Did Ugly Sonic save the franchise?

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Sega and Paramount's Sonic the Hedgehog film franchise launched the blue blur into the heights of cinematic success through strong box office runs and solid reviews for a video game adaptation. The films have been embraced for being some of the more faithful interpretations in the pantheon of video game adaptations, much to the creatives' efforts in staying true to the characters and tone of the source material. Before Sonic the Hedgehog 3 continues to hit more milestones for the series, the franchise's director remains grateful for the outcome of Sonic's initial, controversial design.

Unanimous backlash was the response when the teaser for the first film debuted in April 2019, as Sonic's design was criticized and ridiculed for deviating too far from the games' iconic design, which resulted in the design being colloquially referred to as "Ugly Sonic." The outcry was publicly noted days later by director Jeff Fowler and his team, who announced that the film would be postponed by three months from its November slot in order to accommodate Sonic's redesign. Sonic's revamped look was revealed in a new trailer that November and won over fans' approval, with much gratitude going out to Tyson Hesse, the artist who led the redesign, the team's work, and the studio for listening to fans and delaying the film. The debacle wound up winning over audiences, and with the third entry releasing imminently, Fowler acknowledged how far the series has come since the era of "Ugly Sonic."

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Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter at Sonic the Hedgehog 3's Los Angeles premiere on December 16th, Fowler reflected on the backlash. "It was out of the ashes of 'Ugly Sonic' that this beautiful trilogy of films, this phoenix, had to rise," Fowler said. "It was a necessary sacrifice but yes, thank you 'Ugly Sonic' for the memories." Ben Schwartz, the voice of Sonic in the film franchise, echoed Fowler's sentiments and added, "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."

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The first Sonic the Hedgehog film released in February 2019 before having its theatrical run cut short due to the pandemic, which earned $319 million worldwide and found continued success through home media and streaming. The sequel released two years later and featured Tails, voiced by the games' current voice actor, Colleen O'Shaughnessey, and Knuckles, voiced by Idris Elba. Elba reprised the role in the Knuckles Paramount+ series earlier this year, which became the platform's most-watched original series. For Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Keanu Reeves joined the voice cast as the enigmatic Shadow, Sonic's foil who debuted in the beloved 2001 Dreamcast title, Sonic Adventure 2, which the film's story adapted. Jim Carrey played Dr. Ivo Robotnik across the trilogy in addition to playing the character's grandfather, Gerald Robotnik, in the third entry. Series scribes Pat Casey and Josh Miller also returned for screenwriting duties on the third entry with additional support from John Whittington.

The Sonic film franchise has come a long way since the widely rebuked reveal of "Ugly Sonic," who was even featured as a supporting character in 2022's Disney+ film, Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers. Despite the backlash the first film originally faced with "Ugly Sonic," the franchise has only been on an upward trajectory since. Those rocky beginnings are not lost upon the creative team, as Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is poised to find continued success in the coming weeks.

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