Sonic Boom, Episode 2.22: Muckfoot

Sonic Boom, Episode 2.22: Muckfoot

Original Air Date: April 8th, 2007

Like many, from a young age, I was fascinated by stories of "real" monsters, such as Bigfoot or Nessie. The idea that our mundane lives could, at any point, intersect with the fantastical via an unexpected encounter with a Mothman or El Chupacabra is a tantalizing one. There was definitely a time in my life when I sincerely believed the frequently reported sightings and widely-circulated tales of such creatures meant that bizarre megafauna really did roam our forests and lakes, just waiting to be discovered by some crackpot with a game camera. These days, I take a much more analytical view of such beliefs, recognizing the lack of creditable scientific evidence of these things while acknowledging their importance to the collective imagination. It is interesting that humans need to believe in monsters, isn't it? Probably says something about our collective unconsciousness that we must populate the shadowy corners of the world and our minds with Sasquatches and Mokele-Mbembes. That we aren't satisfied with such things only existing in legend and insist they must be real-deal-really REAL too. 

The persistent need to believe in monsters has unavoidably led to a persistent need to commercially exploit that belief. Con artists and the world of cryptozoology go hand-in-hand, to the point that it's hard to say whether they are entirely one and the same. A natural side effect of this tendency is that Bigfoot and the gang have become pop culture icons. There have been a lot of movies and TV shows that reference these hypothetical beasts and not just the ones that fall into the usual monster-adjacent genres. And, thus, this rambling introduction comes back around to "Sonic Boom," which entered the exciting, scientifically dubious world of cryptozoology with the episode "Muckfoot."

Team Sonic heads out into the woods for a scenic camping trip, so Tails can enjoy some stargazing and Knuckles can enjoy some exotic wild berries. Sticks warns them of a legendary beast known as Muckfoot, said to roam these jungles. While looking through his telescope, Tails catches a glimpse of something unusual. He sets an elaborate trap to catch a blurry, indistinct photo of this cryptozoological entity. The resulting media attention to this sighting causes a frenzy for Muckfoot merchandise and makes Tails a celebrity overnight. Sticks is skeptical, however, and helps Tails uncover the truth: "Muckfoot" is just an intoxicated, sleepwalking Knuckles who has wandered through a mud bog. Now, the young fox feels conflicted, enjoying his newfound fame but feeling pressed to reveal the truth. When a money-hungry T.W. Barker captures "Muckfoot," Tails has to reveal what's actually happening and rescue his friend. 

It may not surprise you that a ten minute long cartoon show designed to sell a flop video game doesn't exactly have a very deep response to the question of why Bigfoot and similar mythical beasts continue to tickle our minds. Instead, "Muckfoot" simply has fun goofing on this trend. Probably the best joke in the episode occurs when Tails presents his photo – a blurry, pixelated image of something slimy, a seemingly random spot highlighted with a circle – to a public that are immediately blown away. This is actually a known phenomenon in the world of skepticism, referred to as "Blobsquatches." But the fact that such an unconvincing image convince a lot of people is a clever commentary on the public's overwhelming need to believe. Soon, the village is slapping Muckfoot on all sorts of merchandise, dedicating a whole day to it, and building their entire small town economy around the supposed existence of a swamp monster in the near-by woods. I've been to Point Pleasant so I totally recognize this as a very real thing that happens. 

"Boom" segues this theme into a general mocking of reality TV fame. Tommy Thunder soon shows up and gets Tails to co-hosts a TV show about finding Muckfoot. A scene of these two wandering around the woods while being shakily recorded by a hand-held camera is a fairly accurate recreation of these shows. Except with one important difference: Tails and Tommy Thunder actually find something. This builds towards the subplot of T.W. Barker capturing and displaying "Muckfoot" for his own profit, a common tactic in the world of monster-hustling that is more-or-less outdated in our times but survives thanks to internet grifters hocking books and Patreon subscriptions. 

These are all decent gags but, amusingly enough, the question of Muckfoot's existence and a willingness by the press to capitalize on it is not really what this episode is about. Instead, this show is devoted more to Tails learning a valuable lesson about integrity. Tails believes he really has uncovered something extraordinary at first. However, with a little urging by Sticks, he uncovers that he has unwittingly become a big cog in a machine dedicated to ripping people off. But Tails likes the fame that comes with this new prominence. He can even, for a while, trick himself into thinking that it's not so bad that he's knowingly lying to people. If it makes folks happy, how bad can it be? Yet when Knuckles, his friend and an actual living being, is harmed by the consequences of this lie, Tails realizes he has to come clean. It's a nice character arc and, moreover, a good summation on the actual stakes of these real world beliefs in imaginary bullshit. I too think believing in Bigfoot or UFOs or the integrity of religious and political leaders is harmless up until the inevitable point when it actually starts hurting people. 

It's not too hard to predict where the episode is headed, from its first scene. In fact, "Muckfoot" resembles at least two different episodes of "The Simpsons" and "Invader Zim." The fleeting glimpse we get of "Muckfoot" in the early scene is obviously Knuckles covered in some mud. It's easy to put this together with the earlier mention of some special berries. I even guessed the final gag of the episode, after everyone dismisses Muckfoot's existence as a hoax. That doesn't mean "Muckfoot" isn't a funny episode. It's pretty clever and is, as you'd expect, very self-aware about its own predictable structure. Sticks even has a line about Tails' personal journey coming to a satisfying conclusion, an obviously important milestone in the fox's life that she uses as nothing but a prelude to getting some pizza. (Which she refers to as "za," an abbreviation that has, in the intervening seven years, gone from meaning pizza to meaning some serious top-shelf nut-bashing marijuana. Though it is pretty funny, and easy, to imagine Sticks is partaking of that type of "za" too...)

In general, Kevin Burke and Chris "Doc" Wyatt's script packs in the funny lines. There are typically meta jokes, such as Sonic identifying some "As You Know" exposition, Tails later using the same term, and Amy calling out Sonic making things worse with his smart-ass comments. Reactions shots are used well, in how everyone responds to Tails' telescope centric plans or his promise not to exploit his discovery. In general, there's just some good goofiness in lines about moon burn, Old Man Monkey constantly changing his opinion on Tails, and a shout-out to a movie/meme that was already seventeen years old when this episode aired. Really, the only joke I think needed a little breathing room is Eggman appearing a few times in clown make-up. If that has been left as just a visual non-sequitur, it would've been a lot more amusing than the script eventually calling attention to why this strange thing is happening. 

Though it is kind of weird that this script designated Sticks the job of introducing the legend of Muckfoot but also being the one to chastise Tails for lying to people. I guess that makes sense, considering her duel role as believer in crazy bullshit and questioning of the status quo. Maybe Sticks isn't upset that Tails is lying to people. Maybe she's upset that his shenanigans draw attention away from the real issue, that Muckfoot is working with the Bildebergers to lower our sperm counts or something. Still a pretty good episode! As for the question of whether Bigfoot exists, I can't tell you whether he does or doesn't but that the Flatwoods Monster is absolutely, 100% real. [7/10]