Sonic the Hedgehog (TV series) (Johnsonverse)

Sonic the Hedgehog is an animated television series based on the video game series of the same name. It was story edited by Len Janson and produced by DIC Productions, L.P., Sega of America, Inc., and the Italian studio Reteitalia S.p.A. in association with Telecinco. It is the second of DiC's Sonic cartoons, following Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. It features a more dramatic and darker story than the lighter Adventures series, depicting Sonic as a member of a band of freedom fighters battling to overthrow Doctor Robotnik, now a despotic dictator who conquered their home planet Mobius years prior, ruling it as a polluted industrial dystopia. To distinguish it from other Sonic the Hedgehog media, the series is commonly referred to by fans as "SatAM", in reference to its Saturday morning timeslot.
The program aired on ABC from September 18, 1993 to December 3, 1994, then on WBC from September 16, 1995 to December 18, 2004, running for a total of twelve seasons and 156 episodes; a television movie, Sonic Armageddon, was released on May 21, 2005 as its series finale. A fan following has elevated the series to become a cult hit. The show also inspired a video game, Sonic Spinball, and a long-running comic book series of the same name.
== Plot ==
The series takes place on Mobius, a planet mostly populated by anthropomorphic animals formerly known as Earth; it takes place millennia after a human-purging war which caused animals to become sapient. The Kingdom of Acorn, based within the city of Mobotropolis, was at war with an unseen enemy. The King recruited a human scientist, Julian, to build war machines to end the war with a victory. However, during peacetime, Julian and his nephew Snively launched a coup d'état against the kingdom. The King is banished to another dimension, the Void, and the citizens are captured and transformed into robot slaves, through a machine called the Roboticizer. Julian renames himself as Dr. Robotnik, now the ruthless dictator of Mobius. Mobotropolis is renamed Robotropolis, a polluted, industrial cityscape.
Robotnik finds himself at odds with a small collective group called the Freedom Fighters, who operate out of the hidden woodland village Knothole. They are led by Sonic the Hedgehog and Princess Sally Acorn, the King's sole heir. Other members include Sonic's best friend Miles "Tails" Prower, computer genius Rotor the Walrus, French coyote Antoine Depardieu, half-roboticized Bunnie Rabbot, and Dulcy the Dragon. They act as a rebellion against Robotnik's regime. Sonic uses the Power Rings to gain a temporary boost in power. Both the rings and the Roboticizer were designed by Sonic's uncle Chuck, one of the victims of the machine.
Early on in the series, Sonic uses a Power Ring to restore Uncle Chuck's free will in his mechanical body. Chuck decides to act as a spy for the Freedom Fighters, operating from within the city. He is eventually discovered by Robotnik in the second season, and escapes to Knothole. Sally searches for her father during the series. He is found alive within the Void, shared with a sorcerer, Naugus, who was also imprisoned within the dimension by Robotnik. Naugus attempts to escape the Void, but both he and the King discover their bodies turn to crystal whilst back on Mobius, and are forced to return to their prison. The heroes gain other allies, including Ari the Ram, and Lupe, leader of the elusive wolf pack.
In the series' first two-part episode, "Blast to the Past", Sonic and Sally use the Time Stones to travel back in time, in an attempt to prevent Robotnik's planned takeover. They fail, but manage to get their younger selves to the safety of Knothole, with help from Sally's nanny Rosie Woodchuck. In the series finale, Robotnik builds the Doomsday Project to destroy the population. The Freedom Fighters launch a full scale attack against Robotnik, with Sonic and Sally destroying the Doomsday Project with the power of the Deep Power Stones. Robotnik is caught in the destruction and is utterly destroyed along with Doomsday, and the Freedom Fighters declare victory, with Sonic and Sally kissing. Snively becomes the main antagonist, accompanied by a new ally named Naugus. 
In the third season, the Knothole Freedom Fighters become the Knothole Freedom Builders, who begin the process of rebuilding Mobotropolis, with Rotor spearheading the construction effort. Sonic becomes unsatisfied with his victory, but unbeknown to him, Snively is sneaking around Robotropolis and gathering intel on the Freedom Fighters. However, his stint as lead villain proves short-lived, and in a moment of desperation he frees Naugus, Robotnik, and King Acorn from the Void.
Naugus ends up becoming the main antagonist, using the King as bait to lure Sally in, turning Robotnik into a Snively equivalent, and in turn downgrading Snively into essentially nothing. Snively defects to the Freedom Fighters, although he betrays them later in the third season; Antoine ends up being the only one to notice — and ultimately stop — Snively's plans. At the end of the season, a red echidna named Knuckles comes to fight Sonic, believing him to have stolen the Master Emerald, but joins the Freedom Fighters after realizing he had been tricked by Robotnik.
In the fifth season, a pink hedgehog named Amy Rose joins the Freedom Fighters, immediately becoming Sally's main rival for Sonic's affections (despite this, Sonic always goes with Sally, much to Amy's dismay). Naugus, meanwhile, finds he can't bring himself to destroy Sonic, as the latter's courage and spirit remind him of his youth, and he joins the Freedom Fighters after Robotnik successfully retakes control of Mobius and begins building a space armada to conquer other planets.
TBA
In the twelfth and final season, TBA.
== Characters ==
=== Knothole Freedom Fighters ===
* Sonic (the) Hedgehog (voiced by Jaleel White as a young man, Tahj Mowry as a boy) – Sonic is the main protagonist of the series. He is able to run at superhuman speed, and is the only freedom fighter capable of using magical rings called Power Rings. Sonic has an impatient and head-strong personality, but is also fearless, heroic, and well-meaning. He always mockingly referred to Robotnik as "Ro-butt-nik". He underwent a major personality change in the third season.
* Princess Sally Acorn (voiced by Kath Soucie as a young woman, Lindsay Ridgeway as a girl) – A chipmunk who is the rightful princess of Mobotropolis and Sonic's love interest. As a strategist for the Knothole Freedom Fighters, she is knowledgeable and the voice of reason. Sally tries to keep Sonic grounded.
* Bunnie Rabbot (voiced by Christine Cavanaugh in seasons one through nine, and Candi Milo in seasons ten through twelve) – A rabbit with a southern accent. In the first five seasons, half of her body was roboticized, leaving her left arm and both legs mechanical. She is skilled in martial arts, and had a desire to be returned to normal; she is restored to her former self in the sixth season.
* Antoine "Ant" Depardieu (voiced by Rob Paulsen) – A coyote with a French accent whose awkwardness often places the others in danger and gets him captured. He has some difficulty speaking English. He has romantic feelings for Princess Sally, and attempts to impress her. However, his selfishness hinders this goal. Sonic often teases Antoine over his shortcomings.
* Rotor (voiced by Mark Ballou in seasons one and six through twelve, Cam Brainard in seasons two through five) – A walrus, and the mechanic of Knothole Village. He provides the Knothole Freedom Fighters with useful inventions, and accompanies them on infiltrations. In the third season, Rotor spearheads the Mobius rebuilding effort.
* Tails (voiced by Bradley Pierce in seasons one through six, and Alex D. Linz in seasons seven through twelve) – A young two-tailed fox who idolizes Sonic. While usually left behind in Knothole, he proves useful in deadly missions. He became much more mature starting in the third season, joining the Freedom Builders and gaining a rebellious side, even saving Mobius from a major disaster, as well as a brotherly relationship with Sonic.
* Nicole (voiced by Kath Soucie) – A lynx who was downloaded into a computer by Robotnik. She became a portable computer that Sally used to hack into Robotnik's technology. In the first two seasons, Nicole spoke in a female monotone, and exhibited artificial intelligence. It is indicated that Sally received Nicole from her father. She was restored to her former self and became a member of the Freedom Fighters in Season 6.
* Dulcy (voiced by Cree Summer) – A young dragon introduced in Season 2, who provides the Knothole Freedom Fighters with transportation. Sporting powerful lungs, Dulcy can blow enemies away and burn/freeze them with fire or ice breath. In Dulcy's debut season, she had trouble landing, and often crashed mid-flight. She eventually came to her full powers in the third season, with writer Ben Hurst stating "you wouldn't like her when she's angry".
*Knuckles (voiced by Tom Wilson) - An echidna who was introduced in the Season 3 finale and promoted to a main character in Season 4. Originally an enemy of Sonic, he joins the Freedom Fighters after realizing he had been tricked by Robotnik.
*Amy Rose (voiced by Tara Strong) - A pink hedgehog who is a self-proclaimed "love interest" for Sonic (who prefers Sally, much to Amy's dismay). She was introduced in the fifth season.
*Ari Ram (voiced by Dorian Harewood) – A Freedom Fighter who worked as a double agent for Robotnik, only to be betrayed later and trapped in the Void. He is later rescued by Sonic and joins the Knothole Freedom Fighters.
*Yoke (Cam Brainard) - Rotor's twin brother, introduced in the sixth season as another Knothole Freedom Fighters member.
=== Villains ===
* Dr. Julian Robotnik (voiced by Jim Cummings) – A warlord who seeks to cover Mobius in machinery and transform its population into robotic slaves by roboticizing them. He is chiefly opposed by the Knothole Freedom Fighters. Robotnik's obsession with destroying Sonic is often his downfall. In this version, his real first name is Julian, adopting the moniker "Robotnik" after his takeover. He is killed in the destruction of the Doomsday Project in the season two finale, but is freed from the Void in the third season. Starting in Season 5, the Freedom Fighters start calling him "Eggman" as a knock against his portly figure, a moniker he surprisingly adopts, calling himself "Dr. Eggman".
** Cluck (vocal effects provided by Frank Welker) – A robotic chicken, and the only creature Robotnik shows affection towards.
** Swat-Bots (voiced by Jim Cummings and Frank Welker) – Robotnik's primary henchmen and foot soldiers.
* Snively (voiced by Charlie Adler) – Robotnik's assistant and nephew. He is constantly abused by his uncle. As such, Snively hates Robotnik and plots behind his back. He becomes the antagonist in the season two finale, but his role is short-lived as, in an act of desperation, he frees Robotnik, Naugus, and King Acorn from the Void.
*Naugus (voiced by Michael Bell) – A powerful sorcerer, who resents Robotnik for imprisoning him within the Void. He desires retribution, but he cannot escape without crystallizing. He becomes the main antagonist in the third season. In sharp contrast to Robotnik, Naugus respects the Freedom Fighters, and takes having his plans foiled gracefully, eventually coming to realize he can't bring himself to destroy Sonic, and joins the Freedom Fighters in the fifth season 
* Metal Sonic (voiced by Frank Welker) – A robot version of Sonic built by Robotnik in the fourth season.
=== Recurring ===
* Geoffrey St. John (voiced by Tom Kenny) - An insufferable faux-British skunk who becomes Sonic's main rival for Sally's affections, though Sonic always comes out on top.
*Sir Charles "Chuck" Hedgehog (voiced by William Windom) – Sonic's uncle, and the inventor of the Roboticizer before Robotnik stole it. He was roboticized and made into one of Robotnik's slaves, until Sonic restored his memory. He serves as a spy for the Freedom Fighters. According to Robby London, he was named after the writer and animator, Chuck Menville, who passed away in 1992.
* Nate Morgan (voiced by LeVar Burton) – An elderly Overlander man Sonic and Tails meet in their quest to defeat Naugus.
* King Acorn (voiced by Tim Curry) – The former king of Mobotropolis and Sally's father. He was banished to the Void during Robotnik's takeover, and like Naugus, cannot escape without crystallizing.
* Lupe Wolf (voiced by Shari Belafonte) – Leader of the Wolfpack Freedom Fighters, and one of the Knothole Freedom Fighters' allies in the fight against Robotnik.
== Production ==
Sonic the Hedgehog was created by DiC Animation City in association with Sega of America, which produced a total of 156 episodes for its twelve-season run, and the Italian studio Reteitalia S.p.A., part of Fininvest company, in association with Spanish network Telecinco. The show's animation was outsourced to the Korean studio Sae Rom Production, with the exception of the first two seasons' opening sequence which was animated by the Spanish studio Milimetros.
Before production began, Sega of America CEO Tom Kalinske and its newly appointed consumer products director Michealene Risley approached DiC Entertainment's CEO Andy Heyward and the ABC network to produce a television show featuring Sonic. After being shown the character, Heyward agreed to make the show and was granted the license. According to Robby London, DiC originally made a deal to produce only the Saturday morning Sonic series for the ABC network. The cartoon was originally planned to be more light-hearted compared to the final product, as reflected by its pilot episode, early promotional material found in Fleetway's Sonic the Comic and the early issues of Sonic the Hedgehog comics by Archie, which were based on the Saturday morning Sonic cartoon. However, DiC also wanted to go further and produce additional episodes for weekday syndication as well, similar to what DiC has previously done with The Real Ghostbusters, but Mark Pedowitz, the then-senior vice president of business affairs and contracts at ABC, who expected the Sonic cartoon to air exclusively on ABC, rejected the idea, telling London "If you guys want to do syndication, be our guest, go with God, but you won’t be on our network." ABC would not agree to the deal until London came with a proposition that DiC would produce a separate, vastly different Sonic show for syndication instead, the end result of which became Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. As a result, the Saturday morning Sonic cartoon was made darker and more serious in order to distinguish itself from the syndicated Sonic cartoon. The show bible for the Saturday morning Sonic cartoon was written in February 1992 with the final revision made on March 10, 1993.
==Episodes==
Category:Johnsonverse
== Reception ==