The video game company Sega was in desperate need of a mascot to compete with Nintendo's Mario. While Sega was doing okay in the American market, it had yet to really come close to breaking the hold that Nintendo had since the mid-80's. Then along came their greatest creation. A blue hedgehog with speed and attitude. And in the 90's, the age that celebrated all things rad and cool, the concept worked. Sonic the Hedgehog would see release on the Sega Genesis on June 23rd, 1991 and would sell over 10 million copies, finally helping Sega get a foothold in the home gaming market. This would follow with Sonic 2, which was also extremely successful. By 1993, Sonic had become a household name with video games, toys, apparel. Tie-ins with McDonald's. It was Sonic Mania, and it was quite a time indeed.
But Sega wouldn't stop there. They would align with animation company Dic entertainment to produce a Sonic cartoon. Interestingly though, Dic didn't just want to make one cartoon based on Sonic, but two. First would be The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, a more lighthearted adventure series that would air on syndication. But for the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), they would develop something a bit more darker in its concept. An early trailer for this Sonic Adaptation saw air at the 1993 Summer Consumer Electronics Show, faring a bit different than what would be the final product.
Noticeable absence of Antoine, some brighter colors on the characters and of course, Pink Sally.
Originally stemming from the Archie comic series was a wholly original canon to Sonic the Hedgehog, which in the early comics mixed with elements of the video games (most of which was gone when the cartoon was completed). The comics featured Sonic as the main hero of a rag tag group of animal friends known as the Freedom Fighters. Located in the hidden Knothole Village, the group, led by Princess Sally Acorn, would try to put a stop to the evil actions of Robotnik, whose Robotropolis had taken over the majority of the planet Mobius.
Sonic and Sally were joined with Tails, Sonic's loyal sidekick (first introduced in Sonic 2), Rotor, walrus mechanic, Antoine, snooty French soldier, and later Bunnie Rabbot, a rabbit who was half roboticized (the series term for being turned into a robot). The comics initially took a more lighthearted approach, much like the Adventures of Sonic series. This is also very much represented in the pilot episode of the series "Heads or Tails". A pilot mind you that actually aired last in the series run for some reason, so some of the initial designs become jarring after 12 episodes of something different. After this episode, the designs for some characters changed, and the show presented itself in a somewhat darker tone.
So, who do you get to voice Sonic the Hedgehog, a character that had already become an icon of cool, even before uttering a single sentence? Enter Jaleel White. White's career started much like a lot of child actors through commercials and sitcoms. Then came Family Matters, a sitcom that initially was an even more family friendly version of the Cosby Show for ABC's birthing TGIF lineup. White was cast as a one-shot character named Steve Urkel, the nerdy kid next door who vied for the affections of Laura Winslow. The character became such a hit, that Urkel overtook the show and become a pop culture phenomenon for his time. Interestingly enough, just at the same time Sonic was reaching his peak in popularity.
When casting came along for the voice of Sonic, White got the part for not just one, but both cartoons at the time, along with the later series Sonic Underground. And honestly, I think he does the job well in representing Sonic as an attitudinal teen hero. The rest of SatAM's cast reads like a who's who of cartoon voice acting in the 90's. Kath Soucie, Rob Paulsen, Jim Cummings, Cree Summer, Christine Cavanaugh, Charlie Adler, Tim Curry. Just some of the creme de la creme of voice work.
A good intro can really sell your cartoon. Most shows prefer to use clips from the show, and most of the time that works great. A lot of shows like to use basic narration, and that's fine if you're He-Man. But a great theme and some excellent animation can really help you stand out. That is very much the case with Sonic SatAM. The animation in just the intro alone is really fluid and detailed, showing us the very basic concept of the show. Sonic and the freedom fighters doing battle with Robotnik's forces in Robotropolis and working to put a stop to him.
Even the simple of opening of Sonic warning the others of the impending invasion of Robotnik works to help set the feeling of dread that the show is trying to represent. The beauty of Mobius being turned into a mechanized mess. It draws you in visually, and in terms of audibly, the theme song is easily one of the best. Performed by the band Noisy Neighbors, the "Fastest Thing Alive" song is a classic. Just the right amount of hard rock that also tells you everything you need to know about Sonic. Too fast for the naked eye, has an attitude, the fastest thing alive. It all just works perfectly to hype you up for the show. It's a gem.
So with the background of the cartoon pretty much established, let's take a look at the show's pilot episode "Heads or Tails."Technically this episode aired at the end of season one, but with a lot of the changes in the final product, this is more important to review first.
We open the episode as Robotnik is returning to Robotropolis. He's greeted by his groveling nephew Snively, who is very calmly told to shut up. Snively is so low in Robotnik's totem pole of giving a damn that his pet robot chicken Cluck is more beloved. Snively does at least have at his disposal a remote that can mess with any robot that gives him guff, as he messes with Cluck's eyeballs as his own form or revenge.
It certainly doesn't help Snively that he hasn't been able to find any sightings of Sonic since Robotnik's absence. However, he does end up finding Tails, which makes for a perfect opportunity to catch him in order to bring Sonic out of hiding. Tails is busy picking flowers for Sally when he's being chased by a buzz bomber, a bee-like robot.
What's Sonic doing? Well, just hanging with Rotor and singing with his electric guitar, because Sonic is coolness personified. Move over Miles Davis, Sonic is way past you. Also, Sonic singing just gives me bad Sonic Underground memories. This is all of course to impress Sally. Sonic makes mention of hitting the old Axl Rose pose. So, apparently Guns N Roses were pretty popular on Mobius. Rotor tells him that Sally's more of a ballad person, much to the disgust of Sonic.
Sonic finally hears Tails' cries for help and comes to his rescue. Turns out the buzz bomber is pretty easy to defeat considering Sonic's speed far outmatches it. Sonic gives a bit of mocking to Robotnik via his camera, promising that the freedom fighters will stop him. Robotnik vows that Sonic and the power rings will be his by the end of the day. Sonic, being the cocky one he is, doesn't take the threats with any real concern as he, Rotor and Tails head to Knothole Village.
And it's in this scene where you really begin to see a lot of the differences from the series that will follow. In Knothole Village, the others are working to repair catapults. Well, mainly it's Bunnie as her strength proves the most useful asset. Sally is working on her computer (an early version of Nicole) for how to improve the catapults, and Antoine is well... being useless and trying to score with Sally. Essentially he's Simon Belmont from Captain N, only French and even more of a coward. Ah, stereotypes. But he is voiced by Rob Paulsen, so you gotta love him for that at least.
Rotor and Sally realize that they need cotter pins from Robotropolis to improve the catapults. Sonic shows up to excuse his procrastination. Sally and Sonic's relationship can best be described as sarcasm meets sarcasm. Sally is more serious than Sonic, but he takes things far less seriously. The best way to describe it is sarcasm tennis, bouncing one barb after another at each other.
Sonic is tasked with going to Robotropolis to get the cotter pins. To do so, he needs to get a power ring, which come out of a lake once a day. They were invented by Sonic's uncle Chuck to aid Sonic in defeating Robotnik. They give Sonic an extra boost of speed for a brief period of time.
Sonic begrudgingly takes Tails along to Robotropilis, a mechanical wasteland crawling with Swat Bots, Robotnik's security force. Sonic grabs the pins as they notice the robots entering the factory. Sonic is reminded of Uncle Chuck and his pet dog Muttski, who have both been roboticized. Coincidentally just as they finish reminiscing, they see the roboticized Muttski.
Sonic tries to talk to Muttski, who attacks him at first, but then regains some of his old mind back. Sonic promises to bring Muttski back to normal, but the dog reverts to his robotic mind and attacks Sonic yet again. Sonic and Tails run off, only to get confronted by Swat Bots. They end up easily bowled over by the blue blur. They make their escape in an air vent. Unfortunately it's a vent right above Robotnik, who is planning to have his buzz bombers spray a chemical over the great forest, in an attempt to flush out Knothole. He even planned a hedgehog seeking missile.
Sonic and Tails fall through the vent and get briefly captured by Robotnik. But since Sonic is, you know, super fast and essentially a living buzzsaw, he easily manages to escape. When confronted again, Sonic uses the power ring to get out of trouble at an even faster speed. Sonic returns to Knothole to rally the troops to stop the buzz bombers. As Sonic lures them closer, the freedom fighters will use the catapults filled with water balloons to destroy them. As for that missile, Sonic manages to lure it at some of the Buzz Bombers. The freedom fighters plan sends the buzz bombers in retreat as Robotnik beats up Snively for his loss. And we end with Sonic and Sally's sarcasm tennis.
For a pilot episode, Heads or Tails does a good job in setting up the concept of the world and the characters. Sonic is a more headstrong and arrogant character, but he is kindhearted and has important stakes in the war with Robotnik. To protect his friends and bring his family back to normal. We don't get much time with the other freedom fighters to get their characters too well. Except for Sally, who mostly just engages in sarcastic banter with Sonic. Tails is you basic kid character and while is acting is pretty wooden to be honest, I've heard worse kid voice actors.
It's hard to really review this episode as a lot of the concepts within drastically change with the next episode. While the show had its dark elements, it was a far more lighter in tone episode, something that will feel a bit more well mixed in the rest of the series. The animation was also a bit off, feeling rushed in a lot of areas. While Satam was not the most amazing looking show, it will definitely improve from episode two onwards. It's entertaining for what's inside, moves at a brisk 22 minutes, and does engage you enough to see how much more interesting things are going to get at this point, which means it does exactly what a pilot episode should do. So, you know, putting it at the end of season one doesn't make it feel like a jarring oddity at all, does it?