I don't know how you could presume this is strictly a merchandising thing when we're still shaking off the effects of the Boom series. (Especially in regards to using Sonic X as a comparison point--that was sixteen years ago.) There isn't actually much about Boom that conceptually couldn't had been done in the mainline series, but Sega went out of their way to establish Boom as its own thing. Sonic X didn't get its own distinct flavor of character designs and worlds, or its own entire line of tie-in videogames. Sonic X wasn't pushed to the point that people legitimately feared X might be used to outright replace the mainline series, and Sega had to tell people that wasn't happening.
Although this leaked image might not be true, it looks terrible. Which means it looks exactly like most were expecting. How come this movie gets worse with every new news? And the Sonic brand gets more and more laughable. Hopefully, the movie will be badly received enough to not influence the games. And if indeed Sega didn't have much input in this movie, why? Boom was a spin-off game, it was okay to not have input. But a movie... something that will be bigger than the games currently are and will be seen by many more people than just the fans?! Sega should have been very hands on with this.
With all due respect--who honestly cares about this, seriously. Where's the library of analyses that directly pans Roger Rabbit for having the classic cartoon ensemble in a live-action setting actually look like cartoons, instead of looking closer to actual animals/humans/whathaveyou. Are there multiple reviews that specifically praise the 2014 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film for having the title characters designed closer to real-life turtles; instead of resembling the original comics, the cartoons, or the previous movies. The only people who would be upset about Sonic actually looking like he does in the games in a live-action setting, are people who inherently hate the concept to begin with or people with a very specific interpretation of a live-action Sonic. And at the risk of speaking anecdotally, I've honestly only seen two, three people online who prefer what we're getting over doing that instead. I seriously doubt they are the generic opinion on what Sonic in a live-action setting should look like.
I didn't say "strictly". I said it's a licensing/branding thing, because that's literally what it is. So "Animated Sonic" won't necessarily have vastly different character designs. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. The idea is that licensees can make Sonic products based on the the new games, the classic games, the film or the cartoon, but the separate licenses prevents them from "crossing the streams".
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't one of the many criticisms about Sonic 06 was the fact that Sonic and friends were surrounded by more realistic looking humans?
Sure, but the solution isn't to change Sonic. If an on-model CGI Sonic looked bad against live action actors, then the solution would be to make an animated movie instead.
That's true. Does make me wonder how far in production they were when they were figuring out and finalizing Sonic's design. Probably early, but still wanted to go the live action route anyway.
Yes. There is some context that doesn't make the two the same however. Sonic 2006 was one of a few exceptions in the entire series where the franchise explicitly tried to incorporate Sonic and company specifically in a "real world" setting, form the locations down to the NPCs; the series up until that point still tried to retain some element of surreal or fantastic qualities to its presentation. What was the exception for Sonic 2006 however is the rule of the day for most live-action adaptations. Non-realistic characters (based on real-life counterparts or otherwise) plunked into a "real world" location is usually how they are designed from the jump. Rarely if ever does the genre go for a stylized approach that applies to not just the lead and supporting characters, but also the setting of the entire world and the non-lead characters that comprise it. It's kinda not hard to see why--if almost everything has a stylized look, you may as well just make it entirely animated by that point. There are a few interesting exceptions though, which are typically the inverse of live-action characters in animated worlds (Roger Rabbit's Toontown sequence, and a good chunk of Michael Jordan's time inside the Looney Tunes' world in Space Jam). You can even count certain comic-book/superhero films, albeit the ones that feature heavy cosmic/space elements like the Guardians of the Galaxy films (which even then still have feasibly realistic character designs --usually performed by live-action actors-- and locations).
Well, I haven't commented yet but to echo most here this design is pure nightmare fuel and I'm now doubting whether even Jim Carrey can save this. The kindest thing I can think of is that it's not a complete abomination but it's still an abomination. Best news of the thread was that "Classic" is considered a sub-branch meaning they haven't, thank Christ, given up on Mania. So we'll probably see a successor and continuation. However they've also designated this "Movie" as its own sub-branch meaning we're probably going to see a movie game as well. So God help us all.
Like, I get all of that; the clout and resources that they're allowed to work with isn't what it used to be (and rightfully so, given what they'd done with it). But "a hundred" was obviously an exaggeration; we're actually getting......four, it seems: - Modern: presumably in-house Sonic Team stuff; business as usual - Classic: best case scenario, Mania styled stuff from Evening Star; worst case scenario, Sonic 4 styled stuff from Dimps; either way, business as usual since 2010 - Film: this dumpster fire; something we've known about since 2013 - Animation: best case scenario, Mania Adventures styled stuff; worst case scenario, more Sonic Boom styled stuff; either way, business as usual since 2014 This "four tiered approach" doesn't seem like anything that we haven't already long since been aware of (unless they're planning to also make "Sonic the Movie: The Game", as 360 fears). If they indeed sold the license to a film, as you said, then it sounds like it shouldn't exactly be draining on Sega's resources, right? If the movie does well, then its version of Sonic will stick around....but they'll have the capital to sustain themselves, presumably, right? If it does poorly, then it's unlikely that it'll stick around to keep consuming capital (if it's consuming any at all), right? How is the Boom brand doing? Is it making profit? Is it breaking even? Is there confirmation that they're going to keep making TV episodes and games? I'm genuinely asking, because I don't keep up with the stuff. Side point: people seemed stoked every step of the way with Mania Adventures, and clamoring for more; I don't remember any doom and gloom about them wasting precious resources on that. Lastly, this is from the film's "style guide". How early in a film's production is that generally whipped up? It might be a relic from before I know Sega's historically been very dumb, but if they're indeed transitioning control of the brand to Sega of America, and they're indeed trying to "wash their hands" of this entire thing, and it eventually comes down to "okay, we have to lop one or two of these four limbs off", I really don't see them picking the "Classic" branch over either of these two abominations. I really don't see them prioritizing making another Boom game, or another film tie-in game, over another Classic or Modern game. Not with the press and the profits being what they are.
It's standard practice to license movie-branded merchandise when a big franchise character gets a movie. This is usually a short-term affair. You saw "Batman vs Superman" merch on store shelves in the lead up to the movie, then after about a year, when the DVD release was old news, it went away. Video Game: The Movie: The Game is a rarer phenomenon. Capcom did it with the live action Street Fighter movie (twice, since the arcade and console versions were different) and even the animated Street Fighter II movie, but I can't think of any other examples off the top of my head. I imagine Sega would want to be more cautious after being burned with the Sonic Boom games. Maybe there'll be a phone game, a Sonic Dash re-skin or something, but otherwise I think they'd use the, uh, "buzz", of the movie to direct people towards the core series. In the aftermath of Rise of Lyric being a massive flop, Sega reps would mention that the Sonic Boom cartoon and merchandise were doing well. Part of the Sonic Boom initiative was to give Sonic toys/merch a "refresh" (the same reason the 2003 Ninja Turtles cartoon became "Fast Forward" for a season). After two seasons, it seems that it hasn't been renewed for a third. Without a current TV show to tie into, and with a seemingly all-new cartoon on the way, the brand will likely be retired.
Are you seriously comparing liking a movie to being in an abusive relationship? Wow Sonic fans are wack
One of my Facebook friends said that this Sonic reminds him of Pedobear and now I can't get that out of my mind. I hate it. EDIT: Speaking of hating it, this awful image has been floating around my Twitter feed in the past few minutes Idk if it's official or not but if it is... yikes.
