Tim Burton's Sonic

Tim Burton's Sonic is a 2023 stop-motion animated action-adventure, science-fantasy film. It's based on the video game series of the same name by Sega, which features an original story not based on any of the games or taking place within the same universe as the games; instead it is billed as a film that characters within the main Sonic the Hedgehog multiverse have watched, in which Sonic was once a human before he became a hedgehog. The film was directed by both Tim Burton and Mike Johnson, co-written by John August and Pat Casey, produced by Galyn Susman and Allison Abbate, and stars Finn Wolfhard as the titular character, alongside Richard E. Grant as the main villain, Dr. Robotnik.

Tim Burton's Sonic tells the story of a high school student who becomes a blue hedgehog with supersonic speed from a magical hedgehog artifact and gets engaged in a conflict with a mad scientist who's plotting for world dominance. The concept of a human Sonic was introduced when it was used in TGS (Tokyo Game Show 2001). After finishing working on the first season of Wednesday on Netflix, Burton pitched the idea of making a original story about Sonic the Hedgehog, with the animators giving the film a "cinematic" look.

The film premiered and released on December 18, 2023. It received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for its animation, voice acting, plot, storyline, darker tone and entertainment value.

Plot
In Green Hills, California, Cillian Darcy has an ordinary life. He lives with his abusive father and six older brothers. He had friends that he could trust, but they ditched him because someone started a rumor about him, and for that, his girlfriend, Emily Pond, was forced by her parents to stop seeing Cillian after he made a fool of himself in front of them.

When Cillian discovers that Emily starts hanging around with a new group of people from a cult called the Centre, he decides to leave town where he discovers an odd/supernatural/curiosity store owned by a mysterious owner and caretaker Dr. Beaumont. He discovers a collection of animal statues and decides to buy a hedgehog. Out on a two-lane country road, Cillian enjoys riding out on a motorbike and enjoys his road trip. He sees the passenger in the truck reach for a shotgun, saying he will scare him. As they pass him, the passenger attempts to fire, but fails. The truck passes Cillian who stops, and rides towards them. He then rides down the road towards the pickup as it makes a U-turn. Passing in the opposite direction, the passenger fires the shotgun again, this time through the driver's-side window. Cillian's riderless motorcycle flies through the air and comes apart before landing and becoming engulfed in flames. When the hedgehog statue in his jacket begins to glow blue, Cillian manages to stand up and catch up with the passenger.

Cillian runs pretty fast and attacks the passenger as payback for blowing up his motorcycle. When the weather changes as the rain becomes to pour down, Cillian passes out on the middle of the road in exhaustion as the hedgehog statue glows blue in his jacket.

Cast

 * Finn Wolfhard as Cillian Darcy/Sonic the Hedgehog, a high school outcast who was picked on by his father, six older brothers, and peers. As a seventh son of a seventh son, he bonded with a mystical hedgehog statue and became an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog with supersonic speed.
 * Jason Issacs as Dr. Beaumont, a man who is the caretaker and owner of an odds/supernatural/curiosity store. He happens to be a sorcerer who has been watching Cillian since he was young. He eventually becomes a mentor for Cillian.
 * Emma Myers as Emily Pond/Amy Rose, Cillian's upperclass girlfriend who bonded with a mystical pink hedgehog statue and becamean anthropomorphic pink hedgehog.
 * Richard E. Grant as Cillian Darcy/Dr. Ivo Gerald Robotnik, a dastardly mad scientist who turns out to be an elderly, nihilistic version of Cillian from an alternate timeline, but the conflict with the blue hedgehog would soon lead Robotnik to become the arch-nemesis of Sonic.
 * Mike Pollock appears as Robo-Robotnik, the robotic version of Robotnik. In the post-credits scene, he transported his consciousness into a more advanced body with a new name: Dr. Eggman. Pollock is the only voice actor to reprise the role from the video games.
 * Johnny Depp as Philip Mack, the leader of the Centre, a cult that Emily Pond joined.
 * Liev Schreiber as Mr. Darcy, Cillian's abusive father, who is the founder of Darcy Industries.
 * Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Darcy, Cillian's mother who abandoned him when he was eleven
 * Logan Lerman as Sean Darcy
 * Devon Werkheiser as Ian Darcy
 * Noah Centineo as Dylan Darcy
 * Austin Abrams as Rex Darcy
 * Joel Courtney as Alex Darcy
 * Chandler Riggs as Randy Darcy
 * TBA as Jason Vernon
 * TBA as Max Jones
 * TBA as Michael Boyce
 * TBA as Melody Barnes
 * TBA as Lindsay Watson
 * TBA as Rebecca Cohn
 * TBA as Mikey Greenberg

Development
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Casting
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Animation
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Music
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Release
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Home media
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Box office
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Critical response
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