Hey everybody, I'm so glad so many of you enjoyed the documentary! Just to let you know, I'm going to be putting out a "Director's Cut" of the documentary in the near future, which will feature a few bits of additional information, two new illustrations, and will feature minor editing fixes, and equalized audio with no audio peaking! I'm also writing a book about the history of Sonic SatAM, which will feature even more information about the show's production, and more information about Ben. Check out the Twitter for the book project here: twitter.com/SatamHistorian
Finally had a free evening to watch this, I though you did excellent work on this vid. I'll look forward to the directors' cut & definitely pick up your book when it releases. Thank you for giving us what is likely the closest thing we'll ever get to a proper conclusion to this underrated part of the Sonic franchise.
RIP Ben...that bit with Ken Penders screwing him over still boils my blood. Honestly his overall story for the 3rd season sounds great. I particularly like his Mobius origin story. Nice to see he wouldn't have shied away from some dark subject matter.
Wow so both Archie and Ben Hurst had a similar idea of Mobius being a nuclear transformed Earth. Tough the key difference in the former was the whole Overlander story.
Honestly after learning the story of underground's development I'm impressed with how they actually managed to push 40 decent episodes with all those limitations
@@charmingmagican9821 Naaaah they don't. Underground is the definition of a cashgrab that Dic made just to make more money. thats why it has a song in every episode. the entirety of that show was basically a grift. if it was good, you wouldn't be here defending it lmao.
What a guy that Ben Hurst was. Always so respectful to fans and giving his all to them for what they wanted, and yet, he just couldn't catch a break no matter how hard the reached.
I know that this is late at this moment right now and I don’t know if you will see this, but I just want to wish you Team Season 3 success in returning Sonic SatAM. In hopes of finishing Ben Hurst’s wish, and giving the show the proper finish that it deserves! I will try to support in any way I can, if just watching your videos will help in you growing money. Good luck to everyone on the team, and may Ben rest in peace.
SATAM Sonic was such a work of art, it deserves the fandom it has. Ken Penders being Ken Penders unfortunately boils down to “if I can’t have it. No one can have it.” Now thinking about it, Ken sabotaging Ben Hurst was like eerie foreshadowing his unhinged lawsuit that sealed the Archie sonic comics’ fate.
Wasn't expecting to cry, I really wasn't. Then the epilouge hit with Nicole and I just started bawling. This was so good and informative. SATAM is and always will be my favorite Sonic verse. IT's my usual go to for when someone tries and tells me about how bad their show got it or something. So hearing this, all of this, hits hard as I have been curious as to the whole story from end to end. I do wonder, maybe the emeralds would've played in season 4, after all you can't have Knuckles without the emeralds. And if the show went further, could've Shadow made his own way?
As a long time fan of the show, this was a absolute delight to watch. And seeing what a possible ending could have been for the series as a whole, I gotta be honest, that bit between Sally and Nicole, that made me tear up, I love it!
This has been a delight to share with friends. Thank you for having me on for colouring and painting the background on the poster, designing the satellite, the Organicizers, the Freedom Fighters' families, drawing Tails's Steven Universe moment, drawing the Origin of Mobius, and a lot more. It was a delight to bring Ben's vision to life and we can only hope that this continues to be shared by fans for a long time to come. Working with you this year on this and Super Sonic Sisters was a real Blast from the Past that Im glad we brought to the Future as well as getting to share time on Rejuiced. I have high hopes for you, Jacob. For someone who's only in their early 20s you show a lot of promise with your work in regards to this series and I wish nothing but the best for your endeavours. Thank you for bringing us all together to bring Ben's vision to life. Id like to do that again.
@@AdventureMaster18 Can you please consider my suggestion? Maybe do a documentary of the origin of the freedom fighters (from the "1993 Sonic Saturday Mornings DiC animated television series" aka Sonic SatAM) and how their designs may or may not be based on the Animal buddies from the American Lore of early sonic games? If you’re interested!
That epilogue got me a little emotional, just due to hearing and seeing Sonic and Sally interacting like that - really pitch-perfect to the tone of the series. If the folks doing the Sea3on revival can maintain that tone, then my hope are very high! But it's crazy to see that even after all these years, there were parts of Ben's life and story pitches I didn't know about; I was a little grade schooler when SatAM debuted, right in its prime demographic (plus a big Genesis Sonic player), and it was one of my first tastes of the disappointment that comes when you realize a show you love isn't coming back, so knowing the full extent of how hard he fought for it is really something special.
The ending nearly made me cry. This is arguably one of the most well-researched and documented video on a cartoon I've loved for a long time. X3 You did an incredible job and so did everyone else for bringing this all together. :3
RIP Ben, you brought us an unfinished but unrealized masterpiece... my hope is that us, the fans can continue to contribute to your dream, realize and finish that potential that you unfortunately never got to see to fruition, even if it is but a small act of signing a petition to get the ball rolling again
that ending really moved me it's a nice portion and a can 100% believe this would be the end of the show thank you very much for this and i hope we can see Nicole, Sally, and the rest of the gang again one day
Excellent work to everyone involved! I had a blast (to the past) viewing this documentary :) I did the Nicole scenes where she is in her little cyber space realm and the bits of Julian and King Acorn (someone out there probably recognized one of the scenes based on the fake screenshot I done over ten years ago)
Wow this video is amazing, getting to know some of Ben's plans was very interesting. The animation of Sally seeing Nicole is very touching and I think would be a perfect ending to the show. The work done for this video is amazing and everyone involved did a great job.
Amazing video. Ben's work on Sonic was a huge part of my childhood, and I never gave up hope that we'd eventually get to see the conclusion it deserved, at least until Ben's passing. Of all the reasons to despise Ken Penders, even the nonsense that went down at the end of Archie 1.0 pales in comparison to what he did to Ben back when the pitch for a movie was a thing. Him taking on Archie was ultimately just him trying to get what he thought he was owed, from an industry which is not kind to artists and writers. It's just that doing so fucked over a book that was, by then, better than anything he ever put on the page (as long as Ian wasn't doing stories longer than eight parts, anyway). Him stabbing Ben in the back was him betraying one man because he thought he knew better, when everything we've seen of his own movie pitch is, quite frankly, absolutely awful. In some ways, I find it hard to go back to SatAM now. I mostly watched it when I was a kid, and not long after Ben's death, I fell out of love with preboot Archie _hard._ I hated the direction the book took after Issue 200, and I started to see the things I didn't like in the new issues in the ones I'd previously enjoyed, and it caused me to kinda... shove a bunch of my old Sonic favourites in the nostalgia box where I can keep my childhood memories of them being good and not have to think too hard about whether it holds up to my grouchy adult tastes. I've yet to be disappointed by the episodes I _did_ go back to, they're just as good as I remember, but no full-series binge yet. One of the things that always stuck with me was the Nicole backstory. I used to be a fanfic writer, and I always used that backstory. Even when I was writing in "Very definitely the Archie canon up until Issue XYZ", I'd always drop the Archie-derived time-travel backstory in favour of the SatAM one. I always found it fascinating that the character with the most terrifying powers in the entire franchise was also one of its kindest, and most gentle. If she wanted to, she could've responded to any threat by just melting the brains of any antagonistic force, but she never _would._ Nicole has long been one of my favourite characters in the series, from her genesis in the cartoon to the work Archie's various writers put into expanding and developing her character (depending on my mood, her not being involved in the Mecha Sally Saga is like 50% of the reason that story doesn't land for me. Like, c'mon, with her powers and Sally having recently freed _her_ from mind control, this is a _perfect_ opportunity to really get some mileage out of her, and she's basically not in it? For shame, Mr. Flynn!), and the additional details that Ben provided only add to that. She's sitting in S-tier alongside Emerl and challengers to that throne are few and far between.
this was wonderfully put together! Ben's ideas were so cool and i loved hearing about them alongside all the fanart you compiled for the video. SatAM is something special
This is something special. Sonic Satam, was a little before my time but when I grew up and became a sonic fan and found this tv series...it's a treasure, not to mention how much inspiration it gave to the world of Sonic, characters, enemies and more. Fantastic, this is one of the best documentaries I've seen in a long time, very good work. Its time may have passed, but it is far from forgotten. Not to mention, all the hearts they touched are still happening today.
Finally, finally had the chance to watch part two of this. Thanks so much for compiling all of this. I've wanted this closure since I watched the season two finale in the early nineties.
This is absolutely incredible! Massive props to you and everyone who was involved in making the documentary 1:55:01 and i found this moment really sweet Amazing job Jake!!!!
This is amazing all the development we have come to know in the years leading up to a potential season 3&4, explained this video! The real sucky part is, from the context I was able to construct in my mind is that Ken Penders screwed over the pitch for the movie/season finale, and thus, was able to essentially steal Ben Hurst’s work under the legal protection of the SEGA IP, then after filing the complaint back in the mid 2000’s after Chronicles release to claim that it was HIS work SEGA was “stealing” from, however, could do nothing as Ben was still alive. After Ben’s sudden death, the sudden renewed desire to pursue his case was launched, and with Ben no longer in the picture, SEGA couldn’t have a living defense against the claim, thus Penders wins the case, stealing the credit for the whole SatAM universe, and really ultimately destroying any chances we had for more SatAM content going forward. I’m NGL this is the darkest retrospective I’ve had the pleasure of watching. Good work! I do hope this comment gets pinned. If not, I’ll come back to this is a future TH-cam video project…
I wouldn't call myself a massive SatAM fan at the time it aired, I was a bit young to really enjoy it's more serious story, but I do remember being a legitimately bummed out 6 year old when it didn't come back in '95. I did end up getting into the Archie Comics series heavily around 8 or 9, loving all the different Freedom Fighters. As I got older, I realized there was a vast community of fans trying to bring it back and it always left me with a tinge of melancholy knowing that it was most likely a fruitless endeavor. However, I will always respect Ben Hurst for sticking to his guns and pushing hard to get this thing back. His ideas for season 3 may have been a BIT to heady for the era, (that being said they'd fit snuggly alongside stuff like The Owl House and Amphibia today), but I admire his tenacity. The last animatic feels so legit here.
This was incredibly well done. As someone who grew up with these characters since a young age, that ending really moved me. Seeing the FF victorious was only something I was able to see in the Archie comics. I was weeping as much as Antoine at the end there!
To whoever produced the music for this documentary…thank you for using Michael Tavera’s wonderful theme from the *first* season. The beautiful music is half the reason I enjoyed this show so much as a kid. I especially like how the music fit into the final scene when Sally reunited with Nicole. Very nice touch…and thank you to everyone who put this documentary together! I wish I was more involved with the fan sites from back in the day.
While I'm sad Ben Hurst is no longer around and his plans for a future SatAM season/film was butchered by Ken Penders, I'm happy some of his pitches for the third season are available and Team Sea3on is making it as a huge and dedicated fan-made project. This was a wonderful documentary! The epilogue made me tear up. :')
Thank you so much for making this video! This version of the Sonic franchise was what I grew up with (rewatched the 2 seasons whenever I could). That end statement about Closure is perfect, as I often wondered what happened and why the show never continued on. Also loved learning about Ben and how much care and love he had for the project.
I DID THE NICOLE MELTING BIT!! [Now instead of text walls and screenshots, I can send this video to whoever I'm info dumping! :D ] Thanks for letting me draw stuff for you! It's fascinating how much darker this show could've gotten.
Fantastic video. I really enjoyed it. Finding out all the plans Ben had and did not happen. I hope many of these ideas happen in Sea3on :3 Thank you very much Jake for making this fantastic video! You really made alot of SatAM fans happy!
Ken Penders was a walking disaster double whammy. The first one being the "unflattering pitch" to SEGA, the second being how his legal drama with Archie Comics practically wrecked any chances of SEGA officializing or blessing a Season 3 project.
I'ma be real wit u chief...I was very nervous about watching this. Because if you'd messed this up it would've killed me. But to my great relief I don't have a single complaint (well, ok, some of the voice work was a little wonky but it's fine). Absolutely stellar research in the first half. I'm really impressed with how much of his career you dug up. And you went above and beyond organizing and presenting the notes in the second half, not just bringing it all to light but bringing it to life. Thank you again for doing this for us. For him. Maybe someday Pat will get back to us with the rest of those notes. As Ben used to say, there's always hope. But if this turns out to be how the 30-year-long saga of the lost third season ends...you ended it well. I can find peace with this. Thank you.
Hey - Dawn Best here. First of all, really great video. Second, minor thing for your re-do, but I think I should note that Alessandro Sanasi is male. My source for this was that we were all on the same mailing lists back then :D But I loved the synopsis of what could have been. Really well done video, man.
Thanks for the kind words Dawn! I love the art you did for the Archie Sonic comics, you have a wonderful art style. :) And thanks for the correction on Alessandro Sanasi's gender, I will definitely fix that for my Director's Cut!
@@AdventureMaster18 My pleasure! I love your dedication in chronicling the old days of Sonic. Great stuff, man. If I can be of any help in the videos you do on this multifaceted subject, don't be afraid to reach out!
oh my goodness, this was amazing!!! massive thank you to all of you who made this, you all did an amazing job researching and recreating everything! thank you all for this!
What a great tribute to Ben! He deserved it. 🥲 As an aside, I wonder if there has been any interview with Len and/or Pat about SatAm? Sounds like they were quite a crew.
1:33:30 I love that the last two are references to both Robotnik and who he has been portrayed by. The Bear being Winnie the Pooh, who is voiced by Jim Cummings, the voice of Robotnik in this continuity, and Dr. Ivo Robotnik as portrayed in the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. A nice nod I may say
SatAM might not be my cup of tea for Sonic. But i gotta respect the amount of work and care that was put on it. If anything i hope it gets concluded for Ben's legacy as well as for the fans of it.
This was a fantastic documentary and its endearing to finally hear Ben's full plans for Season 3. I dont recall the ending every being released to the public so this is news to me. I will admit, the conclusion is a bit conflicting and bittersweet. NICOLE being brought back in her physical form, yet shes still in the body of a 5yro. Sally and her childhood friend reunite, but adopts her as her daughter. Overall, I waited decades for an ending to the SatAM saga and now that I got it, I feel a sense of satisfaction knowing that these characters got a happy ending.
It's very cliché, but I suppose the third season really was the friends made along the way. Very nice video. As a huge fan of Sonic, but with only a recently developed interest in the SatAM and the other Western continuities, it was interesting to see all this laid out. I had known of the Nicole twist for example, but didn't realise there was so much to it. I wonder if it was worth including Penders' defence regarding his involvement in the "sabotage", though I understand the video is strictly by Hurst's own words. Not like any one of us could know enough to consider a 'whole' truth anyway.
I always figured that Season 3 would introduce Metal Sonic and Amy/Rosey the Rascal-- it was weird that they weren't part of Season 2, particularly given that Uncle Chuck was clearly based on Metal Sonic. Knuckles and Knack would have had to be the Season 4 antagonists debuting along with the returning Robotnik.
It's really ridiculous that Ben seemed properly obsessed with finishing this story and had well over a decade to actually flesh out the season but never did.
He did flesh out the season, he had tons of notes and ideas written down, but most of them were never made public/shared. What's presented here is all that's currently known about the season based on what was shared online/with his friends.
@@AdventureMaster18 Many times in this video he's quoted saying, I don't know I never fleshed it out, I'm just saying if it is all fleshed out and written down somewhere, I would have given it to one of those three trusted friends in case I died so that the story could be told.
The Nicole origin flashback actually gave me chills. Extremely well done, and especially the ending. SATAM is possibly one of the best written kids-shows ever made. Never before would you expect a licence tie-in cartoon to create a good vs. evil epic that could give even Star Wars a run for it’s money. SATAM is what inspired me to create and write myself and absolute legends like Ben and the gang are to thank for that. Just goes to show the difference it makes when you really care about what you create. We may have lost Ben, but I hope his work inspires more «Bens» to create as well.
A;Time stamp please? B;The previous decade had bangers too, like the joes,dungeons and dragons,ect, and sat-am came out during the nineties, when iconic shows popped out overnight! C;voice actors and script? D;What you mean, exactly?
@@erikbihari3625 A: Try from 1:24:30 B: It’s a bit subjective to era, but I’ve yet to see anything reach the same ambition as SATAM when it came to a setting & plot like this. It’s *very* rare to see a kids show like this one handle the idea of a rebellion taking on a all powerful empire while also somehow managing the balance between that dark theme while still keeping things light at times. There have been good shows since; but not like this. C: I encountered SATAM in its original run as a kid myself. The excellent writing made me hungry to do the same myself. I went into cartooning and continue to this day. My original inspiration was SATAM. D: There are many kids shows out there (and especially licensed stuff) where I often got the impression of the production just going through the motions of making something to order. With SATAM it felt like “a Sonic cartoon for kids” just the starting point and merely an excuse to delve into a passion project. They clearly cared about the world & characters and it always shows when they do care. Quality usually comes from that.
Hey everybody, I'm so glad so many of you enjoyed the documentary!
Just to let you know, I'm going to be putting out a "Director's Cut" of the documentary in the near future, which will feature a few bits of additional information, two new illustrations, and will feature minor editing fixes, and equalized audio with no audio peaking!
I'm also writing a book about the history of Sonic SatAM, which will feature even more information about the show's production, and more information about Ben. Check out the Twitter for the book project here: twitter.com/SatamHistorian
Uh what’s the audio drama you recommend for Nicole’s origin again?
@@rockmanmix6242Sonic Polaris
@@AdventureMaster18 got it
Finally had a free evening to watch this, I though you did excellent work on this vid. I'll look forward to the directors' cut & definitely pick up your book when it releases. Thank you for giving us what is likely the closest thing we'll ever get to a proper conclusion to this underrated part of the Sonic franchise.
I thought IXIS is Naugus first name
RIP Ben...that bit with Ken Penders screwing him over still boils my blood. Honestly his overall story for the 3rd season sounds great. I particularly like his Mobius origin story. Nice to see he wouldn't have shied away from some dark subject matter.
And also we could’ve had knuckles in an actual good sonic 90s show no offense to adventures of sonic the hedgehog By the way
@@DontforgetPercyproductionsthat was sonic underground not the adventures of sonic the hedgehog
@@DontforgetPercyproductionsbut regardless all 3 series are goated reguardless and should have been allowed to finish
Penders screwed Archie over too
I audibly shouted “FUCK YOU KEN!” Man that pissed me off!
Rip Ben Hurst. You wrote a great story.
Wow so both Archie and Ben Hurst had a similar idea of Mobius being a nuclear transformed Earth. Tough the key difference in the former was the whole Overlander story.
Archie took from SatAM's notes, actually. They even used character ideas the show discarded, like Nate Morgan.
@@Idazmi7 Although it's worth noting that SatAM Nate was a tall wizard instead of a short scientist.
3:31 no god damn way. Dude was trained by the best voice actor of all time.
Honestly after learning the story of underground's development I'm impressed with how they actually managed to push 40 decent episodes with all those limitations
I'm making a reboot!
With the timeline of the show rewound like a VHS tape!
Well, "decent". Some of them were decent, some of them were somewhat good, some of them were ">_>".
"Decent" and Sonic Underground don't belong in the same sentence.
@AnAverageGoblin yes they do
@@charmingmagican9821 Naaaah they don't. Underground is the definition of a cashgrab that Dic made just to make more money. thats why it has a song in every episode. the entirety of that show was basically a grift.
if it was good, you wouldn't be here defending it lmao.
OMG! Poor Nicole.😢
This is so beautiful.
And the Ben Hurst caricature at the end.... 💐💐💐💐💐💐💐
Even though I wouldn't say SATAM is my favourite, it's sad Ben didn't get to finish it.
Yes. 100% agreed.
I feel the same for Sonic Underground. Didn't care for it, but the fact it's left unfinish despite being so close to an ending is jsut baffling.
@@WhoPutsThisStuffHere I'm making a reboot of it if that helps. =D
@@WhoPutsThisStuffHereyeah I was so confused that it had no real conclusion 😅
What a guy that Ben Hurst was. Always so respectful to fans and giving his all to them for what they wanted, and yet, he just couldn't catch a break no matter how hard the reached.
Support Team S3ason
Happy to have voiced Sally for this! Thanks for having me!
❤
You nailed the Acorn Princess role. I love it.
We are so PROUD of you! ❤ Xo, Em
Thank you so much Em!
Hi
I know that this is late at this moment right now and I don’t know if you will see this, but I just want to wish you Team Season 3 success in returning Sonic SatAM. In hopes of finishing Ben Hurst’s wish, and giving the show the proper finish that it deserves! I will try to support in any way I can, if just watching your videos will help in you growing money. Good luck to everyone on the team, and may Ben rest in peace.
27:15 "Siblings, Music, Missing Mother, Stupid New Characters" 😂 never gets old.
Ben was even trying to save Sonic Underground and even push to Episode 66. Season 3 of SatAM would have been hype galore. Rest easy Ben Hurst.
SATAM Sonic was such a work of art, it deserves the fandom it has. Ken Penders being Ken Penders unfortunately boils down to “if I can’t have it. No one can have it.” Now thinking about it, Ken sabotaging Ben Hurst was like eerie foreshadowing his unhinged lawsuit that sealed the Archie sonic comics’ fate.
Penders is just a real jerk at the end of the day
Wasn't expecting to cry, I really wasn't. Then the epilouge hit with Nicole and I just started bawling. This was so good and informative. SATAM is and always will be my favorite Sonic verse. IT's my usual go to for when someone tries and tells me about how bad their show got it or something. So hearing this, all of this, hits hard as I have been curious as to the whole story from end to end.
I do wonder, maybe the emeralds would've played in season 4, after all you can't have Knuckles without the emeralds. And if the show went further, could've Shadow made his own way?
I feel really bad for Ben honestly 😢
As a long time fan of the show, this was a absolute delight to watch. And seeing what a possible ending could have been for the series as a whole, I gotta be honest, that bit between Sally and Nicole, that made me tear up, I love it!
This is very well made. I wanted to cry happy tears. R.I.P. Ben Hurst.
This has been a delight to share with friends.
Thank you for having me on for colouring and painting the background on the poster, designing the satellite, the Organicizers, the Freedom Fighters' families, drawing Tails's Steven Universe moment, drawing the Origin of Mobius, and a lot more.
It was a delight to bring Ben's vision to life and we can only hope that this continues to be shared by fans for a long time to come.
Working with you this year on this and Super Sonic Sisters was a real Blast from the Past that Im glad we brought to the Future as well as getting to share time on Rejuiced.
I have high hopes for you, Jacob. For someone who's only in their early 20s you show a lot of promise with your work in regards to this series and I wish nothing but the best for your endeavours.
Thank you for bringing us all together to bring Ben's vision to life.
Id like to do that again.
Thank you so much Gwen. Your art is amazing and I would not have been able to finish the Super Sonic Sisters video or this documentary without you. :)
@@AdventureMaster18
Can you please consider my suggestion?
Maybe do a documentary of the origin of the freedom fighters (from the "1993 Sonic Saturday Mornings DiC animated television series" aka Sonic SatAM) and how their designs may or may not be based on the Animal buddies from the American Lore of early sonic games? If you’re interested!
That epilogue got me a little emotional, just due to hearing and seeing Sonic and Sally interacting like that - really pitch-perfect to the tone of the series. If the folks doing the Sea3on revival can maintain that tone, then my hope are very high!
But it's crazy to see that even after all these years, there were parts of Ben's life and story pitches I didn't know about; I was a little grade schooler when SatAM debuted, right in its prime demographic (plus a big Genesis Sonic player), and it was one of my first tastes of the disappointment that comes when you realize a show you love isn't coming back, so knowing the full extent of how hard he fought for it is really something special.
The ending nearly made me cry. This is arguably one of the most well-researched and documented video on a cartoon I've loved for a long time. X3 You did an incredible job and so did everyone else for bringing this all together. :3
I'm glad to have contributed the first storyboards to this documentary!
Here's my boards: 1:45:55
RIP Ben,
you brought us an unfinished but unrealized masterpiece...
my hope is that us, the fans can continue to contribute to your dream, realize and finish that potential that you unfortunately never got to see to fruition,
even if it is but a small act of signing a petition to get the ball rolling again
that ending really moved me
it's a nice portion and a can 100% believe this would be the end of the show
thank you very much for this and i hope we can see Nicole, Sally, and the rest of the gang again one day
Glad the fans have picked up the torch with S3ason.
Need to support it
Excellent work to everyone involved! I had a blast (to the past) viewing this documentary :) I did the Nicole scenes where she is in her little cyber space realm and the bits of Julian and King Acorn (someone out there probably recognized one of the scenes based on the fake screenshot I done over ten years ago)
Genius work... but then Ben Hurst was a genius. Thank you for putting it all together and giving us fans closure.
Wow this video is amazing, getting to know some of Ben's plans was very interesting. The animation of Sally seeing Nicole is very touching and I think would be a perfect ending to the show. The work done for this video is amazing and everyone involved did a great job.
Amazing video. Ben's work on Sonic was a huge part of my childhood, and I never gave up hope that we'd eventually get to see the conclusion it deserved, at least until Ben's passing. Of all the reasons to despise Ken Penders, even the nonsense that went down at the end of Archie 1.0 pales in comparison to what he did to Ben back when the pitch for a movie was a thing. Him taking on Archie was ultimately just him trying to get what he thought he was owed, from an industry which is not kind to artists and writers. It's just that doing so fucked over a book that was, by then, better than anything he ever put on the page (as long as Ian wasn't doing stories longer than eight parts, anyway). Him stabbing Ben in the back was him betraying one man because he thought he knew better, when everything we've seen of his own movie pitch is, quite frankly, absolutely awful.
In some ways, I find it hard to go back to SatAM now. I mostly watched it when I was a kid, and not long after Ben's death, I fell out of love with preboot Archie _hard._ I hated the direction the book took after Issue 200, and I started to see the things I didn't like in the new issues in the ones I'd previously enjoyed, and it caused me to kinda... shove a bunch of my old Sonic favourites in the nostalgia box where I can keep my childhood memories of them being good and not have to think too hard about whether it holds up to my grouchy adult tastes. I've yet to be disappointed by the episodes I _did_ go back to, they're just as good as I remember, but no full-series binge yet.
One of the things that always stuck with me was the Nicole backstory. I used to be a fanfic writer, and I always used that backstory. Even when I was writing in "Very definitely the Archie canon up until Issue XYZ", I'd always drop the Archie-derived time-travel backstory in favour of the SatAM one. I always found it fascinating that the character with the most terrifying powers in the entire franchise was also one of its kindest, and most gentle. If she wanted to, she could've responded to any threat by just melting the brains of any antagonistic force, but she never _would._
Nicole has long been one of my favourite characters in the series, from her genesis in the cartoon to the work Archie's various writers put into expanding and developing her character (depending on my mood, her not being involved in the Mecha Sally Saga is like 50% of the reason that story doesn't land for me. Like, c'mon, with her powers and Sally having recently freed _her_ from mind control, this is a _perfect_ opportunity to really get some mileage out of her, and she's basically not in it? For shame, Mr. Flynn!), and the additional details that Ben provided only add to that. She's sitting in S-tier alongside Emerl and challengers to that throne are few and far between.
Thank you so much for having me! Great documentary!
You were way past cool! Your performance as young Nicole shook me to my core, your talent was on full display!
Sonic;"Say what now"?
this was wonderfully put together! Ben's ideas were so cool and i loved hearing about them alongside all the fanart you compiled for the video. SatAM is something special
This is something special.
Sonic Satam, was a little before my time but when I grew up and became a sonic fan and found this tv series...it's a treasure, not to mention how much inspiration it gave to the world of Sonic, characters, enemies and more.
Fantastic, this is one of the best documentaries I've seen in a long time, very good work.
Its time may have passed, but it is far from forgotten.
Not to mention, all the hearts they touched are still happening today.
Finally, finally had the chance to watch part two of this. Thanks so much for compiling all of this. I've wanted this closure since I watched the season two finale in the early nineties.
This was worth the wait, I enjoyed drawing Robotnik with a pug face.
He looked very adorable.
This is absolutely incredible!
Massive props to you and everyone who was involved in making the documentary
1:55:01 and i found this moment really sweet
Amazing job Jake!!!!
This is amazing all the development we have come to know in the years leading up to a potential season 3&4, explained this video! The real sucky part is, from the context I was able to construct in my mind is that Ken Penders screwed over the pitch for the movie/season finale, and thus, was able to essentially steal Ben Hurst’s work under the legal protection of the SEGA IP, then after filing the complaint back in the mid 2000’s after Chronicles release to claim that it was HIS work SEGA was “stealing” from, however, could do nothing as Ben was still alive. After Ben’s sudden death, the sudden renewed desire to pursue his case was launched, and with Ben no longer in the picture, SEGA couldn’t have a living defense against the claim, thus Penders wins the case, stealing the credit for the whole SatAM universe, and really ultimately destroying any chances we had for more SatAM content going forward. I’m NGL this is the darkest retrospective I’ve had the pleasure of watching. Good work! I do hope this comment gets pinned. If not, I’ll come back to this is a future TH-cam video project…
Now this is delightful! Congrats man, this documentary is a beautiful product of your hard work and passion, and you should be incredibly proud!
I wouldn't call myself a massive SatAM fan at the time it aired, I was a bit young to really enjoy it's more serious story, but I do remember being a legitimately bummed out 6 year old when it didn't come back in '95. I did end up getting into the Archie Comics series heavily around 8 or 9, loving all the different Freedom Fighters. As I got older, I realized there was a vast community of fans trying to bring it back and it always left me with a tinge of melancholy knowing that it was most likely a fruitless endeavor.
However, I will always respect Ben Hurst for sticking to his guns and pushing hard to get this thing back. His ideas for season 3 may have been a BIT to heady for the era, (that being said they'd fit snuggly alongside stuff like The Owl House and Amphibia today), but I admire his tenacity. The last animatic feels so legit here.
Had a few tears at the end, that was great!
This was incredibly well done. As someone who grew up with these characters since a young age, that ending really moved me. Seeing the FF victorious was only something I was able to see in the Archie comics. I was weeping as much as Antoine at the end there!
So great to see this visually, as well as seeing JayFoxFire take part in this project
This turned out incredible! Thanks once again for having me in board!
To whoever produced the music for this documentary…thank you for using Michael Tavera’s wonderful theme from the *first* season. The beautiful music is half the reason I enjoyed this show so much as a kid. I especially like how the music fit into the final scene when Sally reunited with Nicole. Very nice touch…and thank you to everyone who put this documentary together! I wish I was more involved with the fan sites from back in the day.
id have given anything to get season 3 ; ; Ben was an absolute legend for all the effort he put in for trying to get season 3 on the air
While I'm sad Ben Hurst is no longer around and his plans for a future SatAM season/film was butchered by Ken Penders, I'm happy some of his pitches for the third season are available and Team Sea3on is making it as a huge and dedicated fan-made project.
This was a wonderful documentary! The epilogue made me tear up. :')
That final scene I have to say I got emotional. Nicole is no longer in her computer and she is in the fur. 😭
Thank you for putting this all together, what a wonderful way to celebrate the recent anniversary of the series.
This was such a great watch and listen. RIP Ben❤
It was a blast and a half to have participated in this! Thanks for letting me honor one of my top fave childhood series.
Thank you so much for making this video!
This version of the Sonic franchise was what I grew up with (rewatched the 2 seasons whenever I could).
That end statement about Closure is perfect, as I often wondered what happened and why the show never continued on. Also loved learning about Ben and how much care and love he had for the project.
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
YES IT'S HERE!!!
i am going to shed a few tears over this, most definitely
So glad I got to be a part of this and work on some storyboards. It turned out great!
I DID THE NICOLE MELTING BIT!!
[Now instead of text walls and screenshots, I can send this video to whoever I'm info dumping! :D ]
Thanks for letting me draw stuff for you! It's fascinating how much darker this show could've gotten.
What an incredible project! Amazing work Jake pulling this all together and bringing so much SatAM energy!
Congrats on the release man! You Did an amazing job!
Fantastic video. I really enjoyed it. Finding out all the plans Ben had and did not happen. I hope many of these ideas happen in Sea3on :3 Thank you very much Jake for making this fantastic video! You really made alot of SatAM fans happy!
Ken Penders was a walking disaster double whammy. The first one being the "unflattering pitch" to SEGA, the second being how his legal drama with Archie Comics practically wrecked any chances of SEGA officializing or blessing a Season 3 project.
thank you for putting so much effort into this documentary to bring closure to not only Sonic and Sally, but to us fans too
I just want all good shows for children to have a proper conclusion if it's essential
Me too
That was beautiful. I cried at the end.
Absolutely stellar dude! 🎉
This was beautiful, no words could do it justice....
I'ma be real wit u chief...I was very nervous about watching this. Because if you'd messed this up it would've killed me. But to my great relief I don't have a single complaint (well, ok, some of the voice work was a little wonky but it's fine). Absolutely stellar research in the first half. I'm really impressed with how much of his career you dug up. And you went above and beyond organizing and presenting the notes in the second half, not just bringing it all to light but bringing it to life. Thank you again for doing this for us. For him. Maybe someday Pat will get back to us with the rest of those notes. As Ben used to say, there's always hope. But if this turns out to be how the 30-year-long saga of the lost third season ends...you ended it well. I can find peace with this. Thank you.
Hey - Dawn Best here. First of all, really great video. Second, minor thing for your re-do, but I think I should note that Alessandro Sanasi is male. My source for this was that we were all on the same mailing lists back then :D
But I loved the synopsis of what could have been. Really well done video, man.
Thanks for the kind words Dawn! I love the art you did for the Archie Sonic comics, you have a wonderful art style. :)
And thanks for the correction on Alessandro Sanasi's gender, I will definitely fix that for my Director's Cut!
@@AdventureMaster18 My pleasure! I love your dedication in chronicling the old days of Sonic. Great stuff, man. If I can be of any help in the videos you do on this multifaceted subject, don't be afraid to reach out!
oh my goodness, this was amazing!!! massive thank you to all of you who made this, you all did an amazing job researching and recreating everything! thank you all for this!
What a great tribute to Ben! He deserved it. 🥲 As an aside, I wonder if there has been any interview with Len and/or Pat about SatAm? Sounds like they were quite a crew.
I would of like a revival of Sonic Satam if it wasn't cancelled.
That's why Sea3on is going to happen ;)
@@Giovanni_Team_Rocket_UK But when is it gonna come out that what I was thinking
Thank you for getting the information out there, I probably would've never found it.
that epilogue gave me goosebumps and even made me tear up
1:33:30 I love that the last two are references to both Robotnik and who he has been portrayed by. The Bear being Winnie the Pooh, who is voiced by Jim Cummings, the voice of Robotnik in this continuity, and Dr. Ivo Robotnik as portrayed in the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. A nice nod I may say
I really wish producers and executives would recognize the high demand for SaTam season 3 😢
Amazing work, great job everybody on the project!
1:00:53 it’s that really Ben Hurst? If is him i love he’s voice of narrator because he’s voice is alot with passion and that talent is amazing
Yep, that's Ben! He had a really good voice.
Beautiful Beautiful loved the happy ending and God bless Ben Hurst 🙏
So nice to have all the information finally in one video.
Awesome video and a great tribute. Well done.
*I've been looking forward to this* 👍
This turned out great!
Absolutely incredible job!!!! ❤❤❤
great job guys ben would be so proud
Thank you so much for putting this together.
One thing I have wondered about for MANY years is what "Power" tails would have had.
1:45:37
Explains it.
BRAVO! BRAVVO!! Magnific documental!!! 👏👏👏👏👏👏🥺🥰✴✳
SatAM might not be my cup of tea for Sonic. But i gotta respect the amount of work and care that was put on it. If anything i hope it gets concluded for Ben's legacy as well as for the fans of it.
Cant wait for more great content like this!
Amazingly insightful!
This was a fantastic documentary and its endearing to finally hear Ben's full plans for Season 3. I dont recall the ending every being released to the public so this is news to me. I will admit, the conclusion is a bit conflicting and bittersweet. NICOLE being brought back in her physical form, yet shes still in the body of a 5yro. Sally and her childhood friend reunite, but adopts her as her daughter. Overall, I waited decades for an ending to the SatAM saga and now that I got it, I feel a sense of satisfaction knowing that these characters got a happy ending.
It's very cliché, but I suppose the third season really was the friends made along the way.
Very nice video. As a huge fan of Sonic, but with only a recently developed interest in the SatAM and the other Western continuities, it was interesting to see all this laid out. I had known of the Nicole twist for example, but didn't realise there was so much to it. I wonder if it was worth including Penders' defence regarding his involvement in the "sabotage", though I understand the video is strictly by Hurst's own words. Not like any one of us could know enough to consider a 'whole' truth anyway.
I'm not crying, YOU'RE crying! 😾
I always figured that Season 3 would introduce Metal Sonic and Amy/Rosey the Rascal-- it was weird that they weren't part of Season 2, particularly given that Uncle Chuck was clearly based on Metal Sonic. Knuckles and Knack would have had to be the Season 4 antagonists debuting along with the returning Robotnik.
Man, this came together beautifully... 🥹Thank you so much, for thinking of /including me in this (I Voiced Sonic), it is an honor. 💙
24:51 “Triplets born, the throne awaits, Ben is warned of a deadly fate,”
It's really ridiculous that Ben seemed properly obsessed with finishing this story and had well over a decade to actually flesh out the season but never did.
He did flesh out the season, he had tons of notes and ideas written down, but most of them were never made public/shared. What's presented here is all that's currently known about the season based on what was shared online/with his friends.
@@AdventureMaster18 Many times in this video he's quoted saying, I don't know I never fleshed it out, I'm just saying if it is all fleshed out and written down somewhere, I would have given it to one of those three trusted friends in case I died so that the story could be told.
ben hurst is best sonic writer ever
Thank you!!!
This is really well made!
this is just eye candy
I probably should had use Kath Soucie’s photo from original world premiere of Tiny Toons Adventures.
Thank you for sharing the storyline of Season 3. And little of Season 4.
The Nicole origin flashback actually gave me chills. Extremely well done, and especially the ending.
SATAM is possibly one of the best written kids-shows ever made. Never before would you expect a licence tie-in cartoon to create a good vs. evil epic that could give even Star Wars a run for it’s money.
SATAM is what inspired me to create and write myself and absolute legends like Ben and the gang are to thank for that.
Just goes to show the difference it makes when you really care about what you create. We may have lost Ben, but I hope his work inspires more «Bens» to create as well.
A;Time stamp please?
B;The previous decade had bangers too, like the joes,dungeons and dragons,ect, and sat-am came out during the nineties, when iconic shows popped out overnight!
C;voice actors and script?
D;What you mean, exactly?
@@erikbihari3625
A: Try from 1:24:30
B: It’s a bit subjective to era, but I’ve yet to see anything reach the same ambition as SATAM when it came to a setting & plot like this. It’s *very* rare to see a kids show like this one handle the idea of a rebellion taking on a all powerful empire while also somehow managing the balance between that dark theme while still keeping things light at times. There have been good shows since; but not like this.
C: I encountered SATAM in its original run as a kid myself. The excellent writing made me hungry to do the same myself. I went into cartooning and continue to this day. My original inspiration was SATAM.
D: There are many kids shows out there (and especially licensed stuff) where I often got the impression of the production just going through the motions of making something to order. With SATAM it felt like “a Sonic cartoon for kids” just the starting point and merely an excuse to delve into a passion project. They clearly cared about the world & characters and it always shows when they do care. Quality usually comes from that.
I love both the winnie the pooh and asosth joke 1:33:28