Sonic and the Child - Netflix & SEGA original Show
Sonic and the Child, known as "The Kid in Blue Arms" in Japan, is a Netflix and SEGA Original show based in the Sonic the Hedgehog universe. The series is merged together with the Sonic video game franchise and the film (Sonic the Hedgehog, 2020).
The show is produced and animated by SEGA and Netflix animation studios, with no crew announced as of December 2019.
Plot
The story is set after the events of Sonic the Hedgehog film. After Tom Wachowski (James Marsden) and his wife, Maddie (Tika Sumpter), are forced to go on a business trip. After a year of not travelling, Sonic (played by Josh Keaton) decides to return to the human part of the world and see Tom's family. After Sonic's arrival, Sonic turns up at the house. He then meets Adam Daniels (played by Rami Malek) and his wife Lily Daniels (played by Elizabeth Banks).
Adam works as a Lecturer at the local university called "WHU" (West Hill University). Lily works as a Florist at the towns famous flower shop.
After going to bed at 8:30 pm on a Tuesday night, Sonic wakes up to the sound of a child crying in the nearby shed. Sonic gets up and walks to the shed. Unfortunately, the door is locked, so Sonic has to find a way in. It doesn't take long for Sonic to notice blue lightning coming out of the shed windows. Sonic decides to barge into the shed, seeing a crying child, he immediately helps the kid.
Full List of Characters
Here is the full list of Characters in Season 1. All cast members will appear as TBA (To Be Announced)
Netflix wanted to include a Hollywood type-cast, including Zendaya, Kristen Stewart and Liam Hemsworth.
| Character | Actor/Actress | Appears in Season 1? |
|---|---|---|
| Sonic the Hedgehog (Age 18) | Brett Dalton | TBA |
| Tom Wachowski | James Marsden | TBA |
| Maddie Wachowski | Tika Sumpter | TBA |
| Lukas the Hedgehog | Tayla Parks | TBA |
| Adam Daniels | Rami Malek | TBA |
| Lily Daniels | Elizabeth Banks | TBA |
| Gavin Stanton | Sean Colby | TBA |
| Hana Michaels | Jenny Wu | TBA |
| Cameron "Chad" Etch | Penn Badgley | TBA |
| Chris Vines | Daniel Webber | TBA |
| Carly Green | Zendaya | TBA |
| Taylor Finn | Anna Hutchison | TBA |
| Gwen Harr | Rebecca Ferguson | TBA |
| Terry-Roger-Stevens | Shawn Ashmore | TBA |
| Iain Perry | Noah Fleiss | TBA |
| Gabby Stevens | Kirsten Stewart | TBA |
| Ace Vow | Tom Ellis | TBA |
| Harry Hunter | Ben Schwartz | TBA |
| Knuckles (reference) | Liam Hemsworth | TBA |
Development
Over the course of 7 months of the making of the Sonic the Hedgehog film. Netflix reached out to SEGA of America to discuss the many ideas and pitches they could produce in a collaboration of an Action series based in the Sonic film universe. However, due to the fans reaction to the original design of Sonic for the film, SEGA had to leave the idea and let Netflix know what's going on with the film. After the redesign of Sonic, Netflix and SEGA pitched the idea and started to begin development of the show. Starting with the cast, SEGA wanted the original cast and characters from the film, Tom Wachowski, Sonic, Maddie Wachowski, and Lukas the Hedgehog. However, Netflix wanted to introduce new characters, including related family characters and referencing to another character to Sonic's world, Knuckles the Echidna (played by Liam Hemsworth)
Title Music/Soundtrack
Netflix originally wanted a Stranger Things and The Walking Dead style theme song.
The soundtrack was produced by Jason Graves, who previously worked on the title for Supermassive Games such as Until Dawn (2015) and The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan (2019). The soundtrack will include some horror suspension with some action mixed in with it. Crush 40's music will not be present in the show.
Classifications
Australia: M 15 - Recommended for mature audiences.
USA: R (Restricted - 17+)
Japan: R15+ - No one under 15 admitted.
United Kingdom: 15 - Suitable only for 15 years and older.
*More Countries Coming Soon*
Story Order Explanation
Sonic and the Child takes place after the Sonic Movie (2020) and is classed as a sequel. Sonic's age is 18, making him an adult. Netflix wanted Sonic to be grown up with a different maturity level, making his cockiness disappear, the second reason why Sonic is grown up to an adulthood age is that they wanted him to take responsibility towards Lukas, Sonic's adoptive brother.
Netflix has included flashbacks with Sonic's childhood; when he was born, where he lived, and how he grew up to be what he is in the present day. Sometimes, Sonic will see his childhood self in mirrors in specific episodes, whether in a bathroom, a bedroom or even in the rear-view mirror of Terry's truck. When Sonic sees his past-self in the rear-view mirror, he will ask Terry to stop the truck so he can save the kid, however, no one is there for him to pick up.
** SEGA will be developing a backstory named "Sonic: The Blue Blur" with Netflix a few years after the show.
** Sonic: The Blue Blur, is classified as a Prequel to the film adaptation and to the show. Sonic is the only character that doesn't have a voice, a reference to Classic Sonic being present in Sonic Generations (2011) and Sonic Forces (2017). Netflix wants this prequel to be a feature-length film.
Number of Seasons with Sonic and the Child: The Second Wave
Netflix originally wanted 3 Seasons over the course of 7 months, 3 months in Season 1, 2 Months in Season 2 and 2 extra months in Season 3, but Netflix decided to wait for SEGA's opinion on the original idea. SEGA had the impression of making the show have 4 seasons with each season including 28 episodes in each. Netflix then decided to split the show into 2 shows, the first one being "Sonic and the Child", and the second one being pitched as, "Sonic and the Child: The Second Wave" which is set to release 2 years and 8 months after the first two seasons. "Sonic and the Child: The Second Wave" will have Sonic at the age of 23.
Sonic Design
Sonic's Design in 'Sonic and the Child' appears to include different clothing, including his neckerchief from his Sonic Boom design in 2014. Sonic eye colour is an Emerald green mixed in with Teal Blue. His voice is lower and his attitude is more mature than in the games and other media. Sonic's gloves are red and black motorcycle gloves. During the first season, Sonic will carry a backpack that he stole from the "World's Largest Rubber Band Ball" attraction.
Lukas the Hedgehog's design
Lukas has similar features towards Baby Sonic in the Sonic film, however, Lukas has some slight differences. Lukas has brown baby boots on, he wears white gloves, his eye colour is Teal Blue with a mixture of Green. Lukas' quills are short. Lukas wears a baby backpack that Sonic grabbed from Tom's house.
Interactions with clothing
Sonic uses his neckerchief to block out gases and smoke from entering his body. His neckerchief is sometimes taken off when needed, for example, bandaging up a character. Sonic will take off his gloves and will attempt to find spare gloves around the environment.
Interactions with weapons
Sonic will use weapons such as guns, baseball bats, and knives if needed. SEGA wanted to get rid of the idea and only use his spin-dash move to attack people but Netflix wanted Sonic to use more melee weapons and attacks since the show is in a more realistic style of Sonic, especially since he has the power of going over the speed of sound (343 m / s) if he's not careful enough, Sonic will most likely die of a major injury, that's the reason why he runs at the speed of a human in every episode.
** Sonic's leaked appearance in Sonic and the Child: The Second Wave
Sonic's second Wave appearance has been leaked/rumoured over the course of the development of the first two seasons. Sonic appears to be thicker in the arms and legs. He is much taller than in the first two seasons. His chest seems to be bigger and buffer. People have said that Sonic has a scar from his left shoulder running down his hand and spreading out to his fingers. His voice is lower than his usual self.
Locations
Sonic's group will visit a variety of locations: Here is a list
- The World's Largest Rubber Band Ball
- Tom and Maddie Wachoski's home
- Green Hill Police Station
- West Hill University
- Metropolis - Future
- Terry's - The Local Bar - First Appearance of Terry-Roger-Stevens
- Green Hill Library
- Adam and Lily's home
- The Childcare Center
West Hill University
West Hill University is the nearest university which Adam Daniels is currently working as an English lecturer. Adam's English class currently has 15 students out of 50. Most students don't turn up to class on time but do turn up later in the day. The name West Hill University gets its name from Westopolis and Green Hill. West Hill Uni is located on the border of Green Hill and Westopolis. The university has currently 1200 students, Iain Perry (played by Noah Fleiss) being one of them.
Character info
*characters in bold mean they are the main characters*
Sonic: After returning to the human world, he has grown to a level where he is more serious and more prominent in some situations
Tom Wachowski: Not much is seen of him in the first season but has a feeling that something is going wrong whilst he and his wife are on a business trip.
Maddie Wachowski: Not much is of her in the first Season but some say that she will return in Sonic and the Child: The Second Wave.
Adam Daniels: Adam is the type of guy that will talk some sense into you when in a catastrophic situation. Adam is more on the "friendly type of guy" category than the others. From a guy that taught a 15 student filled English class at West Hill University, turns into a Rick Grimes kind of guy towards Sonic's family. He is also Tom's cousin and is married to Lily Daniels.
Lily Daniels: Lily worked at the famous florist in the town. People loved her for that. This is where she and Adam met and loved each other. Lily shows confidence in every way possible and likes to bring a smile to everyone's faces.
Gavin Stanton: After working as a police officer for 5 years, he has made his final fate to the police force and betrays one of his own; his partner named Bill. After confronting the crew after several days of searching, Gavin shoots Bill with his pistol, leaving him there. Not everyone trusts him so Gavin decides to take off all of his police gear and join the group.
Hana Michaels: Hana is the local businesswomen working for the government. After the outbreak of the military and the government, she escapes the government building before anyone can catch up to her. After the chaos, she teams up with Sonic and the crew after meeting up with them in the local shopping centre in a jewellery store.
Cameron Etch: Cameron or known as Chad, is the most caring of the group (besides Lily), Chad will protect the others like no other should. Previously working as a Flight Attendant, his personality is in between cheery and serious.
Chris Vines: Chris is the second most violent/serious out of the bunch. Before he met Sonic and the crew, he used to work as a Pharmacist at the nearby pharmacy, hence his appearance includes a backpack full of First-Aid items. Vines is the only character to have purple eyes, making Sonic believe that he has maturity like Knuckles.
Carly Green: Carly is the reporter for Network 343 News, a reference to the speed of sound in miles per second. Carly uses her weapons not like regular weapons. She was taught mechanical engineering in high school, she can attach any sort of sharp object to another. You better not mess with her.
Taylor Finn: Taylor was born to be a fighter, that's why she's got the skills of a gymnastic athlete. Taylor used to work as a teacher in Karate class in the local primary school which took place after school hours. Sometimes, she surprises Sonic with her backflips and her strength.
Gwen Harr: Gwen is one of those girls that just won't give a damn about anything except for the group. She mostly cares for Sonic, Lukas, Lily, Terry and Adam. Gwen doesn't interact with the others as much but most of them will have a chance to talk to her whenever they're not in a bad situation.
Terry-Roger-Stevens: Terry is the comedic fella of the bunch. Working as a bartender and a good friend to Tom's family, he and everyone else will get along with him really quickly. Some people might say that he's a joker but he's really not, he's the serious type. Previously living in Canada, Terry's previous job was a road worker, where he would have to fix any sort of broken road, he would also tell passing drivers to slow down.
Iain Perry: Iain Perry is a West Hill University student learning English in Adam Daniels class. His father split up from his family after finding out that his mother was having an affair with a co-worker. Iain is not the comedic type but more of a confident and loving type of guy. If anyone is sad, Iain is the guy to look out for, he'll be able to put a smile on your face.
Gabby Stevens: Gabby is the granddaughter of Terry-Roger-Stevens. She is the more violent one of the group with a mixture of a cool and shy personality. When she first met Sonic, she instantly fell in love with him. She will do anything to take care of him. Gabby is the third character with green eyes.
Ace Vow: Ace is the more intelligent man of the group. With a Uni end result of 3.9% out of 99.95%, he is the smartest person in the group. Ace can come up with a plan just by looking at objects and different paths. Sonic is always reminded of Tails whenever Ace is around. Ace does take notices of this in a respectful way.
Harry Hunter: Good friend of Iain Heiss, Harry is the most serious type out of all the members of the group. If threatened, he may knock you out with his old baseball bat he used to win the baseball game back in 1991. Harry grew up in Atlanta in an apartment, at the age of 12, his family had finally bought a house to themselves, shocked to see how much space there was when he first entered the house, he instantly jumped in the backyard and made snow angels.
Knuckles the Echidna: Knuckles is one of Sonic's best friends and will do anything to protect Sonic in his own way possible. Knuckles is more serious unlike his video game adapted character, he's not goofy at all, he can sense all the bad things that are about to happen in the future thanks to his Chaos Energy he grew up with his tribe. Some leakers say that Knuckles will actually turn up in the show but Netflix nor SEGA haven't said anything regarding his appearance in the show.
Leaked Images
Trivia
- Sonic is the newest character to drive a car thanks to Ace Vow (played by Tom Ellis) teaching him on how to drive.
- According to rumours, Tom Wachowski (James Marsden) will physically return to the show in Season 2 after going onto his business trip, however, Tom is in season 1 via a phone call to Sonic.
- If Netflix were to kill off characters, Netflix will not add any new characters because of budget and the selection of Actors/Actresses.
- Jeff Fowler is rumoured to be the director of the show.
- Sonic and the Child: The Second Wave is the sequel to Sonic and the Child.
- Other titles of the show included: Sonic the Hedgehog: Priority 1, Sonic: The Real-Life Game, The Selected Few and Sonic: The Unmarked Hero.
- The show rights were acquired by Netflix after YouTube ditched the idea due to COPPA and the FTC Terms of Conditions.
- Sonic is the only character to be animated with CGI besides Knuckles the Echidna.
- Brett Dalton replaced Ben Schwartz after the film adaptation because of Sonic's age and maturity.
- Ben Schwartz is the only original cast member to stay in the Sonic-Live Action type of media after the film, he plays as Harry Hunter, the son-in-law of Chris Vines to be physically shown in Season 1.
- Netflix wanted the cast to have 10 Female characters but cut it down to 7.
- This is the first type of Sonic media that SEGA has produced with high amounts of violence and coarse language.
- Sonic is the only character who doesn't swear frequently, including Tom and Maddie
- Sonic's ring bag is not present in Season 1 but may return in Season 2.
- This is the only type of Sonic media where Sonic is unable to turn into Super Sonic and is the only type of Sonic media where Sonic is able to kill others. (Shadow the Hedgehog doesn't count)
** These asterisks mean that it's fake. Just so you don't freak out that it's real