Note that this image is an artist’s rendering and not necessarily how the studio will be redesigning the character.
You probably saw that Sonic the Hedgehog movie trailer that dropped just a couple of days ago, and if you didn’t you definitely heard about it. The live-action Sonic the Hedgehog movie trailer was widely shared as rather horrifying due to Sonic’s “kid in footie pajamas” design, where the famous blue hedgehog looked more like a CG sports team mascot than the iconic character we know and love. Due to rampant criticism, ridicule, and constructive feedback regarding his appearance in the trailer, Director Jeff Fowler committed to fixing his look before the movie’s release.
Thank you for the support. And the criticism. The message is loud and clear… you aren’t happy with the design & you want changes. It’s going to happen. Everyone at Paramount & Sega are fully committed to making this character the BEST he can be… #sonicmovie #gottafixfast
— Jeff Fowler (@fowltown) May 2, 2019
“You aren’t happy with the design & you want changes. It’s going to happen,” Fowler said in a tweet. He indicated that everyone at the film studio and Sega themselves all want this to be the best that Sonic can be. It might be a pretty bold claim. Sonic fans are notoriously unhappy, finicky, and every one of them wants something different, but at least everyone agreed that the movie version of Sonic wasn’t it. It’s widely agreed that the hedgehog needs bigger eyes that are closer together (maybe even connected), with a shorter torso, longer skinny legs, and some kind of gloves instead of those weird white hands. It remains to be seen what extent the studio will go to with the redesign of the character.
One huge concern this presents is the potential amount of crunch and pressure being placed on the animators to not only redesign the character to be more true to his game appearance, but to also make sure that the CG and digital effects work with every scene. No delay was announced, so they’ve got until November 8, 2019 to make changes to the most central part of the entire movie. Fortunately this shouldn’t mean any reshoots are needed, but people will be spending long hours at computers making this work for the fans.
The other question is marketing items and merch surrounding the movie, which are all likely already in the production pipeline. How much stuff will they have to scrap that retains the old Sonic image in favor of the redesign?
It’s good to see the studio listening to critique of fans who had great feedback about why Sonic didn’t look quite right, not just complaining about it in general. With all of that in mind, Fowler and his team are now committed to making the changes necessary to have the Sonic the Hedgehog movie design be more true to form. With fans now on the edge of their seats waiting with bated breath, we should be expecting a reveal of the redesigned character as soon as they’ve got a new model locked in.
For some other great news about Sonic, don’t miss our Team Sonic Racing preview which highlights a kart racing game that changes the dynamic of kart racers.
