SEGA's blue hedgehog will debut as a real action movie that looks more like the classic Sonic.
The story is well known. First, IGN presented the silhouette of Sonic, which already showed some aspects that disturbed some fans; then, some images were leaked, and soon after, the official trailer was presented. A trailer that was received coldly, especially due to the design of the main character, Sonic. Max Schneider, one of the animators of Sonic The Movie, has spoken with the web Sonic Team Argentina and explained what it meant to have to redesign the character.
The film was scheduled for the month of November, but after criticism for the design, Paramount decided to delay its premiere until February 14, 2020. At the time, the director of Sonic The Movie, Jeff Fowler, defended the delay and said which would help the animation department not have to be immersed in a crunch process (labor exploitation). All in all, the redesign has meant five months of extra work for the artists.
A lot of work, but no crunch
“Modifying everything took us many months, since part of the movie was already finished,” says Schneider. “The process was basically redesigning the model, rearming the rig and re-animating almost everything with the character. Some things were rescued from old animations, but others had to cheer up again. ”
If one of the reasons for the delay was to avoid the excessive work of the artists, it is worth asking if it was finally so and if they were forced to hurry to get it. The answer, at least according to Schneider, is that they didn't have to run to get everything ready on time. In addition, it reveals that the design change did not cost “so much money” to Paramount (contrary to what some sources said). He also comments that Sonic's shoes were the last aspect of the character to be redesigned.
Sonic The Movie will be ready in the day of lovers, on February 14.
