Gotta Go Fast: Watching and Teaching the Sonic Movies to your Kids
Sonic 3 is now available for streaming! It is currently free to watch for those who have Paramount Plus. Sonic seems to be everywhere right now with things like themed snacks, clothing and toys. This is the perfect time to watch these movies with your kids.
I have listed below the ages I think each movie is appropriate for, things from the video games in each movie, a list of important characters to know in each movie and locations found in each movie. At the end I also included ways to have your own Sonic party at home with your kids. I also included a link to my worksheets which would be a great way to make the movies a little more educational.
Sonic Movies
Are these movies worth watching?
Yes! Adults may enjoy these even more than kids watching. I was born in the 80’s and was a kid in the 90’s. There are a lot of great songs in the second and third movies that people would recognize. I liked the scene in the third movie where they blow into a usb that is not working similar to what we did for game cartridges. The humor in the movie is funny for kids (my daughter was laughing a ton, especially in the first movie.) Many of the jokes have a double meaning that make them entertaining for adults as well.
If you played any of the Sonic games growing up there are many references to the games in each of the movies my husband helped me figure out below. The movies are like watching your favorite games come to life!
***There are movie spoilers beyond this point. If you just read the What Age Should Watch for each movie you will not get too many spoilers. I generally think the first 2 movies are good for kids over 7 and the third movie is good for kids over 10. If you read till the end I will tell you ways in which you can turn these movies into activities and lessons you can do with your kids. You can also see my ideas for a Sonic party based on the movies.***
Sonic the Hedgehog
This movie is centered around the backstory of Sonic the Hedgehog and his arrival to Earth. Viewers also see his introduction to Tom and Dr. Maddie Wachowski. Dr. Ivo Robotnik is also introduced in this movie as a character attempting to capture Sonic.
What Age Should Watch?
This movie was good for ages 7+. The language was overall good with a few more adult words used. There were quite a few insults by Jim Carrey similar to insults he uses as the Grinch.
There was action but a lot of it was fistfights and no one got grievously injured. There were drones and lasers in a lot of scenes. In a more perilous scene people got thrown off of a roof.
In the beginning of the movie Sonic’s caretaker Longclaw was interpreted to have passed away but this was not a focal point of the movie. There are scenes where the sister is tied to the chair and her car is stolen by her family.
The first half of the movie was mostly lighter with more backstory and jokes. The second half had more action scenes. Our five year old lost interest in watching about halfway through the movie.
Things I Liked the Most about the Movie
I love to learn about the origin stories of different things. This movie really delved into the backstories of Sonic and Tom. This one was also the most humorous out of the three movies. I liked the scene with the turtle and the scene where Sonic and Tom got into a brawl at the Piston Pit. I also liked the foreshadowing about the scene from Charlotte’s Web that Robotnik mentions and the end of the movie.
Rewatching this movie recently was a little scarier with the recent drones flying over New Jersey. Drones are heavily featured in this movie.
Character Movie Introductions
Tom Wachowski - The Donut Lord and the Town Sheriff of Green Hills, Montana
Maddie Wachowski - The Pretzel Lady (does yoga) and Veterinarian, Wife of Tom
Wade - Police officer at the Green Hill’s Sherriff’s Department and friend of Tom
Sonic - Blue hedgehog from the planet Mobius/ calls himself the Blue Blur
Longclaw - Sonic’s owl caretaker on Mobius
Crazy Carl or Super Insightful Carl - first person to alert the town about Sonic/ calls him the “Blue Devil”
Rachel - Maddie’s sister who dislikes Tom
Jojo - Rachel’s daughter
Commander Walters - Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the United States/ periodically a member of G.U.N./ the “Olive Garden Guy”
Dr. Ivo Robotnik - Genius robotics expert initially commissioned by the United States Government
Agent Stone - Robotnik’s faithful assistant who makes a mean latte with steamed Austrian goat milk
Movie Locations
Planet Mobius - Longclaw and Sonic’s house
Mushroom Planet
Green Hills, Montana - Wachowski residence, Sonic’s cave, Farmer Zimmer’s barn, Green Hills Sheriff Department, Baseball Field
San Francisco - TransAmerica Building
Paris, France - Eiffel Tower
Great Wall of China
Pyramids in Egypts
How old is Sonic in this movie?
Sonic is supposed to be a kid. Things that imply this are his racecar bed and beanbag chair. There are multiple times that he is shown to be impatient. In one scene he finds it hard to wait in a car for a long period of time.
How does this movie relate to the games?
The Sonic 1 game on Sega Genesis had only Sonic and Robotnik similar to the first movie.
The Mushroom Planet is similar to Mushroom Hill Zone from Sonic 3 and Knuckles.
The City Escape level in Sonic Adventure 2 was similar to some of the San Francisco street scenes in the movie.
The yellow flower in the Green Hill Zone level of Sonic 1 looks the same as the flower Sonic gives to Longclaw. The name of the town Green Hills is also a reference to this level.
Rings used for teleportation were first introduced in Sonic 1.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
This movie introduces the characters of Tails. He and Sonic work together to find the Master Emerald before Robotnik. Knuckles is another major character that is introduced in this movie.
What Age Should Watch?
This movie was good for ages 7+.
My 7 year old said “That’s dangerous” quite often in this movie. There were more action scenes than in the first movie. There was more damage done by Robotnik. No one was killed in the movie though at the end it did appear that someone had died towards the end of the movie.
Things I Liked the Most about the Movie
I enjoyed that the characters had some depth and that you could see the motivations that were driving them to do good or bad things. There were some surprises in the movies that were not easily predictable. The backdrop of O’ahu for some of the scenes was beautiful. It was also nice to see Maddie and Rachel as strong characters in this movie. At the beginning of the movie I liked the nod to the movie Cast Away when Robotnik was talking to Stone’s head that was made of stone. This was similar to Tom Hanks and his volleyball.
Character Movie Introductions
Randell Handel - Fiancee to Rachel
Miles “Tails” Prower - Two-tailed fox that has been keeping tabs on Sonic/ Able to fly, Technologically Savvy and a Gadget Inventor
Knuckles - Last of the Echidnas that is Searching for the Master Emerald/ 1 million percent muscle/ Super Strong and a Trained Fighter with a Bone Breaking Handshake
Alien Scavengers - like to wear owl masks
Movie Locations
Mushroom Planet
Seattle, Washington
Green Hills, Montana
Hawaii - Four Seasons Resort O'ahu
Siberia - restaurant and Owl Temple and mountains
How old is Sonic in this movie?
Sonic is supposed to be a teenager. This is implied by things like him sneaking out of the house, rolling his eyes at people, being left alone while his parental figures go to a wedding and by him causing havoc when left alone.
How does this movie relate to the games?
Story lines from this movie are combined from the Sonic 2 game and from Sonic 3 & Knuckles on the Sega Genesis.
The plane that flew over the wedding multiple times and that Tails was flying towards the end of the movie Tails also uses in some of the games.
The snowboarding scene where Sonic was going down the mountain was similar to the Ice Cap Zone level in Sonic 3.
Robotnik’s Mega Robot at the end of the movie closely resembles the final boss from Sonic 2.
The island in this movie resembled Angel Island in Sonic 3 and Knuckles.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3
This movie introduces Shadow and goes into his backstory as well as some of the history behind a G.U.N. research facility. In this movie the characters are trying to help prevent the destruction of Earth.
Things I Liked the Most about the Movie
I liked how Sonic, Knuckles and Tails were working together. This showed that even though they were each uniquely strong it was best to work as a team. This was also helpful in them not being tempted by the power of the Master Emerald. I also liked the scene where Tom and Maddie were bored of doing hobbies at home such as painting, crocheting, baking sourdough bread and making a model of the Taj Mahal. This seemed similar to how people felt during the height of the pandemic. I also liked the scene where Sonic pretended to be each of the Beatles as he sped across Abbey Road.
Character Movie Introductions
Shadow - hedgehog that is great at acrobatic leaps, motorcycle riding and using chaos energy
Director Rockwell - military official with G.U.N.
Professor Gerald Robotnik - grandfather to Robotnik and Maria
Maria Robotnik - granddaughter of Gerald Robotnik and friend to Shadow
Movie Locations
Tokyo, Japan
London, England
Green Hills, Montana
Space
The Moon
How old is Sonic in this movie?
Sonic is supposed to be a teenager in this movie. He is now part of a crew.
How does this movie relate to the games
When Sonic ran past the holograms of Tails and Knuckles there was a sign that spun similar to the end of different levels in some of the side-scrolling games. There was also music similar to what was played in the levels.
Shadow was first introduced in Sonic Adventure 2 on Dreamcast.
The scene after the credits in this movie features Metal Sonic and Amy Rose. Both were first introduced in Sonic CD. Metal Sonic was a creation of Robotnik.
The Chao Garden scene in Tokyo is referencing the Sonic Adventure games. In these games players could take care of Chao and even remove them from the game and play with them on a VMU.
Doomsday Zone in Sonic 3 & Knuckles looks very similar to the movie scenes where Sonic and Shadow are Super Sonic and Super Shadow in space.
The new suit that Robotnik wears towards the latter half of the movie is very similar to Robotnik’s outfits in the games.
The coffee shop that Agent Stone operates called “The Mean Bean” is a reference to the Sega Genesis puzzle game “Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine.”
Sonic Movies: Things to Teach Your Kids
Worksheets
I made a seven page worksheet set for the Sonic the Hedgehog movies. Check it out here: Sonic the Hedgehog Movie Worksheet Set. It covers some of the movie topics I listed below.
Characters in the movies
This is a great way to see if your kids are comprehending the events in the movies. Going over the different characters with your kids can then evolve into having the kids understand their character arcs. Read through the list of different characters in each movie with your child above. Then ask them questions about the different characters and things in each movie. By delving into some of the character’s actions they may get some insights about their own emotions as well.
Here are some example questions for each movie:
What can Sonic do really well?
How do Tom and Maddie help Sonic?
Why does Sonic feel alone in this movie? What are some examples of this?
Why is Tails excited to find Sonic?
Why is Rachel so upset in this movie?
Who was Shadow’s human friend from his past?
What are ways in which Robotnik could have treated Agent Stone better in this movie?
Movie Locations
The rings that Sonic uses in these movies help him travel to locations quickly.
See if your child can figure out what all the locations are in each movie. Then teach your child about each location.
My worksheet set includes a worksheet with flags, countries and capitals. There are two more about landmarks in different countries that are seen in the different movies. There is a fourth one about landmarks in London that are seen in the latter half of the third movie.
Here are some questions to ask your kids in relation to the movies:
What are the Seven Wonders of the World?
What is the tallest building in the world?
What are four landmarks in London?
Animals in the Movies
The Sonic movies have dogs, hedgehogs, a turtle, fox and an echidna. This is a great chance to teach your kids about these animals.
Did you know that echidnas are monotremes? Did you know that porcupines are large rodents while hedgehogs are small mammals? Have your kids learn about the differences between porcupines, hedgehogs and echidnas and then fill out what they learn in a table.
Sonic Party
What foods should I have for the party?
Chili Cheese Dogs
These are a must as they are Sonic’s favorite food. They are first introduced in the bar scene in the 1st movie. They can also be seen towards the end of the 2nd movie. Sonic is also eating one in one of the initial scenes in the 3rd movie when he is about to race.
Donuts
Sonic initially thinks Tom is named the Donut Lord as he is often eating and talking to donuts in the 1st movie. They can also be seen inside of a s’more in the 3rd movie and on Tom’s sweater as well. Tom is referenced as the Donut Lord multiple times in each movie.
Ice Cream
Ice cream is mentioned as a celebratory dessert idea at the end of the second Sonic movie. It can also be seen in the s’more in the third movie.
S’mores
In the third movie there are a couple instances where they are making s’mores.
Lattes
Agent Stone's lattes with steamed Austrian goat milk are referenced multiple times in the movies. Lattes would be a good drink idea for adults.
What party games should be played?
Video games
If hanging out indoors playing any Sonic video games would be a great idea. Some of the best multiplayer games are Sonic R (racing game on the Sega Saturn), Team Sonic Racing (multiple platforms), and Knuckles Chaotix (Sega 32X).
Ring Toss
Rings are an important part of any Sonic game. Find some yellow rings to play ring toss with!
Races
Sonic is the fastest creature in the universe, so what better thing to do in a party than race? Have a regular race or egg and spoon race with faces on the eggs to represent Eggman (Robotnik).
Baseball
Baseball games are prevalent in the 1st and 2nd Sonic movies.
What should people wear?
Have party goers wear the color of their favorite characters. They could wear Blue for Sonic, Orange for Tails, Red for Knuckles, Black for Shadow or Pink for Amy. Bonus points if they have a mustache or turn themselves into a Mega Robot with boxes like Robotnik.