After 6 months of waiting, the new Sonic the Hedgehog trailer is finally out and has received monumental praise from critics and fans of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. The Sonic the Hedgehog trailer has gained 23 million views and a like ratio of 895,000. With the amazing reception, the film has gathered, the director himself, Jeff Fowler, has directly stated, “Thank you for the last 24 hours Sonic fans… it’s been EXTRAORDINARY.”

The upcoming Sonic The Hedgehog movie was met with bitter critics, YouTube commentators, and angry Sonic Fans that often made fun of the character’s mildly exaggerated human teeth, ruffled texture, and small eyes, but Fowler has followed through with his promise of redesigning Sonic after the extreme backlash.  The cry to fix this was so far-reaching that Paramount’s official YouTube channel has deleted the original trailer, though the trailer can still be found online easily. Although Paramount and Sega will lose financial gains for implementing the redesign Fowler addressed fans, “the message is loud and clear.”

Critics and fans have praised the new version of the film, but even more important to fans were the attention their comments and feedback gave. Proving, that with enough attention to an issue, the film industry actually has the heart and mindset to go back into a film and address the public issues. Fowler heard angry Sonic fans and reacted–that’s dedication and loyalty. Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore said, “This demonstrates the power of social media and the value it can bring to filmmakers and studios in terms of providing direct feedback from the fans who, at the end of the day, are the folks you ultimately want to please.”

The fact that we can effect change into a ubiquitous film industry of ads, marketing, and ocean of social media is mind-boggling. According to CNBC reporter, Sarah Whitten, “The filming budget for “Sonic” is estimated to be around $90 million, but going back and changing the CGI animation could be quite costly for the production company.”

If we can achieve the biggest reverse card in cinema history, it is very much possible other films can admire Sonic The Hedgehog for not being afraid to critique itself and to fix itself to something better than ever before. I have to applaud Fowler, Paramount, and Sega for using social media as a focus group rather than just a potential box-office gain to their advantage.

Sonic The Hedgehog releases in theaters on Valentine’s Day, Feb 14, 2020. Now fans really can show their LOVE for Sonic the Hedgehog.