Nostalgia plays are high in recent years, giving many fans a chance to relive childhood favorites in exciting ways. Both Nintendo and Sega are huge names in this, especially in the box office with two live-action takes on beloved gaming favorites: Detective Pikachu, and Sonic the Hedgehog.
Where Detective Pikachu was hailed for its live-action design, Sonic’s camp not so much. The backlash to the first official reveal of the Sonic the Hedgehog movie was so overwhelming, in fact, that the team decided they are going to take that feedback and change Sonic’s design all together. On one hand, the studio is thanking fans for their cherished feedback – on the other, Detective Pickachu’s director is weighing in.
Director Rob Letterman chimed in when speaking with The Verge about not only the initial reaction but the positive spin the Sonic crew managed to put on it. Letterman told the site, “There’s no right or wrong to how you make one of these movies. It would be very difficult for us to redesign anything. We spent a year designing all the characters ahead of shooting so that we could get it all right. If we were off by an inch on Pikachu, Justice Smith’s performance would go right out the window. For us, it would have been impossible but that doesn’t mean they can’t do it. I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes — they’re in a difficult spot.”
Letterman and his crew did a phenomenal job of bringing the world of Pokemon to life in stunning detail while still staying true to the source material. It looks like the Sonic team is doing the same, though hopefully, the complete pivot won’t translate to total crunch and a hellish time for the design team.
