Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie

Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie (ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ Sonikku za Hejjihoggu?), also named Sonic the Hedgehog, is a 1996/1999 Japanese animated action science fiction film originally divided into two parts (Welcome to Eggmanland / エッグマンランドへむかえ Eggumanrando e Mukae) (Sonic vs. Metal Sonic!! / ソニックＶＳメタル・ソニック！！ Sonikku tai Metaru Sonikku!!), thus being an original video animation in Japan.
It is directed by Kazunori Ikegami and written by Masashi Kubota and Mayori Sekijima, starring Martin Burke/Masami Kikuchi* as Sonic the Hedgehog, Lainie Frasier/Hekiru Shiina as Miles "Tails" Prower, Bill Wise/Yasunori Matsumoto as Knuckles the Echidna, Edwin Neal/Junpei Takiguchi as Dr. Robotnik, Sascha Biesi/Mika Kanai as Sara, Edwin Neal/Yuzuru Fujimoto as President and Masami Kikuchi/Gary Lipkowitz as Hyper Metal Sonic.
* = Both the American and Japanese voice actors are credited.
Sonic the Hedgehog and his sidekicks Tails and Knuckles the Echidna are determined to thwart a plan that would turn their Land of the Sky into the equivalent of The Land of Darkness, which lurks beneath the surface. So they plow through to the center of the planet and the ancient city of Robotropolis to do righteous battle. The big question of the day is whether the usually evil Dr. Robotnik is telling the truth for once or sending the good guys into a trap.Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie on IMDB, synopsis written by Anthony Pereyra.
== Plot ==
=== Welcome to Eggmanland ===
Deep inside Robotropolis, Dr. Robotnik has finished his latest creation, Hyper Metal Sonic, in an attempt to kill Sonic the Hedgehog. However, according to Robotnik, the one thing he needs to complete Metal's AI is to infuse it with Sonic's life data.
On a lonely island located in Land of the Sky, Sonic is relaxing on a beach chair and listening to radio outside the ruins of a crashed Boeing 747 and USS Enterprise, which serves as his house. Tails comes out to test his new, jet-propelled body-board, asking Sonic to give it a try, but Sonic declines due to his dislike of water. While testing the body-board, Tails collides with Old Man Owl who is flying around the island in small aircraft. Being a blind owl, he does not notice his aircraft's engine is on fire. With Sonic being uncooperative, Tails tries to help Old Man Owl on his own. As both Tails and Old Man Owl are about to collide with a steep cliff, however, they are rescued by Sonic. Afterwards, Old Man Owl gives Sonic and Tails emergency news from the President, who wants to meet Sonic right away. Both Sonic and Tails thus promptly fly to the presidential house located in the capital city of South Island.
As they arrive at the presidential house, Sonic and Tails encounter Dr. Robotnik and his robotic guards who hold the President and his daughter, Sara, hostage. On the President's request, Sonic begrudgingly hears Robotnik out, who elaborates on how their planet, named Planet Freedom, is split into two dimensions: the Land of the Sky and the Land of Darkness. The doctor then explains that his capital city in the land of Darkness, Robotropolis, has been seized by Metal Robotnik and his demonic robots, who drove Robotnik and his guard robots out of the city. Robotnik also explains that Metal Robotnik has sabotaged Robotnik's Robot Generator by overloading it with energy, which according to Robotnik's calculations, would release enough excess electricity to create an explosion that would destroy Planet Freedom before sunrise tomorrow. Robotnik thus proposes that Sonic, being the fastest one around, goes into Robotropolis and shuts down the Robot Generator. While Sonic initially refuses, he accepts the proposal upon the President and Sara's insistence. To help them on their journey, Robotnik gives Tails a navigator that will lead them to the location of the Robot Generator. Sonic and Tails then promptly head off for Robotropolis in the Tornado biplane. Meanwhile, Robotnik and his guard robots remain in the presidential house where they waste time playing video games with Sara and the President. Suddenly, however, a large mech crashes into the presidential house. With Sara excited about it, she jumps into the mech's control room. Robotnik, however, having an evil scheme in mind, attempts to keep Sara from pressing any buttons, causing them to get stuck inside the mech before it takes off.
Meanwhile, Sonic and Tails enter the Land of Darkness by flying through a large, storm eye-like entrance. After a rough landing that damages the Tornado, the duo proceed through the Land of Darkness on foot while encountering robots, such as a Crawlton and a swarm of Buzz Bombers. Eventually, they enter a warp zone which takes them to the ruins of an ancient abandoned city. There, they encounter Metal Robotnik. Having no time fight Metal Robotnik, Sonic and Tails try to escape it, only for the robot to chase after them.
Along the way, Sonic and Tails get attacked by Metal Robotnik's glue projectiles which get Tails stuck on a fence. Meanwhile, Sonic manages to direct one of Metal Robotnik's missiles back at him, damaging the robot. However, Sonic gets stuck on a piece of road covered in Metal Robotnik's glue as it slowly sides into the sea. Before Metal Robotnik can finish Sonic though, Knuckles enters the battle and frees Tails from the glue projectile before telling him to go help Sonic. Knuckles then tries to fight Metal Robotnik, but is eventually grabbed by the robot. Fortunately, Tails saves Sonic in time for him to use his spin attack to cut off Metal Robotnik's hand and free Knuckles. Being outnumbered, Metal Robotnik tries to retreat, but Sonic, with help of Tails and Knuckles, manages to destroy Metal Robotnik completely, with its remains falling into the sea. After a little conversation with Knuckles, Sonic and Tails notice a large amusement city in the far distance which can only be Robotropolis. As Sonic and Tails continue their journey towards the Robotropolis, Knuckles joins them on their quest.Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie on Sonic News Network
=== Sonic vs. Metal Sonic!! ===
Entering the core of the Robotropolis, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles come under attack by Snail Blasters. With Knuckles handling the Sail Blasters, Sonic and Tails locate the Robot Generator, which is about to explode. While Sonic manages to shut down the generator in the nick of time, he gets caught in a force-field that electrocutes him. The Robot Generator then crumbles into pieces, with Sonic getting saved from a bad fall by Knuckles. As the dust settles, an ominous figure comes to life inside a sphere in the center of the room. This figure turns out to be Hyper Metal Sonic much for Sonic's, Tails' and Knuckles' obfuscation. Metal Robotnik's husk then teleports into the room, only to crumble into pieces, revealing Dr. Robotnik and Sara in it. Knuckles falsely accuses Sara of being behind the scheme, and in tears, Sara replies that the robot going haywire were all part of Robotnik's evil scheme, which Robotnik does not deny, proudly admitting the story about the Robot Generator was a trap. As Sonic tries to take down Robotnik once and for all though, Hyper Metal Sonic interrupts him. Robotnik proceeds to explain that the true purpose of the Robot Generator was to copy Sonic's DNA for his Hyper Metal Sonic, thereby creating the ultimate robot that would let the doctor kill Sonic and destroy the Land of the Sky.
Telling his friends to stand back, Sonic engages Metal in a fight. Metal, however, proves to be a formidable foe, easily keeping up with Sonic's speed while Sonic struggles to avoid Metal's attacks. As the battle proceeds to far above Robotropolis, Sonic and Metal end up on the top of a mountain. However, when Sonic loses sight of Metal, Metal appears out of nowhere and kicks Sonic off the mountain and down to the valley below. With that, Robotnik assumes that Sonic is now dead and heads for the Land of the Sky with Metal. Meanwhile, Tails and Knuckles decide to head back to the Land of the Sky. As morning dawns, Sonic wakes up in the forest where he gets a vision of Metal on a rampage, prompting him to set off to stop Metal.
Upon getting back home, Tails and Knuckles find Old Man Owl in Sonic's favorite clothes. Old Man Owl states that he was forced to wear his clothes by Metal, who is now causing destruction around the Land of the Sky. Having the idea to modify Robotnik's navigator to use against Metal since the Navigator and Metal are built from same mechanical parts, Tails gets to work. Meanwhile, Tails explains to Knuckles that they do not have to worry about Metal and Sonic not being in the same place: since Metal was programmed with Sonic's data, the two of them share identical thought patterns, meaning they can predict each other's actions.
Back in the capital, the President is receiving damage reports from around the Land of the Sky, many of which show a character rampaging through the cities. Mistakenly, the President identifies the character as Sonic and sends his aide to contact him. His aide succeeds, but only manages to tick off Knuckles who is fixing the Tornado. After the President has been told everything that has happened, Knuckles reveals that if Metal wants to destroy the Land of the Sky for Robotnik, he has to blow up the glacial bridge at the north pole which keeps the Land of the Sky's continents connected. If Metal can make one of the local magma veins rush to the surface, it will melt all the ice, causing the continents to separate. The gravitational pull of the planet will then hurtle the continents into space, destroying all of civilization. Sonic then reveals himself in the same room as the President, having heard Knuckles' entire story. Immediately afterwards, the president gets a report of Metal progressing towards the north pole. Sonic quickly gets going, with Tails and Knuckles going after him to stop Metal. Meanwhile, in the sky, Robotnik and Sara are riding Robotnik's hovercraft and watching Metal's rampage. Robotnik then gives a wedding dress to Sara, revealing that he plans for them to get married after destroying the Land of the Sky, thereby leaving only he and Sara to rule Planet Freedom. Needless to say, Sara does not take kindly to Robotnik's idea. Regardless, Robotnik takes both of them to the north pole through a warp zone.
On the north pole, Sonic arrives too late as Metal has already managed to make magma erupt precariously close to the glacier's ice bridge. He then encounters Metal, and the two have a long fight. As Robotnik and Sara warp to the north pole in a haphazard way, Sonic and Metal crash into the Egg Mobile, with Sonic making a painful landing. As Robotnik tries to catch Sonic, Sara falls off the Egg Mobile, but gets saved by Knuckles. Tails, piloting the Tornado, also arrives to help Sonic, but gets shot down by one of Robotnik's Egg Mobile missiles. After saving Sara, Knuckles successfully redirects the flow of the magma away from the ice bridge by digging tunnels beneath it upon Sara's flirtatious request. Meanwhile, Sonic and Metal continue to clash violently. Eventually, Sonic starts to get worn out, allowing Metal to gain the upper hand. However, Tails is able to corrupt Metal's data with the modified navigator, allowing Sonic to do serious damage to Metal with a rapid spin dash. The group then notices the President and Old Man Owl arriving in an air ship which crashes into the ice bridge, leaving the President and Old Man Owl trapped inside. As Sonic and Tails try to save the President and Old Man Owl before the ship can explode, a heavily damaged Metal returns and attacks the duo. Tails tries to use the navigator against Metal again, but Robotnik manages to destroy it, leaving Sonic to fight Metal again. This time around, Metal has accumulated too much damage and Sonic is able to overpower him. However, Sonic is too late to save the President and Old Man Owl from their ship before it explodes. In a twist of fate, Metal saves both of them from the ashes of the aircraft, and Sonic realizes that Metal does have emotions, as he was programmed with his personality and thoughts. However, Metal gets knocked into a subglacial volcano by debris, where Sonic tries to save him by lowering himself down and getting Metal to grab his hand to pull him out. However, Metal pushes Sonic's hand away and tells him that there is only one Sonic before he is destroyed by the rising magma, much to Sonic's dismay.
After the incident, the group watches the ice bridge which has been saved from destruction, although Sonic is distracted by Metal's death. As Tails and Sara try to cheer Sonic up, Robotnik arrives, noting that he still has Sonic's data on a small compact disc, and reveals his plans to create an even stronger Metal Sonic. Unfortunately for Robotnik, one of his design-faulty missiles blows up the CD, thwarting his plans. After that, Knuckles hits Sonic on the head as payback for stepping on his head during his fight with Metal, and the two chase each other. The whole cast is then seen following behind Sonic, before Sonic races off.
== Cast ==
* Martin Burke/Masami Kikuchi as Sonic the Hedgehog
* Lainie Frasier/Hekiru Shiina as Miles "Tails" Prower
* Bill Wise/Yasunori Matsumoto as Knuckles the Echidna
* Edwin Neal/Junpei Takiguchi as Dr. Robotnik
* Masami Kikuchi/Gary Lipkowitz as Hyper Metal Sonic
* Sascha Biesi/Mika Kanai as Sara
* Edwin Neal/Yuzuru Fujimoto as the President
* Charles C. Campbell/Chafûrin as Old Man Owl
* ???/Akimitsu Takase as the President's aide
== Continuity and References ==
* Sonic the Hedgehog is introduced.
* Miles "Tails" Prower is introduced.
* Dr. Robotnik is introduced.
* Knuckles the Echidna is introduced.
* Sara is introduced.
* President is introduced.
* Hyper Metal Sonic is introduced.
== Taglines ==
* Scrape Your Knuckles. Catch Some Tails.
== Production ==
The OVA series was produced by Studio Pierrot, Sega Enterprises and General Entertainment under the supervision of Sonic Team, Yuji Naka and Naoto Ohshima. It is directed and storyboarded by Kazuho Ikegami, with Mayori Sekijima handling the story structure, Masashi Kubota writing the scripts, Tsuneo Ninomiya designing the characters and Mitsuhiro Tada composing the music. Both episodes feature an ending theme "LOOK-ALIKE," composed and arranged by Tada and written and sung by Riyu Konaka. The OVA was originally distributed by Taki Corporation in Japan on a rental-only basis between January 26 and March 22 before being released for retail sale on May 31, 1996. The series was licensed by ADV Films, who dubbed the OVA series in English and released as a single direct-to-video film titled Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie on VHS and DVD on September 7, 1999 to coincide with the international release of Sonic Adventure for Sega Dreamcast. It was later re-released on DVD on January 13, 2004. Due to ADV Films being dissolved and its assets being spun off into Section23 Films and Sentai Filmworks, both releases are now out of print.Sonic the Hedgehog (OVA) on Wikipedia
== Videos ==
File:Sonic the Hedgehog the Movie (2-part OVA) US Trailer
== External links ==
* Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie on IMDB
== References ==
Category:Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie
Category:Animated products
Category:Animated films