I think that’s part of the appeal of cartoon characters in general. Felix the cat, Mickey Mouse, etc. Well designed cartoons are often built around their ability to express strongly in all aspects, both in facial and body movement.

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Sonic is designed to be appealing to children, despite how large of an adult fanbase the franchise has. It’s bright and colourful, usually expressive, and it’s meant to be fun. However just because something is aimed at children doesn’t mean children will be the only fans of a franchise- especially when you consider how long Sonic has been around. A lot of people have grown up with Sonic, and the franchise has become part of the experience of their life.

Consider other franchises meant for a young audience that are well loved by those outside of it’s target demographic- Adventure Time and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, for instance. You could argue that both have elements in them designed to entertain adult audiences (jokes that children won’t get, for instance), but that’s often not the only thing that fans love. People simply find something to love about whatever it is they’re a fan of- it could be the art, a sense of innocence, etc. And that includes people who have mental illness, personality disorders, cognitive/developmental disorders, etc. Often times when someone enjoys something they’ll search for a way to express that enjoyment. That’s why you get so much fan art, stories, and songs. And sometimes that’s expressed in a way that’s not socially acceptable for whatever reason, either because the person is not mentally able to discern what -is- socially acceptable or even because they don’t care.

As I said, Sonic isn’t special. It’s just big and obvious. And now I’m going to add ‘been around for years’. Things accumulate baggage after years. What do you know of the current Rescue Ranger fandom, for instance?

Anyway, that’s all I’m going to say on the subject. Any further messages on it won’t be answered. This blog is Disqus enabled.