Sonic Underground

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Sonic Underground
Genre Animated series
Starring Jaleel White, Gary Chalk
Country of origin Flag of United States United States
Flag of France France
No. of episodes 40 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time 20 min.
Broadcast
Original channel Syndication
Original run March 20, 1998 – November 24, 1999
Links
IMDb profile

Sonic Underground is an American animated television series that follows the adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and his siblings, pink hedgehog Sonia and green-hued Manic. Sonic Underground bears little relation to the often complex Sonic universe (including previous animated series, as well as Sonic comics and games), and shared few established characters.

While it was believed for a while that 65 episodes were made of which only 40 aired, Ben Hurst, a notable writer from the Sonic the Hedgehog television show (dubbed "SatAM" by fans), whom was also involved in Sonic Underground's production, stated in a SAGE chat that only 40 were produced.[1].

Sonic Underground takes place on Mobius, similar to SatAM, but with notable differences. Elements that are not included in Sonic Underground but were present in SatAM include Snively, power rings, Knothole Village, and the Freedom Fighters. Though the Freedom Fighters were included, many of the characters in the Freedom Fighter group that were in SatAM are completely left out (including Tails ). Another difference with the Freedom Fighter group is that Freedom Fighters do not remain in one Knothole-like refuge but instead travel around Mobius to battle Robotnik's forces on a global scale; and that Robotnik has left most of the Mobian people Un-Roboticised, leaving multiple cities, a poor underclass and an aristocracy for the heroes to interact with. Also, unlike SatAM Sonic and AoStH, many of the minor characters were not easily recognisable as being based on Earth animals, instead appearing far more alien.

Jaleel White provided the voices for all three siblings. The main theme was composed by Robbie London and Mike Piccirillo. The musical underscore was composed by Jean-Michel Guirao and Mike Piccirillo. The series featured 40 songs spread over the series as featured music videos. Each of these songs were composed by Mike Piccirillo.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Sonic, Sonia, and Manic are the children of Queen Aleena Hedgehog. They are chased by Doctor Robotnik and his bumbling bounty hunter sidekicks, Sleet and Dingo. The reason that he is chasing the three is because of a prophecy made by the Oracle of Delphius (a spoof of the Oracle of Delphi of Ancient Greece) - saying that the Queen's three children will one day find their mother, overthrow Robotnik, and together become the rulers of Mobius again.

The three siblings have powerful medallions that not only change into musical instruments but also into weapons when the triplets are in perfect harmony with each other. Sonic's medallion is an electric guitar/gun, Sonia's medallion is a keyboard/gun, Manic's medallion is a drumset/Earth controller. The three use the amulets not only to fight Robotnik's forces but to also have instruments for their underground rock band, Sonic Underground. Sonic, Sonia, and Manic also call Robotnik "'Robuttnik", as opposed to just Sonic referring to him by that name.

Contents

[edit] Program history

During the run up to the launch of the Sega Dreamcast, Sega began heavy advertised of all their big products. For Sonic, they contacted DiC, who previously made both TV shows Sonic the Hedgehog and Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, to make a new Sonic cartoon. Due to low popularity, Sonic Underground ran for only one season, 1998 to 1999. Since then, the show can now be found in syndication on a few channels, including UPN at 8 AM. It is now also airing on the UK Channel "POP" at various times. POP has now aired all three DiC produced Sonic animated series. CITV also transmitted the show.

[edit] Airing History

  • New Zealand

[edit] Characters

Main article: List of characters in Sonic Underground

[edit] Episode list

Note: It is not fully known what the exact ordering of episode listing is. Though the closest to official episode list (the version used here) is taken from the Anchor Bay Sonic Underground DVD boxset. To the right of the episode is the name of the song in it. For more information, see Sonic Underground (Episodes).

  1. Beginnings** - Someday
  2. Getting to Know You** - Working Together In Harmony
  3. Harmony or Something** - We're All In This Together
  4. Wedding Bell Blues - When Tomorrow Comes
  5. To Catch a Queen - Have You Got The 411?
  6. Mobodoon - I've Found My Home
  7. The Price of Freedom - Money Can't Buy
  8. Underground Masquerade - Let The Good Times Roll
  9. Tangled Webs - The Children Light The Way
  10. The Deepest Fear - Face Your Fear
  11. Who Do You Think You Are? - We Need To Be Free
  12. The Last Resort - Listen To Your Heart
  13. Come Out Wherever You Are - Society Girl
  14. Winner Fakes All - Built For Speed
  15. A Hedgehog's Home is Her Castle - Let's Do It To It
  16. Artifact - You Can't Own Everything
  17. Bug! - Never Give Up
  18. Sonic Tonic - (I Wish I Was) The Fastest Thing Alive
  19. Friend or Foe - Not Always What They Seem
  20. Head Games - Take A Chance
  21. When in Rome - When There's A Will, There's A Way
  22. The Jewel in the Crown - The Cosmic Dance
  23. Three Hedgehogs and a Baby - Being A Kid Is Cool
  24. Dunesday - True Blue Friend
  25. Mummy Dearest - We Are Sonic Underground (Egyptian version)
  26. The Hedgehog in the Iron Mask - Part Of The Problem
  27. Six is a Crowd - I Can Do That For You
  28. Flying Fortress* - No One Is An Island
  29. No Hedgehog is an Island* - Learn To Overcome
  30. New Echidna in Town* - The Mobius Song
  31. Country Crisis - How You Play The Game
  32. Haircraft in Space - Don't Be A Backstabber
  33. Healer - We're The Sonic Underground (Rock version)
  34. Sonia's Choice - Never Easy
  35. The Big Melt - Fun In The Sun
  36. Sleepers - Have It All Again
  37. Bartleby the Prisoner - Justice Callin'
  38. The Art of Destruction - The Sound Of Freedom
  39. The Pendant - Liberty's Gonna Rock
  40. Virtual Danger - Don't Let Your Guard Down

(*) Part of the 3 Part Chaos Emerald saga (**)Part of the 3 Part Beginnings saga

[edit] Trivia

SU's single comic appearance in Sonic Super Special #10
SU's single comic appearance in Sonic Super Special #10
  • This is the final Sonic cartoon where his voice is provided by Jaleel White.
  • This cartoon was originally made in France and titled Sonic Le Rebelle.
  • This is the first American Sonic series to feature Knuckles and the only one to not feature Tails.
  • It is also the only one to feature a relative of Knuckles: his great-grandfather Athair (originally featured in the Archie comics), who was thought to have been voiced by Sean Connery, while it was in fact voice actor Maurice Lamarche.
  • For some reason, in the episode "Sleepers", Manic's voice is a little deeper than normal and in the episode "Wedding Bell Blues", Sonic's voice was more high-pitched than normal.
  • The earliest song in the series was "Fun In The Sun", while the latest song is "Working Together In Harmony".
  • The Archie Sonic comics consider Sonic Underground as an alternate universe version of Sonic, and has made one appearance in the series, in Sonic Super Special #10.
  • There are only a few references to the games, including a circular floating fortress that resembles the Death Egg, a large Freedom Fighter-eating spaceship called Predator which closely resembles the Egg Carrier, and Floating Island (Now known as Angel Island) which first appeared in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 along with Knuckles.
  • In the first episode "Beginnings" just at the beginning there is a statue that strongly resembles King Acorn from the SatAM series.
  • Episode twelve of Sonic Underground is titled, "The Last Resort". Coincidentally, the ninth episode of the English version of Sonic X is also titled "The Last Resort", however Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog had an episode called "The Last Resort" which is the 35th episode. Incidentally, in Shadow the Hedgehog, a poster found in the Central City stage says "The Last Resort".
  • Sonic's singing voice sounds strikingly similar to Double D from Ed, Edd, and Eddy and fans say that it sounds like Rocko from Rocko's Modern Life.
  • Some fans have commented that the sanctuary at the end of Episode 20, "Three Hedgehogs and a Baby", resembles Knothole Village from SatAM.
  • The SWATbots in "Who Do You Think You Are" have a different-sounding voice.
  • Many fans have noticed that in flashbacks, Queen Aleena has Sonia in her arms or lap. This has lead to fans that Sonia is her favorite child (She left her in an aristocrat home). Whereas Sonic was in a normal house, and Manic was in a poor-looking neighborhood before he got stolen. Also, Manic was the farthest away sitting from Queen Aleena in flashbacks, So, Manic could be her least favorite child. This has gotten criticism for the fans of Manic (and sometimes Sonic).
  • In the episode Wedding Bell Blues, when the trio are carpet cleaners, Manic and Sonic look like the Mario Brothers.
  • In the episode Mobodoon, Manic says When the moon is full on the second day of the third month it'll show up like a clockwork. So, their birthday could be March 2.
  • Sonic cried once through the whole series (Beginnings), Manic cried four times (Mobodoon, Three Hedgehogs and a Baby, Six is a Crowd, and The A.R.T. of Destruction), and Sonia cried the most (nine times).
  • Sonic's last words were "Game over, 'Buttnik!"
  • There are many errors that always occur, such as when Medallions are missing, Manic has his earrings on his right ear, Manic's fanny-pack is missing, and gloves or arms are in a different color. There have also been perspective issues.
  • In the episode, "The Big Melt", when Manic comes out of the water and coughs, it's in Sonic's voice, and in "Beginnings", when the Oracle of Delphius reveals that their foster parents are robotosized, you can see Sonic's mouth move to Sonia's voice, and vise versa.
  • In the episode "Beginnings", when the photo of the three is shown, they are not babies, but toddlers. But, Aleena separated them when they were babies.
  • The medallion strings are in different colors rather than what many people think to be green, blue, and pink. Sonic has a red string, Sonia has a yellow string, and Manic has a blue string.
  • Throuout the series, Sonic calls Manic and Sonia "little bro/sis". So, Sonic is the eldest, but in the French episode of "When in Rome", Sonia calls Manic her little brother. So, Sonia is the middle child, and Manic is the youngest. But, they are triplets. It is possible that maybe Sonic was born 1st and Sonia and Manic were born a few hours/minutes after.
  • The Episode "Underground Masquerade" the purple mask worn by Manic and Max bares slight resemblance to NiGHTS, another game by Sonic Team.
  • The episode "Sonic Tonic" (which appears as a bonus feature on the Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 DVD King Koopa Katastrophe) recycles the general plot of the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog episode "Full-Tilt Tails".
  • The Sonic Underground's father was never mentioned. However, the French theme song of the show inferred that there was no king at the time that Sonic and his siblings were born.
  • This is the first, and only so far, Sonic the Hedgehog television series where Sonic has no known love life.

[edit] References

  1. ^ According to Hong Ying |Animation works of 1998, the animation studio who animated Sonic Underground list 40 episodes which is the complete series.
v • d • e
Sonic the Hedgehog video game features
Emerald/Ring Chaos Control · Chaos Emeralds · Master Emerald · Rings · Minor power objects · Special Stage (Blue Sphere) · Star Posts · Super transformation (other media)
Locations Angel Island (Hidden Palace) · Prison Island · Space Colony ARK · Tiny Chao Garden · Central City · Soleanna  · Arabian Nights
Vehicles The Tornado · Death Egg · Dr. Eggman's vehicles (flying fortresses)
Other Badniks (E-Series) · Mobians (Echidnas) · Eggman Empire · Roboticizer (Roboticization) · Minor technology · Sonic Team · Voice Actors · Evolution of the Sonic Universe
Spin offs Manga · Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (episodes) (Sonic Christmas Blast) · Sonic the Comic · Sonic the Hedgehog (TV series) (episodes) · Sonic the Hedgehog (comic series) (Knuckles) · Movie · Sonic Underground (episodes) · Sonic X (episodes) (comic) (card game) · List of printed media
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