The Grand World Tour of Sonic Cartoon Theme Songs

[SonikkuForever]

During my travels through the internet, I’ve come across what I think is one of the most fascinating aspects of the global syndication of Sonic TV shows: alternate theme songs! Whilst Underground and SatAM just used the same intro song dubbed into different languages, AoSTH and Sonic X actually had totally different themes which were used in different countries.  Some of these songs are pretty good, but it doesn’t seem that many people outside of the original broadcast area have heard them… until now!

 

So without further ado, let’s start with

 

 

 

 

AoSTH had the greatest variety of theme songs. Nearly every country that syndicated the show put their own cultural spin on the opening. Watching them all is like going on a world tour!

 

Spanish:

 

 

Interestingly enough, the backing track for this was taken from the opening of the Italian release of a cartoon called Widget the World Watcher. You can watch that opening here for comparison’s sake.

 

Below are the English-translated lyrics.

 

 

“Hey guys, we have a champion we love: Sonic!”

He is a wonder
He is fast like the wind
On a path to freedom
His goal is to
Liberate his planet
And restore serenity

He is a brave fighter
A friend indeed
Kind to people
And he will never change

“He's something special!”

He dreams that one day
There will be no tyranny
In his bright and happy world.
His companions
Are also his warriors
And continue at his side to the end.

Oh Sonic, oh Sonic!
Fight Doctor
Robotnik, Robotnik!
And his squad
Oh Sonic, oh Sonic!
And a day will come
when your world
will be freed

Oh Sonic, oh Sonic!
You will never get caught
Oh Sonic, oh Sonic!
He always wins
Oh Sonic, oh Sonic!
Everyone will acclaim you
And reward your good deeds


You are sly of all the increasing dangers
Because none defend your life,
You always know to defend

Oh Sonic, oh Sonic!
Fight Doctor
Robotnik, Robotnik!
And his squad
Oh Sonic, oh Sonic!
And a day will come
When your world,
When your world,
When your world,
Will be freed!

 

Italian: (my personal favorite)

 

 

Catchy little song, eh? You can download a high-quality, extended version of this song here – it actually got an album release along with a bunch of other Italian kid’s show themes. This song was sung by Cristina D’Avena. Once again, the English lyrics are below (although they don't always make sense...)

 

 

“I’m a champion with my legs, I can do strange things!"
"If you give me a second, I’ll show you a tour around the world!”

Snappy, overwhelming, quick as a flash
Always irreverent, fast all-around
Sonic the electronic, the hedgehog supersonic
Running here, running there, breaks through here and there.

“I love to run!”
“By the time you blink, I'm here.”

Breezy, quick to help everyone
and if there is risk, keeps moving ahead
sarcastic, likable, and sometimes very romantic
running here, running there, breaks through here and there.

Sonic!
You are quicker than us, and this gets you to where you want.
Sonic!
You are the champion, you have a higher gear
Sonic!
Faster you go, never slow down
But you know nobody can catch up to you, so get some rest!

“I'm waiting …”
“You’re still on the first level? For shame!”

You talk at breakneck speed, you don’t know how to be quiet
In every place we always end up head first
Volcanic and eccentric, fantastic and dynamic,
running here, running there, breaks through here and there.

Sonic!
You are quicker than us, and this gets you to where you want.
Sonic!
You are the champion, you have a higher gear
Sonic!
Faster you go, never slow down
But you know nobody can catch up to you, so get some rest!

Sonic says I can count on you in the blink of an eye
I have no time, I’m in a hurry, I have a friend waiting for me.

Sonic!
You are quicker than us, and this gets you to where you want.
Sonic!
You are the champion, you have a higher gear (you have a higher gear)
Sonic!
Faster you go, never slow down
But you know nobody can catch up to you, so get some rest!

 

French:

 

 

Italy’s theme song, re-dubbed into French by Alexis Tomassian.

 

Sharp as a knife, quick as lightning

Those who want to catch me are all far behind

I’m Sonic, the electronic

I'm Sonic, supersonic

Running here, running there

You cannot catch me!

 

I am prepared to save

those on my side

And those who love me follow me

We are moving forward

I am Sonic, the likeable

I am Sonic, the romantic

Running here, running there

You cannot catch me!

Sonic!

Come on, hang in there

Too bad if I run faster than you!

 

Sonic!

 

I am the champion

You are trailing my steps

You will not catch me,

Sonic!

 

Nobody is faster than me

There is nobody smarter or more cunning

And if you try to pass me, I will catch you!

 

Arabic:

 

 

I really like this one, too – it sounds very “Middle Eastern”, but they kept the video game theme tune as a base.  Unfortunately, I don’t speak Arabic, so I don’t have any idea what the lyrics are!

 

Korean:

 

Another interesting take on the main theme. This was also used in the Korean release of Sonic Christmas Blast (all the other countries just used the instrumental music from the English release).

 

Speaking of which, the English opening for AoSTH (which I won’t post for the sake of brevity) was used in Germany, Portugal, Brazil, the U.K., and the U.S., as far as I know.

 

 

 

               

and

 

For some reason, both of these cartoons had the same theme song regardless of country, just dubbed into different languages. Fortunately, SonicBowl on Youtube has put all of them together in one video. These aren't nearly as interesting as the AoSTH ones, but it is neat to hear how the rhythm of the lyrics sometimes had to be changed to fit the language.

 

Sonic SatAM:  

 

 

 

Sonic Underground:

 

 

 

 

 

That leaves us with... 

 

 

 

 

With Sonic X, we start to see huge differences in theme songs from country to country again.

 

 

USA:

 

 

 

Gotta Go Fast! But this isn't the normal version of the song... ...it's a mysterious alternate version which I found playing in the background of a flash game on the 4kids website a few years back. It’s almost exactly the same as the final, but with different singers and a slightly shorter length. A demo version, perhaps? You can grab the mp3 here, if you're so inclined.

 

 

Japan:

 

SONIC DRIVE.

 

 

 

 

S-O-N-I-C GO!
S-O-N-I-C GO!
GO, GO, GO, GO, LET'S GO!!

 

Breaking the rules up until yesterday,
today being just generally loose,

With a punk philosophy,
saying to no longer run
towards the best goal,
that there is no meaning elsewhere.

 

With my biorhythm doubled,
the scenery is just countless lines
as the wind surrounds me.

 

I don't want to be
attacking Inside, Outside,
surpassing absolutely everything,
leaving nobody and nothing ahead.

 

Inside Outside GO! SONIC!!
Absolutely Everything Yes! SONIC!!
"Look Out!" and "Have a Nice"
the difference is paper thin.
Throw away the boredom, and just start running.

 

The rhythm of a carved heart -- that's my ism.
Being somewhat impatient.

 

Even if I no longer sleep, I keep running within my dreams
I am a runaway 365 days a year.

Things I want to do today, is what I will do tomorrow.
There's no difference, if I can feel it, i'll ride the beat.
Because I belive in you.

 

Takin' Take it, attacking,
And thoroughly surpassing,
Now, I don't want to be looking back,
Just striving for the goal.

 

Takin' Take it GO! SONIC!!
Thoroughly Yes! SONIC!!
"Let's shake" and "Action Show"
Both are for friends.

Kick away the restraints, and do what your heart wants

 

I don't want to be
Attacking Inside, Outside,
surpassing absolutely everything,
leaving nobody and nothing ahead.

 

Inside Outside GO! SONIC!!
Absolutely Everything Yes! SONIC!!
"Look Out!" and "Have a Nice"
the difference is paper thin.

Throw away the boredom, and just start running.

 

S, O, N, I, C, GO! S, O, N, I, C, GO!
GO, GO, GO, GO, LET'S GO!!

S,O,N,I,C GO!
S,O,N,I,C GO!
GO, GO, GO, GO, LET'S GO!!

 

 

You’ve probably already heard that one, but did you know it was dubbed by Claude Vallois…

 

 

 

…into French?

 

 

 

Faster than light, he runs
Without even touching the ground
To save us
He is the strongest!

When risk is the master onboard
He doubles efforts even more
To save us
He is the strongest!

Against robots,
These evil machines
He attacks and dodges
Nothing stops

The energy of the blue tornado!

Cyber, ​​mystery!
This is Sonic!
Hyper, super
This is Sonic!
On all fronts
With a mission
Splitting the air
Faster than sound!

Cyber, ​​mystery!
This is Sonic!
Hyper, super
This is Sonic!
On all fronts
With a mission
Splitting the air
Faster than sound!

And in space
Putting his life in danger
Playing with his life to save us!

 

France only used this theme for the first season. After that, they switched to the

 

 

Generic European version:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py1lUJtw3Nk

 

This one was used in the U.K. and other European countries. The constant repeating of “Sonic X” means no translation is required, I guess.

 

 

Spanish:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYlnl6D0zXI

 

A redub of “Gotta Go Fast”.

 

 

Run, run, hard!

Speed ​​and velocity
Fly like lightning
Run, run, run

More rapid than lightning
More agile and fast, you will see

He faces situations
Everything and complications
Without fear or conditions
Without any explanation

Yeah, yeah, yeah he is and he is
And will be running, running, running!
 

(Sonic) is the best
(Sonic) is superior
(Sonic) the Hedgehog is!
Take a look at Sonic X!
 

Speed! ​​(Sonic)
Speed! ​​(Sonic)
Fly like lightning, run, run, run!
 

Run, run hard and run
Sonic X

With lightning speed
Fly like lightning, Sonic X!

 

I’ve saved the best for last. The country that has my favorite theme of all is…

 

Italy! This song is so awesome, I posted the full version!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCIVoNDZK0s

 

Sonic fights against the evil
Sonic, Sonic, Sonic, Sonic
Sonic fights against the evil
Sonic, Sonic, Sonic, Sonic

Faster than ever ,
Our hero,
does not hold back if you are in trouble
How many robots will he defeat?

You 'll never betray justice without honor, you would not lose it
You have always been keeping promises from the heart
You are a loyal friend and unique,
Secure, stubborn, ironic ,
But only by your strength, you will save the world

Sonic fights against the evil
Sonic, Sonic, Sonic, Sonic
Sonic fights against the evil
Sonic, Sonic, Sonic, Sonic
 

And never doubt your ideas
You will always do what is right for the freedom we will win

You 'll never betray justice without honor, you would not lose it
You have always been keeping promises from the heart
You are a loyal friend and unique,
Secure, stubborn, ironic ,
But only by your strength, you will save the world
 

You 'll never betray justice without honor, you would not lose it
You have always been keeping promises from the heart
You are a loyal friend and unique,
Secure, stubborn, ironic ,
But only by your strength, you will save the world
 

Sonic fights against the evil
Sonic, Sonic, Sonic, Sonic
Sonic fights against the evil
Sonic, Sonic, Sonic, Sonic

 

Once again, Italy manages to pull off an extremely unique and well-done song. I wonder why it's so different than the others? Download the song here. It's worth it.   You can also check out the original TV version here (it's in low quality, but I love how they put Sonic's wink at the end).

[Big Panda]

I find the fact that Korea had a dub of AoStH ironic considering Korea wouldn't have even had the games back then.

[Chaos Incarnate]

Gotta Go Fast has always stuck with me the most out of all the Sonic cartoon theme songs. Oh, it's a really stupidly written and by the numbers sounding song, sure, but the *cough cough* fast pace of the song still crawls into my head after watching X all those years ago, and it's still a pretty good fit for the Sonic character.

[Linkabel]

I don't know why, but the some of the parts of the Italian version of AoStH reminds me of the theme song for Space Dandy. It's making me question what I'm smoking.

[Ducktor Naldush]

The Italian opening of Aosth wasn't sung by just Cristina D'Avena, though. The accompanying male voice? He's Pietro Ubaldi, Sonic's voice actor. (Barbossa in Pirates of The Carribean, Android 16 and Android 8 in Dragon Ball, John Stewart in the Justice League cartoon, Taz in Taz-Mania and...the yellow fat guy in Sonic Lost World, among many, many, MANY, others)

 

That being said, I love that opening. Sure, the lyrics are very,very,very,very corny, but nostalgia makes you love anything, I suppose. It's still catchy after all these years, by the way.

[KingIgort]

Wow, the chorus on that Italian Sonic X opening is amazing. Completely different to what I was expecting.

 

I think comparing them all is tough, but Fastest Thing Alive will always have a special place in my heart. Incredible idea for a topic, SonnikuForever.

[Big Panda]

The general European Sonic X theme is clearly made simple so that it doesn't need translating for different languages (just saying "SONIC! X!" over and over again), which makes sense.

What doesn't make sense to me is the fact they still used it in the UK.

Even more non-sensical that they still used the short version of "Gotta Go Fast" for the end credits.

[Adamis]

You got it wrong on SatAM's French opening. They used the same song as AoStH :

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Xhde64q-0U

[Ducktor Naldush]

Same with the Italian dub: The Aosth opening was also used for Satam and for the original airing of Underground. When the latter was shown on pay-per-view television, 6 or 7 years after the first time, they used the American opening.

[Your Vest Friend]

...Sheesh, 80's pop doesn't fit AoStH or SatAM at all.

[Ducktor Naldush]

...Sheesh, 80's pop doesn't fit AoStH or SatAM at all.

It depends, really. If you grew up with it, it sure does.