The Complete History of Sonic the Hedgehog

In the height of the old school console wars, Sega staked out its territory with a lovable little blue hedgehog named Sonic. The Sega Genesis was launched in 1988; within a few years Sonic became Sega’s mascot. Pretty soon there were Sonic cartoons, Sonic merch, and an endless series of Sonic games across a variety of consoles. Years later, Paramount decided to make a live-action Sonic the Hedgehog movie, and to change the beloved, internationally iconic design of the character and make their own look for Sonic. The result? A design so reviled that they had to postpone the entire film and rework Sonic so he more closely aligned with the traditional hedgehog from the Genesis games.

Our latest video explores the long, twisty, and complicated history of Sonic the Hedgehog from his initial concept all the way through his popular movie franchise. This video is over 100 minutes long, and includes extensive interviews with several members of the Sonic creative team; if you ever wanted to know anything about that chili dog-loving speedster, this is for you. Watch the full history of Sonic below:

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If you liked that video about the complete history of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, check out more of our videos below, including our breakdown of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and its tease for a fourth film, our full recap of the Sonic movie series and Knuckles TV series, and Sonic star Ben Schwartz getting roasted by two kid interviewers. Plus, there’s tons more over at ScreenCrush’s YouTube channel. Be sure to subscribe to catch all our future episodes. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is in theaters now.