Sonic Christmas Blast (originally titled An X-Tremely Sonic Christmas) is a Christmas special that originally aired on the USA Network on November 26, 1996, spun off from the animated series Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, which itself was based on Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog video game series.
Synopsis[]
Christmas Eve has come to Robotropolis, and everyone in town has gathered around the Jumbotron in the middle of the town square to see Santa Claus (actually a robot duplicate, but they do not know this) make a very important announcement - he's retiring. He claims to have found a "perfect replacement" in the form of Robotnik Claus (Dr. Robotnik in a Santa suit), who ominously says that he is making a few slight changes to the holiday. The kids who don't know any better line up in the mall to sit on Robotnik's lap, only to find out that he's demanding everyone to give him presents for Christmas. When one kid objects to this, Robotnik orders to have him taken prisoner.
Meanwhile, Sonic, after having a talk with Princess Sally, goes to meet up with his buddy, Tails, whom he recruits to help him find Sally some Christmas presents. This confuses the little fox, because Sonic just agreed with Sally that they wouldn't give each other anything this year. Sonic explains that he and Sally made this same agreement last year, but she ended up getting Sonic a bunch of cool stuff anyway, like a ring on his finger with a mysterious squiggle mark. Sonic, on the other hand, took the "no presents" agreement seriously and got Sally nothing last year. This year, though, he has figured out that when a girl say she wants "no presents, she really means two stores full."
Sonic and Tails arrive at the Robotropolis mall only to find that all the stores are completely empty. Trying to figure out why, Sonic runs into the kid Robotnik tried to imprison earlier, who explains that Robotnik has taken over Santa's position and has sent his Badniks to steal all the presents in the stores. Just then, Scratch and Grounder show up with the Robot Santa from earlier and attempt to do away with Sonic, but typically fail to do so. Sonic then disguises himself as a garbage man and tricks them into telling him that the real Santa Claus is being held in a cave seven miles south of the North Pole. Upon realizing that they've just been tricked, Scratch and Grounder go to Robotnik's fortress to alert their boss (who is currently having multiple chimneys installed onto said fortress because he expects everyone in Robotropolis to use them when bringing him presents) of this. Robotnik orders them to alert the SWATbots he has guarding the cave in which Santa is being held.
Accompanied by Tails, Sonic arrives at the cave, defeats the SWATbots, and frees Santa, but it doesn't change the fact that Robotnik still has every Christmas present in the entire world, and Santa fears it would take them too long to retrieve them and distribute them to their intended recipients. Fortunately, Santa recognizes the squiggle on Sonic's ring from an ancient cave painting that reveals the secret of achieving ultimate velocity. Sonic, being the one who wears the sacred ring, must pass three tests of skill, the first being a treacherous climb up a really skinny mountain. After Sonic does that with ease, he then has to go snowboarding down the mountain and then ride a bicycle through dangerous territory.
Sonic passes the tests with flying colors (in spite of Scratch and Grounder's attempts to stop him) and achieves ultimate velocity, but to no avail, Santa fears, because it's almost Christmas morning, and they still need to retrieve the presents and distribute them. Fortunately, Sonic is able to use his new super speed to zip to Robotnik's fortress and snatch the stolen presents (as well as Robotnik's Santa Claus outfit for some reason), and then distributes the presents to everyone on Mobius, including Sally. In the end, Santa is so impressed with the job Sonic has done, that he decides to retire after all, and turns the job over to Sonic.
Broadcast history[]
Sonic Christmas Blast first aired on the USA Network, which had the broadcast rights to the Sonic the Hedgehog cartoons at the time, in 1996 and 1997. Afterwards, when the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog reruns were picked up by Toon Disney, the special aired as part of the channel's Christmas marathons from 1998 through 2001, even airing as part of a "Toon Disney on Disney Winter Break" programming event on the main Disney Channel in December 1998. The special (along with DiC's three Sonic cartoons) was last seen airing on Starz Encore Family from 2018 to 2020.
Availability[]
The special was first released on VHS by Lions Gate Entertainment on October 16, 2001. It was released on VHS again and on DVD for the first time by Sterling Entertainment Group two years later; both versions also included two episodes of the later Sonic cartoon Sonic Underground, "Three Hedgehogs and a Baby" and "The Price of Freedom", with a third episode, "Mummy Dearest", added as a bonus on the DVD. The DVD was reissued by NCircle Entertainment in 2009.
In addition, the special was also featured on Shout! Factory's DiC Animated Christmas Blast compilation DVD set, as well as on the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog: Volume 3 DVD set. It was also made available on iTunes alongside Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas and on Amazon Video. It can also be viewed on Paramount+. Its most recent release was as a bonus feature on Discotek Media's Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog: The Complete Series SD Blu-ray set, released on February 22, 2022.
Notes[]
- As suggested by the original title, the special was intended to tie in with Sonic X-Treme, a video game that was planned to be released for the Sega Saturn in the holiday season of 1996. However, Sonic X-Treme was delayed (and eventually cancelled the following year), so the special's title was changed to match the game that did come out in time for Christmas that year, Sonic 3D Blast. A brief plug for the special was given, using the original title, in the fan mail column in issue #41 of Archie Comics' Sonic the Hedgehog comic book.
- Although the special is based mainly on Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Princess Sally comes from the Saturday morning Sonic cartoon that ran at the same time as Adventures (which was titled simply Sonic the Hedgehog, but called Sonic SatAM by fans to differentiate from the games and the other show), though here she is colored with her color scheme from that show's pilot, "Heads or Tails". She also does not have any actual lines, except for some vocal gasps provided by Tabitha St. Germain; this is because Kath Soucie (who had voiced the character on SatAM) was unable to reprise the role as she was under contractual obligations to voice Lola Bunny in Space Jam. Other elements from SatAM used here are the town name being Robotropolis (albeit pronounced differently) and the drone Badniks being referred to as SWATbots (though they do not resemble the ones seen on SatAM or any other Sonic media).
- Sonic's hands frequently shift between having four and five fingers throughout the special.
- When disguised as a garbage man, Sonic tells Scratch and Grounder they'll have to pay a fine of 10,000 Robotnibucks. But in previous Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog episodes, the currency was called Mobiums.
- The scene where Sonic uses a snowboard is likely based on the levels in which he uses one in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 for the Sega Mega Drive and Sonic Triple Trouble for the Game Gear.
- Robotnik's song, "Merry Christmas to Me", is to the tune of "Happy Birthday to You".
- When Sonic zips into Robotnik's fortress, the lights and decorations on his Christmas tree disappear before he even touches it.
Cast[]
Voice actor/actress | Character(s) |
---|---|
Jaleel White | Sonic the Hedgehog |
Chris Turner | Miles "Tails" Prower |
Long John Baldry | Dr. Ivo Robotnik |
Phil Hayes | Scratch |
Garry Chalk | Grounder |
Tabitha St. Germain | Princess Sally Elf Bird |
Scott Menville | Kids |
Jay Brazeau | Santa Claus |
Eric Pospisil | Human boy |
unknown | Humpty |
unknown | SWATbots |
External links[]
- Sonic News Network: Sonic Christmas Blast
- Sonic Christmas Blast at the Internet Movie Database
- Sonic Christmas Blast at Behind the Voice Actors
- Platypus Comix's review
Video Game Adaptations | |
Nintendo | "A Christmas Story" • "Koopa Klaus" • "Santa Claus Is Coming to Flatbush" • "The Night Before Cave Christmas" • "Holiday Hi-Jynx" • "Christmas Night" • "Stantler's Little Helpers" • "The Kongo Bongo Festival of Lights" • "Delibird's Dilemma" |
Other video games | Christmas Comes to Pac-Land • "Just Like Old Times" • Sonic Christmas Blast • "For Whom the Jingle Bell Tolls" • "Happy Holiday and a Merry Berry Day" • "Santa Pac" • The Division • "A Holiday Tree-dition" / "A Very Devil Christmas" |