The revised design of Sonic the Hedgehog in Paramount's upcoming movie has been revealed, and it's been widely praised as a huge, massive, incalculable improvement on the character seen in the original trailer. Following the debacle surrounding the initial reveal (Sonicgate? Hedgehogate? It's always a -gate), it was rumoured that Tyson Hesse, Sonic-fan extraordinaire and animator of the excellent Sonic Mania intro movie and accompanying shorts, was involved in the emergency redesign of the fastest thing alive.
The original tweet revealing the revised Valentine's Day 2020 release date featured an image which eagle-eyed fans deduced might be the handiwork of the talented animator. Hesse fanned the flames by posting an image of Tony Stark from the original Iron Man film moments before (SPOILERS!) he reveals himself to be the titular hero at the end of the movie.
Well, Hesse has once again taken to Twitter to confirm that, yes, t'was he that took the helm and turned this ship around:
https://twitter.com/tyson_hesse/status/1194331183351357440?s=21
Obviously, he didn't do this job alone and the many VFX artists and animators responsible for implementing his redesign deserve plaudits for the hard work they've put in here. Opinions will always differ, but you'll have a hard time finding someone on the internet that'll argue the original was better.
If you'd like to see some side-by-side comparisons between the old trailer Sonic and the new, check out our gallery of before-and-after pictures. And if you'd like to see more of Tyson Hesse's handiwork, watch the Sonic Mania introduction below:
So, that's the design sorted - how do you think the film looks now? Still down with Gangster's Paradise? Let us know below.
[source twitter.com]
Comments 25
Oh cool! I wonder who did the old one.
It's a pretty decent redesign and I think the best we could have hoped for. Well done to everyone!
The Sonic Mania team is probably the only people giving Sonic the proper care a company mascot deserves!
this is something we need to do to a certain other company coughs coughs. make em listen
#thankyoutyson
Love this guys' work. Hoping for Boxer Hockey making a comeback someday
How cool is it that we live in an era where the talented fans get to work on their dream franchises.
For me, it seems that Tyson Hesse (and also Christian Whitehead) have more care, love, and passion for Sonic than Sega themselves. The fans are really the only hope for this franchise at this point. Look how good Mania was compared to Forces.
Okay for half a second I didn't realize what Sonic was holding and I thought it was 2007 and it was a Deviantart Sonic OC "Sonica" totally not Sonic with boobs.
Not surprised it was the fans that fixed the design.
They're the only ones who have been doing anything right with sonic lately. 🤣
Unbelievable they made a movie with that original “design”. Where were the designers before the redo? Or did the director simply reject the source design that much? Either way it was bad.
@DarkLloyd Except plenty of us are happy with what this other company is doing with their product and it's certainly not the majority of fans who feel the ball has been dropped. With the old Sonic design, EVERYONE was against it. Not a single person argued it was well done.
Not gonna lie, I think I'm starting to prefer Sonic with blue arms.
@Nomad
Then you are WRONG
Who wants to bet Tails is in the movie?
Eh. I hate Sonic games and I actually want to see the movie now. The design looks charming and it will play off of Carey’s comically evil Eggman even better.
Have seen a new trailer for the Sonic movie and am really interested now. Looking forward to watching the movie when it's released.
Just put Hesse and Whitehead in charge of all Sonic games and media henceforth, Sega.
@Bizzyb
As a behind the credits teaser ?
Shoes and eyes from the guys Instagram don't match the movie version.
Sad to think they had so many artists and marketing concept artists across 3 countries working on this film that they had to get an external source to help.
I saw detective Pikachu because it was irresistible. Now that Sonic is adorable and goofy like Sonic should be I will definitely see in theaters
There's this interesting "fan" mentality I see brandied about and I haven't decided if it's a new thing or how long it has been going on, but "fans" mention how "only fans" can do right with franchises. The implication being that the people who own the rights or the corporations are hopeless and need the fans to do it right.
There's a nugget of something useful in there, but I feel like it is meant to empower mere observers and those who adore something in some way that is misguided and maybe diminishes the work and expertise of those actually responsible for the "good developments" in franchises.
For instance, yes, Tyson Hesse seems to be a great fan of Sonic. But Tyson is also a professional illustrator with great sensibilities and has developed skills at creating appealing looks and designs.
Additionally, the "corporate-types" made a great and very difficult, expensive, decision to take the negative feedback seriously and immediately. Furthermore, the franchise keepers searched through people that had previously taken a chance on and supported (another great choice) and found a great individual to be sure the redesign worked.
In other words, being a fan and understanding the appeal of a character in this case is important, but it doesn't mean that just any of the fans could have done such work or made the moves or have developed any of the skills necessary (even observational) to pull this off.
Anyway, it just feels like fans feel like they do more than they actually do, sometimes. Nothing against a fan who wants to do something awesome! Just remember that it takes skills and hard work!
This may even be a silly point in the end, but welcome to the last 10 minutes of my brain activity, I guess.
Tyson Hesse... how far he has come. In 2002, he was just another Sonic sprite comic writer. The comic was called “Sonic Argh”. The writing was more charming than some of its peers. Over time, he replaced the ripped Sonic 3 sprites with his own beautiful sprites, which had more emotional expression than anything from the games. Then later still the comic became hand drawn. Even then, his talent for drawing—Sonic and otherwise—was already extremely developed. A couple decades later and now he’s a famous artist of official Sonic materials. He’s lived the “from just-another-fan to official contributor” dream as few have. His work in this movie is proof of his passion and the work he has put in. Certainly someone to admire
@KingKRoolMain lol, I'm always wrong.
@JayJ I'm sure we will never know for fear of the artist's safety. 😂
@Nomad Don't say you prefer blue arms in front of Chris-Chan.
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