Okay. We all know at this point that a Sonic movie is happening. We also know there's a 99.9 percent chance that it won't have anything to do with the Sonic we grew up with. Yes, it probably won't have much to do with any other version of Sonic either. Sega likes to change Sonic, his cast, and his world with almost every new game or incarnation. But let's not dance around this; let's cut right through the chili and get straight to the dog. It won't have Freedom Fighters, Swat-Bots, Knothole, Sally, Mobius, Robotropolis, Bunnie, robotization, Uncle Chuck, or anything we'd want to see. It just won't. We all know that. Now that we've addressed the elephant in the room, my question is, do you want to see a Sonic movie happen at all?
For me, the answer is no. A Sonic movie won't be what Sonic is to me. I remember being a little kid and having dreams about going to see an EXCELLENT Sonic movie in the theater. It was based in SatAM and Archie, while still going beyond it and doing it's own thing.That's not to say it didn't include game elements, and it's also not to say that it was based entirely on SatAM. Scratch and Grounder, The Chaotix, Nack the Weasel, Knuckles, Amy and the world from the Genesis games were big parts of it. But so were Sally, Rotor, Bunnie, and Antoine. That Sonic movie had the backbone of the Western localization at it's core; Freedom Fighters on Planet Mobius. That's what Sonic was to me growing up. Not just in cartoons or comics but in storybooks, toys/merchandise, beginner novels, and my How to Draw Sonic the Hedgehog book. Even when playing the Genesis games, I was still thinking in terms of a SatAM/Archie-esque universe. As kids, my sister and I were really excited to see those characters appear in Spinball.
As a result, I remember being really disappointed when Sonic Underground came out because there was finally another animated series, but it wasn't Sonic as I understood it. I was a little confused by the OVA, but didn't hate it, I just regarded it as an "alternate universe" as I was used to that explanation from superhero comics. By the time Sonic X rolled around, I wasn't even confused. I just didn't care. I didn't watch it, and likewise, I don't watch Sonic Boom. I harbor no ill feelings toward it, nor to the current games. I'm mostly indifferent. But to me, a big-budget movie that you go to a theater to see is a big deal. Even if I never watched the film, if I went to a movie theater and saw no trace of Bunnie, Antoine, Sally, or Rotor on the poster, I'd find it depressing. The Sonic movie finally came, but it wasn't the Sonic movie the little kid in me dreamed of. I'm fine with the direction Sega is taking with Sonic Boom and their new games. But a Sonic movie, to me at least, is different, and I'd rather not see it happen.
