Sonic the Hedgehog London film premiere 2023

1. When the first teaser poster was released, Naoto Ohshima, the character's original designer, and Yuji Naka, former head of Sonic Team, said they disliked Sonic's appearance. The first trailer caused a massive fan backlash. On May 2, 2019, director Jeff Fowler announced on Twitter that Sonic's design was going to be altered to make the character "the best he can be." The movie's scheduled release moved from Thanksgiving weekend 2019 to Valentine's Day 2020. When a new trailer and poster were released on November 12, 2019, fans and critics alike praised Sonic's new look.
2. Jim Carrey remarked during his press promotion for the film that "very little of the dialogue from the pages of the script ended up in the movie". He also was given a lot of creative freedom for his non-verbal scenes, receiving basic instructions like "Here's the room and this is the music, just do something to go with it".
3. What attracted Jim Carrey to this project more than anything else was that his daughter was a big fan of the Sonic the Hedgehog games growing up.
4. 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 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014). He said Paramount felt the design gelled with the real-world setting and characters.
5. Jeff Fowler explains the Sonic references as being put in generally throughout filming: "It's not like you're going out of your way in terms of the story to put these things in. They are what they are, which is just a way of rewarding fans for their years of enthusiasm and getting to see some things that they would recognize but some that the rest of the audience might not."
6. There is a Chaos Emerald drawn on Sonic's map. Many Sonic games revolve around Sonic's efforts to collect the seven Chaos Emeralds.
7. Jim Carrey entirely improvised Dr Robotnik's dance scene. Carrey also recommended the song "Where Evil Grows", which he had heard as a child.
8. The "Mushroom Planet" directly evokes Mushroom Hill Zone from the first level of Sonic & Knuckles (1994). In that zone the various mushrooms could be used as springs and platforms for Sonic to jump on.
9. Ben Schwartz voices, and also provides the facial motion-capture for Sonic.
10. The villain was known as Dr. Robotnik outside Japan prior to Sonic Adventure (1998). Sonic the Hedgehog called him "Eggman" as more of an insult before the villain became known as Dr. Eggman.
11. When Sonic starts rolling along the ground, two sounds from the games play simultaneously: the iconic "Spin Attack" sound, and the "Dash Pad" sound.
12. Robotnik tells his assistant, Agent Stone, that he was trained by "Native American Shadow Wolves." Surprisingly, that's a real thing--they're trackers who are part of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
13. The production team originally created a more realistic design for Sonic, which incorporated more fur, more spikes over his body, new running sneakers, normal-sized eyes, and a more human, athletic physique. This design got a lot of negative feedback and the film's release was delayed by a few months while Sonic was redesigned to have a more faithful, cartoonish design. The only major element kept was the new sneakers, which he was going to change to his red shoes.
14. Robotnik being way slimmer than usual is actually a call-back to Sonic the Comic, where he starts out being on the thin side before gaining his iconic rotundness.
15. Crazy Carl, the local who's hunting the "Blue Devil" in Green Hills, shows a wildly inaccurate drawing of Sonic as a description. This is a reference to Sanic, a pop culture phenomenon about poorly-drawn portrayals of Sonic. The film's original design of Sonic drew complaints, with some fans comparing it to Sanic.
16. During his speeding antics inside the motel, Sonic can be seen doing his balancing pose from Sonic the Hedgehog (1991). This particular reference was requested by Tyson Hesse.
17. Having played Sonic the Hedgehog games in his college days, Dwayne Johnson tweeted his approval of the "Is the Rock the president?" line in one of the spots, which is in a different context from the final film.
18. Dr. Robotnik's playlist of songs mentions Crush 40, a band who composed music for various Sonic games.
19. During the highway chase scene, a figurine of Chao, a virtual pet from Sonic Adventure (1998), can be spotted on the dashboard of the family van.
20. Sonic using rings as portals to go to different areas has been a mechanic since the very first game, where Warp Rings would take Sonic to the Special Stages. When activating the portals, the iconic "Ring Loss" sound plays, and when entering/exiting them, the even-more-iconic "Ring Pickup" sound is heard.
21. Artist Tyson Hesse, who worked on previous Sonic the Hedgehog media, was brought on to lead the redesign.
22. "It is an insane honor, an incredible honor," Ben Schwartz says of being hired to voice Sonic. "I was playing these games as a kid, so the idea that maybe my voice will be the one that brings in a new generation to the Sonic franchise it's incredible. I feel very, very lucky."
23. Jim Carrey is Ben Schwartz's favorite actor and hero.
24. While Sonic's actual top speed has never been revealed, early in the movie we do see him testing himself on Tom's radar gun. At that point, he reaches the speed of 300 m.p.h.
25. The "zones" from the Sonic games have been adapted into parallel worlds in the film. This isn't totally unheard of in Sonic lore. In the early issues of the Archie Comics the "Zone" term was used to describe the different regions on Mobius. This didn't last long but it speaks to how different creative teams have interpreted the various levels in Sonic's games.
26. The film got delayed after the backlash of Sonic's initial design, making it the third time Paramount has had to completely redesign a character in the middle of movie production due to negative reception. The first was Megatron from Transformers (2007) after fans complained he looked nothing like the original design. About a decade later, Monster Trucks (2016) had to be postponed for a full year due to the main monster's original design being so visually frightening that it terrified children in the test audience.
27. When Sonic is looking at Longclaw's map of possible planets to go to, one of them looks similar to the logo of the Sega Saturn, the successor console to the Sega Genesis. The planet is crossed out, a possible reference to the Saturn console never having a Sonic game released, which was a contributing factor to the Saturn's lack of success.
28. Sonic's current video game voice actor Roger Craig Smith approved of Ben Schwartz, who voices Sonic in this movie. The two of them even met in June 2019.
29. Sonic's powers vary and fluctuate throughout the film. According to producer Tim Miller, "the speed changes over time because he evolves, because he can't do everything at the beginning of the movie. He takes some time to figure out the speed: what the effect looks like and what it does to the rest of the world around it."
30. Ben Schwartz recorded a harmonized version of the famous SEGA chant that unfortunately did not make it into the film.
31. On October 2, 2017, Sony relinquished its rights to the film and its production staff to Paramount Pictures.
32. Filmed under the working title "Casino Night," a reference to the level "Casino Night Zone" from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992).
33. Dr Robotnik's truck is a Freightliner Argosy truck. This was the exact truck used for the evil robot Galvatron in Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014).
34. Sonic's sneakers, on close inspection, have a tiny Puma tab. They are based on Women's Dare Mesh Sneakers made by Puma.
35. The film was released the year of the 60th anniversary of Sonic developer Sega.
36. Original Sonic game music composer Masato Nakamura has a credit on the movie for writing the classic "Green Hill Zone," which is incorporated into the score.
37. The drawing that Frank C. Turner's character Crazy Carl holds up in the bar, describing the looks of Sonic the Hedgehog, is an almost exact replica of a satirical piece of fan art. Youtube user 0nyxheart uploaded a video titled "How 2 Draw Sanic Hegehog" on March 31st, 2010, that showed him drawing a badly interpreted and very inaccurate version of Sonic the Hedgehog. The drawing went viral and has a cult following to this day. Until the release of the movie in 2020, over 3300 artworks in the style of "Sanic Hedgehog" have been cataloged.
38. When Sonic blinks, his upper eyelids are the same color as his fur, while his lower eyelids are the same color as his muzzle. This references how Sonic originally had flesh-colored eyelids that were later changed to fur-colored. On a similar note, when Sonic closes his eyes, one can see a line of small-but-present black eyelashes. He also had these in Sonic Adventure and Sonic X.
39. Early descriptions of the movie mention Sonic battling and being chased by "lizard warriors" from his home planet, with concept art of them showing up a day after the movie was released. However, the descriptions dates back to the film's pre-production process, and they were replaced by the Echidna tribe in the final film.
40. One of the co-writers for the film, Van Robichaux, originally wanted to go for a PG-13 rating. However, it got a PG rating, making it family-friendly.
41. The production crew used Ted (2012) as an influence, and studied different variations of the character to develop the character's final design.
42. Sonic can't swim in the film, or generally in his video games. However, according to Fay Vass from the British Hedgehog Preservation Society: "Actually, hedgehogs are great swimmers, they only get into trouble when ponds have steep edges and they can't get out. But hedgehogs love a swim."
43. The German release of this movie caused an outcry among Sonic fans, when the YouTuber Julien Bam was cast as the dubbing voice of the title character, despite, very audibly, not having any prior voice acting experience.
44. Sonic asks if the Rock ( Dwayne Johnson ) is president - a joke referring to recent suggestions that the wrestler could make a run for the office, something he "hasn't ruled out" when asked about it in interviews. Johnson has also been considered to voice Knuckles the Echidna in a future film.
45. When the film was at Sony, screenwriters Brad Bird, Paul Wernick, Rhett Reese, David Berenbaum, and Phil Johnston each submitted their own drafts of the screenplay.
46. Director Jeff Fowler was recently asked why the Super Sonic and Chaos Emeralds elements of the game were left out of the movie, to which he said: "It didn't make sense to obviously bring in the Super Sonic thing just yet. I mean, there were very early versions of the script and the outlines where... because we knew that's something that's very important in the fan mythology, or the mythology that fans love. And Chaos Emeralds are definitely a huge part, even going back to the first Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) game in '91, and it was definitely something that we were kind of trying to see. Like, 'Does it make sense to include one of these?'"
47. Sonic is given his iconic red shoes by Tom and Maddie's niece. This is a call-back to "Sonic the Comic", where Robotnik (as Kintobor) gives Sonic (who had been wearing trainers) red sneakers.
48. After Paramount released a Japanese trailer featuring Sonic as a baby, many accused the studio of riding the coattails of the success of "Baby Yoda" from The Mandalorian (2019). However, since Baby Sonic was likely planned months in advance and The Mandalorian only premiered in November 2019, around the time the film would've originally been released had it not been delayed.
49. Hedgehogs are really quite fast according to Fay Bass from the British Hedgehog Preservation Society: "Actually," says Fay, "people are often surprised by how fast hedgehogs can move. They can move at 4mph, which isn't quite Sonic The Hedgehog speed but it's pretty fast for a small, short-legged mammal."
50. The ring sound effect from the games is heard when Sonic catches a ring with his quill in midair.
51. One of the many objects in Sonic's lair is a license plate with "ND4 SPD" as its lettering. That's a nod to the iconic phrase "need for speed" from the Top Gun films, as well as a racing video game franchise that got a movie adaptation in 2014.
52. Jim Carrey described his character as "a madman" and added saying; "He's got 300 IQ so it took a week and a half to prepare".
53. "Sonic the Hedgehog" creator Yuji Naka claims to have approached the filmmakers about making a cameo appearance in the movie, but they never responded to him.
54. The redesigns to Sonic cost an additional $5 million, and caused the VFX studio Moving Picture Company to close down its Vancouver studio.
55. The movie is action-focused. There were several script rewrites, due to the original movie having a more comedy focus.
56. Marza Animation Planet, Sega's in-house animation studio, animated the film. Additionally, it was later revealed that Tim Miller's animation studio, Blur would be animating as well. Both studios have a history with the Sonic the Hedgehog series, with Blur responsible for animating cut scenes for Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) and Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), and Marza responsible for animating cut scenes for games in the series since 2008. Marza animated the opening sequence for the film.
57. Tim Miller, the director for Deadpool (2016), served as executive producer alongside Neal H, Mortiz, the producer for The Fast and the Furious (2001) film series. Jeff Fowler, who has experience in animated productions, is serving as director.
58. When Sonic turns on the hotel television, one of the programs that flashes across the screen is director Jeff Fowler's previous feature Gopher Broke (2004).
59. In video-game/animated media, Sonic is depicted as having conjoined eyes (as if he's wearing a visor/glasses). The film's design has him with two normal eyes, but homages his conjoined eye design with a strip of white hair on his nose between his eyes.
60. From 1969 to 1983, Paramount Pictures and Sega were units of Charlie Bluhdorn's Gulf+Western Industries conglomerate. G+W divested Sega in 1983-84, refocused itself as an entertainment company, changed its name to Paramount Communications in 1989, and merged with Viacom five years later. Paramount bought Sega under their Gulf+Western banner.
61. In the baseball scene: Sonic's running animation when running at high speeds around the baseball diamond looks strikingly similar to Sonic CD's Pencil Test animation.
62. The first level of Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) was named Green Hill Zone and was situated in South Island. In the film, it's the name of the town where Tom lives in. However, the Island itself and its iconic landmarks (trees, bridges, loops) appear in the film as a young Sonic's first home.
63. Sonic sneaks around the bar in a cowboy hat and baggy shirt. In Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (1993) Sonic was infamous for donning a variety of disguises.
64. Ben Schwartz didn't have to be on set to play his role, but he was familiar with what happened on set, and explained to Polygon that three different methods were used to create Sonic, all in an effort to make sure James Marsden's eye line was set correctly, so that it would look like he really was talking to a bipedal blue hedgehog. According to Schwartz... "We had three different versions of the doll. One that I guess you'd call a doll, one that you would hold. And then for James also they had like a tennis ball. The whole thing that James and Jeff Fowler the director who's been amazing, was eye lines. They didn't want it to look like James was just looking at a person. They wanted to know exactly where Sonic's eyes would be and stuff like that, which I thought was so great. So there was like three different versions of Sonic".
65. Dr. Robotnik pretends to be chased by Tyrannosaurus Rex during a virtual simulation, a reference to Jim Carrey having been considered for the role of Dr. Ian Malcolm in the dinosaur film Jurassic Park (1993).
66. The film was originally set to be filmed in Atlanta, but was changed to Vancouver.
67. On May 29 2018, it was reported that Paul Rudd is in talks for a lead role as Tom, "a cop who befriends Sonic and will likely team up to defeat Dr. Eggman." Paramount later clarified that this was not the case, but that Rudd had been considered for the role at one point.
68. During Robotnik's dance sequence with a VR screen, he pretends to be skiing; when he does the movement, it is highly identical to what Jim Carrey had done for the Grinch in How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000).
69. Adam Pally, who was one of the actors in the running for Tom Wachowski, would later go on to portray Tom's deputy Wade.
70. According to press interviews with IGN, Ben Schwartz's favorite Sonic video game is Sonic & Knuckles (1994). Schwartz owned a Sega Game Gear as a child, and played the handheld port. Just prior to the film's release, Schwartz invested in a Sega Genesis Mini, and talked about beating the original Sonic 2.
71. The female owl Longclaw's maternal relationship with Sonic in the film may be a reference to "Stay Sonic" (a guidebook to the world of Sonic the Hedgehog published in the United Kingdom in 1993 by Fantail), in which Sonic was stated to be found by an owl named Sophocles.
72. There are multiple jokes at different points about the Olive Garden, a very conspicuous reference to the real estate website Zillow, and a hard-to-miss moment when Tom orders Sonic a Mello Yello soda.
73. This is the 2nd Sonic the Hedgehog Project created outside Japan where Sonic is not voiced by his original voice actor from the 1990s Cartoons Jaleel White, after the Cartoon Network series Sonic Boom (2014).
74. Jim Carrey, who plays Eggman, had covered The Beatles song "I Am The Walrus" for George Martin's 1998 album "In My Life," which contains the lyric, "I am the eggman."
75. The street in the opening sequence is named Mega Drive after Sega's console that featured many of the early Sonic games.
76. Ben Schwartz, who voices Sonic, is not named at the top of the movie's poster, although Jim Carrey is. Meanwhile, James Marsden is given top billing, even though he isn't even on the poster, which might lead some to think that he's voicing Sonic. Schwartz does get a "Ben Schwartz is Sonic the Hedgehog" poster, though, and gets top billing during the scrolling closing credits. In the movie, Carrey gets an "and" credit behind Neal McDonough as Bennington, who is only in one scene, much of which is seen in the trailers. Even then, Bennington hardly says anything because Robotnik constantly interrupts him.
77. When Sonic is dodging Robotnik's laser fire during the chase scene throughout San Francisco, he at one point strikes a pose very similar to the one on the Sonic Adventure (1998) box art.
78. The movie is the second time a Western company did a redesign of the titular character that was rejected by Sega. The first time was around the development of Sonic Boom, when Big Red Button tried to offer the character and his cast complete redesigns but were rejected by Sega, asking for something closer to the original modern design.
79. The second trailer shows Sonic running laps inside of a washing machine the same way a hamster would run inside of a hamster wheel. This doubles as a nod to an issue of Sonic the Comic, where Sonic runs on a generator wheel to test his speed and an accident with it ultimately gave him his famous blue fur.
80. The City of San Francisco plays a major part in the film. Sega had a branch headquartered in San Francisco, until they closed in 2010. The logo is still easily visible from Highway 101.
81. As Sonic and Tom fight with Robotnik's drone, Sonic remarks that he "can't believe Amazon is going to deliver packages with these things." Amazon's "Prime Air" program is a very real thing that they're still trying to get off the ground today.
82. This is the third movie where Jim Carrey plays the villain. The first being Batman Forever (1995) as The Riddler, then A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004) as Count Olaf. Although he played antagonistic roles in The Cable Guy (1996) and How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) and A Christmas Carol (2009) he wasn't necessarily a villain.
83. When Dr Robotnik first appears, he's seen wearing rectangular sunglasses, which are a homage to Warden Zobotnik, an alternate counterpart from from the Archie Comics "Sonic the Hedgehog" series. It's not till the final battle that he dons his iconic goggles.
84. Sonic is nicknamed "Blue Devil" in the movie by Crazy Carl, which is a reference to the car driven by his robotic nemesis Metal Sonic in the kart racing game Sonic Drift Racing (1995).
85. Ben Schwartz (voice of Sonic in this film) and Jason Griffith (voice of Sonic in the games from 2005-2010 as well as the English Dub of the Anime Sonic X (2003)) both voiced versions of Leonardo of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles clan, another character associated with the colour blue. Schwartz voiced him in the Nickelodeon series Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2018), and Griffith voiced his Mirage Comics counterpart in the 4Kids TV film Turtles Forever (2009).
86. Some of the posters and renders of Sonic are shout-outs to the games: *One pose from the first trailer's concept artwork has Sonic in his pose from Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. This was later recreated in the November 2019 motion poster. *Another pose from the aforementioned concept artwork is him in a pose that looks similar to Sonic's pose from Sonic Mania's box art. *Another pose from the concept art has the original design of Sonic in his pose from Sonic the Hedgehog (2006). This pose was later recreated with the redesigned Sonic and released as a standalone render when the second trailer was released. *A poster that was released alongside the first trailer shows Sonic running along a large building in a city that looks very similar to Speed Highway. *The poster released alongside the second trailer has Sonic in his pose from Sonic Unleashed's box art. *Some TV spots and a scene from Wiz Khalifa, Ty Dolla $ign, Lil Yachty & Sueco the Child: Speed Me Up (2020) have Sonic in his pose from his Super Smash Bros. Ultimate render.
87. Sonic Unleashed reinvented Modern Sonic and made his speedy platforming palatable to a whole new generation of gamers. And the film pays tribute to that important title by plopping one of its most famous levels directly onto the big screen. Dragon Road Act 1, the level where Sonic runs along a fictionalized version of the Great Wall of China, is in the movie except here, it's the actual Great Wall of China
88. It's something of a tough guy urban legend that especially deadly fighters, such as martial artists, are so powerful that they're required to register their hands as deadly weapons with the government. That's not actually true in most places, but the gag persists throughout pop culture, e.g. Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood (2019). Sonic plays on the gag by making a similarly ridiculous claim: that his super-fast legs should be registered as lethal weapons.
89. Ben Schwartz' 3rd time voice acting in a theatrical film, after Turbo (2013) and The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019).
90. This is the first movie Jim Carrey is in that was based off a video game. He had previously been approached to adapt the "Leisure Suit Larry" games into a film in the 1990s.
91. During his solo baseball game, Sonic describes himself as a south paw and is shown pitching with his left hand. However, he's shown later writing down his bucket list with a pen in his right hand. Furthermore, in the climactic chase scene, Sonic repeatedly throws rings with his right hand. This apparent inconsistency may be a reference to the fact that Sonic's dominant hand has been debated by gamers for years.
92. James Marsden and Jim Carrey both starred in at least three comic book movies. Marsden was Cyclops in the first X-Men trilogy and X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) and Carrey was in The Mask (1994), Batman Forever (1995), and Kick-Ass 2 (2013). James Marsden is also in Superman Returns.
93. The rowdy roadhouse known as The Piston Pit isn't a direct reference to any of the worlds in Sonic The Hedgehog, it's a pretty cheeky nod towards one of Dr. Robotnik's favorite machine parts. Particularly in the first Sonic game's big finale, aptly taking place in the Final Zone, there's quite a few pistons that the bad doctor uses to try and crush Sonic with.
94. First time Dr. Eggman is played by someone other than Mike Pollock in English since Sonic Advance 3 (2004).
95. Junkie XL (the same composer of Deadpool (2016) and Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) ) was chosen to handle the movie's soundtrack.
96. Jim Carrey stated that this was one of his favorite roles, stating that he had so much fun playing Dr. Robotnik and that the production team gave him a lot of freedom to do whatever he wanted to do for the role.
97. During the baseball sequence, the opposing team can be seen wearing uniforms with the initials SV. This could be a reference to either Sun Valley or Sunshine Valley, locations from the Archie Comics "Sonic the Hedgehog" series.
98. Sonic has some food-related nicknames for people he knows: Tom is Donut Lord for how he "interrogates" his donuts Maddie is "Pretzel Lady" for how she does yoga on her back porch. and he starts calling Dr. Robotnik "Eggman" (a classic name for the character) for how all his drones are egg-shaped.
99. James Marsden's 3rd live action/animation hybrid film, after Enchanted (2007) and Hop (2011), both of which also had him part of the live action cast (though for the former he was both in the live action cast and the voice over cast, based on which scene his character's in).
100. The Flash is seen to be Sonic's favorite superhero. Both are speedster heroes, obviously.
101. Tom (and Sonic) live in Green Hills, Montana. While this is not a real place, there is a luxury property in Montana called Green Hills Ranch.
102. A General talks of Doctor Robotnik's role in "the uprising in Azerbaijanistan", a portmanteau of real life Asian nations Azerbaijan and Afghanistan.
103. Dr. Robotnik shaving his head is an homage to Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now (1979).
104. The visual effects wede provided by Moving Picture Company (MPC), Marza Animation Planet, Blur Studio, Trixter and Digital Domain.
105. Bill Hader who was considered for the role of Tom Wachowski, was also considered for Sonic.
106. Sonic is the fifth character voiced by Ben Schwartz to be associated with the color blue. The other four were: Skidmark in Turbo (2013), Uncle Steve the Troll in Nickelodeon's Wallykazam! (2014) two-parter special Wallykazam!: The Big Goblin Problem (2015), Dewey Duck in DuckTales (2017), and Leonardo in Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2018).
107. Emmanuel Curtil, who dubbed Dr. Robotnik in the French version, also dubbed Luigi in the French version of Super Mario Bros. (1993).
108. Tom drives a 2016 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off-Road Double Cab 4x4 V6 [GRN305].
109. James Marsden and Jim Carrey also appeared in the final fight scene in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013).
110. There are two references 9 Super Smash Bros, According to Ben Schwartz, the voice of Sonic there's two tiny references to the equally nostalgic platform fighter. One is a pose that Sonic does during the movie that is super "Smashy," and the other is a reference to the animation of when the character is teetering on the edge of a platform in the game. According to the actor, these were put into the movie on purpose, as just two of the many Easter Eggs hidden within the film.
111. In the scene where we see two raccoons digging in the trash, the garbage cans that the raccoons were to be in were made safe and secure with input of the trainers. Prior to shooting, trainers brought the raccoons to set in their carriers. The crew stood behind a fence during filming. Trainers placed food on the garbage cans and opened the carriers. The raccoons ate the food while they filmed the scene. In the scene where we see the raccoon run out of the doggy door, the raccoon was released by the handler. The raccoon was released by one trainer from Kennel A to the right of the dog door and walked approximately 6 feet to the dog door. The other trainer called the raccoon using a buzzer and food. The raccoon went through the dog door and entered Kennel B. The trainer then closed the door of the kennel.
112. The military's Olive Garden reward and the general wanting to speak with Sonic might be an obscure reference to Shadow the Hedgehog where in expert mode the Commander invites Shadow to talk.
113. Sonic dons a foam cowboy hat when gathering "just the essentials" before starting their journey, much as Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey) did in Dumb and Dumber (1994).
114. Dylan O'Brien, Freddie Highmore, Dane DeHaan, David Tennant, Bill Hader, Will Forte, Jim Parsons, Charlie Day, Drake Bell, and Adam Devine were all considered to voice Sonic.
115. Sacha Baron Cohen turned down the role of Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik.
116. Chris Pratt who was considered for the role of Tom Wachowski, was also considered for Sonic.
117. During the bar scene, the waitress thinks that Sonic is a small child, and Tom lies to her about him being 43 years old. Ironically, that's the same age that the original Sonic would be in 2019, when the movie was originally slated to release (The original Sonic was 15 years old when he made his debut in 1991).
118. This is Jim Carrey's third CGI feature after Horton Hears a Who! (2008) and A Christmas Carol (2009), though Carrey isn't part of the voice acting cast in this film.
119. Neal McDonough (Maj. Bennington) previously starred in another video game-based film as M. Bison in Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (2009).
120. Sonic was at Tom's house watching through a window while Tom and Maddie are watching Speed (1994).
121. When Sonic plays ping-pong by himself, Coca-Cola cans can be seen in a straight line on the ping-pong table.
122. The town of Green Hills is likely named after the the first level of the 1991 Sonic the Hedgehog game Green Hill Zone.
123. Junkie XL (aka Tom Holkenborg's) third musical score to a movie based on a video game after DOA: Dead or Alive (2006) and Tomb Raider (2018).
124. In the French-Canadian version, Longclaw is called Grand Bec.
125. Chris Pratt, Chris Evans, Paul Rudd, Jake Johnson, Michael B. Jordan, Bill Hader, Jason Segel, Justin Timberlake, Adam Pally, Ansel Elgort and Milo Ventimiglia were all considered for the role of Tom Wachowski.
126. This is Scott Patey's second video game movie after The King of Fighters (2010)
127. Prior to appearing in Sonic The Hedgehog, Jim Carey appeared on a Beatles tribute album titled "In My Life", in which he preformed I Am The Walrus from The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour, a song that contains the lyrics "I am the egg man/They are the egg men/I am the Walrus". This song is said to have been the inspiration for Dr. Robotnik's nickname "Dr. Eggman.
128. Tom and Maddie's surname Wachowski may be named for science fiction screen writers Lana Wachowski and Lilly Wachowski.
129. The third film by Paramount to be based on a video game after Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) and Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003).
130. Tom Wachowski played by James Marsden shares the same name as the main character in the creepypasta Sonic.exe. However there is no connection to this movie and the story.
131. Garry Chalk: as the Navy Chief Of Staff when government and military officials discuss the power outage Sonic caused. Chalk had previously starred as Dr. Robotnik in Sonic Underground (1999), and as Grounder in Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (1993) and Sonic: Christmas Blast (1996).
132. When the slow-motion scene at the Transamerica Tower begins, Sonic does the foot tap idle animation from the games.
133. During the slow-motion scene at the Transamerica Tower, Sonic uses a pair of missiles as xylophones to play a the "level complete" music featured in so many of the Sonic games.
134. Robotnik has a button on the circuit breaker in his party bus labeled "badniks." Badniks were the name sometimes used for the robotic enemies Sonic has faced throughout the franchise. In the film, the Badniks are the drones Robotnik deploys after Sonic.
135. When Sonic's rings scatter on the ground, they make the same sound they do in the games that happens when Sonic loses rings from taking a hit from an enemy.
136. When Robotnik shoots missiles at Sonic on the roof of the Transamerica Pyramid, Sonic puts his hands on his hips and taps his foot impatiently, copying his idle animation pose from the games.
137. When Sonic is practicing his nunchuck skills, the logo from Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) can be seen printed on his bandana.
138. During the freeze frame shot in the opening of the movie, eagle-eyed viewers may notice a road sign reading "Mega Dr." This is a reference to Sega's Mega Drive console, known in America as the Sega Genesis.
139. During his slow-motion moment in the bar fight, Sonic eats chili dogs and utterly enjoys them. Sonic is said to love chili dogs in the video games/cartoons.
140. A young Sonic gives Longclaw a sunflower. They can be seen in the first level of Sonic the Hedgehog (1991).
141. The creatures who attack Sonic and Longclaw in the beginning are wearing masks and headdresses, but if you look closely, you can clearly see that they're echidnas (the red fur, hanging hair, and spiked knuckles are a dead giveaway). This is a homage to the warmongering Knuckles Clan of Sonic Adventure (1998), a tribe of echidnas who tried to steal power for their own ends.
142. James Marsden signed on for multiple sequels. He told Variety about it on a podcast where he confirmed that he had signed on for more installments with the Blue Blur. Marsden will be right behind in whatever adventure the series plans next. "I believe, I don't know if I'm supposed to say, Marsden began. "As many as they want to make. Yeah, that's my somewhat vague answer. It is such a good group of people and it was so much fun to see Jim Carrey enjoying himself again. I think this was his second-biggest opening weekend of all of his movies. I was kind of amazed at that statistic. He just had a big smile on his face and he was hugging everyone. It just felt like it was such a cool thing." "I grew up, and I was in high school emulating him and watching him on In Living Color (1990) doing his thing," he continued. "For him to take a little break from the business and come back with the Showtime show and then this. To chew the scenery with his amazing ways and just have fun doing it again was a real joy for me because he's always been an inspiration. It was just fun to see. He's just putting his arm around everyone and going, 'Man, what a great ride. I can't think of any better people to be experiencing this kind of success with.'"
143. When Sonic wakes up after Maddie administers the smelling salts, the first words he says are "Gotta go fast!". This was the title of the theme song from "Sonic X"
144. When Sonic moves into Tom and Maddie's attic, he gets a racecar bed, which he had in the Archie Comics "Sonic the Hedgehog" series.
145. A "slow version" of the iconic Green Hill Zone music can be heard while Tom and Maddie are painting their house in Green Hills at the end of the movie.
146. Just like he did in the games, Miles "Tails" Prower shows up in time for the sequel, in a post-credits sequence.
147. Tails was introduced as the Player 2 character in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992). Tails looks set to play a major role in this film's sequel.
148. Sonic is shown sliding underneath a vehicle at one point to escape weapon fire from Robotnik. His pose while sliding is identical to both the sliding part of his somersault animation in the Sonic Advance games and his sliding animation in the modern games, particularly Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Colors, and Sonic Generations.
149. According to director Jeff Fowler, Knuckles the echidna was meant to appear in the film in a major role, but he was left out of the story to keep it simple. The goal was to "nail" Sonic and Robotnik, establishing their classic rivalry: "There's a lot of great characters in Sonic universe, but it's the most important thing is just to get Sonic set up and just tell a little bit of an origin story with him, and just do it in a way that really makes everyone fall in love with him as a character and just be rooting for more. And then, if all that goes well, then we can kind of open it up and bring in some of these other characters that fans know and love. And yeah, I mean, no one's more excited than me to have that opportunity."
150. Tails is voiced by Colleen O'Shaughnessey, who has voiced the character since 2014. In the French version, Tails is voiced by Marie-Eugénie Maréchal, who has voiced the character since 2003 with the French version of the "Sonic X" TV series. Like Colleen O'Shaughnessey in the English version, Marie-Eugénie Maréchal has also voiced the character of Tails in the French version of the "Sonic Boom" (2014-2017) TV series.
151. At one point Sonic tries to go to San Francisco and is told it's a straight shot west. He then speeds off and comes back wet and says he went into the pacific ocean. All this takes about 5 seconds. If he left from the closest point in Montana to the closest part of the west coast to the Pacific ocean and and went in the straightest, shortest distance to the ocean that is approximately 500kms( 300miles). Based on calculations he can run over 34,000km/h (21,000 mph).
152. Sonic alludes to "going Super Sonic" during his final showdown with Dr. Robotnik. This alludes to Sonic undergoing a Super Sonic transformation in the games, though it's different there from what the film shows.
153. When Dr. Robotnik is stranded on the Mushroom Planet, we last see him robot walking across the landscape, in a manner that's similar to that of the Death Egg Robot he pilots as the final boss of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992).
154. In the opening scene where we see a turtle crossing a road, and Sonic swoops it up, saving it from being hit by a car, no traffic was allowed during filming. Before the turtle was placed on the highway pavement, the pavement was cooled down with ice water. The path to be walked by the turtle did not have any hazards and was checked by its handlers. The turtle walked an A to B trajectory.
155. Robotnik's penchant for attacking Sonic while flying in some kind of mechanical vehicle is retained for the main action set piece of the film.
156. Dr Robotnik keeps Sonic's quill in a cylindrical container, whose design resembles the Chaos Drive from Sonic Adventure (1998).
157. Sonic speeding along the Great Wall of China in the second trailer brings to mind the Chun-Nan/Dragon Road Day stage of Sonic Unleashed (2008). Robotnik pursuing him through here even echoes the sequence where one of Eggman's larger robots chases Sonic along the wall. During this chase, Sonic runs horizontally along the walls at one point. Running sideways along walls at high speed was a mechanic introduced in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), which carried over to future games (most notably Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Generations (2011), where it was prominent in some levels, but also in Sonic: Lost World (2013), where doing it at any time is part of the Parkour mechanic).
158. Jeff Fowler explained that he wanted to feature Tails as a nod to the fans and the wider Sonic world. "There's so many great characters in the Sonic world and we really wanted the focus of this film to be Sonic or Robotnik, just because that's how we were all introduced to these characters back in the first game," he said. "[Tails] was just a way of saying to the fans, 'Look guys, we love these characters, too. We might not have been able to include them in this story, but we would love to include them in future stories'. "There are other characters like Tails that we would have so much fun working with, and hopefully we'll get the opportunity to do some stories with him."
159. At one point Sonic has a run-in with an explosion and makes the infamous :O face seen in the final cutscene of his story in Sonic '06.
160. The power Sonic wields is based on Chaos energy, which first appeared in Sonic Adventure (1998). This is power that enables its user to carry out amazing reality-bending feats if used properly. This is first seen in the film when Sonic in an argument with Tom starts to charge up with electricity, then in his final battle he is revived after Robotnik guns him down and transforms into a "Super Sonic" mode.
161. While chewing out Major Benington, Robotnik mentions Charlotte's Web, then refers to his ovular white drones as his own eggs. In the sequel, this will become the source of Robotnik's nickname, Eggman, and Charlotte's Web ends with the birth of a bunch of baby spiders from an egg sac.
162. Robotnik's red flight suit evokes the iconic red suit Dr Robotnik generally wears in the games.
163. In a deleted scene, Longclaw actually escapes with Sonic to earth, and the duo live together in hiding. In the end, Longclaw still dies before the main action of the story gets going, but she does so of old age, in Sonic's hideout, with Sonic by her side and caring for her. The majority of the clip is unfinished CGI, clearly this idea was scrapped and replaced with the version we got early on. But not too early. Some of the scene looks to be completely done, or very close to it, and it's complete with the version of Sonic that we got in the film, not the earlier version that was met with an outcry from fans. This means this concept wasn't entirely dropped until some time after the redesign took place.
164. A major plot element of the film involves Sonic getting to San Francisco to recover his rings, and being followed and attacked by Robotnik. The choice of San Francisco as a destination/battlefield could be based on the "City Escape" stage from Sonic Adventure 2 (2001); this stage was inspired by San Francisco itself.
165. When Sonic gets a chance to drive as he and Tom flee Robotnik's drone tank, he calls up the Fast and the Furious franchise. "I feel just like Vin Diesel," Sonic says, and echoes Dominic Toretto's refrain throughout the Fast series about how it's all about family.
166. Sonic refers to himself by his famous nickname "The Blue Blur" when talking about teaming up with Tom "Donut Lord" Wachowski for the barfight scene.
167. Sonic's "bucket list" gets crossed off almost entirely at the bar and motel, except for "making a friend". At the climatic battle at Green Hills, Tom admits Sonic was his friend, which ends up rejuvenating Sonic.
168. The Piston Pit slow-mo bar fight scene is clearly a nod to another well known speedster - Quicksilver. In X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), when Quicksilver helps break Magneto out of his cell, he, like Sonic, is moving so fast, he has time to interact with objects and people seemingly frozen in time.
169. At one point Sonic goes from Montana to the Pacific Ocean and back to Montana in about 5 seconds. Based on calculations he can run as fast as 21,000mph.
170. Flossing is a dance move which gained worldwide popularity/notoriety thanks to its appearance in Fortnite. Sonic does it, not once, but twice in the movie in celebration, most notably after the highway chase involving Robotnik.
171. There is a scene where Dr. Robotnik's mini drone cut the top off the truck Sonic and Tom are in. James Marsden (Tom) is also well known for playing Cyclops in the X-Men franchise. In X-Men: The Animated Series: Night of the Sentinels: Part 2 (1992) (which does not involve Marsden) a very angry Wolverine cuts the top off of Cyclops' car after losing a friend in an ambush. He said to Jean Grey before driving off "Tell Cyclops I made him a convertible!"
172. Tom mentions the only app on his phone that didn't come preinstalled is the Olive Garden app. Much later, he receives an Olive Garden giftcard for $50 from Commander Walters, signed Uncle Sam.
173. When Eggman is stuck on the Mushroom planet, he says "I'll be back before Christmas." This could possibly be a reference to Jim Carrey's title role in How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000).
174. At last of the film, we can see Tails who comes through a ring from another place.

Genre

Action,Adventure,Comedy,Sci-Fi

Cast

as Sonic

as Tom

as Dr. Robotnik

as Maddie

as Rachel

as Wade

as Agent Stone

as Major Bennington

as Vice Chairman Walters

as Crazy Carl

as Roadhouse Waitress

as Roadhouse Thug

as Secretary of Homeland Security

as Navy Chief of Staff

as Air Force Chief of Staff

as Army Chief of Staff

as Businessman