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Sonic the Hedgehog OVA (1996) - Easter Eggs
Rory Joscelyne • Feb 05, 2024
VGMP: I never thought he'd stoop this low!
Also known as Sonic the Movie, the Japanese OVA was actually a run at a possible series that never materialised, instead leaving us with two episodes hastily stitched into a "feature". And boy, did they push taste and decency for some of this.
Other than Robotnik chasing underage skirt, it's largely inoffensive. But unfortunately that story angle wound up kick-starting a long running VGMP joke of Sonic adaptations having to reference breast milk (which the 2020 Sonic movie also references).
SOUTH ISLAND
South Island is referenced here by name, and was also the Island that both versions of Sonic 1 take place on (Mega Drive original and Master System version). The version seen in the movie is largely unexplored, with just Sonic's little island home being focussed on a few times.
Sonic 1 on the Master System included a map of what the island is supposed to look like, and an updated 3D model of this was included in Sonic Origins.
ROBOTNIK'S EGG MOBILE / EGG-O-MATIC
This movie is a bit strange in that it features two flying Robotnik Egg-Mobile's, but one of them is driven exclusively by "Old Man" the Owl. That version is the most akin to an Egg Mobile from the games (very close to the Sonic 2 design), but Robotnik's main ship is a totally new design unrelated to anything seen in the game series.
CRABMEAT
One of Green Hill's first enemies, the Crabmeat Badnik has a small cameo at the beginning of the film - oddly Sonic sets it on Old Man to pinch him out of crying. Interesting side note are the blue flowers that resemble those of Green Hill zone and also Sonic's head.
TAILS' ISLAND RUNWAY
Something that wouldn't find it's way into the games until Sonic Adventure in 1998, Tails has a hidden runway built into the side of a cliff for launching the Tornado from. In Sonic Adventure, this would appear in Mystic Ruins just outside of Tails' Workshop. The scenery even moves aside as it does in this movie.
It is unknown if the filmmakers were aware of this upcoming idea from Sonic Team, or if Sonic Team were inspired by this movie. But it's a cool addition.
SONIC'S HOME
Sonic's Home is made out of lots of real world and sci-fi parts - something we will come back to later in this blog. His home seems to consist of, from top to bottom;
- Voyager Satellite
- Saturn V Rocket
- Earth Satellite
- Metro Train Cars
- Starship Enterprise (Star Trek)
- Boeing 747
LAND OF THE SKY
I did a lot of searching to try and find game connections from the Land of the Sky. The closest I could find is that, due to the design of the islands, there is a mild resemblance to the Floating Island - but as we saw from South Island these aren't unique enough to be a clear reference.
The city is certainly not reminiscent of anything Sonic, though the White House building is another allusion to America. We'll have more of these later, but we've already seen some real world connections in Sonic's House materials.
TORNADO
A quick and easy one, Sonic's plane - The Tornado - makes an appearance in this film. Sadly it is destroyed in the course of the story, however this again mimics the plane's fate in Sonic Adventure (1998). Did Sonic Team take a lot of inspiration from this OVA, or did the film creators have inside information on potential story plans for the upcoming Sonic game?
SONIC VS SARA
While Sonic and Tails journey to The Land of Darkness, Robotnik and Sara battle against each other on a holographic videogame.
The names have not been visually adapted to the Western names, so Robotnik is named Dr Eggman, and Sara is named Seira. Another cool nod to the games is Robotnik's victory jumps, which imitate his Sonic ending animations if you grab all of the Chaos Emeralds.
VIDEO GAME CONSOLE
We get a good shot of the console Robotnik and Sara are competing on, and we can see they are playing with Mega Drive controllers. The only issue is the console doesn't resemble any that I am aware of. I looked at Mega Drive, Saturn and Dreamcast prototype models, but none seemed to match. The closest was a 1998 South Korean exclusive release of the Mega Drive seen below, but it's not close enough to be a definite reference;
SONIC CD INTRO
On arriving in the Land of Darkness, Sonic proceeds to hop across a vast plain and rocky terrain - even bending his body in similar poses to the Sonic CD intro. The world is darker this time, Tails is with him, and the animation style is different - but the clear similarity in camera angles, movement and poses make this a very obvious allusion to that famous intro sequence.
SPIKES
A very small reference, but only in one small clip from the montage across the Land of Darkness, Sonic has to hop over multiple small groups of spikes. They never recur in the rest of the movie, which is a bit of a shame. Could have added some peril to the second half of the movie.
SPRING
One solitary spring appears during the montage through The Land of Darkness. It's seemingly pointless since Sonic is later seen jumping up skyscrapers etc by himself, it would have been cool to have had more of these around to support Sonic's movements.
CRAWLTON
Sonic 2's Crawlton enemy enemy (from Mystic Caves) makes an appearance in this film - getting wrecked by Sonic in quick measure.
BUZZ BOMBERS
A battalion of Buzz Bombers from Sonic 1 appear to shoot at Sonic at the end of the Land of Darkness sequence.
NEW YORK CITY
When Sonic and Tails finally arrive in the abandoned city just outside of Robotnik's main lair, it's very clear that the city is New York. There is a building that looks akin to the Empire State Building, there are also a few potential candidates for the World Trade Center towers - a common feature in these movies prior to the 9/11 attacks in 2001 (They were also seen in Super Mario Bros 1993, and many other movies).
CADILLAC BROUGHAM
There are a few vehicles in New York/Land of Darkness, but the only one seen in much detail is the Cadillac Brougham seen above. The design of the trim and rear of the roof is a give away. The only thing not fully in line with the real car is the bonnet/hood - it's missing the large squared grill at the front.
METAL ROBOTNIK
While it's own unique version of the design, it is clear inspiration for Metal Robotnik came from the Death Egg Robot. The final boss in Sonic & Knuckles has a completely different aesthetic and there hadn't been many other mainline Sonic titles prior to 1996.
FLIPPING THE BIRD
Not a reference, but just putting an argument to bed. Sonic is very clearly flipping Robotnik the bird in this shot. Some of the US VHS copies of the movie had this slightly edited to change the finger being held up, but in the UK VHS and universal DVD releases it is clearly his middle finger.
Sonic has four fingers and a thumb on each hand in this anime, as can be seen in the prior image of Metal Robotnik among many. Count the knuckles either side - it's his middle digit that's extended.
EGGMANLAND
Not necessarily an Easter Egg, but the idea of a Robotropolis / Eggmanland etc has been in the series since it's inception.
SNAIL BLASTER
The last basic Badnik is the Snail Blaster from Sonic 3. These attack Sonic, Tails and Knuckles as they enter Robotnik's base, forcing Knuckles to stay behind to deal with them. This was a cute inclusion in the film.
METAL SONIC
The main villain of the movie (other than Robotnik of course), this is Sonic CD's Metal Sonic design - clearly the Naoto Oshima title influenced a lot of this anime, as it seems to reference that title more than any other.
SONIC'S FAVOURITE CLOTHES
Okay, this isn't a reference. But Metal Sonic is supposed to have forced Old Man Owl to wear Sonic's favourite clothes. Tails even states that Sonic will be mad at him wearing his favourite outfit. But when has Sonic ever worn this getup? And how awful is this outfit? Contact us on the Discord and let us know if you would ever wear this!
EGGMAN CHIP
I'm not quite nerdy enough to know if this computer chip resembles the innards of a Sega machine (probably not). However the Eggman logo on the computer chip Tails removes is kinda cool.
KNUCKLES' HAT
Knuckles never had a hat before this anime, but the character Fang the Sniper / Nack the Weasel did. The hat designs are somewhat different, as the one worn by Knuckles here is an Australian style hat - fitting since Echidnas are Australian animals.
The hat has returned in various pieces of Sonic media, and personally I think it really suits him.
SONIC'S RECURRING SHOWCASE OF... BABY FEEDING
When we covered this on VGMP, Jamie and Rory were both shocked that this film dove into Robotnik chasing a underage girl, then disgusted when this still image appears - showing her actively breast feeding a baby Robotnik. We mocked it, we laughed at how absurd it was. Then breast feeding was referenced in the 2020 Hollywood movie... seriously why is this here?
SATURN
Final image of the set is this. I stitched this together from the vertical panning shot, showing Old Man Owl relaxing outside Sonic's Home (just before Metal Sonic attacks and forces him to wear Sonic's clothes). It's a beautiful artwork, and the large image of Saturn in the sky is a clear reference to the Sega Saturn console, which was Sega's main console in 1996 (certainly in Japan where it was surprisingly popular).
That's everything I could find for Sonic the Movie!
We hope you've enjoyed this look back through time, and please join our Discord to let us know if there's anything we missed!
We look into all the Easter Eggs in the Paramount+ series of Knuckles (2024)
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You'll be hooked on the brothers! UH! Super Mario Bros 93 was the first major Hollywood production based on a single existing game franchise, and it gained a reputation that tainted video game adaptations for the next 30 years! Many negatives thrown at the film were the tech-noir aesthetic, adapting the cutesy games into such a hardened sci-fi (and even not sticking the landing with that) and - largely - the lack of game references the film includes. Many took the film at face value and failed to notice just how SMB 93 is dripping in references to the Mario franchise. So join us on a journey, as we showcase all the confirmed connections to the game series. If you want to see more connections, you can visit the official fansite for the movie here; https://www.smbmovie.com/SMBArchive/specials/references.htm
