The New “Sonic The Hedgehog” Movie Revisions Have Been Made. Do They Hold Up?

In 2013, Sony got the rights to make a Sonic the Hedgehog movie. That next year, a movie was announced. Unfortunately, the film got put into turnaround, meaning that making it would cost more than what Sony would get on their tax returns. Luckily, Paramount came in to save the day. They took the rights for the movie, and began development. On April 30, 2019, a trailer finally got released. Well, I wouldn’t say a trailer was released, more like a blight on this Earth. 

    The Sonic The Hedgehog trailer was met with major criticism online, and people were calling on Paramount to remake the entire movie. The reason they loathed this new Sonic movie was the absolutely horrifying design for the lovable blue hedgehog that was a vital part of their childhoods.

The picture to the left is the result of about five months of animation. The design looks eerily human-like, and looks more like a first draft rather than the final product. Possibly the worst, and most disappointing part, about the first design is the eyes. Sonic is known for having big, bright, cartoonish green eyes. It’s disappointing to see just how out of touch the Paramount animators were. It seems almost impossible to imagine that these designs were created by the same team of animators. While one looks like it came straight out of a nightmare, the other one looks more like the real Sonic, and it is evident that hard work and detail were Sony’s main priority. 

The new redesign only came because so many people expressed their dislike for the original design. After the horrifically awkward trailer was released in April, people took to Twitter to tell Paramount just how much they hated their new movie. Twitter user @Rez_Olution told Paramount how he felt by saying, “I think I’m with Dr. Eggman when it comes to killing Sonic on this one… #NotMySonic.” Luckily, no hedgehogs were killed, and Paramount listened to the fans. Director Jeff Fowler responded on Twitter by saying, “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.” The November 8 release date was pushed to February 14, and six months later a new Sonic was shown to the world.

So did the redesign hold up with fans? Absolutely. After months of anxious waiting, a much better Sonic design was released to the world without human-like features or freakish teeth. In return, we received a Sonic that looks more like the hedgehog everyone knows and loves. Paramount showed its capability to truly listen to the fans, and not just ignore criticism. It was a good thing that Paramount really took its time to do this, because it led to great results. The new Sonic design can be summarized in two simple words. Uh…meow?