Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Episode 1.31: MacHopper

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Episode 1.31: MacHopper

Original Air Date: November 10th, 1993

As they did with so many things, "The Simpsons" keenly observed that America had a fleeting fascination with Australia in the eighties and early nineties. Nobody is certain why – maybe it's just because koalas and wallabies are really cute – but the island continent essentially became a meme at one point. From roughly 1981 to 1990, we Yanks just couldn't get enough of Fosters, shrimp on the barbie, and Yahoo Serious. This led to blockbuster movies, Disney sequels, wildly successful pop songs, shampoo brands, and a restaurant chain. Truly, America's Australia-philia never entirely went away, as evident in the careers of the Crocodile Hunter and Russell Crowe. But, by 1993, the fad was mostly over. This did not stop "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" from cashing in with an episode linked to this faded fascination. 

In hopes of capturing Sonic, Robotnik has Scratch and Grounder kidnap MacHopper, a kangaroo bounty hunter. Though a friend of Sonic's, Robotnik brainwashes MacHopper into doing his bidding. Sonic and Tails quickly realize that something is wrong with their accented buddy. A blast of spicy chili is enough to clear out the doctor's programming but only temporarily. Sonic and Tails try to fix their friend's scrambled mind, by getting into Robotnik's fortress and re-zapping him with the brainwashing machine. Yet MacHopper's constantly shifting alliances makes this a perilous journey. 

Once again, "AoStH" presents us with a strong premise. This is essentially an episode about Sonic having a friend he can't trust. We've never met MacHopper before but we are assured he's an old ally of Sonic's. The idea of a friend turning out to be a traitor is powerful enough. Even more intriguing is that it's literally not MacHopper's fault. He has no control over his own actions here. That could've led to even more suspense. From one minute to the next, Sonic doesn't know if MacHopper is friend or foe. He turns on a dime – a metaphor literalized in an early scene – from friendly old pal to Robotnik sleeper agent. It's a good idea for an episode and it's not surprising that "SatAM" and the comic's tried similar story lines. 

But this is "Adventures" we're talking about here, so every good idea is undermined by obnoxious comedy. Let's talk about MacHopper. Yes, he wears a vest and a Crocodile Dundee hat and is another ostensibly male kangaroo with a pouch. He throws a boomerang and says things like "blokes" and "digeridoo." Scott McNeil is trotted out to play the character. Even though McNeil was born in Australia, his Australian accent still sounds fake-as-hell. Easy cultural clichés aside, MacHopper is more annoying than compelling. The show plays his splintered mind for goofy comedy, as he often babbles non-sense and gets comically yanked between two different extremes. It's the show's trademark aggressively wacky style that almost always comes off as more annoying than amusing.

The only thing that can ward off Robotnik's programming is a taste of uber-spicy chili. This leads to multiple scenes of a syringe full of hot meat sauce being rammed into MacHopper's mouth and several shots of characters being tied up with intestine-like ropes of wieners. Suggestive visuals aside, one must really ask: What is with the "Sonic" franchise's chili dog obsession? A quirk invented by Sega of America, Sonic's trademark favorite food has become an ingrained part of his personality, showing up across most "Sonic" media. I assume the idea was to copy the Ninja Turtles' fascination with pizza. It's a good marketing strategy, because kids like pizza and kids like hot dogs. Ergo, kids will like the Turtles and Sonic more for also liking these things. Enjoying childish food linked both series with youth, further emphasizing their statues as totally radical dudes. (Likewise, Sonic liking spicy food also built up his reputation as an x-treme icon.)  

But, as it did with most of the series' early trademarks, "AoStH's" took Sonic's love of his favorite food too far. There's rarely an episode that doesn't at least mention chili dogs. Much like the previous highly unnerving "Too Tall Tails," we have an episode here that builds a whole plot point around con carne-topped frankfurters. Magical powers are attributed to chili and Tails or Sonic repeatedly force-feed it to MacTaggert. Later, after briefly being captured by Robotnik, Sonic asks for one final chili dog as his last request. And those scenes with the hot dog rope features some vividly fleshy animation. The fixation on smothered sausage is way past weird at this point. I've been known to chow down on some bratwursts from time-to-time but this is a little too much. Please, Sonic, eat some spinach or something. You're going to give Tails gout.

All of that aside, "MacHopper" largely doesn't work because, even by the standards of this series, it's a shrill episode. It's blindingly colorful at times. Scratch and Grounder drive a hot-pink submersible vehicle at one point. A bright orange river and waterfall makes a prominent appearance. The fluorescent hills and valleys of Mobius are the setting for most of this half-hour. It's like if Lisa Frank designed Ren and Stimpy. Most of the humor here comes from belligerent zaniness. MacHopper acts weird, Scratch and Grounder act dumb, Sonic and Tails throw together increasingly goofy solutions. There's lots of yelling and chase scenes. Giant plungers are thrown in, because this show is just that desperate for a laugh. By far the strangest moment is a largely plot-irrelevant moment where Robotnik pins up three wanted posters in fifteen seconds, which leaves him utterly winded. This show has made fun of Robotnik's weight before but this moment comes off as especially mean-spirited.

Unsurprisingly, MacHopper is not one of those minor "AoStH" character with a fan-following. (Though, he would've made a good substitute for Walt Wallabe in the post-reboot comic.) He is forgotten, along with the episode that shares his name. How many more of these do I have left? [5/10]