The Sonic the Hedgehog movie made some serious bank when it debuted in theaters early this year, speeding past the $100 million mark after just ten days. Things weren’t always looking so bright for the Blue Blur’s box office hit, however; last year’s originally proposed design for Sonic received widespread backlash from fans and forced the film’s creators to address Sonic’s appearance. It was a crazy yet strangely entertaining time for anyone following the movie’s progress, and this newly released previsualization footage serves as a reminder of that weird and wonderful era.
To be completely fair to the animator and uploader of the video, Ellery Ortiz, this video is supposed to appear rudimental. Previsualization is a filmmaking process in which basic animation and rough models are used to map out movie scenes, so that the crew can visualize scenes before they are filmed (which is especially important when mixing CGI elements with live-action). To that end, Ortiz seemed to do a great job with this previs work, considering most of these scenes made it into the final cut.
Still, it’s amusing to see the early, bug-eyed Sonic design once again, complete with a CGI James Marsden.
Ortiz noted in the video description that he worked from storyboards to create the animation and “defined timing of action in the shots.” He also “Sweetened [the video with] FX and Lighting elements,” and “Defined camera composition and lens choices for the purposes of storytelling.” Ortiz has previously worked on other blockbuster films, including Terminator: Dark Fate and Aquaman.
Leave a Comment
Written by Reece Heather
A lifelong Nintendo fan and a longtime editor at Zelda Universe, Reece will forever be grateful that he somehow dodged the Naughty List of Christmas 1998, when Santa delivered the life-changing gift of a Nintendo 64 with Super Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie, and Mario Kart 64. When he's not playing games, Reece is usually reading Punisher comics, delving helplessly into the weirdest depths of anime and manga, or spending time with his cocker spaniel Gracie -- the goodest girl ever!
