Sonic the Hedgehog (1993), Episode 1.01: Sonic Boom

Sonic the Hedgehog (1993), Episode 1.01: Sonic Boom
Original Air Date: September 18th, 1993

The first proper episode of “SatAM” has the kind of set-up that would carry most of the series. Sonic, Sally, Antoine, and an elderly Freedom Fighter named Cat have sneaked into Robotropolis with the goal of sabotaging Robotnik's new series of StealthBots, heavily armed airborne drones that are presumably immune to radar. Along the way, Sally uncovers what she believes to be a message from her missing father. Cat is captured in the subsequent escape. Sonic stays behind to try and rescue their friend, while Sally and Antoine venture forth to the Dark Swamp, into the bowels of the dilapidated Black Gate Prison, in hopes of finding her dad.

Since this is essentially the first episode of “Sonic the Hedgehog,” you would expect “Sonic Boom” to establish the characters and story. Surprisingly, it doesn't concern itself with that much, not even introducing all the main characters and leaving elements of the plot untouched for now. Instead, “Sonic Boom” is more about establishing the mood that differentiated “SatAM” from many other Saturday morning cartoons of the time.

The episode begins with an all-timer of a sequence, that is largely without dialogue. We have a series of information schematics, which dissolves to the a shot of the snail-like spy drone passing over Robotropolis, showing the new audience how miserable and industrial this city is. We see our quartet of heroes sneaking around the airlocker, heavily patrolled by large robots. They hide in an air duct while one of those robots look inside, searching around with a flashlight. Sonic and Antoine are shown tensing up. These characters are scared, knowing their lives are at risk and they will be over if they are caught.

The moodiness of that opening sequence is carried throughout the rest of the episode. Look at the scenes of Sally and Antoine wading through the swamp, which is foggy and steaming. As they dive into the grimy prison, the viewer starts to feel a sense of genuinely spooky unease. Wind blows throughout the empty building, even slamming a door shut. It's ominous. Heavy. Just from the way the story is handled, it's obvious that this “Sonic” takes its characters, their feelings, and their world seriously.

In fact, you could almost mistake “SatAM” for a piece of eighties cyberpunk if it wasn't for a few obvious elements. Of course, this is an American cartoon and has that general soft look to it that Japanese animation generally lacks. And it obviously doesn't look as good as “Bubblegum Crisis” or whatever. While the animation isn't bad – the backgrounds look great, the character designs are good if very cute – there are a few animation mistakes. When running, Sonic's limbs disappear sometimes in weird ways. There's a few overly static images of the SteathBots that are kind of odd. Still, this looks about as good as you could expect a DiC show from 1993 to look.

And the action scenes are pretty good too. Sonic sneaking back into the city to rescue Cat includes a cool spot of him running up an elevator shaft and spin-dashing through a door. (Notably, Sonic is also clearly scared when the SWATBots start shooting at him. Keep in mind that the modern Sega demands that Sonic never show any intense distress.) The scene of him outrunning a StealthBot and redirecting its missile is fine.

The clear highlight of the episode is when Sonic and friends are cornered by a snarling monster in what is clearly the prison's sewer. (It's a wet and stinking underground tunnel, full of brown stuff. They don't say that's shit but it definitely is.) Sonic quickly deduces that the beast is a robot and just runs right through, tearing it apart from the inside out. While it's definitely a cool moment, it also represents one of the more contrived moments of the show. Sally hands Sonic a Power Ring, which is what gives him the boost needed to slay the beast. This is not the last time “SatAM” would resolve a situation just by handing Sonic a Power Ring.

Also, I can't help but notice the obvious “Star Wars” influence in this episode. Robotnik's introduction – sitting in a large and swiveling mechanic chair – obviously brings Darth Vader's first appearance in “The Empire Strikes Back” to mind. Sonic and friends getting dropped into a pit to fight a snarling monster is clearly inspired by Luke fighting the Rancor in “Return of the Jedi.” The show also includes a number of wipe transitions, another thing it has in common with George Lucas' series. I was never into “Star Wars” into a kid and, as I've gotten older, it's increasingly clear that is because “SatAM” showed me so much cool shit from that series first.

Anyway, because “Sonic Boom” is basically the first episode of the series, it brings us another round of character establishing moments. While Sally hacks into the StealthBots' computers, Sonic shows his impatience. He shows that impatience all throughout the episode because, you see, guys, he's all about going fast and being snarky. The Sonic/Sally/Antoine love triangle is establish when she chooses to go off into the swamp with Antoine, Sonic clearly being jealous of her flirtatious actions. Robotnik threatens to torture Cat if he doesn't give him the location of Knothole, telling us a lot about the villains' personality quickly enough.

While “Sonic Boom” goes out of its way to depict Antoine as the goofy comic relief, it's not all pratfalls. Granted, there are a lot of pratfalls. Cat tells him to relax, he misunderstands, lean on a grate, and exposes himself to the bad guys. Later, he gets scared in the swamp and leaps into a tree, while pretending to be brave for Sally. Yet, as ridiculous a character as Antione is, he gets a fair moment too. While Sally and Antoine are crossing an extremely rickety bridge, both of them start to slowly freak out. Instead of immediately fleeing to safety, Antoine stays by Sally's side to help her cross. See? He's braver than he seems.

And let's talk about Sally, because she's really the stand-out cast member of this episode. From the moment she appears on-screen, there's something striking about her. Compared to the more youthful sounding performance in the pilot, Kath Soucie's performance sounds more mature and intellectual here. Sally is utterly determined here. When she gets a sign that her father might still be out there, she will not be dissuade from finding him. She is absolutely determined and stunningly strong-willed, bossing around Sonic and Antoine without ever faltering. Yet she's vulnerable too. Finding a tattered remain of her father's cloak almost sends her into tears. It's no wonder the character would turn a whole generation of dudes into furries. (Though her character design, with its perpetually curved back that emphasizes her butt and chest, probably has something to do with that too.) She's immediately fascinating.

In various interviews, “SatAM” writer Ben Hurst would say the show's writer always tried to stick to a specific idea. Hurst didn't write this episode, Len Janson did, but the statement still fits: The characters will have wins but there will always be losses too. Sonic and friends have plenty of victories in this episode. They successfully sabotage the Stealth Bots, destroying them and infuriating Robotnik's base. Sally doesn't find her dad but she does uncover a complete map of Robotropolis. Yet the characters also lose Cat. When Sonic heads back to rescue his friend, he's gone. That's right, kids. “SatAM” essentially killed off a character in its very first episode. That's a pretty bold opening statement for a kid's show.

In other words: “Sonic Boom” is an excellent first episode. The characters are immediately lovable, the world drawls you in, and the script is surprisingly complex in some ways. I definitely recall watching this episode when it first aired as a kid, which should tell you the impact it had on me considering that was twenty-six years ago. [9/10]