Several television series and features were produced that were based on the Sonic the Hedgehog series of video games, developed by Sega.
See main article: Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog was the first Sonic television series, produced by DiC Entertainment, Bohbot Entertainment and Fininvest, and airing in 1993; the series consisted of 65 episodes, most of which follow Sonic and Tails as they attempt to stop Doctor Robotnik's tyranny.[1] At the end of every episode is a short PSA titled "Sonic Says" where Sonic teaches the audience a lesson. The series has received mixed reviews,[2] [3] although the series has spawned several internet memes and is a major source in YouTube poop material.[4]
Three years after the series completed its original run, a Christmas special titled Sonic Christmas Blast aired on USA Network on November 24, 1996;[5] the special was originally intended to tie-in with Sonic X-treme, and was produced under the title X-tremely Sonic Christmas;[6] however, its cancellation resulted in the special being rebranded as a tie-in to Sonic 3D Blast.
See main article: Sonic the Hedgehog (TV series). The second of DiC's Sonic cartoons, Sonic the Hedgehog (more commonly known as Sonic SatAM)[7] aired from September 18, 1993, to December 3, 1994, lasting two 13 episode seasons;[8] considered one of the darker incarnations of Sonic, SatAM takes place in a time where Robotnik successfully took over Mobius, with Sonic and a team called the Freedom Fighters attempting to take back the planet.
Originally intended to last three seasons, Sonic the Hedgehog was cancelled after its second season, which left the show on a cliffhanger where Ixis Naugus would become the new antagonist; since its release, the series has become a cult classic,[9] inspiring a video game titled Sonic Spinball and the Archie Comics series.[10]
See main article: Sonic the Hedgehog (OVA)., also known as simply Sonic the Hedgehog, is an original video animation (OVA) produced by Studio Pierrot and General Entertainment, and directed by Hazuzo Ikegami, with supervision from Sonic Team; in the OVA, Sonic and Tails head to Eggmanland to stop a generator from destroying Planet Freedom, only for Sonic to have his DNA copied into a doppelganger named Hyper Metal Sonic.
In Japan, the OVA was consists of two episodes, titled and, released on January 26 and March 22, 1996, respectively.[11] The North American release, handled by ADV Films, combined the two episodes into one hour-long movie and released on September 7, 1999, on VHS and two days later on DVD; the release coincided with the release of Sonic Adventure internationally.[12]
The OVA was met with mixed reception; much of the criticism came from the English dub, which many saw as subpar.[13] [14]
See main article: Sonic Underground. The third and final DiC Sonic cartoon,[15] Sonic Underground[16] aired in 1999 and lasted only one season with 40 episodes;[17] the series takes inspiration from the SatAM series, where a princess hedgehog Queen Aleena gives birth to three hedgehogs, Sonic, Sonia and Manic, on the same day as Robotnik's take over of Mobotropolis; Aleena separates her three children, who years later join a rebellion to take back the planet; every episode of the show includes a musical number near the end.[18] The series was commissioned as a way to promote the Dreamcast.[19]
Unlike the previous two series, Sonic Underground has been met with a generally negative reception from media critics for its confusing plot, although praise has been given to the series' musical numbers.[20] [21] [22] Originally, a conclusion for the series was planned to be included in issue #50 of the Sonic Universe comic; however, it was later replaced due to license issues.[23]
See main article: Sonic X. is a Japanese anime created by TMS Entertainment under a partnership with Sega and Sonic Team.[24] In the series, after an infiltration into Eggman's base goes wrong, Sonic and his friends are transported to a parallel world inhabited by humans where they met a 12-year-old boy named Christopher Thorndyke, who helps Sonic along with his friends to take on Eggman continuously while trying to retrieve all seven Chaos Emeralds so that they would return home. The series initially ran for two 26 episode seasons on TV Tokyo from April 6, 2003[25] to March 28, 2004.[26] [27]
Internationally, Sonic X was dubbed by 4Kids Entertainment and ran from September 6, 2003, to March 26, 2005; although the series suffered from low ratings in Japan, it was large success internationally, with 4Kids commissioning a third season of 26 episodes; season three, dubbed "The Metarex Saga" sees Sonic and his friends including Chris, and a new character introduced in the third season, a plant-like creature named Cosmo, traveling across planets to retrieve the Chaos Emeralds in order to stop an alien race called the Metarex. Season three was never released on DVD in Japan, nor was aired on television over there until 2020,[28] although it was later made available via streaming services.
The series has received generally average reviews from critics, although the English dub was heavily criticised for its censorship and English voice acting.[29] The voice actors who participated in the English dub would later become the voice actors for the games from Shadow the Hedgehog to Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing.[30] [31]
See main article: Sonic Boom (TV series). Sonic Boom is an American-French CGI animated series produced by OuiDo! Productions and distributed on Cartoon Network,[32] Canal J and Gulli; the series takes place on an island called Bygone Island and has Sonic and his friends attempt to stop Dr. Eggman's plans; the series ran from November 8, 2014,[33] to November 18, 2017,[34] having two 52 episode seasons.
The television series is part of a larger spin-off also known as Sonic Boom; according to Takashi Iizuka, head of Sonic Team, Sonic Boom was designed to appeal to Western fans.[35] The series also spans three video games (Rise of Lyric, Shattered Crystal and Fire & Ice), a comic book[36] and a toyline by Tomy.[37] The series was met with positive reviews.[38]
As of May 21, 2020, it was confirmed by Bill Freiberger that there are no plans to continue the series.[39]
Let's Meet Sonic is a crossover episode of the Cartoon Network animated series OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes featuring Sonic and Tails. Announced at San Diego Comic-Con 2019, the episode debuted on August 4 of that year as part of the show's third season.[40] [41]
See main article: Sonic Prime. Sonic Prime[42] is an animated series co-produced by Sega, Netflix Animation, WildBrain and Man of Action Entertainment; it sees Sonic needing to travel across an accidentally-created multiverse, with themes of self-discovery and redemption.[43] The series was officially announced on February 1, 2021,[44] although its existence was accidentally leaked in December 2020 with a now-deleted Twitter post.
The first season, consisting of 8 episodes, was released on December 15, 2022.[45] [46] The second season, also consisting of 8 episodes, was released on July 13, 2023.[47] [48] According to WildBrain Studios, the show would have 23 episodes in total, including a double length series premiere.[49] The third and final season, consisting of seven episodes, was released on January 11, 2024.[50] It received generally favorable reviews.
See main article: Knuckles (TV series). In February 2022, ViacomCBS (later renamed Paramount Global) announced that a television series centered around Knuckles the Echidna and taking place in the film universe is in development, with it set for release in 2023 on Paramount+. On April 17, 2023, Jeff Fowler posted a teaser image on his Twitter confirming that filming had begun and that he was director of the pilot. Later that day, members of the cast and the plot synopsis were revealed. The series will take place after the events of the film Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022) and before the events of the film Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024). The series will show Knuckles training Wade Whipple to become his protégé and teaching him the ways of an echidna warrior.
Idris Elba reprises his role as the voice of Knuckles for the series, while Adam Pally and Tika Sumpter reprise their roles as Wade Whipple and Maddie Wachowski for the series. Edi Patterson, Julian Barratt, Kid Cudi, Ellie Taylor, Rory McCann, Cary Elwes, Stockard Channing, Christopher Lloyd, Paul Scheer, and Rob Huebel also appear as new roles.
This series consisted of 6 episodes and premiered on April 26, 2024[51] with Jeff Fowler directing the pilot episode.
Attempts had been made as early as 1993 to get Sonic made into a film; the first of these was Sonic the Hedgehog: Wonders of the World, which was pitched to MGM in August 1994 and had Sonic coming into the real world of a kid named Josh, and fighting Eggman (Robotnik). The film would've tied-in to the cancelled Sega Saturn game Sonic X-treme, and despite a positive internal reception, MGM would drop the project without warning. Writer Richard Jefferies suggests the film was dropped due to creative differences between Sega and Trilogy Entertainment Group, who were also producing the film.[52]
Ben Hurst had also attempted to make Sonic the Hedgehog into a film, this time based on the aforementioned SatAM series; the project was dismissed after former comic series writer Ken Penders allegedly told a Sega representative that Hurst was attempting to "co-opt" the franchise.[53] Penders proposed his own film titled Sonic Armageddon in September 2003, which would have incorporated elements from SatAM and the Archie Comics series, but was itself dropped in 2007 due to massive corporate upheaval, and the death of Sega license manager Robert Leffler.[54] The original pitch video still exists, and was uploaded to YouTube in 2017.[55]
| Film | U.S. release date | Director(s) | Screenwriter(s) | Producer(s) | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sonic the Hedgehog | Jeff Fowler | Pat Casey and Josh Miller | Neal H. Moritz, Toby Ascher, Toru Nakahara and Takeshi Ito | Released | ||
| Sonic the Hedgehog 2 | Pat Casey, Josh Miller and John Whittington | Neal H. Moritz, Toby Ascher, Toru Nakahara and Hitoshi Okuno | ||||
| Sonic the Hedgehog 3 | Post-production | |||||
See main article: Sonic the Hedgehog (film). Sonic the Hedgehog is an action-adventure comedy film directed by Jeff Fowler and written by Pat Casey and Josh Miller; in the film, Sonic is forced to abandon his home world and ends up on Earth, and eventually is forced to team up with a human named Tom Wachoski to stop Dr. Robotnik; it was originally released in theaters on February 14, 2020.[56]
Originally intended for release in late-2019,[57] Sonic the Hedgehog ended up being pushed back several months due to the overwhelmingly negative response to Sonic's design in the trailer;[58] [59] [60] upon its release, the film was met with mixed reviews from critics,[61] although it was a large commercial success, being the sixth-highest-grossing film in 2020.[62]
See main article: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (film).
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is an American action-adventure comedy film based on the video game franchise published by Sega. Directed by Jeff Fowler and written by Pat Casey, Josh Miller and John Whittington, it is the sequel to Sonic the Hedgehog (2020). Ben Schwartz reprises his role as the voice of Sonic the Hedgehog, alongside Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik, with James Marsden and Tika Sumpter in the roles of Tom and Maddie Wachowski, while Idris Elba joins the cast as Knuckles the Echidna. The film is inspired by the video games Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992), Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (1994) and Sonic & Knuckles (1994), but is not a direct adaptation of either. Fowler described the film as "a melting pot" of ideas from several Sonic games. After the events of the first film, Sonic joins forces with Miles "Tails" Prower to stop Dr. Robotnik and Knuckles from finding a powerful emerald that has the power to build and destroy civilizations.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was released in the United States on April 8, 2022, by Paramount Pictures in association with Sega Sammy Group.
In February 2022, Sega and Paramount confirmed that a third film was in development.[63] On August 8, 2022, it was announced that the third film would be released on December 20, 2024. The main cast of the previous two films all return, while Pat Casey, Josh Miller, and John Whittington also return to write the script.[64] The film will be inspired by the video games Sonic Adventure 2 (2001) and Shadow the Hedgehog (2005).
By September 2023, filming of scenes with no physical actors had begun in London. On November 29, following the end of the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, filming continued with physical actors. James Marsden said that filming had wrapped by March 14, 2024.[65]
| Film | Year | Box office gross revenue | Box office ticket sales | box office rankings | Budget | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US & Canada | Other markets | Worldwide | US & Canada | Other markets | Worldwide | US & Canada | Worldwide | |||||
| Sonic the Hedgehog | 2020 | $148,974,665 | $170,741,018 | $319,715,683 | [66] | 15,876,790[67] | 25,201,814+ | 41,078,604+ |
|
| $85,000,000[68] | |
| Sonic the Hedgehog 2 | 2022 | $190,872,904 | $211,783,942 | $402,656,846 | [69] | 18,265,000[70] | 18,265,000+ |
|
| $90,000,000[71] | ||
| Total | 34,141,790 | 25,201,814+ | 59,343,604+ | |||||||||
See also: Sonic Unleashed. Sonic: Night of the Werehog is the first web animation and 3D computer-animated short, released on November 21, 2008, and produced by Marza Animation Planet, created to promote the release of Sonic Unleashed. In the short, Sonic and Chip enter a haunted house and must contend with the two ghosts Su and Uh, who attempt to take pictures of scared visitors to appease the female ghost Lah.[72] [73]
The three ghosts that appeared in the short film were created by Marza Animation Planet, as the studio's illustration staff members created various illustrations that featured them are posted on Marza Animation Planet's Staff X (Twitter) account.
On October 31, 2023, a brand new short film, featuring the three ghosts, entitled "Ghost Tale", was posted on Marza Animation Planet's YouTube channel.
See also: Sonic Mania. Sonic Mania Adventures is the second web animation and first 2D one, initially released as a series in five parts between March 31 and July 18, 2018, as a tie-in to Sonic Mania Plus.[74] [75] The series takes place shortly after the events of Sonic Forces, as Classic Sonic arrives back in his world to find Eggman is once again attempting to collect all the Chaos Emeralds.[76] It was produced by Neko Productions and animated by Tyson Hesse, with supervision from Sega.[77]
The series received generally favorable reviews from various critics, who praised the animation and writing.[78] A Christmas-themed bonus episode, starring Amy Rose, was released on December 21, 2018, a few months after its initial completion.[79] [80]
See also: Team Sonic Racing. Team Sonic Racing Overdrive is the third web animation and a 2D one, released as a two-part series in March and April 2019.[81] The miniseries is a promotional tie-in to Team Sonic Racing, and features Sonic, Shadow, and Amy's teams competing in a race on Planet Wisp while Eggman tries to interfere.
Chao in Space is the fourth web animation and a 2D short, released on December 13, 2019. In the short, a Chao dreams up the events of a fictional film titled Chao in Space, in which it endures a spaceship battle against a Dark Chao. As it sleeps, Sonic attempts to prevent the sleepwalking Chao from injuring itself, while Dr. Eggman disguises himself as Santa Claus to try to steal Christmas presents.[82] The animation is based on a gag from Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2, which both feature faux advertisements for Chao in Space and its sequel Chao in Space 2.
Sonic Colors: Rise of the Wisps is the fifth web animation and a 2D one, released in Summer 2021 as a two-episode miniseries, created as a tie-in to the release of Sonic Colors: Ultimate. The series takes place during the game, and follows Sonic and Tails as they work to save the Wisps imprisoned on Sweet Mountain from Metal Sonic, Orbot and Cubot.[83]
TailsTube is the sixth web animation and an online web series for the Sonic the Hedgehog series starring Miles "Tails" Prower, who acts as a VTuber and host for the show. The show is described as a "fun and informative, Tails-hosted show about all things Sonic". The series' episodes are published irregularly.
See also: Sonic Frontiers. Sonic Frontiers Prologue: Divergence is the seventh web animation and a 2D short, released on November 1, 2022. The short was written by Ian Flynn and directed by Tyson Hesse, with animation by Powerhouse Animation Studios. Set shortly before the events of Sonic Frontiers, the short explains follows Knuckles on Angel Island, explaining how he was sent to the Starfall Islands.[84]
Sonic & Friends is the eighth web animation and a 3D computer-animated series, released on Sega's Japanese TikTok account and featuring chibi versions of Sonic characters that originated from Sonic Boom merchandise. The teaser was released on August 7, 2023.[85] [86]
See also: Sonic Superstars.
Sonic Superstars: Trio of Trouble is the ninth web animation and a 2D short, released on September 20, 2023, released as a tie-in to Sonic Superstars. The short has the titular trio, Doctor Eggman, Fang the Hunter, and Trip, searching a ruin as part of a villainous plot. Beforehand, Fang dreams of an encounter with Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy.[87]