(zooming)
- [Sonic] ...and here, and here, and here...
(cages slamming) - [Sonic] ...and here, and here, and here...
(steam hissing)
- Keep up with him!
- [Strider] Let's chat about my childhood hero,
Sonic the Hedgehog.
I still admire his free-spirited attitude
and good nature in the face of hardship,
So when Sonic stars
in a really lousy,
stupid cartoon episode,
it doesn't just demean Sonic,
it demeans me
and many others
on a personal level.
Sonic has seen a ton of reimaginings
over the last 30 years,
so let's chat about the most notoriously bad of them all.
Let's check out
the Top 5 Worst Sonic Cartoon Episodes.
Just a heads-up,
I wanted to talk about "Sonic Underground" on this list,
but honestly,
the show is just too dull to bother putting on a list.
And "Sonic X" is just... well...
4kids's "Sonic X"...
And I think "Sonic Boom" is pretty serviceable nowadays.
Number five...
"Sonic Christmas Blast", a Sonic special.
I actually got this episode as a present
from my brother, Raz,
on my eighth birthday.
Unfortunately,
neither of us knew the calamitous disaster
that Raz had inadvertently unleashed.
You see... this Christmas "special"
turned out to be the ugliest lump of jet-black coal
ever left in a Christmas stocking.
The episode starts with Sonic talking to Princess Sally.
But since they were too cheap
to even hire a voice actor,
they just have her be mute
and imply everything
through pointing and glaring?
Okay...
- Don't say another word!
Our Christmas deal:
no presents.
- [Strider] And then,
Robotnik takes over the city as...
- [Srtider and Robotnik] Robotnik Claus!
(crowd clamoring)
- [Strider] Yes, that's actually what they call him.
And he's "Robotnik Claus" now
so he can get everyone else's presents on Mobius.
That has to be the most lamebrained,
cheesy plot I've ever heard.
And worse yet,
there were somehow even less voice actors
to voice the roles than usual.
They went from their usual...
"massive" voice cast of four whole people
to two voice actors?
To voice, like, 20 different characters.
Seriously,
I think it's just Jaleel White and John Baldry in there,
the voice actors of Sonic and Eggman.
- But Dr. Robotnik Claus,
we already built two dozens.
- I want hundreds!
- [Strider] The animation looks somehow even worse
than "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" usually looks.
And the plot holes are so gaping
that you could drive a mad truck through them.
I mean,
they're building Robotnik lots of chimneys
so that people can come down
to give him presents.
How, guys?
How do they make their plot so stupid
that even NOT trying
would produce a more coherent plot?
But it gets even worse
when Sonic meets the real Santa Claus.
But it turns out Santa
is a bit of a downer.
In fact, he's a real defeatist killjoy.
- There's gotta be something we can do!
- No, Sonic, it's hopeless.
Christmas can't happen for anybody else.
Robotnik Claus has destroyed it.
(♪ festive arrangement of credits theme)
- [Strider] Nahhh, I'm just messing with you.
Though that would be a good ending.
So Santa makes this really flimsy pretense
that Sonic can deliver all the presents
by gaining super speed
because of the plastic-looking ring he's wearing,
all by Sonic just doing a bunch of
random junk Santa asks him to do.
- Super speed?
- Extremely super.
But to gain that power,
you must master all of the impossible challenges.
- [Strider] These "trials"
sound much more like Santa's
just making up crap as he goes.
Seriously, Santa,
you're telling me the ancient cave pictographs
had snowboards on them.
So Santa gets Sonic to snowboard a bit
and ride a bicycle and...
ba-jing!
He has super speed!
And now he's Sonic Claus.
It's almost like Santa
just made up a bunch of garbage
to occupy a three-minute timeslot.
But now, apparently,
Sonic is the new Santa?
- Now you're Sonic Claus!
- [Strider] That's right, kids.
It's not Santa coming down your chimney.
It's Sonic.
You see this idea
in so many Christmas specials,
yet somehow,
it feels even stupider here.
I'm almost impressed in a way.
How the hell did they manage this?
I guess where others fail,
"Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" will always
find a way to make it lazier,
more idiotic, and senseless.
(zooming)
Sonic SatAM: "The Odd Couple".
Urgh.
I really don't like these episodes about
a person's home being invaded,
and the most tragic part of all?
This time, the invader is my hero, Sonic.
HE'S being the lazy lout this time!
- So it looks like we're gonna be roomies ♪
- [Strider] Barging in on Antoine's home to live with him
and sending him into a fevered nightmare
of insanity at Sonic's messiness.
I originally watched this one
at about 11 years old,
and it honestly felt
like I was watching the image of my hero
crumble before my eyes.
Sonic is such an inconsiderate mess of a roommate.
I mean, he tries to cook Antoine dinner,
which is nice of him,
but his slob-like antics
end up leading Antoine
to breaking down crying.
(loud chewing)
- Yo, Ant!
I saved you a dog!
(offscreen belch)
- [Strider] He eats like a pig,
leaves a massive mess,
and belches randomly.
Don't get me wrong,
I'm not obsessed with manners,
but just some basic cleanliness
when you're a guest would be nice.
He even trashes the house in his sleep,
driving Antoine even further 'round the bend.
He then blames Antoine
and tells the other Freedom Fighters
HE lives like a pig.
- No!
(wood creaking) I'm not spending another night with Ant!
Not only is he totally outta his tree,
but he lives like a pig!
- [Strider] Ending with a tree falling on Antoine's house.
Eugh...
(zooming)
(exploding)
Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog: "Super Robotnik".
- I'm...
Super Robotnik!
- [Strider] Ahh,
there's few cartoons out there
as refreshingly terrible
as "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog",
wildly not giving a stuff
about animation, story,
dialog, or writing.
In fact, here,
they just rip off Superman.
You see,
in case the title card didn't give it away,
Robotnik becomes Super Robotnik.
How? By falling in a bucket of
laundry detergent and floor cleaner.
I am dead-freaking-serious.
Now, Robotnik can fly,
he's indestructible,
has laser eye vision,
super-hearing, you name it.
And what does Robotnik do
with his newfound superpowers?
Well, he steals candy.
- I just stole candy
from 4,822 babies!
- [Strider] Then he invites Sonic
to a competition in climbing rings.
A sort of Mobius Olympics, I guess?
So apparently Sonic pumps himself so much
in 12 seconds on an exercise machine
that he can now apparently match Super Robotnik.
What?!
Just... what?
What kind of insane logic is that?
Even Goku took a few months in intense gravity
to train to fight Frieza.
And it turns out Super Robotnik's one Kyrptonite,
one true weakness is...
...his butt.
So we watch Scratch and Grounder
remove a tack from Super Robotnik's butt.
Truly I can say
that the golden age for animation
was not brought about by DiC.
- We'll need the butt pliers!
(metal squeaking and shutting)
- Butt pliers!
- [Strider] Super Robotnik is a Sonic episode that
hits that pinnacle level of stupidity
that only "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog"
could manage.
But once again,
I am astounded
how creatively terrible this show can be
yet very entertaining at the same time.
- [Sonic] ...and here, and here, and here...
(cages slamming) - [Sonic] ...and here, and here, and here...
- [Strider] Sonic SatAM: The pilot.
You know that truly dark,
evil Robotnik from "Sonic SatAM"?
The one who callously tortured, roboticized,
and stole the minds of every sentient creature
he could get his psychopathic grips on?
Well now, he has...
a pink throne room
and a tiny metal chicken named Cluck.
- Oh, what is it, Cluck?
Does hims need another head adjustment?
- [Strider] And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Here's Sonic, and he's, uh...
jamming.
(electric guitar riff) - Hey, Sal, don't you call me a fool,
'cuz baby you know that I'm way past cool!
- [Strider] ...but "jamming"
is probably a strong word
for what we just saw.
That was, in fact, Sonic's attempt
at wooing his future wife.
It's like the whole episode
is based on showing how
"90s extreme!" Sonic is,
giving us such classic lines
such as...
- Softer is for pillows,
for ice cream.
Music has gotta MOVE.
(Rotor gulping) It's gotta be pedal-to-the-metal.
- [Strider] Somehow, they made this pilot
even more cheesy
than your average substandard
"Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" episode.
But I think they had a shoestring budget,
as this was their initial pitch for the show.
The weird part is,
in the very next episode,
the whole art style and tone changes.
We go from a pink throne room
with a robot chicken named Cluck to...
torturing rebels in the first five minutes of the show.
And who should be the other star of this episode
but Tails.
Back in the 90s,
Tails wasn't the well-spoken inventor
who could fly that we know today.
No, he was truly and utterly
useless in every single way,
serving absolutely no purpose whatsoever.
Tails is even given
such classic sidekick lines as...
(echoing and air hissing) - [Tails] Sonic...
I gotta go to the bathroom.
Really, really bad.
- [Strider] It's clear the writers and animators
were still trying to get the tone right for this one,
uncertain of whether it should be
another "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" toon ride
or a dark drama
about the industrial world's
rapid destruction of nature
and enslavement of anyone
who can stand against an all-powerful dictator,
resulting in a pilot episode
that is struggling under the weight
of an identity crisis.
But at least it was what gave us "Sonic SatAM".
(zooming)
And before we get to number one,
I just want to give a quick Honourable Mention
to my favorite Sonic episode:
"Sonic Breakout".
Please excuse my voice, by the way.
This episode is just packed
with so many unique scenes and moments.
And the episode is all based
around Robotnik responding to Fair Use.
No, really!
And his response, of course,
is throwing the parody artist in jail.
So...
only a SLIGHTLY better
response to Fair Use than Fox.
(rimshot) response to Fair Use than Fox.
(Strider chuckling quietly)
Fortunately,
Sonic's there to bust the artist, Sketch Lampoon,
out of Robotnik's new super-fortress.
This is probably the most smooth, coherent,
stylish, and fast-paced episode
I've ever seen in "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog".
And I actually recommend it.
Anyway, onto number one.
(zooming)
And without a doubt,
the number one worst Sonic episode is...
Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog: "Hero of the Year".
(zooming)
- We're here to honor you
as hero of the year!
- [Strider] You may be asking yourself,
"how does DiC Animation's 'Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog`,
one of the laziest cartoons on Earth,
somehow make itself even more lazy?"
Well, to start with,
don't even bother
finishing half the animation for the episode.
Just release it even
more half-done than usual.
Then turn this soiled, decrepit pile of junk
into the worst clip show ever.
You now have Sonic: Hero of the Year.
Where? Where to begin with this episode?
starting the episode with
(loud, annoying car alarm) continual loud, annoying car alarms in our ears,
bad jokes that don't even remotely work,
and a minus 100 animation budget,
even by "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" standards.
Hey, look, it says "S.U.S.".
Probably because this episode's a little...
sus!
(rimshot) sus!
Ha-ha!
(crickets chirping) High five-- anyone?
Anyone?
All the other Sonic shows at least make
an attempt to remain cohesive in their story.
To try, at least a little.
This, well...
There's a completely hopeless story
about Sonic being nominated for "hero of the year"
as a flimsy pretense
to start the dreaded clip show.
- What's goin' on, little bro?
- People love you, Sonic.
And they're here to prove it.
- [Strider] But not a good clip show.
Not even an average clip show.
No, these make "Simpsons" clip shows
look like pure genius.
It's even weirder
when you think about the fact
that clip shows are usually supposed
to catch you up on the best moments of the season.
That implies that someone on the staff
was actually proud of what they done in this show.
And here I thought the budget of this show
couldn't possibly get any lower,
but a DiC clip show
must have a minus a million budget,
where they have to pay the audience to watch it.
Even as far as clip shows go,
the old footage is just clumsily
and flimsily mashed together
with little to no coherence.
And for some reason,
Robotnik is unusually mellow.
Like, for the whole episode,
he's just chilled.
It's like he suddenly became
a meditative zen monk.
- And best of all,
you're both being so modest.
- Aw, gee...
- [Strider] So then the clip show
finally ends with Sonic being
sunk in a submarine by Robotnik.
Hooray!...
Wait, no,
now Eggman has to have
a celebration clip show dinner.
Because he's...
villain of the year--?
Oh, come on, guys.
(crashing)
- [Grounder] Woah! - [Robotnik] Robotnik, Robotnik,
rah rah rah!
- [Strider] You've got the budget to hire
Long John Baldry and Jaleel White.
Don't you have the budget to spend
more than 40 seconds on a script?
- I can't believe it.
Robotnik may've finally won!
- [Strider] In fact, at one point,
they don't even bother
to animate a background.
It's like at this point they just went,
"You know what?
We're at episode 60.
We've already obliterated our careers enough
that there's no real point of even
remotely trying, is there?"
I normally love how stupid this series is.
But here, I can't even
say they didn't try,
because their NOT trying
is normally funny.
In this, they just...
didn't.
However little you can imagine they normally do,
they just did even less.
And at the 15-minute mark,
the show goes completely silent.
Okay, what now?
(dramatic timpani hit)
Aaaugh!!!
Did we just get trolled by Robotnik?
Seriously, what was the point
of a random long drawn-out shot
of Robotnik in a bikini?
Why?!
Why do this to me, Sonic?
And they just keep showing it throughout the episode.
And the episode will just randomly
drop any pretense of trying
and completely ditch the background animation
to either black or white.
I guess to... mix it up?
Can't have all pastel white.
Chuck some pitch black in there, too.
All of Sonic's friends
are drowning in a sinking ship,
and we're watching a clip show.
Even Scratch and Robotnik look bored.
And the further we get into the episode,
the thinner and thinner the animation budget gets.
By the end,
they've stopped bothering
to individually color each character.
And each one only gets
a sad two frames of animation.
This is just impressive. Seriously.
Imagine your dog walked over to the refrigerator,
opened it, then peeled open
and ate a whole wheel of cheese.
I'm not even mad,
I'm just impressed!
This is the pinnacle of the art form.
This is taking not giving a crap
to an entirely new
and unexplored frontier.
This is by far
the lousiest, laziest,
stupidest Sonic cartoon episode
of them all.
- Go ahead, Robuttnik.
It's your party.
Cry if you want to!
- [Strider] But honestly,
the amazing part about all these episodes is,
I personally still consider them
canon to the Sonic universe.
I like to imagine a world for Sonic
where all these things did happen.
A world where Sonic
spins in his sleep.
A world where Robotnik sets up
fake celebration parties for Sonic.
Where Sonic outright marries Robotnik.
And then next year,
they fight in Robotropolis.
And eventually, Sonic settles down
on an island with his friends somewhere,
casually fighting Eggman on Tuesdays.
No matter how bad some episodes can be,
it seems like nothing can erase
that affectionate image of Sonic
built into the minds of many.
And I hope shows like Sonic Boom
continue on for a long time,
allowing old and new generations
to enjoy Sonic again.
And if you think I missed
a particularly lousy Sonic cartoon episode,
feel free to leave your thoughts
in the comments below.
And as always,
thanks for watching,
and I'll see you next time.