Sonic Boom, Episode 1.01: The Sidekick

Sonic Boom, Episode 1.01: The Sidekick

Original Air Date: November 8th, 2014

I've begun every single one of these "Sonic" cartoon retrospectives by talking about each show's intro. Honestly, a completely badass opening was a tradition begun by "SatAM" and continued by every proceeding "Sonic" series. Say what you will about "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" but its theme song and the accompanying animation totally establishes the mood. Even "Sonic Underground," by far the weakest of all the cartoons, had an awesome introduction. 

"Sonic Boom," I'm sad to say, breaks this tradition. Like, it's fine. It even tells you a little bit about the show itself. It depicts Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy all racing towards the camera and striking action movie poster worthy poses. (The longer French version features a little more footage of posing and action, alongside a bitchin' guitar solo.) They then face off as a group against Eggman and his Badniks, before a rainbow colored background. This probably seems like the beginning of an action heavy cartoon show. These expectations are then subverted when the show's title drops down on Eggman's machines in an anticlimactic, comedic fashion. Basically, "Sonic Boom" tricks you into thinking this is going to be a typical video game adaptation before revealing that comedy is the goal here. 

The intro is also only a few seconds long – as not to cut too much into each episode's brief eleven minute run time – so it doesn't really have much of a chance to make an impression. There's no time for Sonic and Sally to destroy a factory or Super Sonic and Shadow to duel it out. The theme song is similarly forgettable. It's a brief piece of orchestra music that ramps up the excitement and then ends, serving its purpose without making much of an impression on the viewer. "Sonic Boom's" intro being simply serviceable is not really the show's fault. Awesome cartoon intros and theme songs have mostly died out alongside their Saturday morning time slots. If the kids were watching this on Netflix or Hulu or whatever, they probably just skip the intro anyway. So why should the animation team put that much effort into it? I'm guess I'm just a traditionalist... 

The initial minutes of the first episode, "The Sidekick," pulls a similar trick to that opening. It depicts Sonic chasing Eggman through the rocky canyons of a barren desert. Sonic is soon fighting it out with Eggman's latest killer robot, who is outfitted with snapping claws and rocket punches, above a lava-filled chasm. Tails provides air support in the Tornado, giving Sonic a lightning lasso to swing around on and defeat the robo-baddie with. But Tails' plane is shot down during the skirmish. Sonic rescues his friend from the crashed vehicle, is relieved to hear that his heart still beats, and races his injured buddy back home. 

Sounds pretty dramatic, right? Well, it is. I mean, there's jokes. Sonic makes fun of Eggman's name and the name of his robot, much to the villain's chagrin. But battle banter is nothing new for the "Sonic" franchise. However, the minute Sonic and Tails return to their island paradise abode, it becomes clear that chuckles will be the focus of this program. The rest of the episode revolves around Sonic, concerned for his bro's safety, forcing Tails into sidekick retirement. He holds try-outs for a replacement and the two main candidates are Tails and Eggman, who seizes on the fine print in the ads to audition. Yes, there's more action in the second half, as the two compete in a hover board race and Eggman reveals his plan to betray Sonic and squash them both. But yuks are obviously, primarily the goal here. 

Which begs the question: Did I chuckle, guffaw, titter, or hoot while watching "The Sidekick?" Well, a little bit. The episode has a couple of decent gags. Knuckles auditions to be Sonic's sidekick and immediately begins changing the terms of the agreement. Amy also attempts to be Sonic's sidekick, trying to impress him by juggling and singing. The third applicant is Fastidious Beaver, whom I already know from the "Sonic Boom" comics and who also has a trademark tendency to correct everyone's grammar at all times. These are amusing set-ups but the show returns to them to often. By the third time Fastidious Beaver said "actually" or Amy bursts into a throaty rendition of "When the Saints Go Marching In," most of the humor has been drained out. 

There's a lot of that hyper verbal, overly self-aware humor here. Sonic pedantically criticizes the name of Eggman's new robot, who is called Fire Bot despite having no fiery attributes. There's a fourth wall break during Eggman's villainous speech. After Sonic tries to let Tails down easy, there's a quick exchange where the two establish that he's actually fired. That sort of humor is trying too hard to get a laugh, in my opinion. Smaller gags – like Sonic apologizing to a photo of himself or Eggman taking the time to write up a resume for his evil scheme – are more amusing to me than the constant snark. 

Ultimately though, "The Sidekick" does earns points for being invested in its characters. Sonic has an actual arc here, learning that he needs Tails as much as Tails needs him. That his little buddy is far from a defenseless child. Eggman is obviously not a world conquering despot here yet the attempts he makes in the good guys' lives are still fairly serious. The moment Sonic and Tails defeat him is a very sincere victory, meant to make the kids at home cheer. I like it when even a farcical show takes the characters' lives and the stakes of the story seriously. I have no idea if that'll be the normal state of affairs for the rest of the series but I appreciate it here.

It may take me an episode or two to get used to the show's sense of humor. Similarly, the animation will take some adapting. "Sonic Boom" is, obviously, the first CGI Sonic cartoon. And I'm not typically a fan of CGI animation on a TV budget. "Sonic Boom," ya know, doesn't look as good as any theatrically released CGI cartoon. The character models are a little stiff, especially when it comes to facial expressions. I don't mind the "Sonic Boom" character designs but, in action, the gangly limbs do look a little weird at times. The action scenes are pretty smooth, even if the environments could've been more detailed. The scene where Sonic displays his inability to swim – which, of course, I appreciate – features some pretty choppy water. 

I'm sure I'll have more thoughts on the voice cast as I watch my way through the show, Mike Pollock's Eggman is perfectly gravelly but I still find Roger Craig Smith's Sonic a bit blandly heroic. Overall though, "The Sidekick" starts "Sonic Boom" off on a perfectly cromulent note. There are a handful of funny jokes. It's well constructed enough not to bug me. It doesn't blow me away and the show hadn't found its footing just yet. But, as far as season debut goes, it's fine. Sorry if you were expecting either more praise or damnation than that. [6/10]