Ever since Paramount released its new trailer for the Sonic the Hedgehog movie to show what the speedy blue hedgehog’s updated design looks like, those who are in favor of this new look have been sending out thanks to anyone they felt had a hand in the update. Sega, Paramount, and even Sony have all shown up in Sonic fans’ posts even though the latter isn’t involved with the film anymore, but it looks like there’s one more person to thank now that the lead for the redesign has been confirmed to be illustrator and animator Tyson Hesse.
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Hesse, an artist, writer, and animator who’s known for work on Sonic the Hedgehog comics and works in other mediums like Sonic Mania, said on Twitter that he was directly involved with the redesign. He said he was “honored” to have been brought on to lead the design for Sonic’s new look. Hesse called it a thrill he’d never forget, though he was sure to include the fact that he worked with people in various roles throughout different studios to make the redesign happen.
Honored to have been brought in to lead the design on the new Movie Sonic. Working with Jeff and the modelers, riggers, texture/fur artists and animators in LA, London, and Vancouver was a thrill I’ll never forget. #SonicMovie pic.twitter.com/HhcVIxAhXB
— Tyson Hesse (@tyson_hesse) November 12, 2019
While many people are fond of the new design, there may still be those who wonder whether this was the plan all along to have the new Sonic look revealed as a “result” of community feedback. Fielding some questions on Twitter about this idea, Hesse said that the design we’ve seen in the trailer at the top was “built from the ground up.”
No, it was built from the ground up. Many movies barely have any actual final animation or finished shots done by the time they cut a first trailer, especially one six months out.
— Tyson Hesse (@tyson_hesse) November 12, 2019
Sonic’s fans have been reacting to the trailer and the new design favorably for the most part. People took to Twitter and other forms of social media shortly after the trailer went live and voiced their approval of the new look, often while comparing it side-by-side to the old one.
Sonic the Hedgehog releases in theaters starting on February 14, 2020, so look for more previews of Sonic and his new look between now and then.
