How does the first Sonic Movie hold up in 2024? - Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) Retrospective

[@aeon87]

I'm just so happy that Sonic is a household name again. My childhood icon is so well received and loved by many that I feel validated as a fan. And the movies are a blast. Looking forward to seeing Shadow.

[@peteypiranalover]

Movie 1 sonic and Eggman always felt like prequel versions of themselves. They seem to be aging into the actual characters. Movie 2 and 3 seem to be continuing that theme

[@CaptainF123]

36:12 I was NOT expecting to hear this in a Channel Pup video 😭😭😭

[@dragonbornrook]

Your comment popped up the minute that came up 😆, I thought KZbin read my mind for a second!

[@colecole640]

SUPUER DUPER FLOOPER outta pocket btw.😐😐😐😐

[@Flamestar320]

I think the reason why the _Spongebob Movie_ team was confident in staying faithful to the show is simply because _Spongebob_ was already very well respected by millions of people. When the first movie came out, we were coming off of the first 3 seasons. Which are unarguably some of the most iconic and loved seasons of a show of all time. Most of the writers and animators who worked on the show at the time also worked on the movie, along with the series' creator Stephen Hillenburg directing it. The first _Spongebob_ movie had pretty much everything in place for a perfect movie adaptation of one of the most beloved cartoons of all time. Sonic, on the other hand, while still having a lot of fans, either was seen as a joke by a good amount of the general public or ambivalence outside of the younger audience. Having a completely faithful adaptation for the first film would be great for us fans, but likely not for many outside of the fanbase. There also weren't many people who worked on the movie who worked on the games, outside of Fowler, Hesse, Colleen resprising her role as Tails at the end, and Marza working on the visual effects. That's all I can think of off the top of my head in terms of talent that worked on anything Sonic-related before the movie, and outside of Fowler, none of them worked on the story for the film. Fowler's only work on the _Sonic_ series up to that point was as a producer for the cinematics of _Shadow The Hedgehog._

[@moribunee4849]

very true. the sonic movies were pretty accessible to me as a previously non-fan. now, im a p big sonic fan 😁😁😁

[@nikkihedged]

The majority of the people who worked on the Sonic movie had very little experience before the Sonic movie. Jeff Fowler had never made a big Hollywood movie before Sonic. And the writers never wrote a script for a family film before Sonic. Their heart was in the right place, but that low level of experience probably contributed a lot to the less appealing decisions made for the film. They had the large task of bringing a beloved and iconic video game franchise to the big screen. A task that’s been done poorly many times before. And of course Sega and Paramount had to be part of the conversation on top of that. The whole process would have been a learning moment for them. And for Sega it was a reminder that Sonic was still beloved by millions and worth all the trouble.

[@zachbrickowski5522]

It’s crazy to think whatever problems we have with the movie series, valid as they may be, it helped bring the franchise into a new golden age. That first trailer was the collective punching bag of the entire internet and perpetuated the notion of the Sonic series being a big laughing stock. Then they changed the design, got audiences on board and now have multiple hits on their hands. That turnaround is STILL insane to think about. Things like that just do not happen in the movie industry. And thanks to that turnaround, the games are bigger hits and are getting better and better, it’s incredible.

[@a.d.9825]

it encapsulates sonic as a franchise pretty well too. fucking it up, but then turning it around in a spectacular manner has happened so often in the franchise.

[@RM2011ish]

I still love the first Sonic Movie since its actually much smaller scale and heartfelt story. It's very much focused on Sonic himself and how he changes along with the people around him. Not only was it a great introduction, it really made us care for every single character moving forward. I really liked how Movie Sonic had emotional depth compared to his video game counterpart. His origin really made him much more interesting. I also love Jim Carrey's take on Robotnik and his transformation from the self made narcissistic Mad Scientist to the unhinged Eggman we know and love.

[@crimsoncat510-el7dy]

36:17 WHY DID BRO JUST DISS ME LIKE THAT? “SoMeTiMeS bAd IdEaS dOnT sEeM bAd UnTiL tHeYrE fUlLy ReAlIzEd- *THATS THE WHOLE REASON YOU WERE BORN* “ I WAS CAUGHT OFF GUARD

[@spidersonic-b5q]

That's some slow stuff if you know what I mean

[@D0ctor_Lucario]

Also in the first movie, Wade Whipple shoots at Robotnik with a glock. Guns are real in the Sonic movie universe, and Wade Whipple in one of the only people to use one! Let that sink in

[@spence8507]

36:13 damn. you got me there.

[@agentomecha634]

I remember going to see the Sonic Movie with a couple friends in theaters and I genuinely enjoyed watching it. Sure for the most part, it was a relatively simple film with Sonic being sent to Earth and Dr. Robotnik trying to hunt him down and shenanigans ensue. But, that’s all it needed to be in my opinion. Sure, it would be nice if it was more faithful to the games, but I’m happy with the film. And it would lead to Sonic 2 bringing in Tails, Knuckles, and the Chaos and Master Emeralds. And now Sonic 3 bringing in Project Shadow and the Space Colony ARK. Plus, thanks to the success of the films, the Sonic series as a whole is more popular than ever and is now seeing a resurgence in video game quality and sales. And as a longtime Sonic fan, it’s great to see the series in a better light again.

[@starlightrose3237]

36:17 was diabolical 💀💀

[@jonathanhargraves2241]

I find it weird that I like the first movie better than the second movie. I found the characters to be more laid back in Sonic 1, and even though Sonic 2 had more Sonic related things in it, it also had more intrusions from the humans, too.

[@BatMane95]

Pretty much exactly how I feel

[@FlipSide2025]

The first movie by its own is a great movie, I enjoy it a lot but I still like the second one more, prob cuz im a hardore fan but your take isn't bad at all I respect that

[@johnsonsharon81]

Sonic 2 wasn't too bad rewatching it. I feel like the human subplots was turning me off

[@FlipSide2025]

@@johnsonsharon81 rewatching it made me realize how much human stuff is in the movie, I was young watching the 2nd one for the first time

[@mart5610]

I really like Sonic 1 for how simple it is. People like Sonic 2 because it has Tails and Knuckles in it and more Sonic references. But the first one just really works. its a classic Sonic vs Eggman story that also reminds me of the first episode of Sonic X

[@williamgiambatista7925]

I just realized. In sonic 2 knuckles confirmed the echidna tribe was wiped out, and sonic was only hopping from planet to planet to run away from the echidnas. So it should be safe for him to go home. I almost wonder if he will go home with his friends by the end of 3. Could maybe be him fully maturing and being ready to go back home

[@spidersonic-b5q]

He probably doesn't go there because of it being long claws death bed basically although I thought it was because he didn't know they died but then I thought about the canon book where sonic saw long claw die and was literally no way he didn't see the echidnas die as well

[@blackprism5381]

11:34 I wanted to put this out there if this was a marketing stunt I think they would’ve been in a lot more trouble. When it came to the sonic being redesigned Vancouver studio that worked on the visual effects for the sonic movie shut down, so why did I bring this up? Well because like I said, if this was a market, they would’ve got in a lot more trouble because people online would be mad that a stunt like this caused the studio to shut down and you know a lot of people lost their job that day so yeah that’s why I don’t believe this is a marketing stunt and this was the true direction they were going in before the redesign

[@spidersonic-b5q]

Don't forget it took two years for us to get proper movie sonic toys until 2022 as well the only figure was the Brazil cup topper and the talking sonic plush_ 2020 I'm glad I got the movie 2 figures though. I remember wanting that spin dash sonic with the old design because it was literally the only thing available luckily I was making sonic toys for myself back then I still do it now but it's not for me it's for others ok Dreamcast sonic is the only exception plus baby sonic.

[@HdNinjaMsBrickStudio]

MAN I can still remember the discours around this movie when it came out i didn't really have chance watch it because of Covid and i didn't really care for it that much since i wasn't really that into Sonic but catching the movie on TV one day instantly made me a Sonic fan (btw i had a friend who is s Sonic fan and longer than me actually too but i became a bigger fan) after thus film being out for 4 years (MAN time flies) I've only seen it twice all and all i would give it a 6/10 it has alot of heart even though i kinda wished this movie had the plot of Sonic 2

[@isaacrogers4174]

26:15 Sonic fans after the first trailer for Sonic 3:

[@mixanderfigueroa3999]

It feels like yesterday we got that universally maligned first trailer with that terrible Sonic design. Now here we are, eagerly waiting for that third movie. What a crazy timeline we’re living in.

[@amyleigh7624]

Really. They went from a guaranteed flop to a billion dollar franchise.

[@isaacrogers4174]

Part of me wants to see the “Ugly Sonic cut” of the first movie for shits and giggles

[@MrSupersonic28]

The fact that films are 'mostly' complete by the time trailers does imply that a somewhat finished cut was done

[@isaacrogers4174]

@@MrSupersonic28 Maybe Paramount has it somewhere deep in the files of an emplyee's computer

[@spidersonic-b5q]

​@@isaacrogers4174shit on that thang 🤣

[@TevyaSmolka]

I am so happy sonic the hedgehog 1 was a success because the original design could’ve been a disaster waiting to happen, which thank god they did that redesign for movie sonic and gave us the real sonic the hedgehog for this good movie.

[@rubydragoon720]

Not to sound mean or anything but my favorite part of the video is the ending half for one reason and really its a simple one: Its so easy to look back at everything and wish it were different, the way you always wanted it but in cases like the Sonic Movie Hindsight; is important the series: in it's current state probably wouldn't be where it is right now and I sadly think too many people forget that and take what we currently have for granted almost, while I'm not saying I entirely disagree, the movies and the games in the same respect; did what they had to do when they needed to DO it.

[@Hedgie3]

At the time when they had the atrocious first trailer out, my father showed it to me on his cellphone (I wasn't using a portable device yet then) and I got soo annoyed with that design, but I felt relief and hope for that movie when on the next day he informed me that SOO many other people were upset about that design too and were demanding for a fix-up or else that movie would become a heavily boycotted laughing-stock flop. So good that they listened to that worldwide criticism and made that fix happen. I've been impressed at how Paramount has been managing a very rare thing in filmaking: Making a sequel be better than the original! They made the second movie with a good amount of positive things that the first movie didn't have and how impressive they seem to be making the upcoming third one.

[@85nxplosion]

Sonic Movie 1 brought back the respect Sonic more than deserves especially with years of bad Sonic games (pushing Colors for the Wii, Generations, and Mania off to the side). Sonic Movie 1 paved the way for Sonic Movies 2, 3, and the Knuckles TV show (regardless of opinions), a new generation of fans who never played the original Sonic trilogy & CD on the Sega Genesis / CD, a reminder to older fans in my shoes who were there when the franchise started why we love that blue hedgehog and this universe so much and to make way for a new movie universe that turned out to be really enjoyable. Sonic 1991 birthed the franchise and Sonic Movie 1 I look back on as a rebirth of the franchise because without this movie, people would not care about Sonic as much including Sonic Team. With the success of Sonic Movie 1, Sonic Team has taken a lot better care of the franchise than in the past and after all these years FINALLY Sega is taking notice on and correcting thier mistake on if Sonic Team gets a bigger budget and more time we will have a better Sonic game look at Sonic X Shadow Generations. I do believe if Sonic Team was given a better budget and more time Sonic ’06 and a whole bunch of the bad Sonic games we got over the years would have turned out a lot differently and better. But anyways I think Sonic Movie 1 regardless of how it holds up today and any day in the future, we can look back on this movie and it brought Sonic back to the forefront where he rightfully belongs.

[@peterrealar2.067]

Hindsight is LITERALLY 2020 in this case. One of the few instances where we can look at part of that trash year fondly.

[@JacJeanHavok]

I honestly loved this movie still

[@DeePrime2410]

To me, it sure does! I'll never forget the day I took my cousin to see this as we're both Sonic fans!

[@FowaJCT]

36:12 I had this video playing in the background, but this part caught my full attention

[@gregoryairaoje]

36:17 Hey you roasted me! Lol😂

[@andraw4002]

I've watched it almost every year since it's come out, it holds up surprisingly well. It's just a.really good movie.

[@ToonCatTV]

Honestly happy to see you make a new upload, makes work so much better

[@Joshua_Lara101]

I have a bunch of personal bias for the movie because the movie was in production for literal YEARS before the poster in 2018 and once it came out I certainly had the time of my life seeing Sonic on the big screen for the first time and after rewatching the movie recently, even if it's nowhere near as grand as before, the movie still kept me entertained from start to finish and I really appreciate the praise the movie was given around the time of its release since many folks (excluding myself) were already stepping away from the franchise due to the quality of the games at the time and Sonic really could've used a win at the time and the movie delivered which I can give it props for. At the end of the day, I'm glad the movie exists, and we all should be too.

[@blueblurcam]

Great video bro!!

[@harryfleutv666]

In my opinion, it feels like the first Sonic movie is the ‘Terrifier’ of the sonic franchise and Sonic 2 is pretty much Terrifier 2 in terms of how the lore and story expanded

[@DakNJaxter]

Don't they actually use a slow Piano Cover of Green Hill Zone while they're fixing up the house?

[@im_.a-bear5996]

Without ugly sonic, the video game movie franchise wouldn’t have been this big honestly

[@dreamsdeep1076]

First movie is pretty good. 7.5/10. Love this film . I rewatch both movies many many times over and to this day

[@RatchetClankFan112]

Even with its flaws I think it still holds up & I still enjoy it

[@BananaR777]

A tickly cough, a real under sell

[@_SYDGAMING_]

Hearing sonic 2 and knuckles in ordsr sounds so weird to me ngl😂

[@a.d.9825]

On the Sega side, it was the Sega Sammy Chairman Hajime Satomi that consistently pushed for a Sonic move to come out. Quote: A, I set forth a policy to partner with the American movie industry and take on the challenge of making the Sonic IP into a movie. At the time, there was no example of a Japanese game character being successfully made into a movie, so the majority of people at SEGA were against the idea. Nevertheless, we worked conscientiously and carefully on the visuals and script, and after persistent contract negotiations, Sonic the Hedgehog movie was released in 2020

[@amyleigh7624]

That OG cast wishlist 😂

[@devofficialchannel]

Josh Gad voiced a speedy character with attitude before in the Angry Birds movie. So I guess that might be why Gad was one of the picks.

[@matthewcaddis4746]

I consider this movie similar to the Transformers movie "Bumblebee" (especially Sonic being sent away from his home world being unfamiliar with the human world as Bumblebee was) with a bit of "Hop" though I prefer Donut Lord to the Charlie Watson character and Marsden's previous character in Hop but with Jim Carrey's Robotnik being the villain not the Decepticons. As for Agent Stone, he's become one of my favourite lackeys and the most unique much like Snively in SatAM (he hated his uncle now Julian Kintobor, wanted rid of him and usurped him at the end of season 2 ) Stone himself is the opposite. To quote Imagine Dragons, I guess he is a sucker for pain, even being taken up into the Death Egg Robot in Sonic 2!

[@matthewcaddis4746]

Sonic himself I do like for the reasons mentioned in this video. Although he does seem to behave like his younger than he is in the games and Ben Schwartz is very good at delivering Sonic's goofiness and emotional scenes not so much with him standing up to Robotnik. The closest Sonic VA to do that would well probably Jason Griffith or Ryan Drummond in my books

[@darkron288]

I still to this day want a ugly sonic cut of the first movie, just for the sake of film preservation i would love to see the movie with the original vision even if it was gonna be bad

[@PIMPTD]

Wow I just noticed speed the movie and him mentioning Keanu Reeves and now he’s shadow.

[@Jhan-taeinc]

Nice vid

[@realart2012ht4]

This is.the best thing to come out of this franchise ather worst selling game sonic keep on run with the movie

[@anthrorangerxcosplaydigita8007]

If the movie didn't get reworked it would've been this generation's Howard the duck

[@Fan-Nimater101]

I love the sonic movies sonic 3 looks dope

[@bathilra5364]

4:10 oh no that would have been awful

[@relt745]

9:53 Movie Chip voice actor?!?!?!

[@GAHAHAHH]

For as mid as the movie was, I think they needed that redesign not because of the design being bad but because the fact that they redesigned Sonic due to feedback showed that they cared about what their target audience wants far more than if they had used what would be the final design from the very beginning ever could. Sure there is still a lot to complain about but I think a lot of people would have taken for granted the things it did right had we not been given the glimpse into what it could have been without those things. As far as general movies go I think it was fairly decent but compare it to the Mario movie which may have more in common with its respective games however it has a plot that is down right offensively bad and I realised that having the heart of the film be good is far more important than being faithful to the games. Also I just wanted to mention I was extremely disappointed that when Robotnik told his assistant to hit his music it didn't just play 'E.G.G.M.A.N. ...Theme of Dr. Eggman' from Sonic Adventure 2, it honestly fits so well and even syncs up with his movements and the cinematography, the lighting, the tone, etc.

[@calebtrmtherubyminecart6664]

The way I took it when I first watched it, Sonic didn’t need to go to crazy lengths of earth because one, plot, and two, Sonic hasn’t been anywhere except for green hills so there wasn’t much to explore except he wasn’t really sure if he’d wanna see them on better terms when he wasn’t hiding Also Sonic wouldn’t wanna go back to green hill zone because longclaw was dead, and it’s not that the writer can’t do it because Tom and Maddie are part of his life so, I don’t see the point of it if Sonic is happy living them along with tails and knuckles

[@35269]

When are you releasing sonic final bosses ranked 2024 edition video

[@MollyParagas]

Thanks for sharing such valuable information! Just a quick off-topic question: I have a SafePal wallet with USDT, and I have the seed phrase. (alarm fetch churn bridge exercise tape speak race clerk couch crater letter). How can I transfer them to Binance?

[@CHANIMATES]

26:44 I'd bet 300 dollars that won't noir will ever happen in any of these films like ok I get it these movies humor can be pretty touch and go but sonic the freaking hedgehog would never make a skibity toilet joke the movie team has a little more dignity than that Pup lol

[@Tyler-fs5yr]

I'm telling you Pup, Sony's produced Sonic Movie will undoubtfully be dogshit

[@The_UltimateL1feform]

The first movie felt like an actual story and it didn’t have any forced humor the 2nd felt super forced at times and somehow every scene with the sonic characters felt so short and there was so much filler the bar scene the wedding scene should’ve all been cut and focused on the actual story between tails knuckles and the chaos emeralds and they marketed tf out of sonic fighting knuckles and they only have a 30 second fight Yh the 2nd film was just super rushed even the storyboards proved that cause they looked better than the actual film

[@spidersonic-b5q]

City escape while sonic is running let remind you for his life it makes absolutely no sense if you were in charge of the movie's music it'll be horrible because what you want is just Spam for the sake of nostalgia 🙄 yet you want to clown on this movie for having serious music for serious moments like Sonic running for survival in san Fransisco

[@Asurvivoroftheapp]

I am gonna be honest, i always found this movie...mid as hell, i never got the appeal of the movie, like i understand that sonic to some rarely emotes but as a DEEP sonic fan who reads comics, watches character analysis , and the varying tv shows, this is like a very WEIRD sonic, he doesn't even to me really feel much like any sonic which is FINE, but.... It just feels like one of those early 2000's movies like Alvin and the chipmunks to me but for games, this is like that live action woody the woodpecker movie where they gave him a basic emotional grid so he could be sad or lonely, i can't really SEE this guy liking the alone freedom and not even wanting a house to live and always be on the move like actual sonic, this sonic is more like a Stuart little then sonic is my point, if the majority likes that, then good on them, but this as a SONIC movie that sells the ideas of sonic as a character just does not feel like its sonic, going from THESE movies to the guy in unleashed, sonic x, sonic forces, and frontiers and generations and comparing them is just....to different, similar to game lore to the entire archie lore, actually even the archie lore felt like sonic, i just...this feels like a tv movie, 2nd movie is ok though, 3rd movie is gonna be awesome but like....gerald robotnik being alive after getting shadow generations feels kinda WEIRD, like that factor alone just fries the og plot, idk how nerfed that plot is gonna be, ultimately I'm fine with the movies, i will pay to watch them, but movie sonic is like my least favorite variant of sonic

[@whendarknessfalls6969]

It's the same lol. 4years is nothing

[@Ekam-f6k]

69th here

[@rinkanshime]

ALL HAIL EGGMAN EMPIRE!