Underground is Better than Sat Am (Part 8)

"Dark" Moments 

Though the cartoons Sonic Underground and Sonic the Hedgehog had their downsides, they had some surprisingly good themes. 

Something seen in both is that sometimes winning meant losing something, too. 

Sat Am

Even in it's pilot, "Sat Am" began to show this theme up-front in center, with Sonic facing his robotized dog. 

A character called Cat saved Sally and Antione but at the cost of his own freedom. 

Another character called Ari betrayed Sonic to save his fellow freedom fighters, but Robotnik had no intention of keeping the deal. Ari then helped Sonic, but was lost in the mysterious "Void."

Ari was later saved from the Void, but Sally's father, who was also banished there, could not leave. 

The show's end had a rather dramatic moment where Sonic was nearly robotized and Robotnik nearly won.  

By far the deepest moment, though, was the events of "Ultra Sonic," where Sonic is reunited with his Uncle, only for the robotisized hedgehog to revert to his mechanical, enslaved personality. 

In similar spirit, they later find away to break through to him again, but he remained physically robotisized.  

Underground

In a similar fashion, Underground quickly made a habit of having the hedgehog-siblings believe they were close to reuniting with their mother just to keep them apart. 

As mentioned before, in Underground's first chronological episode, "Beginnings," Sonic's adoptive parents are taken to be robotized, his home is set ablaze, and he cries. In the same episode the siblings various family-figures are robotized and they are left to find their mother alone.  

A friend of Sonic's, Cyrus, falls into a plan similar to Ari's, but begins to have doubts. He breaks down and admits it's a trap, but the lion's father was already assimilated robotisized. He actually reunites with his father, but does not have long with him. 

In another episode with an idea similar to Sat Am, Sonia is conned and believes de-robotisization is possible. 

Sonia falls for a character called Stripes, and he grows affection for her, but has no trouble betraying her brothers. 

A a guard who worked for Queen Aleena is caught and robotisized before he could fully help them. 

The group rescued a baby and Manic grew fond of it, calling him "Hip." Turned out that Hip was a robot made to spy on them and find their "Sanctuary."

A robot called ARRT decided to betray Robotnik and join their cause, but it didn't end well for him.  

Conclusion 

The hard truth: neither of these shows are dark. Looking back, Sonic X may have been the darkest show--yes, even the dub. That does not take away from either of these, though, because it's nice to see some emotion mixed in with the more light-hearted themes Sonic thrives on. 

Sat Am was colored with deeper shades and tried to shoot for a cloudier mood. Dstyopic, with cold-blooded Robotnik and the threat of Robotisization, it's easy why fans refer to it as "dark."

However it never really affected Sonic himself except for where Uncle Chuck was concerned. Likewise when Sally had a hint of her father, it was swept away even quicker. It had its moments, but the random comedy (and it's not Sonic I'm referring to) offset the balance.  

Underground was more stable. It has wacky, silly moments but they did not seem out of place because the show didn't strive to be "dark." Instead they let the serious parts fit in naturally, usually making the reveal a surprise. 

Though it's tone was more of a mix of Sat Am and AoStH, overall it did have it's dire moments. Out of those Sat Am characters and events, the only two that seemed truly devastating were the "loss" of Uncle Chuck and Sonic's near-robotisization. Both of these issues were resolved. Ultimately Hip, Argus, ARRT, and Cyrus ended up being more memorable than the likes of Cat. I'll give Ari a bit more credit, but they did save him after all. 

To make things worse, Underground based it's entire existence around a tragedy: kids without their mother. And it was cancelled before that could ever be concluded. 

Sat Am went for a darker tone, but Underground improved the idea. 

Underground is Better than Sat Am (Part 7)

Best Worst Moments? 

What the--

Despite being made with a lower-budget, the DiC Sonic cartoons have a soft spot among fans. Some like the light-hearted, Sonic and Tails focused Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. Some the more experimental Sonic Underground. But for some reason, Sonic the Hedgehog, or the "Saturday Morning" show, seems to be the most easily remembered. 

I like the cartoon, but I would not call it the best. With that in mind, I've been explaining some of the things that made Sonic Underground a better show. 

Neither were perfect, though, and this time I'm addressing some of the all-time lows for each series. 

Underground

THE SINGING

While it could be cute, for the most part the triplet's little songs were a mistake. Some, like "Fun in the Sun," seem to be random and just quickly written into the plot. Others, like "Face your Fear," just don't sound very good. And others, like "Liberty's Gonna Rock," suffer from both of these problems. 

Not all of them sucked. If memory serves me correct, the ones featuring Manic's voice faired better. And the "first" song, "Someday," is rather fitting. The best option would have been to have their band as a hobby rather than a necessity--like Sonic's band in (oh no--but yes) Sonic Boom. 

Even though music was made into a theme of the show, many times it came across as forced and awkward.  

REUSED PLOTS

The second most cringe-worthy element of Underground was when they'd "borrow" a plot from a previous show. This is most noticeable with "Sonic Tonic," but also "Who Do You Think You Are," which reuses the amnesia idea. 

DUMB TRANSFORMATIONS

In the previously mentioned "Sonic Tonic," the feet of whoever drank the "tonic" would grow into comical size. Only it's not funny, it's just stupid. Some of Dingo's shape-shifting wasn't very pretty, either.  

THEY TRIED TO KILL ROBOTNIK WITH FLOUR

Okay, that's not what happened at all. Actually, they essentially had an opportunity to take him out, but let him go. Always kinda' bugged me. 

Except for the songs, which are impossible to ignore, I'd say these worst moments weren't too bad. Still, even though the music is worthy of most of its criticism, each song was just about minute in length. Repetitive, but nonetheless a small part of the episode.  

To clarify, the main weakness was mostly the vocals/lyrics. 

Sat Am

USING POWER RINGS TO SAVE THE DAY EVERY EPISODE

Well maybe it wasn't every episode, but it sure seemed that way. It made the episodes predictable, and, unlike in Sonic X where the ring simply helped Sonic, in a lot of Sat Am episodes they were always the solution. I get that Uncle Chuck made them for Sonic, but it also seems to have other random traits whenever the plot demands it. It even helped restore Uncle Chuck for some reason. 

ADDING RANDOMS WIZARDS AND MAGIC

Sonic Underground was filled with some random fantasy storylines, usually with the Oracle character. The reason it gets a pass, though, is that its main plot already established the show with fantasy elements like a prophecy and magical medallions (talismans). 

Sonic the Hedgehog (aside from being about talking animals) was not created with the same themes. Clearly set in a dystopia, with evil robots and "future" technology like Nicole, the show leaned more into Science Fiction. Many "magical" items such as the Power Rings were inventions. Other, more mysterious powers like the "Power Stones" at least had unknown origins.

However, characters like Lazar, the Guardian, Nagus, and even the "Headless Gopher" are all extremely random and go nowhere fast. With some creative thinking, Sonic's speed could have been taken away by some new Robotnik weapon. Maybe Naugus could have been a shape-shifter rather than a sorcerer. 

Point is "magic" often came out of nowhere and was used as an lazy way to move the plot forward. The Time Stones don't resemble their in-game versions, so why even bother? Make it another invention by Uncle Chuck. Or have Rotor do something useful for a change.   

ADDING IN RANDOM DINOSAURS/DRAGONS

Hey, Underground fell victim to this one, too, when they introduced Knuckles. However, it didn't take over the plot and wasn't really memorable. 

Sat Am had a whole, fairly random episode dedicated to "terapods." Then came "Dulcy." Not just the cringe-y character, but the episode as well.  

REDUCING TAILS TO THE BABY OF THE SHOW

As mentioned before, even though Tails didn't make it into Underground, his Sat Am counterpart did not even come close to competing with the Sonic-Tails dynamic in AoStH.

Let's ignore that for now, and just look at what Tails did do on the show...

Riding in Sonic backpack, calling Sally his "aunt," having stories told to him, being ignored by his friends (even Sonic) when he thinks there is something up with Sally, playing hockey, picking flowers...

Tails was the baby of the show. While he was running alongside Sonic in Sonic 2 and even saving Sonic in some episodes of AoStH, he wasn't even considered an offical freedom fighter until near this show's end. 

What bothers me the most about Tails' role is that he's TEN. Not 8 like he is now. Not 4-5 like in AoStH. He's TEN. The oldest version of Tails (aside from the Archie Comics where he went on to be 11) yet he acts like the youngest. And, really, the others are only around 5 years older, so what makes them think they're more adult?   

 THOSE RANDOM ANTIONE EPISODES

Last time I checked, this was Sonic the Hedgehog, not Antione Depardieu. Yet strange episodes like "Hooked on Sonics," "Fed Up With Antione/Ghost Busted," and "The Odd Couple/Ro-Becca" gave the character too much screen-time for my taste. Especially "Fed Up With Antione" and "Ro-Becca," ugh.  

GRIFF

That whole episode: no. Not a good idea. 

As if Antione wasn't bad enough...

So...

Ah, well. They both had weird, annoying, and down-grading moments. Despite the mostly out-of-place singing or poorly written lyrics, I don't think Underground completely suffered. To it's credit, Sat Am wasn't completely tainted by these things, either. But it doesn't help, and I really can't stand what happened with Tails.   

 Overall I think Underground faired better than Sat Am. Least it didn't take away from who the characters were. 

Underground is Better Than Sat AM (Part 6)

Plot 

In Part 3, I discussed the origins of both the "triplets" of Sonic Underground and "the freedom fighters" of Sonic the Hedgehog ("Saturday Morning"). I explained that while Underground included some odd/surprising elements, it was more captivating and developed.  

The main plot, however, is a different subject. It sets the course for the series as a whole, and every episode has some kind of tie to it, big or small. 

Though it likely inspired Underground, Sat Am still is not as strong as it's successor.  

Main Plot Summaries

Sat Am Main

After the evil Dr. Robotnik took power, a group of teenagers decided to push back, called "Freedom Fighters." They use skill, sabotage, and various abilities to foil his plans and retake Robotropolis. 

Eventually they seemingly defeated Robotnik, though Snively got a way...and he wasn't alone.  

Underground Main

After the evil Dr. Robotnik took power, Sonic and his siblings became notable leaders of the "Resistance," a movement against Robotnik. They use skill, sabotage, and various abilities to foil his plans while searching for their mother.  

Had the time been right, the triplets would have reunited with their mother and full-filled their destiny by defeating Robotnik. 

Compared

As shown, the stories are quite similar. Sat Am actually has an ending, though it leaves on a mysterious cliffhanger. I like the idea of Sonic and Sally "winning," but the end bit undoes this. Even if there was a season 3, the new threat would have been Nagus--and I'm not sure that would have been a step in the right direction. 

While Sat Am does deserve credit for establishing this type of "freedom fighting" outline, Underground has improvements, such as expanding Mobius and adding a conflict of those "loyal to Robotnik." Ultimately, just as with their origins, Aleena really gives Underground a bittersweet edge over Sat Am.  

Side Plot Summaries (any notable sub-plot shown beyond 1 episode or shown to repeat)

Sat Am Sides 

• "Sonally"/Ant: Sally and Sonic's attraction to each other/Antione's crush on Sally.
• "Bean": Sally's search for her father.
• "Blast to the Past" Arc: Sonic and Sally attempt to time travel to stop Robotnik from taking over. 
•  "Doomsday" Arc: Sonic and Sally gather/use Power Stones to stop Robotnik. 
• "Pollution"/"NotKnothole": Robotnik continually tries to destroy the environment/nature in addition to his goals of destroying Knothole.  
• "Snively/New enemies": Snively hates his uncle and secretly wants power for himself. 
• "New allies": finding/convincing/rescuing others to help them (notably Uncle Chuck). 

Underground Sides 

• "Getting to Know You"/"Origins" Arc: Sonic, Manic, and Sonia's struggle to get along despite their different interests and origins. 
• Variations of this is shown through out, though it was most obvious in the origin storyline.  
• "Envy": One sibling (usually Manic) grows envious of another's power or childhood. 
• "Vow": The hedgehogs' try to find more information about their mother alongside their quest to find her.  
• "Bartlby": Sonia tries to help or get help from her ex-fiancé, who (usually) refuses to oppose Robotnik.   
• "Knuckles"/"Chaos Emerald Crisis": the group meets Knuckles the Echidna and struggles to get along with their differing goals.
• "Henchmen": Sleet and Dingo "rebel" and act on their own greed rather than their orders.   
• "New allies": finding/convincing others to help them (notably Cyrus). 

Compared

Surprisingly, both shows have a fair amount of sub-plots for a long cancelled DiC cartoon. 

Of Sat Am, the "Sonally" plot is my favorite. A sharp contrast from the "girl of the week" AoStH usually had, "Sonally" had great potential, but it was constantly dampened by Antione and their own behaviors. The idea would have worked better if Antione had given up on his fixation with the princess by Season 2. Likewise, it was fairly confusing for Sally to be kissing Sonic on the cheek every episode (via intro) without having them be in a relationship (annoyingly apparent in the episode with Griff, "Warp Sonic"). Though their feelings seem clearer by the final episode, the series didn't need rivals like Antione and Griff.

The other "sides" are fair. There were some great ideas with Uncle Chuck, but the rest...What even is Sally's father's name? In the comics it was Maximillian/Nigel, but they didn't even have a name for him in Sat Am. Plus what's the point of some of Robotnik's environment-killing plans? Why create acid rain and use chemical-filled "buzz bombers" when he could just drop a bunch of bombs like he did on Angel Island (Act 2, Sonic the Hedgehog 3)?  In total, the side stories are a "start" but aren't explored very much. 

In Underground, the sibling plots are understanding and relatable. The triplets share a love of music and want to defeat Robotnik, but they don't agree on everything. Sonia's used to luxury and doesn't want to give it up while Manic's used to having nothing and steals on impulse. Though Manic can create earth-quakes with his drums, Sonic's speed is easier to access. Sonic loves Chilidogs while Sonia thinks they're gross. So on. There was plenty of material to create arguments/conflicts, but the group always resolved their problems because they were family and cared for each other. 

Underground's other "sides" probably could have benefited from more development as well, but are a bit are still more coherent. For example, the episode "To Catch a Queen" introduces a character called Argus, who used to work with Queen Aleena. This writing allowed for a bit of Aleena's past to be revealed while also creating a potential "ally" type of plot.   

Conclusion

Sat Am established the idea of a "fight for freedom" against Robotnik, but Underground improved it.

Shut up Tails?