From the first poster release to the first trailer release, no one on the internet had liked the designs for the titular character in Sonic the Hedgehog movie. So after the negative reactions from all quarters in response to the first trailer for the movie, director Jeff Fowler has announced that Paramount will be changing the blue human-esque designs for the final movie. Given just how disturbing the design is, with many calling it nightmare fuel, most people are happy about this news, including Yuji Naka who is Sonic’s co-creator.

Along with Yuji Naka, according to producer Tim Miller, there were others at Sega who were also reportedly unhappy with the design. So many of those behind-the-scenes people would feel vindicated that they knew something was wrong. But one has to ask, is this massive effort worth it?

Why The Design Change Of Sonic the Hedgehog Can Be Futile Without A Release Date Extension?

The current release date is November 8 and if effects animators are expected to redo the whole movie in six months then the question of- is it worth it for the workers to work for insane hours to finish the movie comes into view and the answer tips severely into the ‘no’ territory.

Many movies have their CGI tweaked, sometimes drastically even between the movie’s trailers and the final product. But in the case of Sonic the Hedgehog it’s not minor tweaks which have to be carried out, the whole design has to be changed (especially those teeth). It basically means going back to the drawing board to figure out a viable design which differs from the humanoid figure which the movie has.

So additional time is needed to work on changing the look of the main character itself or you can end up with a shoddy product. A major case-in-point is the 2017’s Justice League movie and the whole issue with Henry Cavill’s (Superman) moustache.

But there have been many movies which did have to undergo drastic changes before release, with the most recent one being Alita: Battle Angel. The movie actually got delayed twice after the release of the first trailer to allow for additional time to finish the film’s effects and alter the huge eyes which were creeping people out. But the changes made to it were minor compared to what Sonic is about to go through.

Detective Pikachu director Rob Letterman pointed out that the job of reanimating CGI characters in a live- action film is even harder than it would be in a fully animated one. You have to account for the live actors’ interactions with the animated characters. The slightest change could throw the entire scene off. Along with this is the fact that visual effects artists are already underappreciated and not paid what they’re worth. So putting these artists through six months of crunch time, desperately trying to fix a design they probably knew was bad in the first place, feels cruel.

Apart from workers issues, there is also the fact that the movie doesn’t seem like it is going to even be a good popcorn flick. The jokes in the trailer and whole vibe of it really doesn’t give off the idea that it is any good. So in these circumstances, it’s not really worth it to push effects artists to rush through the re-design without delaying the release date.

UPDATE

Has The Release Date For Sonic Being Delayed?

Actually, yes. It was announced recently that the release date for the movie has been shifted to February 14, 2020 from November 8, 2019. So no matter how the movie ends up being, atleast it won’t be keeping countless effects artists awake to finish the movie.

Sonic the Hedgehog is currently slated for a February 14, 2020 release date.

(Source: cbr.com and buzzfeednews.com)