Though a big budget live-action Sonic the Hedgehog movie is on
its way into theaters, there was another animated Sonic the Hedgehog
movie released in the 1990s, though its history is a bit interesting. In 1996,
two Japanese OVAs were produced and released in collaboration with developer
Sega and the studio Pierrot (of Naruto fame), “Journey to Eggmanland”
and “Sonic VS Metal Sonic!!”, for the Japanese video rental market before seeing
wide release later. In 1999, an English dub combining the two OVAs as Sonic
the Hedgehog: the Movie was produced by ADV Films (now pronounced Sentai
Filmworks), who had previously released a subbed version in its original two
parts, and released straight to VHS and DVD, which has since gone out of print.
Fortunately, I happen to own a copy of the English DVD as I had watched it when
I was a kid, only watching it again recently in light of the new movie. For
what it is, the movie holds up surprisingly well and stands as an enjoyable
piece of Sonic media.
