Sonic Underground: Introduction

When you're a kid, six years feels like a long time. I did a lot of growing up in-between 1993 and 1999. There's a big difference between five-year-olds and eleven-year-olds and "SatAM" and "AoStH" felt like distant memories by the time I started middle school. As I discussed previously, the middle nineties were a lonely time to be a "Sonic" fan. After the franchise's peak years, and before I got online near the end of the decade, I had pretty much nobody to discuss my favorite franchise with. This is why I clung so much to the comic back then. (And I guess still do.) It kept "Sonic" alive during a time when it felt nearly dead. 

As the millennia neared its conclusion, all of that was set to change. Sega was readying the launch of their new console, the Dreamcast. Learning their mistakes from the Sega Saturn, they made sure a new "Sonic the Hedgehog" title would be available at launch. "Sonic Adventure" would be an ambitious new game that would, for better or worst, push the "Sonic" franchise in a completely new direction. I can't tell you how hyped I was when I saw that opening animation on a preview monitor at my local Toys R' Us, ahead of the Dreamcast's release. Sonic was fucking back and looked better than ever.

Eager to promote the relaunch of their star franchise, Sega decided to produce a "Sonic" cartoon. That's right, Sonic wasn't just getting a hot new video game but he was going to be back on TV as well. Despite "Sonic Adventure" being radically different from previous iterations, Sega looked to the past for the new animated series. They would once again reach out to DiC to produce the show. Eventually, a French-American co-production known overseas as "Sonic le Rebelle," but called "Sonic Underground" in America, would emerge. 

Conceptually, the program had a promising start. "SatAM's" reputation as the best "Sonic" cartoon had grown by 1999 and, for fans like me who hadn't seen the show in years, it had morphed into this towering bit of nostalgia. "Underground" would take many elements from "SatAM." It maintained the premise of Sonic working as a guerilla revolutionary, trying to free a planet called Mobius from a despotic Robotnik with the help of a band of rebels called Freedom Fighter. Robotnik's reign was enforced by Stormtrooper-like robot foot soldiers called SWATBots. The new series would even maintain Robotnik's "SatAM" design and Sonic's Uncle Chuck. And, yes, Jaleel White was back as the voice of everyone's favorite hedgehog. 

Yet production soon got messy. Ben Hurst, Pat Allee, and Len Janssen would also work on "Underground," further suggesting the link between the old cartoon and the new one. Hurst spoke frankly about his experience working on "Underground" and there wasn't a lot of fond memories there. He described a production that frequently changed story editors, with a large writer's pool made up of industry lifers and inexperienced newbies. Ben and the other "Sonic" veterans were not allowed to change the very different new premise for the series. DiC insisted on a frenzied two-episodes-a-week production cycle, which left little room for fine-tuning. Lastly, DiC also demanded each episode feature an original song. See, residuals from song rights can be a big money-maker and, I guess, DiC hoped "Sonic Underground" would spin-off a pop hit. All of the above seriously restrained the creative minds behind the show. 

I didn't know any of this in 1999. All I had heard was internet rumblings of a new "Sonic" cartoon. The show would not get a heavily promoted Saturday morning time slot. Instead, "Underground" was syndicated, often airing at obscure times on random networks. Around here, it played in a six o'clock on weekday morning time slot on our local W.B. affiliate. After discovering this, I got up early before school one day to check out the new "Sonic" cartoon that I still knew little about. 

Immediately, I was disappointed. Despite the shallow similarities, the new series had nothing to do with "SatAM" or the Archie comic. In fact, the show had little to do with any previous version of "Sonic." Sonic and Robotnik were the only established elements to be included, with even Tails left out. In place of his familiar supporting characters, Sonic had two siblings with annoying voices. (Jaleel White's attempt at a female voice, when acting as Sonia, was especially ear-splitting.) Worst yet, the show was saddled with an extremely lame rock band gimmick, Sonic and his siblings outfitted with magical pendants that turned into magical instruments that doubled as magical weapons. Each episode contained an awful original song and I often found myself cringing heavily into my cereal bowl every morning as I watched it. 

This was some sub-"Jem and the Holograms" level shit and, even as someone far more willing than most to accept deviations from Sega lore, the bizarre differences were a lot to handle. "Sonic Underground" never felt like "Sonic" to me. To this day, I think it's the official spin-off to be most distant from the Sega games. Moreover, as a kid, I was embarrassed to watch "Sonic Underground." I stuck with it, because my devotion to the brand was that great, but it was often a regretful experience. The jokes were stupid, the animation was bad, the plots were childish, and the songs... The fucking songs. I forged young friendships over "SatAM" and "AoStH." As a pre-teen desperate not to get his ass kicked by roving bands of bullies every day, I didn't dare tell a single soul I watched this cartoon. And I can still recall some bitch on the school bus, teasing me, asking me if "the "Sonic Underground" theme was my favorite song." Ugh, middle school. 

The overall fandom reaction to "Sonic Underground" wasn't too dissimilar from mine. "Sonic" fans agree on little but "Underground" seems to be the consensus pick for worst "Sonic" cartoon. The show didn't exactly disappear after its forty-episode run was up. It continued to show up in reruns, from time to time, even to this day. It also got a DVD release long before any of the other "Sonic" cartoons, for some reason. But the series never attracted a cult following comparable to "SatAM" or even "AoStH." 

Of course, "Underground" has its defenders. Every corner of the "Sonic" empire, no matter how misbegotten, has passionate fans. Each cartoon was somebody's first exposure to this franchise. Ian Flynn is apparently among those fans and sought to publish a conclusion in "Sonic Universe."  "Underground" mostly seems to survive as shitposts and out-of-context clips, its often error-riddled animation repurposed for ironic laughs. My recollection of the show is negative but I accept it as another weird relic that makes up the overall fabric of this weird franchise.

I guess it's clear that I have not been looking forward to this particular retrospective. But, as always, I will attempt to go in with as clear a head and as few biases as possible. I have few memories of "Sonic Underground," so it'll mostly be like I'm experiencing this show for the first time. Maybe it'll be better than I remember? Let's hope so. And, if not, at least it isn't 65 episodes long. Hedgehogs Can't Swim is going underground for a while...