Sonic the Hedgehog Character Redesign; Why it was a Blessing in Disguise!

Paramount redesigned Sonic in trailer number two after some backlash, but it was also a blessing in disguise for the studio.

Fans are monsters; they are also the people with the loudest voices and the strongest of criticisms, which is why most of the time, you cannot win. Most of the time, the fans are not right either, few people on Reddit get their knickers in a twist, and all of a sudden, there is a movement happening.

This is the culture and society we are living in now, but sometimes, and this rarely happens, the fans are right about something, and when it comes to Sonic the Hedgehog’s appearance in the first trailer, the fans were right. It was hideous, nowhere near like the game, and looked way too much like humans to be discomforting.

Source: Consequence of Sound

After the first trailer for the movie arrived, there was outrage by the fans about the appearance of the character, and Paramount was quick to realize they were going to get pummeled by the fans if the movie was allowed to move forward the way it is. Is it ideal for the creative team behind the film needed to redesign the character? No, it’s not, we all need to respect the director’s vision when it comes to the story and the way it is portrayed on screen.

But it is also understandable to see all the fans of the game, who were most probably not going to see the movie in the first place, being let down by another Hollywood production of a beloved video game. So, Paramount did the sound thing and decided to push the movie’s release date and redesign the character.

Watch: The first trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog

Jim Carrey, who plays the villain in the movie, was furious of the fans outrage causing changes in the film so near the release date. But considering how well the second trailer was received, it was the right decision to take time and redesign the character.

There were reports (fake ones) saying the redesign was going to cost the production house more than $35 million, and being clear; it did not cost Paramount the said amount of money to get the character’s redesign done.

Source: IGN

Instead, the money spent is close to $5 million than $35 million quoted in other outlets. The reason why such a small amount was spent is that the VFX team was still working on the film when the outrage happened, and the majority of the character design was still to be finished which allowed the team to go back and remake the character easier than it would’ve been down the down.

The character design was being called the reason why most people won’t go see the movie and box office analyst called the film was going to flop big time because of the whole debacle. But the thing is the calls for redesign, was a blessing in disguise for the studio.

Source: YouTube

There wasn’t much interest in the movie before the first trailer made its way onto YouTube. We didn’t care for the film because video game adaptations into the silver screen are never good, and we didn’t care for 'Sonic' much anyway. The design of 'Sonic' and the backlash afterward a lot of negative press, but it was still a free advertisement for the movie. Many people who were not interested in the film still saw the trailer to see what the fuss was all about.

Then the redesign happened, and now there is almost nothing but positive reception. You probably already know how hard it is to be a trending topic for a week, and here we are more than a few months into the whole debacle, and still, people are talking about the movie.

Watch: The before and after comparison of the changes made to Sonic

The new trailer currently is liked by nearly 900,000 people and disliked by slightly about 15,000. So, not only the movie improved the character, the redesign helped bring some people to the column of wanting to go see the film. We didn’t care for the movie, and now even we want to go and see how it all turns out.

It may not be a big difference, but there are more people willing to see the movie now, then, they were over a few months ago. So, the redesign was a massive blessing in disguise for a studio, which needs all the blessings it can get.

Watch: The reworked trailer for 'Sonic the Hedgehog'

Sonic the Hedgehog arrives in theaters all over the world on 14 February 2020.

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