Today, the first trailer for A Minecraft Movie dropped. My personal reaction, as well as the reaction of a fair chunk of Twitter/X? “Boy, I sure am excited for Sonic the Hedgehog 3.”
The trailer overall gave off the unmistakable whiff of “basic, safe Hollywood film,” which is to say that it doesn’t really feel like anything—except for the sheep, which is the aspect of the trailer drawing the most attention from social media. Unfortunately for Warner Bros., the attention, for the most part, is not positive.
Ironically, people’s reaction to the sheep recalls reactions to the very first Sonic the Hedgehog trailer back in 2019. Now, back in 2024, the comparisons between the lukewarm-at-best reception to the first trailer for A Minecraft Film and the ridiculously hyped reactions towards the first trailer for Sonic 3 stand in very stark contrast.
The many lessons of Ugly Sonic
Recall, if you can bear to, the year 2019. Specifically, when the first trailer for the first Sonic the Hedgehog film came out. Back then, Sonic had horrifying teeth and tiny eyes. It was not right, and fans were upset—so upset that Paramount reanimated the film with a newly redesigned Sonic.
Listening to the fans was the right move, and the film was much better off for it. But also: never forget to spare a thought for all the animators who likely had to go through crunch-time hell to make that happen for us.
The much-underrated Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers film gave a cameo to this version of Sonic, dubbing him “Ugly Sonic” and showing him signing autographs on the convention circuit. The teeth were the main sin of Ugly Sonic. The horrifying human teeth.
Apparently, the team behind Warner Bros.’ upcoming A Minecraft Movie did not get this memo, because they gave the Minecraft sheep horrifying teeth. Granted, it seems that a central aspect of the film is the uncanny valley between the blockiness of the Minecraft world and our own. But it’s incredibly hard to tell if the sheep’s creepiness is fully intentional.
Perhaps it’s unfair to compare A Minecraft Movie to Sonic the Hedgehog 3, the latter of which has had the incredible benefit of fine-tuning its craft over two previous films. But the two trailers were released only a week apart, and as the two major Hollywood video game adaptation films on the docket, the difference in reception is significant.
I saw excitement for the Sonic 3 trailer coming from people who showed minimal-to-no interest in the first two films. By contrast, even Minecraft fans seem underwhelmed.
On the bright side, they are making an animated Minecraft series for Netflix. Maybe that’s where our hopes should lie. In the meantime—goddamn, I’m so excited for Sonic 3.
Published: Sep 4, 2024 05:26 pm