Welcome to the Archive site of The Sonic Stadium (2008-2023)
Please note that this site is no longer being updated or maintained; as a result, there may be design issues, and links to images and other media may be broken. Links to posts may redirect you to the same article on the current Sonic Stadium website.
The second Sonic the Hedgehog Movie is absolutely jam-packed with references to the games and even a nod to one of Ben Schwartz’s previous shows, Parks and Recreation. In addition to these, there are a plethora of movie references and tropes featuring throughout the 2-hour run time. While some of these are very obvious (such as Officer Wade Whipple’s referral to Ghostbusters’ infamous candy Kaiju, The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man), some will only have been spotted by the most avid movie buffs! Below are our 7 favourite subtle movie references in Sonic’s latest cinema outing…
Be warned – movie spoilers ahead!!!
Klaatu Barada Nikto!
Before Knuckles makes his appearance through the ring, Dr Robotnik welcomes the three nameless warriors with the very strange greetings of “Klaatu Barada Nikto!”. Classic sci-fi fans will know this as the famous phrase that originated in the 1951 film The Day the Earth Stood Still – uttered to pacify the giant robot Gort and prevent him from destroying the world. Ironic considering the final act of the movie!
That Slide
Sonic sets about trashing the Wachowski household minutes after Tom and Maddie depart for Hawaii, starting with a slide into the living room with his back to the camera. Those with a keen knowledge of 80’s coming-of-age flicks will recognise this as a homage to the underwear dance scene from 1983’s Risky Business performed by a young Tom Cruise, in which Cruise’s character Joel has also just been left home alone in his parents’ house.
Witching Hour
Margaret Hamilton, the mother of Hamilton Meserve, plays the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz.
When Robotnik returns to Earth at night and confronts Sonic in the Wachowski house he threatens Sonic, finishing his line with “…AND YOUR LITTLE DOG TOO!”. The quote references the threat given by the Wicked Witch of the West to Dorothy in the 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz. The threat is often used as a trope when a villain wants to prove how evil they are.
The name of the Wachowski family dog? Ozzy, of course.
Cast Away
Robotnik’s descent into complete madness when he is exiled to the Mushroom Planet is staved off when he creates a replica Agent Stone out of, well, a stone. This bears semblance to 2000’s Cast Away, in which Tom Hank’s character Chuck creates an inanimate companion, Wilson, from a flotsam Volleyball after being marooned on a remote uninhabited island.
“It’s derivative!”
Knuckles and Robotnik’s navigation through the Labyrinth Zone sees the two antagonists chased down corridor by a huge boulder. While this has most certainly become an adventure movie and video game trope, the idea originated in Raiders of the Lost Ark, the first Indiana Jones movie. The trope doesn’t go unnoticed by Robotnik, as he says “I refuse to die like this; it’s derivative!”
The 8th Wonder
During the fight between our heroes and the Death Egg Robot and shortly before the destruction of the biplane, Robotnik begins to mockingly swipe at Tails as he manoeuvres around the mechanical juggernaut. This is of course a tribute to the 1933 classic King Kong, in which the final scene sees the colossus batting away attacking Curtis Helldiver biplanes.
Home Run
The second Sonic movie ends where the first started in the Green Hills baseball field, with our protagonist getting his wish of having others to play with. After Knuckles’ “Power bump” that sees him hit a home run, a familiar horn riff plays as declares his conquering of the bases. Soundtrack enthusiasts will recognise this as the theme to 1983’s The Natural, Barry Levinson’s love letter to one of America’s favourite sports.
Have we missed any subtle movie references in Sonic 2? Let us know in the comments!
The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
For those who couldn’t make it to the cinema to see the second Sonic the Hedgehog movie (or those who can’t wait to see it again), you don’t have long to wait until it is available to stream!
There is currently no infomation as to when the movie will be available in other territories, but stay tuned for news as it comes!
The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
In an interview with ComicBook.com, Ben Schwartz said that Sonic 2 will be much bigger than Sonic 1 in terms of size. According to him, compared to the first one “this is a movie, this is a film, this is a movie-film.” Beyond praising his co-stars, Schwartz was pretty tight-lipped about everything else.
Sonic 1 was more or less a road trip comedy with a cartoon hedgehog. While this is pure speculation on my part, it sure does sound like Schwartz is saying this is going to be more akin to a summer blockbuster. While, again, this is pure speculation on my part meant to pad out this article, I’m not sure how else one can take “compared to the first one, this is a movie-film.” We’ll find out for sure when it debuts on April 8.
The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
Nearly seven months since it wrapped filming, Sonic 2’s trailer has finally arrived, debuting at The Game Awards. The 2-minute-18-second trailer gives us our first taste of what’s in store for Sonic’s big screen debut.
The trailer has got a lot to offer. There are plenty of references to the games, such as Sonic Adventure. The Master Emerald and its shrine is here, along with the Tornado, Tails, and of course, our first look at Knuckles the Echidna.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 features Ben Schwartz as Sonic, Colleen O’Shaughnessey as Tails, Idris Elba as Knuckles, and Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik. It will debut in the US on April 8, 2022.
The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 director Jeffrey Fowler announced via twitter that the movie was officially moving into production today. Back in January Fowler confirmed that the movie would begin filming this month. Filming will be taking place in both Vancouver and Hawaii. You can check out Fowler’s tweet below:
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is due for release in theaters on April 8, 2022.
The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
Since Roger Craig Smith announced his departure as the official voice of Sonic the Hedgehog, many fans have turned to Ben Schwartz, Hollywood comedy star, to ask if he would pick up the mantle. His answer? He’s not quite sure yet.
The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
It has been reported by The Illuminerdi that Jason Momoa, known for playing DC’s movie incarnation of Aquaman, has been offered the voice acting role to play Knuckles the Echidna in the second the Sonic the Hedgehog movie, due for release in 2022.
The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
And the award for ‘Best Villain in a Movie’ goes to… Jim Carrey! In the inaugural, “Critic’s Choice Super” awards, (which focuses more on superhero and action movies rather than dramas), Mr. Carrey won the award for his comical portrayal of Dr. Robotnik. He beat out other actors such as Kathrine Langford, Martin Short and J.K. Simmons.
The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
As Sonic fans, SEGA has invariably played at least some role in the tastes of everyone on the Sonic Stadium staff. Whether it is our love for their hardware, software or intellectual property, we each have a memory that either defined SEGA for us, or allowed SEGA to shape our tastes in gaming as a whole.
Today, on SEGA’s 60th anniversary, we thought it would be good to reminisce about the company that created a character we all have at least some fondness for.
The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
The Sonic Stadium sped its way down to the premiere fan screening of Sonic the Hedgehog Movie in London late last month, for a chance to catch the film in its entirety before general release on Friday, 14th of February 2020!
The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
The stars, including Sonic himself, took to the “Blue Carpet” yesterday at Paramount studios for a family-themed premiere of the Sonic the Hedgehog movie!
The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
With just over two weeks before release, the Sonic movie promotion train is at full speed. Several different media outlets are already interviewing the cast about the film. So let’s check out some of these interviews to see if we can find any juicy details on the upcoming flick!
BackstageOL did a sitdown interview with Ben Schwartz and James Marsden.
Jake Hamilton’s gift of speedy gab is almost as fast as Sonic’s feet. Here he is with Ben Schwartz and James Marsden.
Finally, on Mama’s Geeky, several kids get to talk to the whole cast. Jim Carrey gets deep on Robotnik.
The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
Although we, the dwellers of the internet, are yet to see any footage from the up-and-coming Sonic the Hedgehog movie starring James Marsden and Jim Carrey, twitter has been buzzing with news coming from those attending the event and the two teaser-trailers shown there.
The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
‘Gotta Go FaaaaaAAAAAAaaaaaAAASSSSTTT!’ Fans of Parks and Recreation will be excited to learn that Ben Schwartz, famous for playing edgy entrepreneur Jean Ralphio Saperstein in the US TV sitcom, has been cast as the voice actor for Sonic the Hedgehog in the upcoming Hollywood movie. Continue reading ‘Parks & Rec’ Star Ben Schwartz Cast as Sonic in 2019 Movie
The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.
