Mickey Mouse + Felix the Cat = Sonic
- Thread starter DonMigs85
- Start date
His design was heavily influenced by vintage American Cartoon characters in general. They wanted designs that would appeal to the western audience.
I think Mickey and Felix are mentioned mostly because they were the biggest influence.
DonMigs85
Member
There were tons of them too. What I remember:
Mr. Nutz
Rocky Rodent
Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel
Aero the Acro-bat
Bubsy
Radical Rex
Bravo.
Zool
Jazz Jackrabbit
Sparkster
Gex
Crash Bandicoot
we could be here all night if we tried
MisterGrey3000
Member
It's kind of funny how Adventure Sonic's design ended up looking more dated than the one that was based off of early 20th century cartoon characters.
Did Sonic Team ever mention why they drastically redesigned the character?
Did Sonic Team ever mention why they drastically redesigned the character?
I dont know about that. The whole attitude thing was pretty big in the 80s. It was everywhere, and I'm not sure you can attribute it to sonic. He wasn't anywhere NEAR that big in the US, I think its more likely that Sonic was born from that trend than the other way around. I dunno though.
It was a period Naoto Oshima went through.
That's one of Oshima's first attempts, it's sort of a bridge between classic Sonic and Adventure Sonic.
Sonic was enormous in the US from 1991 to about 1994. I mean he was a phenomenon. They named genes after him. He was the first video game character in a macy's float. They took a poll of grade school children in 1993 and found that more kids knew who sonic was than either Mario or Mickey Mouse.
I think you're also misremembering the 'tude period. It began mainly in 89-90 and heavily influenced Sonic's design. However, Sonic is what really made the mascot with 'tude fad kick off.
I don't know if they ever stated why but it's obvious they did it to try to keep him cool. Sonic's brotitude is important to his character and he needs a design that fits and his old design from the 90's does not. By today's standard the 90's design is considered cute by most and that's the antithesis of cool.
I like the one where Sonic leaves Tails out in the cold
tails stay losin
Watch Da Birdie
I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
Nah, Sonic is Santa Claus + Michael Jackson + Bill Clinton.
Not even lying.
Not even lying.
Winterfang
Banned
I love everything about this, is almost as good as the one when Sonic is waiting for a bus.
Edit: What kind of coloring technique is that? Airbrush?
I doubt anybody in Japan knew who Bill Clinton was in 1990. I doubt many in America knew who Bill Clinton was, either.
lmfao
He was that cool sax player right? Yeah, I think I remember seeing him in the opening theme song to Animaniacs.
He was that cool sax player right? Yeah, I think I remember seeing him in the opening theme song to Animaniacs.
I think he once had an affair with the president's secretary
sixteen-bit
Member
It was a period Naoto Oshima went through.
That's one of Oshima's first attempts, it's sort of a bridge between classic Sonic and Adventure Sonic.
the legs are hilarious
This is a great first post and avatar quote. :lol :lol
Jeebus bless this place.
Mhm. I still remember it all when I was younger.
SoulUnison
Banned
Oh god, I thought that was some kind of tail!
MisterGrey3000
Member
It was a period Naoto Oshima went through.
That's one of Oshima's first attempts, it's sort of a bridge between classic Sonic and Adventure Sonic.
Lol, everything about that drawing is crazy looking; it looks like a parody. I'm dying over here hahaha!
I get where you're coming from.
However, in today's era it seems like classic Sonic would actually be more hip than ever. Just take a look at the new Mickey Shorts by Paul Rudish, and most modern American cartoons. Cute designs are all the rage right now. Tbh...they always were.
MisterGrey3000 said:
It goes in cycles. Remember when they brought back Mickey's classic look the first time? Then they redesigned him for the 80's? Then they brought back his old design for the 90's? Then a new design for the 2000's? Now here we are back again with his old designs?
Cute is cool until it isn't, then it goes away for a while then comes back. Like all fashion, actually.
Watch Da Birdie
I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
I like the one where Sonic leaves Tails out in the cold
Sonic Gems had a bunch of nice bits of artwork.
They took the attitude thing overboard after that redesign.
Yes, I'm aware of the source of the rumor. It's not true. Oshima's own words:
The Micahel Jackson bit is true. The Santa bit is true. The bill Clinton bit is not. It's one of those enduring rumors that isn't true.
I don't doubt that, maybe, later on, when Naka's team was in America (which coincided with Clinton's first term) that they eventually adopted Clinton's attitude into his design. But no, he was not inspired by Bill Clinton originally. Sonic was designed in 1990. No way did anybody know who bill clinton was outside of Arkansas.
Watch Da Birdie
I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
The video I posted has the man himself directly saying how he saw Bill Clinton on television and it inspired Sonic's attitude. Your quote doesn't cancel that out since it's only talking about the shoes.
Also, Sonic Team frequently gets bits of their own history wrong. Listen to the way they deny Jackson ever had any involvement in Sonic 3, for example.
Watch Da Birdie
I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
Perhaps, but if we have a video of the designer saying Bill Clinton inspired him, I think it's a bit odd to claim that's just a rumor.
Your video has no real context for the question, however. We don't know what they asked Oshima, and Oshima doesn't provide clarification.
Did Oshima mean Sonic's character eventually incorporated the attitude of Bill Clinton? Does Oshima mean he saw him when he was creating Sonic conceptually? That's all presuming a lot.
All one has to do is think logically about the comment, however. Bill Clinton wasn't all over TV in 1990.
JordanN
Banned
I agree. I always love simple character designs and I love that Mickey design. It's a simple throwback to old but with new twists. That kind of style of art can be very flexible with a range of emotion, and be bouncy and stretchy for those hyperactive scenes.
It's why I still love older cartoons like Tom & Jerry, Looney tunes, Mickey Mouse, and a whole lot more. Tom & Jerry especially. No form of dialogue but a range of emotion.
EmptySpace
Banned
felix the cat = doraemon
The Broken Ska Record
Member
I had a whole bunch of them on an old Sonic & Knuckles PC CD-ROM. It was for a Sonic screensaver, but there were some really awesome pictures.
Watch Da Birdie
I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
And Astro Boy = Mega Man.
I remember seeing a claim Capcom basically wanted to make an Astro Boy game but lost the license, but not sure if that's true or if it's simply the common practice of 80's games borrowing heavily from pop-culture.
Donkey Kong?
Or are you referring to game quality?
What the fuck?
Squitter's the best animal buddy. How can you hate a spider decked out in sneakers?
Black Door
Banned
http://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?showtopic=25575&st=0
Here's an entire massive thread of old Sonic concept/promo art
Here's an entire massive thread of old Sonic concept/promo art
As stated above, yes, classic cartoons have the best designs. I'll say the same for some old video game characters too.
Even distribution of mass and great use of shapes, easily distinguishable silhouette, limited amount of primary colors, simplistic, and a design that opens its doors for flexibility. If I had to name a modern cartoon that we will look back and remember for its characters, it would probably be Spongebob. Show had ton of great memorable characters with great design.
In Sonic's case they got lucky with some stuff. He was supposed to be more "edgy" than what we ended up with, but SEGA of America's marketing team slammed the breaks and tweaked his design some. What is funny is that we got an uglier Sonic on our box art.
I was never a fan of Modern Sonic's design until Unleashed, and onward. He looks great in Smash, btw.
Yeah, I really liked the style they used back then.
Even distribution of mass and great use of shapes, easily distinguishable silhouette, limited amount of primary colors, simplistic, and a design that opens its doors for flexibility. If I had to name a modern cartoon that we will look back and remember for its characters, it would probably be Spongebob. Show had ton of great memorable characters with great design.
In Sonic's case they got lucky with some stuff. He was supposed to be more "edgy" than what we ended up with, but SEGA of America's marketing team slammed the breaks and tweaked his design some. What is funny is that we got an uglier Sonic on our box art.
I was never a fan of Modern Sonic's design until Unleashed, and onward. He looks great in Smash, btw.
Yeah, I really liked the style they used back then.
It was a period Naoto Oshima went through.
That's one of Oshima's first attempts, it's sort of a bridge between classic Sonic and Adventure Sonic.
Sonic was enormous in the US from 1991 to about 1994. I mean he was a phenomenon. They named genes after him. He was the first video game character in a macy's float. They took a poll of grade school children in 1993 and found that more kids knew who sonic was than either Mario or Mickey Mouse.
I think you're also misremembering the 'tude period. It began mainly in 89-90 and heavily influenced Sonic's design. However, Sonic is what really made the mascot with 'tude fad kick off.
You can also see a half way point in the JP Saturn version of 3D Blast/Flickies' Island
The Canadian Sonic 1 while nothing more than a cheap cover swap of the EU Mega Drive original (even says Mega Drive on the bottom), does away with American Sonic.
And then there was Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, that was an obvious homage to those old American cartoons (although debatable if it was successful or not)
You can also see a half way point in the JP Saturn version of 3D Blast/Flickies' Island
The Saturn version of 3D Blast/Flicky's Island released after Sonic Adventure. This isn't really a half way point, more like just more Adventure-style art work.
I was actually going to edit my post, but figured by the time I did, someone would have already commented on that fact. Thanks for setting that straight.
Oh yeah, I forgot about this. I was being too harsh on SEGA of America. The very original Sonic had fangs, a girlfriend, and played in a rock band.
SonicMegaDrive
Member
I think I realized this even from the first time I saw a picture of Sonic in an issue of EGM.
Would not buy.
Was never really a fan of this design. Casshern has also inspired various things across the Mega Man series.