Sonic the Hedgehog (film)

Sonic the Hedgehog (film)

## **More Information**

***Sonic the Hedgehog*** is a 2020 American action-adventure comedy film that has set a start to the *Sonic the Hedgehog* film series, thus being the first installment. It is based on the *Sonic the Hedgehog* franchise.

It is directed by Jeff Fowler and written by Pat Casey and Josh Miller, starring Ben Schwartz, Jim Carrey, James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Natasha Rothwell, Adam Pally, and Neal McDonough.

The film follows Sonic the Hedgehog, a hedgehog who runs at supersonic speeds, teaming up with local town sheriff Tom Wachowski to stop the evil mad scientist Dr. Robotnik, who seeks to use Sonic's superpowers to conquer the world.

A sequel, *Sonic the Hedgehog 2*, will be released on April 8, 2022.

## Plot

In San Francisco, California, a seemingly normal day is interrupted by a shocking spectacle: an anthropomorphic hedgehog with blue fur, white gloves and red shoes is running through the city at breathtaking speed while a flying machine piloted by a mustached scientist dressed in red gives chase and fires explosive energy blasts. In the middle of the chase, there is a pause as the hedgehog, named Sonic, begins to narrate what is currently happening and rewinds to the very beginning, recalling his childhood days living on a beautiful island in another world with palm trees, waterfalls, and even loop-de-loops made of earth. He remembers running joyously across the island every day, relishing in life and making full, open use of his natural-born powers despite being told to keep them secret by his doting surrogate mother, Longclaw.

The toddler Sonic rushes home to the treehouse where Longclaw is resting and playfully bumps into her to wake her up. Longclaw warns Sonic that he might have been noticed because of his coveted powers, but Sonic is not concerned, saying he was too fast. But as he affectionately presents a sunflower to her as a gift, they are ambushed by a tribe of echidna archers. Her fears realized, Longclaw desperately flies away with Sonic, only for one of the echidnas to fire his arrow and successfully strike her, causing her to plummet to the ground with Sonic still clinging to her. Though injured, Longclaw reminds Sonic of the importance of keeping himself and his powers hidden, and uses a golden ring to open a portal to a world on the far side of the universe, called Earth. She gives the rest of the rings to Sonic in a small bag and tells him to flee to Earth, where he will be safe. The reluctant Sonic runs through the portal while Longclaw stays behind to hold off the approaching echidnas. Seeing her in danger, Sonic desperately runs back to try to save her, but the portal dissipates just before he can reach her, leaving him heartbroken and alone.

Ten years later, Sonic, now a teenager, has adjusted to life on Earth. Tom Wachowski, the local sheriff of Green Hills, Montana, is sitting bored in an empty speed trap, waiting for cars, and Sonic playfully messes with him by zipping past his radar gun at ridiculous speeds. Tom discovers one of Sonic's blue quills lying in the long grass and brings it with him as he is called away by his deputy, Wade, to address a minor issue back in town. Nearby, Sonic saves a turtle from being run over by an approaching car and takes the excited reptile for a wild ride before leaving it and zipping back to a hidden cave, which he has turned into a makeshift home. Sonic seems to love his life, since he has great fun with the discarded items from the outside world he uses to occupy himself and feels safe since he knows to escape to one of the worlds depicted on a map included in the bag of rings, should he ever be discovered-- specifically, an uninhabited world full of giant mushrooms. He hates the idea, but he is not worried, since Green Hills feels like a home to him. He frequents the town every day and secretly observes the people, his favorite of whom is Tom, nicknamed as "Donut Lord". He also likes Tom's veterinarian wife Maddie, whom he nicknames "Pretzel Lady" for her yoga flexibility. He also likes to mess with old, eccentric Crazy Carl, the only person in town who actually knows about him and is constantly trying in vain to catch him so he can prove his existence to the townspeople, since they laugh off his claims of a "Blue Devil". Having formed a strong bond with Tom and Maddie from afar, Sonic often hangs out around their house, especially on movie nights. But even with this fun place and all of these so-called "friends" of his, Sonic still feels very lonely in his self-imposed isolation and fears that he will spend the rest of his life alone.

After coming home one night to find raccoons in his trash can, Tom receives from Maddie his long-awaited letter of acceptance into the San Francisco Police Department, and the two discuss the difficult decision to move away from Green Hills, yet Tom is certain that the move is his chance to do more than simple odd jobs as sheriff of Green Hills and actually save lives. The next day, as Tom recites his departure speech to a donut, Sonic observes the local youth baseball playoffs and sees a young baseball batter high-five his teammates. That night, Sonic goes into the vacant baseball field and plays by himself, using his speed to assume the roles of all the players. He manages to make a perfect play and rejoices, holding his hand up for a high-five, but when he looks around and sees that no one is there to cheer him on, he realizes he is truly alone forever. In his despair, he tries to work off the pain by running desperately around the field, but his sadness only turns to anger and frustration at his situation, his emotions building and causing electricity to emit from his body. Eventually, it becomes too much and he lets loose an anguished scream, got freaked out that the energy within him exploding outward into a massive electromagnetic pulse that knocks out power across the entire Pacific Northwest. Sonic becomes worried that he may have just revealed himself with his outburst and dashes off, hoping no one noticed. Meanwhile, much to the contrary, Wade is left to deal with several phone calls to Green Hills' police station, as the town is completely in the dark. Concerned, he contacts Tom, who starts to give him instructions but ends the call prematurely when he sees the quill he discovered earlier glowing with an electric blue light.

News of the event soon reaches the Pentagon in Arlington, and the baffled Department of Defense enlists the help of brilliant roboticist and scientific genius, Dr. Robotnik, to discover the cause; in spite of everyone disliking his egotistical nature and odd behavior, he is the best man for the job. After Robotnik and his partner, Agent Stone, take charge of the military detachment stationed at the baseball field, Robotnik's flying, high-tech, egg-shaped drones head into the forest, where one of them finds a footprint from Sonic and scans it; Robotnik discovers that his computer cannot find a single match in Earth's animal kingdom to identify the creature responsible for the print. As the military troops and the drones search the forest for him, Sonic rushes back to his cave to collect his valuables and prepares to leave Earth forever. But just before he can use the rings to save himself, the troops and drones draw close to his cave and Sonic flees to avoid them, sentimentally bidding goodbye to his cave.

Meanwhile, Tom is on the phone with Maddie, who has flown out to San Francisco to check out their future house, as well as to visit her sister Rachel and niece Jojo. As Tom tells Maddie about the blackout, he hears a disturbance and sees his trash can toppled over. Thinking the raccoons are back, Tom takes Maddie's tranquilizer gun, ends the call abruptly, which gives Rachel enough reason to suggest to Maddie that she divorce him. He goes out to investigate the shed. The noise turns out to be Sonic, who broke into the shed so he would have a safe place to use one of his rings. As he prepares to do so, Tom bursts into the shed and sees him. Both of them scream in terror at the sight of each other, and Tom fires a dart into Sonic's leg. The weakening Sonic sees a picture of San Francisco's Transamerica Pyramid on Tom's T-shirt, and as he drops his ring, it opens a portal above the actual building itself. Collapsing to the floor, Sonic accidentally drops the bag of rings into the portal, and it lands on the building's roof. The portal thusly closes as Sonic passes out, leaving Tom severely confused at everything that just transpired.

Shortly after, Tom brings Sonic inside, placing him in a dog cage; he compares him to the quill he found and realizes that Crazy Carl's "Blue Devil" may be real after all. Sonic awakens and climbs out of the cage, and the two finally meet for real and have their first proper conversation. Just then, Robotnik's truck arrives. Explaining that he is unable to simply run away because his legs are weak from the lingering tranquilizer (which is meant for bears), Sonic begs for Tom to protect him from the people coming after him, describing the situation as "life or death". This wording is what convinces Tom to help, as he was initially unwilling to get involved with the matter. He hides Sonic in the attic as he goes out to meet Robotnik, who dispatches his drones to search the house while the two talk outside. Sonic hides from the drones and curls up into a ball to hide among the various sports balls stored in the attic, but when the drones get too close, Sonic flees the attic and causes a noise. Robotnik barges into the house to find only a raccoon eating a cake that Maddie had baked for Tom to celebrate his acceptance letter. As he turns to leave, however, he discovers the quill. As Robotnik threatens Tom to reveal where Sonic is, Sonic shows himself and begs Robotnik to spare Tom, eliciting a terrified scream from Robotnik. Seizing the opportunity, Tom punches Robotnik and knocks him out cold, and after a short battle in the house with one of Robotnik's drones, Tom and Sonic escape the house in Tom's car. Agent Stone arrives to check on Robotnik, who berates him for not trying to stop the fugitives, states their objective of capturing Sonic for examination, and tells him to bring the quill.

With Tom and Sonic now on the run, Tom asks Sonic to explain himself; Sonic informs him of the purpose of his lost rings-- "advanced cultures" use rings to travel to different worlds-- and adds that therefore, he needs to get to San Francisco so he can get them back and escape to the mushroom planet. The story proves too bizarre for Tom to believe, so he pulls over and tells Sonic to go there by himself, explaining that this is a bad time for him to end up in trouble and citing that he has accomplished what Sonic asked him to do: save his life. However, Sonic does not know where San Francisco is, and following Tom's directions to simply head west only causes him to crash straight into the Pacific Ocean and run back to Tom wet, cold, covered in seaweed, and wearing a fish on his head. Sonic blames Tom for his fate because of the sheriff's role in making him lose his rings and insists he cannot accomplish his goal alone. Reluctantly, Tom agrees to take Sonic with him to San Francisco.

As the two begin their travels, Sonic treats the journey as a fun road trip; he admires the attractions along the way, such as the world's largest rubber band ball, barely paying any mind to Tom admonishing him for not taking the trouble they are both in seriously. That night, they stop in a certain section of town, and Tom tells Sonic to stay in the car as he uses a nearby payphone to call Wade, who reveals that Robotnik and his agents are searching for Tom and are with him in the station. Robotnik takes the phone and warns Tom that he is coming for him, stating how furious he is with the sheriff for punching him in the face due to it reminding him of a similar situation regarding a bully in his childhood that he had solved through technology. Afterwards, he leaves with the agents, with Wade warning him that he will inform people about this incident. Meanwhile, Sonic tries desperately to control his excitement over an extremely entertaining-looking biker bar, but eventually caves in.

Tom comes back to his car with a purchased meal, only to find Sonic missing. He finds Sonic in the bar and orders him out, but Sonic, who has disguised himself to blend in, persuades him to stay and have fun with him. Sonic compiles a "bucket list" of the things he would like to do on Earth, but becomes sad when he realizes he might not be able to do them since he has to leave Earth soon. But Tom encourages Sonic to try to do as much as he can right where they are, and the two take a while to enjoy themselves with all the bar's activities, with Sonic steadily crossing off items on the list as they go. Unfortunately, a group of rough-looking punks come looking for trouble and Sonic aggravates their leader, starting a bar fight. The leader of the punks attacks Sonic, but Sonic speeds up his awareness and runs around the bar, saving Tom from attackers and setting up sassy pranks and traps to end the fight, all in the span of the single moment before the punk leader can reach him. The fight is ended abruptly by Sonic's devices and the punk leader crashes through the window wearing a wall-mounted bear head. Tom and Sonic flee the bar, outrunning the angry patrons.

The two then spend the night in a local motel, and after Sonic runs around the room enjoying himself with various activities, Tom asks him about this other planet to which he must go when he leaves Earth. Sonic reveals that it is a very unenviable place and wonders aloud about whether Longclaw might have been wrong, pondering the possibility of having a life on Earth; he falls asleep not long after. As Tom tucks him in, he sees that one of the remaining items on Sonic's bucket list is to "make a real friend". At that moment, the news report features a warning about Tom, who has been declared a domestic terrorist because of his actions in protecting Sonic from Robotnik and the military.

The next morning, Robotnik and Stone interrogate the bar patrons, including the punk leader, learning that Tom and Sonic are heading to San Francisco. Robotnik triangulates their location and gives chase. On the road, Sonic asks Tom about what he would have on his own bucket list. Tom reveals his intentions to leave Green Hills to become a San Francisco street cop and prove himself as a hero, but Sonic is baffled and angered by the fact that Tom would want to leave behind such a perfect town and all the people he cares about; he argues that unlike himself, Tom has no villains chasing him, as well as pointing out that the citizens of Green Hills depend on *him* to help them with their problems when Tom responds by saying they could call anyone else for help. Simultaneously, Robotnik finds them and sends out a large six-wheeled Badnik to attack them.

A battle on the road ensues, and Tom and Sonic work together to destroy the machine, despite Sonic's disdain for Tom's ambitions occasionally showing-- in particular, one moment at the beginning of the fight where Sonic's electrical powers kick in again as he continues to emotionally call Tom out for *choosing* to leave his "perfect" hometown in spite of the danger they are in, comparing it to his own experience of being *forced* off his homeworld; said powers are used to their advantage against the machine via a subsequent and involuntary supercharged spin attack from Sonic-- but a pattern emerges where every time the two think they have defeated the machine, Robotnik activates another, smaller phase to continue the chase.

The second-to-last phase of the machine involves it becoming a small drone and shearing the hood off of Tom's car with a laser beam. After they deal with this phase, the machine is reduced to a sticky bomb that attaches itself to Sonic's hand, and they pull off the road to get rid of it. But just when Sonic manages to transfer it to a rock and starts to walk away to high-five Tom, it explodes with the hedgehog still close by. As the smoke clears, Tom finds Sonic lying unconscious on the ground and runs over to him, attempting to get him to wake up. Robotnik is enraged that they survived and berates Stone for noting their persistence. At that moment, however, Robotnik finds that the quill in Stone's pocket is glowing with blue, electric light and is intrigued.

Finally reaching San Francisco, Tom rushes to the house where Maddie is staying with Rachel and Jojo as he carries the still-unconscious Sonic, who he had wrapped in a towel to conceal him. He is greeted by an irate Rachel, who has seen the news reports on him and refuses to let him in until Maddie intervenes. Jojo and Tom's dog, Ozzy, come to greet him, and as Rachel and Maddie argue about Tom, Ozzy pulls away the towel, revealing Sonic. Rachel faints at the sight, and Maddie and Jojo just stare.

Robotnik, meanwhile, analyzes the quill and the energy it contains. As he waits, he amuses himself by dancing to a tune until he is startled half to death by the sudden appearance of Agent Stone, who has come to offer a latte. At that moment, the machine finishes analyzing the quill, revealing it to contain unlimited energy-- energy that Robotnik believes can enable his prototype flying craft, the Eggpod, to reach its full potential.

Tom and Maddie tend to the injured Sonic, while an annoyed Rachel sits bound in a chair to prevent her from interfering. Tom's reason for bringing Sonic here was to have Maddie check on him and figure out what is wrong with him using her experience as a veterinarian, but Maddie insists she only knows how to work with animals from *earth*; Sonic's alien biology is beyond her understanding. Instead, she uses smelling salts from a human first aid kit to awaken Sonic, who zips around the room at breathtaking speed before frantically coming to grips with his surroundings and enthusiastically greeting Pretzel Lady. Pulling Tom into another room, a terrified Maddie asks him who and what Sonic is, and Tom reveals the truth of their adventures together and Sonic's intent to reach the Transamerica Pyramid. Maddie ultimately accepts her husband's situation without much issue, recalling his desire to help people in danger and reasoning that "blue alien hedgehogs technically count as people." Simultaneously, Jojo returns from a short trip upstairs to bring Sonic a new pair of bright red shoes so that his feet will no longer hurt, having noticed while he was unconscious that his old shoes were well-worn and had holes down to the socks from all of his running; he takes an instant liking to the new shoes, especially since no one had ever given him a gift before, and immediately puts them on. Sonic also meets Ozzy, of whom he is jealous as Tom told that the dog is his "best animal friend" in the conversation that took place just before their fight on the road with Robotnik's machine, much to Sonic's chagrin, but from whom he enjoys an affectionate face-licking.

Deciding that they can no longer use Tom's damaged car as it would draw attention to them, Tom and Maddie borrow the indignant Rachel's car and head with Sonic, who drives Rachel's car with disastrous results toward the Transamerica Pyramid, where Tom uses the false pretense of saving a jumper to gain the needed clearance to travel to the roof. Tom and Maddie carry Sonic inside a bag, eliciting grave concern from onlookers who believe that the pair are carrying an abducted child. The three finally reach the roof, where Sonic at last finds and retrieves his bag of rings. The hedgehog briefly explains how the rings work: the user has to think of the desired destination as they throw one. He takes the opportunity to apologize to Tom for harshly and hastily judging the sheriff's decision to leave Green Hills, having realized that it was a difficult choice, and states that while he does not *want* to leave Earth, he will only put others in danger by staying. Sonic and Tom each admit they will miss each other, and Sonic expresses his gratitude for the good times they had over the past two days; he also thanks Tom for saving his life. Sonic attempts to throw a ring to open the portal to the mushroom planet, but it ends up uselessly bouncing off of one of Robotnik's drones. Many more drones surround the three as Robotnik himself appears in his Eggpod, now containing Sonic's quill, to meet them. After a brief exchange between Robotnik and Tom, Sonic taunts Robotnik by calling him "Eggman" after his egg-shaped drones. Robotnik readies his drones to blow the three away, but in an impromptu plan to protect Tom and Maddie since they do not possess super-speed and are thus vulnerable to Robotnik's coming onslaught, Sonic pushes them off the top of the building.

Briefly showing shock at the unexpected action, yet refusing to fully acknowledge said shock, Robotnik fires his missiles at Sonic, who speeds up his awareness just before the missiles make contact and casually pushes the ones in front of him aside, then repeatedly grabs more missiles out of the air and either redirects them back into several of the drones or plays around with them, all in the span of milliseconds. But in the middle of this, Robotnik still has enough time to press a button that charges the Eggpod with energy from the quill, allowing it, and by extension, himself, to move and react just as fast. He fires a blast at Sonic that the unexpecting hedgehog only narrowly avoids, the shockwave knocking him out of bullet time and into momentary delirium; quickly recovering from this to find Tom and Maddie still falling, he grabs one of the rings falling with him by using one of his quills as a reach extender and throws it, opening a portal beneath them that transports the two back to Green Hills. Tom and Maddie end up landing safely in a pile of hay within a farmer's barn, while back in San Francisco, Sonic lands in a tree before crashing to the ground, along with the rest of the rings and Robotnik's destroyed drones. Meanwhile, the owner of the barn greets Tom and Maddie, asking for their help in aiding a cow's effort to give birth.

Robotnik confronts Sonic and taunts him, but Sonic gathers up his spilled rings and runs through the city as Robotnik gives chase in the Eggpod, as seen at the beginning of the film. Narrating again, Sonic notes how this has brought the story full circle and earnestly continues from where he left off, wanting to know what happens next just as much as the audience. As Robotnik continues his pursuit, Sonic is shocked by his ability to keep up with him, as no one has ever done that before. Sonic opens a portal to France, with him and Robotnik disrupting a mime act being performed for a young girl as they rush past. Sonic's next ring portal brings him and Robotnik to China, where Robotnik chases Sonic along the Great Wall. Next, Sonic opens a portal to Egypt, where Robotnik destroys many centuries-old monuments in his zeal to catch Sonic. Sonic uses his speed to create a sand whirlwind that temporarily disrupts Robotnik's visual contact, but Robotnik sees Sonic running up the side of one of the Great Pyramids and follows him to the top, firing a blast just as Sonic manages to open another portal ring.

The portal brings Sonic back to Green Hills at nighttime, but the blast sends him hurtling through the ring and into the street, leaving him barely able to move from a combination of the chase and his injuries. Robotnik's Eggpod slowly emerges through the portal, and the terrified onlookers flee as Tom and Maddie arrive on the scene. As Sonic collapses to the ground entirely, Robotnik prepares to kill him, but Tom uses one of Sonic's rings to get behind him and engage him in physical combat inside the open cockpit of his vehicle, landing multiple punches on him in order to throw off his focus and protect Sonic. Unfortunately, Tom is ultimately hurled out of the cockpit, leaving Robotnik to question why the sheriff would be willing to throw his life away for a "silly little alien." His attention now focused on Tom, he once again prepares to strike, but is thrown off a second time by a near-miss gunshot from Wade, joined by a chainsaw-wielding Crazy Carl (who is all too willing to point out to everyone that this is concrete proof of the "Blue Devil" being a real creature and *not* a figment of his imagination) and some of the local townspeople in defending Tom and Sonic. However, Maddie draws Tom's attention back to Sonic; he remains motionless and silent, appearing to everyone as if he had lost his life. Robotnik insensitively suggests putting the hedgehog's body on ice to keep it fresh and remarks that he was just an alien who did not belong here. With restrained anger, Tom responds by telling Robotnik that Sonic knew more about being human than he ever will, proclaiming him to have been his friend.

Shortly after the statement, Sonic, who had only been dazed by Robotnik's attack, opens his eyes and gets to his feet, his body supercharged with electric energy-- some of which he siphons from the quill of his Robotnik is using, returning his craft to its normal speed. Tom, Maddie, and the townspeople step back, allowing Sonic to handle things; fueled by passion, the hedgehog boldly proclaims to Robotnik that he will no longer use the power which is rightfully his to run away, but *will* use it to protect his friends. Robotnik pulls down his goggles and the two opponents become locked in a standoff, preparing to meet in full-on battle. Robotnik makes the first move by firing his missiles, but Sonic avoids them and bounces off the buildings to strike Robotnik's Eggpod with an increasingly rapid barrage of body-slams. With the vehicle severely damaged, but still afloat, Sonic declares that *he* is not the one leaving Earth and calls for Tom, who throws a ring behind Robotnik that creates a portal to the mushroom planet. Then, at last, Sonic dashes straight at Robotnik's vehicle and strikes it with a final spin attack that exerts enough force to send it flying backwards through the portal just as it closes, sealing the screaming doctor away in another world.

With the fight over, the electricity arcing from Sonic's body fades, and he returns to his normal state as the townspeople cheer for him. Tom and Sonic reunite and congratulate each other on getting rid of Robotnik together, and Tom returns Sonic's rings (though not before telling him not to push people off buildings anymore, which Sonic cannot promise), as well as giving Sonic the high-five he had wanted since the baseball game, much to the latter's sheer delight. Maddie, however, is horrified to realize they left Rachel tied to the chair in San Francisco and states they can never go back. Tom is fine with that, telling Maddie that he has decided not to leave Green Hills anyway, since he has already saved a life. As Wade disperses the crowd of townspeople, Sonic follows Tom and Maddie.

The next day, as Tom and Maddie are repairing and repainting their house, one of the officials from the Pentagon comes to thank Tom for not speaking about the events of the past few days, and to inform him that his guilt has been erased; he also denies that Robotnik ever existed when Tom brings him up, which the sheriff wishes aloud was true. As a bonus, the official presents Tom with an Olive Garden gift card, then asks if Sonic might be willing to talk to the President, but Tom falsely claims that Sonic has left so as to spare him that. After the official leaves, Sonic comes out of hiding and asks if they would like to watch a movie, but Maddie tells him that it is time to go back to his cave. Disappointed and annoyed, Sonic heads for the front door, assuming they meant his old cave, but they imply to him that they meant something else. Tom and Maddie open the attic door so that Sonic can look inside; he is astonished to find that the attic has been turned into a room for him that contains all of his belongings from the old cave. Overcome with joy, Sonic runs around and relishes in having his things back. Tom and Maddie sit with Sonic on his racecar bed and welcome him home, and Sonic gives them his heartfelt thanks. As the view zooms out and away from the house, Ozzy comes to lick Sonic again, which Sonic enjoys, despite his jealousy.

Meanwhile, on the mushroom planet, Robotnik has completely lost his sanity, despite his belief that he never did. As he finishes shaving himself totally bald, he gazes at his reflection in a pool of water, now with an extremely long, grown-out moustache that looks completely zany. Talking to a rock that he has carved to resemble Agent Stone, he throws it and tells it to perform "rock-connaissance" for him. He reflects on his situation and remarks that a lesser man would die in such a place. But then, he holds up a small container with Sonic's quill inside it, and says that he will be home by Christmas. Pulling down his goggles, he walks like a robot until he finds the stone, which he throws again as he yells out "rock-connaissance" once more and laughs maniacally.

A mid-credits scene shows forested hills, and on one hill, the leaves stir as a ring portal opens. From it emerges a two-tailed fox, who uses a small handheld device to determine from the present levels of energy whether Sonic might be near. Finding the readings to be sufficient, the fox hopes aloud that he is not too late in finding him and spirals his tails, soaring into the vast forest towards Green Hills.

## Cast

* Ben Schwartz as Sonic the Hedgehog
	+ Benjamin L. Valic as 'Baby' Sonic
* Donna Jay Fulks as Longclaw
* Colleen O'Shaughnessey as Miles "Tails" Prower
* Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik
* James Marsden as Tom Wachowski
* Tika Sumpter as Maddie Wachowski
* Natasha Rothwell as Rachel
* Adam Pally as Wade Whipple
* Neal McDonough as Major Bennington
* Lee Majdoub as Agent Stone
* Melody Nosipho Niemann as Jojo
* Tom Butler as Commander Walters
* Frank C. Turner as Crazy Carl
* Garry Chalk as U.S. Navy Chief of Staff
* Michael Hogan as Air Force Chief of Staff
* Debs Howard as New Girlfriend
* Elfina Luk as Secretary of Homeland Security
* Brad Kelly as Roundhouse Thug
* Shannon Chan-Kent as Roundhouse Waitress

## Continuity and References

* Sonic the Hedgehog is introduced.
* Miles "Tails" Prower is introduced.
* Dr. Robotnik is introduced.
* Tom Wachowski is introduced.
* Maddie Wachowski is introduced.
* Jojo is introduced.
* Rachel is introduced.
* Wade Whipple is introduced.
* Crazy Carl is introduced.
* Commander Walters is introduced.
* Major Bennington is introduced.
* Longclaw is introduced.
* Rings are introduced.
* The Echidna Tribe is introduced.
* Green Hills is introduced.
* Green Hill is introduced.
* Mushroom Planet is introduced.

## Taglines

* A whole new speed of hero
* Every hero has a genesis.
* Gotta. Go. Fast.
* When the world needs a hero... think fast.
* Speed is his second name
* Roses are red. Sonic is blue. Earth needs a hero. A hedgehog will do!
* A Hedgehog Becomes A Hero.
* Don't Blink. You Might Miss It.
* Super villain vs Super Sonic
* Try to keep up.
* Racing into theaters soon.
* This Valentine's Day, put a ring on it.

## Production

Development for a film adaptation of the *Sonic the Hedgehog* video games began in 1993 during production of DIC Entertainment's television show *Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog*. Michealene Risley, the newly appointed consumer products director who helped license Sonic for *Adventures*, negotiated with several Hollywood producers. Sega of America CEO Tom Kalinske was wary of damaging the brand, citing the commercial and critical failures of the *Super Mario Bros.* and *Street Fighter* films. Despite Kalinske's concerns, Sega was enthusiastic. In August 1994, Sega struck a development deal with MGM and Trilogy Entertainment Group, with Pen Densham as executive producer.

MGM and Sega hired Richard Jefferies, an associate of Risley from her days at Marvel Comics, to write a film treatment. At the time, Sega was developing the video game *Sonic X-treme* (which was cancelled in late 1996) for its next console, the Sega Saturn, and asked Jefferies to feature the Saturn in the screenplay. Jefferies' treatment, *Sonic the Hedgehog: Wonders of the World*, was submitted in May 1995. While the draft received a positive response among MGM and Sega executives, Sega COO Shinobu Toyoda suggested Kalinske replace Robotnik with a meaner villain. MGM canceled the project after a failed attempt to revive it at DreamWorks. Jeffries suggested that the film was scrapped as both Sega and MGM wanted a higher share of the profits, while Densham said it followed creative differences between Sega and Trilogy.

In 2002, Ben Hurst consulted DIC Entertainment about the possibility of making an animated *Sonic* film to serve as a continuation of the animated *Sonic the Hedgehog* television series, in which he worked as a writer. DiC soon put Hurst in contact with a Sega executive interested on the idea. Hurst was soon contacted by Ken Penders, writer of the Archie Comics' *Sonic the Hedgehog* comic book series, who had been alerted of Hurst's plans. Though Hurst told him his strategy and offered to include him in his effort, Penders claimed to Sega that Hurst was trying to co-opt the franchise, leading Sega to dismiss Hurst and his proposal. In September 2003, Penders pitched his own concept for a *Sonic* film titled *Sonic Armageddon*. In Penders' words, the movie would have been an origin story and a series' reset, resolving the plot threads which begun in the animated *Sonic* show and continued in Archie's comic series. However, the project was officially dropped in 2007 due to a massive corporate upheaval and the unexpected passing of SEGA Licensing Manager Robert Leffler, who had supported Penders.

In 2013, Sony Pictures Entertainment acquired the rights to produce and distribute a *Sonic* film. On June 10, 2014, a live-action animated film was announced as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Marza Animation Planet, a Japan-based subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings which had produced CGI cutscenes for several *Sonic* games. It would be produced by Neal H. Moritz by his Original Film banner alongside Takeshi Ito, Mie Onishi, and Toru Nakahara, and written by Evan Susser and Van Robichaux. In February 2016, Sega CEO Hajime Satomi said the film was scheduled for 2018. Blur Studio's Tim Miller and Jeff Fowler were hired in 2016 to develop it; Fowler would make his feature directorial debut, and Miller would serve as executive producer. Blur Studio previously produced cutscenes for the games *Shadow the Hedgehog* (2005), for which Fowler directed cutscenes, and *Sonic the Hedgehog* (2006). Patrick Casey, Josh Miller, and Oren Uziel were writing the screenplay, while Casey and Miller wrote the story.

Early drafts featured Sonic's Super Sonic form from the video games. However, the ideas were discarded, as Fowler felt "it didn't make sense to obviously bring in the Super Sonic thing just yet,” and wanted to focus on the origins of Sonic and Robotnik's relationship.

On October 2, 2017, Paramount Pictures announced that they had acquired the rights after Sony put the film in turnaround. Almost all of the production team remained unchanged. In February 2018, it was announced that the film would be released in November 2019. During production the film used the working title "Casino Night", named after one of the stages in the Sonic video games.

In May 2018, it was reported that Paul Rudd was in talks for a lead role as Tom, "a cop who befriends Sonic and will likely team up to defeat Dr. Robotnik,” however this was later denied by Paramount. Chris Pratt, Chris Evans, Jake Johnson, Michael B. Jordan, Bill Hader, Jason Segel, Justin Timberlake, Adam Pally, Ansel Elgort and Milo Ventimiglia were also considered for the role. A day later, it was announced that James Marsden was cast in an undisclosed role, but later revealed to be Tom Wachowski. In June, Tika Sumpter was cast as Tom's wife, with Jim Carrey cast to play the villain, Dr. Robotnik.

Tom Holland, Josh Gad, Chris Pratt, Andy Samberg, Bill Hader, Will Forte, Jim Parsons, Charlie Day, Paul Rudd and Adam DeVine were all considered for the role of Sonic. In August, Ben Schwartz joined the cast to voice Sonic. Schwartz, a fan of the original video games, was chosen for the role after Fowler and Miller cast him for a test reading as they pitched the project to several studios. Having enjoyed his performance, they officially cast Schwartz as the voice of Sonic. Adam Pally and Neal McDonough were added to the cast later that month. Debs Howard and Elfina Luk joined the cast the following November. Riff Raff was cast in an undisclosed role, but was cut from the film.

Schwartz's casting as Sonic also marks a rare occasion in which the character has not been voiced by Roger Craig Smith, who has been voicing Sonic in most incarnations since 2010.

Principal photography began in mid September 2018 and ended in Vancouver, Ladysmith, and Vancouver Island on October 16, 2018. Key production scenes were also filmed in Liwa Oasis, United Arab Emirates. During filming Ben Schwartz was unavailable, and a stand in performed alongside Marsden.

The visual effects are provided by Moving Picture Company (MPC), Marza Animation Planet, Blur Studio, Trixter, and Digital Domain. The production team created a realistic version of Sonic using computer animation, adding fur, new running sneakers, two separate eyes, and a more humanlike physique. They used Ted, the living teddy bear from the *Ted* films, as a reference to insert a CGI character into a real-world setting. Executive producer Miller said: "It would be weird and it would feel like he was running around nude if he was some sort of otter-like thing. It was always, for us, fur, and we never considered anything different. It's part of what integrates him into the real world and makes him a real creature." According to Miller, Sega was not "entirely happy" with the design of Sonic's eyes.

According to animator Max Schneider, Paramount expected that *Sonic* fans would object to the redesign but that general audiences would not care, as had been the case with their 2014 *Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles* film. He said Paramount felt the design gelled with the real-world setting and characters. On May 2, 2019, in response to the near-universal criticism of the design, Fowler announced on Twitter that Sonic would be redesigned. The film was delayed from its original release date of November 8, 2019, to February 14, 2020, as a result. Artist Tyson Hesse, who worked on previous *Sonic the Hedgehog* media, was brought on to lead the redesign. Sonic was given larger and differently colored eyes, new sneakers, white gloves, and a less humanlike body to better resemble *Sonic'*s video game design. Sonic was redesigned by Marza Animation Planet. The redesign added an estimated $5 million to the production budget, took around five months, and was achieved without overtime.

## Videos

Sonic The Hedgehog (2020) - New Official Trailer - Paramount Pictures

## References

1. ↑ *Sonic the Hedgehog* on Sonic News Network

 ***Movies***

 2020's | ***Sonic the Hedgehog*** (2020) · *Sonic the Hedgehog 2* (2022)