Sonic the Hedgehog's redesign just saved its new trailer
Fans are loving what new lead character designer Tyson Hesse, who worked on the Sonic video games themselves, has brought to the movie.
- Best New Journalist 2019 Australian IT Journalism Awards
Sonic looks way better.
Seven months after the first Sonic the Hedgehog movie trailer zoomed in, a second has arrived. In that period, the movie crashed into fan backlash over its realistic take on the '90s video game character, depicting the blue anthropomorphic hedgehog with separate eyes and a more humanoid physique -- he had calves.
Director Jeff Fowler humbly took that criticism on and promised a rethink. Now, with Sonic comic book artist and game cutscene animator Tyson Hesse leading a redesign, Sonic may have been saved.
Not only does the new Sonic look more faithful to the video game version, the trailer itself plays more with Sonic's sense of fun and use of supersonic speed to do important things like visit a rubber band factory or play ping pong against himself.
For reference, here's a comparison between the old and new Sonic look:
One is outright frightening.
Hesse posted on Twitter Tuesday how grateful he is to be involved with the film, having been brought on after the film's release date was pushed from November to February 2020, in order to overhaul Sonic's design. "Honored to have been brought in to lead the design on the new Movie Sonic," Hesse tweeted.
Honored to have been brought in to lead the design on the new Movie Sonic. Working with Jeff and the modelers, riggers, texture/fur artists and animators in LA, London, and Vancouver was a thrill I'll never forget. #SonicMovie pic.twitter.com/HhcVIxAhXB
— Tyson Hesse (@tyson_hesse) November 12, 2019
Fan reaction to the new design has been overwhelmingly positive, best case in point: "I mean this from the bottom of my heart and in regard to all Sonic fans everywhere. Thank you for everything you've done for this series and this community. Not only for the sonic movie, but you've done so much to bring life into out favorite character. Thank you Tyson!" @SamsProStation tweeted.
I mean this from the bottom of my heart and in regard to all Sonic fans everywhere. Thank you for everything you’ve done for this series and this community. Not only for the sonic movie, but you’ve done so much to bring life into out favorite character. Thank you Tyson!
— Sam's Procrastination Station (@SamsProStation) November 12, 2019
Sonic the Hedgehog races into theaters Feb. 14, 2020, in the US and the UK, and 2 April in Australia. It stars Ben Schwartz as the voice of Sonic and James Marsden as a police officer helping him escape Jim Carrey's Dr. Robotnik, who wants to use Sonic's powers to take over the world.
