I'm glad Jeff Fowler changed Sonic's design

Seven years ago, I wrote a blog about two popular video games turned into films, and I shared my opinion on them.  The films were Pokémon Detective Pikachu and Sonic the Hedgehog.  I'm just going to be honest: I was totally disgusted by Sonic's design and the film. He looks absolutely fake and absolutely terrifying. Unlike Pokémon, you can literally see that Sonic's design doesn't match the film's environment, and he looks nothing like the game.

First off, When I saw Sonic’s eyes, all that went through my head was what the F*ck?! They look more human than the character’s eyes; I say this because his eyes are too small. If you watch the games and cartoons, you will see Sonic's eyes are quite large.  In the Games and cartoons, Sonic expresses himself with his eyes.

Second, in the first design, he is too thin. In the game and cartoon, he has a little gut (because he loves chili dogs),

short legs, and small shoes; you can’t even see the socks, unlike everyone who plays the games and watches cartoons. Seriously, look at the game: the boots are large, and they stand out, along with his white socks.

Oh, and let’s not forget the gloves; in the original version, Sonic has fur on his hands, not gloves.  Talk about major disappointment. The design was terrible. I don't see a positive outcome for Sonic the Hedgehog because I wasn't the only one who saw the issue with the design. I read somewhere that the director was going to make changes because fans weren't happy. But so far, I haven't seen anything change.  That is, until Director Jeff Fowler heard the fans' complaints, and thank God he did. It cost him a pretty penny to revise the entire film in 2020 (during the Coronavirus Pandemic), and the fans went from disappointed to excited.

And if I can point out the antagonist and Sonic's archenemy, Dr. Robotnik (or Eggman, as he is known in some games and cartoons), he is supposed to be a bit chunky, have a substantial red mustache, and be bald.  Thankfully, the original design of Eggman slowly came together mostly by the end of the first film, then in the second.  

Dr. Robotnik is being played by Jim Carrey. Don't get me wrong, Jim Carrey is funny as hell, but seeing him as loony Dr. Robotnik is a maybe.

One thing I noticed right away from the Sonic the Hedgehog trailer was that I didn't see Tails the Fox or Knuckles the Echidna.  This was mostly because Director Jeff Fowler followed the games' story and each character's storyline, which makes sense because Tails was introduced in the second game.  Then later Knuckles came in.  This helped form Team Sonic: Sonic the Leader, Tails the brains of the bunch, and Knuckles the strength. Each plays an important role in both the games and future films.

I am proud to say I am a Sonic fan; I enjoy researching not just the games, but the characters from the comic books and cartoon series.  Currently, I am writing this blog in October of 2026, and Sonic 4 will be released in March of 2027. I am excited to see Shadow because it is rumored he will appear as a Knight, a reference to Sonic and the Black Knight.  

But if there are two hedgehogs I hope to see in the future in the Sonic franchise, I hope to see Silver the Hedgehog and Manic the Hedgehog (He is Sonic’s younger brother from the show called Sonic Underground)