Sonic the Hedgehog is a character who needs little introduction. He has been Sega’s mascot since 1991, been in numerous games, cartoon shows, comic books, and a live-action movie. To celebrate Sonic’s 30th anniversary Sega have announced that the Blue Blur is set to lead an animated series for Netflix in 2022. As someone who grew up with the character now seems like a perfect time to pitch my own version for the cartoon.
Sega is set to produce the show with the Canadian animation studio WildBrain and the writing collective Man of Action Entertainment. Those companies have some impressive credits, WildBrain have worked on shows like Snoopy in Space for Apple TV and Carmen Sandiego for Netflix. Whilst Man of Action Entertainment credits includes Ben 10, The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, and Big Hero 6: The Series. All we know at this point is the series is called Sonic Prime, going to be in CGI, and aimed at both 6 to 11-year-olds and legacy fans. These are positive noises.
When Sonic the Hedgehog originally came out there were two different continuities – the Japanese and the American versions. The Japanese version set the series on Earth and the villain was nicknamed Eggman. The American version was set on the planet of Mobius and kept the Robotnik name. Considering the world of Sonic the Hedgehog was populated with anthropomorphic animals the Mobius setting made more sense. The Japanese continuity became dominant when Sonic Adventure was released and it was dubbed for foreign audiences.
I grew up watching the cartoon Sonic the Hedgehog (dubbed Sonic SatAM by fans) and Fleetway’s Sonic the Comic which was published in the UK. Sonic SatAM was notable because it took the darker approach, resulting in the show having stakes and emotional moments, whilst also being a fun series. It was cancelled after two seasons. Even though fans would love to see a continuation the chances of that happening are nil.
Sonic the Hedgehog has a lot of potential for world-building and myth-making. The franchise would have an easier time to be adapted into a serious series compared to some of its rivals, i.e. Mario. Writers could use the Chaos Emeralds as a basis for the mythology. There are powerful objects that religions can be based on, lead to the rise and fall of civilisations, and items that heroes and villains would desire. The power of natural resources could be extended – gold rings have healing qualities and factions could try to mine for more precious materials.
A series should be set in a world populated with anthropomorphic animals and it could play on the different cultures and attitudes that would happen. It would have a villain that’s obsessed with technology and robotics and would be willing to experiment on himself and others. This could allow writers and animators to create a rich world and mythology and have themes like nature vs. technology, animal experimentation, and environmentalism/environmental destruction.
There are three major influences for my pitch: Avatar: The Last Airbender/The Legend of Korra, the 2011 reboot of Thundercats, and Disney’s Gargoyles. The most obvious would be Thundercats because the 2011 reboot took a seemingly silly and formulaic ‘80s cartoon and turned it into a serious yet fun fantasy epic that was rich with lore and mythology. It was a critically acclaimed show that outshone its predecessor but sadly it only lasted one season. Avatar: The Last Airbender and its sequel series The Legend of Korra were aimed at the same demographic as Sonic Prime, 7- to 11-year-olds and had an appeal to adults. Both were action-ordinated shows that were filled with mythology, character development, serious themes, and humour and light-heartedness. Finally, Gargoyles was one of the best animated shows of the ‘90s and showed a series that could combine a modern setting with fantasy and sci-fi.
Sonic Prime is set to be a 3D show but I would prefer a 2D show with an anime influence. Some studios that could do a great job with Sonic are DR Movies (Avatar: The Last Airbender, Justice League), Studio Mir (The Legend of Korra, The Boondocks), Studio 4°C (Thundercats, Batman: Gotham Knight) or Titmouse (Star Trek: Lower Decks).
Sonic the Hedgehog was a product of the ‘90s. He was a rad dude with attitude: a corporate-created rebel. He was meant to be the cool alternative to Mario and the hedgehog became the influence for other rebellious, animal mascots, some more successful than others. Sonic can’t be the ‘90s character anymore but there will still be attributes he will always have. Sonic would be an adrenaline junkie who enjoys extreme sports, he would be cocky and doesn’t take anything seriously. But he would also be loyal to his friends and he would the first to throw himself into danger if it meant saving lives. Sonic could have the teenage arrogance of Korra and the playfulness of Aang, a character who likes to joke around. However, this could be a coping mechanism because he would be a young character who has the weight of the world thrust upon him.
Over the years Sonic the Hedgehog has amassed a large cast of characters. It has become a joke that every Sonic game has been mandated to introduce a new character. A cartoon reboot would allow for a cast cull and reinvent characters. The core characters for the series would obviously be Sonic and Tails. Tails is Sonic’s best friend and both would be surrogate brothers to each other. Knuckles would also be a part of the team and would join a few episodes in.
The other two major characters would be Amy Rose and Sally Acorn. Both characters have been seen as romantic interests for the blue hedgehog. In the past Amy has been an obsessed, stalker-like character and she was only redeemed in the cartoon Sonic Boom, where she was turned into a confident and rational character who denied she had feelings for Sonic. Sally Acorn was a character who appeared in Sonic SatAM and the Archie Comics – she was a natural leader, could be the glue that keeps the group together and be a rallying point for the people since she’s an exiled princess.
If a cartoon did bring back the Archie Comics characters Sega and the production companies would need to reach a settlement with Ken Penders. Penders used to write for Archie Comics and claimed he created characters used for the comics. He sued Sega, Electronic Arts, and Archie Comics which resulted in Archie having a continuity reboot and purging a large number of characters. Yet if there is a will there is a way. The Bond franchise was able to regain the rights to Blofeld and SPECTRE for the 2015 film Spectre and Sega were able to bring back Mighty the Armadillo and Ray Squirrel for Sonic Mania.
A reboot can offer less popular characters a chance for redemption. An example of this would be Big the Cat, a character hated by the fanbase because of his low intelligence, basic characterisation, and rubbish gameplay. My reinterpretation would be to make Big a more tragic character who’s suffering from PTSD. He would be so traumatised that he is only able to say one word, goes fishing to calm himself down and refuses to use his super strength. He would basically become the Hodor of the Sonic franchise.
A new series can slowly and organically expand its cast as it progresses. An obvious candidate would be Nack the Sniper who could be a bounty hunter or treasure hunter recruited by Robotnik, whilst the Chaotix would be a resistance group. Other characters that could be introduced are Blaze the Cat who could be a potential mentor, Bunny would be a victim of Robotnik’s experimentation and Tikal could have played an important role in the Emeralds’ history.
Sonic the Hedgehog is nothing without his nemesis. Doctor Robotnik has often been a comedic villain, but in Sonic SatAM, he was a sinister villain. I would go more in SatAM direction and make Robotnik a genuine threat. He would conquer all that’s around him, have an army of robots with an industrial complex to back it up, and experiment on people, turning them into robots. However, I would like to make Robotnik to be more than a power-hungry villain, I would like to give him some depth. In some continuities Robotnik was originally Dr. Ovi Kintobor, a scientist who became Robotnik a lab accident: a typical supervillain origins story. In my version Kintobor would be a genius who used his knowledge of robotics and bio-robotics to benefit the people of Mobius but after getting sick he experiments on himself, giving himself cybernetic enhancements, which leads to Robotnik taking over. Robotnik would end up distorting Kintobor’s ideals and sees himself as the only person to bring order to the world. With the cybernetic enhancements Robotnik would be a greater physical threat to the heroes.
The next question is what would the story be? A quest storyline would be the best way to go. Sonic and co. would be on the run and racing against Robotnik’s forces to find the Chaos Emeralds. Sonic would need be the prophesied hero he’s meant to be. It’s similar to what happened in Avatar: The Last Airbender and Thundercats (2011), and it worked for them. This template has an overarching story and have individual stories for character development and world-building.
The series would start by showing Sonic as a street kid, someone who had to lie, cheat and steal to survive. He would be looked out for by a local inventor, his ‘Uncle’ Chuck and Sonic would act as a big brother figure to Tails. At the start of the story Robotnik would launch a coup where he ousts the government, forcing Sally and Amy to go into exile. At the same time Robotnik would search for Chuck, leading to Sonic and Tails going on the run. When they meet up they will learn about the Chaos Emeralds and decide the best course of action is to find them. They would go to the Emeralds’ last known location, Angel Island, where the team meet Knuckles and at that point the story can truly beginning.
So that is my broad proposal for an action-adventure style series for Sonic the Hedgehog that would be a more dramatic yet fun series. I am willing to take Sega’s calls.
