Sonic toon speeds to Cartoon Network

Cartoon Network and two French broadcasters are on board the first ever Sonic the Hedgehog CG-animated TV series.

Sonic Boom will first launch in the US on Cartoon and France on Canal J and Gulli in the autumn of 2014 before rolling out internationally.

France’s Genao Productions is coproducing the 52x11mins series with Sega’s American arm.

The show will be based on the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series and is billed as a “character-driven comedy” centring on the blue hedgehog and his sidekick Tails as they search for adventure.

Evan Baily, Donna Friedman Meir, and Jane McGregor executive produce for Sega, along with Genao’s Sandrine Nguyen and Boris Hertzog. Baily, a former executive VP of production at Classic Media, is showrunner along with Bill Freiberger (The Simpsons, Drawn Together), while Takashi Iizuka, the creative force behind the video games, will ensure the show is true to the existing Sonic universe.

“Sonic is the star of the Sega universe and the stage is now set for him to shine like never before. By teaming up with world-class partners in television animation like Cartoon Network, Genao Productions and Gulli, we’re ensuring that the Sonic legacy will be introduced to a new generation of children across the globe,” said Hiroyuki Miyazaki, Sega’s chief content officer for Sonic.

Gulli stablemate Lagardere Entertainment Rights will sell the show globally, excluding the US and Asia apart from Japan. Sega will manage the rest of Asia and McGregor’s company Jane McGregor Inc. will handle the US.