Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog

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Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog
"That's, NO GOOD."
- Sonic
Genre: Action
Adventure
Comic science fiction
Comedy
Slapstick
Educational
Running Time: 22 Minutes
Country: United States
Release Date: September 6, 1993 – December 3, 1993

November 24, 1996 (Sonic Christmas Blast)

Network(s): Syndication
Created by: Bruce Shelly
Reed Shelly
Phil Harnage
Kent Butterworth
Distributed by: Bohbot Communications
WildBrain
Starring: Jaleel White
Christopher Evan Welch
Matt Mullins
Long John Baldry
Phil Hayes
Garry Chalk
Ian James Corlett
Seasons: 1
Episodes: 65
Next show: Sonic the Hedgehog (1993)


Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (often abbreviated as AoStH) is an American animated comedy television series that was first broadcast on syndication in September 1993, and later on Toon Disney in 1998. It marks as the very first animated series of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise.

Summary

The show follows the adventures of the titular Sonic the Hedgehog and his friend Miles "Tails" Prower, two globe-trotting adventurers that are doing their best to right the wrongs of the world as they help anyone they can. It would more often than not bring them into conflict and usually stop the evil Dr. Ivo Robotnik, a self-styled genius who is constantly trying to destroy Sonic and Tails in order to conquer the world for himself, his array of vicious robots from the S.S.S.S Squad, and other villains from taking over the planet Mobius.

Why It's Way Past Cool

  1. The animation is decent. Despite it being made on a low budget, it is extremely expressive to an amusingly over-the-top and exaggerated degree that certainly reminds you of Looney Tunes animation at points.
    • Especially where TMS Entertainment (that would later work on Sonic X) gave an upgrade to the usual style of its animation. With episodes that include Black Bot the Pirate and Hedgehog of the "Hound" Table for example.
  2. The animation style has somewhat of a throwback to classic cartoons of the 1930s and '40s from the Golden Age of Animation such as Bob Clampett, Tex Avery, Max and Dave Fleischer, as well as a few others like the evidently wild if simplistic backgrounds that can be considered to be inspired by Ren & Stimpy (the skies especially!).
    • Because of this, there are many iconic and memorable bits with its animation style because of how much heart and talent was put into the animation frames from a budget as limited as this.
  3. Speaking of which, this show is like if Sonic basically met Looney Tunes with some added sprinkles, logic & structured elements to the even more crazy, cartoonish and farcical side of Ren & Stimpy as a form of inspiration and a heapin' helping of Max Fleischer surrealism.
  4. Awesome voice acting from many voices such as Jaleel White (yes, the one behind Family Matters' very own Steve Urkel), Christopher Welch, and ESPECIALLY the late Long John Baldry (who has provided TONS of internet memes to this very day).
  5. Great and memorable characters that include Sonic and Dr. Robotnik, along with his henchmen Scratch and Grounder and even Coconuts. There are also some sympathetic, interesting, humorous, and likable characters here & there as well like Wes Weasely for example.
    • Speaking of Sonic's nemesis Dr. Ivo Robotnik. He single-handedly brought the show alive with his manic and purely comedic personality that made almost every scene featuring him both amusing yet still intriguing as a character, who was given a lot of focus as a secondary main character for how underhanded and ambitious he is (especially with glorious moments of nearly succeeding at his plans and actually imposing a threat for once). His very presence made the show much more fun to watch than usual.
    • Speaking of recurring characters, Professor Caninestein and Dr. Von Schlemmer are prime examples of additional side characters that aren't meant to be necessarily comedic yet they still help clarify what happens during the random unrelated adventures Sonic and Tails get into.
  6. Since the series focuses on the villains like the aforementioned Robotnik and his recurring henchmen that are given 50% of screen-time, they sometimes steal the show with their antagonistic antics with failing to defeat and win over Sonic because of their continual setbacks and ineptitude, usually comes off as entertaining to watch.
  7. Fascinating, creative, quirky, and engaging (if mostly cheesy, campy, weird, and/or wildly dumb) episodes.
    • Especially episodes that include the whole Quest for the Chaos Emeralds saga for example. Which has a ton of references to the Sonic games as well! (i.e details of Marble Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog 1 like the traps, the chaos emeralds, and the rings are seen in a pyramid).
  8. Almost about every episode generally has a 'so-bad-that-its-good' vibe due to how stupid the show is and how much it's aware of its unimaginable stupidity to the point it doesn't try too hard to be anything else than what it is, which makes it all the more enjoyable.
    • Mainly due to how absurd, unpredictable, nonsensical, and overly insane each episode can get, which comes off as entertaining in itself. Where it more likely provides a certain level of fun and entertainment because of being extremely farcical aside from how interesting the episodes are within its insanity, the random & nonsensical adventures, and the hyperactive hijinks that also take place.
  9. There are plenty of comical, hilarious, spontaneously goofy, and amusingly silly moments. Mostly because of the sheer absurdities and nonsense that ensues.
  10. The "Sonic Says" segments at the end of an episode are usually hilarious by some of their corny weirdness and yet, they still manage to teach some good lessons at the same time (which can vary from typically simplistic 'Aesops to flat-out weird/unexpected messages that can be considered very important to hear of all ages and some of them are even laughable at times to make anyone laugh despite how absurd some of them can be).
  11. All of Robotnik's insults and retorts are extremely hilarious, quotable, and entertaining to listen to.
    • They are always varied as a form of puns, wordplay, and the word usage can sometimes even be clever enough to the point of teaching different and unusual bits of vocabulary that aren't often said or used to its audience, these range from conventional insults like "twerps", "boneheads", "fool", "brats", "idiots", "nitwits", "nincompoops", "pests", and "incompetent fools". To the much more unique, distinctive, or wackier bits of dialogue like "You metallic morons!", "You dumb-bots!", "You fish-fondling fruitcake!", "That blasted hedgehog!", "That blue brrat-nik!", "You bolt-brained dolt!", "You breakaway bumpkin!", "You clanking cretins!", "You despicable ruiner of romance!", "You dunce-bots!", "Those unsuspecting fogies", "You brainless buffoons", "You glorified porcupine!", "That heinous hedgehog!", "You ingrates!", "You insolent junkpile!", "You lamebrained, knuckle-dragging dork!", "That meddling, high-speed hedgehog!", "You metal-brained meatheads!", "You miserable mess of micro-chips!", "Nicombots!", "Rapscallion!", "You shrimpy sherlock!", "Listen to me you, sniveling tokey robot!", "You steel-headed stupid-niks!", and especially "You two-tailed two-timer!".
  12. Humorous and entertaining bits of dialogue, examples of these include:
    • “Way Past Cool!”
    • “No way Tails, this is nothing, 911 is for REAL emergencies.” (From the very first Sonic Sez segment from episode one)
    • “Kids, there's nothing more cool than being hugged by someone you like. But if someone tries to touch you in a place or in a way that makes you feel uncomfortable, that's no good! It's your body, no one has the right to touch you if you don't want them to, so what do you do? First, you say NO. Then, you get outta there! Most important, you gotta tell someone you trust. Like your parents, your teacher, a police officer” (From the Sonic Sez segment from the third episode "Lovesick Sonic" that was one of the more memorable PSAs this show provided)
    • “SnooPING AS usual I see!” (From the episode "Boogie-Mania")
    • “Mocking me with his scarless speed!” (From the very second episode "Subterranean Sonic")
    • “Yes! That's it! My eyes like pools, my teeth like polished ivory! That's what I look like!!” (From the episode "Sonic Breakout")
    • “Get on with it you pre-fabricated piece of poultry!”
    • “I have no idea where your feckless friend is” (From the episode "Trails of the Missing Tails")
    • “And make it fast you hopeless hunk of robotic junk!”
    • “I'm surrounded by defective circuitry” (From the first episode of the saga "Quest for the Chaos Emeralds")
    • “You got trouble spine-puss!”
    • “Sonic!! They are doomed! There's no escape from the wrath, of Rrrobotnik!” (From the episode "MacHOPPER")
    • “How did YOU find me? You spiny spoilsport!”
    • “I knew you tin-heads would find a way to slip up.”
    • “Get me out of here you mental midgets!”
    • “It's your fault you bumbling metalheads! I should have never made you! You make me sick!” (From the episode "Tails' New Home")
    • “Why you ungrateful bucket of bolts! I built you!!” (From the episode "Grounder the Genius")
    • “Bring me the vile creature who drew this cartoon!” (Also from the episode "Sonic Breakout")
    • “You're doing it wrong, you worthless wimp!!” (Also from the episode "Trails of the Missing Tails")
    • “What are you doing? You mutinous mutants!” (From the episode "Honey, I Shrunk the Hedgehog")
    • “I HATE THAT HEDGEHOG!!!”
  13. In spite of the ridiculously zany and campily hokey nature of the show where it can be often so off-the-wall, insane, and lazily made, some episodes like Robo Ninjas, Robotnik's Rival, Spaceman Sonic, and Sonic's Breakout are the best examples of episodes that contain qualities of being the most coherent, witty, well-structured and well-written episodes in the entire series.
  14. It has some nice and even heartwarming moments here and there, particularly with Sonic and Tails' brotherly relationship.
    • Speaking of the many absurdities that do happen in the whole series, there are instances where it can come off as endearing and charming because of how cartoonishly corny and light-hearted the show usually is.
  15. It contains some extremely nice, wacky, bouncy, lively, catchy, and memorable soundtrack, especially the opening theme of the show and all of Dr. Robotnik's theme songs
    • It's also worth noting that Sonic's leitmotif(s) is based on the first two Sonic the Hedgehog games theme song and invincibility themes. The show's intro is basically this with a mixture of the Hall of the Mountain King or even the Flight of the Bumblebee.
    • Not to mention that Dr. Robotnik's theme songs are some of the most iconic, tuneful, and memorable villain theme songs ever put to sound, to the point of it being downright unforgettable. Especially Robotnik's menacing yet quirky-sounding leitmotif that plays very often.
  16. Mostly great and iconic designs on the characters, including Sonic, Tails, and the well-remembered Robotnik, in which the three of them stay mostly true to their designs from the original source material despite the radical differences, especially Sonic's design.
  17. A major collection of awesome, hilarious, or simply entertaining episodes such as the following listed:
    • The 1992 pilot (which started the series on a high note)
    • Super Special Sonic Search & Smash Squad
    • Subterranean Sonic
    • Magnificent Sonic
    • Best Hedgehog
    • Slowwww Going
    • High-Stakes Sonic
    • Sonic Christmas Blast (which was a decent finale for the series)
    • Sonic Breakout
    • Robo Ninjas
    • Robotnik's Rival
    • So Long Sucker
    • Close Encounter of the Sonic Kind
    • Too Tall Tails
    • Big Daddy
    • Tails' New Home (The episode that created the universally remembered line "I'll have to give myself a promotion!")
    • Grounder The Genius
    • Robotnik, Jr
    • Coachnik
    • King Coconuts
    • Sonic's Song
    • Over The Hill Hero
    • Blank-Headed Eagle
    • Pseudo Sonic (The episode that was inspired by Silver Sonic from Sonic 2 and inspired Metal Sonic)
    • Tails in Charge
    • Sno Problem
    • MacHOPPER
    • Black Bot the Pirate
    • Boogey-Mania (The episode that created the universally remembered line "Snooping as usual I see".)
    • The Last Resort
    • The Magic Hassle
    • Baby Sitter Jitters
    • Sonic The Matchmaker
    • Tails Prevails
    • The Little Merhog
    • The Robotnik Express
    • Mass Transit Trouble (despite this episode being banned for the terrorism that is seen)
    • Attack on Pinball Fortress
    • Untouchable Sonic (the episode that features the 1992 pilot in a scene)
    • Super Robotnik (despite it having plenty of laughably stupid moments)
    • Robolympics
    • Robotnik's Pyramid Scheme
    • Prehistoric Sonic
    • Mobius 5000
    • Spaceman Sonic (which is hilarious)
    • Fast and Easy
    • Road Hog
    • Honey, I Shrunk the Hedgehog
    • The Robots' Robot
    • Lifestyles of the Sick and Twisted
    • Sonic is Running
    • Tails' Tale

"I Hate These Bad Qualities!"

  1. Quantity Over Quality: There are 65 episodes, yet there isn't that much substance in the show's continuity, logic or consistency to it's trippy and crazy nature. This can be contradicting its own boundaries or heck, having the lack of boundaries due to the rules the show makes and breaks for the sake of ridiculous surreal comedy and because of how the show isn't made out to make sense a lot of the time.
    • The animation quality varies depending on the studio, and occasionally errors from it are rushed, like in SatAM. Especially when some elements of animation seem like they have no structure to them. Also, the background designs can sometimes look choppy, lazy, or rushed, even for DiC animation standards.
      • Some of the minor characters also have incredibly weird-looking, grotesque, sometimes creepy-looking, or just bland designs.
    • The intro, while catchy and fun to watch, doesn't seem to present what the show is actually like aside from many scenes that include a lot of hijinks and showing Sonic's name in almost about every scene. Thankfully the Castillian Spanish, French, and Italian intros don't have Sonic's name appearing and have a different intro (Despite the French version's intro the bases are from the Italian intro & the Castillian Spanish versions are from the Italian intro of Widget: The World Watcher).
    • Like most of DiC's animated shows, aside from the aforementioned animation quality, the soundtrack tends to be reused a lot (whether it fits the consistent tone of the scene or not). While the soundtrack itself is memorable and well-composed, it can be repetitive (or grating) at times to hear the same music over and over again in scenes that can be unfitting sometimes (e.g Robotnik's themes being played when he isn't on-screen, the episodes "Submerged Sonic", "Tails Prevails" and "Mad Mike, Da Bear Warrior" for example).
    • There are instances where the same yells and voice clips can be heard over and over again in a noticeable way (Sonic, Robotnik, Scratch sometimes, and Grounder being prime examples of this). Some voices can be obviously mismatched on occasion like Scratch's out-of-place grunts in the episode "Trails of the Missing Tails".
    • The chaos emeralds are poorly represented and hardly look like their video game counterparts.
  2. The writing can be very lazy, bizarre, and forced with most of its stories and how their characters communicate in an extremely absurd way, mainly due to the reasons discussed at WIWPC#8-9 and BQ#1.
    • Scratch and Grounder's insane levels of incompetence and being unbelievably idiotic/gullible to the point of being outright illogical can be either way too absurd to be believable most of the time (despite that being the most entertaining aspect about their stupidity), or it can come off as boring to watch.
    • How Sonic is even able to deceive just about anyone (or even having any disguise on a whim like he's Bugs Bunny) seems very unlikely and it makes him out to be this smug Gary-Stu that can be hard to like & root for him most of the time.
      • Not to mention how he makes countless practical jokes that are so transparent, lamebrained & ridiculously unconvincing that it would be way too stupid for anyone to fall for them (Scratch and Grounder being the general victims of this).
    • Whenever the show seems like it'd be self-aware due to breaking the fourth wall a lot and knowing how stupid the show is without being anything more than what it is, it doesn't really try to make fun of itself.
  3. The characters can be annoying at times. Whether it's due to their voices or their incredibly questionable actions, behavior, etc.
    • There are polarizing voices that can irritate viewers like Scratch and Grounder themselves (Scratch having a braying voice and laugh for a avian character) and Coconuts having a harsh-sounding voice for a simian character.
      • Some characters can also be forgettable (e.g Tails' childlike persona at times) or are extremely hard to like towards viewers (e.g Sonnette from "Mystery of the Missing Hi-Tops", Dr. Warpnik from "Trail of the Missing Tails", and Sonic himself to some extent). Momma Robotnik is a character that is written to be intentionally unlikable for the story, even when she seems to be very annoying for her idiotic decisions.
  4. A ton of the characters can show pure stupidity because of the aforementioned lazy/forced writing discussed above, which can also showcase the show's nonsensical qualities.
    • This is better shown when there are viewers that can pinpoint what certain characters could've done more rationally if they were to apply logic and reason in the show (i.e Sonic and Tails when they can seemingly lack common sense during situations such as the duo being locked in a cage with bars they could easily get out of).
      • Another example is Robotnik having his moments of being moronic, questionable or pathetic because of his countless shortcomings. Especially when he easily falls for the transparent and childish tricks Sonic deceives him with, somehow, despite Robotnik having an IQ of 300. Much to the point that it seems like Robotnik got somewhat dumber over time with his goofy plans to conquer Mobius, less efficient actions/etc.
  5. Some other characters like Amy Rose, for example, never appear in the series at all, nor were mentioned in the series.
    • However, this is justified, as of 1993, Amy Rose was a too new character at the time and Knuckles was not introduced in a game yet at the same time.
    • Even in the Sonic Christmas Special as of 1996, Sally is colored pink as a way the animators vaguely tried her to look like Amy Rose in an extremely lazy way and Knuckles doesn't appear at all nor if he's mentioned.
  6. Despite this show being rather campy, joke-driven & light-hearted; There have been many overly weird and insane moments that can get irritating, too extreme, or slightly lowbrow, especially in the show's final episode, “Sonically Ever After”. Where some scenes can be a little too dramatic, over-the-top, or overly hammy as well.
    • With that said, there are some very corny moments when it comes to occasions with very cheesy jokes/one-liners, and the voice actors overacting the yells or sounds of their characters for example (The polarizing voices at BQ#3 is one of them).
  7. Awful episodes can appear at times (whether they have redeeming qualities like having a good start before it got bad, being slightly entertaining or not, etc.).
    • These include “Submerged Sonic”, “Trail of the Missing Tails”, “Lovesick Sonic”, “Zoobotnik”, “Momma Robotnik's Birthday”, and “Musta Been a Beautiful Baby”. The stupidest and lousiest episode being “Hero Of The Year”, an episode that was lazily put together and was more half-done than usual when it comes to animation, quality, and writing.
    • There can also be some really cheesy or flat-out nonsensical episodes as well, “Trail of the Missing Tails” is a prime example. Because of the show's flaws listed above, this is why several episodes have the coherence of a fever dream regardless of what's clarified.
      • The episode “Super Robotnik” is one of the more laughable episodes because of how hilariously bad and insane (if somewhat creative and entertaining) it is, despite the writing being mostly ridiculous, making some sense and Robotnik blatantly ripping off Superman.
    • Likewise, a few of the "Sonic Says" segments can be sloppily written and have misleading life lessons. Like how it's better to be in an abusive family than to have no family at all, which is completely false, as abusive families are one of the causes of depression and criminality.
  8. Overanalyzing and reading too much into the flaws the show does have when applying logic to the show (e.g. BQ#1 and so on) can be the very reason why most viewers find this genuinely campy, silly, wacky, cartoonish, colorful, fun, mostly jokey and ludicrously entertaining (if nonsensical or hokey) series in itself out to be obnoxious, pointless, tiresome and/or insubstantial because of the consistent theme of having stupid surreal comedy/writing as the main focus without enough substance for the rationale, etc.
    • Especially when the show itself is meant to be a "turn-your-brain-off" type of entertainment. Aside from personal preference, this is one of the many cases on why there are viewers who may not be a fan of this type of show and the very reason why the show is often very maligned by reviewers that prefer a much more properly written/structured show.
  9. A lot like Sonic SATAM (1993), the Latin American dub was not well received.
    • The Brazilian Portuguese redub of the first 13 episodes released in Brazil by the end of 2021 was been criticized for the translated script being intentionally bad with dubious stuff. Even Sonic's Brazilian VA, Manolo Rey, did not like it at all.

Trivia

  • The show could have 3 seasons and 67 episodes when the 1996 Sonic Christmas Blast Christmas special and the 1992 eight-minute pilot episode are factored in, and the fact that Wikipedia lists said episodes as single seasons.
  • Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog was a significant part of early meme culture, with phrases such as "PINGAS" (derived from Robotnik's "Snooping as usual, I see?"), the facial expressions of various characters, a trend based on the line "Hot sticky fluids", and Sonic saluting someone and saying "Hamburger" all playing a part in the development of meme culture.
  • The aforementioned PINGAS, (from "Boogey-Mania"), "I'll have to give myself a PRRROMOTION!" (from "Tails' New Home"), Robotnik shouting "NO!"/"SILENCE!!" and Sonic's "That's no good!" sexual harassment PSA (both from "Lovesick Sonic") are staples of early and modern YouTube Poop, a style of video involving heavy editing (typically audio and visual splicing/adjustments) to a source for comedic effect.
  • Sonic the Hedgehog's design is based on the American box art of the Sonic the Hedgehog games, as illustrated by Greg Martin.
  • The "Sonic Says" segments were never shown in the UK by original airings.
  • Character designs from the show were utilized in Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, the Western localization of Puyo Puyo for the Sega Genesis, Game Gear and Master System.
  • This show's animation (along with SatAM) was so nostalgic, there were many videos of actual cel animation frames from the show that are saved as collectibles (along with many other shows) to this very day.
  • This show and Sonic SatAM were often described as Batman's two shows in the past since one show is very lighthearted & campy and the other is more serious & grim (Especially when the Sonic Says segments make Sonic out to be like Adam West's Batman with teaching morals).
  • In Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, the tips that Sonic is shown giving during the loading screens are entitled Sonic Says, presumably a call back to the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog.
  • Director Kent Butterworth recruited many artists that worked for Nickelodeon's The Ren & Stimpy Show, at a time when the show's production was handed to the network's in-house animation studio.

External Links

Reception

It gained a mixed reception overall, where most critics & audiences tend to hate how the way this show was written so nonsensically and for how campy it was ever since the show first aired, while in recent years, viewers and reviewers have preferences that have shown that they all either love or hate the series respectively; some might even call it a guilty pleasure because of the show's qualities as a very bizarre cartoon.

Randy Miller III of DVDTalk said, "While it's obvious that The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog 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 Verdict criticized the show for being dated, contrived, and bloated with chili dog jokes.

It was very popular for its time, spawning at least one video game as a direct spin-off to this show while there are references like the robotic chicken, Scratch, that are seen in Sonic Spinball (which has characters that make cameos from both this show and SatAM).

Episodes With Their Own Pages

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