A Small Blue Miracle

It seemed that Sonic The Hedgehog was going down the wrong path with a horrible movie design, but could the new changes be enough to save the movie?

Mohammed Khadrane, Reporter|November 20, 2019

The+updated+poster+for+Sonic+The+Hedgehog%2C+set+for+release+on+Valentines+Day%2C+2020.

Mohammed Khadrane

The updated poster for Sonic The Hedgehog, set for release on Valentines Day, 2020.

Sonic the Hedgehog at a convention, promoting his new game, Sonic Generations.
Sonic The Hedgehog has had a long and rocky ride. The speedy, blue hedgehog started off his massive franchise with the release of his first game, on June 21st, 1991, titled Sonic The Hedgehog. The iconic video game character went on to have a huge lineup of games, spanning for about 30 years. Some of the video games went on to serve the less skilled players, while die-hard fans were puzzled by this. This would divide the fan-base in two, causing disagreements for every small detail for each Sonic based media released.

There were plans for a Sonic The Hedgehog movie going all the way back to 2013, but things only started to pick up steam in February of 2016. Paramount received the film rights from Sony Pictures, and Tim Miller and Jeff Fowler were selected to develop the movie set for release on November 8th, 2019. What they didn’t know, was that things were going to take a turn for the worst.

A showcase of Sonic The Hedgehog’s video games. They range from classic 2D platform games to modern 3D adventure style games.

Video game film adaptations normally receive more criticism from the media as they are believed to be a quick cash-grab. From the late ’90s to the early 2000s, almost every single video game adaptation received an overall negative score from reviewers. Movies such as Super Mario Brothers and Mortal Kombat are known for being what NOT to do when making the jump from console to big screen. So when information on the live action Sonic movie started to appear on the internet, people had their doubts. A similar movie that came out the same year as Sonic, titled Detective Pikachu, came out with mediocre reviews, landing more positive reviews than normal for a video game movie. This raised hopes for the Sonic movie…until the official trailer came out on April, 2019.

A comparison between the two very different designs. The left is the original design in which the media heavily rejected. The right is the redesign which received praise all over the internet.

The trailer broke the internet.

The design for Sonic The Hedgehog was atrocious, looking nothing like his design in the video games. It did not appeal to any of the fans. LHS Marching band member Aaron Kinzig stated that he had to “get new eyes” after seeing the trailer.

65% of the viewers who had seen the (now taken down) trailer for Sonic left a dislike. The outburst of fans was so powerful that the lead director, Jeff Fowler, delayed the movie for 4 months for a redesign to correct the design of the blue hedgehog unfaithful, as well as the tone and humor of the new movie. Fans had lost their faith in the movie, but once again, a new trailer would change all of that.

A new trailer came out on November 12th, around the same time the movie was originally supposed to release, this time with a revised release date of February 2020.  There was immediate, overwhelming praise from the fans, with 95% of the viewers leaving likes. The trailer showed much more love to the character of Sonic The Hedgehog, and the overall tone and humor were much better. Lafayette STEM club member Nitin Arora said that he is much more excited for the movie, as he likes how they improved Sonic’s design. Clearly, the studio has gained the fans’ faith back. Long time fans are now excited to have our beloved blue blur back. Sonic the Hedgehog has a good chance to be a first amazing video game movie.