Set on the planet Mobius, Sonic, a blue hedgehog with super speed powers, foils the world domination plans of Dr. Robotnik and his incompetent henchmen.
Produced by Dic Entertainment in 1993, the show came about out of Dic's desire to approach their Sonic license in a similar manner to how they did Ghostbusters with their The Real Ghostbusts/Slimer! And the Real Ghostbusters. Much like Real Ghostbusters ABC would receive a package of 13 episodes per season while a syndication package of 65 episodes would be produced and distributed concurrently with the Saturday morning series. ABC was upset with the idea and threatened not to air the Saturday morning show if the syndication package was created, which resulted in the Saturday morning show becoming darker in tone and syndication one becoming lighter so they'd be distinct enough as not to cannibalize one another. Thus Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog was created and was certainly interesting to say the least.
There's really not much to the show aside from the basic formula: Dr. Robotnik and/or his two henchmen loudmouthed robot chicken Scratch and and dimwitted simpleton Grounder build devices for the purpose of taking over the planet or destroying Sonic only for said inventions to backfire. This is first and foremost a comedy show and for the most part it does work. The animation is very simple, with very little detail put into backgrounds (which are often bizarre and nonsensical in how they're laid out) and animation that's less concerned about being on model than it is about being manic and energized. Like its central character it's relentlessly fast paced and goes from one over the top situation to another without taking much of a breath. This show is often compared to Ren & Stimpy in terms of its humor and animation, albeit a much more restrained approach, but it doesn't have the same level of edge and bite as that show. The show is very rubbery in terms of its animation and because its heavily reliant on slapstick the falls, punches and crashes don't result in the same level of humor as contemporary shows like Animaniacs or Tiny Toons. But it's a decent enough attempt that serves its purpose of killing kids time either before or after they get home from school.
I'd be remissed if I didn't discuss the often lampooned and memetic Sonic Sez/Sonic Says segments that would bookend episodes of the show as a way of meeting the minimum FCC requires for children's programming to contain SOME educational content per a 1990 congressional ruling calling for such. Most of these are basically lip service giving "no duh" lessons like "not talking to strangers" or "calling police if you're in trouble", but then others are really badly done like one involving "when you should dial 911" and then there are strange ones like "learning something from Sloths" or "don't ride in clothes dryers".
Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog is what it is, it's a zany cartoon whose purpose is to fill time on TV stations between their A List programming and give kids something to watch before or after they get to school. Is it good? objectively speaking probably not. But does it serve its target audience? Yes. If given other options this show doesn't compare, but because it was intended to air when no other options were available it does its job.
Produced by Dic Entertainment in 1993, the show came about out of Dic's desire to approach their Sonic license in a similar manner to how they did Ghostbusters with their The Real Ghostbusts/Slimer! And the Real Ghostbusters. Much like Real Ghostbusters ABC would receive a package of 13 episodes per season while a syndication package of 65 episodes would be produced and distributed concurrently with the Saturday morning series. ABC was upset with the idea and threatened not to air the Saturday morning show if the syndication package was created, which resulted in the Saturday morning show becoming darker in tone and syndication one becoming lighter so they'd be distinct enough as not to cannibalize one another. Thus Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog was created and was certainly interesting to say the least.
There's really not much to the show aside from the basic formula: Dr. Robotnik and/or his two henchmen loudmouthed robot chicken Scratch and and dimwitted simpleton Grounder build devices for the purpose of taking over the planet or destroying Sonic only for said inventions to backfire. This is first and foremost a comedy show and for the most part it does work. The animation is very simple, with very little detail put into backgrounds (which are often bizarre and nonsensical in how they're laid out) and animation that's less concerned about being on model than it is about being manic and energized. Like its central character it's relentlessly fast paced and goes from one over the top situation to another without taking much of a breath. This show is often compared to Ren & Stimpy in terms of its humor and animation, albeit a much more restrained approach, but it doesn't have the same level of edge and bite as that show. The show is very rubbery in terms of its animation and because its heavily reliant on slapstick the falls, punches and crashes don't result in the same level of humor as contemporary shows like Animaniacs or Tiny Toons. But it's a decent enough attempt that serves its purpose of killing kids time either before or after they get home from school.
I'd be remissed if I didn't discuss the often lampooned and memetic Sonic Sez/Sonic Says segments that would bookend episodes of the show as a way of meeting the minimum FCC requires for children's programming to contain SOME educational content per a 1990 congressional ruling calling for such. Most of these are basically lip service giving "no duh" lessons like "not talking to strangers" or "calling police if you're in trouble", but then others are really badly done like one involving "when you should dial 911" and then there are strange ones like "learning something from Sloths" or "don't ride in clothes dryers".
Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog is what it is, it's a zany cartoon whose purpose is to fill time on TV stations between their A List programming and give kids something to watch before or after they get to school. Is it good? objectively speaking probably not. But does it serve its target audience? Yes. If given other options this show doesn't compare, but because it was intended to air when no other options were available it does its job.