

Most old DiC cartoons always had some stupid catchphrase. Sonic had "Up over and gone!" "I'm waiting..." etc. That shitty Link cartoon had "EXCUUUUSE MEEE PRINCESS" and Inspector Gadget had "Go go gadget____".

Sonic X would have done even better if it had actually been animated in the US. It was all there, but a butchered dub, combined with sub-par anime animation made it pretty dull.
Still, anyone who can make almost 3 hours worth of animated footage for Sonic Adventure 2 must be good. But yeesh! Too many flashbacks in that show.
I didn't like Underground or AOSTH either. The best one is Sonic SatAM of course.

Actually Zarius, I like the current "Eggman" or "Robotnik" design (whichever name you want to use). It's got a much more mad scientist type of feel to it. And that's what Robotnik was first, a mad scientist. The SatAM is a bit scarier, but it lacks that evil genius scientist quality. However, they're both better than the look he had in the original 16-bit games. He wasn't scary at all in that design.

I think that Sonic is Japanese invention, and as that cartoons and other stuff like that should be brought up by Japanese (just look at Robotnik in American version, yuck!).

Especially that Americans can spoil their own ideas (like the story of Shredders comeback in TMNT comic, that was laaaaaame (recovering worms!?)).

That's my European point of view

Check these out
http://www.somethingawful.com/articles.php?a=3128

Yeah, the Archie version does use the same characters, but it lost me a while ago. There was all this stuff about Tails being the chosen one and replaced by a double. Knuckles was green for a little while. Plus, there's all this soap opera stuff lately about Sally marrying Antoine or something like that. It's not necessarily that I was confused by what was going on, just that it felt like there was TOO MUCH going on.

I really liked the story where Sonic and everyone else saved the world from the aliens and he got stranded in space for the equivalent of a year. So, I know they can do stuff I like. Maybe I'll try it again someday.

I will personally say that Sonic the Hedgehog (aka Sonic SatAM) was my favorite just because of the cool new characters they included and the rather awesome stories they included. I loved the whole freedom-fighting against Robotnik thing. It was a more, pardon the expression, badass approach to an all-ages video game character. Sonic always seemed edgier than characters like Mario, so it fit. The show was not without its flaws, though. You'll notice that Tails has a very small part in the show and is rarely allowed to do anything. They also never managed to introduce Knuckles at all, even though the second season was after Sonic the Hedgehog 3 came out.

As for Sonic X, there's a different way to look at it. While fans of the older American cartoon aren't necessarily keen on it, it's a big hit with the SegaSonic fans. They're the ones who like the Sonic related media to be very true to the games. Sonic X is just that, with one or two small additions. Personally, I didn't care for it. Sonic spent entire episodes napping. Tails and Cream never flew without an airplane. And that kid Chris was more annoying than any other cartoon sidekick, just because of his clinginess to Sonic.

The real reason Sonic SatAM was the best?
Duh, Princess Sally. She single handedly turned an entire generation into furries XD

A subject such as Sonic's history on television could have easily been made in to a much longer (and more well-thought out) article, and suffice it to say I am a bit disappointed.

First of all, it is pretty much common knowledge rather than opinion that Sonic Underground is pure garbage; that much we can all agree on, so I have nothing to say about that.

However, I can take it on faith very easily that Blackadder, and most people who aggressively regard Sonic SatAM as the end-all best Sonic cartoon, if not the best cartoon ever made, have not viewed the series possibly since it aired on ABC. Those who caught in in more recent years on USA network and those who currently have it in its entirety on DVD, I hope, would be a little wiser before making such claims. To condense a much longer argument as I have made in the past, (to the chagrin of those who like to read well-defined arguments, including myself) SatAM is one of the cheesiest damn things I've ever seen.

BTW, before I watched it again in 2005, I was among the ranks of those who held it in such high regard. That Archie pulled together the story that they did for so many issues from the skin-&-bones story of this cartoon is a miracle in my mind. And while I am no huge admirer of the cartoon, I am not a SatAM basher. I've oft been ridiculed by other Sonic fans for my preference for the world given life by this series. It is simply my stance that, while I prefer the American setting and backstory, I can't in good conscience defend this cartoon.

And while I can milk an argument, I think that watching the series over again today woulld be enough to let any who disagree see just what I mean.

AoStH is something I don't feel licensed to comment on. It was a goofy cartoon, manufactured to be goofy, and it succeeded. The only episode I've seen within a decade was the Christmas episode which, like most Christmas episodes of anything, was awful. What AoStH has going for it is the fact that it is never the subject of serious heated debate; it's something that can be watched and enjoyed (to whatever margins that is possible) by anyone, as there is nothing to be taken seriously in the first place. You'd have to be a really hard-headed loser to hysterically preach about how terrible the show is when the show itself wears that badge with pride. (And believe me, I've been unfortunate enough to witness that angry sermon.)

Blackadder, I'm assuming based on this article, knows virtually nil about anime and/or the process of localizing it, especially when it is put through the gut of a heinous demon known as (cover the childrens' ears): 4Kids. Since Sonic-X is the most recent and currently most popular Sonic cartoon out there, I feel a lot more should have been said about it.

First of all, the voice acting is terrible because terrible voice acting is a proud trademark or 4Kids Entertainment. That simply goes without saying. I do not hold this against the series itself because I have heard that the original Japanese VAs did a decent-to-wonderful job, and in the end, the original performance is all that counts.

Secondly, while I have not seen more than three episodes of Sonic-X (and I'll side with Blackadder in admitting that I'm not a fan of the series simply based on its lighter tone), the first episode makes it clear that Sonic, Eggman and associates are not from Earth, but are transported there though some... I don't know because I haven't watched the whole series. This point may become irrelevant through the continuity, so if they are from Earth, disregard it. (Future Earth doesn't count, because Mobius... well, it should be obvious.)

Thirdly, and most relevantly, the reason the SatAM characters are not featured in Sonic-X is because the SatAM crew, as well as the extended family created by Archie, are properties of SEGA of America and Archie Comics Publications, respectively. Sonic-X was produced in Japan by SEGA of Japan and people who not only do not hold the rights to many of the characters, but some of whom I'm sure probably aren't even aware of them. It's simply a different world to different people. Don't be so naive in believing that all things Sonic are neatly connected and owned by a single entity, because the copyright entanglements are so complex and daunting it would make your head spin. Even Ken Penders, lead writer (at one time; I don't know if he still is) of the Archie Comic, ran into a brick wall when he proposed to Dreamworks about making a Knuckles movie. In the end it simpy became a present legal impossibility, and Dreamworks didn't want to pay for what Archie had had bestowed upon them but didn't own, even when the story would have been 90% original Archie material with 80% Archie original characters and concepts. (Confusing? I know.)

While I haven't seen Sonic-X in its entirety (I refuse rent/buy the 4Kids-bastardized version currently available on DVD), I have read synopses of the overall plot and theme, and what I can say is that judging the show based solely on the atrocities 4Kids has committed (bad voices, horrible replacement music, editing, etc.) is sorely unfair. It's a series that should be given a chance in its own right, and while it will never take the place of the expansive mythos that SatAM has spawned (for me), one might even argue that it's simply a better series with better planning and a better-executed story in its own right.

Also, the anime movie can be omitted as it is an OVA and was not originally televised. And incidentally, despite its continuity conflicts with all other aspects of the Sonic universe, I love it.

They were all cool, I think they did it mostly for the kids, though, just to get them to say WOW IT'S SONIC COOL. It did that to me at age 4 and up =x

Chris is the reason sonic X sucks. Freaking attention whore!

EDIT - In fact I feel the same way for Satam as Underground is described here, just throwing in new charcters from no where

The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog is a lot more closer to heart than Satam, Satam when off on a random thing that made not sense to what lies behind and now infront.

Satam would of been a heck load better if it learnt from STC XD

Sonic Satam is the best out of all of them.
Do you know why Sonic X sucks? It is because of the company 4Kids Productions. The original Japanese version is much better than the American version because they use the original Japanese voice actors from the Sonic games and the American version does not.

sonic was so cute in the old one now now hes cool looking i like the old one better YAY

You know, while Sonic X does indeed suck, I find your reasoning that "It sucks, because its anime" to be rather insulting. There is good anime, and bad anime, just like there is good and bad american cartoons. And on average, anime comes out head and shoulders ahead of the american toons for number of good versus bad. And most of the "bad" typically is bad because of what Americans did to it, not because the show itself is bad.