Sonic movie character redesign ‘appears online’

Images claiming to show Paramount Pictures’ redesigned Sonic the Hedgehog movie character have appeared online.

The images, which are said to have originated from materials sent to various movie theatres, show a character design which has been moved closer to its video game source material, with more exaggerated – and less realistic – features.

The Sega mascot’s movie appearance was unveiled earlier this year and caused a fan backlash large enough to see the film delayed for a redesign.

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When the first trailer for the movie was released in late April, the more realistic Sonic character design drew heavy criticism online.

Just days after the trailer’s release, director Jeff Fowler took to Twitter to address fan concerns.

“Thank you for the support. And the criticism,” he said. “The message is loud and clear… you aren’t happy with the design & you want changes. It’s going to happen.

“Everyone at Paramount & Sega are fully committed to making this character the BEST he can be.”

Paramount Pictures delayed the release of the Sonic the Hedgehog movie from November 2019 until February 14, 2020.

The adventure comedy stars Carrey as antagonist Dr. Robotnik and James Marsden as Sonic’s sidekick. Ben Schwartz is the voice actor for Sonic and Tika Sumpter also stars.

Actor Jim Carrey has said he’s “not sure” how he feels about the fan-driven redesign.