And a Lengthy Interview with the Core Team
Earlier today, a video surfaced from this weekend’s MAGfest showing the first trailer of Eddie Lebron’s Sonic fan film. It was recorded off camera, and since then a slightly better version has surfaced.
It comes courtesy of website TaintedReality.net, and following the trailer is a more than 20 minute interview with film director and writer Eddie Lebron and two unnamed co-ops. Lebron talks about his history in fan film making, and how he wishes to raise the bar from his Mega Man project. In it, the trio reveal portions of the film will be shot in the U.S. Virgin Islands, making for a truly tropical environment, and word that human freedom fighters will be in the mix, with plot elements now borrowed from the SatAM television series to accommodate. Also within is Lebron’s personal concession he will not able to please everybody, working in a lengthy reference to the recent green eye debate among the more purist area of fandom.
Take a look and listen, with emphasis on the latter, in the video below. We sent a correspondent to MAGfest as well, and he grabbed a fair bit of concept art which we’ll share shortly. Thanks to Holy Shrimp for sending this in. If you have news to share, be sure to share it with us by clicking News Tips at the top of every page.
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Oh, wow… That looks IMPRESSIVE. Holy crap! And Jaleel White’s still got it!
Forgive me everyone, but
HELLS YEAHHHHHHHHHH!!!
HOLY DOG SHIT JALEEL DOES STILL HAVE IT its way better than smith deep voice
Eat your heart out Aknotholeresident.
…OH MY GOD. FOR ONLY A FEW SECONDS I AM LOVING THIS.
fgjhfnkjhfbnkjhgbnkjjghjb <3 <3 <3
Can't wait! I'm excited like it's a real movie!
Meh. Sort of want.
Am I the only one who isn’t really hyped up about this? ><;
sorry but I guess i'm not a fan of Jaleel's voice for Sonic, nor the fact that the elements being borrowed from a horrid cartoon :l
oh well.
i do support them for making something they love.
The “one bloated eggman” line kinda made me cringe.
His voice seems kinda fine I think though.
The fur is like….realistic? For a second I thought I was looking at a werehog.
The inner-eyes seem kinda small and way too saturated.
Still, it’s probably leaps and bounds better than that Megaman one.
The sound is mind-numbingly terrible on that interview.
It’s unwatchable.
I watched the preview, but couldn’t understand most of what Sonic was saying because my sisters’ puppies were yapping their wittle heads off as usual. I didn’t even TRY to watch the interview because of those little mutts. (Actually, they’re Shorkies, 1/4 Shi Tzu and 3/4 Yorkie, but it’s a heck of a lot easier to just call them mutts.)
Sonic with realistic fur is going to take some getting used to. I’ve imagined a photo-real Sonic for the longest time, but actually SEEING one is a bit of a shock. And it MOVES! And TALKS! And it picks up a power ring, too! (I’m raving. Pay no attention to the girl in front of the curtain.)
I do not see the great thing in his voice. He sounds awfully like Jet the Hawk! But, whatever, Roger’s the true Sonic.
I love the animations, Sonic’s model is pretty good. By looking at the concept art, I mistakened him for Werehog though.
THAT is Sonic’s voice, and it will ALWAYS be Sonic’s voice.
My mistake, my speakers were messing up. I can hear it now.
i’m soooo excited about this!!!!!!!!! i wanna watch it already…
and HOLY CRAP! sonic’s fur looks realistic….i thought he was in his werehog form…XDDD
OFMFGFOGJF NGSIUH HOLY CRAP THIS IS SOOOO FRIGGIN AWESOME!!!
-fangasm,dies-
Funny, how many people think Jaleel’s still got it. I’m definitely not from the camp that thinks he was overrated to begin with – I actually loved him in the cartoons… but the first thing that came to mind when he started talking was “Sad – he has definitely not got it anymore”. His voice didn’t seem very consistent and was definitely lacking in that impetuous “attitude” that once defined it.
I was pretty impressed that they got him to do the voice for this fan film, but considering how unimpressive his lines were in this, I’m no longer quite as thrilled.
On another note, however, the cgi is VERY impressive. I love the more realistic/furry style for some reason, and the animation seems like a much higher quality than what was shown in Mega Man. I am now quite eager to see this film to completion, for a completely different set of reasons.
RIP old school Jaleel’s voice, you will be missed.
I am VERY impressed with this trailer. I was squealing like a FanGirl right from get-go.
I never saw the MegaMan movie, as I don’t play the MegaMan games, but I may now look it up.
And I LOVE Jaleels voice. :3 Its sounds cool, but I still prefer Rodgers. ( Is it just me, or was his mouth not moving…? 0_o)
Did he say shooting in Upstate New York!? that’s where I AM!
Usually, when the topic of fan films come up, I start rolling my eyes.
But this looks –and sounds — awesome.
Go Lebron!
That trailer was AWESOME!!!! It felt like something that you would see in movie previews. And that Sonic design doesn’t look so bad either. Not to mention, I’m SO lovin’ that voice because Jaleel still got it!
Wow, holy snap. I had no idea what I was in for until I saw the trailer.
Lemme tell you, I was blown away by this. I look forward to this film now and can’t wait for it to come out.
Sonic looks a little scruffy
…Why are they calling him Eggman? This is the freedom fighter’s world, it should be Robotnik… imo
I have to agree with ChaoticFox. Jaleel’s voice just doesn’t have the same sense of kick-ass attitude he had so long ago. I’m not very fond of this look of Sonic though. I’ve never been interested with a CGI Sonic to begin with. I probably won’t be looking forward to this.
LOL, what’s up with Sonic’s fur? xD
Pretty excited for this though
@ChaoticFox, McJunior: This could possibly be a result of poor voice direction rather than Jaleel’s vocal chords. I mean, this is Eddie Lebron we’re talking about who directed/written the snooze fest, Megaman. I don’t know about you, but the only saving grace to that film was Wily.
Oh and for those looking at the storyboards of this film in the other article, yes, there are humans (besides Dr. Robotnik) in this film. In fact, Sonic is the only one Mobian/Woodland Critter in this entire flick who belongs to the main cast of the series. No Tails, if you were expecting him.
You can be skeptical of me, but when this film comes in, I’ll be laughing at all of the disappointed fans who expected something great out of this.
LOOOOVVVVEEEEEEEE.(
@ChaoticFox: It’s because for this trailer, they opted for the early 90′s to mature hybrid kind of thing, something that meets in the middle if you will.
@Greg: Ever thought that maybe there’s a reason for Sonic being the only anthro shown in this film? Please don’t criticize this film so harshly as if you just watched it. Remember that this film contains a story SEPARATE from the other universes. It’s starting up its own fan film mythology so to speak.
As for my thoughts, I dig the scruffy rebelling wild child look, and the voice associated with him. Perhaps the fur could use a small trim overall, but I love the patch of scruff on the top of his head.
@SEGAMew: Don’t mind Greg The Cat. He’s the official troll of this film. Just doing his job, is all.
Good or bad, all the feedback is great and welcomed! Thank everyone!
Eddie
@Greg and Mew
I was kind of aware of that from previous articles. My intention wasn’t necessarily to bad mouth Jaleel (I love you forever bro – call me!) so much as point out that the voice acting, regardless of who is to blame for it, feels like a poor match to me and doesn’t really capture the spirit I was hoping for.
This is by far the ugliest Sonic I’ve EVER seen.
WOW(:
I love Sonic. Cant wait. He looks different tho.
Haha oh well
I Don’t care if the movie is terrible or great! whats awesome is that a fan of Sonic is showing his talents along with many others, by bringing Sonic to life! its his project and i feel he is doing an amazing job! The thing is, is that this is a SONIC MOVIE! it may not appeal to all of our tastes, but its the closest thing to Sonic being on the big screen since Sonic the hedgehog : The Movie!! Now i’m not comparing this film to the anime film, but how awesome is it that someone is taking the time to make a CGI animated/ real life Sonic film!
Jaleel’s voice is almost on the dot of the old days, but I don’t mind him one bit in the trailer! I simply can’t wit to see this amazing film finished!
HOLY SHIT I JUST CAME HNNGGGG
JALEEL STILL CAN DO IT. <3
MAKE THIS FILM NOT SUCK I WILL BUY TWENTY COPIES. *w*
Man Jaleel White is still amazing. Excellent voice acting. I’m actually interested in this film now.
Dont forget, this is a bootleg recording, so the audio may be funny. For all we know, Jaleel will sound a million times better in the final thing.
Not trying to be a wise-ass or something, just pointing it out.
Fantastic! I for one, will be anxiously anticipating this film.
Hey guys chill out. Stop saying “That is his voice and always will be” or “*insert name here* is the true Sonic…. Sonic’s voice HAS changed and always will changed. There is no true Sonic and none of them will always be the voice of Sonic.
Secondly, I don’t like the fur. It looks like a mini-werehog as others have said. It’s cool and all, but they shoulda made it sleek back. Why? He’s Sonic. His fur is short and sleek and stays sleek due to running. It doesn’t stick straight out. Even most dogs and cats have sleeker fur than that. I’ve pictured a realistic Sonic still true to his design and this isn’t it. This doesn’t look REAL. It makes it look much more fake and much less Sonic-y. But this is my opinion, not a complaint. It’s just a stupid fan film, which is only cool because of how good it is FOR a fan film.
As for Jaleel’s voice, I find it cool he’s voicing Sonic again. Not his best work as it doesn’t sound very Sonic-y… even his Underground voice was better. But it was cool hearing him say “Eggman” because it’s the Sonic VA you only ever heard say Robotnik. I’m not gonna get into which name is better because they’re both cheesy as hell in their own right and SEGA already compromised into making both names official so DEAL WITH IT. (USUALLY people say the original is better. I guess it’s just because you people heard the American version first… in that right you’re just as bad as you claim “newschoolers” are for merely liking the modern games just cuz they weren’t born early enough for your preference. Who cares? It’s not a JOB. It’s entertainment. They should have to work at it… They like what they like and most newschoolers don’t dislike the older games. And the sane oldschoolers don’t hate on the new games.)
Now back on topic, I hoping to see other characters appear other than just Sonic. Sonic 1 – Sonic & Knuckles would be fitting as a movie I’d say since it’d help provide timing and a good story… PLUS ANGEL freakin ISLAND!
@Yo: You have perfectly valid points there about the voice and the fur =) Sleeking back the fur is definitely an option. Personally I like to view this shaggy scruffy Sonic as a Sonic before he broke the sound barrier, before he spent 20 years chasing after Robotnik to stop his vile schemes. There have been quite a few ideas and examples of how Sonic would look younger. We seen him with brown fur, gap between his eye teeth, or totally different shoes. We haven’t really seen a SEGA Sonic game take on a younger Sonic before he became the true blue hero.
This may be a fan’s interpretation of him rather than from an officially licensed media’s interpretation, but when you think about it, there’s really no strict “wrong” way to show off how Sonic looks, especially when judging them within their own continuity. Brown Sonic makes perfect sense to the readers of the Fleetway Sonic comics because of the way of how the story is written and executed. If a completely brown Sonic whose quills look NOTHING like Sonic at all can make sense to a group of readers, then it’s very possible that a scruffy Sonic in this film can make sense to its watchers. I’m well aware that people may not like brown or the scruffy Sonic, but we all know very well by now that you can never please everyone.
And as for the Robotnik versus Eggman name debate, the name Robotnik debut first, Eggman debut a month later. Neither name is wrong, preference is larger factored by the region you grew up in.
I think it’s nothing short of hilarious when people try to come up with technical explanations for why Sonic is the way he is. Like when everyone tried to speculate on how and when his eyes “turned” green according to the “timeline” for Sonic 4.
Sonic looks fuzzier in this film because they made him that way. It’s a unique art style exclusive to the artists working on this film. You may not like it, and that’s totally fine, but trying to say it makes less “sense” than any other rendition of an BLUE BIPEDAL HEDGEHOG THE SIZE OF A PERSON is just plain ridiculous.
Question.. will that gross chipmunk be in this?
Techniqually Sonic is only 3 feet tall. XP
TSFG, there ARE people in this world who are three feet tall. They’re called… children.
@Sonikku: watch and find out!
Well gotta say when I first took a look at Sonic he reminded of the werehog. Now after looking at for like the tenth time I gotta say it kind of fits him. I like the new style that they gave him for this film. Also Jaleel’s voice I have no problem so no complaints there. Still wondering who Robotnik/Eggman is. :3
This sounds like its going to be a big hit. With people new to the Sonic world and the older members who have been with him since the start. To be frank, I’m kinda new, but I’m a die-hard Sonic fan, and just know that this WILL do him some justice.
Being furry is an interesting touch though. Something I wouldn’t have expected. Can’t wait.
>orchestral theme
i have never understood the use. honestly. he’s a cartoon hedgehog that’s ment to be the embodiment of “awesome”, for christ’s sake. the cheezy rock stuff from the adventures and heroes i could understand. but this? just feels out of place, both here and the games.
>jaleel white
get me a fork to scrape my ears off. couldn’t stand his voice then, can’t do so now.
and that script man.
>seems very dramatic
this looks like it’s trying harder than sonic 06.
damn, i can’t enjoy anything about this series these days.
This film looks amazing for a fan film. I like where the direction is headed, and I like the fur effect on Sonic. I like that they’re going to the Virgin Islands for South Island, and most important to fans, Jaleel White is voicing Sonic, and he’s still got it. Just please don’t make Sonic look stupid. I’m sure he won’t, but who knows.
PLEASE TELL ME IT’S MORE THAN 15 MINUETS LONG!!!!!!
In mid-April, Eddie Lebron and the rest of the crew will film the movie in Puerto Rico for 4 days. And also, for the teaser, they will release one to the public with the current Sonic model and the Work-In-Progress teaser sometime soon so the public can compare both models of Sonic.