A new trailer for the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog movie was released earlier today — offering the first look at the redesigned CGI character for the highly-anticipated live-action movie.
The redesign of the iconic character comes after the initial CGI version unveiled in a previous trailer met with widespread criticism and rejection by fans earlier this year.
Today is the DAY! Could not be more excited to share our new Sonic with you. THANK YOU for your patience and support. This wouldn't have been possible without the fans. #SonicMovie
— Jeff Fowler (@fowltown) November 12, 2019
There was uproar on social media at the time, with fans complaining that the realistic design was an unsettling and creepy deviation from the beloved Sega video game character — with many comments centering around Sonic’s human-like teeth.
The backlash forced the movie creators to delay the release of the movie to allow them the time to go back to the drawing board to redesign the CGI Sonic and make him more similar in appearance to the beloved game character.
Paramount has now released a new trailer that features the new Sonic, which fans agree conforms much more with the character’s classic video game looks.
The first CGI version unveiled in April (see video below) has realistic-looking fur, a big and muscular physique, human-like eyes, and a complete set of teeth. Many fans thought that the character’s humanoid features were creepy.
Fans react on Twitter
Fans have been flooding social media with comments about the new Sonic — and most can’t believe quite how good a job the CGI team did in redesigning the character in such limited time.
Many said the new Sonic looks reassuringly familiar, with its bigger eyes, less prominent teeth, slimmer body, and less realistic-looking fur. Most posts had a comparison of old Sonic vs new Sonic side-by-side.
they fixed sonic ? pic.twitter.com/2GkVXa4yEL
— Sam Sheffer (@samsheffer) November 12, 2019
The Sonic redesign is the greatest redemption arc of all time pic.twitter.com/tmOLxyQOOa
— ALIENWARE (@Alienware) November 12, 2019
You Won't See Any Creepy Humanlike Teeth On Sonic In The New Character Redesign For The "Sonic The Hedgehog" Movie https://t.co/8iakY5Ou46
— BuzzFeed (@BuzzFeed) November 12, 2019
Sonic got his little blue behind dragged all over Twitter in that first iteration and the studio literally went back to the drawing board and made him look… like Sonic. Don’t tell me consumers have no power to change things. https://t.co/rDU5wQGc63
— April (@ReignOfApril) November 12, 2019
I miss the old Sonic design on the left. Just look at his shock, like a sexual predator caught by Chris Hansen. Such a unique design pic.twitter.com/QgV51FDCez
— Charlie (@MoistCr1TiKaL) November 12, 2019
It’s honestly insane even LOOKING at the old Sonic design, it doesn’t even feel real anymore. It’s like we all collectively had a nightmare pic.twitter.com/a3H6OtHI3p
— Ian Mutchler (@TheFantasticIan) November 12, 2019
Abomination Sonic should be a villain in the sequel
— Arin Hanson, Who Shakes The World (@egoraptor) November 12, 2019
Side by side comparison of the old and new design for #Sonic. Amazing congrats to the VFX team for working so hard to pull this off for #SonicMovie
How often do you see a studio owning up to a mistake and reworking a whole movie? Props are deserved here. I'll support that. pic.twitter.com/ZrOBTUbemP— Joshua Ovenshire ⚔️ NE6 (@TheJovenshire) November 12, 2019
Y'all better not let the #SonicMovie flop after all of this. I was going to go see the movie either way, but now I'm three times as excited for it thanks to this new trailer and Sonic design! pic.twitter.com/KO8CjBMrOk
— Courtney(ProjectSNT) (@ProjectSNT) November 12, 2019
Huh, somehow the 'fixed' Sonic doesn't change how shit the film looks. Go figure. pic.twitter.com/RbOfxGUqRU
— I Hate Everything (@IHE_OFFICIAL) November 12, 2019
The upcoming adventure comedy film, directed by Jeff Fowler, is written by Patrick Casey, Josh Miller, and Oren Uziel. Ben Schwartz (Parks and Recreation) voices Sonic, while James Marsden (Westworld) lends his talent to bring Sonic’s pal Sheriff Tom Wachowski to life. The comedian Jim Carrey plays the evil Doctor Robotnik.
Sonic the Hedgehog premieres in theaters on February 14, 2020.