Sonic Christmas Blast: Revisited

Sonic Christmas Blast

Original Air Date: November 26th, 1993

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all Hedgehogs Can't Swim readers! I'm glad that I have both survived 2021 and have kept this blog regularly updated throughout. Long time readers know I like to do something special around the holidays. For the very first Hedgehogs Can't Swim Christmas special, I posted an old review of "Sonic Christmas Blast." However, that review was written for my other blog, designed to appeal to non-Sonic people. After finishing up my retrospective of "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" earlier this year, it seemed fitting to revisit the holiday special that more-or-less continued from that series. So, here we go: "Sonic Christmas Blast: Take Two."

Before we get into the question of what "Sonic Christmas Blast" does, we really have to answer the question of why it exists in the first place. By 1996, a new episode of "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" hadn't aired in three years. In fact, I recall a lot less "Sonic" content in general in the middle nineties, saved for the then-deathless comic book. Sega, at the time, was hoping to give the franchise a shot in the arm with a new game for their brand new Sega Saturn... But that game was "Sonic X-Treme," a notoriously troubled production that was eventually canned. Sega had high hopes for the project before killing it,  releasing a number of tie-in products. This included a Christmas special, meant to hype up the game that was supposed to be a hot holiday title release. 

When "Sonic X-Treme" died, the Genesis title "Sonic 3-D Blast" was quickly propped up as its replacement. (Which meant there wasn't a major "Sonic" title in between "Sonic and Knuckles" and "Sonic Adventure," no doubt contributing to the franchise's downfall... But that's a topic for another day.) When "Sonic 3D Blast" desperately attempted to fill "Sonic X-Treme's" shoes, "An X-Tremely Cool Sonic Christmas" was hastily retitled "Sonic Christmas Blast." The half-hour special aired on the USA Network, where I can't imagine it reached that wide of an audience. I, a lifelong "Sonic" obsessive, didn't even know the special existed until years afterwards. 

Yet even that information doesn't really explain many of the strange things about this cartoon. Who made the decision to link this special to a three-year-old syndicated cartoon? Why did it randomly mix elements from both of DiC's "Sonic" series from earlier in the decade, without really capturing the feeling of either show? Moreover, why is it a Christmas special, instead of just a generic "Sonic" product meant to promote the upcoming game? Sonic has had little association with that most money-hungry of holidays before this point. Sadly, answers are not readily available to these queries. All we have is the odd special itself to examine. 

The plot is not too different from your typical episode of "AoStH." Santa Claus announces his retirement, disappointing the children of Mobius. Worst yet, greedy madman Robotnik is installed as his replacement. The evil fat man immediately inverts the rules of the holiday, demanding the citizens of the world give him gifts or face dire consequences. Sonic immediately races into action to save the real Santa, captured by Robotnik. Yet only a magical ring gifted to Sonic by his girlfriend provides the true means to save Christmas. See? Totally in-the-spirit of the dumbass cartoon.

The presence of Scratch and Grounder, Jaleel White and Long John Baldry in the voice cast, and some of the design choices also obviously mark this as a continuation of "AoStH." Yet it's also noticeably different. The animation is less loose, the character designs slightly smoother. The production values are just a smidgen higher, resulting in a more homogeneous look. Robotnik is both more exaggerated and less grotesque than his "AoStH" counterpart. Christopher Welch had aged out of voicing Tails and Chris Turner, whose voice is slightly deeper, plays the character. 

This is all a way of saying "Christmas Blast" most resembles "AoStH" but it doesn't really feel like it. Mobius is populated with generic cartoon humans and not a bizarre mix of cartoon animals, freaky monstrosities, and ugly humanoids. The Mobiums currency has been replaced with "Robotnikbucks," suggesting the villain has completed his conquest of the planet in the intervening years. Mostly, the special doesn't have the same comedic spirit. "AoStH" was aggressively, obnoxiously wacky, frequently sacrificing all sense of logic for grating jokes and nonsensical gags. "Christmas Blast" has a lot of lame slapstick but its world makes sense. This is most noticeable in two ways: The surreal landscapes have been replaced with colorful but bland cities. While Sonic does wear a disguise to fool Scratch and Grounder, it actually has an effect on the plot and isn't just done to humiliate the buffoons. 

This noticeable tonal difference might have been a result of one or two choices. First off, it's possible screenwriters the Shelly brothers just lost their grip on "AoStH's" style in the years between. Or they might've reined in the show's craziness to appeal more to "SatAM" fans. Yes, "Sonic Christmas Blast" is a(n entirely unsatisfying) fusion of both of the then-existing Sonic cartoons. Robotnik's minions resemble the wacky machine designs of "AoStH" but are referred to as SWATBots. Instead of his tower abode, Robotnik operates out of an industrialized city named Robotropolis. Most noticeably, Princess Sally is in this special. 

Yet no attempt is made to capture "SatAM's" feeling either. This Robotropolis is just a regular city, populated by regular people, and not a bombed-out dystopia. They even pronounce it differently. No other element from "SatAM" is present. As for Sally, no attempt was made to depict her character. Literally all she does is stand around, point at Sonic, and get buried in gifts at the end. She has no dialogue and even her briefly heard gasps are provided by a different actress. (As Katy Soucie was too busy, at the time, voicing another object of furry lust in "Space Jam.") While she looks like her season one design, her color palette is closer to the pilot's infamous "pink Sally." Basically, "Sonic Christmas Blast" wanted to appeal to fans of both "Sonic" cartoons but didn't really put in the work to feel like either of them. 

Perhaps even this is giving the people behind "Sonic Christmas Blast" too much credit. Much like the cartoon show that proceeded it, this was a quickly produced product meant to promote another product, with little care given to its quality. The central premise, of the bad guy kidnapping and replacing Santa, is similar to a hundred hacky holiday specials. The story contains a serious deus ex machina, as the ring Sally gave Sonic last year inexplicably provides the superpower boost needed to save Christmas. There's the presence of random hieroglyphs foretelling Sonic's victory, the shittiest attempt to justify the hasty last act. A long sequence is devoted to Sonic snowboarding and mountain biking, a clear attempt to cash in on the then-popularity of "x-treme" sports. (And no doubt an attempt to add to the special's overall "x-tremeness.") It's sloppy and bland all at the same time.

A key way you can tell "Christmas Blast" isn't really in the spirit of "Adventures" is the lack of Robotnik content. The show was so fascinated with Sonic's archenemy, that he sometimes felt like more of a main character than the hedgehog did. In "Christmas Blast," he wears a revealing Santa outfit, gloats and berates some people, asks for more chimneys to be installed, and is then defeated by Sonic. Long John Baldry is back but he gets few opportunities to show off his enthusiastic performance. And while I definitely could read into the way Robotnik turns a holiday ostensibly about giving into an excuse to take from people, as a commentary on the joys of Christmas being crushed by an obligation to fulfill capitalistic societal duties, that feels like a stretch even for me.

I guess my point is: I wasn't generally a fan of "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" but at least it had a distinct flavor. Its obnoxiousness and weirdness made it a definitely unique production. Its many baffling elements contributed to the overall stupefying "Sonic" legacy. "Sonic Christmas Blast," meanwhile, is just kind of bland and dumb in a very boring way. There's nothing especially interesting about it and it has rightly faded from the fandom's collective memory. I didn't see it until snatching a DVD out of a cheap bin as an adult. If I saw it as a kid, I would've been happy to see Sally again but I doubt I'd love it. 

Perhaps that's fitting, as disappointment is a key component of the American Christmas experience. But I hope you don't have a disappointing Christmas! A sincere thank you, for being a Hedgehogs Can't Swim reader for another year, is my gift to you. "Sonic Christmas Blast" may get a [4/10] but I hope your holiday, however you prefer to spend it, gets a ten outta ten!