| Sonic the Hedgehog | |
North American Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie VHS cover. |
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| ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ (Sonikku za Hejjihoggu) |
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| Genre | Action, Science fiction, Comedy |
| Original video animation | |
| Directed by | Kazunori Ikegami |
| Produced by | Naoharu Hokutani Akinori Ohno Koichiro Sugie Takayuki Sugizaki |
| Written by | Masashi Kubota |
| Music by | Mitsuhiro Tada |
| Studio | Studio Pierrot TAKI Corporation Sega Sonic Team ADV Films |
| Released | May 31, 1996 (Japan) 1999 (USA) |
| Episodes | 2 |
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 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 is also the only Sonic animated production that features Metal Sonic. 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 9, 1999 as Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie. The film has been distributed by Alliance Films in Canada.
Contents |
The story begins with Sonic relaxing on the beach by his house, a crashed Boeing 737. Tails is testing his new, jet-propelled bodyboard, when it almost collides with a flying ship driven by Oji-san, aka Old Man Owl, an elderly, harebrained owl who is there to deliver a message from the president. He wants them to come to his office right away. Sonic and Tails race to the Presidential Palace, where they find Dr. Robotnik holding the President and his daughter Sara hostage.
Robotnik tells Sonic that the city of Robotropolis, located in the Land of Darkness, has been taken over by a giant mechanical version of himself called Metal Robotnik. It sabotaged the Robot Generator, which will cause it to malfunction and explode, destroying Planet Freedom by sunrise. Robotnik wants Sonic to stop the robot.
Dr. Robotnik gives Tails a navigational watch for his journey. They head for the Land of Darkness, using Tails' biplane, to fly beneath the clouds of Planet Freedom to the wasteland below. Sonic and Tails reach the post-apocalyptic ruins of what appears to be New York City. There, they get into a long, grueling battle with Metal Robotnik. Knuckles becomes involved near the end and saves them both, and all three team up to destroy the robot.
Sonic, Tails and Knuckles go into the city center and narrowly deactivates the Robot Generator. Sonic is suddenly encased in a strange cube that copies his DNA, and the entire area collapses around them.
The crumbling husk of Metal Robotnik crashes through the floor, revealing Dr. Robotnik and Sara in the cockpit. Knuckles falsely accuses Sara of being in on the scheme. She starts bawling and accuses Robotnik, which he does not deny. He shows Sonic his creation, Metal Sonic and the two fight. Metal Sonic wins. Tails and Knuckles go back to the Land of the Sky. Tails learns that Metal Sonic is trying 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. Sonic wakes up in Green Lake City and realizes Metal Sonic knows everything he does. Sonic goes to the Presidential Palace, and learns about the ice cap dilemma.
Sonic, Tails and Knuckles go to the ice caps, where Sara is being held captive (Dr. Robotnik's goal is to destroy the world, leaving only he and Sara to rule). Sonic runs into Hyper Metal Sonic, and the two have a long fight. Tails corrupts Metal's data with the navigation watch Eggman gave him and Sonic is able to damage the robot. At the same time, however, the President flies in, only to be trapped in his aircraft. Hyper Metal Sonic saves the President, making Sonic realize that Metal has emotions, since he was programmed with Sonic's personality.
Metal falls through a crack, down to a subglacial volcano. Sonic tries to save him by lowering himself down and having Metal to grab his hand and get pulled out. But Metal pushes Sonic's hand away and tells him that "there is only one Sonic" -he is then slowly melted by the magma. After Robotnik says he still has Sonic's DNA and can rebuild Metal Sonic, one of the missiles fired during the fight falls from the sky and destroys the disc with Sonic's DNA, causing everyone but him to laugh. Afterward, Knuckles hits Sonic on the head (as Sonic stepped on Knuckles' head by accident during the fight) and the two chase each other.
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