History Trivia / SonicTheHedgehogTheMovie

** Ever wanted to get it after 2004? New copies haven't been released since then, and it is pretty rare to find it (at least on DVD, the VHS is considerably cheaper). There is a digital re-release available on the Google Play Store, [[Main/NoExportForYou but only in Japan]]. According to Creator/DiscotekMedia, this is because Sega ended up losing [[https://www.sonicstadium.org/news/media/sonic-the-movie-unavailable-for-licensing-due-to-missing-paperwork-r1831/ key paperwork regarding music and voice actor royalties]], meaning they don't know who and what to pay and thus, [[ScrewedByTheLawyers making any legal rerelease post-2004 impossible outside of Japan]].

** Ever wanted to get it after 2004? New copies haven't been released since then, and it is pretty rare to find it (at least on DVD, the VHS is considerably cheaper). There is a digital re-release available on the Google Play Store, [[Main/NoExportForYou but only in Japan]]. According to Creator/DiscotekMedia, this is because Sega ended up losing [[https://www.sonicstadium.org/news/media/sonic-the-movie-unavailable-for-licensing-due-to-missing-paperwork-r1831/ key paperwork regarding music and voice actor royalties]], meaning they don't know who and what to pay and thus, [[[[ScrewedByTheLawyers making any legal rerelease post-2004 impossible outside of Japan]].

** Ever wanted to get it after 2004? New copies haven't been released since then, and it is pretty rare to find it (at least on DVD, the VHS is considerably cheaper). There is a digital re-release available on the Google Play Store, [[Main/NoExportForYou but only in Japan]]. According to Creator/DiscotekMedia, this is because Sega ended up losing [[https://www.sonicstadium.org/news/media/sonic-the-movie-unavailable-for-licensing-due-to-missing-paperwork-r1831/ [[ScrewedByTheLawyers key paperwork regarding music and voice actor royalties]], meaning they don't know who and what to pay and thus, making any legal rerelease post-2004 impossible outside of Japan.

** Ever wanted to get it after 2004? New copies haven't been released since then, and it is pretty rare to find it (at least on DVD, the VHS is considerably cheaper). This is most likely due to a lack of interest from the current copyright holder Creator/{{Sega}}, as the licence isn't available to distributors.
*** There is a digital re-release available on the Google Play Store, [[Main/NoExportForYou but only in Japan]].

** Ever wanted to get it after 2004? New copies haven't been released since then, and it is pretty rare to find it (at least on DVD, which costs around 50 bucks, the VHS is considerably cheaper, selling at around 15 dollars). This is most likely due to a lack of interest from the current copyright holder Creator/{{Sega}}, as the licence isn't available to distributors.

** An official release of the OVA's soundtrack was planned, but scrapped due to poor sales. Fortunately, the full version of the credits theme "Look-a-Like" was released by Illuminor in August 2020, followed by the original production demos for the music in September of the same year, both provided by an anonymous contact who worked on the film.

** The soundtrack is also this as a official release was planned, but scrapped due to poor sales of the OVA. Fortunately, the full version of the credits theme "Look-a-Like" was released by Illuminor in August 2020, followed by the original production demos for the music in September of the same year, both provided by an anonymous contact who worked on the film.

** As stated on the main page, the OVA is actually an unsold pilot for an anime series.

* PopCultureUrbanLegends: It's often believed that ADV released a censored version back in 1999, which edited out/censored several bits of the movie. However, when fans looked into it in more recent years, they found that there no such version actually exists, with many speculating that it was largely a rumor that happened to have spread like wildfire back in the day. The 1999 VHS/DVD release that was released is mostly unchanged from the Japanese version aside from Dr. Eggman getting changed to Dr. Robotnik and Black Eggman to Metal Robotnik (since that was still his standard name at the time in the West) and some of the swearing being edited out.

* NamesTheSame:
** ''VideoGame/PajamaSam'' also has a place called the Land of Darkness. (Bizarrely, ''Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie'''s initial Japanese release was on the same day that ''Pajama Sam in No Need To Hide When It's Dark Outside'' was revealed at [[UsefulNotes/ElectronicEntertainmentExpo E3]].)
** The Sara from this OVA isn't an adorable redheaded 8 year old [[{{Franchise/Pokemon}} Pokémon Trainer]] and [[Franchise/LoveLive School Idol]] like the OriginalCharacter Sara from the ''Fanfic/TokimekiPokeLiveAndTwinbee'' fanfic series is.

** The soundtrack for the OVA was advertised for a retail release, but it never dropped, most likely due to the OVA's poor sales in Japan, Europe, and the US. "Look-a-like" was eventually included on ''[[GreatestHitsAlbum True Colors: The Best of Sonic the Hedgehog Part 2]]'' in 2008.

** The soundtrack for the OVA was advertised for a retail release, but it never dropped, most likely due to the OVA's poor sales in Japan, Europe, and the US. "Look-a-like" was eventually included on ''[[GreatestHitsAlbum True Colors: The Best of Sonic the Hedgehog Part 2]]'" in 2008.

** The soundtrack for the OVA was advertised for a retail release, but it never dropped, most likely due to the OVA's poor sales in Japan, Europe, and the US. "Look-a-like" was eventually included on [[GreatestHitsAlbum "True Colors: The Best of Sonic the Hedgehog Part 2"]] in 2008.

** The soundtrack for the OVA was advertised for a retail release, but it never dropped, most likely due to the OVA's poor sales in Japan, Europe, and the US. "Look-a-like" was eventually included on [[CompilationAlbum "True Colors: The Best of Sonic the Hedgehog Part 2"]] in 2008.

** The soundtrack is also this as a official release was planned, but scrapped due to poor sales of the OVA. Fortunately, the full version of the credits theme "Look-a-Like" was released by Illuminor in August 2020 who said that a person who worked on the film sent him the recording.

** The soundtrack for the OVA was advertised for a retail release, but it never dropped. Most likely due to the OVA's poor sales in Japan, Europe, and the US.

** There seem to have been plans to include the OVA in ''Sonic Mega Collection'', as a prototype featured entries for the two parts in the extras section. However, this was scrapped for unknown reasons.

** There seem to have been plans to include the OVA in ''Sonic Mega Collection'', as a prototype featured entries for the two parts in the extras section. However, this was scrapped for unknown reasons (likely licensing issues) and the final release lacks the OVA entirely.

* PopCultureUrbanLegends: It's often believed that ADV released a censored version back in 1999, which edited out/censored several bits of the movie. However, when fans looked into it in more recent years, they found that there no such version actually exists, with the 1999 VHS/DVD release being unchanged from the Japanese version aside from Dr. Eggman getting changed to Dr. Robotnik and Black Eggman to Metal Robotnik (since that was still his standard name at the time in the West) and some of the swearing being edited out.

* UrbanLegendOfZelda: It's often believed that ADV released two different versions of the movie, the original 1999 version which edited out/censored several bits of the movie, and a 2004 version which is completely uncut.

* ImageSource: For EvilKnockoff.

* FanNickname: Many fans tend to simply refer to the film as "Sonic OVA" instead of any of it's official titles. Likely for simplicity and more recently, to avoid confusion with the [[Film/SonicTheHedgehog2020 other Sonic movie]].

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Ever wanted to get it after 2004? New copies haven't been released since then, and it is pretty rare to find it (at least on DVD, which costs around 50 bucks, the VHS is considerably cheaper, selling at around 15 dollars). This is most likely due to a lack of interest from the current copyright holder Creator/{{Sega}}, as the licence isn't available to distributors.
** There is a digital re-release available on the Google Play Store, [[Main/NoExportForYou but only in Japan]]

* NamesTheSame: ''VideoGame/PajamaSam'' also has a place called the Land of Darkness. (Bizarrely, ''Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie'''s initial Japanese release was on the same day that ''Pajama Sam in No Need To Hide When It's Dark Outside'' was revealed at [[UsefulNotes/ElectronicEntertainmentExpo E3]].)

* ExiledFromContinuity:
** All unique characters and elements exclusive to the OVA are not allowed to appear in other Sonic media. According to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iw-BaVS8oyc&t=1982s a Q&A by Ian Flynn]], the head writer of the [[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics Archie]] and [[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogIDW IDW Sonic comics]], this is due to Sega not being keen on giving attention to any past incarnations of the franchise that aren't their own and wanting to keep the focus on Modern Sonic product, and have thus forbidden the use of them.
** The OVA itself doesn't feature nor mention the Chaos Emeralds, cornerstone elements of the franchise, because they were planned to be a major plot point for an [[WhatCouldHaveBeen abandoned feature film adaptation at MGM]] in development around the same time. When the movie was thrown out, the Emeralds (which hadn't appeared in any ''Sonic'' animated media since ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog''[='=]s "Quest for the Chaos Emeralds" story arc) made an appearance in ''WesternAnimation/SonicUnderground'', though they're more in line with Master Emeralds than the Chaos ones.

** The OVA itself doesn't feature nor mention the Chaos Emeralds, cornerstone elements of the franchise, because they were planned to be a major plot point for an [[WhatCouldHaveBeen abandoned feature film adaptation at MGM]] in development around the same time. When the movie was thrown out, the Emeralds (which hadn't appeared in any ''Sonic'' animated media since ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog''[='=]s "Quest for the Chaos Emeralds" story arc) made an appearance in ''WesternAnimation/SonicUnderground'', though largely different from the way the games portrayed them.

* ExiledFromContinuity: All unique characters and elements exclusive to the OVA are not allowed to appear in other Sonic media. According to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iw-BaVS8oyc&t=1982s a Q&A by Ian Flynn]], the head writer of the [[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics Archie]] and [[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogIDW IDW Sonic comics]], this is due to Sega not being keen on giving attention to any past incarnations of the franchise that aren't their own and wanting to keep the focus on Modern Sonic product, and have thus forbidden the use of them.