Over 5 years ago, Rich Kuta began development for a full length animated film centered on the popular video game character Sonic the Hedgehog. It captured the interest of Sega of America and attracted the immediate attention from Universal Pictures, but was unfortunately passed by Sega’s Japanese division in Fall 2007. From that point on, the project was converted to a Fan Film and has never lost momentum.
Richard tells the Follies he’s has been shooting for is 2D hand drawn mixed with CGI FX, a homage to the classic Disney, Don Bluth, and Warner Brothers animated films of the 90s. The project has been chugging along throughout its pre-development stage as it incorporates elements from the entire franchise. Comic Books, Cartoons, and the Video Games. “Coincidentally, Eddie Lebron and I have been in close conversations about the project and he’s been very supportive in helping me make it come to life. While he’s been enamored with Mega Man and his upcoming Sonic short, rest assure that there is no competition between us since each of our films will deliver something fresh and original.”
To learn more about the project and make a donation towards the films completion please CLICK ME.
About Author
Richard Kuta is a rather shady character. Do a google search for Sonmanic.
Thank you so much for the heads up. I’ve covered fan films for years and never experienced anything remotely close to this. Watching some really bizarre YouTube videos as I type this.
Well I’ve watched this trailer and it looks pretty cool and also if you do search the web just remember not everything you read on websites can be true.
Rich has been the subject of the ridicule for years, but he really doesn’t deserve it. I was a member of a site called FUS (Fan United of Sonic) http://www.sonicsatam.com/ and I remember years ago he always expressed this interest in working a film about Sonic. The fan base got on his case and thought he was doing it for attention but he really was serious about it. The dude even went to Hollywood and almost had it made! That’s quite an accomplishment if you ask me. But due to Sega’s stupid decision in rejecting it, he continued his work as a fan project. I still talk him on occasion and this recent news drew my interest since I didn’t know it was still in production. My advise, is to not take everything on the internet literally. I am just here to defend an old friend and hope that his project really does come to fruition. The Sonic fan base does have its crai, but Rich obviously cares about the fan community to peruse something this ambitious. Really people, give the poor guy a break. Hes been through enough and just wants to entertain.
OK, I need to clarify a few things since I was contacted by FanFilmFollies this afternoon. The google search results is an act of hatred that has followed me for several years. That ED page was created by series of Sonic fans that were skeptical of my efforts and they used it to destroy my creditability cause they assumed that I was lying about my efforts. Rest assure, that while Im still infuriated by their actions and brutal accusations, I am completely sincere about my project since I went through years of afflictions and struggle just to get this far. The other thing I must inform you is that Encyclopedia Dramatic is a joke site and not to be taken seriously as its a parody of Wikipedia. However, Ive done everything I can to escape those demons but I remain strong and dedicated to my goal. What youre seeing is a bunch of old photos from my college days and and written fabrications that is completely inaccurate and falsified. Most of those pictures are from 7 years ago during my college days that were used to blackmail me and its beyond me how they ever were released. I went to an Art University for 6 years to major in graphic design and creative writing. The Sonic fanbase is considered to be very hostile and it has shown since Sega hasnt really released any quality titles in years, so the community lashes out at anything that seems remotely good but their blinded skepticism causes them to judge and hate on people by using any force necessary to sabotage their efforts. Its happened to other people working on fan projects cause the content didn’t agree with their way Sonic is supposed to be so they blackmail and harass these people till their work is deterred. Its sad really, but at least Ive been strong through all this. Sonmanic was an old user name that I haven’t used since 2007 when all this controversy was drummed up by a bunch of ignorant teenagers. If youd like to schedule an interview with me or do a written article, Id more most happy to do so to verify my claims and to clear my name of any negativity people may have of me.
Anyway, I hope I was able to explain this unpleasantness to the best of my ability, cause Id really hate to think that people wouldnt support my project due to a satirical article thats completely false due to the stubborn and misunderstandings of immature individuals. Believe me, Ive been endearing this suffering for several years cause of that article and its been very difficult for me to continue my projects. Im just a passionate Sonic fan that wants to make a film that ive been working on since my college days. I have moved on from my troubled past and I highly suggest people in the fan base do the same. I just wanna finish what I have left undone.
I’m certain Rich is very passionate about his craft and Sonic.
Which is the only thing that matters.
“lolol he wears diapers when he’s at home”
Why the hell would ANYONE care about that? He wants money for his Sonic movie, he’s not asking you to support his fetish which by the way, won’t affect the movie’s quality in the least.
I’ve seen the storyboard; I know that is this was made into a great looking movie (don’t judge based on the trailer’s art, an actual movie with a budget would look far better than that), it would surpass anything that Sega has made in the last 10 years past BY FAR. The only thing keeping it from happening is that he doesn’t have any money.
If only every fan donated 10$. It’d be cheaper than going out to watch a movie or buying a DVD, and down the line, we’d end up with some actual new Sonic material that doesn’t suck.
Needless to say – don’t give this guy any money.
Unless you’re a real fan who actually cares about Sonic and actually wants a great Sonic movie to get made.
But if you’d rather have nothing, or prefer some sh*t version made by Sega based on the hideous new-school crapfest we’ve been enduring for the last couple of years, then by all means feel free to waste your money on terrible Sega games instead.
This is ridiculous! Kuta has helped me with several of my projects on youtube. Hes never been dishonest to me or anyone. I think the person writing this article needs to get their facts straight and realize that places like ED are trolling sites. I urge all Sonic fans and animation lovers to support this. As a Sonic fan, I want him to return to his former glory. Sega were fools to pass this opportunity up!
I personally am one of the two storyboard artists that worked on this film.
From what I have garnered from my experience working with Rich, he is an extremely determined and hopeful and persistent and optomistic individual despite many of the times that trolls have screwed his bolts loose. I can say without a doubt that he will make your money worthwhile as he and I have a long history together and we both grew up on the SatAM television show and Sega Genesis video games. This movie will have a lot in common with the Sega Genesis titles and the aforementioned cartooon and will most definitely combine these elements into one cohesive reboot of the franchise so to speak.
Sure Richard, he does have a lot of shortcomings and he does seem a little eccentric but all of the material on Encyclopedia Dramatica is mostly stuff that embarrassingly happened during his schooling in college over seven years ago. He no longer is active in these types of activities, but he will admit to still being a furry. But not in the Humanimal sense. But there shouldn’t be an issue with that anyways because everyone has their own quirks. Invading one’s personal life to defamatize a work that they worked on for so long and trying to complete is utterly pointless and nonsensical. It is perplexing how after all these years that people would hold a grudge over the most trivial matters.
All we care about is making a fan project that would appease the Sonic fanbase. Nothing more. That is all I have to say on this matter.
This looks amazing! The old saturday morning cartoon brings back so many memories. Cant wait to see this.
“Sure Richard, he does have a lot of shortcomings and he does seem a little eccentric but all of the material on Encyclopedia Dramatica is mostly stuff that embarrassingly happened during his schooling in college over seven years ago. ”
Let me get this straight. The people here are using Encyclopedia Dramatica as their “creditable” source of information? Are you fucking kidding me? No offense, but how about doing your research on Google through sites NOT composed by douchebag teenagers. If you guys are this gullible to believe such shit, then I weep for your ignorance. Just so you know, I have seen the all the storyboards (ALL 206 PAGES) and its nothing short of epic! Richard is a true Sonic fan that has expressed the most compassion for this franchise than anyone Ive met in the fandom. What these morons dont realize is the financial sacrifices that he made to get this far, but NO, its more important to focus on his personal life and shit that doesn’t even matter.
“If only every fan donated 10$. It’d be cheaper than going out to watch a movie or buying a DVD, and down the line, we’d end up with some actual new Sonic material that doesn’t suck.”
Its a nice thought and would pretty much get everything funded in no time, but if people are going to be retarded like this and get their so-called ‘facts” from trolls, then kiss that idea good bye. I’m done here.
Yes, Rich does have a soured history with the Sonic community but its not entirely his fault. Sites like ED are known for starting e-drama. Bored individuals that will instigate trouble for their own amusement. Pathetic, I know, but its what a good percentage of the Sonic community thrives on. Kuta is just an innocent victim that put too much trust into the fan base which resulted in disaster. In other words Mr. Moshier, don’t trust ED. The site itself is known to infect computers with malware and its littered with porn ads. Does that sound like a site that’s reputable to you?
My bottom line concern in posting this news item was someone claiming to be making a fan film and asking for donations to complete said project. I didn’t want the Follies pointing people to a website that was a potential scam. The link that was sent to me as well as the YouTube videos sent up several red flags. I contacted a couple people who put my concerns to rest.
I apologize to Richard for him thinking he had to defend himself which he doesn’t. Not to this website. As long as his endeavor is for a legitimate film then we support him. There’s nothing on any website or to the people I contacted that indicate Richard has other intentions that making his Sonic film. So we support him and will continue to support him.
While I agree with this group of supporters (that Kuta has summoned here) about his fetish having nothing to do with this project. He’s still doing it, unless he was in college in 2009/current. There’s dates on some of those images.
Which is actually the case with at least 90 percent of the content on that ED article. How can you deny screen-shots and videos?
Anyway, I just wanted to warn the people here of his shady actions. Particularly about him stealing concept art. I think that speaks volumes about his character.
This is screenshot of a deviantART journal entry Kuta made in July of 2008 where he himself admits that 98 percent of his ED article is true. Granted, that article has changed since July of 2008, but the majority of his dishonest actions were added before that time.
http://yfrog.com/jwsonmanicsorryguyzp
This is the last post I’ll make here, my apologies if it appeared I was trying to start a flame war or something of that sort. I just wanted to make sure people heard both sides of the story, so that they can make their own informed decision before deciding whether or not they wanted to donate their hard earned money to someone of this caliber.
@Random Passerby: Once again, you’re twisted your facts like ED has always done. I seriously doubt that people are going to make their “informed decision” from a satiric webpage (that promotes porn and distributes viruses) that’s only purpose is to brutally attack, blackmail, slander, and jeopardize the lives of innocent people cause they exude a biased attitude towards anything and everything.
First off, I didn’t steal anything and my crew can attest for that since they were legitimately involved. I am a person of integrity when it comes to my work, and everyone who contributed are getting credited. I even posted a listing of the production crew. I think you morons need to realize when you work on a large scale project it takes TEAMWORK, you cant expect one person to do everything. But if youre curious and wanna know what exactly I contributed in the last 5 years, then ill gladly elaborate. I wrote a trilogy outline, I wrote the script, I recruited artists, voice directed the actors, coordinated the artwork, ensured each storyboard had the perfect camera angle, designed posters and so forth. Basically, I did all the grunt work so when people accuse me of either not pulling my weight or stealing others work, I feel insulted cause you obviously have no fucking clue what I went through behind the scenes. Not only that, I paid $4,000 out of my own pocket to get this far! Thats not including expenses I used during my trips to Hollywood.
Granted, I did use a Robotnik drawing that was referenced from someone else, but that was 3 years ago AND the design isn’t being used so why bring it up? Get over the past and move on.
As for my personal life, why the hell should that even matter? Whether someone is gay, straight, Bi, Furry or whatever it seems like you’re the type of person that harbors this animosity towards people that are different than you. Just cause your perception of what “normal” is doesn’t mean it pertains to everyone else. Plus how does someone’s personal life affect you? Why do you care so much about pushing your believes on people and outing them out as being “evil” cause they don’t bend to your ways of thinking? Fascist much? Again, how exactly does my life have any impact on yours? I don’t you know and you don’t know me. So why the hell do you convey such relentless determination to sabotage everything I worked my ass for? That to me is just plain selfish. I thought that shit was over with during the days of segregation, but apparently our world still has a lot of growing up to do. By the way, ED is a site that discriminates against race, creed, disabilities and other attributes while encouraging their members to stalk and harass people. Don’t believe me, read their FAQ.
Oh what a glorious site that has been bestowed upon the interwebs where people can express concentrated HATE towards one another and profiting from it at the same time. In closing, all I want to do is entertain and finish this project after all the time and effort that was invested into it.
He’s still doing it, unless he was in college in 2009/current. There’s dates on some of those images.
But nobody gives a crap about that except butthurt EDf*gs.
Which is actually the case with at least 90 percent of the content on that ED article.
None of that has anything to do with the movie, nor is there really anything wrong with it in the first place anyways. You only care because you happen to be a fan of that crappy site, probably even one of the butthurt Sonic 4 fanboys who contributed to the sonmanic entry on it.
This will be final post and it relates to the movie. The whole purpose of the donation drive is to raise money to pay for the animation. As mentioned, everything involving pre-production is done, finished, on the table to serve!
Ive spoken to the animators and they gave me a calculated breakdown of how much labor will be done per day and how much one 5 minute sequence of animation will cost ie $1500. We have a top notch team on board that are inspired by classic Disney and Don Bluth films as they feel (as well as I) that 2D animation deserves its comeback. Everyone knows that animation (no matter what format) is a costly affair but I can promise you from the demo reels I combed through, that the final product will be aesthetically pleasing and catapult you do the days of the early 90s animation renaissance. In fact, were trying to emulate the same style as the old cartoon show with subtle upgrades and CGI action scenes. Futurama has been using technique for nearly a decade and its still impressive. If personal biased hatred is whats preventing anyone to support the project, then you are unfortunately missing out on this rare opportunity to witness something that has the potential to be spectacular.
“While I agree with this group of supporters (that Kuta has summoned here) about his fetish having nothing to do with this project…”
No one was summoned. All those comments came from one person with a distinct IP address. Please don’t post here as separate people. It doesn’t help your case in the least. Once again I’m very skeptical about this project.
And for craps and giggles I checked some of the email addresses these supposed supporters of Mr. Kuta signed in to as. Not only do the positive comments have the same IP address, but all those email addresses are available on the related provider.
Nate L – natel1080@hotmail.com – available through MSN..
Random Sonicfan- jessiefox52@gmail.com – available through Google.
HewyLewis – hewylewis88@yahooo.com – available through Yahoo.
I’ll let Mr. Kuta explain why this is. Perhaps all these people are staying at his home.
I can’t say I’m surprised, but this is another good example of his dishonestly. When dealing with Kuta all anyone will get is half-truths at best. He likes to say that all his critics are just trolls, but in reality the majority of us critics are just people in the Sonic fanbase who have witnessed him time and time again lie and use people like disposable tools.
Hey Chris. I received your email this morning and sent your a reply. I will admit that some of those comments did originate from the same IP address since I did have a small gathering at my place since Im moving soon and my friends wanted to further show you that ED is a trolling site.
In addition, I even sent you my resume and list of professional references I worked for in the last 10 years to verify my track record. I usually don’t do this, but in this case scenario its the only way to prove myself. You even have my permission to contact those people. Hope this helps and I apologize for the drama that happened over the weekend. Just reiterate, we just wanna make a movie. Personal lives and old topics have no relevance to this at all so please, lets just focus on the movie. And like I said, I will follow up with you with our progress.
Here’s my suggestion on both on sides Chris. Lets just end the conflict and see what pans out in a couple weeks or when the donation drive officially ends. I have provided all my professional credentials to you privately see so I don’t know what more I can do to prove my claims. I will continue to post updates on the site as I have so you can follow the film’s progress. Otherwise, can we please end this turmoil and concentrate on the film?
Not only do the positive comments have the same IP address
Stop lying about that, mine is from Japan because that’s where I live and you know it perfectly well.
People shouldn’t disregard Richard because of his past interests, as odd as they may seem. As long as he didn’t do anything immoral or illegal it shouldn’t affect what he is trying to do for the Sonic fanbase.
Random Supporter: No. Richard Kuta showed a lack of professionalism by posting those photos on an adult baby site.
If you want to be a professional, you have to learn to act professionally.
That means putting habits *behind the closet.* We don’t want to know everything about the person. Just the stuff that has to do with business.
Everyone has a life behind closed doors, but you do not show weird fetishes and kinks that are certain to be deemed unsanitary and strange by society. You MUST keep them behind closed doors, or else you are unprofessional.
PLEASE DO THE FRIKKING 3-D NOT ANAMATED 2-D >:(
or else sonic and strongbad will slap your face in 300000000000000 times
That’s a lot of times.
God damn it youtube
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