Yesterday, the design for the iconic Sonic the Hedgehog for his upcoming movie adaptation got leaked in its entirety. While I will admit it’s not quite as bad as it could have been, it’s… still discomfiting. A lot of that has to do with the weird uncanny valley eyes, as well as the weird arms and legs that look like people arms and legs just weirdly juxtaposed on a blue CG hedgehog.
You can expect fan reaction to not necessarily have been positive to the leaked design, which makes sense given how iconic and beloved a design Sonic is. But it seems like even the creator of Sonic the Hedgehog isn’t too happy with how the new design has turned out.
In a tweet, Yuji Naka, the creator of the series, expressed his dissatisfaction with the new design. “Is this a Sonic movie?” he asked, before criticizing the individual elements of the character’s design in the movie.
This can’t be easy on the film makers who doubtless have tried their hardest to try and capture the essence of a beloved character design into a new paradigm; nonetheless, maybe the early feedback will make it possible for them to implement some changes to make the design go down better.