Although Sonic first blue-blurred his way onto our screens in 1991, he didn't get a voice until 1993 — in Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, an animated cartoon aimed at kids. And, because it was the '90s, that voice was provided by none other than Jaleel White, AKA Urkel from Family Matters, who also went on to reprise the spiky role in more Sonic cartoons.
Discotek Media have announced that all 65 episodes of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog will be coming to Blu-ray in February 2022. This isn't exactly new — the cartoon has been released on DVD multiple times over the years — but it's the first time that it will appear on Blu-ray, with stereo audio and new extras. Those extras include:
- The "Sonic Christmas Blast" seasonal special
- The unaired pilot, featuring Jim Cummings as Dr Robotnik (whose voice you may recognise as Tigger)
- Rushes for the first episode
- Commentaries from Milton Knight, one of the artists on the series
- Original packaging art
- Original commercials
- Art gallery with "rare production art"
- Captions for the hearing impaired
Unfortunately, the original show was broadcast in standard definition, so Discotek have only been able to recreate the 480p resolution of the original. However, the 65 episodes (plus extras) have been crunched down onto two discs for the new Blu-ray edition, with stereo audio! Now you can get Sonic in both ears.
Will you be grabbing this as an, er, Valentine's Day gift or early Easter present? Or do you think the cartoon was a bit naff? Let us know in the comments!
[source twitter.com, via videogameschronicle.com]
Comments 45
THE PILOT??? YOOOO WE LOVE AN OFFICIAL LOST MEDIA RELEASE
"Sadly only 480p, though"
That's one way to ruin it, but I'm getting a bit excited now, there's a pilot in this? I mean, I like that an actually high quality publisher is releasing DiC cartoons for once. Yea, that's it. But I still really like it.
In fact, there might be a SatAM & Underground Blu-Ray now that this is happening. More DiC cartoons in the future? Mario, maybe? We'll see. Sonic X is good as well btw.
The packaging on that box is wonderful. I love it.
Oh my god robotnik is tigger
"The wonderful thing about badniks, is badniks are wonderful things! Their tops are made out of metal! Their bottoms are made out of springs!"
What’s the point of putting it on blu ray if it’s 480P?
Discotek with the goods. I’ve become big fans of Fist of the North Star and City Hunter because of them.
Subtitles are new on this? They should be standard on all releases. At least they're there now.
Insta-buy for the fact that the pilot is here. Those extras are primo.
It's probably only 480p because Sonic is so fast that it blurs the image anyway. They just figured let's go all the way!
@Don, they can fit more episodes on one BD than they can on one DVD, so it reduces the amount of physical space the collection will take up.
I wish the pilot was on dvd, cause I think otherwise blu ray is an unnecessary price jump.
It should have been region free 🤷♂️
At first I was really annoyed that it is only 480p but then I realised it’s to keep it in line with the resolution of the games.
Seriously though I doubt these episodes exist in their original format in anything high quality especially being they were created for children so probably not hugely expensive to produce. Just my thoughts so probably wrong
@Don Discotek does this for a few releases as it reduces the number of discs like mentioned above but also 480p on bluray generally still looks nicer than 480p on DVD. I have their Sonic X, 2 Disc Blu ray release which is also 480p and it still looks very crisp
@fox_mattcloud why what region is it?!? Where does it say? I’m tired and can’t see it mentioned
discotek keeps on doing good stuff
Honestly? Its far more effort than the other DVD releases that are just the episodes and thats it.
That and I'm sure it will take up less space on the shelf. XD
Is this the one with the chicken and toaster tank robot?
@Fugman As opposed to a 6 or more disc boxset that'll take up more space on your shelf?
@NinChocolate Correct.
@SuperCharr I can get behind that, just like SNES games should stay 4:3 and not be made wide-screen, some people like them "improved", but in my opinion, the original is the way to go most of the time, though some image quality improvement is appreciated
There's nothing wrong with 480p, actually prefer it over something like 1080p cause looks a lot better to me
The unaired pilot?
Way past cool!!
480p?
That's No Goood!
i'm baffled at the 480p complaint--it was clearly not done out of laziness or an attempt to just fart these onto bluray to get extra dosh, considering all the extras and whatnot it makes the most sense, especially considering upscaling the show would probably look terrible
Why did Urkel dub Sonic? The "uncoolest" guy voicing the coolest hero. Anyway, this is interesting.
@Don Because the smallest-capacity Blu-ray disc holds 25GB of data while a standard DVD holds 4.7GB. Also, BDs stand much better the test of time because they are manufactured in a special way to prevent issues that DVDs and especially CDs have.
I've got no problem with 480p, if that's the best available quality they have, that's what they should be putting on the disc.
HD releases of old media usually requires recording the footage from the original projection reels if they exist.
The alternative is putting the old footage through an upscaling process, which can often-times look pretty bad if done improperly.
It could've been a situation like yet another Funimation Dragon Ball Z release where they insist on doing awful post-processing that blurs and smears the image quality, or crops them to create widescreen by discarding visual information from the top and bottom.
@RupeeClock They could also remaster each frame, it has been done before and it would be easier with simple-looking cartoons like this than with real films but of course it takes time and they are not sure if it's commercially worthwhile. I'd love it, though.
@BlueOcean
They would have to do this with roughly 1400 minutes of footage depending, that's a much bigger undertaking than a single film project.
These days even a home user can run AI upscaling on video using their home PC, if they're lucky enough to own a capable graphics card. The results for an amateur can be pretty pleasing.
AI technology like Real-ESRGAN is producing better and better results, and commercial AI solutions are even better than what is freely available.
"The unaired pilot, featuring Jim Cummings as Dr Robotnik (whose voice you may recognise as Tigger)"
Or who you may recognize as Dr. Robotnic in the other Sonic cartoon that was airing at the same time. (And a bajillion other things, of course.)
I found this version of Sonic was meh when ic was growing up. Now the original Sonic cartoon was amazing!
@RupeeClock I have been thinking that it would be great to get the most important cartoons from the 90s remastered somehow because they are WAY better than most (with some exceptions) cartoons of today.
@BlueOcean The Sonic Cartoon was originally aired on ABC, and Jaleel White was their golden boy. He saved Family Matters from cancellation, and he was becoming a rising star from several different appearances in movies and shows. The show runners for Sonic decided they would pitch Jaleel White as the voice for Sonic due to his popularity with ABC in a hope the show would be greenlit.
Now for another daily Sonic fact, the show they approved would go on to be known as Sonic the Hedgehog (SATAM). There was a creative disagreement over the direction of the show, and ABC almost backed out. Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and SATAM came about as the result of those differences. That's why two Sonic cartoons were airing at the same time in the early 90s.
I enjoyed those cartoons
@ValZ Discotek already re-released Sonic X on Blu-ray but it's only the American 4Kids cut with stereo audio.
They still haven't re-released the uncensored Japanese version with 5.1 surround sound.
480p?
As Sonic says "That's no good"
@Stocksy Region code A, which is the region code for the US.
Ideally, these should have been re-scanned in 2K at least, but shows like these would likely have been treated as disposable cash-in fodder back in the day, and even if the animation was originally shot on film, the resultant videotape masters would have been kept and the original film disposed of once it served it purpose.
Sadly, had any (theoretical) film survived, and the film cleaned up and re-scanned, then it could have potentially looked amazing. Certainly not to the level of classic theatrical releases, mind, but with a potentially beautifully organic image and a finely resolved grain field.
If the classic Simpsons can't get an honest-to-God HD master (as opposed to the cropped/stretched abominations currently in circulation), then I strongly doubt that a Saturday morning cash-in would have been treated with better care.
It is also worth noting that SD specs for Blu-ray (like DVD) only officially support 480i, not 480p, and likewise 576i for PAL video. While some authoring software may allow for progressive standard definition video to be burned, this is not officially supported by the specs stipulated by the Blu-ray Disc Association and may result in compatibility issues with some (mostly older) players, hence why I suspect that this is likely to be a typo, as it would be really unwise for a professionally produced Blu-ray to deviate from the official specifications of the format.
@Don : Cut down on the disc count. One of my biggest annoyances with the fact that DVDs remain on shelves is that the number of discs in box sets can be massively reduced by switching to Blu-ray. It drives me crazy when I see DVD boxsets with 50+ discs (sometimes in excess of 100 discs!) that are sold for hundreds of dollars when it would be cheaper both for the distributor and the consumer to have the content pressed onto a handful of Blu-rays and bundle such releases with a cheap Blu-ray player instead for the absurd asking price.
A few years ago, I had produced a boxset comprised of my family's VHS tapes (which are all 576i PAL) and transferred them to Blu-ray discs, with all scenes/dates itemised and placed in chronological order. I managed to squeeze in over 80 hours of standard definition material at a respectable bitrate onto just five BD-50s. That's a whole cupboard's worth of tapes (about 46 of them) occupying less physical space than a single VHS tape.
@BlueOcean : That's right. The official Blu-ray specs require that they have a scratch-resistant coating, and unlike DVD-9s, dual-layer Blu-rays do not have a physical layer break (which can be a headache). For enthusiasts, DVD-9s are more trouble than they are worth and are on average twice as expensive as a blank 25GB Blu-ray. I know what I'd rather burn my SD material on!
@fox_mattcloud ugh. Why why why! Silly decision! Region locked needs to go in the bin. It should be a thing of the past
@Knuckles I didn't know anything about that so thanks!
@Silly_G And they would be hugely popular and common if it wasn't for streaming.
@Knuckles So what Sonic cartoon would be your favourite and why? I think I only watched a few episodes as a kid and I can't really remember.
@BlueOcean You're asking me to pick between my children here, lol. Most of the shows hold a special place in my heart.
Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, the first cartoon I watched for Sonic, absolutely loved it as a kid, would set an alarm to take up at 5AM to watch it on TV, since that was the only time it would play for me. It's Looney Tunes Sonic, lots of fun, even today.
Sonic the Hedgehog (SATAM) A Darker Sonic series where Robotnik has already taken over the world, and Sonic with the Freedom Fighters try to take it back. Early Archie Comic readers would love this, since the show inspired Archie's Sonic comic line. Still love the theme song, I enjoyed the plots, shame it didn't get more episodes. A different yet good take on Sonic.
Sonic Underground, easily my least favorite just for growing out of it. It's primarily aimed at really young children with music numbers at least once per episode. Set in a universe similar to SATAM where Robotnik has already won, it's not exactly a tonal mismatch, but the lighthearted nature would have worked better with Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog's world instead.
Sonic X, perhaps the most famous Sonic TV show, it's an anime from Japan that brought Sonic Adventure 1 and 2's stories to life during the 2nd Season. The 4Kids Dub changed several things, and cut some scenes, made some things shorter. In the Sonic Adventure 2 story, they actually played Live and Learn in the Japanese version. Sonic X holds a lot of nostalgia for me, but I'm not sure I'd call it my favorite.
Sonic Boom, admittedly haven't watched more than an episode or two, but I've seen the memes, and it's a good show. Quality cartoon and writing. I'd say one complaint about it being 3D Rendered is that Sonic always seemed a bit slow to me, like they never got the effects right fit him to be going really fast.
Sonic Prime: Hasn't aired yet, not sure.
Special Mention: Sonic The Movie, the 1996(Japan)/1999(International) Anime OVA special. This was easily my favorite Sonic cartoon growing up, with Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Metal Sonic, the song Look-a-Like is still enjoyable today. It's a fun show.
So, the Sonic OVA is my favorite overall, in terms of Cartoon, I would have said SATAM a few years ago, but I forgot how good Looney Tunes Sonic was, so going with Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog for my favorite Sonic cartoon, and to break the rules, I'll list Sonic X as my favorite Sonic Anime.
@Knuckles I'm going to bookmark your comment for when I have time to watch the cartoons as the grown boy that I am now 😂. I am a big fan of the Sonic games, you can check the comment I just wrote here reflecting on the different games:
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/12/sonic-colors-ultimate-has-received-a-new-celebration-update-on-switch#comment6718147
Even though this show is so corny and goofy ASF, I grew up watching this in the afternoons after school. Love the cover art for the set. I might actually buy this!
Is it only in English again? You would think for this Blu-ray release they would add in they would add atleast a few of the other audio languages in, like latinamerica Spanish or French, but nope... is just English... again. 🙄
@Don Blu-ray discs can hold more stuff.
@shonenjump86 Plus Konosuba 😁
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