- Sonic voice actor Ben Schwartz says fan reaction to the initial Sonic design made movies better
- The initial Sonic has gone down in history as ‘Ugly Sonic’
- Sonic the Hedgehog speeds into theaters on December 20
Sonic the Hedgehog is one of the big movie franchise successes of the past five years, but his voice actor has admitted that fan reaction to the initial Sonic design played a big part in this.
Speaking at the premiere of Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Ben Schwartz, who voices the blue blur, has said that the franchise may not have got past the first movie had makers gone with the original design of the character.
Ugly Sonic
It was April 2019 when a first trailer for the Sonic the Hedgehog movie dropped. The reaction to the CGI version of Sonic was pretty much universally negative from fans, who were horrified at his look, and departure from his usual look in the video game franchise.
The reaction to what was quickly dubbed ‘Ugly Sonic’ was so strong, that the movie’s makers went back to the drawing board and redesigned the look of the titular hedgehog. It delayed the release of the movie by three months, but it was well worth it, according to Schwartz.
“Maybe sometimes you need a little push to really look in the mirror and to hear the fans, to then figure out if you want to adjust. And we did,” he said. “How often can you think of a film that really listens to fans and the studio takes money and time to change it because they think it would better the film?”
Sonic 3 director Jeff Fowler added: “It was a necessary sacrifice but yes, thank you ‘Ugly Sonic’ for the memories.”
Continuing Sonic franchise
The redesign was positively received by fans, and the movie was a big hit – and is now a trilogy. At least for the moment – Fowler has hinted that this movie might not be the last time we see Sonic and friends on the big screen.
