Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Episode 1.37: The Magic Hassle

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Episode 1.37: The Magic Hassle

Original Air Date: October 25th, 1993

I guess the "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" staff must have found Wes Weasly among the more amusing guest characters, as they would bring him back for a third time in "The Magic Hassle." In it, the Mobius Mint decides to honor Sonic by putting his face on the twelve dollar bill. This enrages Robotnik, who decides to rob the mint and replace the Sonic bills with ones featuring his beautiful mug. At the same time, Wes Weasly barges in and introduces his new collection of literally magical products. Robotnik is not impressed but Coconuts, sick of bathroom duty and hopeful to impress Robotnik, decides to buy some. Manic, physics-defying shenanigans ensue. 

Sonic the Hedgehog, regardless of which of the myriad versions you're talking about, has always existed in what TVTropes calls a "fantasy kitchen sink." That refers to a setting where the author throws in basically any fantastical plot element they want. The franchise has always freely mixed science fiction and fantasy, as Robotnik's advanced robotics have stood alongside reality-bending Chaos Emeralds from the first game onward. All the ensuing cartoons, comics, and many of the future games have freely mixed sorcery and science. "The Magic Hassle" is a great example of this. Here, we have a robot monkey using old-timey magic to try and stop a super fast hedgehog for his mad scientist boss. You can't get more fantasy-kitchen-sink-y than that. 

But the oddball ways this franchise, and this show specifically, have remixed various ideas is not what most interested me about this episode. Instead, it's the plight of poor Coconuts that tugs at my heart. Once again, the robotic monkey is a perfect stand-in for the common man, the oft-abused worker trapped in a system he can't escape. His boss sticks him with the humiliating task of cleaning toilets. Despite living in the hell of cleaning up after Robotnik's megaton shits, Coconuts is still desperate to please his master. He holds onto the naïve hope that, if he just does better, he'll eventually rise up the ladder. 

While everyone, including himself, blames Coconuts for his failures, he is instead a victim of circumstance. He actually comes really close to stopping Sonic a few times in this episode, successfully turning him into stone at one point. (This is the third time Sonic's been turned to stone, for some reason.) The mistakes of others, duplicitous partners, and pure bad luck snatches victory away from Coconuts every time. By the final scene, he's so beaten down by failure that he happily goes back to cleaning up crap. Thus, we see how the power-brokers of the world take advantage of the workers' lack of self-worth and broken circumstances (which the powerful created) to keep them trapped in the cycle of servitude. 

Wes Weasly adds another layer to this. Weasly's previous characterization as a conman doesn't exactly hold up here, as most of the products he sells work exactly as advertised. Yet, the minute he sees Coconuts, he still refers to him as a sucker. That's because Weasly knows Coconuts is doomed to failure, regardless of the quality of his tools. The products Weasly sells, and Coconuts happily buys, will do nothing to alleviate the worker's misery. The world of commerce promises relief but does nothing to change the circumstances making us feel bad in the first place. This seems to suggest a moral of "if something seems too good to be true, it probably is." Instead, the "Sonic Says" segment points towards "Hey kids, save your money instead of spending it on stupid shit." Yet the "Sonic Sez" version of Coconuts promises to spend his money on a new plunger, so even he can't imagine a better life for himself. 

One of the gizmos Wes sells Coconuts is a ray that emits bad luck. It makes sense that this would be on Coconuts' mind, as Sonic's luck is supernaturally good in this episode. I mean that literally. One of the magical devices Wes sells summons ghosts to terrorize the target. When this spirit is conjured up, it turns out he's a huge fan of Sonic and happily turns on his summoners. Earlier, by pure chance, Coconuts's vanishing spell causes everything to go wrong for the robots. Even after Tails is successfully zapped with bad luck rays, it doesn't slow Sonic down much. A hero who is always lucky, no matter how improbable, is a solid comedic set-up. It was a big part of the "Coyote and Roadrunner" cartoons that so clearly inspired this show. But "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" doesn't have the wit or timing of classic "Looney Tunes," so it's not nearly as funny as it could be. But at least they tried.

Lastly, this episode caused another question to spring into my brain: What kind of villain is Robotnik anyway? "AoStH" has never been consistent about this. He's been depicted as simply a mad scientist, a crooked land developer, a successful dictator already in control of big chunks of the planet, or merely a would-be dictator trying to conquer the world. In "The Magic Hassle," he's reduced to bank robber. He doesn't break into the mint just to deface the Sonic dollars but also to steal all the money inside. He says this'll fund his experiments for years to come. Which raises some questions about how Robotnik has been raising his money previously. Obviously, I'm overthinking it. (You might have noticed that overthinking it is how I'm coping with reviewing this show.) But the writers could've been a little more coherent with things. 

Oh yeah, so is the episode any good? Eh. Coconuts' constant drudgery makes him a more compelling protagonist than usual. Yet the writer still isn't sharp or clever enough to generate much in the way of actual laughs. That wouldn't be much of a review, which is why I have to ramble on incoherently as I did above. Ya know you love it. Anyway, I give "The Magic Hassle" a [6/10].