Sonic Live in Sydney

Sonic Live in Sydney 

Original Release Date: 1997

Nestled into an obscure corner of the United States as a child, I never physically encountered anyone as obsessed with Sonic the Hedgehog as me. From time to time, I'd run into somebody familiar with the games or one of the cartoons or, perhaps, another human boy who had read one or two of the comics. However, a friend as absorbed in this world and characters as myself eluded me. This led to me being a very lonely child, without anyone to share my greatest passion with. That's why getting online and discovering the wider "Sonic" fandom later in the nineties was such a revelation to me. My God, they do exist. 

Something else that fascinated me as a boy was amusement parks. Growing up where I did, I never got to visit any of the iconic American theme parks. Disney World, Universal Studios, SeaWorld, Six Flags Magic Mountain: All out of reach. Instead, I had settled for local D.C. area attractions like Hersheypark – where you can enjoy all the chocolate and slave labor themed rides of your dreams – and Paramount King's Dominion, where you could visit Stan Mikita's Donuts from "Wayne's World." Maybe Busch's Gardens, if you could drive a little further and wanted to watch your Dad get wasted and puke his guts out on the Loch Ness Monster. To my youthful eyes, such humble attractions still filled me with wonder. To my little kid brain, a theme park devoted to a topic was a sure sign that it had saturated the cultural zeitgeist. Which wasn't wrong, I suppose, since theme parks are really expensive. Getting to walk around a whole world devoted to a niche topic was a dream come true. You could trick yourself into thinking Cinderella's Castle or King Kong were real and you somehow breached the membrane between dull, horrible reality and wondrous, fantastical fiction. 

The point I'm making is... If kid-me had known there was a "Sonic the Hedgehog" themed amusement park somewhere in the world, I would have started saving all my pennies right then and there. I doubt I could have found Sydney, Australia on the globe but hearing that it was home to a mythical SegaWorld would have put the city on the map far more than any fancy opera house could. Maybe it's for the best I didn't learn about SegaWorld Sydney until long after its closure. By all accounts, it was a pretty mediocre amusement park, which is likely why it died after less than four years. Despite that, I have become fascinated with Sega World Sydney post-mortem as maybe the most hubristic example of Sega's oversized ambitions in the nineties. Or maybe it's because Sega World was the only place on Earth – outside of some disreputable Discord servers – where Princess Sally was treated with as much reverence as she was in my brain.

Sega World Sydney didn't have any bitchin' roller coasters, elaborate stunt shows, or world-class dining. But you know what it did have? A "Sonic the Hedgehog" stage musical! As performed by actors in clunky mascot suits and, later, severely off-model animatronic puppets. Among the dozens of apathetic vacationers who visited Sega World Sydney, none of them ever thought to video tape either version of the stage show. Or, if they did, they've yet to share it on the internet. Actual video footage of these shows remain highly sought-after relics by lost media archivists and obsessive-compulsive "Sonic" hoarders. Until such a recording surfaces, the only evidence we have of this incredibly obscure corner of the "Sonic" universe actually existing are some very unflattering photos of those suits and puppets. 

Except I'm lying. There is more proof that actors were paid to sweat profusely within heavy fur suits every day for an audience of bored children and visibly irritated parents. Yes, a cast recording CD of the first version of "Sonic Live in Sydney" was sold in the park and we do have digitalization of the CD splashed all over the internet. While this particular topic truly stretches the definition of "visual media," seeing as how very little visuals of it still exist, I am including "Sonic Live in Sydney" in my review of miscellaneous "Sonic" media. Because how can I not write entirely too many words about a half-hour production in which Sonic, Sally, and Robotnik express themselves through the power of song and dance? Someone as fascinated with misbegotten extensions of popular media franchises simply couldn't resist. 

Let us get into it, shall we? What is the riveting plot of "Sonic Live in Sydney?" It begins with Sonic, Tails, and Princess Sally aboard what we can presume to be the Tornado. After engine troubles, the trio bail out and land in Australia. Despite seemingly arriving in this area by accident, the three have a reason for visiting the island continent. Robotnik, following a defeat back on Mobius, have set up shop in Sydney with the Chaos Emeralds in tow. He has build his new base on the Sydney Harbor Bridge. A haphazard scheme involving a boot and a freeze ray ends with Sally being kidnapped by the villain. Sonic and Tails work to rescue her, the doctor falls in love with the Princess, some Badniks are there, and it all ends with Sonic saving the bridge from being exploded between musical numbers and half-assed jokes. 

In 1999, with the release of the Dreamcast and "Sonic Adventure," Sega would attempt to reel in all the divergent localizations of the "Sonic" brand across the world and unite it under one vision, which more closely resembled the Japanese interpretation of the character and his world. It was a controversial decision and one I have mixed feelings about. However, "Sonic Live in Sydney" makes a good case for why such a global unification was necessary. The stage musical – or at least what we can gleam from it based on the audio recording – represents a bizarre fusion of the different "Sonic" continues at the time. Sally is there and references are made to the Freedom Fighters, suggesting "SatAM" was a primary influence. (Supposedly, the dining area in the park where the show was performed was also called Knothole Village.) At the same time, Robotnik's design and characterization is based on his less-scary "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" depiction. In fact, the show's tone is far closer to that cartoon than the Saturday morning series, including a moment when Sonic tricks the doctor by wearing an easily-seen-through disguise. Mobius is also mentioned, presented as a planet separate from Earth, while several elements more akin to the early games – Robotnik's generic army of robotic minions known as Badniks, who were formally harmless woodland animals – also appear. It's a bit like the earlier, goofier issues of the Archie Comics series but more disorganized and thrown together in terms of what it did and didn't include. For bonus confusion points, Knuckles is in the cover of the CD and was heavily featured in the park but isn't in this show, presumably because he wasn't a part of "SatAM" or "AoStH."

You could certainly make the case that such a fast-and-loose approach to continuity effected the quality of "Sonic" tie-in products. A lack of oversight gave the impression of a series without much care put into it, that wasn't exactly worried about quality. The best "Sonic" stuff from this decade – "SatAM," the better Archie issues – saw creative people putting their best effort forward anyway. However, examples like most of "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" and the weaker Archie issues suggest much more that most people were not that concerned with making anything but easily digested slop for little kids. "Sonic Live in Sydney" definitely falls into the latter category. Truthfully, this might be one of the bigger examples of the creatives simply not giving a shit about what they were making. The plot for this half-hour, Chuck E. Cheese drama is nonsensical, often changing focus and introducing new elements with little pretense. The characters are simply sketched, their identities often changing in-between scenes, such as when Robotnik decides he's in love with Sally. Or in Tails' overall usefulness to the plot. (Sonic describes him as having "Heart," officially making Tails the Ma-Ti of this Planeteers squad.) 

And why would the crew behind such an ephemeral piece of entertainment put much effort into it? It's not like some overly serious dweeb is going to look back at it twenty-seven years later and try to write about it as if it was a serious piece of performance art, right? Nevertheless, trying to make sense of "Sonic Live in Sydney" is not always easy. Robotnik's freeze ray has a number of different properties that vary as the plot needs them too. How exactly the inhabitants got from Mobius to Australia, seemingly in an airplane, is never explained. For that matter, how do Sonic and the others have any knowledge of Australian culture? There's a pun in here about Ugg Boots, to show you how familiar they are with local culture. What exactly Robotnik's goal is changes several times, a love/sleeping potion is introduced haphazardly, and I swear that bomb blowing up the Harbor Bridge wasn't mentioned until the last minute. Also, Sally Acorn is called a marsupial but that's probably because they don't have chipmunks in Australia. I know, I know, this was designed to be watched by visitor stuffing their faces with overpriced pizza and dried out chicken fingers. Why bother putting any effort into it? I probably wouldn't have either. I'm just saying, you can tell.

The thing that always baffled me about shows like this, with a degree of audience participation, is... How exactly does that work? There are several scenes in this stage show where Sonic or someone calls out to the audience to answer a question or cheer or something. Mostly to shout about being in Australia or whatever. I'm sure the people halfway watching this always gave a very enthusiastic response. However, how exactly are the fictional characters aware of being observed? What do they see? What is the status of the Fourth Wall here? What does Dora observe when she talks to the kids in the other side of the TV? Does she, in-universe, have the ability to receive communications from people on another plane if existence? Or is it all performance? Make it make sense, damn it! I'm sorry that writing about this shit makes me sound schizophrenic sometimes. I guess that is an inevitable result of taking half-assed children's media waaaaaay too seriously. 

All of that aside... Is there any entertainment value to be had from "Sonic Live in Sydney?" Admittedly, this is an example of a piece of "Sonic" media so clearly thrown together that I can't help but be charmed a bit by its mere existence. Don't get me wrong, it's absolute garbage, as substantial as the cardboard plates and cups served in the same cafeteria. However, this thing is ultimately too weird for it not to be a little entertaining. As in "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog," you can see the apathetic overhead leading to the writers and directors inserting brief moments that are inappropriate for the little kids. Namely, Sally slapping Robotnik and the villain proclaiming that he likes it. Did Robotnik just admit he's into masochism? In general, the premise of the tubby bad guy – there are a lot of fat jokes here – falling in love with Sally is bizarre. Maybe the writers assumed this must be a Bowser/Princess Peach scenario, where the antagonist has a crush on the good guy's girl. (Who is specifically described as being in love with Sonic, opposed to the more flirtatious relationship the characters usually have.) It's a bit weird is all. 

Then again, considering "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" was clearly the main inspiration for this take on Robotnik, we shouldn't be surprised he's a hopeless romantic and weirdly horny. We don't know the names of a lot of the people responsible for this thing. However, we do have a cast list. Adrian Payne was clearly emulating Long John Baldry, with a conceited and operatic take on the baddie. The result of the voice acting is not so committed. Someone named Tanya Bulmer plays Sally and her accent audibly changes throughout. Sometimes she sounds a bit like a Southern gal, taking that attribute from Bunnie. Other times, her voice is more posh while multiple times the actress' native Australian accent shines through. The same is true of Paula Arundell and Diane Adams, as Sonic and Tails, who often let their Straya slip out. I think Arundell is trying to do a Jaleel White impersonation and... It's energetic, if nothing else. Adams as Tails, however, adapts a shrill and nasally voice that is frankly incredibly annoying. 

But what about those songs, man? Isn't that why we're all here, to marvel at the utterly baffling existence of a "Sonic the Hedgehog" musical? (That isn't "Sonic Underground" anyway.) As you might anticipate, they aren't very good. Did you expect them to be good? "What Are We Waiting For?" is Sonic's big number, in which he rhymes "core" with "core." It's upbeat, I'll say that much. The backing track is strictly Casio-core, which is all the more obvious thanks to bits of the original games' scores being used. As for Robotnik's song, "Give Me Chaos," quickly becomes rather droning and monotonous. It's still better than Sally's big romantic number, "Thank You For Being You." If you watched any underachieving Disney rip-off from this same decade, you'll recognize this same sort of glurgey synth sparkle ballad shit. It's regrettable though not bad enough to be truly offensive, I guess. More generic than anything else.

Out of all the dumb, shitty things I've written about because of this blog, I suppose "Sonic Live in Sydney" is less painful than "The Fight for the Fox Box." It caused me less psychic damage than going through every episode of "Underground" and the songs are, marginally, better. Would I have loved it as a kid? Of course, I would have. Sonic was in it! God, if I had gotten a chance to see Sonic and Sally move around on-stage before my very eyes, five year old me would have vibrated into another dimension from sheer excitement. Would I look back on it with clenched teeth and embarrassment? Oooooh yeah. If a recording of this show emerges from the depths of the internet someday, will I willingly expose myself to it again? We already know the answer to that. It's terrible but, at the same time, "Sonic Live in Sydney" is another example of what weird shit could happen when marketers got ahold of a popular media I.P. Maybe I'll go and watch the "Coming Out of Their Shells" tour next and see if it's more or less painful than this. Well, hoo-roo, mates, this CD left me mad as a cut snake and belongs in the dunny. [4/10]

30 Years of Sonic Fandom

On this date, thirty years ago, the very first "Sonic the Hedgehog" video game was released for the Sega Genesis. Congratulations, Sonic, you're officially middle-aged. Buy a boat and start planning your retirement. Despite wildly divergent highs and lows over all that time, "Sonic" is somehow still relevant to our modern world. Sega has done everything they can to hype up this significant anniversary, though one assumes bigger plans were hijacked by the collective clusterfuck that was 2020. Either way, the "Sonic" franchise has now survived three decades, which is way longer than I think anyone ever could've anticipated back in 1991. 

Obviously, Hedgehogs Can't Swim wasn't going to let this momentous occasion pass without some sort of acknowledgment. Today, the pop culture and gaming press is surely full of all sorts of retrospectives, tracking the series' tumultuous and unexpected history over these past thirty years. You don't need me to regurgitate trivia and factoids that can be easily found anywhere else on the internet. Instead, I'm taking this magical day to talk about something far more self-indulgent: My history with "Sonic the Hedgehog," my story as a fan of whatever the hell this series is. 

I was almost three years old when the very first "Sonic the Hedgehog" game was unleashed on the world. By some twist of fate, I almost share a birthday with my favorite multi-media franchise. The original game came out exactly one day before I turned three. That's young enough that I have no specific memories of the first game's release. In fact, as I've mentioned before, I'm not even sure when I first became aware of the blue hedgehog. The earliest memory I actually retain about "Sonic" is also one I've talked about before: That would be watching a clip of "SatAM" on ABC's 1993 prime time preview of that year's new cartoon shows. 

I also know I saw ads for the original game in issues of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Magazine, which I thumbed through repeatedly as a kid as the Turtles were my first pop culture obsession. Those ads might very well be my first exposure to anything "Sonic" related. Either way, it was the cartoon show and the comic book, which I discovered shortly afterwards, that made me the true blue hedgehog fanatic that I am today.

I imagine this experience is not typical of "Sonic" fans my age. Most of you guys probably played the video game first. Because money wasn't always easy to come by in my childhood household, and because my mother thought video games were noisy and annoying, I didn't receive my own Sega Genesis until a few years later. I'm pretty sure I didn't get my Genesis until my seventh birthday, in June of 1995. I can recall with great detail how I got this console: My mom took me to Toys R' Us and had me pick out some Genesis games that she said were for a family member's birthday. I selected "Sonic 3," "Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine" and "Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster's Hidden Treasure." Being a naïve child, I bought right into this easily seen-through deception, a parent ignorant of gaming tricking her child into picking out his own gifts. Pretty sneaky, Mom! 

When I unwrapped those games on my birthday I was shocked and delighted. Because kids are dumb but also precious. I can assure you that "Sonic 3" and "Mean Bean Machine" were the first "Sonic" games I ever played. And I kind of sucked at both of them, having trouble getting through the first few levels. Yet I was still sucked in. I quickly acquired "Sonic 1," "2," "& Knuckles," "Spinball," and even "3D Blast." When we got our first PC a few years later, I even had a copy of "Sonic Schoolhouse," though I can't recall playing it more than once. While I never owned one myself, I did have a friend with a Sega CD and a copy of "Sonic CD," which allowed me to marvel at the opening animation and stumble through the first couple stages. 

Obviously, I spent many hours playing those games, wasting huge chunks of my childhood on pixels and controllers. "Sonic 2" and the singular, detached "Sonic & Knuckles" cartage became my favorites and are the only two I ever mastered as a kid. While I love and respect those original games, it's fair to say they aren't my favorite iteration of the "Sonic" universe. I can recall, as a young boy, wanting nothing more than for Sally and the Freedom Fighters to appear in one of the games. Imagine how bug nuts I went when I discovered their cameos in "Sonic Spinball." 

This is because, as I've said over and over again on this blog, the Archie comic book is really what turned me into a "Sonic" obsessive. I've been trying to figure out why this goofy comic book – which obviously had more than its fair share of shitty issues – meant so much to me. And I think I've finally cracked it: It was another world. Sonic's universe was colorful and crazy and full of lovable characters. It was a place that felt distinct from our world, with conflicts and melodramas that were bigger yet simpler than those of real life. It had depth too. Those early issues introduced new characters, story concepts, and ideas so quickly and sloppily that a convoluted lore quickly built up. As longtime readers of the comic and this blog know, those issues could also get surprisingly dark at times.

It was easy to get lost in this wonderland. When things got hard at home and in my young life, which they often did, I was always able to get lost in those comic books. More so than any thematic concerns or storytelling hooks, that's why "Sonic" means so much to me. As ridiculous as it feels to type this, those books became a source of comfort for me. And continued to be one for two decades, this comic ostensibly for children oddly finding a way to age with me. This might be why it bugged me so much when the reboot introduced regular humans to the comic's world, as it made the Archie universe resemble our world more. I don't want "Sonic" to resemble our world! I want it to be a wild and crazy place with its own weird-ass mythos and rules. 

It was an escape that was only for me too, making it feel even more impossibly personal. While I certainly knew kids and had friends who played the "Sonic" games and watched the cartoons, I was the only person I knew that was into the comic. This is probably why this stupid-ass funny animal book became part of my fuckin personality, because it sometimes felt like it was made just for me. As the decade went on and "Sonic's" popularity faded somewhat, I retreated even more into my obsession and started writing long-winded stories and fan comics about these characters and their world. I wanted to be a part of this universe that I loved so much. That desire expressed itself in fanfic ideas that may or may not have featured an overpowered self-insert character. 

I call these fanfics but they were more like ideas, episode synopses and scripts for non-existent TV shows and movies, because I didn't know what the fuck fan fiction was at the time. That all changed when I got online around 1998 or so. The first "Sonic" website I can recall finding was called The Sonic Foundation and it blew my fucking mind. There were other people out there like me! Who also knew about this shit and obsessed over it and wrote shitty stories where they got to hang out with their favorite characters! It was a real "eureka" moment, let me tell ya.

I quickly delve into the world of "Sonic" fandom, finding other sites and chat rooms and fanfic archives that took up too much of my time. This was so long ago that Google wasn't even popular yet and I had to use WebCrawler to search out primitive "Sonic" fan sites. Such as the homes of outed predator PsyGuy and future "Sonic" professionals like Tyson Hesse and J. Axer. I even pushed my limited HTML skills to the breaking point and attempted to create my own "Sonic" site on Angelfire, which shamefully still exists and I will definitely not link you to. Whether or not my ill-begotten attempts at fanfics and – shivers – sprite comics still survive, I thankfully can't tell you.

I was growing into a moody, emotionally disaffected, edgy pre-teen by this point. The world was about to get a lot darker, for everybody it seemed, and I was pleased to find other "Sonic" fans undergoing similar transformations. It wasn't hard at all to find comics and fanfics filled with edge-lord jokes and inappropriate darkness around that time. Fan-writers like David Macintyre, Stephen Zacharus, and some goofy goobers named Sean Catlett and Ian Potto became people I admired and looked up to. In a roundabout way, this led me on my own path towards attempting to become a professional writer, which is really a story for another day.

By this point, the nineties were over and we were all living in a strange new millennium. Among the many crazy changes I was grappling with at that time, the "Sonic" franchise underwent its biggest change ever. The launch of the Sega Dreamcast and the release of "Sonic Adventure" made the series popular again, if not as popular as it was during its early nineties heyday. The "modern" era of Sonic – which is now twenty years old – would signal a radical shift in game play and something like a change in attitude for the franchise. The stories became more involved, feeling increasingly like something out of an anime. It brought with it an influx of new fans, with "Sonic Adventure 2" really firing the imaginations of younger hedgehog appreciators. 

This, in my opinion, is when the "Sonic" fandom started to get weird. The internet was becoming more of a widespread thing, exposing the stranger corners of the fandom to a wider audience. The popularity of websites like DeviantArt and LiveJournal gave a voice to a lot of talented people and a lot of other people who probably shouldn't have had their voices amplified. The franchise going in a different direction intensified the petty debates between the opposing corners of the fandom. (Which, owning to the very different interpretations of the character that we're out there, we're already pretty far apart.) This, from my point-of-view, is when the Sonic fandom started to develop a reputation for being terrible.

Eventually, Sega stopped making consoles. Not too long after that, the games stopped being good. The franchise shattering failure of "Sonic '06" led the people who make "Sonic" games in increasingly offbeat directions – like adding guns or swords or making Sonic a werewolf for some reason – in a desperate attempt to keep people interested. This did little to rehabilitate the franchise and did even less for the fandom. Now there was this perception that we were all devotees of a loser, over-the-hill series that was bad now and was maybe always bad. Circa 2009 or so, saying you were a "Sonic" fan was about analogous to saying you were a furry pervert or a racist autist.

Unsurprisingly, this is when I started to distance myself from "Sonic." I was a young adult in college at the time and really had more important shit to do anyway. Yes, I was still reading the comic book and loving that it was actually good again around this time. Yet I stopped playing the games. I didn't watch the cartoons. I hid my merch when I had girlfriends over and only mentioned my long-held fascination to my closest friends. My initial launch of this blog in 2010, which only saw a few updates before I abandoned it, was actually a failed attempt to get back in-touch with my "Sonic" fandom. To figure out why I was so into this thing that was now regarded as a laughingstock. 

Yet the damage had been done. Over the last decade, the "Sonic" franchise had mutated in a lot of ways I don't recognize. I stopped buying video games altogether. "Generations" and "Mania" are really the only entries into the series I've played much since I turned 21. When people mention the "boost formula" or start arguing if Jason Griffith or Roger Craig Smith were better, I really have no idea what they're talking about. This is why I was dismissive of characters like Silver, Blaze, and the Babylon Rogues for so long. They were unwanted additions to a series that had, in my opinion, forgotten itself. 

It felt like a strange time to be a "Sonic" fan. Yet, for a lot of fans, this is the only version of the series they've known. The franchise may have felt like it was flatlining and the fandom sure seemed like it was rotting from the inside out. Still, the "Sonic" community survived and grew. When I do interact with other fans, via this blog and Twitter and Discord, I still feel out-of-place sometimes. I'm an old foggey who has been around since almost the beginning, which means I can't relate with some fans. Yet, these days, I'm largely at peace with the realization that some parts of the vast "Sonic"-verse are for me and some parts of it aren't. Starting to shift this blog less from an investigation into fandom and more of a collection of retrospective reviews helped me understand that. 

On its 30th anniversary, in a weird way, the "Sonic" series feels healthier than it's been a long time. The rehabilitation really started five years ago, during the last anniversary, when “Sonic Mania” became the first game in the series to receive unanimous praise in many, many years. The following big budget game was less well received but the fallout from that seems to be that Sega has learned to actually take time between titles, instead of rushing them out. The corporate entities behind “Sonic” got good at memes. A new comic began, garnering positive attention from people both in and outside the family. A movie that, at first, looked like a catastrophe was turned around at the last minute. The movie rode its status as the last major release before a global pandemic shut theaters down to surprising levels of success. Now, a sequel has finished filming and a new cartoon show is quickly approaching. 

In 2020, “Sonic” is still kind of a laughingstock but he's in on the joke now. The weird-ass legacy of the series is accepted and the blue hedgehog seems to be regarded with warm nostalgia by a lot of people. Though toxic behavior will always exist in any fandom, “Sonic” fans do seem to have chilled out somewhat and aren't the regular punching bags they once were. I guess I would say I'm cautiously optimistic about the franchise's future and am no longer ashamed to be a “Sonic” fan. It's part of who I am and I'm cool with that.

If you read this entire rambling essay, thanks for sticking around. Race onward into your third decade, blue hedgehog, and be proud of all you've accomplished. As for me, I guess I'll continue to chronicle these adventures. I seem to enjoy doing so. 

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog Reviews: Introduction

The “Sonic the Hedgehog” fandom is bad. I feel like this is self-evident. “Sonic” fans are weird. They are too passionate, too open about their grosser qualities, and too willing to bicker endlessly with you about what the “true” version of “Sonic” is. This is because the “Sonic the Hedgehog” fandom is divided. Is “Sonic” a nineties platforming game? Is it a mid-2000s 3D adventure game with an open-world hub and fishing side-quests? Is it a lore-filled comic book series, full of serious themes? A loosely plotted series of light-hearted adventures? Is Sonic himself a nineties smart-ass with a bad attitude? Or someone who loves his friends and will do anything to protect them?

The truth is, this division is baked into the very soul of the franchise. There has never actually been a consistent version of “Sonic.” In Japan, he was conceived as a wacky but cuddly cartoon character in the tradition of Mickey Mouse or Felix the Cat. Sega of America, however, was allowed to sell “Sonic” over here however they saw fit. So Sonic was an in-your-face, Bart Simpsons-like rebel in the U.S., which was the hip thing all the American kids were into at the time. (In retrospect, trying to sell a blue mascot that runs fast and bops robots on the head as something serious was... Kind of weird.)

Even in the U.S., there wasn't much across-media coherence concerning this particular blue hedgehog. I already covered this a little in my “SatAM” introduction. Hot off the success of the first two Genesis games, Sega ran to DiC Entertainment to develop a cartoon based on the newly popular property. As DiC had done with “Mario,” they developed an aggressively wacky comedy series wherein Sonic was a merry prankster and Robotnik was an incompetent, goofball villain. “Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog” even reeled in Jaleel White – otherwise known as the obnoxiously-voiced, and briefly extremely popular, sitcom character Steve Urkel – to voice the titular hedgehog.

You already know what happened next. ABC passed on “Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog,” asking for a more plot-driven series, which led to the development of “SatAM.” Instead of abandoning the zany show they had worked so much on, DiC continued working on “Adventures.” These programs would hit the airwaves around the same time, with “SatAM” premiering on ABC on September 25th 1993 and “Adventures” beginning its run in syndication a few weeks earlier on September 9th. 

So two “Sonic” cartoons with wildly different tones and styles were on television at the exact same time. So you can see why “Sonic” fans have been so intrinsically divided from the very beginning. Is Sonic a Freedom Fighter waging a guerrilla war against an authoritarian tyrant, in a grim post-industrial wasteland, with his group of friends? Or was he a screwball goof punking an idiotic adversary, in a colorful cartoon world, with Tails as his only consistent companion? The answer to both questions is, somehow, yes. And simultaneously! No matter fans can't decide on what the hell this character is and what this series is about.

Weirdly, this never confused me as a kid. On weekend mornings, I would watch Sonic mourn Uncle Chuck and fight the destruction of the environment. On weekday evenings, I could see Sonic dress in drag and hear Robotnik brag about how fat he was. Despite how different the shows were, I loved them both because kid-me loved Sonic, regardless of what he was doing or who he was hanging out with. Children are able to accept strange shit like this at face-value, I guess. Mostly, my memories of “Adventures” are confined to watching the show at my friend's house in the evenings after his dad finished watching – sigh – “The Rush Limbaugh Show.”  Somehow, both Sonic and Rush are newly relevant again here in 2020! The new century is weird.

Anyway: Much like “SatAM,” “Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog” would develop a long-lived fandom. While “SatAM's” spirit lived on through a ridiculously long-running comic book and a passionate cult following,  the awkwardly abbreviated “AoStH'” lived on via internet memes and Youtube Poops. Some of this quasi-popularity might be owed to “AoStH's” surprisingly enduring afterlife. While “SatAM” would largely only be rerun in obscure cable showtimes, “AoStH” aired in syndication for years afterwards and even had a shockingly well-promoted re-airing on Toon Disney. (That was Disney's sort-of defunct attempt to compete with Cartoon Network, to you goddamn zoomers.) Shout Factory would release both shows on DVD around the same time, cementing the link between them.

So what do I think about “Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog?” Even as a kid, I was not especially passionate about this iteration of my favorite blue hedgehog. Yes, even as a youngster, I turned my nose up a bit at the sophomoric slapstick of this series and only regularly watched it because it starred a pop culture obsession I've never let go of for some reason. In my few attempts to return to “Adventures” as an adult, I've found the show to be a sub-”Ren and Stimpy” program that was cheaply animated and leaned way too hard on the aggressive wackiness. This retrospective will be the first time I've actually sat down and re-watched the show, maybe for the first time in my entire life. I'm sure there's episodes I missed as a kid.

Also, this is going to take a little while longer than “SatAM” did. “Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog's” syndicated run includes sixty-five episodes. So I'm fully expected this journey to annoy and tire me out very quickly but, well, I'm committed to this bullshit. (By the way, I'll be following the air date order for the show, as opposed to the radically different production order.) Prepare your pingas, rev up your Mean Bean Machine, but don't click away because that's no good. We are going to go on some “Adventures,” here at Hedgehogs Can't Swim.

Sonic the Hedgehog (1993), Episode 2.05: Blast to the Past, Part 2

Sonic the Hedgehog (1993), Episode 2.05: Blast to the Past, Part 2
Original Air Date: October 8th, 1994

The second part of “Blast to the Past” didn’t waste much time getting into things. After a recap a minute long, we pick right up where we left off. Robotnik’s Destroyer warship has just crashed through the royal throne room. He captures the King, Uncle Chuck, Sonic and Sally. Our heroes quickly escape which is good, because they have a lot to do. They have to ensure the future — which they realize they’ve already changed — happens. They must reduce their younger selves, retrieve the plans for the original Roboticizer, and keep the Great Forest from being destroyed. Along the way, they both preserve and change events that will happen soon enough.

Yes, like all time travel stories, “Blast to the Past” has to acknowledge that you can’t go charging into the past willy-nilly. At the start of this second part, all Sonic and Sally have really done is hang out for an afternoon in Mobotropolis. Their mere presence in the past has been enough to change things. Robotnik’s plan has sped up and it includes polluting the Great Forest which didn’t happen before. The general accepted rule for this kind of stuff is that, even by changing the past a little, you’ve essentially created an alternate universe to go home too. (Though not too different. In one of the episode’s few sloppy moments, Sonic and Sally are able to escape their cell because Robotnik has apparently not update his prison block design in a decade.) Ben Hurst’s script at least seems sort of aware of this, though a twenty minute long kids cartoon doesn't really have time to get into the intricacies of time travel.

Then again, it’s hard to tell how much Hurst thought this through. Because “Blast to the Past, Part 2” features more time paradoxes than you can shake a fully-loaded chili dog at. By going into the past, Sonic and Sally indirectly cause the young Freedom Fighters to get captured. They then have to rescue themselves from the Roboticizer. Did their time travel cause these events to happen or where Sonic and Sally always meant to save their younger selves from slavery? If so, how did they ever escape and become Freedom Fighters in the original timeline?

If your heads aren’t spinning yet, think about this out. In this episode we see that Sonic and Sally are responsible for rescuing a young Bunnie from the Roboticizer. (Though she’s still fully organic at the episode’s end, so I guess she was half-Roboticized at some later point.) They also rescue a baby Dulcy by helping her Mom escape some SWATBots, cause Snively to loose his hair, and lead to Robotnik’s left arm becoming mechanical. Not to mention, it seems incredibly likely Sonic’s teenage persona was inspired by this mysterious stranger named Juice he met as a child. You’ll notice, all of these events came to pass in the original timeline. Did these incidents happen in different ways originally? Or is this some sort of stable time loop, Sonic and Sally always having traveled back in time? Again, there’s no way “SatAM” had time to explore all of these ideas. Whether haven really thought it through or was just being cute, I guess we’ll never know.

What we do know is that Hurst uses this episode to set up many of the season’s future plot points. We see Robotnik tosses King Acorn into the Void, while referencing Naugus. (Though, once again, we have to wonder why Robotnik didn’t just kill the king or at least Roboticze him.) We learn there was once an entire dragon race on Mobius but Robotnik wiped them out early in his reign, realizing they were too powerful to be kept around. Sabina, Dulcy’s mom, is still out there though, a plot point we’ll be getting to soon enough. It’s very clear that Hurst and Pat Allee has a master plan by this point and we’re going to put it into action, regardless of what the ABC execs had to say.

This is not the only example of how “Blast to the Past, Part 2” expands the lore. We learn that the opening sequence wasn’t exaggerating. Mobotropolis really did fall in the course of a montage. On one hand, it strikes me as pretty unlikely that Robotnik could remake such a grand, large city entirely in his image in the course of an afternoon. On the other hand, it’s such a striking image. As the Destroyer warship flies over the city, we see fountains run dry. Pristine, artful architecture becomes a cold, industrial cityscape. The blue skies are choked with fog. There’s something powerful about that, of evil coming into power and everything good around him immediately rotting into something corrupt and soulless.

“Evil,” of course, is subjective as Robotnik seems to be having a pretty good time. Once again, Jim Cummings’ performance is truly the stuff of Saturday morning legend. The way he gloats ecstatically as fog is belched into the air, or berates a terrified Snively, is truly impressive. After Sonic escapes and ruins his plans, Cummings once again gets to scream in absolute unhinged rage. This follows a wonderful exchange, where he hisses that he already hates Sonic. While the performances on “SatAM” were overall wonderful, it’s increasingly clear that Cummings was and is on a different level. Jaleel White is goofy fun, Kath Soucie is often a grieving raw nerve but Cummings elevates the material to high melodrama.

Having a good villain is certainly a requirement for a properly entertaining action/adventure story. And that’s exactly what “Blast to the Past, Part 2.” After a more laid back first part, the continuation gives us lots of what we associate with “SatAM:” Sonic and Sally sneaking around and wrecking Robotnik’s shit. One of my favorite action beats in the entire series has Power Ring-infused Sonic rocketing into the air through the Knothole slide and falling towards the Destroyer. Sonic and Sally only survive the landing thanks to Sonic’s quick-thinking. It’s nice to see the hedgehog using his head, since Sally has increasingly become the brains of the operation. And it all looks pretty good too. Maybe the animation in the first half was kind of janky because the show was saving its money for this one. The action scenes are smooth and full of zip, while the characters remain lively and expressive.

As much as I like “Blast to the Past, Part 2,” it’s still an episode primarily concerned for plot. I wish it left a little more room for emotional issues. After their tearful reunion last time, Sally never gets a chance to react to loosing her again. The King gets captured and Voided but we never see how this makes Sally feel. Meanwhile, little Sonic also gets his share of childhood trauma. He’s next in line when Uncle Chuck gets turned into an emotionless robot right before his eyes. He seems pretty upset about, the hedgehog hero crying again, but his mood quickly improves after a pep talk from “Juice.” I didn’t expect a kids cartoon to delve into how this childhood trauma drives Sonic’s later act. (I suppose it’s even possible these events didn’t happen this way in the un-fucked-with timeline.) But it’s a pretty big idea to throw in there and then just skate away from.

The “there must always be losses” ending is somewhat undermined by the sitcom Schlick
Hurst doesn’t break his mantra of “There must always be losses.” Upon returning to the present, Sonic outright wonders if this time travel excursion had any point at all. Robotnik still came to power, the King was still un-person’d, and Chuck was still turned into a robot. Sally informs him that it wasn’t a pointless trip, as they did retrieve the original Roboticizer plans, bringing them one step closer to their goal of returning all Robians to normal. It could’ve been a powerful moment, Sonic grappling with the question of whether smaller victories are worth it if the war is stilll unwon.

Instead, Tails flies in and informs the two that Rosie is looking for them. Yes, Sally casually changed the future — or created a branching timeline or however his is supposed to work — by informing her childhood nanny not to ever leave Knothole... Because Rosie would have eventually been captured and Roboticize while out in the Great Forest. Now, this means Rosie has always been in Knothole.... Meaning Sonic and Sally have returned to a future that isn’t technically their home. And that the chipmunk and hedgehog Freedom Fighters will look suspiciously familiar to the nanny. Instead of confronting these ideas head on, “SatAM” goes for the easy sitcom-style ending of Sonic being confused by the entire situation. Which was probably for the best, as the kids in the audience were probably baffled enough already, but isn’t very satisfying on an emotional level to this viewer.

Either way, “Blast to the Past” improves a lot in its second half, after some problems in the first. One really has to admire the vision Ben Hurst and the rest of the show’s team brought to a cartoon designed to sell video games. I don’t know how many other cartoons from 1994 would get me discussing the peculiarities of time travel like this. To serious fans of “SatAm,” this is a pretty pivotal two-parter so I am forced to give this a very high score. I didn’t make the rules, guys. [8/10]

Sonic the Hedgehog (1993), Episode 2.04: Blast to the Past: Part 1

Sonic the Hedgehog (1993), Episode 2.04: Blast to the Past: Part 1
Original Air Date: October 1st, 1994

If you need further proof of how serialized “SatAM” was becoming in its second season, one need only look at the “Blast to the Past” two-parter. This was the first time time the show had done a two-part story. The episode’s plot is built heavily upon the show’s up-to-then lore, showing Robotnik’s coup of Mobotropolis — the events that triggered the Freedom Fighter’s guerrilla war — that was previously only depicted in the opening title sequence. (Though this episode clarifies that this happened when Sonic was a child, while he’s his normal teenage self in the opening. But theme songs are typically not canon.) In fact, reasonably sure this two-parter might have introduced my own childhood self to the concept of TV show’s continuing their plot across multiple episodes. I definitely recall seeing this story line play and, in the period afterwards, insisting every show I watched after that actually ended on some sort of cliffhanger. Kids are weird.

As is typical, the episode begins with the Freedom Fighters heading into Robotropolis to sabotage some new facility of Robotnik’s. This time, the team is made up of Sonic, Sally, Bunnie, and two Freedom Fighters that we have never seen before this moment. The big difference this time is that the heroes fail. The unnamed horse dude and bear guy get captured and Roboticized. The named characters barely escape. Sally feels great guilt over this failure and Sonic wishes the war could be ended before it began... Which is when Dulcy mentions the Time Stones, mystical artifacts that allow time travel and reside on the Floating Island. (The names of two Sega plot devices being used is probably a coincidence.) Sally insists such things are legend but Dulcy claims to have discovered the Island. She takes Sonic and Sally there and, after some traps and tests, the two are successfully whisked back to Mobotropolis. They meet their childhood selves, a still organic Uncle Chuck, and King Acorn. Despite their warnings, Robotnik’s coup still seems to be occurring and earlier than expected.

“Blast to the Past” is a Ben Hurst episode and continues the new head writer’s commitment to inserting heady Big Ideas into a children’s cartoon. I’m not just talking about time travel, though “Blast to the Past” briefly grapples with ideas of pre-destination and causality. Only briefly, as Sonic and Sally do not graphically melt into a puddle of goo when interacting with their past selves. It’s certainly hinted that Sonic and Sally fucking around with the timeline may have sped up the pace of Robotnik’s takeover. However, Hurst seems more concerned with the idea that the peacefulness of childhood most inevitably give way to the upheaval of adolescence. Mobotropolis seems idyllic but the threat of Robotnik’s domination is always lingering in the background. The darkness is coming.

This idea is most evident in Sally’s reunion with her dad. All throughout the show, this is what she has been fighting for, a chance to be reunited with her lost father. When right outside the throne room, Sally is racked with anxiety, fighting back tears. Naturally, she softly coos and cries when finally seeing him again. This should be a joyous moment but it’s not. The trauma of that loss, of fighting through it all these years, still weighs on Sally. The idea of finally overcoming it brings with it more stress, not relief. And whatever joy can be found here is impermanent, about to be torn away. An idea made all the more literal when Robotnik smashes his war ship right through the castle wall.

More than just thematic concepts, this is also an episode full of wacky fantasy ideas. I certainly always remember “SatAM” being more of a sci-fi show but this rewatch is making it increasingly clear that the series was more rooted in wacky, eighties-style fantasy. A hidden temple, guarded by a pair of ill-tempered gargoyles, definitely seem like something out of a Conan the Barbarian comic. While traversing the temple, Sonic and Sally step through a surreal, M. C. Escher-style collection of interlacing, physics defying staircases. (An image that was also used in “Labyrinth” and “A Nightmare on Elm Street 5,” so that visual language was all over the place at the time.) The idea of a riddle-telling guardian is also as old as Greek mythology, though a floating owl head is a lot less intimidating than Oedipus’ Sphinx. One of the things worth loving about “SatAM” is how casually it introduces crazy shit like this.

As a young “Sonic” nerd, I think I most liked “Blast to the Past” for delving into the history of this fictional universe. In retrospect, it’s weird that the show didn’t do this sooner. We know Sonic and the gang are fighting to restore this great city, that was lost and destroyed when Robotnik took over. It’s odd that, two seasons in, we are only just now really seeing what was lost. And Mobotropolis does seem pretty nice, though law-enforcing robots still roam the skies and, ya know, it’s still a monarchy for some reason. Hearing Uncle Chuck invented the Roboticizer to help the elderly and infirm certainly fills a void in the backstory. Watching the soft-spoken and regal Julian reveal his true self, the megalomaniacal Robotnik, is worthwhile too. The sequence where he plans the coup and belittles Snively is a great display of how sinister and intimidating Jim Cummings’ voice work can be.

It’s also just fun seeing Sonic and Sally interact with the younger versions of themselves. We see the roots of Sonic and Sally’s belligerent bickering/flirting when little Sally calls little Sonic a stinky, dumb boy for gulping down countless chili dogs. (And his response that being a stinky dumb boy is awesome is also mildly amusing.) Sonic racing and bantering with himself - he introduces himself as Juice, presumably because he's playing with the Queen of Hearts - is also really cute. Later, we get introduced to the entire Freedom Fighter team as kids. While we don’t see much of young Bunnie or Rotor, we do learn that Antoine has always been a cowardly weenie and that the group has always had a propensity for adventure. This episode also introduces Rosie the nanny, a minor cartoon character who would become a slightly less minor comic book character.

Even in an episode handling some heavily ideas and emotions, you can still feel that network executive edict that “SatAM” be wackier and funnier. Though Dulcy proves herself useful by taking Sonic and Sally to the Floating Island, clearing out the fog, and saving them during the fight with the gargoyles, she still curls up like a bat and falls asleep mere seconds after the duo arrives. Apparently she didn't find the sight of a mysterious temple and a magical floating island very compelling. This is also an episode that leans way too hard on snarky banter. It seems every other line that comes out of Sally's mouth is negging Sonic, with the hedgehog having a sarcastic catchphrase on his lips just as often. All of this jives badly with what is otherwise a pretty serious episode.

The animation is also slightly off in this one. Sally and Sonic both look mildly off-model in many scenes, their heads being too big, smiles fixed oddly on their faces, bodies too chubby. The action scenes are often very flat in their movement. The gargoyles just disappear after being led off the island. The unnamed, unimportant Freedom Fighters just float weightless by the side of those weird flying SWATBots as they are escorted to the Roboticizer. The animation quality picks up a little after the story moves to the past, but everyone still seems slightly stretchier, slightly goopier than usual.

Still, it can't distract from what is obviously a pretty good episode. And, hey, Tim Curry also shows up to voice both King Acorn and the guardian of the Time Stones. (Who Flynn would later dub “Nicholas O'Tyme” in the Sonic Comic Encyclopedia, though he never got to use the actual character in any stories.) It's sort of funny how many kids cartoon shows an actor best known for playing a hyper-kinky space transvestite would show up in during the nineties. That is always a treat. [7/10] 

Sonic the Hedgehog (1993), Episode 2.03: No Brainer

Sonic the Hedgehog (1993), Episode 2.03: No Brainer
Original Air Date: September 24th, 1994

Here are some of the weird things that happen when you do some serious re-tooling to your cartoon show in its second season. Throughout this re-watch, I've been watching the show intro during each episode, because how the hell am I suppose to skip a force of pure awesomeness like that? Obviously, this intro was in no way reanimated during the second season, because it's perfect and also because animation is expensive and DiC is cheap. This does create a bit of a disconnect when you see Rotor and Antoine's original designs, plus Sally running around without a vest like a hussy, and are then faced with their season two re-designs just a few minutes later. Anyway, I thought that was interesting.

Okay, let's actually talk about “No Brainer.” Robotnik temporarily leaves the city and Snively is left in charge. Sonic, Sally, and Bunnie are in Robotropolis for a mission when a message from Uncle Chuck tells them to delay it. Sonic rushes back into the city to get a chili dog, stops in to rescue some other Freedom Fighters headed to the Roboticizer, and gets zapped by a SWATBot. This temporarily wipes the hedgehog's memory. Snively quickly convinces the hedgehog that he's his friend and sends Sonic off to find Knothole, leading the bad guys to their location. The Freedom Fighters quickly catch on to what's happening and plan accordingly.

“No Brainer” sees “SatAM” putting its spin on the classic premise of the hero loosing his memory and being tricked by the bad guys. This is such a common premise that it's not the last time a piece of “Sonic” media would use it. One of Ken Penders' early, better story arcs for the comic concerned this exact same idea. (Whether or not Ken was directly inspired by this episode, I don't know and I doubt Ken would admit it.) At least “No Brainer” does something a little more sound than just bumping Sonic on the head, which it what the comic did. Though why SWATBots have mind scrambling lasers on-board I don't know. The script also further looses creativity points since this is the second episode about a sleeper agent going into Knothole.

Since Sonic spends most of the episode brainwashed by the bad guys, “No Brainer” is largely devoted to the Freedom Fighters. Which, of course, I am fine with. Yes, Sonic is still on everyone's mind. When the hedgehog doesn't return immediately, Sally is very worried and forlorn. (Not that this stops her from teasing and bickering with him later, of course. Also, when he first returns to Knothole, Sonic instinctively heads to Sally's hut. Read into that what you will, shippers.) Yet watching these cartoon animals worry about stuff and figure out a plan, including hiding in a hollowed tree stump as they hide from the robotic forces, sure is entertaining.

Snively's resentment towards Robotnik is obviously going to be a thread throughout season two. And here's the irony of Snively momentary taking over control of Robotropolis: He nearly wins the war. He doesn't immediately try to Robotocize or kill Sonic when his memory is zapped, like Robotnik probably would've. Instead, he hopes to locate Knothole instead... And he does. He locates the rebel's base and has them pinned down, even exposing them to the same memory wiping ray. What ends up being Snively's undoing is, more than anything else, his egotistic sense of entitlement. This is why Snively is such a great character: He's actually relatively brilliant and conniving, a true threat... Yet he feels like he deserves to win so much, that he often fails to consider the possibility that victory could slip out of his grasp at the last minute. I want to segue into some point about male entitlement and modern nerd toxicity – if he was on the internet in 2019, you just know Snively would be an incel – but let's not go too far off-topic here.

Now, granted, “SatAM” still has to leap through some convoluted plot points to justify Snively coming so close to total victory. Unlike the last time they got a sleeper agent into Knothole, Snively actually outfits Sonic with a radio. After the memory-restored Sonic saves the day, the Freedom Fighters zap Snively with his own memory-wiping ray. Now the problem with this, is the original personality eventually returns after a few hours. So Uncle Chuck hacks the radio signal to send Snively and Robotnik to a bogus location, within the Great Swamps. This is after StealthBots, given the coordinates, nearly bomb the place to hell and back. Gee, I guess information broadcasts to Robotnik's robots isn't stored or backed up anywhere? I swear, the only thing that really saves Knothole time and again is the incompetence of Robotnik's empire.

On the special features included on Shout Factory's DVD set, Ben Hurst talks about how a story arc he was really invested in was Tails' realizing his inner potential. Up to this point, Tails hasn't been much more than Sonic's (mildly annoying) kid sidekick. However, this is the first episode where the little fox really starts to show his potential. The Freedom Fighters quickly deduce that a Power Ring will be the quickest way to restore Sonic's memory. The problem with this is the team is pinned down in their hiding place, quite a ways away from the magic pool with only a few minutes to go before it spits out another ring. That's when Tails – who, after all, can fly fast enough to keep up with Sonic – leaps into action, flies off, and gets there just in time to grab the ring. It's a good moment for Tails. Now if only the show didn't have Sally following right behind him, implying she's just as fast...

It's another strong episode weirdly sidelined by occasional moments of overbearing comic relief. Once again, Dulcy is a little too cute in her goofiness. In the middle of the episode, there's an out-of-place sequence of her attempting to fly and colliding with another tree. This cause her to groggily call out to her Mom. After she gets hit with the memory eraser, she also repeats this mantra. Man, that gag was exhausted the first time this show did it. Also, I'm continuously disappointed that season two can't find anything better for Antoine to do aside from him being a massive wiener. The other Freedom Fighters shouting “Shut up, Antoine!” is another lame gag the show is returning to too much.

But you know something that goes a long way towards making me forgive “SatAM's” flaws? How fucking weird it can be sometimes. The episode starts with Uncle Chuck hiding his note inside the head of a grotesque outside a gothic cathedral... Why does such a structure exist in Robotropolis? From what you've seen of Robotnik, he doesn't really favor that kind of architecture. Was it a leftover from the Mobotropolis days that is still standing for some reason? Maybe the same can be said of the chili dog dispenser Sonic uses twice, that is actually a plot point. I don't see much of a need for vending machines in a city mostly occupied by robots. (Also, getting hot dogs out of a vending machine is gross.)

Lastly, this episode introduces the weirdest Freedom Fighter. I'm talking about Dove, a messenger that flies between Knothole and Chuck's hang-out in Robotropolis. It appears to be a cross between a toucan, a dragonfly, and a lizard. While I would assume it was an unintelligent bird-like creature, it also wears a helmet and goggles, suggesting a certain degree of personality. As its name implies, Sally communicates with the creature via dove-like cooing. I sort of like that “SatAM” is just weird enough that it can randomly introduce oddball concepts like this and nobody bats an eye.

Also, as far as flaws go, there are some of those animation errors typical of DiC here. At one point, while attempting to stop suddenly, Sonic speaks without his lips moving. Later, Snively's shuttle lands outside the Great Forest by awkwardly floating down to the ground in a moment that's barely animated. Next, he floats off with some SWATBots on flying platforms in a similarly stiff moment. I can't even blame the show for this shit at this point. You just have to roll with screw-ups like that if you're going to watch a Saturday morning cartoon show from this period. Kids at the time probably didn't notice. I know I didn't. Honestly, I'm more bothered by shit like Bunnie's super-strength being depicted so inconsistently. The same rabbot that can haul up huge machinery struggles with a hollow tree stump here.

Over all, this one works for me pretty well. While it's got its share of flaws, the central conflict is strong and it's executed reasonably well. That's all I need some times! [7/10]