I remember when this series used to air on Saturday mornings, but back then, I gravitated more towards Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog because, I guess I preferred the light-hearted hijinks of that series, but I would occasionally catch this one too. While I always liked the animation and voice acting, I wasn't completely into it and looking back, I wish I had given it a better chance. So I think I'll look back at one episode I remember and see it again with new eyes. In "Warp Sonic", Sonic, Sally, and Antoine are transported to Lower Mobius where they meet a whole underground legion of freedom fighters, which sounds like an interesting concept though this is the only time we see them in the series. Maybe their return was on the long list of things Season 3 would have given us, had the series not been unfairly canceled. The episode opens with Sonic and Sally, along with Antoine- I don't know why they keep bringing him along on these missions as he's nothing but a coward and a bumbler, maybe they allow him to tag along to liven things up- on a top secret mission to Robotropolis to disable one of Dr. Robotnik's computer banks controlling his high robot traffic. Despite the tight, hi-tech security the doc has installed, Sonic easily maneuvers through the grid and inserts the disc to fry the circuits. Huh, that was easy. A little too easy, don't you think? As our heroes try to make their escape, they suddenly become surrounded by a dozen Swat Bots. Fortunately, they have a secret rescuer who just happened to be on the other side of the wall, who pulls them to safety. This good-natured yellow goat is named Griff, and he looks as though he got lost on the way to an Animaniacs cartoon. Anyway, he says he's taking our heroes to Lower Mobius, so called because he and a dozen other freedom fighters captured by Robotnik escaped and built an underground city, and all the while I'm wondering what Griff was doing at that particular spot. Was he just waiting for Sonic and company to show up? Wasting no time, they hop into his transport hover car and descend toward Lower Mobius. En route, Griff tells the gang about ratbots who patrol the sewers, and he says it in such a way that looks like he's teasing frightened coward Antoine. Heck, ol' Antoine would be scared of actual ants I bet. Lower Mobius is a beautiful underground city, populated by those brave enough to escape Robotnik's clutches, and the whole place is powered by some sort of energy crystal, and something tells me this place is experiencing an energy crisis, but for now, Sonic is all ready to plop down at the nearest chili dog stand, and this becomes a recurring gag in this episode: every time Sonic is ready to eat his chili dogs, he gets pulled away. It's always so frustrating when that happens, for both the character and the audience. I do remember that after the third time, I yelled at the TV, "just let him eat his chili dogs already!" Ha ha. But anyhoo, just as he's about to enjoy his meal, there's an intruder alert. Ratbots spotted in the pipes, so Griff takes along Sonic, Sally, and Antoine to deal with the problem. Um, why can't the other citizens of Lower Mobius be bothered? And why take Antoine and Sally too? I dunno. They get cornered by the ratbots when the hovercraft's faulty gear box prevents them from escaping. But Sonic can't resist the urge to show off, so he plays around with the ratbots, equipped with electrified tails, and shorts them out with help from a steam pipe. But those were just a warm-up: here comes the big ratbot, which Griff says is a mutant, but no, it's a robot like the others. Taking out his power ring, Sonic manages to push his friends in their faulty hovercraft to safety. Griff takes quite an interest in the power ring, with Sally telling him they get new ones every 12 hours, though in other episodes it's 24, but here it's 12 for a reason, which we'll discover later.
With the ratbots dealt with, maybe Sonic can finally eat his chili dogs, he's earned them at this point. Remember earlier when I alluded to there being an energy crisis? I was right, as the power crystal is weakening and if they don't find a stronger source soon, all of Lower Mobius will be royally screwed. Griff gets an idea, one that is very sneaky and actually two-faced and underhanded, but like his boar companion said, it was a desperate situation. First, he starts turning on the charm with Sally, which instantly gets Sonic and Antoine jealous as they start competing for her affections, only for her to shoot them down by saying she was not a prize to be won. Yeah, you go, girl. Griff offers to drive everyone back to Knothole Village, and when they arrive, he sabotages his own hovercraft, saying it broke down. Sally kindly allows him to stay with them, or maybe it was just to make Sonic more jealous? She shows Griff the pond where they get their power rings, so now he has all the information he needs to carry out his underhanded plan. That night, dummy Antoine is put in charge of guarding the pond... might as well have just stuck a sign that says No Trespassing in front of it, as it would have the same effect, which allows Griff to go in the water and steal the power stone that creates the rings. Did Sally tell him that part later or something, because all we saw was her getting a ring out of the pond and showing it to him. How did he know about the stone? Anyway, he pilfers the rock and high-tails it out of there just as Monsieur L'idiot wakes up to realize something isn't right about the pond. He tells Sonic and Sally, who are still bickering, and the hedgehog goes to investigate. They quickly realize Griff was behind the theft and he races down to Lower Mobius to confront him, man to man, or hedgehog to goat. Meanwhile in LM, the town was being overrun by ratbots. Sonic arrives in time to save Griff and tie the mechanical rodents' tails together, giving them quite a shock. Griff apologizes for the theft, saying he had no choice. As a result, Sonic breaks the stone in two and gives him half, saying that they're all in this fight against Robotnik together, and aptly shake hands. The moral of our story is that it doesn't matter where you come from, what your background is, or what your circumstance, you never take another civilization's power supply without asking permission first.
I have to wonder, why didn't Griff just ask Sonic and Sally for help in providing Lower Mobius with power? He saved them from the Swat Bots, and they in turn saved him from the ratbots, they were all allies, so why didn't he just be straightforward? Maybe the writers wanted us to be suspicious of him? Making us think that Griff has ulterior motives? I don't know. But overall, I think Warp Sonic was pretty good. Great animation, and great voice acting. It's a shame Dr. Robotnik wasn't in this episode, because Jim Cummings' voice for the character is fantastic. In fact, he should be the permanent voice for Robotnik. Nothing against Mike Pollock, but come on, nobody voices a sadistic baddie like Jim. As I said before, Griff and the citizens of Lower Mobius are never seen again, so we're left to assume that Robotnik and his rats captured them and killed them or something. Not much else I can say except I do recommend Warp Sonic, and the rest of the Saturday morning Sonic series, as it was a well-made show with good writing, good acting, good animation, the theme song is awesome, and all the characters are very likable... except for Antoine, the cowardly French stereotype that seemed to be a staple of virtually every show and movie since the 1940s. Yeah, they surrendered, get over it.
With the ratbots dealt with, maybe Sonic can finally eat his chili dogs, he's earned them at this point. Remember earlier when I alluded to there being an energy crisis? I was right, as the power crystal is weakening and if they don't find a stronger source soon, all of Lower Mobius will be royally screwed. Griff gets an idea, one that is very sneaky and actually two-faced and underhanded, but like his boar companion said, it was a desperate situation. First, he starts turning on the charm with Sally, which instantly gets Sonic and Antoine jealous as they start competing for her affections, only for her to shoot them down by saying she was not a prize to be won. Yeah, you go, girl. Griff offers to drive everyone back to Knothole Village, and when they arrive, he sabotages his own hovercraft, saying it broke down. Sally kindly allows him to stay with them, or maybe it was just to make Sonic more jealous? She shows Griff the pond where they get their power rings, so now he has all the information he needs to carry out his underhanded plan. That night, dummy Antoine is put in charge of guarding the pond... might as well have just stuck a sign that says No Trespassing in front of it, as it would have the same effect, which allows Griff to go in the water and steal the power stone that creates the rings. Did Sally tell him that part later or something, because all we saw was her getting a ring out of the pond and showing it to him. How did he know about the stone? Anyway, he pilfers the rock and high-tails it out of there just as Monsieur L'idiot wakes up to realize something isn't right about the pond. He tells Sonic and Sally, who are still bickering, and the hedgehog goes to investigate. They quickly realize Griff was behind the theft and he races down to Lower Mobius to confront him, man to man, or hedgehog to goat. Meanwhile in LM, the town was being overrun by ratbots. Sonic arrives in time to save Griff and tie the mechanical rodents' tails together, giving them quite a shock. Griff apologizes for the theft, saying he had no choice. As a result, Sonic breaks the stone in two and gives him half, saying that they're all in this fight against Robotnik together, and aptly shake hands. The moral of our story is that it doesn't matter where you come from, what your background is, or what your circumstance, you never take another civilization's power supply without asking permission first.
I have to wonder, why didn't Griff just ask Sonic and Sally for help in providing Lower Mobius with power? He saved them from the Swat Bots, and they in turn saved him from the ratbots, they were all allies, so why didn't he just be straightforward? Maybe the writers wanted us to be suspicious of him? Making us think that Griff has ulterior motives? I don't know. But overall, I think Warp Sonic was pretty good. Great animation, and great voice acting. It's a shame Dr. Robotnik wasn't in this episode, because Jim Cummings' voice for the character is fantastic. In fact, he should be the permanent voice for Robotnik. Nothing against Mike Pollock, but come on, nobody voices a sadistic baddie like Jim. As I said before, Griff and the citizens of Lower Mobius are never seen again, so we're left to assume that Robotnik and his rats captured them and killed them or something. Not much else I can say except I do recommend Warp Sonic, and the rest of the Saturday morning Sonic series, as it was a well-made show with good writing, good acting, good animation, the theme song is awesome, and all the characters are very likable... except for Antoine, the cowardly French stereotype that seemed to be a staple of virtually every show and movie since the 1940s. Yeah, they surrendered, get over it.
