So, I Finally Watched Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog

Back in the early nineties, Sonic the Hedgehog was a rising star. His games were selling like hotcakes, but his bosses at Sega weren't content. They wanted a mega franchise, and they wanted it FAST. How would they turn their golden egg into a golden goose? With a cartoon, of course! The “Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog” is a 1993 surrealist hellscape masquerading as a children's comedy. On the distant planet of Mobius, Sonic and his friend Tails protect their turf from Doctor Robotnik. Robotnik

intends to conquer the world via his maniacal inventions. Unfortunately for him, the two boys avert his plans on a weekly basis. The boys save the day. And that's the show. The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog has a rather contentious legacy within the Sonic community. Some fans adore it for its unhinged humor, while others dismiss it as utter nonsense. In preparation for Sonic's 32nd birthday, we'll be covering the first Sonic cartoon ever made. I'm going to be honest with you guys: I did NOT

want to cover this series. I tried watching it a few months back, but I couldn't stand how repetitive it was. The things I do for views... Adventures of Sonic is brilliant in short bursts, but it was too juvenile for my tastes. I would have dropped the show right there... BUT, I know my audience. You guys want me to cover EVERY Sonic show in existence. So, I bit the bullet. I injured all 65 episodes of this Sisyphean torment. I hope you guys are happy with yourselves. Let's dive into the time pr

ison that is Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. Let's go over the basics. The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog is a 22 minute animated comedy. It relies on rapid-fire gags. This is how a typical episode plays out. Robotnik and his robots devise a scheme to harass one of the local communities. Sonic and Tails investigate the crime scene. Team Sonic “clowns” on Robotnik’s Badniks. “Badniks” are any number of robots that Robotnik creates. But right before the commercial break, the Badniks throw a cu

rveball. Either Tails is kidnapped, Sonic is kidnapped. Or get this: Sonic and Tails are BOTH kidnapped. After the commercial break, Team Sonic Pivots and develops a new plan to tackle Robotnik. Sonic pulls a trick out of his hat. It's either a play for deception or tomfoolery. He disguises himself in various costumes. Robotnik’s henchmen slip up and the Blue Blur takes the opening. Team Sonic defeats Robotnik and causes him to scream: ROBOTNIK: “I HATE that hedgehog.” Team Sonic celebrates with

a chili dog. The episode ends with “Sonic Says,” a mini segment where Sonic gives life advice. Tails or the Badniks get into serious trouble. Sonic launches an intervention and offers life tips. SONIC: “That’s NO good!” That’s the gist for most episodes. In isolation, the format goes hand-in-hand with the fast paced action. Each episode is front loaded with ludicrous gags, cartoony violence, and entertaining characters. Luckily, the show has a STACKED cast. Okay, let's go over the characters. S

onic the Hedgehog is a teenage speedster who loves chili dogs. He lacks patience and humility, but remains steadfast in defending his neighbors. Sonic is a quick thinker and will use the environment to his advantage. He's also voiced by Jaleel White, who famously played Urkel on the sitcom Family Matters. URKEL: “Did I do that?” SONIC: “Stay away from liquor, kids.” “Like all drugs, alcohol is dangerous. And you could get hooked!” This version of Sonic is different from the guy we know today. Wh

en Adventures of Sonic was in production, the worldbuilding in the games wasn't set in stone. Adapting a game with a barebones plot wasn't easy. The showrunners took MASSIVE creative liberties. This portrayal of Sonic is unrecognizable from his later incarnations. For one, he can swim. Wait, he can swim? He must have spent plenty of time at the community pool. Two, he's a bit of a-- How do you say? A ladies’ man. He might be celibate in the games, but in the show, his hormones are raging. Yeah,

I said it. Sonic knows how “to score.” Lastly, he pulls a trick that would make Bugs Bunny blush. He insults the ego of the Badniks, pretends they've got the advantage, and deceives them with his fake personas. All to give them the runaround. This illusion wouldn't work if it weren't for the excellent voice acting. The line deliveries are sharp, the direction is exaggerated, and the vocal range is wide. Everyone loves quoting Doctor Robotnik for his weird enunciation. ROBOTNIK: “SnooPING AS usua

l, I see?” BOOM EGGMAN: “Snooping as usual, I see?” He's good, but Jaleel White as Sonic steals the show. White brings his “cool minded older brother” dynamic to the table. His lines are iconic. SONIC: “Let’s speed, Keeve!” SONIC: “Let’s glide, Clyde!” There's a reason he stuck around for two more cartoons. His sidekick wasn't so lucky in that department. Miles “Tails” Power is a naive, yet supportive best friend with his ability to fly. With his ability to fly, Tails aspires to be as heroic as

his best friend. He's a little clumsy and lacks the necessary life experience. This version of Tails is just, I don't know... Fine, I guess? He complements Sonic's wild side while being Sonic's moral anchor. My only problem with Tails is that he's often used as a plot device. Robotnik kidnaps Tails every 3 to 4 episodes. Jesus! Someone should call child services. He can rescue Sonic on occasion, but it doesn't mitigate the repetitive storytelling. At least the villains are good. Doctor Ivo Robot

nik is a mad genius with the ego of a thousand suns. Robotnik can create any invention he wants, but his short temper gets in the way. So, unlike the games, he's not called “Eggman,” but he retains that egg-shaped design. Uh... “OwO” notices your bulge, dude. Robotnik is a full on psychopath. His top henchmen are much brighter. Coconuts is a monkey bot with ambition. He wants to appease his creator, but he's constantly relegated to janitorial duty. You got to remember, Robotnik lives in a fortre

ss that's wrecked every other day. Coconuts is my least favorite Badnik. His gimmick is that he's a crazy monkey, and that's about it. He doesn't provide the same vocal range as his robotic brethren. Robotnik’s top field commanders are Scratch and Grounder. Scratch is a rooster bot with a high pitched voice. He comes up with the plans to capture Sonic, but his partner botches the traps. Grounder is a driller bot with low intelligence. He's not the brightest droid around, but he's packed with Rob

otnik’s deadly gizmos. He also has a phone within his torso. Scratch and Grounder are the 90’s equivalent to a classic comedy duo. A smart, tall guy working with a fat, dumb guy. Both robots compete for Robotnik’s approval, but they're undermined by Sonic himself. Despite their 99% failure rate, the duo will overpower the Blue Blur from time to time. The villains are a definite highlight in The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. They're loud, cartoonishly evil, and dysfunctional as a group. The b

anter between Robotnik and his robot goons is wildly entertaining. If only these guys were enough to keep me engaged through the repetitive plot structure. My biggest beef with the show is its repetitive storytelling. There's nothing wrong with reusing a simple formula. Sonic fights the bad guys, slapstick violence occurs, and he comes up on top. The writing is simple on the surface, but there are gags for grown-ups. SCRATCH: “What can I say?” “There’s just no stopping great talent!” GROUNDER: “

Hello, lady robots!” “I’m single and ready to disassemble.” In fact, there are some great set ups and payoffs. In the episode “Close Encounter of the Sonic Kind,” Team Sonic helps an alien prince repair his marooned ship. In the first half, the group visits a canyon with unnatural rock formations. In the second half, the group uses those formations against Robotnik. Unfortunately, this level of effort is unevenly applied across the series. This structure reminds me of the Disney cartoon “Phineas

and Ferb.” That show is famous for its rigid plot structure. Boys creates an invention, platypus does spy stuff, and then it resets at the end. However, each episode had to remix the formula in new and exciting ways. Phineas and Ferb was able to stay fresh for almost eight years. Adventures of Sonic, which is on the FAR side of the spectrum, didn't put in the legwork. Most of its roster tends to blend together. Team Robotnik will implement the same type of ineffective traps. Sonic will brute fo

rce his way through most obstacles. Tails will need saving after the commercial break. Both teams will encounter a few as centric side characters and said allies will never appear again. I marathoned the show over a 14 day period. Boy, was I getting impatient by episode 20. I would have dropped it right there. But I must do what most YouTubers are usually obliged to do. Honor your audience demand! Anyway, see that subscribe button over-- The witty humor, while competent and sometimes brilliant,

remains the same emotional intensity for most episodes. The show tries having real stakes for Team Sonic. They need to rescue various towns from Robotnik’s destruction. Sonic is overpowered as hell, which renders the suspense almost non-existent. This emotional flatline makes the act of binge watching it an exhaustive experience. I don't want to completely demolish the writing. I did see sparks of creativity throughout this 65 episode pilgrimage. Let's go over some of the positive aspects. My fa

vorite episode is “Sonic is Running.” Robotnik’s mother crashes her son's domain and tells him he should rule the planet the legal way. Robotnik is like, “Um, I’m an evil scientist.” “I don't do things by the books.” His mom is like, “You better try it or else I’m going to disown you for the rest of your life.” So, Robotnik then decides to run for President of Mobius. Sonic runs an opposite campaign to stop the guy. The mere concept of a villain trying to conquer the world through democracy is q

uite hilarious. It's a fun episode all around. Believe it or not, Adventures of Sonic has a minor continuity. On occasion, Robotnik will receive unwanted help on his quest. His mother will barge in because she thinks she raised a lousy son. Then there's Wes Weasley, a sly businessman sells torture devices to Robotnik. These characters crop up in the latter half of the show's run. But wait, there's more. Several one off Badniks, like Breezie and Robotnik Junior, start off as Sonic's enemies. Team

Sonic convinces both bots to abandon their creator and join the good guys. Much later, Tails invites the robot duo to a “Sonic Appreciation” party. I always appreciate the small details. The most surprising thing I found is the four part time travel arc. Wait, there’s an actual story arc? In essence, Robotnik creates a time machine to retrieve the Chaos Emeralds across Mobian history. Each episode directly connects to the last episode. Sonic and Tails chase Robotnik through time. Sonic even get

s to meet his ancestors. The story is almost like a mini movie. It's still cool that the writers tried something ambitious for once. Anyway, let's talk about the production design. The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog was a collaboration between Dic Entertainment and Sega of America. Dic Entertainment was known for cranking out children's television like no tomorrow. But there's one teeny problem. They turned cost cutting into a competitive e-sport. The studio outsourced the animation to four se

parate overseas studios. The quality speaks for itself. The animation ranges from “okay” to off-model hilarity. One moment, the characters have varied expressions and sharp movements. Other times, the models look like they were incorrectly drawn by Chat GPT. The studio had to make 24 hours worth of content in about 12 months. The cost cutting starts to make sense. Aside from that hiccup, my best compliment would go to the wacky art direction. The atmosphere of Mobius is stuck between Looney Tune

s surrealism and the curvy style of Doctor Seuss. If you ever seen those Chuck Jones cartoons, then you know they feature minimalistic backgrounds. They felt more like liminal spaces. Adventure to Sonic takes that philosophy up to eleven. The colors are warm, the landscapes are curvy and lacking in sharp angles, and the cities feel otherworldly. The art design, while simplistic, still has some appeal all these years later. Here are some small technical details that irked me. The theme song, whic

h is based on the title screen from Sonic 1, is iconic as the show itself. *Music from Sonic 2* *Music from AOSTH* But here's the truth. The cartoon has like seven music tracks, and they repeat ad nauseum. They're either forgettable stock tracks or slight tweaks on the theme song. I would have preferred they’d incorporate more melodies from the Genesis games. This might have been a budgetary constraint, but the limited track selection is a major letdown. Speaking of a source material! During the

late 1980s, Dic Entertainment was turning video games into TV animation. I saw DC's take on Mario and Zelda. Trust me, they were NOT GOOD. Believe it or not, Adventures of Sonic is one of Dic’s more refined “products.” Why is that? First of all, Dic’s Mario cartoons were just too nonsensical for my taste. Team Mario goes to some random nondescript location, and things just happen. It felt more like a rough outline than a proper script. In Adventures of Sonic, Robotnik executes his game plan, an

d Sonic has to stop it. I at least know what's going on. There is some attempt at a cohesive script. Secondly, the writing works on multiple levels. There are jokes for children and adults to latch on to. Or Sonic is sometimes making meta commentary like, SONIC: “Someday, I might even have my own TV show like Edgar Eagle.” “Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog!” The Mario cartoons were purely made for one demographic: Children. Lastly, the show attempts to expand on its source material. Sonic and Ta

ils are free flowing best friends who defend their animal neighbors. Team Sonic interacts with a diverse population of Mobius. They meet turtles, mer people, other failed superheroes, radio stars. They even help with some human characters as well. On top of that, Robotnik makes all kinds of dangerous robots in his spare time. Sonic spin dashes and speeds through Robotnik’s numerous obstacles. They pretty much translated the basic gameplay loop onto the screen. The classic Genesis games were lite

on lore. So, the showrunners decided to do their own thing. In essence, they made a show that could stand on its own. In fact, this wasn't Dic’s initial vision. So, how exactly did the show come to be? Around 1992, Sega of America partnered with Dic Entertainment to produce a TV show to promote the Blue Blur. Dic was pitching a lighthearted slapstick comedy to other networks. They eventually found a buyer. ABC. ABC liked the Sonic IP, but they wanted a darker show for their Saturday morning blo

ck. ABC prided themselves as a premium, high quality network. Dic wanted something cheap to run in syndication. Syndicated shows were programs that could be sold to smaller, community-based networks. So, think of your local PBS station. Instead of earning revenue from one source, Dic could make “dough” on reruns from hundreds of different sources. Eventually, both companies came to a compromise. Dic and their animation partners would make TWO separate Sonic shows at roughly the same time. The fi

rst show, Adventures of Sonic, was made for syndication and would go on smaller networks. ABC would get Sonic SatAM. an action drama with a darker tone. Both shows would have two different writing teams. By the way, Adventures of Sonic and Sonic SatAM are set in different continuities. Let me get this straight... They made two completely separate cartoons, at the exact same time, in order to maximize profits? It's a bold strategy, but it worked. Adventures of Sonic will complete its initial run

and would rerun in perpetuity. Sonic SatAM, while canceled after two seasons, remains a cult classic among Sonic fans. In fact, there is a fan produced third season that is currently underway. I can't wait to see that. Dic would later make a third Sonic show called Sonic Underground. Long story short, that show bombed and Dic never touched the Sonic IP ever again. It's a rather sad ending, but their Sonic experiments continue to live within the Sonic community. For better or worse. What kind of

legacy did Adventures of Sonic leave behind? In conclusion, The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog is a mixed bag. I mean, a REALLY mixed bag. It's colorful, chaotic, and creative. The voice acting is great, the characters are entertaining, and if you look deep enough, there are moments of brilliant writing. The show is great in small doses. Yet, if you binge watch all 65 episodes, the repetitive story beats will generate your own villain origin story. The show doesn't do enough to mix up the form

ula, the production quality is a little “iffy,” and the constant loud humor will get grating after a while. If you're into weird historical novelties or you've literally watched every other Sonic show in existence, Adventures of Sonic is a no brainer. For anyone else, you better stay the hell away. It'll drive you mad like Robotnik. Next time on the Sonic Bucket list, we'll cover the second season of the Netflix original: Sonic Prime. Thanks for watching. Remember, no hedgehogs were harmed in th

e making of this video.