Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Episode 1.06: Sonic Breakout

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Episode 1.06: Sonic Breakout

Original Air Date: November 2nd, 1993

"Sonic Breakout" does not feature Sonic as a ball bouncing off a paddle, against easily collapsible bricks, but I'm honestly surprised Sega never threw a game like that together. Instead, it begins with Tails eager to pick up the new issue of Crack-Up Magazine, one of those comic books that are actually funny. The issue mocks Robotnik, which naturally enraged the doctor. He kidnaps the artist and locks him in his brand new prison. Sonic intentionally gets himself captured so he can free the guy but Robotnik has built a cell specifically to hold Sonic. Will our hedgehog hero be able to escape this prison? What do you think?

"Sonic Breakout" is the earliest episode of "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" that I've covered in quite a while. Even though it was the forty-second episode to air, it was the sixth produced. I don't know why this episode was held back so long by the syndicators but you can tell it was an early one. In fact, it's maybe the most stock-parts episode yet. This honestly feels more like a pilot than the actual pilot does. Most of its runtime is devoted to Sonic outsmarting Scratch and Grounder in humiliating ways, usually via disguises. Robotnik's tubby appearance is often mocked. The humor is wacky and dumb but not nearly as wacky and dumb as the series would become. Even though there's an annoying supporting character in the form of artist Sketch Lampoon, Sonic and Robotnik's rivalry is still the main focus here. It's an episode all about how cool Sonic is and how ridiculous his enemies are. It feels prototypical in that regard.

Considering how common genre parodies are on this show, I half-expected "Sonic Breakout" to be "AoStH's" prison flick. No, there's no sadistic wardens, inevitable riots, or uncomfortable shower scenes. Instead, the episode just attempts to mine some minor dramatic tension out of Sonic being captured. The idea of our hedgehog getting caught on purpose, as part of a wily scheme, but then finding he's in over his head is a good premise. However, this show being what it is, there's never any doubt Sonic will escape. Naturally, the script cheats in this regard, as Sonic produces an additional copy of Crack-Up to distract Scratch and Grounder and fools a computer targeting system with a poster of himself. 

Just as I'm surprised Sega has never produced an actual Sonic Breakout game, the hedgehog getting captured and trying to escape an impenetrable prison is another good premise for a video game. I guess that would cut down on the series' trademark speed but it would create lots of opportunities for Sonic to swerve around traps. That's what this episode does and it creates a (perhaps unintentional) resemblance to the first game's Scrap Brain Zone. There's all sorts of crushers, stompers, and big spiked balls. This episode also repeatedly compares Robotnik to Humpty-Dumpty, even showing him cracked open like an egg. This was years before Americans started calling him Eggman, so it's a bit of a surprise. 

But it's not funny. Even by the lackadaisical standards of this show, "Sonic Breakout" feels surprisingly joke free. Yeah, Sonic puts on goofy costumes and tricks Scratch and Grounder. He infuriates Robotnik with his wacky antics. Yet these events happen so often that it's hard to say if they even register as humor. Only two instances seem to count as actual jokes to me. Sonic's speediness overwhelms the computer Robotnik has built to operate the prison and track the hedgehog. The computer then drolly comments that he's going to retire to become a cash register, har har. Lastly, the final scene sees Robotnik falling into the exact same pose Crack-Up featured him in. Which would be a nice touch of dramatic irony if everything about this episode didn't seem so tired and lazily executed. 

If I'm struggling to find anything interesting to say about this episode, it's because it's just not that interesting. However, I will say this: Another way you can tell this is an early episode is that Robotnik is still depicted as a would-be dictator. (Instead of as whatever type of bad guy the writers needed him to be this week.) And like all fascists, Robotnik seeks to censor the free press. A cartoon mocking his appearance drives him into such a rage, that he throws the artist into jail. That's some real Kim Jong-un shit right there, though Robotnik makes the guy draw his life story instead of torturing him or feeding him to dogs. This furthers my belief that "AoStH" depicts Robotnik as a tyrant attempting to take over all of Mobius, instead of operating after a "SatAM"-style victory.

Also, this episode's animation is not great. There's several moments were characters awkwardly twitch for a few seconds. For a show about a hyper-fast character, it's also a strangely stationary half-hour. Sonic spends most of the show chained up, so there's less running than usual. (The Sonic Sez segment also features an anti-graffiti message, seven years before Sega would make a video game all about how graffiti is fucking cool.) It's a really phoned-in episode that makes me feel nothing but boredom, I guess is what I'm saying. I'm surprised I managed to squeeze 898 words out of this one. [4/10]

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Episode 1.37: The Magic Hassle

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Episode 1.37: The Magic Hassle

Original Air Date: October 25th, 1993

I guess the "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" staff must have found Wes Weasly among the more amusing guest characters, as they would bring him back for a third time in "The Magic Hassle." In it, the Mobius Mint decides to honor Sonic by putting his face on the twelve dollar bill. This enrages Robotnik, who decides to rob the mint and replace the Sonic bills with ones featuring his beautiful mug. At the same time, Wes Weasly barges in and introduces his new collection of literally magical products. Robotnik is not impressed but Coconuts, sick of bathroom duty and hopeful to impress Robotnik, decides to buy some. Manic, physics-defying shenanigans ensue. 

Sonic the Hedgehog, regardless of which of the myriad versions you're talking about, has always existed in what TVTropes calls a "fantasy kitchen sink." That refers to a setting where the author throws in basically any fantastical plot element they want. The franchise has always freely mixed science fiction and fantasy, as Robotnik's advanced robotics have stood alongside reality-bending Chaos Emeralds from the first game onward. All the ensuing cartoons, comics, and many of the future games have freely mixed sorcery and science. "The Magic Hassle" is a great example of this. Here, we have a robot monkey using old-timey magic to try and stop a super fast hedgehog for his mad scientist boss. You can't get more fantasy-kitchen-sink-y than that. 

But the oddball ways this franchise, and this show specifically, have remixed various ideas is not what most interested me about this episode. Instead, it's the plight of poor Coconuts that tugs at my heart. Once again, the robotic monkey is a perfect stand-in for the common man, the oft-abused worker trapped in a system he can't escape. His boss sticks him with the humiliating task of cleaning toilets. Despite living in the hell of cleaning up after Robotnik's megaton shits, Coconuts is still desperate to please his master. He holds onto the naïve hope that, if he just does better, he'll eventually rise up the ladder. 

While everyone, including himself, blames Coconuts for his failures, he is instead a victim of circumstance. He actually comes really close to stopping Sonic a few times in this episode, successfully turning him into stone at one point. (This is the third time Sonic's been turned to stone, for some reason.) The mistakes of others, duplicitous partners, and pure bad luck snatches victory away from Coconuts every time. By the final scene, he's so beaten down by failure that he happily goes back to cleaning up crap. Thus, we see how the power-brokers of the world take advantage of the workers' lack of self-worth and broken circumstances (which the powerful created) to keep them trapped in the cycle of servitude. 

Wes Weasly adds another layer to this. Weasly's previous characterization as a conman doesn't exactly hold up here, as most of the products he sells work exactly as advertised. Yet, the minute he sees Coconuts, he still refers to him as a sucker. That's because Weasly knows Coconuts is doomed to failure, regardless of the quality of his tools. The products Weasly sells, and Coconuts happily buys, will do nothing to alleviate the worker's misery. The world of commerce promises relief but does nothing to change the circumstances making us feel bad in the first place. This seems to suggest a moral of "if something seems too good to be true, it probably is." Instead, the "Sonic Says" segment points towards "Hey kids, save your money instead of spending it on stupid shit." Yet the "Sonic Sez" version of Coconuts promises to spend his money on a new plunger, so even he can't imagine a better life for himself. 

One of the gizmos Wes sells Coconuts is a ray that emits bad luck. It makes sense that this would be on Coconuts' mind, as Sonic's luck is supernaturally good in this episode. I mean that literally. One of the magical devices Wes sells summons ghosts to terrorize the target. When this spirit is conjured up, it turns out he's a huge fan of Sonic and happily turns on his summoners. Earlier, by pure chance, Coconuts's vanishing spell causes everything to go wrong for the robots. Even after Tails is successfully zapped with bad luck rays, it doesn't slow Sonic down much. A hero who is always lucky, no matter how improbable, is a solid comedic set-up. It was a big part of the "Coyote and Roadrunner" cartoons that so clearly inspired this show. But "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" doesn't have the wit or timing of classic "Looney Tunes," so it's not nearly as funny as it could be. But at least they tried.

Lastly, this episode caused another question to spring into my brain: What kind of villain is Robotnik anyway? "AoStH" has never been consistent about this. He's been depicted as simply a mad scientist, a crooked land developer, a successful dictator already in control of big chunks of the planet, or merely a would-be dictator trying to conquer the world. In "The Magic Hassle," he's reduced to bank robber. He doesn't break into the mint just to deface the Sonic dollars but also to steal all the money inside. He says this'll fund his experiments for years to come. Which raises some questions about how Robotnik has been raising his money previously. Obviously, I'm overthinking it. (You might have noticed that overthinking it is how I'm coping with reviewing this show.) But the writers could've been a little more coherent with things. 

Oh yeah, so is the episode any good? Eh. Coconuts' constant drudgery makes him a more compelling protagonist than usual. Yet the writer still isn't sharp or clever enough to generate much in the way of actual laughs. That wouldn't be much of a review, which is why I have to ramble on incoherently as I did above. Ya know you love it. Anyway, I give "The Magic Hassle" a [6/10]. 

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Episode 1.08: Close Encounters of the Sonic Kind

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Episode 1.08: Close Encounters of the Sonic Kind

Original Air Date: October 20th, 1993

Previously, I've discussed the nineties fascination with UFOs and alien abduction and how the "Sonic" series would occasionally comment on it. You'd think an episode entitled "Close Encounters of the Sonic Kind" would be all about that. Sadly, there's no government conspiracies, reptilian humanoids, or probing in this episode. Instead, it just uses the alien plot line as a set-up for a simplistic plot. Considering Bubsy would also reference Steven Spielberg's seminal 1977 sci-fi film in his first game, I guess that was another pop culture reference that was easily understood at the time. 

Anyway, that's not really relevant. "Close Encounters of the Sonic Kind" begins with Scratch and Grounder laying down a new trap for Sonic, a plate that produces a powerful tractor beam. Instead of sealing the speedy hedgehog to the spot, the device calls down a spaceship piloted by Prince Charnock, of the Planet Rhombus. Along with his royal assistant, Splorg, Charnock was on his way back to Rhombus to participate in his coronation. If he doesn't get back in time, Charnock's baby brother will become king and destroy Mobius. Sonic and Tails, obviously, agree to help him reassemble his scrambled ship and help the prince return home. 

Yep, this is yet another episode that invents a story by introducing another annoying character. Despite being fuckin' aliens, Charnock and Splorg speak with hoity-toity, royal accents. Even though the fate of the planet is at risk, Charnock seems more interested in sightseeing. He frequently nearly stumbles into disaster, Sonic saving his ass every time. You'd think Sonic getting annoyed with this royal nuisance would be fodder for some decent gags but, nah, the episode just rolls with it. And, of course, the aliens' designs are pretty ugly. Charnock looks like a squid version of Roger Ramjet and Splorg is a floating blob of purple jelly.

 

Having to keep Charnock's dumbass from wandering into certain death reminds of a type of video game mission. That would be the dreaded escort mission, where the player has to keep some foolish computer controlled character from dying. This is not the only vaguely game-like mechanic utilized for this episode. Sonic and the gang having to retrieve parts to a spaceship seems like a classic game element. Yet none of these mechanics were present in the early "Sonic" games! If anything, the latter plot device is more like another Sega franchise: "Toe Jam and Earl." I'm sure it's all a coincidence but I also wouldn't be surprised if the writers just assumed all video games were alike. 

However, there is a time limit to this story, a mechanic that is a part of the "Sonic" franchise. Our spiny hero has two hours to get Charnock's shit together and have him return home. That would've been a good plot device to increase suspense. Instead, "Close Encounters of the Sonic Kind" is a pretty laidback episode. Charnock takes his time, playing the tourist, and snapping photos of Mobius' natural wildlife. Weirdly, even though the fate of his entire world is in the balance, Sonic plays along. He introduces the king to local wonders, like spiraling trees, a sunbathing fish, or a Stonehenge-like structure. It constantly amazes me how this show takes potentially good ideas and just throws them away. 

For what it's worth, "Close Encounters of the Sonic Kind" does mix up the established series formula in a few minor ways. Sonic doesn't turn Scratch and Grounder's traps on themselves so much here, as the robots are responsible for their own doom more often than not. In fact, the episode's sole funny moment has Sonic commenting on this. He dresses in a Carmen Miranda disguise before turning to the viewer and saying there's no reason for the gag, as the problem solved itself. Writer Douglas "Zip" Purgason is also good at foreshadowing events. Grounder comments repeatedly on his detachable drill nose, which becomes important later. Robotnik's Egg-Mobile doesn't start up on the first try, which becomes his undoing later. It's pretty heavy-handed but at least Mr. Zip wanted to instruct children about dramatic structure. 

He also wants to instruct children about proper sunscreen use, which is the topic of the "Sonic Sez" segment. Which is weird, since these characters are all covered in fur and presumably don't have to worry so much about sunscreen. If only that was the only thing about this cartoon that didn't make any sense... Anyway, "Close Encounters of the Sonic Kind" is another mediocre episode, though it manages not to be too annoying. Which is something, I guess. [5/10]