The director of Inspector Pikachu questions about the negative reactions of Sonic

An adaptation of video games meant dressing up attractive actors with iconic costumes and trying to turn 20 hours of play into a 90-minute movie. It did not really work. Now, video game adaptations are based more on the CGI versions of favorite childhood characters, both realistic and terrifying or adorable. That's the difference between Angelina Jolie and Lara Croft in tomb Raider and recent movies like rampage.

Detective Pikachu Director Rob Letterman knows how important it is to ensure the adaptation of 2D characters to CGI to ensure the presence of long-time fans. Doing things right is commendable for the thoughtful reworking of a character like Pikachu or Bulbasaur. To be wrong, unfortunately, leads to the Sonic the hedgehog fiasco.

The edge caught Letterman shortly after the news announcement Sonic the hedgehog Director Jeff Fowler has announced that Sonic will be re-tuned to the live adaptation of Paramount, as a result of violent online reactions. Fowler did not suggest if the release date of the film would be postponed to reflect the redesign.

Paramount Pictures

Letterman said The edge he "has just heard of the Sonic He did not envy the position of Fowler and Paramount. Deciding to change the design of the main character a few months before its planned release was probably not easy, said Letterman. Although he could not speak to the Fowler or Paramount process to rework Sonic's appearance, he did suggest how impossible it would have been for his Detective Pikachu team to take such a dramatic venture.

"There is no good or bad way to make one of these films," says Letterman. "It would be very difficult for us to change anything. We spent a year designing all the characters before shooting so that we could understand everything. If we were far from an inch on Pikachu, [actor] Judge Smith's performance would go right out the window. For us it would have been impossible – but that does not mean they can not do it. I would not want to be in their shoes, they are in a difficult situation. "

To say that Letterman and his team were obsessed with the desire to do justice to Ken Sugimori's original pokemon artwork is a euphemism. They knew Detective Pikachu had to do more than honor the creatures that have become a global phenomenon over the last three decades; they had to treat each drawing with the same respect as the human actors.

The design team behind Sonic the hedgehog was not so lucky. Whereas the adaptations of Pikachu and Psyduck in Detective Pikachu Sonic's bizarre appearance has sown fear in the hearts of blue hedgehog heroes. His lean, human legs combined with a mouthful of troubling teeth, juxtaposed with his extraterrestrial physique, are uncomfortable to see. This also raises the question: how can one film seem to do so well, while another does it undeniably wrong?

Letterman attributes his design decisions to spend two years studying different animal designs and collaborating with the team of designers from the Pokemon Society in Japan to make sure everything works.

"We have studied a lot of animals, their behavior and their interactions to make sure everything goes well," says Letterman. "Bulldogs, in particular, for Bulbasaur and his action in pack or how he should catch your attention. We tried to give everything to life with an extraordinary amount of craftsmanship.

It worked. Detective Pikachu could have its flaws, but its pokemon representation is one of its greatest assets.