Sonic the Hedgehog or Sonic the Hedgehog the Movie, is a two-part 1996 Japanese original video animation (OVA) based on the video game franchise by Sega. Produced by Pierrot and directed by Kazutaka Ikegami, the OVA was originally released in Japan on January 26, 1996 and March 22, 1996. The series was later licensed and dubbed in English by ADV Films, which released it as a single direct-to-video film on September 7, 1999, to coincide with the international release of Sonic Adventure. The anime features Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Dr. Eggman, Metal Sonic and a few supporting characters created exclusively for the OVA. Taking the English dub into consideration, it is also the first Sonic animated media to not feature Jaleel White voicing the titular character.

A.D. Vision Holdings, Inc. was an American multimedia entertainment distributor headquartered in Houston, Texas, and founded in 1992 by video game fan John Ledford and anime fans Matt Greenfield and David Williams. The company specialized in home video production and distribution, theatrical film distribution, merchandising, original productions, magazine and comic book publishing. They also ran Anime Network, a television channel devoted to airing the company's titles. Some of their titles were Neon Genesis Evangelion, Super Dimension Fortress Macross, RahXephon, Full Metal Panic, Azumanga Daioh, Elfen Lied, Gantz, Red Garden, and Le Chevalier D'Eon.