Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Episode 1.19: The Mystery of the Missing Hi-tops
Original Air Date: November 4th, 1993
Welcome back to another installment of Hedgehogs Can't Swim Bitches Listlessly About "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog!" In the "The Mystery of the Missing Hi-Tops," Sonic receives news that the town of McGuffin is celebrating a day in his honor. As he arrives, he meets three figures: Harry the Hucker, a shady salesman hocking bootleg Sonic merchandise; Sonnette, an obsessive fan-girl; and Hodgepodge, a speedy rabbit that Sonic used to race with in his younger days. Awakening the next morning, Sonic discovers his nifty hi-tops, which keep his feet from being destroyed by speed friction, are missing. He has to figured out who nabbed his shoes before Robotnik's fleet of death machines arrive in the town.
The "Sonic" franchise, being as inconsistent as it is, has gone back-and-forth on how important Sonic's shoes are to his speedy origins. Seemingly all Sonic media implies his speed was a natural ability he was just born with. Yet the properties of the shoes vary. Since Sonic Team/Sega has no interest in origins, the story behind Sonic's footwear is never expanded on in the games. In early U.S. "Sonic" lore, which weirdly only British media followed, Sonic's shoes reduced friction to the point that he can now run at faster-than-sound speed. He wouldn't be able to go as fast without them, so his speed and his shoes are intrinsically linked. Also in this version, the shoes were made by Robotnik before he became villainous. In the Archie comics, Uncle Chuck makes the sneakers and, while they are said to reduce friction, little attention is paid to them otherwise. "SatAM" packed the shoes with various gadgets, which seemed to imply Uncle Chuck made them, but went no further than that.
The back-and-forth about Sonic and his shoes continues to this day, as the recent movie pointed out that the hedgehog needed good footwear but otherwise gave them no special properties. I can recall at least one playground rumor, as a child, that said the shoes were what gave Sonic his speed in the first place, though nothing in canon supports this. With "The Mystery of the Missing Hi-Tops," "AoStH" throws their version into the mix. Whether the shoes are made by someone important or not, Sonic burns up his feet quickly without them. Considering how little actual story the "Sonic" games had at this point, I guess it was inevitable that the various spin-offs would focus on minor details like this.
But that's not especially interesting. I'm more intrigued by "The Mystery of the Missing Hi-Tops'" exploration of Sonic's relationship with other Mobians. An early scene has a normal Mobian reporting Sonic's destination back to Robotnik, implying some of the planet's residents prefer the big crazy doctor to the fast hero. Folks like Harry Hucker only see Sonic as a fad to capitalize on, which the hedgehog doesn't much appreciate. Most interesting is Sonette, whose infatuation with Sonic extends to clearly unhinged behavior. She changed her name to be closer to him, breaks into his hotel room to steal from him, and even risks suicide just so he'll rescue her. Sonic is understandably put off by this behavior. Even Hodgepodge hints at some sort of unseen past of Sonic's, before he met Tails or started fighting Robotnik.
These are all pretty realistic suppositions to make. Of course, Sonic would not be universally beloved and some folks would actually support Robotnik's fascism. Naturally, shady businessmen would try to make money off Sonic's popularity. Logic dictates that a hero of his level would have obsessive fans. And, obviously, Sonic has a past. It only makes sense that his speed would lead to various friendly rivalries, with people who are also very fast. (And if Sonic's speed was just something he was born with, it seems plausible others would be born with that ability too.) In other words, this episode does more world-building than pretty much any other installment of the show and in a surprisingly smooth way.
Unfortunately, all of this world-building seems like it was an accidental side-effect of the episode's goals. As title indicates, this one is a mystery. Sonic has to unravel who stole his shoes. The various guest characters, which do so much to expand on the world, are simply introduced as potential suspects, each with a motivation of their own to steal Sonic's footwear. (Coconuts is also among the suspects, though the most easily discredited.) As a mystery, this is fairly uninvolving, as it's easy to guess which of these potential shoe-nappers are the actual thief. Watching and Sonic and Tails dictate out the responsible party only has so much value, as the audience comes to the same conclusions much quicker. Though the show does earn some points for not cheating in this regard. And I did enjoy the scene of Tails shaking down Hodgepodge for info.
In the past, I've referenced my fondness for stories that force Sonic to use his brains, and not just his speed, to defeat his opponent. "The Mystery of the Missing Hi-Tops" tries to use this idea to its advantage. Sonic feels uncertain about his chances of beating Robotnik's goons without his shoes. He even says he hates using his brains to save the day. Yet every other episode of "AoStH" proves this as clearly bullshit, as Sonic outthinks Robotnik and his henchmen every single time. This episode even has Sonic doing his usual bit of putting on disguises and misdirecting Scratch and Grounder. (Which suggest Sonic's costume changes are not related to his speed.) The writers introduced a character arc they had no intention of actually resolving. Boooo!
Still, just for exploring some natural but new story angles, "The Mystery of the Missing Hi-Tops" deserves points. Though you will get tired of people saying the phrase "hi-tops." This episode also reveals that Sonic and Tails sometimes sleep in the same bed together. Make your own assumptions from that. The anti-stealing "Sonic Sez" segments also reveals that he keeps a wooden cut-out of himself with movable parts around. [6/10]
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