TORONTO -- In a move that many are calling “way past cool,” the character design of Sonic the Hedgehog appears to have been completely overhauled.
Animators for the live-action ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ film have unveiled the titular character’s new look, featuring bigger eyes and hands, fewer teeth and punchier colours, in a brand new trailer.
The trailer, released by Paramount on Tuesday, also features new scenes and more of the film’s plotline than was revealed in the original trailer.
Many on Twitter have screenshotted side-by-side comparisons between the widely-criticized look of the original and the newly-revamped character’s designs.
Earlier this year, the debut trailer for the popular Sega character’s movie was met with immediate, passionate outcry from fans who claimed it appeared creepy and barely resembled the character they’ve known for decades. At the time, many detractors criticized the character’s human-like teeth, small eyes and overall look.
The anger was so swift that the film’s director Jeff Fowler took to Twitter to announce that he and the visual artists were “taking a little more time to make Sonic just right.”
Accompanying the tweet was a picture showing that the release date for the film was being pushed back to February 14, 2020. The original trailer appears to have been taken down.
The first Sonic live-action movie contains many Canadian connections as scenes were filmed on Vancouver Island and feature actor-comedian Jim Carrey as the Sonic’s nemesis Dr. Ivo Robotnik. The film also stars James Marsden as a police officer and comedian Ben Schwartz as the voice of Sonic.
