Sonic the Hedgehog 2’s casting for Miles “Tails” Prower shows that the movie is going to avoid the mistakes of Illumination’s Super Mario Bros. movie. After a disastrous first look that forced the staff to completely rework the project, 2020’s Sonic the Hedgehog became a box office hit and a fan-favorite among moviegoers everywhere. As such, many people are excited for the sequel in 2022, and the casting of Tails shows that they’re going to keep trying to do what they can to please the fans.
The casting of the upcoming Super Mario Bros. movie by Illumination drew a lot of ire from fans for being another animated film that uses celebrity voices instead of the pre-established voice actors for the characters, not unlike the cast of 2020’s Scoob! Mario being voiced by Chris Pratt made people particularly angry both because of the controversy surrounding the church he belongs to and for how Charles Martinet, the voice of Mario for nearly thirty years, will be in the movie, but won’t be voicing Mario. It got worse when it was announced that Pratt both wouldn’t be doing Mario’s iconic accent and would also be voicing Garfield in an upcoming Garfield movie, fuelling the idea that Hollywood is only interested in casting people who could draw in a crowd, even if they weren’t right for the part.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 looks to be subverting that idea with its casting of Colleen O’Shaughnessey as Tails. O’Shaughnessey has been the voice of Tails in Sonic media since 2014, and she is the first voice actor to be reprising her role for the Sonic films. With that, the film looks poised to avoid the same casting mistakes as Illumination’s Super Mario Bros. in regards to both pleasing the fanbase and giving voice actors their due.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 having O’Shaughnessey reprise her role as Tails is a major win for longtime fans of the series. While Ben Schwartz was cast as Sonic in the first film and Idris Elba will be playing Knuckles in the sequel, Tails’ casting shows a level of commitment to the fanbase completely opposite of Illumination’s Super Mario Bros. By casting a pre-established voice actor for the role, the film avoids alienating portions of the fanbase who want to hear the people they’re familiar with as opposed to random celebrity voices that many animated movies go with.
Additionally, the casting for Tails in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is a major boon for people who want to support voice acting in general. As previously stated, animated films often receive criticism for taking work away from professional voice actors in favor of casting big-name celebrities, even if they’re unsuited to the role. This approach is especially divisive when it happens with a film that’s part of a franchise with preestablished voice actors, yet most, if not all of them, end up being recast. With O’Shaughnessey being a professional voice actor, though, her reprising her role as Tails is a notable exception to that, and with any luck, it can pave the way for more animated films to prioritize professional voice actors, especially those already involved in a franchise, over celebrity voices.
All in all, Tails’ casting for Sonic the Hedgehog 2 does the exact opposite of what Illumination’s Super Mario Bros. has been doing. Casting a pre-established voice actor for the role avoids alienating those who want to keep hearing the voice they’re used to, and casting a professional voice actor, in general, shows a willingness to allow professional voice actors a chance to be in big projects. Hopefully, this kind of casting will eventually become the norm with animated movies.
