Sparkle the Rabbit (video game)

Sparkle the Rabbit is a 2002 Japanese-American action-adventure platforming game developed by Nintendo EAD. Sega AM2, and Sonic Team USA and published by Nintendo and Sega (the first major collaboration between the two companies since Sega left the hardware market and became third-party developers) for Nintendo's GameCube video game console, and is the first installment in the Sparkle the Rabbit video game series. It was released on March 14, 2002 in North America and Europe, March 30 in Japan, and April 5 in Australia and New Zealand, and it focuses on the titular character Sparkle the Rabbit (a long forgotten cartoon character from the 1920s who wants to get his fame and popularity back) as he tries to clear his name after he is accused of injuring famous film director Steve Mann with a giant anvil. The gameplay has an open-world environment to Funlandia as well as other locations in Florida, and features a gameplay mechanic where Sparkle can grab objects such as boxes, ladders, and coins using his very long ears and use other objects to defeat enemies, as well as fast-paced speed sections, as Sparkle is a rabbit and rabbits can move very fast. There are appearances from several cartoon characters such as Felix the Cat, Mickey Mouse, and Bugs Bunny, and you can play as them during regular gameplay, and even in the game's multiplayer mode, where there are 15 characters to play as in the multiplayer mode. The game also features 391 tasks for the player to do throughout the entirety of the game and the hub worlds, expanding its replay values.

Origins of Sparkle the Rabbit date all the way back to 1990, during the development of the original Sonic the Hedgehog video game. During its development, designer Naoto Ohshima originally designed Sonic to be a blue rabbit with a red bowtie, white shoes with two black shoelaces, pie eyes, and long ears that he can use to throw objects at enemies. This was dumped after the concept was proved too complex for the Sega Genesis/MegaDrive hardware, and a hedgehog was chosen. Yuji Naka wanted to revisit the concept, and pitched it to Sega for the Dreamcast, and they approved it, as development of the game started in early 1999. Yuji Uekawa (who provided the redesign for Sonic in Sonic Adventure) and Satoshi Okano provided slight redesigns for Sparkle so he would not look like a ripoff Sonic character. Companies such as The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros. allowed Sega to put their characters in the game as long as they were treated with respect. The game was originally scheduled for release in mid 2001 for the Dreamcast and was shown at E3 2000, but Sega discontinued the Dreamcast and became third-party developers, they moved development to the GameCube, where Sega and Nintendo owned 50% publishment of the game, marking the two former rivals' first major collaboration with each other. Sparkle the Rabbit is the first production to feature Segata Sanshiro, since the Sega Saturn commercials in 1998.

The first time Sparkle the Rabbit was shown was at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in 2000, alongside games such as Space Channel 5, Jet Set Radio, Samba de Amigo, Sonic Shuffle, and more. It was then shown at E3 2001, as a title for the GameCube. Sparkle the Rabbit was widely hyped and anticipated due to the massive amount of cartoon character cameos, references, as well as originality, gameplay, its developers, and Sega's partnering publishment of the game with Nintendo for the GameCube. Sparkle the Rabbit was released on March 14, 2002 in North America and Europe, March 30 in Japan, and April 5 in Australia and New Zealand, and received universal acclaim for its story, audio, characters, gameplay, and unique style. Within its first month, it sold 930,000 copies. By March 31, 2004, it sold 4.5 million copies worldwide, becoming the fifth best-selling GameCube video game, and the best-selling third-party video game on the GameCube. It spawned a franchise including more games, an anime, a TV special, comics by Archie, and an appearance in 2018's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Setting
The game takes place on Earth, but the main location is Funlandia. Funlandia is a city located in North America, Florida where all cartoon characters (famous and non-famous) live in. It's the place where all cartoon characters film their movies, TV series, games, commercials, advertisements, you name it. Funlandia has several characters such as Sparkle the Rabbit, Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Felix the Cat, Donald Duck, Sonic the Hedgehog, Woody Woodpecker, Betty Boop, Popeye, and more. There are also forgotten cartoon characters such as Felix the Cat, Mighty Mouse, Atom Ant, Heckle and Jeckle, and even Sparkle himself since the 1950s, and a bar where they hang out, the "Forgotten Cartoons Bar". Its citizens include the characters mentioned above as well as the president James Ohshima (based off Sonic co-creator Naoto Ohshima) and billionaire businessman Hollywood blockbuster director, Steve Mann. In the game, there are shown to be several tourists, both antrophormorphic animals and humans, in Funlandia, to which Sparkle can interact with.

Synopsis
Sparkle the Rabbit focuses on the titular character Sparkle the Rabbit (voiced by Josh Keaton). Sparkle was a popular cartoon mascot for his studio, Dreamcast Animation Studios, and debuted back in 1924 to rival Felix the Cat, and then Mickey Mouse, with Sparkle's own characters such as martial artist Segata Sanshiro, series antagonist Mr. Sleeper, fangirl Jessica Bloom, Sparkle's dog Rod, Sparkle's neighbor Nedd Nerd, and the Troublemaker cats. As time went on and more characters such as Bugs Bunny, the Looney Tunes gang, Casper the Friendly Ghost, Tom and Jerry, Popeye, Woody Woodpecker, and Betty Boop started to debut, competition for the best character arose, and Sparkle slowly became forgotten, and obscured, and only had 47 short films released from 1924-1955. Fast forward 54 years later to 2001. Sparkle, along with several forgotten and famous cartoon characters, live in Funlandia, a city in Florida where all cartoons interact. One night while at a bar with Felix, Sparkle sees an advertisement poster for a new film Comix Zone, produced by Sega Pictures and directed by Steve Mann. Sparkle then sees this as the perfect opportunity to get back into the spotlight. Sparkle auditions and eventually becomes the main protagonist, along with co-stars the Troublemaker cats, Mr. Sleeper, Jessica Bloom, Rod, and Nedd.

After 7 grueling months of filming, the film is finally finished. However, on the day that the world premiere is happening, Steve Mann has an anvil dropped on his head by a mysterious culprit, causing major injuries to his skull. Police investigate the crime, and all evidence leads to camera footage of a bunny hidden in shadows dropping the anvil, which looks exactly like Sparkle. Although Sparkle was in the bathroom at the time (and there is no security footage in the bathroom), he is hunted down by police, causing Sparkle to become an fugitive and the movie to get canceled. Sparkle goes and investigate several cartoons such as Mickey, Bugs, Felix, his martial artist Segata Sanshiro, etc, and goes across several locations battling police robot enemies with Sparkle's ears, and going across Funlandia as well as several different famous locations. Sparkle also meets Metal Sparkl, a robotic counterpart of himself, and what Sparkle assumes to be who dropped the anvil on Steve. After much investigation, Sparkle directs toward the abandoned Cartoon Palace where it is littered with traps. Sparkle finds Metal Sparkle, along with Metal's leader Paddy the Pelican, a cartoon character from the critically panned and forgotten 1950s cartoon The Adventures of Paddy the Pelican who was jealous of Sparkle's popularity. After an intense final battle, Sparkle defeats both Metal Sparkle and Paddy. Sparkle is proved not guilty, and Paddy is arrested. Sparkle finally becomes popular again, and the film releases on theaters.

Voice cast

 * Josh Keaton as Sparkle the Rabbit and Metal Sparkle
 * Dee Bradley Baker as Paddy the Pelican
 * Dan Green as Segata Sanshiro
 * Tara Strong as Jessica Bloom and the Troublemaker cats
 * Tom Kenny as Steve Mann
 * Wayne Allwine as Mickey Mouse
 * Joe Alaskey as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Sylvester Cat, and Elmer Fudd
 * Charlie Adler as Felix the Cat and Professor Nutty-Nutmeg
 * Billy West as Elmer Fudd, Popeye, and Woody Woodpecker
 * Sandy Fox as Betty Boop
 * Tony Anselmo as Donald Duck
 * Bill Farmer as Goofy and Pluto
 * Russi Taylor as Minnie Mouse and Huey, Dewey, and Louie
 * Frank Welker as Nedd Nerd, Rod, Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones, and additional voices
 * Ryan Drummond as Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Charles Martinet as Mario
 * Alan Young as Scrooge McDuck
 * Trey Parker as Eric Cartman
 * Bob Bergen as Porky Pig
 * Deem Bristow as Doctor Eggman
 * Megumi Hayashibara as Hello Kitty/Kitty White
 * William Hanna (archival recordings) and Frank Welker as Tom Cat and Jerry Mouse
 * June Foray as Granny