Why Sonic the Hedgehog's Design Keeps Changing
Channel: Video Game Story Time
Date: 2019-05-22

Sonic the Hedgehog's design keeps changing. One minute he's short and chubby, the next, he's lean and tall. Sometimes he has a scarf, and at other times, he has distracting human teeth.

So why does Sonic keep changing? Why does Sega allow so many different creators the opportunity to redesign their mascot?

The reason for this has a lot to do with Sonic's creation, corporate struggles between Sega of America and Sega of Japan, and a constant desire to keep Sonic fresh and relevant to a changing, diverse audience. 

"Enter the Party" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources:
https://www.polygon.com/features/2017/3/23/14916766/former-sega-america-ceo-tom-kalinske-on-sonics-missteps-and-future
https://www.polygon.com/2016/2/8/10756318/sonic-the-hedgehog-great-rocky-history
https://www.usgamer.net/articles/former-sega-of-america-marketing-director-al-nilsen-reveals-how-tails-became-tails
https://twinfinite.net/2016/05/inside-the-mastermind-an-interview-with-sonic-the-hedgehogs-twitter-manager/