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Sonic the Hedgehog 3 owes a lot to the fan reaction to "Ugly Sonic" in the first film's trailer, says Ben Schwartz
Paramount's decision to delay the first Sonic movie to redesign the main character to something less horrific made the entire franchise better, says the actor.
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While the Sonic films have become a surprising success at the box office, it didn’t always look like that was going to happen. As we all look forward to seeing Sonic the Hedgehog 3, cast your mind back to April 2019 as the first trailer showing what has come to be known as “Ugly Sonic” seemed to be a precursor to a horrifying bomb at cinemas. The change to make Sonic’s design closer to the games didn’t just delay the first film for three months; it was a necessary part of the series’ journey, according to the man who voices Sonic.
At the premiere of Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Ben Schwartz explained how the reaction to Sonic’s initial (horrifying) design impacted the way the filmmakers approached the franchise. “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? I think it’s rarely ever happened before, if ever.”
Director Jeff Fowler chimed in, saying that the Sonic film trilogy had to rise “out of the ashes” out of the intense fan reaction to that first trailer. “It was a necessary sacrifice but yes, thank you ‘Ugly Sonic’ for the memories.”
While we’ll never truly be thankful for the memory of Ugly Sonic, the visceral reaction to that initial design caused the studio to pivot so hard that the subsequent films became shockingly faithful to the Sonic games. From there, we ended up with Sonic 3, which features Shadow the Hedgehog played by Keanu Reeves and Knuckles played by Idris Elba. That is the best Christmas present Sonic fans could ever ask for.
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