SONIC THE HEDGEHOG Motion Poster Offers A First Look At Our Titular Hero's Iconic Silhouette
With Bumblebee receiving rave reviews, Paramount Pictures has shared the first look at their next CGI/live-action hybrid, Sonic the Hedgehog, which will feature Ben Schwartz as the voice of our hero.
After revealing the first official look this past weekend at CCXP, Paramount Pictures has shared the official teaser poster for their upcoming live-action/CGI-hybrid Sonic the Hedgehog, featuring our titular hero standing front and center.
While plot details are understandably being kept under wraps, IGN has learned that the film will find Sonic (Ben Schwartz) mysteriously transported to our world where he strikes a friendship with Tom Wachowski (James Marsden) and finds himself at odds with the evil Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey).
As for his design, the production team worked diligently on making the popular video game character as realistic as they could, using Universal's Ted as their reference point for making the character work in the real world. Executive producer Tim Miller (Deadpool) details the no-brainer decision to give him fur. “That was always Stage 1 of adapting it to what the real world is and what a real animal would be like. It would be weird and it would feel like he was running around nude if he was some sort of otter-like thing. It was always, for us, fur, and we never considered anything different. It’s part of what integrates him into the real world and makes him a real creature.”
In addition to finally getting some hair, Sonic will also be seen sporting some new kicks. Producer Neal Moritz (Fast & Furious franchise) explains, "We looked at every different variation of what shoes he's worn and we're trying to pay homage to that and also make it current and present day in what we think a Sonic of today would wear."
They don't want to reveal his eyes just yet, but it sounds like they're going to be a little different than what long-time fans may be expecting. After revealing that finding the right way to depict his eyes was the most difficult part of finalizing Sonic's design, Miller notes, “I don’t think SEGA was entirely happy with the eye decision, but these sorts of things you go, ‘It’s going to look weird if we don’t do this.’ But everything is a discussion, and that’s kind of the goal, which is to only change what’s necessary and stay true to the rest of it. He’s not going to feel like a Pixar character would because I don’t think that’s the right aesthetic to make it feel like part of our world.”
Post-production only began about a month ago, so there's still a lot of work to be done before the film is ready to be unveiled to an audience, which is probably why we're only getting a motion poster for now over a full-length trailer, but director Jeff Fowler did offer an enticing little tease about the character's trademark speed, telling IGN that prior to pitching the film, they made a test video that showed off exactly how Sonic would run. Miller adds, “The first thing you need to do is put limits on it. If you can do anything, nothing is special. For me, it’s always about keeping it grounded and keeping it realistic. We had some time to figure out the speed: What it looks like, what it feels like for a character to do that and how it relates to our world. It took a little trial and error, but that’s animation in figuring out what the effect looks like and what it does to the rest of the world around it. The speed changes over time because he evolves, because he can’t do everything at the beginning of the movie. It’s finding the visual language and figuring out how it’s going to evolve over time.”
There's a lot to be excited for and the filmmakers assure us that they have all worked very closely with SEGA to bring Sonic to the big-screen, which should be welcome news to fans as Moritz promises an extremely faithful - or at least as faithful as possible - take on the beloved speedster. "Obviously the poster can only show so much. … That's a hint at what we're hoping to accomplish, but I think people are going to see things they've probably never seen before in trying to represent speed in this movie. We've worked so closely with the people at SEGA who are kind of the gatekeepers of Sonic to make sure we're lockstep. We're trying to make something that's for today that fans of different versions will love as well.”
Now, since the majority of the film will take place in the real world, it remains to be seen whether we'll see other fan-favorites like Tails, Knuckles, and/or Shadow. However, Moritz does tease a number of Easter eggs, so fans of the franchise will have a lot to look forward to come November 8.
Small-town sheriff Tom Wachowski journeys to San Francisco to assist Sonic in his battle against the evil Dr. Ivo Robotnik.
Sonic the Hedgehog features:
Ben Schwartz as Sonic
James Marsden as Tom Wachowski
Natasha Rothwell in an undisclosed role
Tika Sumpter as Mrs. Wachowski
Neal McDonough in an undisclosed role
Adam Pally in an undisclosed role
Jim Carrey as Dr. Ivo Robotnik
Sonic the Hedgehog speeds into theaters November 8