Ugly Sonic Perfectly Exemplifies Cameo Culture in Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers

May 20, 2022

The last thing anyone would expect from Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers is a cameo from Paramount’s terrible first design for Sonic the Hedgehog. Yet here we are, with multiple different scenes that use Ugly Sonic to perfectly exemplify the insanity of cameo culture, while also lampooning celebrity culture as a whole. Not since Angela Anaconda invaded the intro to Digimon: The Movie have I been so bewildered by a crossover. It’s a weird way to round out a week, for sure.

In a time where films are lauded for the cameos they can fit in and how hyped they can make audiences, the idea of using one of the worst designs in recent film history as an incentive to draw people to your film is pretty great. Not only does it prove that we will get excited about anything we recognize making a cameo in a film (something that I fall victim to as well), but it also displays how ridiculous of an idea that is.

https://twitter.com/GusLanzetta/status/1527631973153390593

Think about it, Ugly Sonic is trending midway through 2022. Does that make any sense? Enough people are memeing on Ugly Sonic to make it viral years after it made waves for looking awful. It’s a cameo that makes fun of cameos while also being a genuinely great use of one, as Ugly Sonic is stuck signing ironic autographs for teenagers to make a living as everyone gawks at his human teeth.

The fact that anyone signed off on that is remarkable, and it’s great that they did. As films like Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness and Free Guy give people the fan service they crave, getting some ironic jabs that keep us on our toes is nothing short of brilliant.