Yesterday, the Sonic The Hedgehog movie director Jeff Fowler revealed the blue blur would be redesigned after fans of Sega's longtime mascot made it "loud and clear" how unhappy they were with his overall look.

Much like the general public, Yuji Naka – the co-creator of Sonic and individual who is perhaps most responsible for turning Sonic into a household name – was equally as surprised to hear changes were on the way. He took to Twitter to share his thoughts while thanking fans for essentially being so protective of the iconic video game character and encouraging Fowler to reconsider his appearance:

"The power of sonic fans is amazing. It is good to go in a good direction. Thank you so much for loving Sonic."

The day before Jeff Fowler revealed changes would be made to Sonic's design, Yuji Naka claimed responsibility for the trailer backlash (thanks to Nick Mosier from Source Gaming):

"Seeing the unfavorable reaction to Hollywood Sonic reminded me of this, but it looks like the CG is being made by Marza. Marza used to be Sega Visual Entertainment which I made, so I feel like I have some responsibility for it."

Meanwhile, Sonic's original character designer Naoto Ohshima has been in a state of panic, admitting how he's "worried" after seeing the trailer for the upcoming movie. To put his own mind at ease, he drew the following version of Sonic, which is inspired by the one featured in the trailer:

Sonic Movie
Image: Naoto Ohshima

How are you feeling about the Sonic movie right now? Leave your thoughts below.

[source gonintendo.com, via gonintendo.com]