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IF there were Sonic TV Specials...

Discussion in 'General Sonic Discussion' started by Ross-Irving, Sep 12, 2009.

If Sonic went to television to make a comeback there, would you want to see...

  1. In television specials broadcast almost yearly or one every few years.

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  2. I would rather have a TV film released every few years.

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  3. I prefer an animated series.

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  4. I would prefer direct-to-video content, like OVA's.

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  5. More Sonic animation? Forget it!

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  1. Ross-Irving

    Ross-Irving

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    I created this topic for a reason. There's been a lot of buzz about this new Sonic game coming out next year, and it says (unless they're falsely advertising like with Sonic '06) that they're really, honestly, truly going to take him back to the classics. We don't want any real story for the game in the same vein as the modern games, because the cutscenes are usually so awful. Even if this new game will be great, cutscenes seem iffy. Now someone else has already made a topic concerning character/universe development, but for the games. I'm thinking for a television special or series that doesn't have to be canonical.

    I wondered if anyone else here thought about what could be some important discussion points should a tv special or new animated series ever be made. I'm leaning more towards specials because you could away with more in them and you don't necessarily have to be a slave to the horrible game scripts. Who would voice the characters? What the show's mood be like, how would the animation and pacing reflect that mood? How often do you want to look at character development (suppose it could be good character developent), and then cut to actiony scenes with Robotnik/Eggman?

    Try and keep the fanfiction out about how you would develop each and every character, though. Just the facts, please.

    -Voice actor/actress (or a general idea of how they're voice would sound)
    -Any style of music associated with them (doesn't have to be a motif or specific song), very brief explanation of character and relation to others.
    -What specials or episodes could center around
    -Mood, pacing, show or tell? etc


    Sonic- I honestly have no idea who would voice Sonic. At first, I thought of some mix, Jaleel White's voice inflections with Ryan Drummond's core voice (yeah, I made that term up). Think of Sonic CD type music for his appearances, except instrumental. Character will probably develop as someone goes along developing him, don't want him to be a laid back hero with a sense of justice, but not like a Bugs Bunny prankster, either. It will take work and not everyone will agree on how he should develop.

    Tails- I have a better idea on what direction to take him. He would be voiced by someone who can sound like Linus from the Charlie Brown tv specials. This is what I'm talking about. His voice actor would change every three or four years. I can't think of a style of music that would fit him at the moment. Tries to get Sonic involved in an intellectual pursuit of some sort and keeps failing, to his frustration.

    Dr. Robotnik/Eggman- Someone who sounds as close to Long John Baldry as possible. Voice inflections could be inspired by George Carlin and Orson Welles. Bad guy, with much chance to show his humanity. El Gran Gordo has done a good job at covering this in length in his own topics. Romantic classical music could accompany him, think "Wing Fortress" from Sonic 2.

    Knuckles- The deep voice from SA, SA2, Heroes sounded neat, but I didn't think it absolutely fit him. He's an islander. Maybe his voice could be relatively the same. Maybe thicken it with a Native American sounding voice, think of Chief Bromden. Nothing but enthralling solos of tribal drums to accompany him.

    Amy- Think of the SA, SA2 voice actress. I think she just had to trip over bad dialogue, direct her with more natural, fun sounding dialogue and it can work. Can't think of any music to go along with her. I would say teeny-bopper rock, but every character deserves to have music that's bearable to listen to. A real fussbudget and a brat, close-minded. She will scuff with Tails quite often. Don't even get me started on Sonic.

    Rouge- Think of her SA2, Heroes voice actress. Now imagine her saying lines the same way Sonic did in the OVA. Mainly a serious jewel thief, but has a silly side in which she playfully teases people, especially Tails since his buttons get pushed easily.

    Shadow- No angsty tough guy to voice him. Think of one of those deep voiced 1940s-50's educational video narrators. Dramatic, instrumental stock music to accompany him, especially piano music that hits low chords. Not angsty, but more of a robotic "Yes sir", kind of guy. Resolute.

    Cream- Another Charlie Brown example. Skip ahead to 5:44. Seriously, Cream's voice could be very similar to Sally's, except without the anger found in that scene. The inflection, the delivery, it all works to me. Don't have an idea for music. Polite of course. Likes Sonic, but thinks that Sonic is already taken by Amy. Amy is the more dominant one when they are together, but Amy is friendly towards her.

    Wave- Guess what? Skip to 4:58 and watch for a minute or so. The voice seems perfect for her. A know-it-all, socially aloof bitch.

    Blaze- Whatever woman can sound like Mandy, except a little more mellow, a little bit of Gaz for good measure. Somewhat reclusive, socially awkward, rarely blinks.

    Silver- Andy Berman (Dib) from Invader Zim, that is ALL. Chiptune music would follow him and Blaze around.

    For the show's mood, I'm thinking of something slow-paced, but very focused on characters interacting with each other, body language too. Occasionally some actiony sequences to have them really stand out as being fast. I say slow-paced because for a wide audience to be reached, the actiony sequences of things blowing up with him blazing through will only hit one small group of viewers. Character development is popular with any demographic if done well, which I think it can, despite the growing cast of characters.

    So that's pretty much my idea. Does anyone have an idea different than mine for how to cast the voice actors? Mood, pacing, etc? I think everyone has their own idea, and I'd love to hear it. For me, voice actors were the main focus, but someone else can talk about the other stuff (keep out indulgent fanfiction, though). I think this topic could be really fun.
     
  2. PC2

    PC2

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    Give me an animated show with Death Cheese-style dialog and Spumco-quality animation and I'm good. It's a shame, back in the day if we got a non-budget Sonic cartoon it could have been amazing... Now even if the animators aren't on a tight budget, quality still suffers. :( But that's another thread of course. =P

    No AoStH vomit backgrounds, no long-winded standing and talking sequences with no emotion or humor, no ugly sloppy/pointy "modernized" character design (I.e. "Loonatics"), NO STUPID PAIRINGS, and tons of action. Give me a Sonic cartoon like this and I'll be satisfied. My main issue with AoStH is that it was just ugly, and my main issue with the other Sonic cartoons is that there wasn't enough action and (funny) humor to keep me entertained. Too much standing, walking, talking, and stupid pairings.

    Honestly if AoStH had better art direction (mainly background-wise) and better animation (though this is possibly/partially due to not having enough time and money), it would have possibly been the best Sonic cartoon in my opinion. Even if it wasn't "canonical" to the games (which it kind of was, if that even means anything), it's still entertaining to watch simply because the action and jokes are constantly flowing. Sonic X was decent, but it's not really the kind of thing I'd like to watch more than once because it takes so long just to start seeing some action. Nothing wrong about the serious tone per-se, but it's kind of boring waiting half an episode before something interesting happens.

    Oh, and for the voice actors, I'd say just stick to the 4Kids ones. You've got to admit, after half a decade of lines like "that tornado's carrying a car!" they kind of grow on you. For me, there's some unintentional satire to be found in the way they make the characters sound. I just find the speech patterns funny for some reason, probably because they sound so stupid sometimes. Oh, and Amy has to be crazy. Best thing about Sonic X without a doubt. Honestly, what cartoon character in history yells at a coconut for ruining their fantasy?
     
  3. DimensionWarped

    DimensionWarped

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    By inflections, I can only assume you mean that ultra annoying way that Jaleel emphasizes certain words for maximum cringe factor (Urkalizations, and thats one I made up).

    All I have to say is that if there ever were to be another Sonic cartoon that it should be for the children and not for us. Like they all have been. Be relevant to the age, but don't become so ingrained in the zeitgeist that you lose all appeal if you show the same cartoon to new children ten years down the road.
     
  4. Blue Emerald

    Blue Emerald

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    Back when Unleashed was close to its release date, I'd been hoping for a CGI Sonic cartoon series. It wouldn't seem like much of a stretch nowadays, as there have been many CGI cartoons created in the past -- ReBoot, Jimmy Neutron, Donkey Kong Country, Get Ed, Viva Pinata, to name a few. Heck, the 4Kids voice actors might even seem more tolerable in a CGI Sonic series, but I'd much rather that they try to find people that really match up better with the characters.

    For example, I always thought Tails' voice actor from the '90s cartoons was a perfect fit. Jaleel White made for a good Sonic voice, too, but perhaps someone who can voice Sonic similarly but with a closer voice to Sonic CD's Sonic would work, too. When I hear the voice of Robotnik in my head, I hear something close to Long John Baldry's impression, but with a hint of Mike Pollock. Still, the raving mad genius impression needs to be heard when voicing Robotnik, and that's if the incarnation in question isn't Eggman from Sonic X. Knuckles is a tough one; I guess his voice acting from Sonic Heroes was pretty close, but that didn't really sound like an alert, hardened emerald guardian, if you ask me.

    Nonetheless, a CGI Sonic cartoon would be pretty cool, if you ask me. Now, if the cartoon were based on the "Needlemouse" Sonic, then my points are valid concerning voice acting. However, if it's about the "Unleashed" Sonic characters, 4Kids' actors will be just fine.
     
  5. OSM

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  6. Ross-Irving

    Ross-Irving

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    Well, I should probably mention that this is part reality part fantasy. Let's say you could have any voice actor or actress who is alive. Certainly you wouldn't keep the 4kids cast then, right? Or no? There's gotta be some voice actress who could take the voice even further, yell at the coconut with even more intensity.

    By voice inflection, I mean the way a word is said, exactly right. There's probably fifty different ways you could say "What?!" I would steer clear of any Urkelisms. Sometimes, the way White read a line can be pretty appealing, while at other times, it can be cringeworthy. As far as the audience goes, the way I see it is this...

    Kids 4-9 will probably like it because of the actiony sequences and the fact that there are Sonic characters talking on TV in the first place. Older kids, 10-15, may like it because they get to see some raw drawings with some very cutting remarks from one character to the other. They don't act like their cheesy game counterparts, and hopefully the new characterizations will have them involved. Also, cool surreal cartoony gags. From my age (17) and upwards, we can now recognize satire and irony, which is very appealing to adults, I think. So if their kid wants to watch a special, they don't have to go "Oh shit". They can find a good gem or two, but I don't think they'll ever like a two-tailed fox, unfortunately. "I liked that orange fox thing, he said all of these ironic statements that went over everyone else's head". Sonic fans are much too narrow an audience.

    To anyone, again, if you can't think of a specific voice actor/actress, try and think of what would be appealing to you in how they sound. Would you want Amy to sound slightly nasally or have a small accent? Or maybe with a voice that sounds a little rough? For an example, anyway.
     
  7. AnimatedAF

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    I'd be happy if they just made more short films like Night of the Werehog. No dialog, just old school cartoon style plots with Sega's fancy CGI animation seemed like a great combination to me.
     
  8. test-object

    test-object

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    This, times twenty. The Unleashed one wasn't bad either. Get your asses to Dreamworks, current Sonic Team, and leave the game-making to the pro's :3
     
  9. Azookara

    Azookara

    yup Member
    Night of the Werehog, although featuring everybody's favorite Werehog, was absolutely epic (and so was the hidden videos in Unleashed as well). Real nice stuff; I would like to see a show like that, except in the style of SaSASR (Unleashed character designs, classic environment).

    Speaking of which, SEGA, please use those type of cutscenes in Needlemouse. =3

    EDIT: Ross-Irving, I got your person to do Sonic. Jonny Yong Bosch. Jonny Yong freakin' Bosch.
     
  10. The KKM

    The KKM

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    I know this will sound really, really weird. But.. the voice I would like for Sonic, is his voice of the Sonic OVA dub, accent and all. Extra points if you add the "STRANGE, ISN'T IT?!" line.

    Robotnik, I would use Long John Baldry.

    I wouldn't want Eggman Nega in here, but in case he entered... give him Sean Connery's voice, please XD

    Knuckles would be Christopher Eccleston. Silver would be David Tennant XD
     
  11. Azookara

    Azookara

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    Although I said Jonny Yong Bosch would make an awesome Sonic (which I still think he would), Martin Burke (the OVA voice) was most definitely awesome. I would love to hear him do Sonic's voice again; because for some reason, his accent and attitude really captured the feeling of the character rather well, although lots of people say otherwise.
     
  12. Ross-Irving

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    I'm assuming Jonny Yong Bosch voiced the white haired guy in that DMC4 video. It's an interesting choice. I'm sure people would like it. As for Martin Burke, try imagining that Sonic arguing with Rouge. Both of their voices may sound the same, which could be really annoying if they started arguing with each other. That's out to me.

    To be honest, I didn't like "Night of the Werehog" all that much. Not making them talk was a smart idea, but it wasn't enough for me. Koi Kami Mauro, I would like to have someone who sounds as close to Deem Bristow as possible to voice Eggman Nega. Nega is cool and collected, but also cruel. Someone who sounds like Bristow could do a great job sounding mean. Have you ever heard Bristow shouting at Rouge when she was in Security Hall in SA2? That was great.
     
  13. muteKi

    muteKi

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    It'd be interesting to see Bosch play Sonic. After all, he played Chris on Eureka Seven. :P
     
  14. NHY

    NHY

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    Hate to burst your bubble but he's long dead. Tragic really, I really loved his Robotnik voice in AoSTH too.

    Anyway, as for a Sonic special, lets face it, your never going to please everyone, not matter how hard they try. Its just impossible. But what would I suggest for such a special? Instead of a series or one off TV special, perhaps 2 - 3 TV films a year or something like that. It would allow time to add polish the animation and voice acting without forcing the fans to wait too long either.

    The animation style could be inspired by Batman: TAS from the 90s but with a bigger and brighter colour palette but just as capable of going into darker colours when needed. As for the way the story progresses, I think the makers should take a good hard look at how the recent Star Trek movie was done, that was a good example of a balance between action and character development without overdoing it on either regard.

    As for story, create their own universe, based on what SEGA has established but with enough room to allow for development in its own direction. The whole ' Eggman as dictator ' thing is worn out now. So, maybe they need to do something different, perhaps do something like AoSTH, having Eggman working from a single base in the mountains, only not as corny and more serious. The first special could be Eggman staging a large scale invasion, using, you know, animals to power his robot army. After this special, though, Eggman will probably never stage such a large scale invasion again, instead going for more covert methods.

    It would be important that no final weapons or anything like that to appear in the series, except maybe as a grand finale.

    Another thing would that the show would be both light hearted and serious to attract people from all ages groups to the show.

    As for characters, first specail, only Sonic, Tails and Knuckles should appear, with Knuckles being deceived in some way by Eggman until its too late, perhaps when Sonic & Tails are captured and being tortured, thanks to Knuckles, which is when Eggman betrays Knuckles dramatically. Furious at the deception and he breaks out Sonic & Tails to help him get one back at Eggman.

    On the first special Sonic could be an unknown traveller who gets caught up in the situation and ends up saving the world. After that, he is world famous but while he keeps a ' cool attitude ' persona to the public, inside he doesn't really want all the attention and just wishes to be left to his travels in peace and not expect to play hero all the time. As for voice actor, you'd want someone

    Tails is his closest friend who he meets in the first special during the crisis. Like his game counterpart, he is a genius with mechanics but is also a very shy outsider, owing the fact he has a unique mutation ( his two tails ) that is both a blessing and a curse at the same time. He is also very technical as well and this puts off a lot of people, even Sonic. As for voice actor, a teenaged style capable of going into various cliches when the mood calls for it ( yes, even emo )

    Knuckles is gullible and after the incident in the first special, takes a very time to build up trust between Sonic and Tails. He is Guardian of the Chaos Emeralds but doesn't stay put either because he keeps robots on stand by from he is not there. A definite loner, whiles Sonic travels because he enjoys it, not because he is a loner, Knuckles just doesn't get on with people well. As for voice actor, a pacific islander voice with slightly broken English would suit, IMO.

    Eggman is just as Evil as Evil can be. Living alone in his base with his robots assistants, he sometimes wallows in loneliness, ostracised from society for his ideas, he goes insane and plans to take over the world as revenge. Torture and murder isn't beyond him but is rarely shown, only implied owing to the fact the show is aimed at a universal audience, including children. His appearance would be based on his video game appearance but with a touch of Joseph Fritz and some other evil men. A possible special could show that Eggman keeps prisoners in a similar manner to these evil men. That being said, he is human too and he sometimes shows this, especially to Tails, who he sees as his match in terms of technical prowess.

    Wow, this post ended being MUCH longer than I expected so I'll leave it here.
     
  15. muteKi

    muteKi

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    You know what would be a good template for a Sonic series?

    FIREFLY.
     
  16. Ross-Irving

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    Because you delved into a fanfic like possibility. Please, just the facts next time. Voice actors (or how should the character sound, nasally, rough, etc), mood and pacing of the show, how it would be animtaed, etc. Batman:TAS animation might work on Sonic and co, just not the symmetrical, angular style being applied. To everyone, feel free to give each other feedback on others' ideas, just don't be a dick about it. Also, I set up a big poll, we'll see how this turns out.

    Firefly? I can find out what the series is about, but why use the template? I'm intrigued.
     
  17. NHY

    NHY

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    Oh, sorry. I honestly didn't mean that, I guess I just got lost in myself. :ohdear:
     
  18. muteKi

    muteKi

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    Well, one of the things is I actually quite liked the Saturday series, which was basically Firefly with woodland animals and a distinct single villain.
     
  19. OSM

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    Completely agree, in fact I liked everyone's VA's from the OVA. Martin's voice just fits the bill for classic Sonic in my opinion.
     
  20. Lobotomy

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