One day, there’s going to be a fascinating oral history about what happened to the Sonic the Hedgehog movie, and we’re going to be absolutely thrilled by it. In case the blue super-speedster’s original design hasn’t been stalking you in your nightmares like a shrouded figure straight out of a Ronnie James Dio song or a Junji Ito manga for the last couple of months, the first trailer for the film hit back in April, and the internet collectively recoiled in horror at the first glimpse of his freakish, muscular, toothy design. That inspired Paramount to push the film back a few months so that they could retool the design, and probably destroyed the lives of any number of visual effects artists, who were forced to “crunch” in order to get the film ready for its new release date.
Well, our first look at the brand-new Sonic is here, thanks to a trailer that Paramount dropped earlier on Tuesday, and he looks like the old Sonic the Hedgehog of yore, cute and cartoony. We’re also pretty sure that the design wasn’t what was wrong with the movie in the first place, so… we guess this is a win?
Here’s a synopsis:
“Based on the global blockbuster videogame franchise from Sega, ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ tells the story of the world’s speediest hedgehog as he embraces his new home on Earth. In this live-action adventure comedy, Sonic and his new best friend Tom (James Marsden) team up to defend the planet from the evil genius Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) and his plans for world domination. The family-friendly film also stars Tika Sumpter and Ben Schwartz as the voice of Sonic.”
Sonic the Hedgehog will finally make its way to theaters on February 14. Yes, that is Valentine’s Day. Yes, you do have to purchase an extra ticket to bring your Waifu/body pillow to the theater with you.