Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Episode 1.53: Honey, I Shrunk the Hedgehog

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Episode 1.53: Honey, I Shrunk the Hedgehog 

Original Air Date: November 18th, 1993

It's somewhat forgotten today but "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" was a surprise blockbuster back in 1989. The film's success was really a testament to the ever-green appeal of the shrinking movie. From "The Incredibly Shrinking Man" up through "Fantastic Voyage," "Innerspace," and the "Ant-Man" movies, it's a premise Hollywood returns to about every decade and usually to much popularity. The "Sonic" franchise is not exempt from this fascination. An early Archie comic would follow a similar path while the fifty-third episode of "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" directly paid homage to this miniature subgenre.

"Honey, I Shrunk the Hedgehog" has Robotnik creating his most diabolical plot yet. Using a shrink ray, he has miniaturized natural resource production centers from all around Mobius. Collecting them in a very Kandor-like jar, he un-shrinks the oil, gems, and other resources to use in his global domination ploy. His latest target is Mole Mountain, a hill full of coal. Unbeknownst to Robotnik, Sonic and Tails are on Mole Mountain to help the local miners become more productive at their jobs. Shrunk with the rest of the mountain, the tiny Sonic and Tails soon escape Robotnik's jar and go on an adventure through his laboratory. 

One of the big appeals of the shrinking movie premise is that it's an easy reversal of the giant animal movie. Why make one small animal big when you can make people tiny, thus rendering every animal big? In this episode, Sonic and Tails grapple with a lizard, a rat, and – in a likely homage to the original "The Fly" – a spider. It's a neat series of obstacles to run through. Moreover, I think it's human nature to look at tiny insects and wondered what their lives are like. It takes us minutes to walk across a room but it's an epic journey for a flea-sized person. (There's even a bit where the teeny moles infect Robotnik's mustaches like fleas.) "Honey, I Shrunk the Hedgehog" also touches on that. Honestly, I'm shocked a "Sonic" game has never featured a level like this. Running a little Sonic through a giant-sized but otherwise mundane room sounds like a fun stage. 

Many shrinking stories – like the aforementioned Archie "Sonic" issue – venture inside living bodies. This too is a natural instinct, to wonder what the germs inside us go through. Here, that reasoning is applied to Scratch and Grounder. Sonic and Tails sneak inside their heads and find the control panels, taking over their bodies. This, in a roundabout way, concludes the character arcs Robotnik's two robot henchmen have been veering towards recently. Scratch and Grounder are finally allowed to rebel against their abusive creator/father figure, albeit under no control of their own. Since the status quo is king, this is probably the closest the two will ever get to getting back at their bad boss. There's also something amusing about hearing obvious Sonic and Tails dialogue spoken in Scratch and Grounder's voices. 

Once again, Robotnik's villainy shifts with the needs of the story. In recent episodes, he's tried to demolish an orphanage, take over the world with mind-control pollen, and dominate a television show. Here, he takes a more reasonable path towards world conquering. Namely, by seizing control of Mobius' natural resources. This implies that Mobius is a world dependent on gasoline and coal, which we've had very little evident of up to this point. Instead of just seizing control of these resources with brute military force, he uses wacky sci-fi gadgetry. But the pay-off is the same. This is a message to kids that he who controls the fuel controls the world. Which certainly makes Robotnik seem way more devious than he has recently.

Yet the plot still raises more questions then it answers. In the opening scene, we see Sonic gift a group of mole miners with shoes styled after his own and hard hats outfitted with blue spines. This seemingly gives the moles Sonic-like speed and sawing abilities. So, wait, his speed is in his shoes? Didn't they do a whole episode contradicting that? Why do Sonic-hats give moles spin dash powers? Moreover, where the hell did Sonic get these hats and shoes? Could anyone have access to these accessories? Why not gift s group of likeminded individuals with these and form a whole Sonic squad to take down Robotnik? That seems like a way more practical application of this technology then helping people strip-mine Mobius' natural resources faster. 

Also, since when has Sonic branched out into corporate partnership and motivational speaking? Granted, we don't know that the mole foreman paid Sonic to help. He seems to give the superpower granting hats and shoes away for free. But the implications are many. Is this a side gig to Sonic traveling the globe and fighting evil? Is this how he pays for all those chili dogs? The idea of Sonic being a corporate shill, helping out the historically shitty mining industry, isn't the only disturbing implication of this episode. For some probably racist reason, all the miner moles have Scottish or Irish accents. The foreman even has a red beard and wears a kilt. Ya know, that's a stereotype I was previously unfamiliar with and I somehow doubt our proud Scot-Irish friends appreciate being compared to animals that dig through dirt all day. 

Sorry if I spend these reviews rambling on about minor details, instead of discussing the episode's events. There's not a lot to talk about as far as the actual jokes and writing goes. There's a pretty dire slapstick sequence early on, where Scratch mistakes Grounder's head for the shrink ray's battery. Naturally, Robotnik gets his daily dose of humiliation. But I will give this episode some points for utilizing its premise in quasi-interesting ways and not annoying me too much. I've learned to be thankful for attributes like that. [6/10]