Election Day. Democracy. These are things we take for granted, as some citizens are not as fortunate to be able to choose their leader. But choosing a leader can be difficult as you want to make absolutely sure you choose the right person for the job, someone who will watch out for the little guy, negotiate deals with foreign powers, keep the land safe, and make sure everything runs smoothly. How much you wanna bet Dr. Robotnik would not do any of the above if he were running for president? Well, you'd be right, and the planet Mobius will discover that as well when the portly baddie runs for president. So, he would be ruler of the whole planet, even though Mobius has been shown to have numerous countries and provinces. One world leader. I kinda thought Robotnik was already a ruler, as he seems to do as he pleases with little opposition, except from Sonic, of course. In the Saturday morning version, Robotnik does rule the planet, except he's a dictator. I guess the writers of the Adventures series wanted to try and do something satirical about American elections, and because their level of humor doesn't rise past first grade, you can be sure we won't be getting any sort of deep political commentary, but i'm sure it will be fun anyway. So one fateful day, Dr. Robotnik was minding his own business when suddenly, Momma comes a-calling. For someone who despises her son so much, she sure does like visiting him. She tells him that she wants him to run for president of Mobius, and that's how we got our plot started. That's right, Momma Robotnik tells her son to run, and he obeys. Okay, fine. Since he can't seem to conquer the world through his many inventions, his army of evil (yet stupid) robots, or just plain fear, he has to go and take over the world the legal way. What is Sonic going to do when he sees his arch nemesis' mug posted all over the town in shoddy campaign posters? Deface them, of course. Yeah, that'll show him. So what does every good presidential candidate need? Robotnik wouldn't know, because he isn't good, but he seeks out a campaign manager anyway, and it's... oh no, Wes Weasely again. You'd think Robotnik would know by now to trust this guy, but he swindles the swindler into helping him get an edge in the polls. Since the people like their candidates to be family men, Weasely concocts the doc a robot wife and a robot dog, which surprisingly isn't named Checkers. Now for some TV ads, in Hypno-vision. Kinda funny that the motor-mouth salesman is more intelligent than Dr. Robotnik. So what will Botsy's TV ads look like? Oh, they're a pip, trying to paint him as the classic American... er, Mobian man with a disobedient robot dog, Momma burning her hands on apple pies, and Scratch and Grounder accidentally beaning their boss in the head with a flagpole. Sonic laughs his spiny hiney off, but nobody else does. This is because subliminal hypnotic swirls appear off and on throughout the ad, but because Sonic's eyes are faster than others, he didn't see them. These ads brainwash the already stupid population. I guess cheating is definitely more Robotnik's style. As a result, Sonic announces his bid for the presidency, even though he's nowhere near the required minimum age, but I guess in Wacky World, a teenager can run things.
How will our cocky hero outdo Robotnik in a presidential race that's unfairly geared in his favor? I mean, Sonic could easily dig up dirt on his foe and expose him to the world, even though I'm sure by now everyone is familiar with Dr. Robotnik and his repeated attempts to conquer Mobius, and about the thousands if not millions of lives he's either endangered or killed. He's enslaved, kidnaped, blackmailed, broken every law under the sun and has never faced justice for any of them. He could do all this, but I guess Sonic's idea of bringing down Robotnik is to continuously deface his campaign posters and mix up his taped speeches. Gonna have to do better than that, hedgehog. Next, Robotnik goes to sample some food cooked for him by the locals, and each time he tries to take a bite, Sonic quickly replaces the food with pieces of trash Tails found at the dump. Making him eat garbage, okay like I said, Sonic, you're going to have to do better than pranks a 5-year-old would pull. Next, Weasely gets Robotnik a gig at a ribbon cutting for a suspension bridge, even appointing Scratch and Grounder as secret service, though in their case, it would be special service. Sonic easily gets passed the dumb-bots and loosens all the bolts on the bridge, making it collapse when Robotnik cuts the ribbon. Nice, you could've gotten several people hurt or even killed, Sonic. Can't believe I'm saying this, but I would lean more toward Robotnik right now. I forgot to mention, each time a disaster happens, the "Hypno-vision" wears off on the sheep, making them turn on their candidate. Not sure how that happens, but when you're accustomed to pulling plot threads out of your keister, you tend to forget rhyme and reason. Let's hope he'll do better at the big debate that night. Sonic goes all Bugs Bunny and dresses up like a woman to try and seduce Robotnik, and he falls for it because he's an idiot. He paints the man's face with lipstick, making his robo-wife very angry. Hey, at least there were no cigars involved. Once the debate gets underway, Robotnik orders his robots to eliminate Sonic, and of course, each time they fail and Botsy suffers a mishap. He finally loses his temper and fires a laser gun at Sonic, making the whole place crash down, leaving the hedgehog to ask viewers who they're going to vote for. Personally, I wouldn't vote for either of you! Robotnik is evil, plain as day, and Sonic, while the hero, is being a jerk as well. Tell us why we should vote for you, Sonic, mention free chili dogs. Anything. Well, usually in an election, they say to vote for the lesser of two evils, and so Sonic wins. I'm not saying he's evil, I'm just pointing out he's no more worthy than Botsy. It is then revealed that Scratch and Grounder forgot to vote, and Momma voted against her own son. Man, why are they making me feel so bad for Dr. Robotnik? He's the bad guy. Why does he always look so pathetic? Besides, it was Momma's idea to have him run in the first place. In response, Sonic resigns and gives the position to Henry Walrus, an older and more experienced candidate. Dr. Robotnik tries one last hurrah to destroy Sonic, but ends up getting crushed by the huge stacks of ballots. Our Sonic Says is about dental hygiene, and it's a good lesson that I have nothing to say about.
So that was "Sonic is Running". No duh, isn't he always? This whole series is him running all over the place. Our story and plot are very thin, there are very few laughs, the gags are all predictable, and whatever message it was trying to convey got lost in the fold. It's not a bad episode, it just has no reason to exist. It made me pine or the Saturday show's Robotnik, as he would have destroyed all opposition and conquered the planet overnight. That guy is a darker and far more dangerous adversary than the comic foil Sonic has in this show. Robotnik wants to take over the world, and here is the closest he ever came: doing it the democratically elected way, hypnotizing people into voting for him, and making himself look like a worthy candidate with a fake wife and dog. Then Sonic decides to run purely to deter people from voting for Robotnik, when really, why didn't he just build up Henry Walrus? Fight fire with fire, like he said? But, why start making sense now? As stated before, this was probably the showrunner's idea of introducing political commentary into their cartoon, but they don't make a valid point. However, let's compare this to the 2016 presidential election, shall we? Does Robotnik remind you of anybody? Does Henry Walrus? In fact, I'd compare this to an episode of Dinosaurs called "And the Winner Is", another prophetic early '90s show that seemed to predict the election. If only Sonic had handled it in a more clever fashion. So whether you're a Sonicrat or a Robotnican, you may get some mild amusement out of Sonic is Running. I do recommend it, but don't expect anything groundbreaking.
How will our cocky hero outdo Robotnik in a presidential race that's unfairly geared in his favor? I mean, Sonic could easily dig up dirt on his foe and expose him to the world, even though I'm sure by now everyone is familiar with Dr. Robotnik and his repeated attempts to conquer Mobius, and about the thousands if not millions of lives he's either endangered or killed. He's enslaved, kidnaped, blackmailed, broken every law under the sun and has never faced justice for any of them. He could do all this, but I guess Sonic's idea of bringing down Robotnik is to continuously deface his campaign posters and mix up his taped speeches. Gonna have to do better than that, hedgehog. Next, Robotnik goes to sample some food cooked for him by the locals, and each time he tries to take a bite, Sonic quickly replaces the food with pieces of trash Tails found at the dump. Making him eat garbage, okay like I said, Sonic, you're going to have to do better than pranks a 5-year-old would pull. Next, Weasely gets Robotnik a gig at a ribbon cutting for a suspension bridge, even appointing Scratch and Grounder as secret service, though in their case, it would be special service. Sonic easily gets passed the dumb-bots and loosens all the bolts on the bridge, making it collapse when Robotnik cuts the ribbon. Nice, you could've gotten several people hurt or even killed, Sonic. Can't believe I'm saying this, but I would lean more toward Robotnik right now. I forgot to mention, each time a disaster happens, the "Hypno-vision" wears off on the sheep, making them turn on their candidate. Not sure how that happens, but when you're accustomed to pulling plot threads out of your keister, you tend to forget rhyme and reason. Let's hope he'll do better at the big debate that night. Sonic goes all Bugs Bunny and dresses up like a woman to try and seduce Robotnik, and he falls for it because he's an idiot. He paints the man's face with lipstick, making his robo-wife very angry. Hey, at least there were no cigars involved. Once the debate gets underway, Robotnik orders his robots to eliminate Sonic, and of course, each time they fail and Botsy suffers a mishap. He finally loses his temper and fires a laser gun at Sonic, making the whole place crash down, leaving the hedgehog to ask viewers who they're going to vote for. Personally, I wouldn't vote for either of you! Robotnik is evil, plain as day, and Sonic, while the hero, is being a jerk as well. Tell us why we should vote for you, Sonic, mention free chili dogs. Anything. Well, usually in an election, they say to vote for the lesser of two evils, and so Sonic wins. I'm not saying he's evil, I'm just pointing out he's no more worthy than Botsy. It is then revealed that Scratch and Grounder forgot to vote, and Momma voted against her own son. Man, why are they making me feel so bad for Dr. Robotnik? He's the bad guy. Why does he always look so pathetic? Besides, it was Momma's idea to have him run in the first place. In response, Sonic resigns and gives the position to Henry Walrus, an older and more experienced candidate. Dr. Robotnik tries one last hurrah to destroy Sonic, but ends up getting crushed by the huge stacks of ballots. Our Sonic Says is about dental hygiene, and it's a good lesson that I have nothing to say about.
So that was "Sonic is Running". No duh, isn't he always? This whole series is him running all over the place. Our story and plot are very thin, there are very few laughs, the gags are all predictable, and whatever message it was trying to convey got lost in the fold. It's not a bad episode, it just has no reason to exist. It made me pine or the Saturday show's Robotnik, as he would have destroyed all opposition and conquered the planet overnight. That guy is a darker and far more dangerous adversary than the comic foil Sonic has in this show. Robotnik wants to take over the world, and here is the closest he ever came: doing it the democratically elected way, hypnotizing people into voting for him, and making himself look like a worthy candidate with a fake wife and dog. Then Sonic decides to run purely to deter people from voting for Robotnik, when really, why didn't he just build up Henry Walrus? Fight fire with fire, like he said? But, why start making sense now? As stated before, this was probably the showrunner's idea of introducing political commentary into their cartoon, but they don't make a valid point. However, let's compare this to the 2016 presidential election, shall we? Does Robotnik remind you of anybody? Does Henry Walrus? In fact, I'd compare this to an episode of Dinosaurs called "And the Winner Is", another prophetic early '90s show that seemed to predict the election. If only Sonic had handled it in a more clever fashion. So whether you're a Sonicrat or a Robotnican, you may get some mild amusement out of Sonic is Running. I do recommend it, but don't expect anything groundbreaking.
