Did you ever wonder what would happen if Dr. Robotnik ever found his soulmate, then got married and settled down? You could argue the man is married to his work: trying to conquer Mobius and capture himself a certain pesky hedgehog, but suppose the right woman came around, who literally swept Botsy off his feet and wanted to join him in (un)holy matrimony? Well, she'd have to be someone mighty desperate and out of this world. Well, guess what? Somebody desperate and out of this world just happens to come to Mobius and falls head over heels for our favorite portly, bumbling villain. How did it all begin? Who is the lucky lady? What mental disorder does she have? We'll find out in today's episode of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, which is titled "Zoobotnik", and a very unusual title that is: just putting the word "zoo" in Robotnik's name? That makes no sense. But then nothing in this episode will make a lick of sense. It's Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, remember? Check sense and logic at the door, sit back, and enjoy the ride. So this big bundle of fun opens with Sonic and Tails hearing talk of Mobians disappearing for no reason. Someone's going around, snatching random people and taking them away. Sonic gets a few scattered descriptions of the culprit from a bunch of hysterical citizens, but gets nowhere fast, and you all know how much he hates that. And as fast as you can say "this is not funny", the whole crowd of people suddenly vanished, leaving random articles of clothing behind. So we got a ninja thief abducting people and whisking them away without a trace. This is getting very strange, folks just disappearing. I mean, what's gonna happen next, Tails disappearing? So anyway, next, Tails disappears, leaving behind a single glove. Oh, this thief now got personal. You can abduct a bunch of random strangers, but when you kidnap Sonic's favorite damsel, you've gone too far. Luckily Sonic is wearing plot armor or else he would've snatched next. That always struck me as odd why this mystery person was grabbing up everybody, except Sonic. Well, we wouldn't have had an episode if he did. Actually, no, we would have, it just would've gone in a different direction. So if you're like me, you're probably thinking Robotnik is behind all of this. I mean, he's the only evildoer on Mobius, and he's kidnapped people before, so this could be one of his diabolical schemes, right? Nope, not this time. The perpetrator of these abductions is someone who looks like she flew in from a completely different series. This is Katella, a space hunter. We first see her setting a trap and capturing some sap off the street. So sometimes she sets lines and snares, other times she just magics them away? Whatever is convenient for the plot, I guess. I say she belongs in a different series because she's a proportionately drawn human woman. Okay, so she's taking random creatures, including Tails, and locking them in a cage. Why? Why is she doing this? She's not like the Predator as she doesn't kill who she finds, just abducts them. So this is some kind of sport for her? No matter, Coconuts witnesses the whole thing and zips back to tell Dr. Robotnik about it. From the description, he knows exactly who the mysterious visitor is: Katella, the space huntress, who goes around kidnapping rare and exotic creatures and sells them to zoos in other galaxies. Seems Botsy has been following her work for years, and knows he can use her to finally catch Sonic. I'm pretty sure she could have done that herself if not for the hedgehog's plot armor. Speaking of whom, Sonic calls a press conference, having managed to compile the names of all who'd been kidnapped, including Tails. Next, he prints up a ton of fliers and sticks them everywhere. I know where the producers can stick this script. This whole section is filler and adds nothing to what little plot we already had. We even get a throw-away gag of Sonic consulting the "Wise Old Hermit" on Mt. Mobius, as he's supposed to know everything. If you're like me, you already guessed the punchline to this joke, but here it is: the so-called wise old hermit asserts that two-tailed foxes don't exist. Yeah, but running blue hedgehogs do. Sonic is right, he's not very wise, and props to whatever child was brought in to write that joke.
Luckily, Sonic spots Katella's ship, as she's given up on subterfuge. He sees Tails on board, and you'll notice he's wearing both of his gloves even though he left one behind when he was captured. He gives chase, but Katella actually manages to elude him. Again, why not capture him? There has to be a more sound explanation that just plot armor. But she actually managed to lose him, a feat very few have ever achieved. Anyway, somehow Robotnik managed to send her a dinner invite, and eagerly anticipates her arrival at his fortress. She arrives, aptly walking all over Scratch, Grounder, and Coconuts in the process, and when she finally meets the infamous Dr. Robotnik, she inexplicably falls in love with him. Guess that crazy 'stache is a chick magnet. She goes absolutely crazy over him, throwing him around, smacking him, riding him like a bull, she's got a very strange and violent way of expressing affection. Reluctantly, the doc accepts her feelings for him on condition that she help him capture Sonic. And what plan does she use to lure him in? The old talking Tails doll from "Grounder the Genius", rigged to a cage. Best hunter in the galaxy, eh? Sonic sees through the trap right away, but gives himself up, knowing it was the only way to save Tails. So Katella does what she should've done at the start and catches Sonic the Hedgehog. He's put in with the other prisoners, along with Tails, and digs them all out, and here's where the animators goofed yet again: they're supposed to all be on Katella's ship, yet in this scene, they're clearly on solid ground. With the hostages safe, it's time to crash Botsy's wedding. That's right, Katella is so uncontrollably smitten that she wants to marry Robotnik right then and there. Poor thing probably hasn't been with a man in decades. Sonic says he's going to crash it to teach Robotnik a lesson, when really it should be more about teaching Katella, as she was the perpetrator here, Robotnik didn't contribute much to the plot. In fact, Sonic and Katella don't even interact at all! What kind of writing is that? But anyway, he barges in dressed as a justice of the peace, and of course the two dim-witted villains don't recognize him. Katella really isn't all she's cracked up to be, is she? Sonic provides everything: music (played by a devilish looking Tails on the piano), witnesses (Scratch and Grounder in a suit and veil respectively) and even a party pooper. The best he could find: Momma Robotnik! Instantly, she gets in a fight with the future Mrs. Robotnik, only to eventually get pushed through the wall via butt power. Katella retreats, declaring the wedding off and kicks everyone off her ship, then gets out of Dodge, leaving Dr. Robotnik to grovel to Momma, being honest with her, and subsequently getting a spanking. LOL! Our Sonic says is about wild animals, and how we should never intimidate them, lest their bite. Even if they're cute little squirrels in tophats. Good message.
This one was weird. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't very good either. Rowby Goren's script was a mess, the voice acting was terrible, and the animation was sloppy. Characters constantly going off-model, continuity and location errors were common, and oh, did you notice that when Sonic was playing justice of the peace, his shadow was waving its arms and goofing around? They had to have been on drugs when they made this. As you may have noticed, the producers were big Max Fleischer fans, which explains why some characters are modeled to look like ones from 1930s cartoons. They're a nice nod to the Golden Age, but they felt out of place here. Our story makes no sense and they do nothing with the premise. An intergalactic hunter comes to Mobius, kidnaps random anthropomorphic animals, and then suddenly has a tryst with Dr. Robotnik. It felt like part of the script was missing, like whatever was supposed to bridge the gap got lost. They must have accidentally torn that page out of their legal pad to throw away their gum and just said, "screw it, no one will notice." Oh yes we did. So, bad acting, writing, and animation aside... except for whoever drew Katella, as I said she was the most realistic and proportionately drawn human on the show, though she constantly moves around like one of those car dealership balloons... if you can overlook all that, then "Zoobotnik" is alright. My favorite part was when Momma Robotnik showed up, which is why I titled this review as "Momma Robotnik Saves the Day", because she actually did, coming along to liven things up. Anyway, I guess if you need something mindless to kill 20 minutes, then go ahead and check out "Zoobotnik," it's nothing to write home about and you're probably better off watching something else.
Luckily, Sonic spots Katella's ship, as she's given up on subterfuge. He sees Tails on board, and you'll notice he's wearing both of his gloves even though he left one behind when he was captured. He gives chase, but Katella actually manages to elude him. Again, why not capture him? There has to be a more sound explanation that just plot armor. But she actually managed to lose him, a feat very few have ever achieved. Anyway, somehow Robotnik managed to send her a dinner invite, and eagerly anticipates her arrival at his fortress. She arrives, aptly walking all over Scratch, Grounder, and Coconuts in the process, and when she finally meets the infamous Dr. Robotnik, she inexplicably falls in love with him. Guess that crazy 'stache is a chick magnet. She goes absolutely crazy over him, throwing him around, smacking him, riding him like a bull, she's got a very strange and violent way of expressing affection. Reluctantly, the doc accepts her feelings for him on condition that she help him capture Sonic. And what plan does she use to lure him in? The old talking Tails doll from "Grounder the Genius", rigged to a cage. Best hunter in the galaxy, eh? Sonic sees through the trap right away, but gives himself up, knowing it was the only way to save Tails. So Katella does what she should've done at the start and catches Sonic the Hedgehog. He's put in with the other prisoners, along with Tails, and digs them all out, and here's where the animators goofed yet again: they're supposed to all be on Katella's ship, yet in this scene, they're clearly on solid ground. With the hostages safe, it's time to crash Botsy's wedding. That's right, Katella is so uncontrollably smitten that she wants to marry Robotnik right then and there. Poor thing probably hasn't been with a man in decades. Sonic says he's going to crash it to teach Robotnik a lesson, when really it should be more about teaching Katella, as she was the perpetrator here, Robotnik didn't contribute much to the plot. In fact, Sonic and Katella don't even interact at all! What kind of writing is that? But anyway, he barges in dressed as a justice of the peace, and of course the two dim-witted villains don't recognize him. Katella really isn't all she's cracked up to be, is she? Sonic provides everything: music (played by a devilish looking Tails on the piano), witnesses (Scratch and Grounder in a suit and veil respectively) and even a party pooper. The best he could find: Momma Robotnik! Instantly, she gets in a fight with the future Mrs. Robotnik, only to eventually get pushed through the wall via butt power. Katella retreats, declaring the wedding off and kicks everyone off her ship, then gets out of Dodge, leaving Dr. Robotnik to grovel to Momma, being honest with her, and subsequently getting a spanking. LOL! Our Sonic says is about wild animals, and how we should never intimidate them, lest their bite. Even if they're cute little squirrels in tophats. Good message.
This one was weird. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't very good either. Rowby Goren's script was a mess, the voice acting was terrible, and the animation was sloppy. Characters constantly going off-model, continuity and location errors were common, and oh, did you notice that when Sonic was playing justice of the peace, his shadow was waving its arms and goofing around? They had to have been on drugs when they made this. As you may have noticed, the producers were big Max Fleischer fans, which explains why some characters are modeled to look like ones from 1930s cartoons. They're a nice nod to the Golden Age, but they felt out of place here. Our story makes no sense and they do nothing with the premise. An intergalactic hunter comes to Mobius, kidnaps random anthropomorphic animals, and then suddenly has a tryst with Dr. Robotnik. It felt like part of the script was missing, like whatever was supposed to bridge the gap got lost. They must have accidentally torn that page out of their legal pad to throw away their gum and just said, "screw it, no one will notice." Oh yes we did. So, bad acting, writing, and animation aside... except for whoever drew Katella, as I said she was the most realistic and proportionately drawn human on the show, though she constantly moves around like one of those car dealership balloons... if you can overlook all that, then "Zoobotnik" is alright. My favorite part was when Momma Robotnik showed up, which is why I titled this review as "Momma Robotnik Saves the Day", because she actually did, coming along to liven things up. Anyway, I guess if you need something mindless to kill 20 minutes, then go ahead and check out "Zoobotnik," it's nothing to write home about and you're probably better off watching something else.
