Morning, geeks!
Sonic the Hedgehog first made his debut in the United States one of the handful of starter games for the Sega Genesis in 1991. No one could have predicted that this 16-bit hedgehog would still be around today, twentyseven years later, after spawning several TV series, and more games than I’ve bothered counting over the years. I was pretty into it when I was near reaching the age of ten. I even have some really terrible comics I drew as a kid featuring Sonic and his friends, and they’re pretty fun to look back on. I was also very into ACE VENTURA around that age. I know, my "90s kid" is showing. But in all of my years of loving those two things as a child, even as an adult now, I would have never imagined Jim Carrey taking on the role of Sonic’s antagonist: Dr. Robotnik/Eggman. If you stopped paying attention around the same time I did, “Eggman” is actually what the kids call Dr. Robotnik, now.
As far as I’m concerned, the games ended after Sega CD’s SONIC CD. 3D versions of Sonic just didn’t feel right. They’ve tried reproducing that nostalgic feel of the 2D side scrollers a couple of times with SONIC 4 and SONIC MANIA, but they were just 90% rehash of the originals. Advances in technology (save states) finally made it possible for me to beat SONIC SPINBALL after so many years.
The new film is starring James Marsden and Tika Sumpter, with Jeff Fowler directing. Pat Casey & Josh Miller pens the script. The premise goes, as no surprise, “Sonic must stop Dr. Eggman from completing his plans for world domination.”
Really, with Jim Carrey in the role of Dr. Robotnik, I can’t help but picture his Count Olaf performance from A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS in a fat suit. This isn’t as farfetched as it sounds, because Eurogamer says that it’s supposed to be a mix between live-action and CG.
Of all of the weird things for SONIC THE HEDGEHOG to spawn over the years, here’s an odd live-action short about childhood loneliness and dread.
~Big Eyes
