Sonic the Hedgehog is a name that's both famous and infamous among many fandoms. The franchise has been a hit since its inception in 1991 and has spawned numerous spinoffs. Even for those who've never played the video games, anyone who was a kid in the 1990s and early 2000s most likely remembers watching -- or at least seeing promos for -- one of the various TV shows featuring the titular Sonic. Amazingly though, one piece of Sonic media has become hard to find over the years.
In 1996, an OVA titled Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie was released. The promo poster features Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles with the tagline "Scrape your Knuckles, Catch some Tails." Produced by Pierrot, the OVA features two 27-minute episodes that revolve around Sonic and friends rescuing Planet Freedom's President and his daughter Sara from the clutches of Dr. Robotnik, who plans to take over the world and force Sara to marry him. Not only does Sonic have to contend with his archenemy, but the dastardly doctor has a new creation: Hyper Metal Sonic.
The English version of the OVA was released as a single, 54-minute movie in 1999, and was the first piece of Sonic media where Jaleel White didn't voice the famous blue hedgehog. The animation was praised by reviewers, but the story was panned for being rather simplistic and deviating too far from the games. Despite this, it's been positively received as a piece of Sonic media that fans would enjoy.
Unfortunately, Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie is also one of the hardest pieces of media for fans to get their hands on. A DVD version was released in 2004, but ADV Videos, which licensed the OVA and provided the English dub, dissolved with its assets distributed between Sentai Filmworks and Section23 Films. This dissolution has caused all versions of the movie to go out of print.
If you want to add this rare piece to your Sonic collection, you'll have to pay a pretty penny. There's a listing on Amazon for the DVD that runs about $99, and that's for a used copy. A new one is more than double the price. Unless your local flea market provides an incredible stroke of luck, it'll be difficult to get your hands on either the VHS or DVD of Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie.
