36 replies to this topic

[Shadow]

I found these being sold on Ebay. Early concept art of the characters showing a very 80's vibe that looked like it had nothing to do with Sonic originally. Makes me wonder if SatAM was adapted from an existing pitch for a cartoon at the time.

 

 

 

 

 

[Ogilvie]

These are radically different to a point that some are proposing that DiC may have been planning its own cartoon, but when approached by SEGA, converted a lot of the artwork over to what later became SatAM.

 

It's always interesting to see how things originally looked, though!

 

Best of luck to anyone here who will be bidding on the concept art.

[RedAuthar]

Robotnik looks like Ganon...

[Ogilvie]

Robotnik looks like Ganon...

 

Haha, that's exactly what I thought! It really is surreal to see these designs... I think there's merit to the idea SatAM was originally going to be a different cartoon, and then come SEGA's asking for a show, they tweaked everything to make it more Sonicy.

[LogiTeeka]

Robotnik looks like Ganon...

A bit, I guess.

Actually, his design reminds me of the demonic monster which those two ghosts in "Night of the Werehog" transform into when they battle against Sonic.

Also, Sally was originally a human? I can already hear millions of fans crying out "My childhood is ruined!"

[RedAuthar]

 

Robotnik looks like Ganon...

A bit, I guess.

Actually, his design reminds me of the demonic monster which those two ghosts in "Night of the Werehog" transform into when they battle against Sonic.

 

This Ganon:

  

He looks practically the same.

 

 

 

Also, Sally was originally a human? I can already hear millions of fans crying out "My childhood is ruined!"

 

They were already doing that over Archie's redesigns. 

[furrykef]

Is it just me or do those two Princess Sally sketches look like old-school Disney?

[Uncle Ben]

Is it just me or do those two Princess Sally sketches look like old-school Disney?

 

They do

[LogiTeeka]

Is it just me or do those two Princess Sally sketches look like old-school Disney?

It depends on what you call "old-school". I mean, is it classic 30's/40's Disney? Disney's sketchy period of the 50's-70's? The 80's Don Bluth style? Or Renaissance era Disney?

If anything, her human design reminds me of Princess Daphne from "Dragon's Lair".

[RedAuthar]

She looks like something out of an Asterix and Obelix comic to me. 

[ZealousFoX]

I think Sally looks like a Don Bluth sketch of the captured princess from Dragons Lair.

[MoKat]

Is it just me or do those two Princess Sally sketches look like old-school Disney?

It's not just you, Kef; the first one made me think of Princess Jasmine.

The second (human) set made me think of some of Don Bluth's characters.

[Hammer]

I agree. The first Sally really looks like Jasmine.

And now I think that we can take for granted that SatAM wasn't going to be Sonic-related at all. Just look at "Robotnic". Apart from the name, they'd make him resemble his videogame (or at least AoStH) counterpart. However, he doesn't look like him in the slightest.

[RedAuthar]

Yeah...the Robotnik feels so out of place.  Like the concept artist didn't know anything about the games or the show. 

[Uncle Ben]

Maybe this was before Sonic came to be

[NotSoFast]

More early designs, including a brutish-looking cyborg Robotnik with a ponytail:
http://www.sonicstad.../2014/06/35461/

And now I think that we can take for granted that SatAM wasn't going to be Sonic-related at all. Just look at "Robotnic".

Hardly, considering that the SatAM we got had nothing to do to do with the games. I don't think that ridiculous Robotnik design is that surprising when you remember that the SatAM staff never gave a rat's ass about the source material.

[Captain Sorzo]

Given that said source material never offered much in the way of a compelling narrative, I'll never understand the complaints about SatAM not being faithful to the games. It's not like they were given the writings of Tolkien to work with. The series still took the core premise of "nature versus industry" and used it as a groundwork for its setting and themes. The subtext of the final series was far more complex, of course, but at its core it rings truer to the essence of the classic games than most incarnations of the franchise, including most games of subsequent eras. I wouldn't particularly care if things like the Chaos Emeralds and Death Egg were tacked on just for the sake of being there. If they were implemented in effective, thematically poignant ways, as was the case with the Power Rings, it could have been to the benefit of the series, but at that point their merit is derived solely from their use in the series. Such elements are not inherently of value simply by virtue of being from the games.

 

As for the concept art itself, I don't care for the designs, but that's not surprising. Much of the focus of pre-production is going through iteration after iteration until the creators settle on something that works well. Han Solo started out as a green-skinned alien with gills. These designs didn't work and were rightfully scrapped, but they ultimately helped pave the way for the excellent final designs used in the series. Still, it does raise some interesting questions regarding SatAM's actual origins.

[Uncle Ben]

As i said, this looks like concept for a different show that was retooled for SatAM

 

Given that said source material never offered much in the way of a compelling narrative, I'll never understand the complaints about SatAM not being faithful to the games. It's not like they were given the writings of Tolkien to work with. The series still took the core premise of "nature versus industry" and used it as a groundwork for its setting and themes. The subtext of the final series was far more complex, of course, but at its core it rings truer to the essence of the classic games than most incarnations of the franchise, including most games of subsequent eras. I wouldn't particularly care if things like the Chaos Emeralds and Death Egg were tacked on just for the sake of being there. If they were implemented in effective, thematically poignant ways, as was the case with the Power Rings, it could have been to the benefit of the series, but at that point their merit is derived solely from their use in the series. Such elements are not inherently of value simply by virtue of being from the games.

 

This

[Hammer]

I agree with you guys: it's not like there was a lot of story in the source material. The best they could have done would have been naming a few locations after the stages in the games, or including the Chaos Emeralds.

It's like that first Mario Bros. show: it had nothing to do with the games except for the characters (and the enemies). And, honestly, I prefer SWATbots than generic badniks.

[Shadow]

I bought the Robotnik one. Something of history to hold onto.