The speedy blue rodent known as Sonic the Hedgehog has been a staple character of video games since the creation of the 1991 game Sonic the Hedgehog for the Sega Genesis. Since then, Sonic has had TV shows, Video Games, Toys, and countless other forms of merchandise.

For the first time ever, Sonic is receiving his first real movie adaptation in the form of the aptly named Sonic the Hedgehog. Since its announcement in early 2019, the movie has been under much criticism and controversy surrounding the design of its main character, Sonic. 

Fans of the Sonic franchise have memories of the same character since its creation, with the most recognizable features being his white gloves, red shoes, and blue spiny back. For the creation of the recent movie, however, original designs went for a more “realistic” approach. 

The newly designed Sonic was seen as a frightening echo of the original character fans know and love, and there was a large amount of backlash caused by the first few scenes containing Sonic in the first trailer. His friendly, cartoon eyes were exchanged for beady, human-like eyes, among other changes. 

The reactions from the first trailers were mostly negative, with fans renouncing their excitement for the movie, and claiming Sonic’s character has been skewed beyond repair. The movie’s director Jeff Fowler addressed the backlash in an interview with GamesRadar, “It was pretty clear on the day the trailer was released, just seeing the feedback, that fans were not happy where we were at.”

The production team for the movie acted swiftly in fixing the mistake made in character design, and after delaying the release of the movie for almost another year, they were able to remake Sonic as a more accurate depiction of his original character. After a revised trailer was released, fans were relieved and excited at the sight of their beloved character back in his cutesy, and game-accurate form. 

With fans once again excited for the movie, and a release date of February 14, 2020, the movie was finally on track for a successful launch. Since release, the movie has been majorly popular, grossing $106.6 million as of its second weekend. With a mix of comedy and action, Sonic the Hedgehog has zoomed into the spot of one of the highest grossing video game movies of all time.