Ben Hurst: Hero by Louis-the-Hedgehog

This is my entry for the 20th birthday of the series Sonic the Hedgehog Saturday AM, more frequently known as "Sonic:SatAM".

So who was Ben Hurst? He may not have created the idea of the series itself, but he was the head writer. Most of the episodes were his, including most, if not all of the best ones. Without him, the American version of Sonic the Hedgehog, as we know it, would not exist. The comic book by Archie Comics Publications that was based upon this series (not the other way around) would never exist.

And even after SatAM was cancelled because SEGA wanted Sonic to only be used as a second skin and not become a unique personality, he fought to resist it. At any point he could have just decided that Sonic the Hedgehog was just a silly franchise and just walked away. Instead he did the exact opposite of that. He took a video game character which at first had no personality and turned him into a tool to teach about life in ways more adult than most people are willing to give credit for. He wanted to make Sonic the legacy of his whole career, and because of it the blue then-legend has come closer than ever before to his true potential. But sadly he has never surpassed that point. Other writers have tried to imitate his style and plans but at best they could never pull it off quite the way he did. And at worst they're not even worthy to lick excrement from his shoes.

Other than these accomplishments as well as being an active member in the fan community, he also tried his hand at short films, like an adaptation of the short story "Interlopers", his few voice acting roles, and other scripts that he's written, very little was known about him. Sadly, he died due to diabetes complications August 10, 2010. Sonic the Hedgehog lost a very good friend.

And personally, if it were not for what he did, I would never be a Sonic fan myself. I would just think he would be just another stupid video game character, especially these days. I would have never gotten into the Sonic franchise, would have never learned of his real potential, would have never have discovered my other interests, would not have met the people that I did, and I would even be known as Louis the Hedgehog, nor would I be having this conversation with you now. I would be a completely different person. I would never have discovered my bliss.

It is my belief that too few people know about this man, and he deserved a much better career than he received. But hey, that's what we do to our heroes in the entertainment industry. We shove them aside in favor of the flavor of the month regardless of how much they don't deserve it. The Hollywood system has become a complete joke. He deserved better than this, and we deserve better than this.

And never before in my life have I seen ANY franchise that had so much potential have it all wasted, liquidated, abused, neglected, and thrown away. Therefore, it is my personal belief that if any franchise needs to be saved from how art has been interfered by the forces of naive, arrogant, greedy, short-sighted business practices, it's Sonic.

Ben has proven himself to us, now we must prove ourselves to him. And the one wish I will have left before I die is that I will one day be reborn in the world of his imagination.

His interview.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6Ck-t…
His IMDb article.
www.imdb.com/name/nm0403579/?r…