Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie

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Sonic the Hedgehog
ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ (Sonic the Hedgehog)
Genre	Action, Sci-Fi, Comedy, Shonen
OVA
Directed by
Studio	Studio Pierrot
No. of episodes	2
Released	Japan: 1996 North America and Europe: 1999

Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie (Sonic The Movie for short, also known simply as the Sonic Anime or Sonic OVA) is a two-episode OVA film series based on Sega's best-selling video game franchise Sonic the Hedgehog.

The anime features Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Dr. Robotnik (Eggman in the Japanese version) and a few supporting characters, such as the human Sara. This Sonic anime was made in 1996, where, in its native Japan, it was simply titled Sonic the Hedgehog (ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ, Sonikku Za Hejjihoggu^?), and its two 30-minute episodes ("Journey to Eggmanland" and "Sonic vs. Metal Sonic") were released over two VHS tapes. ADV Films dubbed it to English, and released both episodes edited together as a direct-to-video film in North America on September 8, 1999 as Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie.

The story follows a giant mecha (known as Black Eggman in the Japanese dub, Metal Robotnik in English and Dark Eggman to some fans) who appears in Dr. Eggman's utopian city of Eggmanland (called Robotropolis in English dub as a tie-in with the Sonic cartoon) and banishes the doctor. The mecha takes control of Eggman's robotic army, to lure Sonic, Tails and Knuckles into the evil dimension the Land of Darkness. Once there, the blue blur defeats the mecha, who turns out to be Eggman himself who lured Sonic to his base in order to copy his DNA for his new robot Hyper Metal Sonic, an evil Sonic-shaped robot who shares his memories and feelings, and essentially lives the same life as Sonic himself.

[edit] Setting

Unlike the Sonic games, which are set on Earth, and the Sonic cartoons and comics, which are set on the fictional planet Mobius, the OVA takes place in a world called Planet Freedom. The planet which is divided into two regions: the Land of the Sky and the Land of Darkness. However, in a reference to the games, one part of the Land of the Sky is called South Island, which is the setting of Sonic 1 and several other spinoffs in the series. Like many anime series, Planet Freedom appears to be a crossbreed of a fairy tale land and Earth.

In the English dubbed version, the two regions are referred to as being "separate dimensions", most likely due to a translation error.

The Land of the Sky consists of an unknown number of continents that drift high in the stratosphere of the planet, all of them connected to a massive geological formation (referred to in the dubbed version as a glacier, but more likely a mountain) which also serves to anchor them to the planet's surface below. According to Knuckles of this continuity, if the mountain was destroyed, Planet Freedom's rotation would hurl the Land of the Sky into outer space, undoubtedly killing everyone living on it.

The Land of Darkness is the title used to address the actual surface of Planet Freedom, an untamed wilderness where only one known individual lives: Dr. Eggman. The Land of Darkness may earn its moniker because of its primary resident, or simply because the thick clouds and the Land of the Sky block out most of the sun's light. Despite its gloom, the Land of Darkness is quite verdant, though all of its regions are littered with deadly booby-traps and killer robots designed by Eggman. The Land of Darkness can only be accessed in one of two ways: by a whirlwind-like "portal" in the Land of the Sky, or by chancing into a warp zone; an extradimensional link between two points on Planet Freedom.

[edit] Story

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[edit] Journey to Eggmanland

Left to right; Sara, Sonic, the president, Dr. Eggman and Tails with Eggman's robots.

The story begins with Sonic relaxing, listening to rock music outside his house while lounging in a beach chair. When Tails comes out to test his new, jet-propelled bodyboard, he asks Sonic to give it a try. Sonic declines, because he has a great fear of water. Tails' bodyboard, however, encounters a flying ship driven by Oji-san, an old and harebrained anthropomorphic owl, and almost collides with a mountain before being rescued by Sonic. Afterward, Oji-san gives news of the President being held captive by Dr. Eggman. Sonic and Tails race to the Presidential Palace (Presidential House in dub), where they encounter Eggman holding the President and his daughter, Sara.

Eggman tells Sonic a lie that his city of Eggmanland (Robotropolis in dub) in the Land of Darkness, is being held by a giant metal version of himself called Black Eggman (Metal Robotnik in the dub), who attacked his people with a battalion of demonic robots and sabotaged the Robot Generator by overloading it with energy, which would then (supposedly) malfunction and release excess electricity and destroy Planet Freedom within a few hours.

After he gains the trust of Sonic, Dr. Eggman gives Tails a navigational watch for his journey, and the two head for the Land of Darkness. Metal Robotnik crashes into the Presidential House, and Sara demands that Eggman give her a ride in it, entering the control panel and playing around. Sonic and Tails enter the Land of Darkness, encountering Badniks, but they soon get to the abandoned city. There, they get into a long battle with Metal Robotnik, eventually making Knuckles save them and destroy the mecha.

Knuckles saving Sara.

[edit] Sonic vs. Hyper Metal Sonic

Sonic, Tails and Knuckles go into the core of the city and narrowly deactivate the Robot Generator. Sonic is encased in a strange cube that copies his DNA, and the entire area collapses around them.

Metal Robotnik appears, eventually crumbling, revealing Eggman and Sara in it. Knuckles falsely accuses Sara of being behind his scheme, and in reply she cries a river and reveals that "the robot and the machine going haywire were all part of Robotnik's evil scheme", which Eggman does not deny. He shows Sonic a metal version of himself, Hyper Metal Sonic, and the two get into a fight. Metal wins, and Tails and Knuckles go back to the Land of the Sky, where Tails learns that Metal Sonic is out to destroy the world by digging into the ice caps that hold the Land of the Sky together, allowing lava to emerge and melt the ice. The blue hedgehog wakes up in Green Lake City (a heavenly shrubbery), and thinks about Metal Sonic knowing everything he does, or has done. Sonic gets to the Presidental Palace, and hears all about the ice cap dilemma from a conversation between the President and Tails.

Sonic, Tails and Knuckles go to the ice caps, where Sara is being held captive for marriage at the North Pole (Dr. Eggman's main goal in the movie is to destroy the world, leaving only he and Sara to marry and have children). Sonic encounters Hyper Metal Sonic, and the two have a long fight. Tails corrupts Metal's data with the navigation watch Eggman gave him before, and Sonic is able to do serious damage. At the same time, however, the President arrives and is trapped in his doomed aircraft. Hyper Metal Sonic saves the President and Sonic realizes that Metal does have emotions, as he was programmed with Sonic's DNA.

Metal gets blown into a crack and falls down into the subglacial volcano, where Sonic tries to save him, but Metal tells him that "there is only one Sonic" and is destroyed by the magma. While Sonic is recovering from his injuries, Eggman says that he still has Sonic's DNA, and reveals his plans to create a superior, emotionless replica of the blue blur. A design failure of his (a robotic turtle) blows up the CD that the DNA is inside, thwarting his plans. After, Knuckles hits Sonic on the head (as in the fight, Sonic stepped on Knuckles by accident) and the two chase each other. The whole cast is seen following behind Sonic before Sonic races off and the movie ends.

[edit] Censorship

An uncensored image of Sonic putting up his middle finger up at Robotnik. Some VHS releases removed the finger. (Note, due to the way it is drawn, it appears Sonic is lifting his index finger.).

Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie was also edited for age-appropriate issues as the anime was originally aimed at teenagers. Most of the censorship issues mainly concern not translating certain Japanese profanities. Because this is an OVA the translators were not obligated to censor all suggestive themes from the movie.

• In a scene where Sonic is supposed to show his middle finger at Black Eggman, some fans say that ADV changed the scene so that it seemed that Sonic was holding up his index finger to Metal Robotnik. This edit is not present in the Region 1 DVD.
• Sara calls Metal a "pervert" when he and Sonic crash into Eggman's ship and he crashes through the bottom and accidentally looks up her dress.
• In a scene where Sara is shown envisioning her life as Eggman's wife, a static image is shown of her breastfeeding one of their many offspring. This is edited on some VHS releases.
• Tails appears to slap his butt at Metal Robotnik during their first encounter.
• Upon being heaved by an avalanche, Tails falls onto Sara's breasts, groping them with his hands, apologizing profusely upon being reprimanded by Knuckles.
• Sonic hurts his groin when he falls on Robotnik's ship near the time Metal looks up Sara's skirt.
• Eggman gropes Sara in the debris of Black Eggman, which primarily obscures the scene. The dialogue still suggests what is going on.

[edit] Continuity

The events of Sonic the Movie is very different from the ones in the Sonic game continuity, and as such the movie's canonocity is sometimes disputed among fans. Newer, often American or European, Sonic fans sometimes jump to the conclusion that the anime is part of the official canon because it was created in Japan and overseen by Sega and Sonic Team. In some cases, the action portrayed in the movie is true to Sonic gameplay, particularly a scene with Sonic and Tails running to a trampoline while avoiding Badniks and obstacles in side-scrolling fashion, an intentional reference to Sonic 1-era games.

However, the movie contradicts several points of the game canon, such as Metal Sonic being destroyed, Knuckles having nothing to do with Angel Island, and most notacibly, the movie is not set on Earth. Sonic the Movie was possibly intended to be a vague telling of the happenings of Sonic CD or Mega Drive games, and it didn't widely differ from the game series at the time of its creation, but Sega has steered the continuity of Sonic in a different direction and retconned many elements of the 2D-era games since, making it possible to consider the movie an alternative universe or simply non-canon.

[edit] Voice artists

[edit] Japanese

• Masami Kikuchi - Sonic the Hedgehog
• Hekiru Shiina - Miles "Tails" Prower
• Yasunori Matsumoto - Knuckles the Echidna
• Junpei Takiguchia - Doctor Eggman
• Mika Kanai - Sara

[edit] English

• Martin Burke - Sonic the Hedgehog
• Lainie Frasier - Miles "Tails" Prower
• Bill Wise - Knuckles the Echidna
• Edwin Neal - Doctor Eggman/The President
• Sascha Biesi - Sara
• Charlie Campbell - Old Man Owl
• Gary Dehan - Metal Sonic

[edit] Trivia

The "Knuckles is a mole" error from the DVD.

• In the original translations, Knuckles was presented as a mole and not as an echidna; it also stated that he is an "accomplished flyer" when he cannot fly but can only glide (although he does appear to fly in the movie). This mistake even reoccurs in the character bios featured in the DVD release. Knuckles is possibly called a mole because he is seen in a whack-a-mole parody and called "mister mole" by Sara, and the writers either were unaware that he was not a mole or avoided connection to the game continuity.

• In this movie, agreeing with official information from the actual games, Tails has a severe case of astraphobia, or fear of lightning and thunder.

• The hat Knuckles wears never appears in any Sonic game, but it is a minor plot point in the Sonic the Hedgehog comics published by Archie Comics. In that series, it is a gift from one of his ancestors, and a story arc showing a possible future for the characters depicts Knuckles wearing that hat regularly. The fact that he is depicted as an avid treasure hunter might suggest the hat was added to give Knuckles more of an Indiana Jones look.

[edit] References

• Sonic HQ Cartoon Info - Sonic the Hedgehog (Japanese OAV). Retrieved on May 3, 2006.

[edit] External links

• Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie at the Internet Movie Database