Sonic Boom (TV series)

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Sonic boom tv animation series behind the scenes

Sonic Boom is a French–American computer-animated children's television series, produced by OuiDo! Productions and Sega of America, Inc. in collaboration with Lagardère Thématiques and Jeunesse TV, respectively for channels Canal J and Gulli. Based on the Sonic the Hedgehog video game franchise created by Sega, the series is the fifth animated television series based on the franchise (plus the second one to be co-produced in France following Sonic Underground), and the first to be produced in computer-generated animation and in high definition.

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The series premiered in November 2014. The series is a part of the Sonic Boom spin-off franchise, which also consists of three video games, Rise of Lyric, Shattered Crystal and Fire & Ice, a comic series by Archie Comics, and a toyline by Tomy.

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Production

Sonic Boom (TV series) Sonic Boom Animated Series Debuts On Nov 8th WTFGamersOnly

The animated series was first announced on October 2, 2013, revealing a teaser image featuring Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, Knuckles the Echidna and Amy Rose, in silhouette form. The series, which consists of 52 11-minute episodes, was developed by Evan Baily (that produced LazyTown), Donna Friedman Meir, and Sandrine Nguyen, with Baily and Bill Freiberger as showrunners, under the supervision of Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka. On February 6, 2014, Sega revealed the first trailer for the series, showcasing the new designs for the characters.

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The series features returning voice actors from the video game series, including Roger Craig Smith as Sonic, Travis Willingham as Knuckles, Cindy Robinson as Amy, Mike Pollock as Doctor Eggman, Kirk Thornton as Orbot and Wally Wingert as Cubot respectively, while voice actress Colleen Villard succeeds Kate Higgins in the role of Tails. The series also introduces a new character named Sticks the Jungle Badger, a somewhat-delusional hunter who has been living alone in the wilderness for many years before meeting Sonic and his friends, who is voiced by Nika Futterman. In an interview with Polygon, Iizuka stated the series came about as a desire to appeal more to Western territories, following the 2003 Japanese anime series, Sonic X, with Iizuka also stating that the franchise will run in parallel with the 'Modern' series of Sonic games. Baily stated that the series would be a mixture of action and comedy, featuring an episodic structure. On October 4, 2014, Sega announced the air date of the series in the United States to be November 8, 2014.

On February 19, 2015, Cartoon Network announced in a press statement that Sonic Boom, along with 10 other shows, will return for the 2015-2016 TV season. This was subsequently confirmed by executive producer Bill Freiberger in a fan commentary to not be an indicator of a renewal or second season at this time. However, on October 10, 2015, Lagardère Entertainment Rights announced a second season which premiered on October 29, 2016.

It was announced on November 10, 2016, that the remainder of season two will air on Boomerang, then replay on Cartoon Network.

Plot

Sonic, Tails, Amy, Knuckles, and Sticks reside on Bygone Island and defend it and the unnamed village they live in from various threats, most frequently the mad scientist Doctor Eggman and his robotic creations.

Broadcast

Sonic Boom made its international debut on Cartoon Network in Australia and New Zealand on April 4, 2015. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the series premiered on Boomerang on June 1, 2015. The series is also airing on Cartoon Network in Singapore and Malaysia, on Cartoon Network in India as Sonic Boom Dhamaal Aur Dhoom, and on Okto in Singapore. It also began airing on Boomerang in the United States on October 8, 2015. The series premiered on Family Chrgd in Canada on October 24, 2015. It has also been acquired by the English-language feed of Cartoon Network in Africa as well as the English and Arabic-language feeds in the Middle East.

Main characters

Sega confirmed various cast and characters for Sonic Boom on February 25, 2014. On May 29, 2014, Sega announced that Nika Futterman will play the role of Sticks, a jungle badger, who joined the franchise as a major character. Several new characters were also created for Sonic Boom, such as Mayor Fink, Fastidious Beaver, and Perci. Jack Fletcher works as the show's voice director, a role he has also held for the video game series since 2010.

Sonic the Hedgehog (voiced by Roger Craig Smith) - The heroes' leader of the series, a 15-year-old blue hedgehog with super speed. Sonic has good intentions and is heroic, but can be shortsighted of others' feelings and impatient. He also enjoys the benefits of being a hero and dislikes competition. Unlike most incarnations, the Sonic Boom version of Sonic has blue-furred arms and wears a brown neckerchief around his neck and athletic sports tape on his wrists.

Miles "Tails" Prower (voiced by Colleen Villard) - An 8-year-old two-tailed yellow fox who is Sonic's sidekick. He sports goggles and a tool belt, and serves as the group's mechanic and technology expert. Tails' inventions do not always work out as intended, though he's highly confident in his abilities. He maintains the same personality overall, though he can be more blunt and openly skeptical.

Knuckles the Echidna (voiced by Travis Willingham) - A 16-year-old red echidna and the muscle of Team Sonic, whose redesign for Sonic Boom is the most drastic of any Sega character altered for the series: Knuckles is considerably taller than most versions of the character, appears more muscular, and wears sports tape around his hands as opposed to spiked boxing gloves. Whereas other versions of Knuckles have a history of being gullible, Boom Knuckles is clueless and often annoys his teammates.

Amy Rose (voiced by Cindy Robinson) - A 12-year-old pink female hedgehog who is the peppiest member of the group. Amy wields a giant hammer in battle. As in other series, Amy has a crush on Sonic, but seems to be more cautious about it than other versions of herself. Eggman has referred to her and Sonic as if they were a married couple, and to her as Sonic's girlfriend. She is the more emotionally mature member of the group, offering common sense when the rest of the team gets carried away.

Sticks the Badger (voiced by Nika Futterman) - A badger skilled in the use of boomerangs that comes from the jungle. Sticks is a paranoid individual of wild habits, who enjoys digging through garbage and looking at shiny objects. While she may at times seem insane, her madness does occasionally stray into genius, allowing her to find solutions that no one else could have thought of.

Doctor Eggman (voiced by Mike Pollock) - A mad scientist who is the constant nemesis of Team Sonic and the inhabitants of Bygone Island, residing in a lair off the island's coast. In this series, Eggman is typically portrayed as being rather buffoonish, with his schemes usually being considered annoying rather than threatening. At times, he even appears to be on friendly terms with the heroes, though this usually leads to some scheme in which he tries to defeat them. His ambitions are to conquer the island in order to build his own theme park.

Orbot (voiced by Kirk Thornton) - Eggman's red orb-shaped robot henchman. He is the more formal and blunt of the two, often being totally honest even at Eggman's expense.

Cubot (voiced by Wally Wingert) - Eggman's yellow cube-shaped robot henchman. He is the more slow and dimwitted of the two, often misunderstanding the meaning of other characters' statements.

Recurring characters

Belinda (voiced by Colleen Villard) - A goat and resident of Bygone Island who is Charlie's wife. When Charlie turns to villainy, she encourages her husband and in turn begins expressing villainous tendencies of her own.

Charlie (voiced by Kirk Thornton) - A desert rat and an archaeologist on Bygone Island. Knuckles briefly tries to assist him to make up for a past misdeed, but his frustration at Knuckles' incompetence, which eventually causes him to lose yet another job, drives him to become a villain, equipping himself with an ancient exo-suit. In "It Takes a Village to Defeat a Hedgehog," Charlie is among the villains recruited by Doctor Eggman to join Team Eggman.

Comedy Chimp (voiced by Bill Freiberger) - A common chimpanzee and resident of Bygone Island who hosts his own late-night talk show.

Mayor E. Pluribus Fink (voiced by Mike Pollock) - A mouse who is the mayor of the unnamed village on Bygone Island. He often prioritizes maintaining his own political position above all else.

Fastidious Beaver (voiced by Mike Pollock) - A beaver and resident of Bygone Island who works as the village librarian. He has a tendency to correct other characters' grammar and always begins his sentences by saying "Actually" or "Whom".

The Gogobas - A tribe of chinchillas who live in Gogoba Village on Bygone Island. They make up for their small size with devious manipulation through kindness and guilt trips.

Chief Gogoba (voiced by Wally Wingert) - The leader of the Gogobas.

Young Gogoba (voiced by Roger Craig Smith)

Elderly Gogoba (voiced by Cindy Robinson)

Lady Walrus (voiced by Bill Freiberger) - A walrus living on Bygone Island. She has two sons, with a running gag involving her baby constantly being put into danger as a result of Dr. Eggman's attacks.

Leroy the Turtle (voiced by Kirk Thornton) - A turtle who serves as a postal worker and mail carrier for Bygone Island.

The Lightning Bolt Society - A secret society of villains made up of small-time crooks. Though they are largely considered incompetent and harmless by the villagers and Doctor Eggman. In "It Takes a Village to Defeat a Hedgehog," the Lightning Bolt Society is among the villains recruited by Doctor Eggman to join Team Eggman.

Willy Walrus (voiced by Wally Wingert) - A walrus who is the leader of the Lightning Bolt Society.

Dave the Intern (voiced by Roger Craig Smith) - A nutria and employee at the Meh Burger fast-food restaurant in the Village Center. He is Eggman's biggest fan and was briefly taken on as the Doctor's intern, but was later fired after he proved too ambitious. Dave later appeared as a founding member of the Lightning Bolt Society. In "Next Top Villain," it is revealed that Dave's mother is also evil and pressures Dave to be a better villain.

Weasel Bandits - Just as their name implies, it is a group of three weasel bandits. Sometimes, only one of them is present among the Lightning Bolt Society.

Tree Spy (voiced by Kirk Thornton) - A gray wolf dressed as a tree who serves as the Lightning Bolt Society's spy and talent scout.

Metal Sonic - A robotic doppelgänger of Sonic created by Eggman.

Perci (voiced by Cindy Robinson) - A bandicoot who lives on Bygone Island with her twin sister Staci. In Rise of Lyric, she is depicted as the latest in a long line of the island's protectors.

Salty (voiced by Kirk Thornton) - A hippo who works as a bouncer. In Rise of Lyric, he acts as a sea captain and has a strong rivalry with his twin brother Pepper.

Shadow the Hedgehog (voiced by Kirk Thornton) - A black hedgehog capable of super speed and teleportation. Idolized by Doctor Eggman for his popularity within the series, he is much more aggressive than other incarnations of the character, considering friendship a sign of weakness and determined to defeat both Sonic and Eggman at all costs. In the TV series, Shadow has extended red Markers on both his shoes and gloves and has cow-licked quills like Sonic.

Soar the Eagle (voiced by Travis Willingham) - A blue eagle and local newscaster on Bygone Island, who also hosts seminars as a motivational speaker and life coach.

T.W. Barker (voiced by Kirk Thornton) - A gray wolf who acts as the ringmaster at "T.W. Barker's Circus of Wonders" where it's performers are actually his slaves. In "Don't Judge Me," T.W. Barker worked as Doctor Eggman's lawyer when it came to suing Sonic for the injuries that were afflicted onto Doctor Eggman. In "It Takes a Village to Defeat a Hedgehog," T.W. Barker is among those who were invited by Doctor Eggman to join Team Eggman.

Stuntbears - A trained brown bear and gray bear duo that serve as T.W. Barker's loyal henchmen, stunt performers, and circus performers. In "It Takes a Village to Defeat a Hedgehog," the Stuntbears are among those who were invited by Doctor Eggman to join Team Eggman.

Mrs. Vandersnout (voiced by Colleen Villard) - An elderly wolf living on Bygone Island. Despite her seemingly innocent appearance, she has repeatedly demonstrated dishonest and immoral behavior, such as scamming the team out of their money and suggesting Sonic be poisoned.

Zooey (voiced by Colleen Villard) - A fox living on Bygone Island, whom Tails has a crush on.

Reception

The show premiered #1 in its time slot. Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media said that it was somewhat violent for children but that some viewers can have fun watching it. It won 2017's Chicago Independent Film Festival award for best animated series, and it was nominated for the 2017 TV France International Export Awards.

Video games

A pair of video games that serve as a prequel for the series were released for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS systems in November 2014. The Wii U version, Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, was developed by Big Red Button Entertainment, and the 3DS version, Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal, by Sanzaru Games. The games were announced alongside the TV series' first trailer on February 6, 2014 and serve as prequels to the series. Rise of Lyric sees players alternate control between Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy. The game utilizes each of their abilities—Sonic's speed, Tails' flight, Knuckles' strength, and Amy's agility—allowing two players to play cooperatively and four players competitively. Shattered Crystal lets players control Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Sticks and places more emphasis on platforming and puzzle-solving than the more adventure-oriented Rise of Lyric. On June 20, 2014, it was confirmed that both games would be released on December 18 in Japan under the name of Sonic Toon. A third game, Fire & Ice, was for Nintendo 3DS in September 2016. Sonic Dash 2: Sonic Boom, a follow-up to the free-to-play Sonic Dash, was released on Android devices on July 1, 2015. Since her debut in the show, the character Sticks has gone on to be featured in Sonic titles that are not part of the Boom brand, such as Sonic Runners and Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Comic book

A comic based on the new franchise by Archie Comics was released beginning in October 2014, with Ian Flynn as the writer and Evan Stanley as the artist, similar to Archie's long-running Sonic the Hedgehog comic series. Several issues were also written by TV series showrunner Bill Freiberger. Jesse Schedeen of IGN rated the first issue of the comic a 7.2 out of 10. He commended Flynn for not having relied on trendy, modern humor or dialogue in the comic's presentation, and also appreciated the fourth-wall humor and "clean, expressive" art style. Schedeen did, however, find the plot "fairly disjointed" and possessing little coherent structure, and he criticized Sticks, whom he considered a needless exposition device.

The Sonic Boom comics were featured alongside Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Universe, and Mega Man comics, as well as various other Sega and Capcom video game series as part of the 2015 Sonic/Mega Man crossover "Worlds Unite", with issues #8-#10 forming parts 2, 6, and 10 of the story. The series concluded with its 11th issue in September 2015, though stories featuring the characters continue to be printed as part of the Sonic Super Digest and Sonic Super Special Magazine books. Flynn later began writing for the television series during its second season.

Home media

A DVD release of the first 13 episodes titled "Season 1 Volume 1- The Sidekick" was released in the UK on February 8, 2016, by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. A second DVD of the next 13 episodes titled "Season 1 Volume 2- Hedgehog Day" was also released by Universal in the UK on May 30. A third DVD release of the third 13 episodes titled "Season 1 Volume 3- Mayor Knuckles" was released in the UK on July 25 by Universal. A fourth DVD release of the last 13 episodes of Season 1 titled "Season 1 Volume 4- No Robots Allowed" was released in the UK on October 10 by Universal.

On May 22, 2016, the entire first season was made available to stream on Hulu in the United States, under a deal with Sega and Technicolor Animation Productions. The series was later made available for streaming on Netflix outside of the US as of December 23, 2016.

Literature

In early 2016, a series of children's books adapted from several Sonic Boom episodes were released in France by Bibliotheque Rose.

References

Sonic Boom (TV series) Wikipedia

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