Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Episode 1.34: Mad Mike, Da Bear Warrior

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Episode 1.34: Mad Mike, Da Bear Warrior

Original Air Date: November 24th, 1993

Clearly, the writers of "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" would just make up random characters to build episodes around, which is why this show introduced so many disposable characters that were never seen again. Yet I often find myself wondering how the writers went about deciding what characters would show up in future episodes. What made Von Schlemmer and Wes Weasly worthier of further appearances than Dr. Warpnik or Katella? As far as I can tell, it was up to the individual writers. Which is probably why Mad Mike and Big Griz, the highly annoying duo known as "Da Bears" introduced in "The Robotnik Express," showed up again later down the line. Doug Booth wrote both episodes and I guess he found these ursine nincompoops especially amusing, or was totally out of other ideas, because he even gave Mad Mike title billing in his second episode. 

"Mad Mike, Da Bear Warrior" begins with a rabbit named Updike fleeing from Scratch and Grounder. Apparently, Robotnik has enslaved Updike's cotton-tailed countrymen to carve a mountain into the shape of his face. Robotnik is even denying his slaves food, having littered the path to the mountain with traps. Sonic and Tails recruit Mad Mike and Big Griz to drive a tanker truck full of chili dogs up the mountain. Scratch and Grounder are on their tail, attempting to keep the life-giving substance from reaching its destination. Shenanigans ensue. 

This is another one of those "AoStH" episodes that I would describe as almost totally useless. It's an almost plotless twenty-two minutes. The runtime is filled with increasingly senseless and wacky quasi-comedic encounters, as the characters travel from point-A to point-B. There's a baffling sequence set in a swamp, that concludes with a chili-stuffed alligator falling from the sky onto Scratch and Grounder's heads. Despite being an episode about traveling and driving around in fucking trucks, it's last act is set in an inexplicable medieval castle, which includes a giant robot knight in armor. In order to defeat the knight and save the day, the tanker truck randomly transforms into a dragon. None of it is funny. It's just random, stupid bullshit happening for no reason. Throughout its run, "AoStH" repeatedly mistook wackiness for comedy and that's never been more apparent here. 

Doug Booth built "The Robotnik Express," and Da Bears' entire existence, around a lazy pop culture reference that children would be unlikely to understand. He does it again with "Mad Mike, Da Bear Warrior." Yes, this is an extremely vague parody of "The Road Warrior." A tanker truck full of life giving substance recalls the groundbreaking car chase finale of George Miller's 1981 cult hit. One of the many goofy hazards the episode cooks up are a squad of amphibian bikers called "Toad Warriors." (Which actually rhymes with "Road Warrior," unlike this episode's title.) Even though the Mad Max connection is largely dropped by the end, Booth still makes sure to name the knight robot Sir Humongous, as a shout-out  to "Road Warrior's" hockey-mask clad antagonist. 

As parody, it's loose and doesn't really comment on or poke fun at the second "Mad Max" movie in any meaningful way. It's just another example of the kind of lazy pop culture references you'd see in nineties kids media. "Here's a homage to something well known or beloved, because that'll be wacky and random." Not that I'd expect many five-year-olds in 1993 to know what "The Road Warrior" was. (I might've heard the title "Mad Max" at the time but I definitely hadn't seen any of the movies or even knew what they were about.) I wouldn't expect the same kids to get the "SNL" reference of Da Bears either, so I guess Booth just didn't give a shit. He also names a rabbit character Updike, a nod to the "Rabbit, Run" series of novels by John Updike. That's a reference little kids definitely wouldn't get, so I guess Booth just threw these jokes – if you can call them "jokes" – in to amuse himself. 

Truthfully, there are moments in "Da Bear Warrior" that feel kind of inappropriate. And not in the usual "the animators were indulging in an obscure fetish of their's" way this show frequently does. Robotnik enslaves people not with wacky brain pollen or magic microchips but just by capturing them, forcing them to work, and keeping food from them. That feels kind of dark, don't you think? Later, Scratch and Grounder capture Mad Mike and interrogate him, threatening him with bodily torture. That is also a little fucked-up. Sonic saves Mike by dressing up as a German officer with a riding crop, causing Jaleel White to unleash his worst accent yet. He wears a WWI-era Keizer helmet during this, presumably because a Nazi armband would've been a little too on-the-nose. It all feels a little out-of-place. Like, I obviously don't care about offensive jokes or even including adult humor or situations in kids programming. But I don't think the children of 1993 were ready for Nazi jokes, okay? 

There's one joke in "Da Bear Warrior" that made me chuckle a little. While reading a manual on torture – see, that sounds really dark when you type it out! – Scratch mangles several words while pronouncing them out loud. Even illiteracy jokes seem mildly uncool, though not as bad as Sonic goosestepping. Also, this is only the second episode I can think of where Sonic calls Tails "Miles," which was unexpected. Also also, Scratch and Grounder pilot a rocket-powered drilling machine that resembles the Marble Garden boss battle from "Sonic 3..." A game that wasn't out yet when this cartoon was made. It's a lame, frequently shrill episode. Some of the blame lies with the writers but I doubt they were given enough time or money to produce a meaningful product. Oh well. Only seven more of these left... [4/10]