Sonic the Hedgehog (franchise) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Sonic the Hedgehog |
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| Creator |
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| Original work | Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) |
| Owner | Sega |
| Print publications | |
| Books | Printed media list |
| Comics | Comic book list |
| Films and television | |
| Films | Films list |
| Short films | Web series list |
| Animated series | Animated series list |
| Games | |
| Video games |
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Sonic the Hedgehog is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main Sonic the Hedgehog games are platformers mostly developed by Sonic Team; other games, developed by various studios, include spin-offs in the racing, fighting, party and sports genres. The franchise also incorporates printed media, animations, feature films, and merchandise.
Sega developed the first Sonic game, released in 1991 for the Sega Genesis, to compete with Nintendo's mascot Mario. Its success helped Sega become one of the leading video game companies during the fourth generation of video game consoles in the early 1990s. Sega Technical Institute developed the next three Sonic games, plus the spin-off Sonic Spinball (1993). A number of Sonic games were also developed for Sega's 8-bit consoles, the Master System and Game Gear. After a hiatus during the unsuccessful Saturn era, the first major 3D Sonic game, Sonic Adventure, was released in 1998 for the Dreamcast. Sega exited the console market and shifted to third-party development in 2001, continuing the series on Nintendo, Xbox, and PlayStation systems.
While Sonic games often have unique game mechanics and stories, they feature recurring elements such as the ring-based health system, level locales, and fast-paced gameplay. Games typically feature Sonic setting out to stop Eggman's schemes for world domination, and the player navigates levels that include springs, slopes, bottomless pits, and vertical loops. Later games added a large cast of characters; some, such as Miles "Tails" Prower, Knuckles the Echidna, and Shadow the Hedgehog, have starred in spin-offs. The franchise has crossed over with other video game franchises in games such as Mario & Sonic, Sega All-Stars, and Super Smash Bros.
Sonic the Hedgehog is Sega's flagship franchise and one of the bestselling video game franchises, selling over 140 million units by 2016[update] and grossing over $6 billion as of 2020[update]. Series sales and free-to-play mobile game downloads totaled 1.5 billion as of 2022[update]. The Genesis Sonic games have been described as representative of the culture of the 1990s and listed among the greatest of all time. Although later games, notably the 2006 series reboot, received poorer reviews, Sonic is influential in the video game industry and is frequently referenced in popular culture. The franchise is known for its fandom that produces unofficial media, such as fan art and fangames.
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Other media
Animation
In 1992, Sega approached the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) about producing two television series—"a syndicated show for the after-school audience" and a Saturday-morning cartoon—based on Sonic. Kalinske "had seen how instrumental the launch of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon series was to the success of the toyline" during his time at Mattel and believed that success could be recreated using Sonic. The two cartoons, the syndicated Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (1993) and ABC's Sonic the Hedgehog (1993–1994), were produced by DIC Entertainment. DIC also produced a Sonic Christmas special in 1996, and Sonic Underground in 1999, to promote Sonic Adventure.
Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog comprises 65 episodes overseen by Ren & Stimpy director Kent Butterworth and features slapstick humor in the vein of Looney Tunes. The 26-episode Sonic the Hedgehog (commonly called Sonic SatAM) features a bleak setting in which Eggman has conquered the world, while Sonic is a member of a resistance force that opposes him. The series was canceled after two seasons. Sonic Underground was planned to last 65 episodes, but only 40 were produced. The series follows Sonic and his siblings Manic and Sonia, who use the power of music to fight Eggman and reunite with their mother. In all three DiC series, Sonic is voiced by Family Matters star Jaleel White.
In Japan, Sega and Sonic Team collaborated with Studio Pierrot to produce a two-part original video animation (OVA), Sonic the Hedgehog, released direct-to-video in Japan in 1996. To coincide with Sonic Adventure's Western release in 1999, ADV Films released the OVA in North America as a 55-minute film, Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie. Produced with input from Naka and Ohshima, the OVA is loosely based on Sonic CD, with elements from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and 3, and recounts Sonic's efforts to stop a generator taken over by Eggman from exploding and destroying their world. Patrick Lee of The A.V. Club's said the OVA was "the only cartoon to adapt the look, sound, and feel of the Sonic games", with familiar scenes and music.
Sonic X, an anime series produced by TMS Entertainment and overseen by Naka, ran for three seasons (78 episodes) from 2003 to 2006. While previous series' episodes feature self-contained plots, Sonic X tells a single serialized story. The Sonic cast teleports from their home planet to Earth during a scuffle with Eggman, where they meet a human boy, Chris Thorndyke. Throughout the course of the series, Sonic and his friends attempt to return to their world while fighting Eggman. The second season adapts the Sonic Adventure games and Sonic Battle, while the third season sees the friends return with Chris to their world, where they enter outer space and fight an army of aliens. Some critics enjoyed Sonic X, while others disliked it. Although it suffered from poor ratings in Japan, Sonic X consistently topped ratings for its timeslot in the US and France.
Sonic Boom, a computer-animated series produced by Sega and Genao Productions, premiered on Cartoon Network in November 2014. It features a satirical take on the Sonic mythos, and the franchise's cast was redesigned for it. According to Iizuka, Sonic Boom came about as a desire to appeal more to Western audiences, and it ran parallel with the main Sonic franchise. Sonic Boom lasted for two seasons and the last episode aired in 2017. In May 2020, Sega brand officer Ivo Gerscovich stated that no further episodes of Sonic Boom would be produced.
To promote the release of Sonic Mania Plus (2018), a five-part series of animated shorts, Sonic Mania Adventures, was released on the Sonic the Hedgehog YouTube channel between March 30 and July 17, 2018. The series depicts Sonic's return to his world following the events of Sonic Forces, teaming up with his friends to prevent Eggman and Metal Sonic from collecting the Chaos Emeralds and Master Emerald. An additional Christmas-themed episode was released on December 21, 2018. The shorts were written and directed by Tyson Hesse, who created Sonic Mania's opening cutscene. Similarly, Hesse produced a two-part animated series to tie in with the release of Team Sonic Racing in 2019. Sonic and Tails also appeared as guest stars in OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes in August 2019.
Sonic Prime, a computer-animated Sonic series, is in development at Netflix. The series is co-produced by Netflix Animation, Sega of America, WildBrain Studios, and Man of Action Entertainment and is scheduled to premiere in December 2022.
Comics
Shogakukan published a Sonic the Hedgehog manga series in its Shogaku Yonensei magazine, beginning in 1992. Written by Kenji Terada and illustrated by Sango Norimoto, it follows a sweet but cowardly young hedgehog named Nicky whose alter ego is the cocky, heroic Sonic. According to character artist Kazuyuki Hoshino, the manga was part of Sega's promotional strategy to appeal to primary school children. The Sonic design team worked with Shogakukan to create new characters; Amy Rose and Charmy Bee originated in the manga before appearing in the games.
The longest-running Sonic-based publication is the 290-issue Sonic the Hedgehog, an American comic book published by Archie Comics from 1993 until its cancellation in 2017. Archie also published a number of spin-offs, such as Knuckles the Echidna (1997–2000) and Sonic Universe (2009–2017). Archie's comic drew its premise from the Sonic the Hedgehog television series, with Sonic and a resistance force fighting the dictator Eggman. Originally written as a "straightforward lighthearted action-comedy", Sonic the Hedgehog became more dramatic after Ken Penders began writing it with issue #11. Penders remained the head writer for the following 150 issues and developed an elaborate lore unique to the series. Ian Flynn became head writer in 2006 and remained until the series' cancellation. Following a legal battle with Penders over ownership of characters he created, in 2013 the series was rebooted, leaving only characters introduced in the games or which predated Penders' run.
In 2008, Guinness World Records recognized Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog as the longest-running comic based on a video game, and by 2016 it was one of the longest-running American comics in the market. While Archie planned to publish at least four issues beyond #290, in January 2017 the series went on an abrupt hiatus, and in July, Sega announced it was ending its business relationship with Archie in favor of a new partnership with IDW Publishing. IDW's Sonic comic began in April 2018. Although the creative teams from the Archie series, such as Flynn, returned, the IDW series is set in a different continuity. Flynn said the IDW series differs from the Archie comic in that it draws from the games for stories, with the first story arc set after the events of Sonic Forces. Fans continued the Archie series unofficially, including finishing unpublished issues, while Penders is using the characters he gained ownership of for a graphic novel, The Lara-Su Chronicles.
Sonic the Comic, a British comic published by Fleetway Publications, ran for 223 issues from 1993 to 2002; contributors included Richard Elson, Nigel Kitching, Andy Diggle, and Nigel Dobbyn. It featured stories aimed at children, in addition to news and review sections. Although it adapted the stories of the games, the writers established their own lore. The final story arc was a loose adaptation of Sonic Adventure in 2000, followed by 39 issues reprinting old stories. Following the series' cancellation, fans started Sonic the Comic Online, an unofficial webcomic that continues the stories.
Live-action film franchise
In August 1994, Sega of America signed a deal with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and Trilogy Entertainment to produce a live-action animated film to tie in with Sonic X-treme. In May 1995, screenwriter Richard Jefferies pitched a treatment, Sonic the Hedgehog: Wonders of the World, to Sega. It saw Sonic and Eggman escape from Sonic X-treme into the real world and Sonic collaborate with a boy to stop Eggman. No agreement was reached and the film was canceled. With permission from Sega, Jeffries pitched his treatment to DreamWorks Animation, but it was rejected.
Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)
In 2013, Sony Pictures Entertainment acquired the Sonic film rights, and in June 2014 announced it would produce a Sonic film as a joint venture with Sega's Marza Animation Planet. Neal H. Moritz was attached to produce under his Original Film banner, alongside Takeshi Ito, Mie Onishi, and Toru Nakahara. In February 2016, Sega CEO Hajime Satomi said the film was scheduled for 2018. Blur Studio's Tim Miller and Jeff Fowler were hired the following October to develop the film; Fowler would make his feature directorial debut, while both would executive produce. In October 2017, Paramount Pictures acquired the rights after Sony put the film into turnaround. However, most of the production team remained unchanged, and principal photography began in September 2018 in Ladysmith, British Columbia.
The film, written by Patrick Casey and Josh Miller, follows Sonic (voiced by Ben Schwartz) as he journeys to San Francisco with a small-town cop (James Marsden) so he can escape Eggman (Jim Carrey) and collect his missing rings. Additional cast members include Tika Sumpter, Adam Pally, and Neal McDonough, while Colleen O'Shaughnessey reprises her voice role as Tails from the games for a mid-credits scene cameo. Sonic was initially redesigned to be more realistic, with fur, new running shoes, separate eyes and a more humanlike physique. The design triggered a backlash; it was criticized for not resembling the game design and provoked an uncanny valley-type of repulsed response from viewers. As such, Sonic was revised to better resemble the original design.
Paramount originally scheduled Sonic the Hedgehog for a November 8, 2019 release, but delayed it to February 14, 2020, to accommodate the redesign. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, who felt it exceeded the low expectations typically associated with video game-based films; Carrey's performance in particular was praised. Criticism was directed at a perceived lack of originality or ambition, and while Sonic's second redesign was praised, some felt it set a negative precedent for the film industry by giving fans the power to influence the filmmakers. With an estimated budget of $81–95 million, the film grossed over $310 million worldwide, becoming the sixth-highest-grossing film of 2020. In March, it became the highest-grossing film based on a video game in US box office history.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022)
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was announced in May 2020, and principal photography began in March 2021. It features Sonic and Tails attempting to stop Eggman, with Knuckles' help, from finding the Master Emerald. Schwartz, O'Shaughnessey, Marsden, Carrey, and Sumpter reprise their roles from the first film, while Idris Elba voices Knuckles. Much of the crew, including Fowler, Casey, and Josh Miller, returned.
Sonic 2 incorporates more aspects of the Sonic games than the first film, including the Chaos Emeralds and Super Sonic. It adapts plot elements from Sonic 2 and Sonic 3, and introduces Shadow in the mid-credits scene. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was released on April 8, 2022. It received positive reviews and grossed over $402 million worldwide, surpassing its predecessor as the highest-grossing video game film in the US.
Future
In February 2022, Paramount and Sega announced that they were working on a Sonic cinematic universe, with Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and a Knuckles streaming television series for Paramount+ in development. Elba is set to reprise his voice role in the series.
Merchandise
Licensed Sonic merchandise includes books, clothing, soundtracks, board games, and toys such as figures and plushes. By 2004, the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise had generated more than $1 billion in licensed merchandise sales. Sega and McDonald's collaborated for Sonic-themed Happy Meal promotions in 1994 for Sonic 3 and in 2004 for Sonic Heroes. Sonic was the first video game franchise promoted in McDonald's, and over 50 million Sonic Happy Meal toys were sold worldwide. A million pairs of Sonic trousers were sold by 1996.
First4Figures has produced a large number of vinyl and resin Sonic figures since 2008. In January 2012, Sega and RHM Solutions opened an online Sonic store, while PlayStation Gear began selling Sonic items in December 2017. Sega and The Lego Group collaborated to produce a Green Hill Zone Lego set in 2021, after it was suggested on Lego Ideas in 2019.
