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Difference between revisions of "Sonic the Hedgehog (anime)"

From Sonic Retro

(robotnik-->eggman)
(Large story re-write, facts fixed, Japanese names added.)
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[[Image:Sonic OVA title.jpg|thumb|right|320px|''Sonic the Hedgehog'' title]]
 
[[Image:Sonic OVA title.jpg|thumb|right|320px|''Sonic the Hedgehog'' title]]
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The original '''''Sonic the Hedgehog'' animated video''', referred to as ''Sonic the Movie'' or ''Sonic OVA'' by some, features [[Sonic the Hedgehog]], [[Miles Prower|Miles "Tails" Prower]], [[Knuckles the Echidna]], [[Dr. Eggman]], [[Hyper Metal Sonic]], and a few original characters, such as the human [[Sara]].
+
The original '''''Sonic the Hedgehog'' animated video''', referred to as ''Sonic the Movie'', or ''Sonic OVA'' by some, features [[Sonic the Hedgehog]], [[Miles Prower|Miles "Tails" Prower]], [[Knuckles the Echidna]], [[Dr. Eggman]], [[Hyper Metal Sonic]], and a few original characters, such as the human [[Sara]] (セーラ, ''Sēra''), her father the [[President of the Land of the Sky|President]] (大統領, ''Daitouryou'') and [[Old Man Owl|Old Man]], (おじさん, ''Oji-san''.)
  
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''Sonic the Hedgehog'' was released on May 31st, 1996 in Japan and was presented on two different VHS episodes ("Journey to Eggmanland" and "Sonic vs. Metal Sonic"). ADV Films dubbed it in English in 1999, and released it as '''''Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie''''' in Europe with a single box video. It was released in America on September 8, 1999.
+
In Japan, where it was simply titled ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' (ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ, ''Sonikku za hejjihoggu'',) was released on May 31st, 1996 and presented on two different VHS episodes, each about 30 minutes in length and were titled ''Journey to Eggmanland'' (エッグマンランドへむかえ, ''Eggumanrando he mukae'') and ''Sonic vs. Metal Sonic''　（ソニック vs. メタルソニック, ''Sonikku vs. Metaru Sonikku''.) An English dub was first released on September 8, 1999 by ADV Films, titled '''''Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie''''' as a single VHS. This release date was chosen to coincide with the release of [[Sonic Adventure]].
  
 
== World ==
 
== World ==
−
The main setting of this Sonic cartoon it is [[Planet Freedom]], and it has many different accessible "dimensions" (dimensions is probably a mis-translation for lands or regions). The area the series starts out on is Land of the Sky.
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The main setting of the film is [[Planet Freedom]], which is composed of two distinctly different worlds. The story begins on the outer world, which is comprised of interconnected floating continents, called [[The Land of the Sky|the Land of the Sky]], and eventually moves to the surface of Planet Freedom, which is referred to as [[The Land of Darkness]]. In the opening scenes of the film, we see Sonic and Tails on their home continent of the Land of the Sky, [[South Island]].
  
 
== Story ==
 
== Story ==
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[[Sonic the Hedgehog|Sonic]] is relaxing on the beach when [[Miles Prower|Tails]] comes out to test a new bodyboard and asks Sonic to give it a try. Sonic declines, and Tails starts to surf. As he is surfing he encounters small airplane controlled by [[Old Man Owl]], an old owl anthropomorph. Old Man Owl is having engine trouble and starts to come dangerously close to crashing. Tails boards the plane and tries to help but is unable to do much. Sonic runs after them after hearing Tails yell for help several times. Fortunately, Sonic manages to rescue them. Shortly after, Old Man Owl tells Sonic that the [[President of the Land of the Sky|President]] has summoned Sonic to his residence. Sonic and Tails race to the Presidential Palace, where they encounter Eggman holding the President and his daughter [[Sara]] hostage. Sonic is told by Eggman that his city, dubbed Eggmanland (Robotropolis in the English dub), has been taken over by a metal version of himself called [[Black Eggman]] (Metal Robotnik in the English dub). Sonic reluctantly agrees to confront Black Eggman.
+
[[Sonic the Hedgehog|Sonic]] is relaxing on the beach when [[Miles Prower|Tails]] comes out to test a new water-bodyboard and asks Sonic to give it a try. Sonic declines, and Tails starts to surf. As he is surfing he encounters small airplane piloted by the [[President of the Land of the Sky|President's]] messenger,[[Old Man Owl|Old Man]]. Unbeknownst to Old Man, the engine of his small aircraft is failing and has been set ablaze, which Tails attempts to fix mid-flight but to no avail, leaving them on a collision course with the cliffside. Sonic hears Tails' cry for help and runs to save them, barely rescuing them from danger moments before impact.
  
−
After Sonic and Tails leave Sara enters Eggman's ship and starts fiddling with the controls. Eggman chases her and the door shuts and the machine exits through the roof. Meanwhile, Sonic and Tails go into the Land of Darkness, encountering badniks, before reaching an abandoned city. Once there, a long confrontation  between themselves and Black Eggman takes place. Sonic he gets trapped in a hole which is quickly filling with water but is saved by Knuckles in a nick of time. Shortly after, Sonic destroys Black Eggman (but not completely).
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Shortly after, Old Man informs Sonic that he has been urgently summoned by the [[President of the Land of the Sky|President]] to the Presidential residence. Leaving Old Man in charge of their abode while away, Sonic and Tails board the Tornado and fly to the Presidential residence, where they encounter Eggman holding the President and his daughter [[Sara]] hostage. Eggman explains that his city, Eggmanland (Robotropolis in the English dub,) has been taken over by a metal version of himself called [[Black Eggman]] (Metal Robotnik in the English dub.) After much deliberation, Sonic reluctantly agrees to find and confront Black Eggman, and Tails receives a navigation device from the mad doctor that will lead the duo to Eggmanland.
  
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Sonic, Tails and Knuckles go into the core of the city. After reaching the control panel for the electricity generator Sonic is trapped inside a glass container and his DNA is electronically scanned. Sonic & his friends finally manage to shut off the switch. Black Eggman appears, giving the appearance he was intact but he is seen crumbling and Eggman and Sara can be seen among the rubble. After regaining his composure Eggman introduces Sonic to a robotic counterpart, [[Hyper Metal Sonic]]. Eggman explains to Sonic that Hyper Metal Sonic was programmed with Sonic's DNA and thus would know his every move. A battle ensues between Sonic and his robotic counterpart and goes skybound. Hyper Metal Sonic wins, and Tails and [[Knuckles]] return to the Land of the Sky. Tails finds out that Hyper Metal Sonic is out to destroy the world by destroying the Ice Caps and causing the continents to drift apart. Tails and Knuckles go to the Ice Cap and find Sonic & Hyper Metal Sonic fighting. Tails corrupts Metal's data with the navigational watch given to him by Eggman earlier, and Sonic attacks Hyper Metal Sonic, causing serious damage. Hyper Metal Sonic hears the President and Old Man Owl, who are trapped in their airplane which just had a crash landing. Hyper Metal Sonic saves them but is blown into a magma filled crevice and clutches onto the side. Sonic tries to rescue him, but Metal says "There is only one Sonic.." and falls to the bottom. While Sonic is smarting from his injuries, Eggman says that he still has Sonic's DNA and that he can create more Sonic clones. One of Eggman's robotic projectiles wanders by as he is saying this and explodes, destroying the CD.
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Once Sonic and Tails have left, the charade is dropped and it is revealed that Eggman has somehow bribed Sara and the President to pretend to be the his hostages. Sara and Eggman enjoy several rounds of a fighting video game, demanding that Eggman continue playing the game with her or she will stop being his hostage. Sara continues to lose several rounds of the game before demanding that she be taken for a drive. On cue, the empty shell of Black Eggman crashes through the roof and Eggman and Sara climb in despite her father's plea to stay.
 +
 
 +
After much flying, Sonic and Tails come across the storm eye-like entrance to the Land of Darkness high above the planet's atmosphere. They swoop down into it, the winds so strong that Sonic is nearly blown from the wing of the bi-plane. Finally, they exit the eye and crash land, the Tornado taking massive damage. Sonic and Tails set off once again to find Eggmanland, traversing many perilous paths and facing a barrage of Eggman's robots on the way before entering a warp zone which takes them to the ruins of an ancient abandoned city.  
 +
 
 +
Black Eggman finds them and congratulates them for making it so far, but Sonic and Tails promptly mock and attempt to evade him in order to continue to Eggmanland. Black Eggman persues chase and throws a barrage of weaponry at them, causing them to nearly fall into the ocean below a bridge, where they believe they have tricked Black Eggman into thinking they have drowned. They find that Black Eggman was simply waiting for them once they tried to sneak away, and attacks them with superglue-like blobs of paste, adhering Tails to a nearby fence. Sonic attacks Black Eggman with his own missles, damaging him slightly, but finds that he has accidentally stepped in a pile of the superglue which has effectively ahered him to the pavement. It starts to rain, and as Black Eggman's massive weight cracks the pavement with each step towards them, the water begins to encroach Sonic. With the water nearly above Sonic's head, Black Eggman aims a laser gun at him, preparing to shoot Sonic just as Knuckles swoops in, knocking Black Eggman off balance. Tails pulls Sonic from his impending watery grave and the trio launch a team-attack on Black Eggman, causing it to explode in mid-air, presumably destroying it, and then move on to locate the entrance to Eggmanland.
 +
 
 +
Sonic, Tails and Knuckles travel warily into the core of the city, finally happening upon the Egg Generator in the center of the massive base, which looks on the brink of exploding. Sonic shuts it down in the nick of time, but finds himself quickly magnetized against it, unable to escape the eerie green glow of the force field-like device. It eventually releases Sonic and the entire machine begins to collapse. Tails saves Sonic, and the three watch curiously as something that was previously in the center of the Egg Generator begins to come to life. Sonic is suddenly faced with his robot twin, [[Hyper Metal Sonic]].  
 +
 
 +
Black Eggman seems to reappear, but falls apart again only moments later, as it is still completeley damaged from earlier. As noise of shouting is heard from the rubble, Sonic realizes that Sara was working with Eggman, pretending that she had been coerced to do so, but still does not want harm to come to Sonic. In a fit of rage, Sonic runs at Eggman, but Metal Sonic gets there first, blocking him, causing much shock and worry to Tails and Knuckles, having never seen anything move faster than Sonic before. A battle between Sonic and Metal Sonic ensues as Tails and Knuckles travel back through the warp zone to find the Tornado and return back to South Island. In combat high above the ground, Metal Sonic knocks Sonic off of a moutainous peak, presumably killing him, as the Metal's heart pulse monitor for Sonic quickly flatlines.
 +
 
 +
In the night, because Sonic is presumed dead, Metal Sonic, having all of Sonic's feelings, thoughts and motivations, travels to South Island before Tails and Knuckles have arrived. Metal Sonic approaches Old Man, and dresses him in Sonic's favorite clothes for no apparent reason. In the morning, Tails and Knuckles arrive with the Tornado and Knuckles begins repairs on the bi-plane. Tails modifies Eggman's navigation device, turning it into a locator to find Metal Sonic, and by association, Sonic. Afterwards, they receive a call from the President, who has been getting reports of a Sonic-like figure destroying several cities in the Land of the Sky. They quickly deduce that it is Metal Sonic causing the destruction, and that his next target is the glacial bridge at northernmost tip of the interconnected continents, which if destroyed, the centrifugal force of the planet would hurl the outer continents into space. Sonic reveals that he was there all along and had been listening in the entire time, and rushes northward to stop Metal Sonic.
 +
 
 +
Sonic arrives to find that Metal Sonic is already working quickly to force magma to the surface, causing a giant geyser of molten rock which is erupting precariously close to the ice bridge. The two face off once more, each predicting the other's actions move for move. Sara and Eggman appear from a warp zone just as Metal Sonic goes flying upward, his head bashing into the underside of Eggman's ship. Sara is thrown from the ship but is saved by Knuckles before she hits the ground. Knuckles then attempts to redirect the flow of the magma away from the ice bridge by digging tunnels beneath it. Metal Sonic grabs Sonic, choking him, so Tails uses the modified locator device to overload the robot with more of Sonic's emotion, causing him to malfunction and release Sonic, giving him the chance to damage him. Right after this, the President's ship crashes into the ice bridge, jarring the door to the ship and trapping him and Old Man inside. As Tails flies Sonic to their aid, Metal Sonic appears again, knocking them both out of the sky, and effectively blocking their way to the ship, which has now begun to catch fire. Eggman sniper-shoots Tails' modified device from above, destroying it before he can use it to overload Metal Sonic again.
 +
 
 +
Sonic and Metal Sonic continue their fight, and eventually a strike from Sonic sends Metal Sonic flying into the President's ship, crashing into and breaking the cockpit windshield, causing the entire ship to explode. Metal Sonic emerges from the smoke holding the President and Old Man, having saved them from the explosion. He drops them to the ground before a large chunk of debris knocks Metal Sonic down into a deep crevice filled with magma. Sonic, seeing that Metal Sonic has good in him, like Sonic himself, immediately jumped down the incline, sliding down to try and save the Metal Sonic. He reaches out a hand to Metal Sonic, who slaps it away, realizing that he must perish as there can only be one Sonic in the world. Sonic is incredibly distraught, Knuckles restraining him as he watches Metal Sonic disintigrate in the magma.
 +
 
 +
Later, everyone is overlooking the ice bridge which has been saved from destruction. Sonic is lost in thought, presumably still saddened at the loss of Metal Sonic. Tails and Sara attempt to cheer Sonic up, but are interrupted by Eggman appearing behind them, touting the fact that he still possesses the CD containing Sonic's data, and plans to create an even more powerful version of Metal Sonic which would omit the part of Sonic's data containing his personality, so that he would have no weakness. Too caught up in his egotistical speech to notice, the slow, turtle-like projectile Eggman had released earlier finally shows up, grabs the CD in its mouth and explodes, destroying it. Everyone laughs and then Knuckles hits Sonic on the head, claiming it was payback for earlier when Sonic accidentally stepped on Knuckles' head. Knuckles runs off and Sonic chases him, with Tails following both of them. Sara, Old Man and the President all pile into Eggman's ship and demand that he catch up with Sonic. Eggman obliges and as they fly up behind Sonic, they all grab for him, Sara shouting that she wants to marry him, and Eggman claiming that he will eventually get Sonic's data again. Sonic announces he is getting out of here, and races towards the screen. The title shows once more before the credits play.
  
 
== Trivia & Censorship ==
 
== Trivia & Censorship ==
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*In the original translations Knuckles is presented as a mole and not as an echidna; this mistake even re-occurs in the character-bios featured in the DVD release.  
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*In the original Japanese version, Knuckles is referred to as a mole and not an echidna. This was correctly translated, and so is present in the English translation.
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*''Sonic Anime'' was also censored somewhat as the anime was originally aimed at teenagers. Most of the censorship issues are mainly concerning not translating certain Japanese curse words, but in the scene where Sonic is supposed to show his middle-finger at Black Eggman, ADV changed the scene so that it seemed that Sonic was holding up his index-finger. However, in the DVD version Sonic still gives him "the finger." Other censored scenes include:
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*The only actual censorship in the film is the omittance of quite a few curse words which were present in the Japanese version, but were replaced with more mild-sounding language in the English version.
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**In one of the early scenes, one of the robots is holding Sara in a perverted way.
 
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**Sara calls Metal Sonic a "pervert" when she and Sonic crash into Eggman's ship and he crashes through the bottom and accidentally looks up her dress. Sonic, who basically sees, feels and thinks everything Metal Sonic does, has an adverse effect on this event. However, it could have possibly been the effect of him landing on his groin on Eggman's rocket.
 
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**In one scene, Tails accidentally grabs Sara's breasts. Knuckles, in response says: "I never thought you would stoop that low".
 
  
 
==Production Credits==
 
==Production Credits==
 
Executive Producer: Haruki Nakayama<br>
 
Executive Producer: Haruki Nakayama<br>
 
Production Manager: Kyoichi Mori<br>
 
Production Manager: Kyoichi Mori<br>
−
Producers: Koichiro Sugie, Akinori Ohno, Takayuki Sugizaki, Naoharu Hokutani<br>
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Producers: <br>
−
Production Directors: [[Sonic Team]], [[Yuji Naka]], [[Naoto Oshima]]<br>
+
:Koichiro Sugie
 +
:Akinori Ohno
 +
:Takayuki Sugizaki
 +
:Naoharu Hokutani<br>
 +
Production Directors: <br>
 +
:[[Sonic Team]]
 +
:[[Yuji Naka]]
 +
:[[Naoto Oshima]]<br>
 
Music Production Director: Junji Fujita<br>
 
Music Production Director: Junji Fujita<br>
 
Music: Mitsuhiro Tada<br>
 
Music: Mitsuhiro Tada<br>
−
Ending Theme "Look-a-Like": Mitsuhiro Tada (Music & Arrangement), Riu Konaka (Lyrics & Performance)<br>
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Ending Theme "Look-a-Like": <br>
 +
:Mitsuhiro Tada (Music & Arrangement)
 +
:Riu Konaka (Lyrics & Performance)<br>
 
Storyboards: Sadayori Sekijima<br>
 
Storyboards: Sadayori Sekijima<br>
 
Original Story: Masashi Kubota<br>
 
Original Story: Masashi Kubota<br>
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Assistant Animation Director: Fumie Muroi<br>
 
Assistant Animation Director: Fumie Muroi<br>
 
Mechanica Coordinator: Haruo Miyakawa<br>
 
Mechanica Coordinator: Haruo Miyakawa<br>
−
Key Animation: Fumie Muroi, Minoru Kibata, Junichi Hayakawa, Toshiya Washida, Masaru Yoshioka, Koji Itou, Nobutaka Itou, Shiro Kudaka, Hideaki Sakamoto, Fumie Muroi, Fujio Oda, Junichi Hayakawa, Masaro Yoshioka, Masahiko Matsuyama, Koji Aso, Minoru Kibata, Hiroyuki Yoshimura, Junichi Takaoka, Hideaki Sakamoto<br>
+
Key Animation: <br>
 +
:Fumie Muroi
 +
:Minoru Kibata
 +
:Junichi Hayakawa
 +
:Toshiya Washida
 +
:Masaru Yoshioka
 +
:Koji Itou, Nobutaka Itou:
 +
Shiro Kudaka
 +
:Hideaki Sakamoto
 +
:Fumie Muroi
 +
:Fujio Oda
 +
:Junichi Hayakawa
 +
:Masaro Yoshioka
 +
:Masahiko Matsuyama
 +
:Koji Aso, Minoru Kibata
 +
:Hiroyuki Yoshimura
 +
:Junichi Takaoka
 +
:Hideaki Sakamoto<br>
 
Art Director: Seiko Akashi<br>
 
Art Director: Seiko Akashi<br>
−
Backgrounds: Studio Uni, Masaru Amamizu, Takashi Nakamura, Akira Suzuki, Reiko Ikeda, Kaori Nishikawa<br>
+
Backgrounds: <br>
 +
:Studio Uni
 +
:Masaru Amamizu
 +
:Takashi Nakamura
 +
:Akira Suzuki
 +
:Reiko Ikeda
 +
:Kaori Nishikawa<br>
 
Animation Check: Reiko Yamada<br>
 
Animation Check: Reiko Yamada<br>
−
Animation: Anime World Osaka, Tezuka Production, Yoshiyuki Naritaka, Studio Pierrot Fukuoka Annex, Studio Pierrot Art Division, Tezuka Production, Yoshiyuki Naritaka, Studio Pierrot Fukuoka Annex, Studio Pierrot Art Devision<br>
+
Animation: <br>
 +
:Anime World Osaka
 +
:Tezuka Production
 +
:Yoshiyuki Naritaka
 +
:Studio Pierrot Fukuoka Annex
 +
:Studio Pierrot Art Division
 +
:Tezuka Production
 +
:Yoshiyuki Naritaka<br>
 
Color Designation: Yoshiko Takiguchi<br>
 
Color Designation: Yoshiko Takiguchi<br>
−
Finishing: Anime World Osaka, Tezuka Production, Studio OM Aomori Works, Yoshiyuki Naritaka, Studio Pierrot Fukuoka Annex, Tezuka Production, Studio OM Aomori Works, Hiroyuki Naritakara, Studio Pierrot Fukuoka Annex, Studio Run Run<br>
+
Finishing: <br>
 +
:Anime World Osaka
 +
:Tezuka Production
 +
:Studio OM Aomori Works
 +
:Yoshiyuki Naritaka
 +
:Studio Pierrot Fukuoka Annex
 +
:Tezuka Production
 +
:Studio OM Aomori Works
 +
:Hiroyuki Naritakara
 +
:Studio Run Run<br>
 
Digital Animation: Junya Koshiba<br>
 
Digital Animation: Junya Koshiba<br>
 
Special Effects: Kenji Ikeda<br>
 
Special Effects: Kenji Ikeda<br>
−
Finishing Check: Toshio Kaido, Izumi Murasaki, Yoshiko Shimizu<br>
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Finishing Check:<br>
 +
:Toshio Kaido
 +
:Izumi Murasaki
 +
:Yoshiko Shimizu<br>
 
Director of Photography: Motoaki Ikegami<br>
 
Director of Photography: Motoaki Ikegami<br>
−
Photography: Studio Cosmos, Katsunori Mahara, Noriko Suzuki, Tetsuo Ofuji, Yoichi Kuroda, Hiroshi Noguchi, Shinji Ikegami, Naohisa Kijima, Takashi Shimada<br>
+
Photography:<br>
 +
:Studio Cosmos
 +
:Katsunori Mahara
 +
:Noriko Suzuki
 +
:Tetsuo Ofuji
 +
:Yoichi Kuroda
 +
:Hiroshi Noguchi
 +
:Shinji Ikegami
 +
:Naohisa Kijima
 +
:Takashi Shimada<br>
 
Recording Director: Fusanobu Fujiyama<br>
 
Recording Director: Fusanobu Fujiyama<br>
 
Mixing: Akiyoshi Yoda<br>
 
Mixing: Akiyoshi Yoda<br>
−
Sound Effects: Daisuke Jinbo, Swarer Production<br>
+
Sound Effects: <br>
−
Recording Studio: Studio Echo, Jinnan Studio<br>
+
:Daisuke Jinbo
−
Sound Effects Production: Jinnan Studio, Hiromi Kikuta<br>
+
:Swarer Production<br>
 +
Recording Studio: <br>
 +
:Studio Echo
 +
:Jinnan Studio<br>
 +
Sound Effects Production: <br>
 +
:Jinnan Studio
 +
:Hiromi Kikuta<br>
 
Editing: Seiji Morita<br>
 
Editing: Seiji Morita<br>
 
Film Processing: IMAGICA<br>
 
Film Processing: IMAGICA<br>
 
Titles: Maki Productions<br>
 
Titles: Maki Productions<br>
−
Production Coordinators: Hiroyuki Fujiware, Daisuke Nishioka<br>
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Production Coordinators: <br>
 +
:Hiroyuki Fujiware
 +
:Daisuke Nishioka<br>
 
Production: General Entertainment Co., Ltd.<br>
 
Production: General Entertainment Co., Ltd.<br>
 
Animation Production: Studio Pierrot Co., Ltd.<br>
 
Animation Production: Studio Pierrot Co., Ltd.<br>
Line 65: Line 146:
 
Executive Producer: John Ledford<br>
 
Executive Producer: John Ledford<br>
 
Produced & Directed by: [[Gary Dehan]]<br>
 
Produced & Directed by: [[Gary Dehan]]<br>
−
English ADR Script: Jennifer Presto, Gary Dehan<br>
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English ADR Script: <br>
 +
:Jennifer Presto
 +
:Gary Dehan<br>
 
Production Manager: Lisa J. Miller<br>
 
Production Manager: Lisa J. Miller<br>
 
Sound Design: Paul Killam<br>
 
Sound Design: Paul Killam<br>
Line 73: Line 156:
 
English ADR Recorded at: Monster Island<br>
 
English ADR Recorded at: Monster Island<br>
 
English ADR Recording Engineer: [[Charles Campbell]]<br>
 
English ADR Recording Engineer: [[Charles Campbell]]<br>
−
Production Assistants: Kelly Beard, Maki Nagono, Akiko Yoshii<br>
+
Production Assistants: <br>
 +
:Kelly Beard
 +
:Maki Nagono
 +
:Akiko Yoshii<br>
 
Production Secretary: Anna Bechtol
 
Production Secretary: Anna Bechtol
  

Revision as of 18:51, 18 November 2009

File:Sonic OVA title.jpg
Sonic the Hedgehog title

The original Sonic the Hedgehog animated video, referred to as Sonic the Movie, or Sonic OVA by some, features Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, Knuckles the Echidna, Dr. Eggman, Hyper Metal Sonic, and a few original characters, such as the human Sara (セーラ, Sēra), her father the President (大統領, Daitouryou) and Old Man, (おじさん, Oji-san.)

In Japan, where it was simply titled Sonic the Hedgehog (ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ, Sonikku za hejjihoggu,) was released on May 31st, 1996 and presented on two different VHS episodes, each about 30 minutes in length and were titled Journey to Eggmanland (エッグマンランドへむかえ, Eggumanrando he mukae) and Sonic vs. Metal Sonic　（ソニック vs. メタルソニック, Sonikku vs. Metaru Sonikku.) An English dub was first released on September 8, 1999 by ADV Films, titled Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie as a single VHS. This release date was chosen to coincide with the release of Sonic Adventure.

World

The main setting of the film is Planet Freedom, which is composed of two distinctly different worlds. The story begins on the outer world, which is comprised of interconnected floating continents, called the Land of the Sky, and eventually moves to the surface of Planet Freedom, which is referred to as The Land of Darkness. In the opening scenes of the film, we see Sonic and Tails on their home continent of the Land of the Sky, South Island.

Story

Sonic is relaxing on the beach when Tails comes out to test a new water-bodyboard and asks Sonic to give it a try. Sonic declines, and Tails starts to surf. As he is surfing he encounters small airplane piloted by the President's messenger,Old Man. Unbeknownst to Old Man, the engine of his small aircraft is failing and has been set ablaze, which Tails attempts to fix mid-flight but to no avail, leaving them on a collision course with the cliffside. Sonic hears Tails' cry for help and runs to save them, barely rescuing them from danger moments before impact.

Shortly after, Old Man informs Sonic that he has been urgently summoned by the President to the Presidential residence. Leaving Old Man in charge of their abode while away, Sonic and Tails board the Tornado and fly to the Presidential residence, where they encounter Eggman holding the President and his daughter Sara hostage. Eggman explains that his city, Eggmanland (Robotropolis in the English dub,) has been taken over by a metal version of himself called Black Eggman (Metal Robotnik in the English dub.) After much deliberation, Sonic reluctantly agrees to find and confront Black Eggman, and Tails receives a navigation device from the mad doctor that will lead the duo to Eggmanland.

Once Sonic and Tails have left, the charade is dropped and it is revealed that Eggman has somehow bribed Sara and the President to pretend to be the his hostages. Sara and Eggman enjoy several rounds of a fighting video game, demanding that Eggman continue playing the game with her or she will stop being his hostage. Sara continues to lose several rounds of the game before demanding that she be taken for a drive. On cue, the empty shell of Black Eggman crashes through the roof and Eggman and Sara climb in despite her father's plea to stay.

After much flying, Sonic and Tails come across the storm eye-like entrance to the Land of Darkness high above the planet's atmosphere. They swoop down into it, the winds so strong that Sonic is nearly blown from the wing of the bi-plane. Finally, they exit the eye and crash land, the Tornado taking massive damage. Sonic and Tails set off once again to find Eggmanland, traversing many perilous paths and facing a barrage of Eggman's robots on the way before entering a warp zone which takes them to the ruins of an ancient abandoned city.

Black Eggman finds them and congratulates them for making it so far, but Sonic and Tails promptly mock and attempt to evade him in order to continue to Eggmanland. Black Eggman persues chase and throws a barrage of weaponry at them, causing them to nearly fall into the ocean below a bridge, where they believe they have tricked Black Eggman into thinking they have drowned. They find that Black Eggman was simply waiting for them once they tried to sneak away, and attacks them with superglue-like blobs of paste, adhering Tails to a nearby fence. Sonic attacks Black Eggman with his own missles, damaging him slightly, but finds that he has accidentally stepped in a pile of the superglue which has effectively ahered him to the pavement. It starts to rain, and as Black Eggman's massive weight cracks the pavement with each step towards them, the water begins to encroach Sonic. With the water nearly above Sonic's head, Black Eggman aims a laser gun at him, preparing to shoot Sonic just as Knuckles swoops in, knocking Black Eggman off balance. Tails pulls Sonic from his impending watery grave and the trio launch a team-attack on Black Eggman, causing it to explode in mid-air, presumably destroying it, and then move on to locate the entrance to Eggmanland.

Sonic, Tails and Knuckles travel warily into the core of the city, finally happening upon the Egg Generator in the center of the massive base, which looks on the brink of exploding. Sonic shuts it down in the nick of time, but finds himself quickly magnetized against it, unable to escape the eerie green glow of the force field-like device. It eventually releases Sonic and the entire machine begins to collapse. Tails saves Sonic, and the three watch curiously as something that was previously in the center of the Egg Generator begins to come to life. Sonic is suddenly faced with his robot twin, Hyper Metal Sonic.

Black Eggman seems to reappear, but falls apart again only moments later, as it is still completeley damaged from earlier. As noise of shouting is heard from the rubble, Sonic realizes that Sara was working with Eggman, pretending that she had been coerced to do so, but still does not want harm to come to Sonic. In a fit of rage, Sonic runs at Eggman, but Metal Sonic gets there first, blocking him, causing much shock and worry to Tails and Knuckles, having never seen anything move faster than Sonic before. A battle between Sonic and Metal Sonic ensues as Tails and Knuckles travel back through the warp zone to find the Tornado and return back to South Island. In combat high above the ground, Metal Sonic knocks Sonic off of a moutainous peak, presumably killing him, as the Metal's heart pulse monitor for Sonic quickly flatlines.

In the night, because Sonic is presumed dead, Metal Sonic, having all of Sonic's feelings, thoughts and motivations, travels to South Island before Tails and Knuckles have arrived. Metal Sonic approaches Old Man, and dresses him in Sonic's favorite clothes for no apparent reason. In the morning, Tails and Knuckles arrive with the Tornado and Knuckles begins repairs on the bi-plane. Tails modifies Eggman's navigation device, turning it into a locator to find Metal Sonic, and by association, Sonic. Afterwards, they receive a call from the President, who has been getting reports of a Sonic-like figure destroying several cities in the Land of the Sky. They quickly deduce that it is Metal Sonic causing the destruction, and that his next target is the glacial bridge at northernmost tip of the interconnected continents, which if destroyed, the centrifugal force of the planet would hurl the outer continents into space. Sonic reveals that he was there all along and had been listening in the entire time, and rushes northward to stop Metal Sonic.

Sonic arrives to find that Metal Sonic is already working quickly to force magma to the surface, causing a giant geyser of molten rock which is erupting precariously close to the ice bridge. The two face off once more, each predicting the other's actions move for move. Sara and Eggman appear from a warp zone just as Metal Sonic goes flying upward, his head bashing into the underside of Eggman's ship. Sara is thrown from the ship but is saved by Knuckles before she hits the ground. Knuckles then attempts to redirect the flow of the magma away from the ice bridge by digging tunnels beneath it. Metal Sonic grabs Sonic, choking him, so Tails uses the modified locator device to overload the robot with more of Sonic's emotion, causing him to malfunction and release Sonic, giving him the chance to damage him. Right after this, the President's ship crashes into the ice bridge, jarring the door to the ship and trapping him and Old Man inside. As Tails flies Sonic to their aid, Metal Sonic appears again, knocking them both out of the sky, and effectively blocking their way to the ship, which has now begun to catch fire. Eggman sniper-shoots Tails' modified device from above, destroying it before he can use it to overload Metal Sonic again.

Sonic and Metal Sonic continue their fight, and eventually a strike from Sonic sends Metal Sonic flying into the President's ship, crashing into and breaking the cockpit windshield, causing the entire ship to explode. Metal Sonic emerges from the smoke holding the President and Old Man, having saved them from the explosion. He drops them to the ground before a large chunk of debris knocks Metal Sonic down into a deep crevice filled with magma. Sonic, seeing that Metal Sonic has good in him, like Sonic himself, immediately jumped down the incline, sliding down to try and save the Metal Sonic. He reaches out a hand to Metal Sonic, who slaps it away, realizing that he must perish as there can only be one Sonic in the world. Sonic is incredibly distraught, Knuckles restraining him as he watches Metal Sonic disintigrate in the magma.

Later, everyone is overlooking the ice bridge which has been saved from destruction. Sonic is lost in thought, presumably still saddened at the loss of Metal Sonic. Tails and Sara attempt to cheer Sonic up, but are interrupted by Eggman appearing behind them, touting the fact that he still possesses the CD containing Sonic's data, and plans to create an even more powerful version of Metal Sonic which would omit the part of Sonic's data containing his personality, so that he would have no weakness. Too caught up in his egotistical speech to notice, the slow, turtle-like projectile Eggman had released earlier finally shows up, grabs the CD in its mouth and explodes, destroying it. Everyone laughs and then Knuckles hits Sonic on the head, claiming it was payback for earlier when Sonic accidentally stepped on Knuckles' head. Knuckles runs off and Sonic chases him, with Tails following both of them. Sara, Old Man and the President all pile into Eggman's ship and demand that he catch up with Sonic. Eggman obliges and as they fly up behind Sonic, they all grab for him, Sara shouting that she wants to marry him, and Eggman claiming that he will eventually get Sonic's data again. Sonic announces he is getting out of here, and races towards the screen. The title shows once more before the credits play.

Trivia & Censorship

  • In the original Japanese version, Knuckles is referred to as a mole and not an echidna. This was correctly translated, and so is present in the English translation.
  • The only actual censorship in the film is the omittance of quite a few curse words which were present in the Japanese version, but were replaced with more mild-sounding language in the English version.

Production Credits

Executive Producer: Haruki Nakayama
Production Manager: Kyoichi Mori
Producers:

Koichiro Sugie
Akinori Ohno
Takayuki Sugizaki
Naoharu Hokutani

Production Directors:

Sonic Team
Yuji Naka
Naoto Oshima

Music Production Director: Junji Fujita
Music: Mitsuhiro Tada
Ending Theme "Look-a-Like":

Mitsuhiro Tada (Music & Arrangement)
Riu Konaka (Lyrics & Performance)

Storyboards: Sadayori Sekijima
Original Story: Masashi Kubota
Production Design: Kazunori Ikegami
Character Designs & Director of Animation: Tsuneo Ninomiya
Assistant Animation Director: Fumie Muroi
Mechanica Coordinator: Haruo Miyakawa
Key Animation:

Fumie Muroi
Minoru Kibata
Junichi Hayakawa
Toshiya Washida
Masaru Yoshioka
Koji Itou, Nobutaka Itou:

Shiro Kudaka

Hideaki Sakamoto
Fumie Muroi
Fujio Oda
Junichi Hayakawa
Masaro Yoshioka
Masahiko Matsuyama
Koji Aso, Minoru Kibata
Hiroyuki Yoshimura
Junichi Takaoka
Hideaki Sakamoto

Art Director: Seiko Akashi
Backgrounds:

Studio Uni
Masaru Amamizu
Takashi Nakamura
Akira Suzuki
Reiko Ikeda
Kaori Nishikawa

Animation Check: Reiko Yamada
Animation:

Anime World Osaka
Tezuka Production
Yoshiyuki Naritaka
Studio Pierrot Fukuoka Annex
Studio Pierrot Art Division
Tezuka Production
Yoshiyuki Naritaka

Color Designation: Yoshiko Takiguchi
Finishing:

Anime World Osaka
Tezuka Production
Studio OM Aomori Works
Yoshiyuki Naritaka
Studio Pierrot Fukuoka Annex
Tezuka Production
Studio OM Aomori Works
Hiroyuki Naritakara
Studio Run Run

Digital Animation: Junya Koshiba
Special Effects: Kenji Ikeda
Finishing Check:

Toshio Kaido
Izumi Murasaki
Yoshiko Shimizu

Director of Photography: Motoaki Ikegami
Photography:

Studio Cosmos
Katsunori Mahara
Noriko Suzuki
Tetsuo Ofuji
Yoichi Kuroda
Hiroshi Noguchi
Shinji Ikegami
Naohisa Kijima
Takashi Shimada

Recording Director: Fusanobu Fujiyama
Mixing: Akiyoshi Yoda
Sound Effects:

Daisuke Jinbo
Swarer Production

Recording Studio:

Studio Echo
Jinnan Studio

Sound Effects Production:

Jinnan Studio
Hiromi Kikuta

Editing: Seiji Morita
Film Processing: IMAGICA
Titles: Maki Productions
Production Coordinators:

Hiroyuki Fujiware
Daisuke Nishioka

Production: General Entertainment Co., Ltd.
Animation Production: Studio Pierrot Co., Ltd.
Original Production: Sega Enterprises, Ltd.
Director: Kazunori Ikegami
English Language Version: Presented by A.D.V. Films
Project Translator: Keisuke Okamoto
International Coordinator: Toru Iwakami
Executive Producer: John Ledford
Produced & Directed by: Gary Dehan
English ADR Script:

Jennifer Presto
Gary Dehan

Production Manager: Lisa J. Miller
Sound Design: Paul Killam
Art Director: Laura Attwell
Logo Design: Kevin Hinnant
Production Coordinator: Janice Williams
English ADR Recorded at: Monster Island
English ADR Recording Engineer: Charles Campbell
Production Assistants:

Kelly Beard
Maki Nagono
Akiko Yoshii

Production Secretary: Anna Bechtol


Voice actors

Role Voice Actor (English) Voice Actor (Japanese)
Sonic the Hedgehog Martin Burke Masami Kikuchi
Miles "Tails" Prower Lainie Frasier Hekiru Shiina
Knuckles the Echidna Bill Wise Yasunori Matsumoto
Dr. Robotnik/Eggman Edwin Neal Junpei Janikuchi
Sara/Sera Sascha Biesi Mika Kanai
Black Eggman/Metal Robotnik Edwin Neal
President of the Land of the Sky Edwin Neal
Hyper Metal Sonic Gary Dehan
Old Man Owl Charles Campbell

Box Art

  • "Journey to Eggmanland" JP cover (VHS)

  • "Sonic vs Metal Sonic" JP cover (VHS)

  • US/EU cover (VHS)

  • Early US/EU cover (DVD)

  • US cover (DVD)

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