WHY did ROBOTNIK look like THIS for most of the 1990s? The Ghost of Adventures of Sonic The Hedgehog
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- Опубліковано 8 бер 2022
- #AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog #DrRobotnik #MiltonKnight
Welcome to HILL TOP TEREBI! In this video, we'll be taking a look back at the short-lived animated TV series 'Adventures of Sonic The Hedgehog' and how it's completely different take on Dr Robotnik continued to 'haunt' the franchise for years after the series ended - at least in the UK and Europe.
This complete redesign continued to appear across merchandise, promotions and even official video game artwork years after the show had finished production.
So join us as we take a dive into some of the many areas Milton Knight's Doctor Robotnik design showed up in, all throughout the 1990s! - Ігри
Did you like or loathe this Robotnik design? Leave a comment and let me know. And if you enjoyed the content please leave a like and consider subscribing to the channel. Thanks!
Ehhhh, I have mixed feelings about that design
I think it has it's own charm especially when Richard Elson draws him, he adds a menace and nastiness coolness about it in the comics, he made the design work
Silly dude botnik
Personally I quite like it. Though that's probably the nostalgia talking. This was the Robotnik design I was most familiar with.
The Fleetway comic series really did it justice, especially when Richard Elison drew it.
I'm sorry did your slow ass just call satam the better show?
As much as I adored Dr. Eggman's Classic design, I think _Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog's_ Dr. Robotnik is the reason why the PINGAS meme existed. The fact that AOSTH and SatAm being aired at the same time is equivalent to Good Future and Bad Future in Sonic CD.
Me too
It is why the meme exists, I don't understand this comment 😂
What if in an alternate timeline, the Dic cartoons kept Eggman's game design?
“The sky is blue” ass comment
While I'm not a fan of the American redesigns, I am in love with Milton's commentary on those design documents.
I especially love "When drawing him keep that fat adult you hated when you were a child in mind, or your least favorite politician."
Oh, that's what they were going for!
I've always just accepted that design of Robotnik as a kid. It was wacky, gross and goofy, yet menacing, meaner and more sinister looking, and just better fit the crude style of the west in the 90's.
I guess America and the UK thought Japanese Eggman was too friendly looking. So they kept the Milton design for the edge factor.
I can understand that. Definitely gross, and the Sonic the Comic version in particular definitely managed to make the design look sinister (particularly if Richard Elson was drawing him).
I'm just a SegaSonic boy at heart and love all the original Japanese designs though. Guess that's why it rubbed me the wrong way so much.
@@HillTopTerebi Tbh, though, they only used Japanese artwork on the EU box art of Sonic 1 and CD if I’m not mistaken
The Robotnik design was mostly used in Game Gear covers.
@@HillTopTerebi TBH if you look at the design. It bears alot of similarity to the cover art of Sonic 2. Especially with Robotnik having black soulless eyes and a snarling rage-like expression while gritting his teeth so it might be fron this that the comic writers/AoStH animators hot the idea from.
Also to my knowledge there is no game cover art that exists that shows either the original robotnik design or even his later "Eggman" design, so if the writers/animators were just looking at cover art alone or never played the games. They would only have the Sonic 2 cover as a reference for Eggman.
I think This is the reason the design lasted so long in the West/UK as SEGA Japan didn't really assert itself and start using both the Eggman name and design in the west until they localized the sonic adventure games since in Japan, Eggman has always his name and made sure his merch matched his in game appearance. Also the name "Robotnik" itself being something SEGA of America was just allowed to do.
Menacing? How intimidating is a conehead in a red jacket?
This will always be my favorite Robotnik as Long John Baldry’s voice acting elevated the show way more than it had any right to be. As such, I love this design so much that I have an animation cel on my wall of it. However, I agree that it really ONLY works in a comedic setting like AoSTH. If anything, the Archie comics and Sonic the Comic should have switched designs as the first 40 issues of Archie are mostly gags and easy defeats. The threatening SATAM design would fit more in line with the idea of that Robotnik truly being a dictator with consequences. Yeah, Snively would be with the wrong Robotnik design, but who cares?
Certainly agree with you there! Long John Baldry was superb. Although I never got into AoStH (I just watched it because there was no other Sonic options at the time!) the voice acting was generally excellent and Robotnik was the stand out for sure. The music was really good for most part too - lots of nods to the games and it really suited the style of the show.
@@HillTopTerebi it might be me, but I would love a “DuckTales reboot” inspired Sonic Reboot, where multitude of concepts were used for one universe.
Yeah, it's super weird to see SatAM Robotnik in these really comedic settings and AOSTH Robotnik acting like an actual threat. Honestly, I can't take either seriously XD
@Rosalina It's more of difference in art style than a difference in design. They can draw AOSTH Robotnik as terrifyingly as they want, it's still a goofy design that works much better in a comedic setting
Archie utilized the old design in the plot eventually after that 40 issue easy phase as more of an old memory, purposefully writing out the old design via a death to migrate to Eggman around issue 70 with the strange excuse that "not all his clones looked exactly right". This detail was never mentioned again beyond his resurrection happening over again.
The reason for the AOSTH design in STC was because Richard Elson Loved it, and found him more expressive and fun compared to the Sega Official look.Which he said was limited for expressions other then scowling
I did not know this! Cheers for sharing! Fair play to Richard Elson - he managed to make him look very menacing! Such an awesome artist!
@@HillTopTerebi there is a bit more to it than that. Writer Nigel Kitching felt the game design of Robotnik was too clownish and comical - you can see how they were already pushing away from it in the first twenty issues - and he wanted to make Robotnik a truly scary, menacing villain, a true threat to Sonic, rather than a rotund loser. I think you can see from some of the STC artwork you include that they were able to achieve that with the Adventures design (and while I might have liked the other cartoon design better, there isn't that much difference between them). I think the other books and artwork followed on from the lead of the comics - which were pretty popular at the time. Elson's approach to the character further evolved over time and became very much its own thing (as you can see from the image where he's wearing the Sonic Adventure outfit).
Have to admit as a kid I didn't like the choice and wished they'd gone for fidelity with the games (what do kids know?). But I now suspect that if I'd never seen how ridiculous they made him look in the cartoon show, I would have seen him as being a much scarier design. Given they got just about everything else right in the comics...
Also, they wanted the show to have somewhat of a Looney-toons feel to it.
This Robotnik design will be forever immortalized through UA-cam Poop.
pingas
Thats is true
"Draw expressively, not well," is how the creator wanted him. It did great.
As a child, I think I assumed that the AoStH design was what Robotnik was actually supposed to look like, and that what he looked like in the games was just a simplified sprite design used because of graphical limitations.
On that note, I actually like the way he looks in Sonic the Comic. I think they managed to wrest something pretty intimidating from that design, making him look like a real angry brute of a man.
Something similar happened to me... When I was a kid I thought Gerald Robotnik was an older version of Classic Eggman
I like the mean bean machine version, yeah it's pretty much the same but his eyes are white and he look really creepy in his "cocky" animation. Also I like the coconuts design
I'd forgotten he had white pupils in the game when you're battling him. Had to go look it up! Agreed. That whole game actually looks really nice. It translates well into 16 Bit. And Puyo Puyo is awesome!
This is my favorite Dr Robotnik. I drawed him so much in school, when I was bored.
the best robotnik my opinion
Fair comment - I am sure there will be many other people who agree with you. Hated by some, loved by others!
i just love the goofy feel of him
Your opinion is bad and you should feel bad.
@@zephyr8072 you should feel bad for commenting
I always thought it was ridiculous that the West had no less than * 3 * different Eggman/Robotnik designs existing around the same time. Besides AoStH and SatAM, we can't forget the black-eyed, grimacing one (closest to classic Eggy) seen on the West's covers of Sonic 2, 3, 16-bit Spinball, etc. But wait: AoStH's design was also on the cover of Triple Trouble and the GG Spinball port! Man, Sega's Western management was a mess lol.
Similarly, Nintendo of America kinda pushed the King Bowser Koopa cartoon design in the old Nintendo Comics System, and merchandise. (Including the Happy Meal box, Mario Quiz Cards series, and fruit snacks.) Oddly, in some of it he was recolored to look more like the game version.
It seems like they put in new rules right after the release of Sonic 3 (but not for Sonic 3 itself) that Sonic couldn't have the mohawk but Robotnik had to use one of the western designs (usually Milton's) and this led to weird shit like Spinball and Triple Trouble and the whole egg thing in Fleetway
I think the idea was that Sonic's design was a smaller difference so they might as be closer to the games while Robotnik's was a huge change they had to commit to
I found the different Robotnik designs to be confusing as a kid. I actually really like the AoSTH design because it’s so funny and expressive, but I agree that outside of that show it didn’t make sense. I’ve noticed that the actual classic Robotnik design never gets much love anywhere outside the games. I have ideas why this might be, but I’m not really sure either. Personally, I would love a return the the Classic Robotnik design, and then giving him a more sinister creepy tone, like Him from Powerpuff Girls. When you consider what Robotnik is, what he does and his motivations, he’s a very demonic figure.
As a sonic villain design, this is fantastic! If done right, it can be used to be menacing and/or goofy when needed to be.
As Robotnik, I'm not so sure. I heard years ago that the eyes was just a misunderstanding of his Sonic 2 glasses so I'm fine with that detail, but I have no idea where they got the jumpsuit from. If they thought "red shirt tucked under rubber pants" was goofy, what made them think "yellow belt and suspenders" would help it? in AoSTH, it fits the tone, but does it really help SatAM?
so yeah, I love AoSTH, but I agree, this design was strange.
You make some good points. Definitely agree on the costume - it may be the worst part of the design for me and bizarre that it's the same in SatAM.
Cheers!
I despise the AoStH design, except in AoStH itself because the context and tone worked, but mostly because John Baldry's performance was amazing and incredibly quotable.
However, I honestly think that the SatAM design is worse, it's too imposing for a comedic setting, but too similar to the AoStH design to be truly menacing.
Although, the worst of the western Robotnik designs (in my opinion) was probably the design from the SatAM pitch, which superficially mimicked the Japanese design, but looked absolutely hideous.
Agree 100% on John Baldry. He was fantastic!!
I gotta find that pitch version of SatAM Robotnik now. Off the top of my head, I'm not sure I've ever seen it? Sounds intriguing! Cheers!
@@HillTopTerebi in all honesty, Long John Baldry’s Eggman would’ve fit more with the game design moreso than Edwin Neal.
I thought I was the only one who thought Satam Dr. Robotnik looked strange and the design was weird.
I think there might be some bias here from seeing the AOSTH design first, because I've always loved SatAM's Robotnik design. I saw SatAM before I watched AOSTH, so when I saw the AOSTH Robotnik design, I always thought it was a downgraded version of the SatAM design. I'm just making assumptions here, tho. You may have seen SatAM first and still come to that conclusion, idk
Satam wasn’t really a full on comedy
I really enjoyed AOSTH as a little kid. Robobnik's design in the series never really bothered me, because I didn't know any other Robotnik/Eggman design at the time.
Growing up with him in the US it took me several years to realize that wasn’t even what “real” Robotnik looked like.
I remember reading somewhere that the only reason they used the design in StC is because the artists preferred it. Also if you look closely as it goes on it sort of just turns into it’s own, Robotnik’s head shrinks down and gets more compact and his body becomes more stout.
Considering Eggman was originally designed to be easy for children to draw, that those artists preferred Robuttnik... says a lot about them.
The Milton Knight design in Sonic the Comic was actually pretty fitting, since Robotnik is a mutant in that. He looked more like a mutant afterwards.
This heavily infected the USA as well, and I knew about the design before I even knew about the show he originated in. My brother and I had several novels based on the so-called SatAM show, and for the longest time we saw that as THE Sonic canon, even in the games. But those books used this Robotnik design, and so we thought this was what SatAM Robotnik looked like up until we actually saw the show. Meanwhile, when we saw AoSTH years later for the first time, we both thought, "What happened to the better, older show?" It seems like AoSTH got treated better by reruns, so we had no idea how old it was.
Incidentally, more recent audiences seem to have warmed up to this design thanks to the "Pingas" meme and other re-edits to AoSTH footage to create new jokes, which may make people wonder if this show was actually good. Having tried to rewatch it since all of the memes and UA-cam poops it launched, I can say that no; it still isn't.
Robotnik and SpongeBob were the catalysts for modern meme culture, and it’s all thanks to YTP
Yes it is, AOSTH is unironically a great show.
@@GamingGardevoir Spongebob predicted meme culture in the episode Ripped Pants, well before UA-cam even existed.
@@thomascircle245 I'm pretty sure the idea/concept of running a joke into the ground until it stops being funny predates Spongebob by years if not decades. Y'know, "Say the line, Bart"?
I think that Milton Knight deserves a PRRRRRRRROMOTION!
It’s the reason we got the Magnum Opingas that was the “PINGAS” meme
I feel like the AoStH Robotnik is the epitome of the "evil for the fun of it" character type. He's thoroughly hideous with not a single redeeming quality. His goals aren't power, control, or building a giant intergalactic amusement park, he just wants as many people to hate him as possible.
It _is_ really odd that this design caught on so much, considering its origin. I suppose it drew from brand unity- AoStH was on every weekday, and TV is a far more accessible medium than videogames, which are a little on the expensive side. For a whole lot of kids, this was probably the design they were most familiar with. I know I'd watched three TV shows before I ever got my hands on a game.
A lot of early western concepts for the blue blur seem to have arisen from SEGA of America and SEGA of Japan just throwing whatever they could at the wall and seeing what stuck.
The thing that I always found funny was how the two TV Robotnik designs were translated into the comics. Archie Robotnik had the design of SatAM Robotnik, but his personality was much more like the AoStH one at first. He darkened as the comic wore on until his death, but he never _fully_ lost the goofiness.
Meanwhile, STC opted for the goofy AoStH design, but their writing was much darker- Robotnik is a far more effective and dangerous villain in STC than he is in most Sonic canons, managing to achieve godlike power multiple times, and his story takes an even darker turn later on, as he gradually loses his mind and sinks into a depressive state where he actually _wants_ Chaos to destroy the world and kill everyone.
Personally, I don't really mind how wacky and weird AoStH Robotnik was. It's not like Robotnik or Eggman or whatever is _known_ for being intimidating, at least design-wise. Classic SEGA Robotnik wears a short cape and rubber pants that are also his shoes. His machines were always much scarier than him.
I can understand why people wouldn't like them, but I just can't say that the cartoon and design are bad. They're just different.
I can't fault the design in context, however the show was made with no real backgrounds at a reduced budget - typical of DIC, and part of how they sold themselves and got brand deals. Turn out something cheap with a high enough episode count for syndication.
Yeah they’re different. And also bad.
@@zephyr8072 Not as bad as your opinion, however.
@@KidPrarchord95 You just said Robuttnik's design wasn't bad.
This is objectively wrong. Go back to your corner.
@@zephyr8072 It is not my fault that you are too uncultured to appreciate the appeal of the ugly.
They did a damn good job at making the design look good and menacing in the comics if you ask me
They give it bulk, power and impact with the proportions
I wouldn't say AoStH was short-lived. It had more episodes than SatAm.
I LOVE this show and it’s only recently I’ve discovered people don’t really like it.
I find it hilarious!
Infinitely better than any other Sonic cartoon.
while i prefer sonic boom due to the better writing i will agree that i do really like aosth
There’s a huge fanbase for this show on the internet.
Eggman is a british cigarette, Robotnik, voiced by a cigarette is top tier.
The AOSTH series did have my favourite depiction of egg man. RIP Long John Baldry
Hi there, casual American viewer here. (I also preferred Robotnik/Eggman's original Japanese design.) I think I can clear up why Robotnik kept that design in the west for so long:
When Sonic X aired in the west, it was dubbed by 4Kids. SEGA was willing to send over their voice actors from the Adventure games, but 4Kids decided to use their native selection of voice actors instead since it was easier and cheaper. After the anime began airing, SEGA decided (in a very unprofessional way) to fire their English speaking Adventure-series voice actors and replace them with the ones from 4Kids for the sake of consistency and making sure the Sonic characters had the same voice in multiple platforms. This would happen again years later with the Roger Craig Smith cast taking over, not just in the games but in the spin-off series Sonic Boom (which SEGA formally acknowledged as being non-canon to the games).
What does this have to do with Milton Knight's Robotnik? Simply put, even back then, SEGA wanted Sonic to be consistent between platforms. The Sonic Team of Japan was aware that Sonic was building up its own identity with the 90's cartoon, and for a while, they entertained the idea of keeping Eggman's cartoon design in everything else. That's why you see it in official game artwork, toys, and more. They didn't entertain the idea too deeply; he still kept his Japanese design within the games. In fact, I can't really confirm any of this, but if anything explains Milton Knight's design reappearing so much, this would be the most likely reason.
As for why they chose Milton Knight's AoSTH design instead of the SatAM design... It's possible that, since both had a similar look, SEGA was under the impression that both designs were pretty much the same? It was the early 90's. No internet. A lack of translating abilities. The cartoons didn't air in Japan. It's possible they didn't know. However, they must have figured it out at some point. In the arcade cabinet game SegaSonic the Hedgehog, there is data that would have replaced Eggman's Japanese design with his SatAM counterpart, which would have been used in the western release of the game. However, that sprite data was never used. The Japanese design was kept, and any western release of that game was so rare and limited, most people never played it nor did they know it existed until the internet made the spread of information more accessible.
The irony is that in recent years, SEGA is started to lighten up and brand consistency and let Sonic have a multiverse of different interpretations. In the west, SEGA hires non-union voice actors for their Sonic games. This is why you'll never hear Ben Schwartz in the games, because Ben is a union-protected voice actor (and Idris Elba is a famous Hollywood actor; it would cost WAY too much to hire him for the games). The Sonic characters are set to have different actors for Sonic Prime (Canadian-based voice actors instead of American ones, I think?). With all this in mind, I think SEGA is realizing that if you can't beat 'em, go with the flow.
Maybe I'll write a longer comment in the future. But for now I'll just say that I absolutely love the Aosth Robotnik design and character.
I think that looking at the Sonic videogames you can interpret the source in different ways, and thus giving a comedic cartoon and a serious cartoon. Liking Looney Tunes so much I preferred the AoSth version. Sonic there is even a mix of Road Runner and Bugs Bunny. The badniks set Wile Coyote kind of traps that fail in a similar fashion... and Sonic dresses as a lady to outwit his adversaries, kind of Bugs Bunny like
Show me on the Sonic doll where the AoStH hurt you. lol jk I actually really loved the show and really appreciate it's sense of humor and how off the wall it is and like it even more as an adult to be quite frank. The design and Long John Baldry's voice fit so well, and he's an iconic villain in my eyes. I understand your need for a more serious Robotnik but this design was a lot more expressive indeed. What was your opinion on the Sonic satam Robotnik? That's the version that was used in the US comic book by the way.
The series ran for one season, but it was replayed for years; that's why they made 65 episodes, so it could be rerun daily on US TV as a promotion.
I've always felt, well, why was redesigning Robotnik even needed to begin with? Why did Sega in the west look at Robotnik come to the conclusion, yeeeaaaah this iconic design just won't fly, and while it's the design of Robotnik in the games, it can't be the design in other media. This confused me ALOT.
Maybe it’s just America’s weird obsession at the time to make their own adaptations of already established things. Take DBZ’s original Ocean Dub, where Goku’s dad (Bardock) was stated to have been a scientist that created a technique for the saiyans to turn into great apes without the moon. Or the fact that in the original Funimation dub, Frieza had his own language.
With Sonoc it wasn’t just Eggman they messed with.
The whole setting was twisted, toyed with and made up for no good reason. Including multiple weird origin stories for Sonic and Robotnik, making up the planet Mobius and so on.
There seemed to be an apparent need to take over the narrative and a refusal to defer to the creators. Which is especially weird considering the Japanese staff moved to the US and were heavily involved with joint development with SoA for Sonic 2 and 3.
You’d think some consensus with the original creators would’ve been reached.
The design really wasn't Iconic at the time lmao
Robotnik carried the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog.
If I had to guess, I think this design was based loosely on the US box art for Sonic 2, which gave Robotnik soulless black eyes, instead of his signature sunglasses
I kinda like how the sonic cartoon and comic decided to give him more a more humorous gross or threatening design it added a bit more identity to each version of eggman/robotnik
Adventures was and still is my favorite Sonic cartoon, honestly. I feel like it captures the Looney Tunes inspiration for Sonic better than anything else and I'm totally on board with the insane art direction. But I'm kind of weird like that.
Deluded.
Sonic 1 Robotnik theme on my ringtone over 2 years now.
I found a McDonalds AoSTH Robotnik toy at a thrift store when I was 7. I was SO HAPPY! Sonic merch was hard to come by back then.
I loved this design, Richard Elsons artwork in the comic made him look more badass
That I can agree with. Richard Elson was/is AWESOME!
It’s not only this Robotnik design but the Tails one too that was always used in America and ESPECIALLY Europe. He was not just in the cartoons but he was at Sega World sydney, he was in Fleetway plus various storybooks, games, promo material, also had merch (including the TOMY stuff, the Caltoy Tails plush, the 1996 Carl’s Jr viewer the 1998 Burger King toy), statues and mascot costumes.
Seriously the last time that design has ever been used was for the Sonic Collector’s Edition released in China in 2001 for Sonic’s 10th Anniversary. Both the original and cartoon Tails designs were used for the artwork apparently.
I'm from Spain, and over here, while the AOSTH dessign was used, the regular japanese Eggman dessign was used a lot, even in promotional material in magazines for things like Mean Bean Machine.
I have to add that in America they used the SATam version of this dessign as long as Sonic the Comic did, up to its Sonic Adventure adaptation.
Though I personally like the japanese take on Eggman, I have to say I like AOSTH Robotnik over his SATam counterpart. At least when It comes to personality, AOSTH is Closer to Eggman than SATam, who's just boring and spends the entire time hidden and just sitting...
Cope seeth and lactate, Milton Knight is a legend
My introduction to Sonic was a VHS of three AOSTH episodes so this has always been the definitive Robotnik design to me and the one I'll incorporate into artwork if I'm drawing something sonic related.
I get why some dont like this design and thats perfectly fine
Sonic Spinball is one of my favorite games, and also one of the *hardest* games I’ve ever played, and the fact that AoSTH Robotnik awaits you as the final boss is so gloriously funny.
i'll be honest, I never understood the AoSTH hate, I think it's honestly better than SatAM ever was, both in tone, and in art. Sonic's world is supposed to otherworldly and Sonic is supposed to be chaos personified, and to me SatAM was too far up it's own ass to give any kind of enjoyable story, or any kind of lore that has Robotnik being a polluting tyrant voiced by Jim Cummings.
That being said, I love AoSTH Robotnik design. He is what I expect a cartoon villain; fun, over the top, but also a mean looking son of a bitch. Also man, as a fat man myself, Robotnik being comfortable wearing nothing but a toga or an Egyptian skirt, breeds confidence; don't lie to yourself, Robotnik is freeballin in these fire looks too. What an absolute madlad and chad. You'd never see SatAM Robotnik freeballin, and Canon Eggman? Forget about it. All this discourse over the superior Robotnik.
AoSTH Robotnik is the ideal Eggman type. You may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like.
You have no artistic vision.
The whole video its just “i hate this design”, but i think its a cool and memorable design due to it being the principal face of robotnik, yet, it used to look goofy, which is like poopypants, its a joke characters which sometimes gets serious and thats what makes it cool
One good thing about the AOSTH Robotnik is Long John Barkley's wonderful preformance!
Agreed!
Funny how Archie hasd the SatAM Robotnik until they killed him off and replaced him with the post-Sonic Adventure Eggman, whereas Fleetway just slapped a new coat on the AOSTH one,
The design also showed up in the Sonic and Knuckles guide book from Brady games here in the US.
SatAm is my favorite design. They took the cartoonish look and made him an actual threat that if you laughed at him, you would be dead in seconds.
I honestly love Adventures of Sonic. It's a funny cartoon when you're not trying to see it as something it's not setting out to be.
Y'all didn't think this was peak cinema as kids? it was hilarious.
This version of Robotnik may be half-cracked like an egg, but it sure the 2nd most iconic interation of him. Heck, I even made UA-cam Poops from that cartoon.
As a kid, I watched AoStH for the first time on Netflix I believe. I was very confused by this Robotnik design and didn’t like it at all, but like you said, my dedication to the brand kept me watching. Robotnik's design was pretty much the only thing I didn’t like about AoStH to be honest. I liked watching it.
I think since I didn’t know the show even existed up until I watched it decades after its release, I didn’t really have any expectations and was happy with what I got. I’m not saying people can’t have expectations, but lack of them is an interesting factor that definitely changes opinions.
Now as an adult I absolutely love the show, flaws and all, and a great deal of that has to to with Robotnik himself. Anytime he's onscreen is glorious and Long John Baldry did a fantastic job voicing him. And as an artist, seeing how much thought went into his design for the purpose of a fun character for a cartoon makes me love him even more!
I even own a handful of cels from AoStH and have the whole show including the Christmas special on DVD. The show is also one of my go-to things to play in the background while I’m doing work or just to watch for the 80th time for mindless entertainment.
I could just be mentally clouded by YTPs but I enjoy this design for Robotnik. Admittedly though I often separate the cartoon as a whole from the rest of the Sonic material out there, even if by accident. Again, blame the YTPs lol
In the us, the Robotnik that went everywhere here was the SATAM design
As a fellow 8-year-old kid at the time... I just found it all to be confusing, haha.
I honestly wasn't even sure that guy at the end of Sonic 1 was really Robotnik (Eggman). Furthermore, the split between the appearances and the names is somehow both fitting and also piled on the confusion. I still only look back on it as a strange-but-fun phenomenon. What a time that was.
Can these sorts of things even happen today, in the age of the internet?
Haha it was confusing! You're right, I don't think it would happen any more. Cheers!
I can certainly remember being taken aback at Robotnik's design when I first watched the cartoon, but I was quick to embrace it soon enough, with the comic helping to seal the deal.
I think it was ultimately beneficial in the long run as the earlier Robotnik's wardrobe in the comic would look a little inconsistent sometimes. Depending on the artist, he either wore his classic game outfit, or an odd mishmash based on both the game and cartoon, which you can see in greater detail in the 1993 yearbook. The newer AOSTH inspired appearance gave him a more consistent look throughout most of the original comic's run.
As for how this became the dominant design in the first place? I imagine Channel 4 drip feeding us one episode a week might have played a part in that. By the time SatAM finally hit the UK airwaves, AOSTH had already left its mark thanks to the sheer number of episodes.
I think this is the reason why I thought Robotnik and Eggman were two different people when I was younger😑
If you thought the inclusion of the AOSTH version of Dr. Robotnik in "Sonic The Comic" was bad, you should see what they did to Super Sonic, in which they portrayed Sonic's super-powered form as a psychotic monster with a lust for destruction and death. ;P
That was cool tho
2:13 thing is, there might not be Super Sonic, however they started the whole Super Robotnik theme. Fleetway also made a badass Super Robotnik and now, after Sonic movie 2, I am glad the franchise has utilized the whole concept of a Super Eggman, it is a great idea and it was executed pretty damn well all the times he appeared imo
*eggsecuted
@@fnln3011 damn right
I remember the feeling I got when I saw Super Robotnik in Sonic 2, it was the most awesome thing I could think of
I personally think the design for Dr. Robotnik is fine for the show it came from, but not as a general representation. For that, the best design is obviously Naoto Ohshima's original look (and the update given to Robotnik by Yuji Uekawa starting with Sonic Adventure). Based on my own memories growing up in the '90s, the SatAM design took precedence here in the US over the AoStH one until Sonic Adventure (where everything became like the games, which, honestly, is my preference. It's part of the reason why I like the Sonic OVA the best out of all the animated Sonic stuff in the '90s).
The UK being stuck with that design was Long John Baldry's revenge for when that police officer tried to lay some boogie woogie on the king of rock and roll.
I also hated this version of Robotnik. It reminded me of Oh No! Real Monsters! Or whatever it was called.
When I played Sonic and the MD, I remember thinking about how beautiful and clean it was. Crisp, colorful with excellent aesthetics.
The shows were not that...
If only I'd known about the OVA, I would have loved that as a kid.
@novelezra Aaahh! Real Monsters.
You mean, "Aaaah! Real Monsters!"
That 90s Nickelodeon show is weird and ugly, but the "ugly" fits the description perfectly since monsters are supposed to be terrifying as well as the darker tone.
@@poweroffriendship2.0 it is Ahh!
I'm a fool. I think I got it confused with Oh No! More Lemmings
Do you still hate it?
This robotnik was used in a Brazilian game show, and he was fucking terrifying, they played a slowed version of the game over music when he entered.
This I've got to see!
Well, my country (Chile) didn't had an extra design since we didn't had our own media, we just imported stuff from the US and Europe and in the case of the cartoons, all 3 cartoons where just called "Sonic" when they aired
"And now...SONIC"
"Saturday morning...SONIC"
"Premiering for the first time...SONIC" and stuff like that
What we did get in the continent was new names for characters. Tails was changed to "Colitas" which is the direct translation for "little tails", which makes sense. Most names that had an english concept where changed to spanish.
Tails: Colitas
Sally Acorn: Sally Nuez
Knuckles: Nudillos
Shadow: Sombra (when X aired years later)
BUT, Eggman got a completely different name, idk who (maybe Robotnik was too menacing?) but in the 3 cartoons he was named "Dr. Mostachón" (Dr big moustache) which lead to confusion to some people when they played the games or Sonic X aired.
Also, in Sonic Underground, hedgehog was never translated to "Erizo" or "Puercoespin", instead, the characters where from a "magical animal" called "jedjog" (basically hedgehog but badly written), something funny
Thank you for your comment. That's interesting to hear - I had no idea Robotnik had a completely different third name! Thank you - new knowledge acquired! 🙂
@@HillTopTerebi You welcome!
To be frank, I remember being surprised too since I saw those cartoons just recently (they used to be exclusive to "premium" channels back when I was a kid), there are some clips in youtube that show the name
I was under the impression that the adventures of sonic the hedgehog came after sonic satam.
the more you know.
Why did Dr.Eggman always have an inconsistent design, Robotnik’s cloths can clearly be seen and so can his glasses so they didn’t have to change anything like they did for Sonic.
8:39 I think the comic kept the design because it looked unsettling
Pingas!
Here in the US, it looks like they used the design in some children's books based on SATAM.
It's like someone in the UK caught a glimpse of the future and saw how popular AoStH!Robotnik would become on the internet due to UA-cam Poop.
7:24 Yeah mate, same! Remember having furious arguments about what Robotniks real design was. Felt very smug when Chaotix and 3D came out.
Its kind of interesting. They kept playing up this whole "egg" angle with his design, but i feel more that this Robotnik looks more like a pear!
I actually quite like this Robotnik design, espesially in Fleetway when he is drawn by Richard Elson, he is scary, menacing and quite iconic
I like both designs. The Japanese design is my favourite but the aosth one is pretty fun and fits the cartoon better
I won't lie I really like this design as a kid.
I like the design and the Adventures cartoon. It does definitely work alot better comedically though.
I oddly, did like the design as a child, and it remained until Sat AM, growing up in America, I think they used adventures and Sat AM interchangeably till about late 94, 95 when Sat AM’s design was used till 99, still, the games kept the game accurate design.
I loved Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, it was a guilty pleasure of mine (and still is).
Looking at this comments section, you're definitely not alone! Cheers
I always thought that this was the actual Eggman/Robotnik design in the artworks (like how some game characters look very different in their artworks) and i'm not even from the uk, i'm from Brazil.
I used to dislike the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (AoStH here in 'The States'), but Baldry's voice work and charisma that he provided to AoStH Robotnik and Boogidyboo's YTP's (for the adults due to the crude humor), eventually won me over.
Also, I read that Milton grew to hate the designs that were used for the characters, but, that could also be a rumor. (I probably won't ever know.)
Here's a little fun fact did you know that in Sonic the hedgehog (the one that never really came around) they actually did plan on using that design when it was localized. The design is still in the folder but I believe they use the game version design
Are you referring to the arcade game?
There are leftover sprites for SatAM Robotnik from a scrapped localization.
I share name with the guy who created one of my favorite Eggman's design? This is a day of joy for me.
Sonic Adventure 1/2's stylized Eggman will always be my favorite. lol
Actually US did use this Design. In the Early Archie Comics it was even closer to AOSTH than STC 💀
And the “Normal” Eggman is literally a different character…
The Archie comics never used the aosth design. It was the satam design until he was killed off.
I love AoStH. It's so chaotic.
You could get a plush of this Robotnik design from Sega World Sydney, in Small Medium and Large sizes I believe. The design was also used in some Sonic Storybooks published by Golden Books in the US, yet the stories themselves were based on the SATAM cartoon.
See, I'm ok with it for Sonic the Comic because they just kept him more on model and went for the intimidation factor, and it kinda works. (Unlike the toys and 'official' EU artwork, which weren't drawn very well at all.)
Whereas, the OG design of Robotnik isn't intimidating. It's his actions and VA that make SA2 Eggman a threat.
Agreed, besides maybe the elf shoes the design was actually a good design, it was the STYLE that made it look so goofy
As a 12 year old kid who first played Sonic 1, I was mesmerised by the game. Yes, the graphics and speed were something else of course, but I think the most enthralling for me was the Japanese look of the game. Growing up in The Netherlands, most of our pop culture came from the US and UK, so Sonic was - for me at least - the first true encounter with Japanese pop culture.
Dr Robotnik was a Japanese style villain. He was mysterious, strange and so different from what I knew at that time. He captivated me. I hated and loved him at the same time. A true polar opposite from Sonic. All in all: Great!
The cartoon Eggman is, by contrast, nothing of the above. It looks and feels like a poorly drawn excuse for the Western kids, who couldn't handle the quality of Japanese pop culture. A cheap slapstick rip-off, almost too alien from the games. So, nor sir, I don't like it.
"couldn't handle the quality of Japanese pop culture" such a weeaboo statement IMO.
If I recall correctly actually, it was SatAM that was seen as the liability. SatAM got away with stuff it otherwise wouldn't have been able to because of Adventures existing, if all else failed they could stop satAM and do more in the style of adventures. Which is exactly what they did, seeing as Adventures has 60+ episodes and SatAM's spiritual successor, underground, took a lot of elements from adventures as well as SatAM. SatAM robotnick is my favorite robotnick conceptually and sparked my love for villains in all media, but adventures robotnick had the most fire writing of all time. And John Baldry really made the athestetic work with his performances. And there's nothing particularly *wrong* with the design, other than the fact that it isn't crazy accurate to the games.
In the comic the design is definitely serves it's own purpose though. It's ugly, it's bold, it's brash, you aren't meant to sympathize with the comic version. While they humanize Adventure's robotnick a loooooot more. A good take on the character, if untraditional. Just like SatAM's robotnick cementing the athestetic and tone, the whole show revolves around him. Except he's often portrayed as a protagonist in his own right. You treated the design and show a bit too harsh for my tastes honestly.
I, uh... I thought this was how he was SUPPOSED to look. 😅
As a kid, I didn't grow up playing the games, but I watched that Sonic cartoon, and saw that Robotnik design everywhere I looked. I also didn't know the name "Eggman" until maybe 2015 or so.
That robotnick is life you cant hate him
Long John baldry definitely made AoStH way more watchable. As cool as Sat AM was, Adventure's Robotnik had more range and personality again thanks to Baldry. I guess that's why this version of Robotnik is also a UA-cam poop icon. LOL
Haha yeah, Long John Baldry was fantastic as Robotnik. To be honest, pretty much ALL the voice cast were excellent in this show.
Another thing that bugged me was Sonic’s quills looking more like a Mohawk, when in sonic 2 you can see the back of his head looks different.
Yep, not sure why they chose to do that for the US takes on Sonic. I guess some marketing people somewhere decided that would appeal more to Western audiences for whatever reason.
I love this ugly looking design for a variety of reasons, for one John Baldry's iconic performance of the character in the show fits in with the goofy lighthearted setting of the show and everytime I look at the design I can already his voice. Secondly thanks to internet culture many of his quotes have become great memes such as the infamous "PINGAS" line from YTPs. Additionally Sonic The Comic also somewhat made this design work in a more serious setting? His characterisation there is nothing like the show and is more akin to Satam Robotnik and the artists do manage to make him look menacing most of the time but disconnect between the comic and the show the design comes from can take a little getting used to but.
All in all I don't think it's ultimately a terrible design because of those reasons that make up for it and in turn it's actually made me love the design for it!
I really love this design. But I'd be lying if I said I would have wanted Sega to use it in other media. It feels very much tailor made for the cartoon it was designed for. And for that, it's perfect (coupled with brilliant casting choice for his VA). It definitely should have stayed contained to it's own little corner in the Sonic series imo.
My guess: they thought the kids would remember more the cartoon than the video game, since the 80's proved that TV shows were what stuck with the kids, and video games in the 90's weren't that affordable.