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Tommy Thunder: Method Actor
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"Tommy Thunder: Method Actor" is the fifty-third episode in the Sonic Boom television series and the first episode in the series' second season. It first aired on 29 October 2016 in the United States and on 8 April 2017 in France.

Synopsis[]

Sonic lets martial arts action movie star Tommy Thunder follow him around and observe his "hero process" for Tommy's upcoming role. However, things erupt when Tommy's over-the-top ego clashes with Sonic's and he starts to claim credit for the gang's victories.

Appearances[]

Characters:

Races and species:

Locations:

Items:

Vehicles:

Misc.:

Plot[]

The episode begins with Team Sonic standing in line with several villagers at Meh Burger, waiting to meet action movie star Tommy Thunder, who is there to promote his new movie. Everyone is excited, though Sonic is less so, as he believes everything Tommy does in his movies is somewhat unrealistic. Soon, Dave introduces Tommy, who autographs pictures of himself and tells his fans that someday they can be heroes too (including Tails, despite his hero status). Soar arrives to report on Tommy's heroism, but Sonic insists he is just an actor and has not actually saved anyone, though Mrs. Vandersnout quickly proves him wrong by saying to Tommy that his films helped get her through a time she was ill. The event is abruptly cut short, however, when the villagers are warned by the Beaver Policeman that Eggman is attacking, and Team Sonic arrives to find him assaulting a baker because he is displeased with not getting a proper baker's dozen. Upon noticing them, Eggman summons his Bee Bots to hold them off. Sonic tells Knuckles to throw him a day-old baguette, which he uses to swat the Bee Bots, one of which smashes into the Eggmobile and sends Eggman flying into the horizon. Tommy is impressed with Sonic's skills and asks if he can follow the hedgehog around so he can get insight for his next heroic movie role. While the other members of the team are thrilled at the idea, Sonic does not believe Tommy's ego would be a good fit (despite showing his own ego when he refers to his team as "Team Sonic" while saying this).

Later, at Sonic's Shack, Tommy tries to convince Sonic again, this time bringing him a melon sculpture in the shape of Sonic's head, but the hedgehog remains firm on his opinion. That night, Tommy takes the rest of the team to Meh Burger's VIP room for a fancy dinner, where he brings up the situation to a charmed Amy; she comes to Sonic's Shack the next day, managing to get him to agree to letting Tommy follow him on the basis that it would help Tommy become a more realistic hero in his next movie. However, Tommy quickly begins to get on Sonic's nerves, asking him questions constantly and even imitating him. He complains about this to Tails in the latter's workshop, but the fox quickly gets an alert that a robbery is in progress. In the village, the Weasel Bandits are robbing TVs from a store until Team Sonic confronts them. The heroes quickly thwart the attempt, and Sonic ties the Bandits up, only for Tommy to request a retake with him in it. Sonic is flustered over this, but the Bandits agree to it, leading to Tommy retying them; Soar appears on the scene and reports that Tommy defeated the Bandits, stealing the credit from Team Sonic and annoying its leader. Later, Tommy once again visits Sonic's Shack, thanking Sonic for teaching him heroism. Sonic is in disbelief that Tommy actually thinks he stopped the Bandits; Tommy responds that Sonic is jealous of him, which he denies. He then mentions that he is late for his pending appearance on the Comedy Chimp Show and walks away, leaving Sonic to fume.

Comedy Chimp interviews Tommy on his show about the experience that night, and Tommy greatly exaggerates the battle; Eggman is watching the show from his lair as he bakes muffins. It is then that Comedy Chimp suggests Tommy is ready for anything, even Eggman, leading to an overconfident Tommy calling the evil scientist out; Eggman, to his chagrin, has no choice but to respond to his challenge. Later, Tommy is on his phone when he suddenly finds himself ambushed by Eggman and his Badniks, along with Obliterator Bot. Tommy attempts to tell Eggman that what he said was just an act, and while Eggman thinks about it briefly, he ultimately gives the order to attack. Tommy cowers from the ensuing laser blasts and runs to Sonic, who had arrived moments before, begging for his help; he admits he is not a real hero and even tells the hedgehog that "Tommy Thunder" is not his real name. Sonic decides to help him, easily defeating Eggman's Badniks and making short work of Obliterator Bot using an awesome display of his speed, his trickery, and his Enerbeam. Eggman retreats to his lair when he gets an alert that his muffins are done, telling the two they got off lucky as a result. Soar arrives again to report on the aftermath, with Tommy once again being given credit for a heroic act he did not commit. Upon being handed the microphone, Sonic, not wanting to let down Tommy's fans, also gives him credit and chooses not to mention his cowardice, though not without some hesitation.

The next day, as a reward for his mature actions in sharing credit with Tommy, Sonic's friends take him to Meh Burger. Knuckles asks for the VIP room; Dave denies it ever existed, confirming Sticks' suspicions.

Productions[]

The first draft of this episode's script was written in May 2015.[5]

Title in other languages[]

Language Title Translation
Arabic البطل المزيف The Fake Hero
French Tommy Tonnerre : méthode d'acteu Tommy Thunder: method actor
Italian Tommy Thunder: professione attore Tommy Thunder: professional actor
Polish Tommy Grzmot Tommy Thunder
Portuguese (Brazil) Tommy Trovão: Ator Metódico Tommy Thunder: Methodical Actor
Portuguese (Portugal) Tommy Thunder: Método de Ator Tommy Thunder: Actor Method
Spanish (Latin America) Tommy Trueno: actor de método Tommy Thunder: Method Actor
Ukranian Томмі Грім: вживається у роль Tommy Thunder: Used in a role
Russian Актёрское мастерство Acting skills

Trivia[]

  • Parts of this episode appeared in the Sonic Boom season two debut trailer.
  • When this episode first aired, the title card was shown at the end of that day's second episode rather than the beginning of the first.[6] In response, Bill Freiberger would release the title card on Twitter over two months later.[7]
  • The background music that plays during Sonic fighting Badniks is similar to the opening theme of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog television series. Bill Freiberger, however, has stated that the song was not taken from Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. Rather, it was an original piece of music made by the series' composer, Michael Plowman.[8]
  • This is the first episode in the Sonic Boom television series where Team Sonic has been referred to by name.
  • This is the first since "Guilt Tripping" that the Weasel Bandits have engaged in any criminal activities outside of the Lightning Bolt Society.
  • This is the first episode in the Sonic Boom television series where Sonic has used the Enerbeam on his own.
  • This episode marks the first time on Sonic Boom television series that Obliterator Bot is not defeated with an attack to the head.
  • Tommy's agent, Malcolm, whom the former speaks to on the phone was named after Alan Denton and Greg Hahn's agent.[9]
  • This episode aired in Boomerang of United States in 12 November 2016.
  • This episode is the last episode to premiere on Cartoon Network before it was decided to move the episode premieres to Boomerang and have them replay on Cartoon Network several weeks after their debut.

References[]

  1. Bill Freiberger on Twitter. Twitter (29 October 2016). Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved on 29 October 2016. "Tailooey Fan: Jack Fletcher is still the dubbing director and Natalys Raut-Sieuzac is still the director in Season? / Bill Freiberger: Jack Fletcher is the voice director. Natalys Raut-Sieuzac is the director. / Tailooey Fan: In season two too? / Bill Freiberger: Yes, Jack Fletcher is the voice director and Natalys Raut-Sieuzac is the director in season 2 of #sonicboom."
  2. 2.0 2.1 Alan Denton on Twitter. Twitter (26 October 2016). Retrieved on 27 October 2016. "Alan Denton: Exciting: Sonic Boom s2 premieres Saturday morning. Also exciting: The first episode ("Tommy Thunder: Method Actor") is a Denton/Hahn joint."
  3. Sonic Boom: Tommy Thunder: Method Actor. Zap2it.com. Retrieved on 4 October 2016.
  4. Tous les Programmes (French). Canal J. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved on 28 March 2017.
  5. Alan Denton on Twitter. Twitter (29 October 2016). Retrieved on 30 October 2016. "Alan Denton: The first draft of our script was written in May...of 2015. (Animation takes a long time, folks.) 2/7"
  6. Bill Freiberger on Twitter. Twitter (30 October 2016). Retrieved on 31 December 2016. "Alexander Soerensen: You guys do not do title cards for Sonic Boom anymore? / Bill Freiberger: The title card was at the end of the second episode."
  7. Bill Freiberger on Twitter. Twitter (29 December 2016). Retrieved on 31 December 2016.
  8. Bill Freiberger on Twitter. Twitter (29 October 2016). Retrieved on 29 October 2016. "Tom Clancy's: Who did the music for today's #SonicBoom episode? Because that sounded like an AoStH-remix playing over the final battle. / Bill Freiberger: It wasn't AoStH. It was an original piece of music by our composer, Michael Plowman."
  9. Alan Denton on Twitter. Twitter (29 October 2016). Retrieved on 30 October 2016. "Alan Denton: Greg & I named Tommy's agent (who he speaks to on the phone) "Malcolm" because our agent is named Malcolm. Creative duo, we are. 5/7"
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