Mascot Characters: Sonic the Hedgehog

After deciding on a couple of questions to answer in my previous blog post, it is now up to me to begin my research into these areas. My first step is to find relevant examples, from games and beyond (cartoons, movies, advert mascots etc.), of good (influential) mascot characters. I aim to draw light to some more obscure characters as well as highlighting the more popular ones. I also want to find some characters that might not be as good or memorable, why that may be the case and how they could be improved.

To kick things off, it's a popular story that Sonic the Hedgehog is still alive as a series primarily as a result of how good the titular character's design is. Sonic, originally named Mr. Needlemouse, was designed in 1990 by Naoto Ohshima in Sega Japan's office (later to be named Sonic Team) following an in-house competition to create a new mascot character for Sega. His bright blue body was inspired by the signature colour of the Sega brand, while his buckled shoes are inspired in design by Michael Jackson's 'Bad' and the red and white colouring comes from Santa Claus' red coat. The design team also felt that red would look good as the character's legs spin quickly. Sonic's design was originally sharper, he had a human girlfriend named Madonna and he was the front man of a mixed species rock band. (Maybe Sonic Underground wasn't so far-fetched after all!)

While this competition was going on, programmer Yuji Naka was brewing up a game idea that was all about speed. Initially his idea centred around a rabbit character, but as the gameplay speed increased, he decided to partner his game idea with Ohshima's hedgehog character due to the fact a hedgehog would be able to roll into a ball, adding a movement option that gave the character power over his enemies.

Sonic the Hedgehog could have been Sonic the Rabbit, instead the mechanic centred around those long ears was later implemented into Ristar

Since Sonic the Hedgehog was going to be a game all about speed, the name "Mr. Needlemouse" wasn't going to work. Yuji Naka said in an interview that "Because our new character could move really fast on the screen we were looking for a name that suggested speed. One of the designers said 'Supersonic' and the 'Sonic' part stuck."

When this character concept was sent to Sega of America there were a number of tweaks that were made to his design. Firstly, his edges were softened to make him appear less aggressive and mean, his fangs were removed and Sonic's girlfriend and rock band back story were scrapped, this design hoped to paint Sonic in a more fun and mischievous light. Sega of America produced a promotional poster for Sonic The Hedgehog 1 featuring this refined design which caused uproar at Sonic Team. As a result, Madeline Schroeder, product manager for Sonic The Hedgehog at the time, had to fly over to Japan to negotiate and eventually this 'softer' design was agreed upon in hopes that the game would sell well in the West as well as in Japan.

Turns out Amy Rose wasn't the first woman after Sonic's affection

Sonic The Hedgehog was a massive success, a marketing ploy to sell Sega Genesis/Mega Drive systems with a copy of Sonic The Hedgehog, their best selling and most well-received title of the time, (which, then, was unheard of) gave Sega a majority of shares over Nintendo, who had previously been untouched. These humble beginnings, prominent with gambles to ensure the character and game appealed to Eastern and Western audiences, gave way to an unstoppable force in the mascot character world. In 1992, Sonic's Quotient Score - a rating system implemented by Marketing Evaluations, Inc. to track the popularity of cartoon characters, game characters and celebrities in American homes - was higher than that of Mickey Mouse. This means that within 2 years of his conceptualisation, Sonic the Hedgehog had become more popular and recognisable in US households than other popular characters of the time, as well as Mickey Mouse this also included then-rival Super Mario. 

Another revolutionary marketing device that Sega used for Sonic was for the release of Sonic the Hedgehog 2. This was one of the first instances, if not the first instance, of a simultaneous worldwide release - aptly dubbed as "Sonic 2's-day". As a result of his booming popularity, Sonic the Hedgehog became the first video game character to be represented in balloon form at the Macy's annual Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1993. The balloon was only flown a handful of times, due to some minor casualties and the balloon bursting and getting stuck in trees. To highlight his popularity in the early 90s, Sonic also became the namesake of the Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) protein, discovered by Harvard researcher Cliff Tabin and named as such because his kids were playing a lot of Sonic the Hedgehog during research on this protein. 

The Sonic balloon at one of the Macy's annual Thanksgiving Day Parades. (and here's a couple of videos of how his first outing went - 1, 2) His last appearance in the parade was 2013

Classic Sonic, as it is known (before his transition into 3D), was a hugely successful design. Sonic the Hedgehog product manager of the early 90s, Madeline Schroeder, quoted in a documentary that "he has a beautiful simplicity to him... a gorgeous set of colours, the blue with the red tennis shoes... when you see those red tennis shoes you just assume he can run fast, and he did. His spin attack made it appear as though nothing could defeat Sonic the Hedgehog, and then the attitude at the end was just kind of the perfect topping.". Madeline is known throughout the community as "the mother of Sonic", seeing as she handled his original redesign for Western audiences, so naturally she has a positive opinion of the character. 

As well as his striking but simplistic design, Sonic's personality was portrayed in a very strong way despite the character's limited outlets to showcase this personality. Yuji Uekawa, lead designer of Sonic Adventure, reminisced on what made Sonic so interesting to him in his younger days: "Seeing Sonic break the fourth wall and sit there impatient as you're putting the controller down was a fascinating experience for me as a young artist.", this comment is in relation to the idle animation in Sonic the Hedgehog where the character will tap his foot impatiently waiting for the player to resume action. 

Tom Kalinske: "He had a little bit of edginess to him and a little bit of smart-assness to him, if you will, and I think that made him very appealing to kids and teens."

Proceeding to the late 90s, Sonic needed to transition from the 16-bit of the Mega Drive to the shiny new 3D of the Dreamcast. Yuji Uekawa was in charge of redesigning the characters for the upcoming title, Sonic Adventure. Uekawa's primary focus was keeping Sonic cartoon-like, this was achieved through the use of strong and weak line art and more dynamic poses that emphasised Sonic's movement more than his previous design had. Sonic became taller, less spherical and his eyes were coloured green; Uekawa claims this choice was because "he is always seeing these green pastures around him, like in Green Hill Zone" and that he thought it would be nice to reflect that colour in Sonic's eyes.

Takeshi Iizuka, lead designer on Sonic Adventure and current head of Sonic Team, felt that Sonic's transition from 2D to 3D was the most important step for him as a character. At an interview for Sonic's 20th annivesary, Iizuka mentioned that the inclusion of a voice and Uekawa's redesign both allow the character to emote more clearly, which likely contributed to Sonic being able to survive and remain popular even after two decades. 

Sonic Adventure had a mediocre reception, Sonic himself was probably the best thing about the game (as well as that kickin' soundtrack!) 

After a number of games ranging everywhere from bad, to mediocre and the occasional pretty positive experience, Sega turned to Big Red Button in 2014 to develop a new Sonic game, exclusive to the Nintendo Wii U. With this game, director Bob Rafei felt it would be important to redesign Sonic and his friends because "If you stay the same, I believe you stagnate, and that's a slow death", he also commended Sega for allowing his team to change the direction of character designs that were so dear to the company. Redesigning Sonic turned out not to be an easy task, however, due to Eastern and Western cultural differences (like how in the East, there's a greater desire to stick to the roots of the character) and striking a balance between what could and couldn't be changed.

Takeshi Iizuka guided Big Red Button, saying that he always has to consider the "ghosts of Sonic" when there’s a discussion about changing the themes or style of the franchise. What this means is that the character can't be too different, he must still be recognisable as Sonic the Hedgehog. Bob Rafei said that there were often great difficulties in understanding what exactly was and wasn't working for Sega. Big Red Button also spent a lot of time on things such as Sonic’s eyes and proportions in order to make them fit Sonic Team’s vision.

Most notably, Sonic is now wearing more than gloves and tennis shoes. Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric wasn't well received, however a sequel and TV series were still made and well received due to the popularity of the characters. The TV show even becomes self-aware and self-deprecating at times. (example)

It's fascinating that the Sonic series has kept afloat, even with a number of mediocre to downright bad games within it. (The likes of the 2006 reboot, 'Sonic the Hedgehog', for example.) I feel a big part of this is nostalgia, it's a common thought among ex-Sega employees that Sonic's "classic" era was his high point, ending around the release of Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Al Nelson, the director of marketing for Sonic the Hedgehog in the early 90s, reminisces on how Sonic was more popular than the likes of Mickey Mouse for a short time and how he feels that Sonic is no longer the "cool character" that had been established by himself, Sega of America and Sonic Team at the time. He likens Sonic and his games, instead, to an actor starring in B-movies. Even if his games aren't the same as they used to be, Sonic is still a popular icon in the gaming industry, "I still think there’s a love and affection for Sonic," Nilsen claimed, "Fans may have abandoned the games, but they haven’t abandoned the character."

It could be said, in stark contrast to Takeshi Iizuka's priority on Sonic having a voice, that Sonic's attitude became more of an attitude problem with the transition from 2D to 3D. Sonic was initially a competitor to Super Mario, sharing a fairly innocent persona as well as a small, chubby look. As Sonic evolved, he became more of a typical vision of 90s/2000s youth rebellion coupled with a snarky attitude, which took him further away from the 'classic' Sonic whose primary trait was impatience. The rebellious character falls short of Mario as it has less longevity from a marketing standpoint; disdain edginess wears thin very quickly, while Mario's nice-guy demeanour - bland as it might be - works, and Nintendo knows it. Sega have taken this personality almost to the point of parody with more recent instalments to the Sonic franchise, that is until they took on Christian Whitehead and co's pitch for Sonic Mania, a revival of the classic Sonic era. Sonic Mania released and was extremely well received. This game celebrated a Sonic before the "too cool for school" personality, a less obnoxious, voiceless Sonic - a move which really paid off. 

The intro animation to Sonic Mania, directed by Tyson Hesse (one of the artists from the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series), proves that a silent cast can still be brimming with personality

Sonic has had a massive cultural impact in the East and the West over the decades; he's had TV shows, a long-running comic book series and enough merchandise to sink a whole battalion of ships. From being a mascot contest winner to the rocky road that his game franchise has been, it's Sonic's character design and the initial revolutionary marketing of his game debut that have been a huge part in keeping the series alive. There will always be a love and a recognition for Sonic the Hedgehog, there is even an upcoming 3D-live action hybrid movie in the works to celebrate the character and franchise.

Takeshi Iizuka says that he ideally wants Sonic to be a character who is loved by people who play games and people who don't. To achieve this, Sonic Team needs to keep the franchise expanding by marketing and pushing Sonic into other mediums, as well as expanding on the types of games Sonic appears in to keep things fresh for veteran players and casual fans alike. However, even through changes and iterations, it's important to keep the nostalgia of the character so that fans will always remember him as being a part of their childhood.

Takeshi Iizuka: "I want to make him a character who continues to be iconic and remains relevant as one of the first cool characters a child might see."

References:
https://goo.gl/MZf6Yk - Sega Visions (October 1992)
https://goo.gl/4K42az - Kennedy, S. (August 2004)
https://goo.gl/VD48pY - Yarris, L. (November 2004)
https://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=9FDFDA14B6D95A9E - GameTap (February 2009)
https://goo.gl/K6M3JZ - Sheffield, B. (December 2009)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpFIfpbZwK0 - Caulfield, A. & Caulfield, N. (2011)
https://goo.gl/sW21zd - Crowley, C. F. (February 2012)
https://goo.gl/KuqcwL - Hester, B. (February 2016)
https://goo.gl/GKMraz - Rahming, A. K. (September 2016)
https://goo.gl/azRRZu - Evans-Thirlwell, E. (August 2017)