Update: Even more concept art found.
First up is Rotor, not much to say about this one, other than he looks slightly more cartoonish.
Secondly, we have another Bunnie concept art, she looks a lot more like a robot in this one.
Actually, scratch that, she looks less like a robot/cyborg and more like she’s wearing power armour.
And finally… we have this… Cyborg Robotnik, with electric pony tail.
That is awesome!
Original Story: It’s not unusual to go onto ebay and find animation cels from episodes of The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog or any other Sonic cartoon… However, what is odd are finds listed here. A seller who has listed and who has a history of listing official annimation cells from AOSTH and SatAM has listed a bunch of concept art from the show which shows radically different designs for some of the main characters which have never been seen before.
First up is Princess Sally… who is now a human!
Is it just my imagination, or does she look a lot like the Princess from Dragons Lair?
Here is another early concept of Princess Sally who looks more like her final animal form.
There’s something about her which looks Middle Eastern, almost like Princess Jasmine from Aladdin?
Up next is Bugs Bunny’s after an operation… Sorry I mean Bunnie…
Now… this is where things get… stranger…. Behold… Dr Robotnik!
He has devil horns green skin! How is this possible? Do I need to comment further on this? The design looks a lot like a villain from other cartoon shows at the time, but it looks absolutely nothing like Robotnik.
So this next one is a strange one. Mainly because I don’t remember it from any episode, but a golden glow Sonic was also added, however the date would put this very close if not prior to Sonic 2.
And finally we have… the thing which made me roar with laughter when I saw it… Robotnic’s Chicken!
Please… Sega… make this a playable character in Sonic Boom. He can wander around the levels pecking up rings and randomly screaming at enemies. Also here’s a challenge, mod generations so we play as Robotnic’s Chicken, bonus points for custom animations and clucking noises. I also want fanart and comics too!
Thanks to iDEATH & Indigo Rush for the finds.
Full sized and additional images can be found in the gallery.
I love how they were going to turn into a green demon in yet another failed attempt to make Sonic “dark and edgy”. And LMAO, they even misspelled his name! That’s DiC for you, always getting the source material wrong and bastardizing everything.
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but after seeing those sketches, I must admit that SatAM could have been EVEN WORSE than what we got.
they were going to turn Robotnik into a green demon*
I never liked SatAM in the first place, so yes, it would have got even worse.
Aw, have a heart. Sure it didn’t fit in the concept of a speedy little hedgehog, but you have to admit Satam was a good cartoon in its own right. At least it handled the cyberpunk elements better than Underground.
I wouldn’t call turning him into a green demon “dark and edgy”. That would make the majority of Disney movies “dark and edgy”. If anything, his final design was more “dark and edgy” considering his voice and personality.
Lol sonic was always dark and edgy for a younger audience…That was its thing. Something sometimes developers went over the top with and instead made crappy, angsty renditions of the franchise starting with shadow the hedgehog
SatAM could have been WORSE than Sonic Blast, Sonic X, Sonic Heroes, Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic 06, Sonic Unleashed (Werehog side), Sonic Chronicles, and Sonic Lost World.
Thank goodness it’s not though. 🙂
Sonic X, Sonic Heroes, and Sonic Lost World are all good things.
I thought everyhing except Blast and Chronicles were better than SatAM. Sonic X only has the condition where I like the Japanese version better. If it is English dubbed, than X is worse than SatAM.
How? Half of Sonic X consists of a retelling of Adventure 1, 2, and Battle. Plus, there’s Chris. ‘Nuff said.
….Were they seriously thinking of making Robotnik look like Ganon?
“NO, IT BUURNS!”
“JOIN ME SONIC, AND I WILL MAKE YOUR FACE THE GREATEST IN KORI—MOBIUS, yes that’s the thing. OR ELSE YOU WILL DAI.”
“Great! I’ll get my stuff!”
“CHAINS!”
If that would’ve been the Robotnik they used, the show would’ve been called SATan instead of SATam.
While Robotnik’s Chicken may attempt to take over the world alongside its master, please note that it is in no way related to the hilarious, Emmy Award-winning series Robot Chicken. Just a friendly reminder.
Well, to all the people who hate the designs in Sonic Boom, just remember one thing. At one point, in Sonic’s glory days, it could have been so much worse…
Key fucking word, “Could have” they didn’t actually go with something this ridiculous. They actually went through with it in Sonic Boom.
That reminds me, I wonder what the original designs were before Sega told BRB not to design Sonic and his friends too differently?
By “BRB”, do you mean the Spanish animation house? Thanks.
Implying that the current designs look ridiculous. Which they don’t. Just different, is all. They still look like who they’re supposed to. It’s not like they decided to Make Amy a lizard or something.
You said exactly what I was implying and then just made yourself stupid to make it not so.
Um… I don’t get what you’re trying to say. I’m assuming it’s something along the lines of “Sonic Boom sucks”?
There is always someone like you on this site. First it is Chris K., then Jeffery Mass, and then its 》you《.
Uh, OVA, which one of us are you talking to?
Okay, SonicOVA, I see where you’re coming from…
But you know what? The fact that there’s always someone like me on this site? I’ll take it as a compliment. Because this site NEEDS people like me.
This is a site that is dedicated to Sonic fans. But whenever I look at the comments of any article, I keep thinking that this is a site dedicated to HATING anything Sonic related. It’s just wrong…
Hatred is a disease. It’s a cancer that has infected this site for far too long. People infected by it are convinced that happiness, and looking forward to something, are wrong.
Is it wrong to look forward to something that excites you? Is it wrong to get a good feeling about something in the future? Is it wrong to look forward to news and information? It’s not. Not in any way, shape, or form. But when you look at the comments here on this site, you would be forgiven for thinking that it IS wrong.
There is a reason that people look down on the Sonic fanbase so much. Because many people who claim to be fans only ever speak ill of the series.
This site needs people like me, because otherwise, this site would be nothing more than a seething cauldron of pure, unbridled hatred. Hate is something that needs to be removed, not just from the fanbase, but from society itself. After all, hatred has done horrific things in Earth’s history… Some of the worst events in history have occurred due to hatred.
Here’s something you should try. If you hate something, just leave it be. I for one, hate the Archie comics. I think they’re overly complicated, overly melodramatic fanfics, and the worst thing that Sonic has ever put out. But I don’t go to Archie comic related articles and videos just to express it. I just let it be, and leave people who do like it alone. It’s called “tolerance”. Something that this site needs, rather than more baseless hatred.
And boy, did it feel good to type all that. I seriously needed that. Such good therapy…
Lol sorry man I was talking to Reny. Didnt mean any confusion.
After reading humble’s comment though I totally agree. Everyone is entitled to an opionion but that does not give them the privilege to look down on others and/or wish for the worst.
Aw, thanks, man!
Announce Robotnic’s Chicken tonight, Sakurai.
I really question if SATAM was actually meant to be a Sonic cartoon, already the final cartoon barely had any Sonic elements in it, but these designs for Sally, Bunnie and Robotnik don’t even try to resemble Sonic characters at all. And making Eggman an orc? Really? You’d do that instead of using something like the real Eggman and his glorious mustache?
That… depends on which cannon you were going with at the time. Granted, I don’t quite remember what the original American instruction manual said for Sonic 1, but I do remember that Roboticization was a term in use in the US before SatAM came onto the scene. “The Death Egg, a space station capable of ROBOTICIZING an entire planet.” That’s directly from the US Sonic The Hedgehog 2 manual. So honestly, while the games were actually more lighthearted, the general background was in the US and UK, quite dark. IF by going with the Japanese stuff as the only accepted cannon out there, then yes, it’s hardly anything like what Sonic is. But for those of us who grew up in the US at the time the show aired, SatAM was what we expected. AOSTH though, is actually a bit closer to what the Japanese had at the time, assuming you mixed it with the more zany portions of Loony Toons.
Henceforth, Robotnik’s Chicken shall be named Pingas.
Best thing I read all day.
my personal theory is while obviously the design for “Robotnic” was scrapped, it VERY likely became used as a basis for a separate character; Naugus.
You know what’s funny? You’re not the only one. I thought the same thing.
That’s what I was thinking too, yeah.
So that chicken became that robotic bird robotnik was always petting.
yeah that was Cluck.
NO WAY, I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS!
Sonic the Hedgehog? I thought I was looking at concept art for a second Zelda Cartoon Series. .v.
Wait wat? OMG HAHAHAHAHAHAHA… That’d be cool actually if the chicken character was real in SatAM, anyway I like the first episode of the cartoon series and not all of the other ones. Well I think that was kinda nice when Scratch (from AoSTH) was a chicken minion that Robotnik had in a Sonic cartoon. 😀
I don’t mind Cluck at all in teh actual SatAM cartoon since he’s pretty cute but guess who’s funnier to me? Scratch! 😀
Hmm… Why isn’t this in the Freak Out Fridays category? These concepts really fit the bill.
Geez, this must have been ridiculously early on in development, like the Yeti Sonic concepts from Unleashed. Still good for a chuckle, though. Also, ROBOTNIC’S CHICKEN FOR PRESIDENT.
*looks at Robotnik’s concept art*
…I… I can’t–
………
*breaks down with laughter, babbling incoherently*
I’m not that surprised about that Robotnik actually. Dic never gave a fuck about the source material in their adaptations, they had a tendency to change everything just for the sake of it, or because they couldn’t be arsed to do the research. In fact, you would be hard pressed to convince me that the SatAM producers and writers ever played a Sonic game. I’m betting that the only reason they changed him back to human was that Sega forced them to.
The fact that SOA sought Dic to produce Sonic cartoons after they gave us the travesty that is Captain N is facepalm-worthy, but not that surprising, this being 90’s SOA we’re talking about.
yeah like what happened to Sailor Moon. Thank god they just decided to dub the original Japanese animation instead of going with another SMBSS-esque show.
… They just really love human love interests. *Sigh*
I can only assume that the person hired to draw these concepts was unaware that Robotnik wasn’t an original character, and assumed he was “creating” him like Sally, Rotor and Bunnie etc. There’s no other way to get round this.
The 90s in a nutshell. I may have been born in them, but I’m not as self-proclaimingly proud as the 30+ year olds who lived through them.
I so wish they kept human Sally…
Getting some strong Space Ace vibes here
Wow. That cyborg Robotnik is the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen. I’ve always known that SatAM was nothing more than a sad and lazy attempt at cashing in on the 90s dark and edgy trend, but this is too much. Why did Sega license Sonic to those morons, again?
Sheesh am I the only one who can excuse DiC for doing what they did concerning creating Sonic SatAM? I mean you have to remember this was the 90’s, mascot with attitude was meant to be darker and edgier, I mean that’s what Sonic was back then an edgier mascot in comparison to Mario (by each others series standards anyway), SatAM wasn’t the only thing pulling that with Sonic if you can recall what a ton of U.S. box art for Sonic games looked like back then. Plus you can’t blame them for not being like the games, if you recall the Genesis/Megadrive games lacked any story outside the manual and even then all they boiled down to was Robotnik’s planning an evil scheme, go and stop him.
I mean both SatAM and AoStH were being made before Knuckles was even introduced into the series, the most story we ever got in-game were transitions towards the end of the game like being dumped into Scrap Brain act 3 and the Tornado following Sky Chase and returning briefly with a rocket to help Sonic stow away onto the Death Egg and the ending but other than those things towards the end of both those games we didn’t even have the Sonic 3 & Knuckles style of transitions between every level of the game, I mean I don’t get the complaining back then they hardly had anything to go on as Sonic games didn’t really show much story all most of the in-game stuff was collect rings, destroy robots, get to the end of the act and at the end of the zone fight a boss and then free the animals inside the capsule.
I mean it’s not like we had a better way of knowing both the Japanese and English stories, I mean Japan even straight out said they were never aware of that comic of Sonic starting out as a normal brown Hedgehog but then how he went so fast he gained super speed and turned blue.
I mean come on DiC needed something to tell other than collect rings, speed through a zone destroying robots, get to a signpost at the end of an act.
I mean it’s as stupid as complaining about how the first Super Mario Bros. game doesn’t have graphics that were as good as later Mario games, they didn’t have that technology then, much like DiC had nothing story-wise to go on other than a few vague stories in the manuals.
whoops meant to say following Wing Fortress in Sky Chase but you get my point