Netflix announces new 3D animated series for Sonic the Hedgehog

[big_smile]

https://nintendoeverything.com/netflix- ... -hedgehog/

Netflix has just announced that a new 3D animated series based on Sonic the Hedgehog. SEGA, WildBrain, and Man of Action are involved.

Not much is known about the upcoming series aside from a 2022 release date. Netflix also shared the teaser image

Inerestingly, the tweet seems to have been deleted (or it could just be that I suck at using Twitter).

[Jingles]

So, the fact that they're using a silhouette of Modern Sonic in the promo image means that this can't be a tie-in to the movie, right? RIGHT??? If so, let's hope Jim Carrey's agent isn't too strict about his likeness rights.

One of the mentioned studios, Man of Action, doesn't exactly have the best track record, but, hey, neither does SEGA, so I'll reserve judgment until I see a trailer.

[Crazy Penguin]

Man of Action isn't particularly encouraging. There's a whole generation of people who grew up with Sonic working in the animation industry right now, who know the series and understand what works and, more importantly, what doesn't work. The Man of Action founders are a generation removed from that. It's not a requirement to be a fan of a property to make something good with it, but after the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes crossover it feels like a bit of a missed opportunity.

I was hoping they'd go with 2D animation for the next show, both as a change of pace from Sonic Boom and a response to how well received the YouTube shorts were. It's rare that CGI ends up looking good on a TV budget and the Mega Man show these guys worked on looked terrible. But Sonic is a bigger property, so I guess we'll see.

Netflix is a great venue, especially with how they push their original series. Too many TV broadcast cartoons have been undermined with graveyard time slots and erratic release schedules for new episodes, so it's good to know that this won't be an issue.

So, the fact that they're using a silhouette of Modern Sonic in the promo image means that this can't be a tie-in to the movie, right? RIGHT??? If so, let's hope Jim Carrey's agent isn't too strict about his likeness rights.

I can't see it being a movie tie-in. The movie had to streamline and make a lot of concessions to work in live action. With an animated show they'd probably want to push a line of toys and have the extended cast involved.

Speaking of which, it would be a good idea for them to use Tangle and Whisper from the IDW comics.

The Sonic series has never been great with its girl characters. As far as the games are concerned, Amy was the only girl character for the first decade, and she was defined by being in love with the male lead. Rouge is a femme fatale and Cream is a cloyingly cute little sister character. There were just no viable heroine characters until Blaze and Marine, but they have the baggage of living in a parallel dimension.

That's exactly the reason why Tangle and Whisper were created for the comic and why they were introduced so early in the run (both Ian Flynn and Aaron Webber have said as much). It's the reason Sticks was created for Sonic Boom. Going back to the 1990s, it's why Sega of America had Sally Acorn.

They should just have Tangle and Whisper be mainstays from now on, rather than having to round out the female cast with brand new characters with each new adaptation.

[big_smile]

https://www.wildbrain.com/newsreleases/ ... nic-prime/

The new show is called Sonic Prime and follows Sonic's exploits through the multiverse. This whole multiverse thing is starting to get repetitive, but I think with the right approach this could actually work well.

[j-man]

I guess it's an easy way to essentially create infinite story potential. I just hope it's more Crisis on Infinite Sonics, rather than "Oh no, we're trapped in Medieval World!".

This is a promising sign:
http://segabits.com/blog/2021/02/02/son ... ruled-out/

Seems they are building from the game universe first, then branching out. Although, with a potential shake-up of what the game universe actually is, it could be another disaster! If it's half as good as the movie, well... I guess it'll be half good?

[Jingles]

This whole multiverse thing is starting to get repetitive, but I think with the right approach this could actually work well.

It is strange how much this concept turns up, especially in supplementary material, isn't it? Moving between different dimensions was a big thing in the Fleetway and (I think) Archie comics, it was the basis for Sonic X and the movie, and multiple universes have shown up a few times in the various cartoon shows. Do people unfamiliar with Sonic have the impression that multi-dimensional travel is a big part of the series? I guess it kind of ties in with how you get to the Special Stages in the games, but I never really thought those were different "universes".