Enjoy Tiana S.'s interview with Marlene Sharp about the birth of Sonic the Hedgehog
13Enjoy Tiana S.’s interview with Marlene Sharp (Pink Poodle Productions) about the birth of Sonic the Hedgehog at SEGA. Marlene Sharp is a creative and business-savvy entertainment multi-hyphenate who originally hails from New Orleans but is now a (San Fernando) Valley girl. Firmly ensconced in LA life, Marlene is top dawg at Pink Poodle Productions and Head of IP Strategy and Acquisitions for Rainshine Entertainment. Known and loved in the animation and gaming world she previously worked at Sega of America. Sonic the Hedgehog turns 30 this year on June 23rd and, of course, we all are celebrating the release of his second feature film which is available now in theaters. Thanks to Marlene for telling us stories about Sonic!
Sonic the Hedgehog is the protagonist of the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series published by Sega, as well as numerous spin-off comics, animations, and other media. Sonic is an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who can run at supersonic speeds and curl into a ball, primarily to attack enemies. In most games, Sonic must race through levels, collecting power-up rings and avoiding obstacles and enemies.
Programmer Yuji Naka and artist Naoto Ohshima are credited with creating Sonic. Most of the games are developed by Sonic Team. The original Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) was released to provide Sega with a mascot to rival Nintendo's flagship character Mario. Sonic was redesigned by Yuji Uekawa for Sonic Adventure, with a more mature look designed to appeal to older players.
Sonic is one of the world's best-known video game characters and a gaming icon. His series had sold more than 80 million copies by 2011. In 2005, Sonic was one of the first game character inductees into the Walk of Game alongside Mario, Link and Master Chief.
While Sega was seeking a flagship series to compete with Nintendo's Mario series, several character designs were submitted by the research and development department. Many results came forth from their experiments with character design. Naoto Ohshima took some of these internal designs with him on a trip to New York City and asked random passersby at Central Park their opinions; of the designs, the spiky teal hedgehog, initially codenamed "Mr. Hedgehog” led this informal poll. Ohshima felt that people selected it because it "transcends race and gender and things like that." On return to Japan, Ohshima pitched this to the department, and the hedgehog was ultimately selected as the new mascot.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is available now in theaters, go check it out. https://youtu.be/pehS5EbHnos
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