How Sonic the Hedgehog 3 highlights the importance of voice acting
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How Sonic the Hedgehog 3 highlights the importance of voice acting

Posted on by Amelia Pressman

We all know what happens when voice acting goes wrong. There’s a reason your brain still reads “That’s me, Mario!” with Charles Martinet’s legendary voice, not what Chris Pratt does (or doesn’t do) in The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog family films play the same adaptation game, but avoid the same mistakes when it comes to casting gimmicks that don’t serve the role.

When casting an animated film revolves around the human personalities behind the characters, the magic necessary to transport the audience to a new place is lost. Don’t get me wrong: Ben Schwartz, Idris Elba and Keanu Reeves are all Hollywood stars – but there’s one key difference. Schwartz steps into Sonic’s fur and allows the hedgehog to take control, drawing the audience’s attention to his artistry without putting a distracting spotlight on the artist himself. The same goes for Reeve and Elba, who disappear behind Shadow and Knuckles.

That’s the problem with star stunt casting in animated films and why it should be avoided – you’re sacrificing quality for a (hopefully) well-rehearsed cheat code.

Everyone’s favorite Parks and Recreation brat isn’t just Ben Schwartz, who struggles through Sonic’s dialogue. The actor aims to honor Sonic’s voice in previous SEGA video games while creating a more youthful interpretation of the character. There’s an art to Schwartz’s voice acting and acknowledgment of Sonic’s previous iterations. Like Mario, Sonic’s voice appears in television shows and video games as speech became more than 8-bit garble or speech synthesis. Why would you want to delete all that history and relationships?

The difference in quality between The Super Mario Bros. Movie and the Sonic the Hedgehog film series highlights the stark contrast between forgettable and forgettable revisions. Universal and Illumination’s mushroom-eating adaptation relies on the aforementioned celebrity stunt casting – a cold and transactional method designed to maximize profits at all costs. Sonic the Hedgehog invests in transformative voice acting that focuses not on who is behind the pixelated shots, but on the characters on screen. It’s the job of an animated film to immerse the audience in fantastical worlds, which the hybrid live-action Sonic films succeed in doing, be it in the fictional city of Green Hills, in present-day Tokyo or on a digitized mushroom planet. Because regardless of the setting, Schwartz and Co. want you to believe that Sonic, Tails and the whole gang are real. You don’t want the loan yourself.

The Super Mario Bros. movie features a star-studded cast, but what do they bring to their character personalities? Jack Black grumbles and sings like a serviceable Bowser (Black himself is a cartoon character, so you can tell), but even impressionist Keegan-Michael Key’s “Toad” is strangely flat. Luigi sounds like Charlie Day but a little New Yorker, Donkey Kong is the straight-laced Seth Rogen, Princess Peach is an unchanged Anya Taylor-Joy – there is no passion behind the vocal development. It’s the equivalent of dialogue cosplay when purchased from Temu, like slapping on a novelty mustache on Chris Pratt while he’s holding a plunger.

Meanwhile, Ben Schwartz has a tight-lipped saying that fits Sonic’s hyperspeed lifestyle. Schwartz can be hilarious when Sonic is at his best in slow-motion action scenes. Schwartz’s vocal performance has a depth that expresses the values ​​of professional voice actors, which is infinitely more difficult than it looks. You read lines from scripts in quiet isolation, unable to interact with co-stars who share scenes with your pixelated and dubbed character – and yet Schwartz makes it look easy. Sonic never feels out of place next to James Marsten or Jim Carrey, as Schwartz’s range, through tone alone, reaches more dimensions than live-action actors capitalizing on all their theatrical resources.

What’s distracting and frustrating about “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” is the fact that all of the film’s voices have countless reference points that the studio has no desire to duplicate or reward. When novels or comics are made into films, there is freedom to cast without direct audible comparisons. But a video game series with hours of lectures from voice actors still willing to roleplay? Not only is it disrespectful to the artists who have mastered their craft and helped build a studio’s brand, but it also distracts from the fan base’s point of view. Slaslfilm’s BJ Colangelo makes a compelling case to “stop messing with old characters,” and she’s right.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 takes its reverence for its source material a step further by introducing beloved animal friends Miles “Tails” Prower and Knuckles the Echidna. Now Tails has one of the more unique voices in the Sonic universe – so Paramount went straight to the source and hired Tails’ voice actress, Colleen O’Shaughnessey, since 2010. Knuckles eventually went to Idris Elba, although not for stunt casting. Elba’s interpretation of Knuckles understands the combat-oriented character, reflecting his Drax-like barbaric mannerisms with the gruff warrior tone. There’s even a video of Elba wearing personalized Knuckles gloves during recording sessions so he can disappear into character, making us forget that there’s an English guy sitting in a box reading lines somewhere.

Then there’s the casting of Keanu Reeve as Shadow in Sonic The Hedgehog 3. A handful of voice actors have interpreted Shadow as the villain and anti-hero that Reeves turns into his John Wickian hedgehog. You can hear Reeves in Shadow’s bluntness and grittiness, but there’s a deeper parallel. The story of Shadow is a tale of coldness and tragedy through GUN, which Reeves handles with empathy. Reeves himself has faced unimaginable hardships throughout his life, creating a sympathetic bond between actor and character. Keanu Reeves doesn’t play Shadow the Hedgehog, he is Shadow the Hedgehog, and the parallels between actor and character help develop a well-rounded alien who is himself on screen and not the man behind the words (even if he is the same way). sounds like him). ).

Each actor’s connection to their colorful counterparts is the secret that sets Paramount’s Sonic franchise apart from other video game adaptations. The Super Mario Bros. movie sold thanks to Chris Pratt, Jack Black and the entire ensemble cast. Sonic the Hedgehog has cast equally impressive stars, but these films aren’t about Keanu Reeves or Idris Elba. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Shadow are the stars – the characters we talk about after the credits roll.

If you watch Sonic the Hedgehog after or before the Super Mario Bros. movie, the celebrity stunt casting debate falls apart. As an Italian, I laughed when Chris Pratt was announced as Mario, but kept an open mind, only to be proven wrong. As a Sonic fan, seeing those nightmarish first versions of Sonic with teeth made me even more nervous – once again proving me wrong. Paramount’s choice of voice actors has been a masterpiece so far, endearing these films to Sonic fans rather than displacing them. Let’s give credit where it’s due – the amazing voice actors who selflessly bring Sonic and his friends to life on the big screen.