Creator Of Sonic Isn't A Fan Of The Leaked Movie Design
There's a Sonic the Hedgehog movie in the works, and it's no secret that Sonic's new design has come under heavy scrutiny from fans of the video game franchise. But another person recently voiced some dissatisfaction with Sonic's new look, and you might find that his opinion carries a little more weight.
That's because the negative words about Sonic's 2019 update are coming from Yuji Naka, a former Sega employee who is often credited with creating the blue speedster nearly three decades ago.
In one tweet, Naka seems to reference the fact that the new Sonic has different proportions when compared the classic video game Sonic, and notes how he feels it is important that Sonic has a round head. In another tweet, Naka states, "It is shocking that the bare hands are white," a criticism also leveled by many fans of Sonic online. Finally, Naka retweeted a fan-made drawing of what many believe the movie Sonic should've looked like, as though to imply that the fan did a far better job capturing Sonic's look than Paramount Pictures did. Ouch.
It's one thing to get trashed by random people online. Movie studios have to deal with that all the time. But having your movie's character design knocked by the man who created the character in the first place? That is pretty rough.
Yuji Naka was a longtime Sega employee who worked on the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise for many years, ever since the first entry appeared in 1991. He eventually left Sega in 2006, but it seems that he still has a lot of love for the hedgehog that helped define Sega's brand during the '90s. The sentiments Naka shared online aren't unique by any stretch, but Naka's history with Sonic is certainly making more people sit up and take notice. The question is, will Paramount go back on the current design and try to make something a little more true to Sonic the video game character? Or will the studio stick to its guns and move forward with this design that very few people seem to like?
It's worth noting that we're only seeing the full movie Sonic now thanks to a leak of marketing materials, and until very recently, we had but one overly furry silhouette shot of what the world's most famous hedgehog might look like on film. Still, fans of Sonic were already smashing the glass and pulling the alarm months ago. They didn't like Sonic's human-looking legs. They didn't like the tiny red running shoes replacing Sonic's huge kicks. And seriously, the fur — people couldn't understand why Sonic looked so furry.
Now that the movie version of Sonic is out there for everyone to see, many feel that their concerns were justified.
The Sonic we'll see in theaters later this year is a huge departure from every other Sonic you've ever seen before. His eyes are different. His gloves have been traded in for white hands. And the other major changes people picked up on — the weird legs, the different shoes, and the fur — remain. Many fans took turns redesigning movie Sonic, sharing their efforts on Twitter. And the fact that Yuji Naka happened to prefer one of those interpretations over the (presumably expensive) Paramount take just makes matters worse.
Unlike Detective Pikachu, which fans of that series seem to have warmed up to, it doesn't feel like there's a chance on earth that die-hard Sonic supporters will come around. And remember this: we've only seen Sonic so far. If characters like Dr. Robotnik look just as unpleasant in their movie forms, the Sonic the Hedgehog film could be on its way to Flop City faster than even Sonic can move.
The movie certainly has a cast worth talking about. Ben Schwartz is the voice behind Sonic, James Marsden plays Sheriff Tom Wachowski, and Jim Carrey will step into the very Jim Carrey role of Dr. Robotnik. And there are currently some other names attached to the movie that have undisclosed roles, such as Tika Sumpter. There's certainly enough talent here to make a great film. The question is, will everyone be able to get over the way Sonic looks?
We'll find out when Sonic the Hedgehog hits theaters on Nov. 8, 2019.