New Sonic The Hedgehog Trailer
Paramount Pictures

‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ was supposed to have zipped onto the big screen this past weekend, but after the first trailer dropped in April, Paramount Pictures and director Jeff Fowler ran scrambling back to the drawing board to redesign the titular character, after viewers rejected the creepy CGI critter they were presented with.

On Twitter, Fowler wrote:

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The redesigned Sonic pretty much looks exactly like the video game character in 3D, so it’s hard to imagine anyone being put off by this.  Check out the new trailer below:

 

If you need a reminder of what Sonic looked like the first time around, here is a comparison:

 

The original movie design for Sonic featured leaner, more human proportions, and though you can’t see it in this image, strange, shapely calf muscles.  Unlike a traditional cartoon, his arms tapered down to his hands, as his legs also tapered down to his ankles.  His feet look proportioned like a human’s, and perhaps more egregiously, his hands were covered with white fur.

The new Sonic is more squat, with large cartoony hands and feet.  His arms and legs are skinny, and his legs taper the other way, from his large feet and skinnier as they go up.  And the white fur has been replaced by white Mickey Mouse gloves.

Speaking of accessories, the shoes on the first design look like real human shoes, while the second pair are less anatomically correct (for a person), and like everything else, more cartoony.

Sonic The Hedgehog
Paramount Pictures

But perhaps the worst part of the original Sonic movie design was the horrifying face, with human-like eyes and teeth.  The new design had huge egg-shaped cartoon eyes and no visible teeth.  The bizarre, realistic animal nose has been replaced with a simple, black nostril-free bulb, once again, similar to classic cartoons like Micky Mouse and Goofy.

Based on the global blockbuster videogame franchise from Sega, SONIC THE HEDGEHOG tells the story of the world’s speediest hedgehog as he embraces his new home on Earth. In this live-action adventure comedy, Sonic and his new best friend Tom (James Marsden) team up to defend the planet from the evil genius Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) and his plans for world domination. The family-friendly film also stars Tika Sumpter and Ben Schwartz as the voice of Sonic.

Ben Schwartz provides the lead character’s voice in ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’, which also stars Jim CarreyJames Marsden, Neal McDonough, Adam Pally, and Tika Sumpter.

‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ will now open on February 14, 2020.