With a cliffhanger ending such as the one the SatAM had, many questions arrise. For one, who did the glowing eyes behind Snively belong to? Well, some time ago, the main writer for the second season, Ben Hurst showed up on AFSH. One of the first questions he was asked was what would have become of Sonic SatAM in season 3.
According to Ben, the red eyes were none other than Naugus! However, others still keep an open mind (and some just like to disagree). Some say it was Metal Sonic and others believe it was Knuckles. Anyway, Snively tries to take control but ultimatly fails. On the verge of loosing it all to our heros, he turns to the Void where Naugus is happily tortuing Robotnik. Snively frees Naugus and in the process, also frees King Acorn (yea!) and Robotnik. Naugus then assumes control, Robotnik becomes his lackey and, Naugus plans to use the king as bate to capture the Sally. Snively, now a nobody, turns to the Freedom Fighters (double yea!)
But the third season sadly never aired for many reasons. ***Some believe images cels were being selled illegally and I can tell you for sure THIS IS NOT TRUE!!***. Ben Hurst himself wrote me an email on this and reasons for cancelation and here's what he had to say:
Sonique,
No, the reasons were not as you outlined, but simply bad timing and
politics.
First, we were up against Power Rangers, which was the big kid on the
block and so we didn't get the ratings required to keep Sonic SatAm
going. Second, the President of ABC children's programming - who was
the champion of the show - was fired. As often happens, a new broom
sweeps clean - and Sonic was a "product of the old regime" and thus the
new executives had no interest in it.
Cels were marketed by Dic during the second season - but that was a deal
approved by Sega and quite legitimate. I even bought some myself, which
were packaged with the original line drawings and the original
background. They're my favorite animation collectables. I have one
each of Sonic and Sally from the opening credits - and a 5 layer cel of
Robotnic, also from the opening credits.
I hope this clears the air.
Take care,
Ben
There you have it, the truth behind the image cels rumor.
The fact that this was such a great cartoon and was canceled due to a piece of worthless shit that should be burned to the dastardly rubble that it is, is just one of the elements that pisses Sonic fans off. Another is the cliffhanger ending. There were so many questions still left unanswered that some people to this day ponder about. I was so sad to see this show go because a show like this only comes around once in a great while. If you ever get a chance to see this show, do so, even if it's just on the Internet, this is a must see for all the Sonic lovers out there.
