Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog

The SEGAbits SEGA & Sonic Holiday Gift Guide for Fans and your Fan Friends!

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The holiday season is fast approaching, and like SEGA’s speedy blue mascot it’ll be here before you know it! In fact, it’s already here! Don’t fret, as we’re here to help you out with some gift giving ideas for the SEGA and Sonic fans in your life, or if you have some gift cards burning a hole in your pocket you might like some of our suggestions for yourself.

So read on as we take a look at the best SEGA and Sonic gifts on offer this holiday season!

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Discotek Media announces Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog SD on Blu-Ray release, packed with bonus features

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Longtime readers of SEGAbits should know by now my love for Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. I’ve written about it a lot, so much so that each one of those words is a different article. So it pleases me to write about it AGAIN to share that Discotek Media will be releasing an SD on Blu-Ray release of the series, meaning the full series in standard definition on two blu-ray discs. But that’s not all!

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Unboxing: Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog Animation Legends Blind Bag Part 4

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It has been so much fun making these Animation Legends unboxing videos where I sift through fifteen cels from one of my favorite childhood cartoons Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. This time, I also take a look at the 1985 Ewoks cartoon with a small five cel blind bag. On a bittersweet note, Animation Legends have announced that they are close to selling out of their Sonic cels, which means this might be the final video in the series.

BUT if you want to own some original art of your own, now is the time to check out their Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog cels and promo code SEGABITS10 saves you 10% on your order and in turn, Animation Legends sends more cels my way to review.

Though with Sonic selling out soon, I might have to shift to Back to the Future: The Animated Series and start a BTTF fan site called GIGAwatts.

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Unboxing: Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog Animation Legends Blind Bag Part 3

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Back again, this time with a captain’s hat! It’s another blind bag of animation cels from the 1993 cartoon Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog from Animation Legends.

The company promises that you are guaranteed to have an A rated cel (80% – 100% of a character), and the remaining cels will be randomly selected with a B (cel visibly shows less than 80% of a character) or C (cel might include parts of a character but these cels mainly include scenery or other aspects of the show) grade. I ended up ordering another 15-pack and above you can check out my third unboxing.

If you like what you see, hit up Animation Legends and check out their offerings. Many cel packs are currently 50% off, and as an added bonus you can use promo code SEGABITS10 to take an additional 10% off your purchase!

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Unboxing: Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog Animation Legends Blind Bag

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If you’ve been a longtime reader of SEGAbits, you might have picked up on the fact that I am a big fan of the 1993 cartoon Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. Shortly after the series wrapped, my dad gifted me three framed animation cels. Hand-painted animation cels for the series have been available for years, but you either had to hit eBay or animation art galleries. Earlier this year, I started seeing ads for Animation Legends, a company that was selling blind bags of animation cels from a number of cartoon series from the 70s, 80s, 90s and 2000s. The promise is that you are guaranteed to have an A rated cel (80% – 100% of a character), and the remaining cels will be randomly selected with a B (cel visibly shows less than 80% of a character) or C (cel might include parts of a character but these cels mainly include scenery or other aspects of the show) grade.

I ended up ordering a 15-pack and since then I have been hooked. Above you can check out my second unboxing (unenveloping?) and after the break my first bling bag unboxing.

If you like what you see, hit up Animation Legends and check out their offerings. Many cel packs are currently 50% off, and as an added bonus you can use promo code SEGABITS10 to take an additional 10% off your purchase!

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Seeking Art Submissions: Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog charity fanzine seeks to help Robotnik designer Milton Knight

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For those who don’t know, Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog character designer Milton Knight – who is famously known for creating the design of Robotnik for the series – had fallen on hard times in 2018 with an eviction from his longtime home, which itself was riddled with substandard living conditions. In 2019, things got worse as Milton was a victim of a hate crime and was assaulted. I personally have had a long history with Milton, purchasing some art from him ten years ago which led to a correspondence where we discussed his work on Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, my personal favorite Sonic cartoon, and his art.

In an attempt to raise funds for Milton in his time of need, a fan named Harper plans to release a charity fanzine (fan made magazine) of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog inspired art. Harper tells me that he is “attempting to unite the talented artists as a force of good to create an AOSTH-themed Zine” and that “proceeds from this zine will be donated to Milton Knight’s gofund me”. The submission details, also found after the break, can be seen here: https://aosthzine.tumblr.com

As a fan of Milton and Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, I urge other fans to spread the word of the fanzine. Best of luck to Harper and his efforts!

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DIC Entertainment, producer of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, has a documentary on Kickstarter

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If you were a child of the 80s and 90s, there is no doubt that you saw the logo for DIC Entertainment after countless animated shows. From Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Ghostbusters, and Inspector Gadget to the Care Bears and Dennis the Menace, DIC produced some of the most memorable syndicated cartoon shows for over two decades. Now, three Australians are hoping to create a documentary on DIC and an obscure animated show created by the company in the early 90s called Twins of Destiny. The documentary, English Dub – A DIC Entertainment Story, is hoping to hit a lofty goal of nearly $19k in less than 12 days with $2,000 raised so far. You can check out the trailer and read their plans over on their Kickstarter.

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Celebrating Sonic the Hedgehog’s 25th anniversary with 25 great underrated moments

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sonic 25 headerSEGA’s Sonic the Hedgehog franchise turns 25 today, and while we’ve celebrated franchise milestone years in the past, there is something really special about this one. A quarter of a century is a long time, and it is a testament to SEGA’s perseverance and the devotion of the Sonic fanbase that the franchise is still going strong. Sonic Lost World and the Sonic Boom franchise – particularly the games – are often pinpointed as the franchise’s recent weak points and signs that the franchise as a whole needs to be put down or at the very least take a long break. While I am not here to debate the merits of Sonic Lost World and Sonic Boom, I will say that to end a series or take a long break because of either is both incredibly shortsighted and far too extreme a reaction. I would also argue that Sonic is about much more than just the main series games, as fans like to label the major titles, and that there has always been great Sonic things happening even during the franchise’s darkest years.

In celebration of 25 years of Sonic the Hedgehog, join me in looking back year-by-year as I shine the light on great moments in Sonic history that more people need to be talking about.

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SEGA Cinema Halloween Special: Sonic the Hedgehog Double Feature

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SEGA Cinema has risen from the dead with a spooktacular boogielicious Halloween Special! Okay, so it’s actually not scary at all. Barry and George are joined by Sonic Retro’s David the Lurker to watch two Sonic the Hedgehog cartoons featuring clowns, ghouls, sea monsters, and a half-man half-sponge who lives in the sea. No, it isn’t Spongebob.

First up is Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog‘s “Boogey-Mania”, which plays out like a cross between NiGHTS into Dreams and A Nightmare on Elm Street. And then, interrupting the Sonic cartoons are a compilation of cutscenes from the SEGA Saturn’s Deep Fear and Mr. Bones. Ending the special is the scariest thing of them all, an episode of Sonic Underground titled “The Deepest Fear” in which Sonic faces his fear of water. Don’t worry, he doesn’t drown and the story ends with an awful song. Enjoy the special, and Happy Halloween!

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The REAL “Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog” Tails voice actor speaks up!

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Back in December of 2013, fans of the early 90’s cartoon Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog were saddened to learn that actor Christopher Evan Welch, the man credited as voicing Miles “Tails” Prower, had passed away. However, soon after the news hit, several fans noted a discrepancy with the actor’s age and the obvious child-like voice of Tails. Christopher Evan Welch was 28 in 1993, there’s no way he could have pulled off such a voice. I decided to find out if Evan Welch was indeed the voice actor of Tails, and after a few e-mails with friends of the actor and a call to Evan Welch’s agent in New York, I came to the conclusion that Christopher Evan Welch did NOT voice Tails. But if he didn’t, then that meant another actor did, and it was possible that the REAL Christopher Welch was still out there.

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[Updated] Christopher Evan Welch did not voice Tails in “Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog”

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Update: a friend of the family replied to my inquiry stating “I believe this is a miscredit”, and I was directed to his agents who could potentially give me a solid answer. At the moment, it looks like Christopher Evan Welch did not voice Tails.

UPDATE 2: I have reached out to Christopher Evan Welch’s talent agency Paradigm in New York and the credit of Tails attributed to Christopher Evan Welch is “not accurate”. Thank you to Courtney of Paradigm for her help.

UPDATE 3: Another confirmation, this time from Christopher Evan Welch himself. A friend of his contacted me and told me “I asked Chris about it a couple of years ago and he said it was a mistake.” Also the voice of Coconuts, Ian James Corlett, informed us that the recording for the show took place in British Columbia, meaning Christopher Welch was likely a young boy from that area much like his 1996 replacement.

UPDATE 4: Ian James Corlett tweeted some more information to us, stating that the voice of Tails was from Seattle, which is quite a coincidence as that is the city where Christopher Evan Welch was working. While Christopher (not Evan) Welch was close to Vancouver, it’s possible he recorded his lines in Los Angeles. Jaleel White recorded in Los Angeles, and given the chemistry needed between Sonic and Tails, it is possible Christopher Welch recorded in LA.

This means that the voice actor for Tails, Christopher Welch, is a different person entirely and may still be out there.

Since the news broke that the voice actor for Tails in Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog had passed away, 90’s era Sonic fans such as myself were heartbroken to learn that we lost another actor from the iconic show. However, as I spoke with Sonic fans in various forums and instant message conversations, several red flags went up regarding Christopher Evan Welch’s participation in the cartoon series. For starters, there was the age. Christopher Evan Welch was 48 at the time of his passing, which means he was 28 in 1993. Several sources back this age up, including friends and family on Chris’s Facebook memorial page, comments on Variety.com’s story, and a photo on The Seattle Times which shows Christopher Evan Welch in 1993. He was definitely not an 11 year old in 1993.

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Update: Christopher Evan Welch was not the voice actor for Tails in “Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog”

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Please read the follow-up story, we can confirmed that Christopher Evan Welch was not the voice actor for Tails in “Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog”

Variety has reported that actor Christopher Evan Welch, the voice of Miles “Tails” Prower in The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon series, has passed away at the age of 48*. Welch voiced Tails in all 65 episodes of the series alongside Jaleel White’s Sonic and Long John Baldry’s Robotnik (Baldry passed away in 2005).

Welch’s other TV credits include AMC’s Rubicon, The Sopranos, The Practice, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order: SVU and The Good Wife. Welch also appeared in several movies including Spielberg’s War of the Worlds and Lincoln, Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master and Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

All of us at SEGAbits, especially those of us who grew up on Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, send our thoughts and prayers to Welch’s family. He will be missed.

I wanted to add that the Seattle Times has a fantastic tribute to Welch’s stage acting career, featuring a great photo from 1993 which was around the same time he had worked on Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog.

* Despite many entertainment outlets stating that Welch was likely 48, this doesn’t jive with his child-like voice in Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. At 48 now, Welch would be 28 in 1993. But given puberty has been the presumed cause for Welch not appearing in Sonic Christmas Blast in 1996, he would have been closer to 11 which matches with a 1983 birthdate floating around. And yet, the Seattle Times shows a photo from 1993 featuring a man much older than 11. So either Welch was much older and could do a great child voice, and did not appear in the Christmas special for other reasons, or something else is not matching up.

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Happy 20th anniversary to Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog!

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Today marks the 20th anniversary of one of Sonic’s most inventive, craziest, and funniest cartoons: Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog! One of my strongest nostalgic connections to the Sonic franchise was this 1993 cartoon series. It was the only cartoon of my childhood which I remember watching from the very beginning. While I was a huge Ninja Turtles and The Real Ghostbusters fan, both cartoons were at their heights a few years before I began watching.

When The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (hereby known as AoStH) premiered, I remember exactly where I was. It was September 6th 1993 and I was eating breakfast in our kitchen, catching the first episode (in airing order, not production order) “Best Hedgehog”. The image after the break is a pretty accurate representation of what I saw. Yes, despite it being 1993 we still had an old black and white in our kitchen.

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The Weekly Five: Game Inspired Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog

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Next to the games, perhaps my most favorite Sonic thing of the 1990’s was the cartoon series Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (AoStH). While Saturday morning’s Sonic the Hedgehog (Sonic SatAM) had stronger plots and more polished animation, AoStH was just too damn fun to be deemed the lesser cartoon. To me, AoStH was a much better adaptation of the games, and when I say games I mean the only two that were released by that time: Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Every episode featured Sonic and Tails playing cat and mouse with Robotnik and his gang of badniks, just like in the Genesis games. Even better, the show kicked off with an awesome mix of the original Sonic theme song, “Flight of the Bumblebee” and “In the Hall of the Mountain King”.

While I was satisfied with this amount of video game fan service, every so often an episode would air that would give the video game fans a little bonus. Something that would make us sit up and pay a bit more attention. Sonic might traverse through a zone from Sonic 1 (gasp!) or Robotnik might make reference to a Chaos Emerald (Hey, I know those!). In celebration of Sonic’s 20th, and my favorite 90’s cartoon series, I present five game inspired episodes of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog!

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