Ugly Sonic is back to haunt us in Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers

I’m still having nightmares about those tiny teeth

Who could forget ugly Sonic? After his horrifying design was announced to the world with a poster for the live-action Sonic the Hedgehog movie, he became one of the biggest memes of 2019. Fans, myself included, were disgusted by how human-like he was, especially when it came to his hands, eyes, and teeth. Following the tidal wave of backlash online, the studio finally decided to completely revamp Sonic’s design for the live-action movie, and it actually worked out for the better. But it seems that no one has forgotten, and certainly not forgiven.

So when the new Disney+ movie Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers featured a main plot thread of a wide variety of animated characters living alongside humans a la Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, the film’s director, Akiva Schaffer (of Lonely Island fame), told Polygon that he saw his opportunity and took it. That’s right, he fought tooth and nail to get Ugly Sonic in the movie, and apparently it took quite a bit of finessing from the studio’s lawyers to get the licensing all in order.

A video has surfaced online of Ugly Sonic in action — the scene features him manning a booth at a fan convention, and discussing newfound opportunities for his career that have arisen from his notoriety online.

The best part? Ugly Sonic is voiced by none other than Tim Robinson of I Think You Should Leave, and I honestly couldn’t think of anyone better suited for the role. Robinson is able to achieve just the right level of smarminess for the character, and I have to admit it does make me want to see more of him. I think it’s the fringe suede jacket that seals it for me.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a meme become cemented in pop culture history in the past few years — after joke screenshots of Matthew Lillard doing interviews about his character Shaggy for the live-action Scooby-Doo movies surfaced, Powerful Shaggy began to materialize. Now Shaggy is an ultra-powerful fighter in the Warner Bros. Smash clone MultiVersus, which none of the Scooby-Doo shows, movies, or games foreshadowed. No, Powerful Shaggy started as a meme and has now been cemented in the pop culture canon, and Ugly Sonic follows in his footsteps.