SONIC CHRISTMAS BLAST

In 1993 DiC Entertainment produced two Sonic the Hedgehog animated series and aired them at the same time. They were created for two different markets but both were based on the ultra popular Sega video game series that started in 1991.

One series, Sonic the Hedgehog (often refered to as SatAM), was made for Saturday morning television and was a serial based show featuring more characters and darker storylines. It had 26 episodes and ran from 1993-1994.

The other, called The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog was made for weekday syndication and only featured Sonic and Tails in more humourous and slapstick situations. The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog ran from September to December 1993 and had a total of 65 episodes.

While the show was popular, the real fans favoured the Saturday morning show. But for some reason, a few years after both series had come to an end, DiC decided to produce one more episode based on the Adventures series! This is probably due to the fact that it deals with Christmas, something that just wouldn't feel right on the SatAM series.

In an issue of the Sonic comicbook, there was an ad for this special, calling it An X-Tremely Sonic Christmas. Sega wanted the special to tie in with their new Sega Saturn game, Sonic X-Treme, which ended up being cancelled. So instead, DiC changed the name of the special to promote Sonic 3D Blast, a game that was coming out that holiday season.

Enough about the history! Let's talk about the episode: Santa is making a public television appearance to announce his retirement. But instead of cancelling Christmas, he names his replacement - Robotnik Claus! It's up to Sonic and Tails to stop Robotnik Claus from taking presents instead of giving them in order to return order to Christmas in Robotropolis. SPOILER: The show ends with Sonic freeing a captive Santa and Santa teaching Sonic how to obtain Ultimate Velocity (Super Speed) in order to save Christmas. Santa is so impressed with Sonic's work that he retires for real and hand the duty over to Sonic - who accepts! What?!

The episode brings back many fond memories for fans of the show who loved this goofy side of Sonic. The look and the feel of the show are the same, but there are many differences. The animation is much more goofy. The characters are stretched and squashed and make weird expressions that you won't find in the original series. Elements from the other shows, like Robotropolis, Princess Sally (who has no lines) and SWATbots (that don't look like their counterparts in other any other series) leak into this special which make me feel a bit uncomfortable.

It is nice to get most of the returning cast, including Jaleel White (Steve Urkel) as Sonic, Long John Baldry as Dr. Robotnik, Gary Chalk as Grounder, and Phil Hayes as Scratch. The only cast member to not return is Christopher Evan Welch who was eleven when he voiced Tails but hit puberty and thus had a voice that was too low for Tails in this special.


All in all, this is a goofy special that fits very well within the context of the original show but won't become a perennial favourite. You can find it on DVD along with three other episodes from Sonic Underground.

ON THIS DAY IN 1986: CARE BEARS MOVIE II

Theatrical poster for

On March 7, 1986, The Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation hit the theaters and brought a whole new wave of merchandise to a whole new generation of children.

The original Care Bears television series was produced by DiC Entertainment who produced 21 episodes before handing it over to Canadian animation company Nelvana who's first task was to bring the Care Bears to the big screen in The Care Bears Movie in 1985.

The Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation was not actually a sequel but a prequel and an origin story of the Care Bear's first Care Mission. It paved the way for the new television series that Nelvana was launching after the movie. The new series would introduce a bunch of new characters including, Hugs and Tugs, Grams and the ever-popular Care Bear Cousins.

Grumpy Bear

The Care Bears franchise has been a massive force that has struck young children of every generation since 1981 and is still going strong to this day. Care Bears can be found on everything imaginable, they have their own stage show and new computer-generated direct-to-dvd movies are currently being made.

How many of you loved the Care Bears? I know I did. I had a few of the stuffed bears and some of the videos and some of the comicbooks. I think my favourite character was Grumpy Bear.

THURSDAY THEME SONG: CAMP CANDY

Keeping with our 'Famous People Who Shouldn't have Had Their Own Cartoon' theme for August, this week we have a short lived cartoon starring the great Canadian comedian, John Candy. That cartoon is.......

Camp Candy

Camp Candy was an NBC Saturday morning cartoon produced by DiC Entertainment. It only had 19 episodes that ran during the 1989-1990 season. The show followed the adventures of a camp and its campers as they learned how to care for the environment. The camp was lead by John Candy who also provided the voice for his animated counterpart and appeared before the episode in a live action segment.

This show was quite popular with 5-10 years old. The animation was fine and the stories were trite. But it held its own and those 19 episodes reran for the next few years.

The theme song is sung by John Candy and I would have to say that it is one of the worst theme songs I have ever heard!

Do you agree? Judge for yourself:

THEME SONG THURSDAY: PROSTARS

Due to popular demand, Theme Song Friday is being moved to Thursday to capitalize on the alliteration factor.

August's theme of the month is 'Famous People Who Shouldn't Have Had Their Own Cartoon' and this week brings three famous sports celebrities together for one action packed show and one action packed breakfast cereal:

ProStars

ProStars was produced by DiC Entertainment for NBC's 1991 Saturday morning lineup. Three sports superstars banded together to answer the cry of children in trouble all over the world. The tagline, which can be heard in the theme song, was 'ProStars: It's all about helping kids'.

One celebrity was chosen from each of the four major sports. Michael Jordan represented basketball, Wayne Gretzky for hockey and Bo Jackson represented both football and baseball, no doubt a tie-in to Nike's 'Bo Knows' ad campaign which was mega popular at the time.

Each of the characters were given special powers and weapons the corresponded to their feature sport. For instance, Gretzky would have super powered shoes that would allow him to 'glide' across any surface.

Each episode had a live action segment before and after the feature where the real actors came to talk to the kids. However, they did not do the voices for their cartoon counterparts. Jordan was Dorian Harewood, Jackson was Dave Fennoy and Gretzky was Townsend Coleman.

ProStars only ran for one season but I couldn't find an episode guide to tell me how many episodes were made. I will assume thirteen.

Oh well, enjoy the theme song!

FRIDAY THEME SONG: HAMMERMAN

I've expanded this month's theme song theme to include all pop stars that really shouldn't have had their own cartoon.

This week's cartoon is based on rapper M.C. Hammer and is based on his superhero persona HAMMERMAN!

In this series, Stanley Burrell (Hammer's real name) is a youth center worker who owns magic shoes that turn him into a superhero!

Hammerman ran on Saturday morning for one season on ABC from 1991 to 1992. DiC Entertainment created thirteen episodes that aired sporadically throughout the season, often being pre-empted for football games.

Here is the theme. Sorry for the very poor quality but it is the only one I could find.