The first version of Sonic featured in the Sonic the Hedgehog film trailer back in 2019 received backlash from fans. It was so bad that the filmmakers decided to redo the design and make him look more like his video game counterpart. Fast-forward a few years, and Ugly Sonic has since become a fan-favorite character thanks to his appearance in Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers. However, there was a time when he almost didn’t make the final cut of the film.

Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers writers Dan Gregor and Doug Mand, whose recent works include The Naked Gun, originally had Jar Jar Binks in mind for the spot that was finally filled by Ugly Sonic.

“Oh, I love Ugly Sonic,” Mand tells Nerd Reactor. “We’ve always been fans of his. We don’t even really recognize a pretty Sonic, as we call him. Look, it just fit in with the world. We were part of the conceit of Rescue Rangers, where cartoons could get plastic surgery. They could make themselves look different.”

The writers originally had Jar Jar Binks in mind for that spot, giving him a Shakespearean, Michael Cain, and Ian McKellen kind of feel.

“The idea of cast-off actors where their careers had burnt out, that was it for a long time,” Mand added. “And then it eventually it worked its way even through animatics, where it was still Jar Jar Binks. Eventually, I think Kathleen Kennedy was like, ‘Fuck no! Get this out of the fucking movie.’ And we were like, ‘Okay.'” And so then we went back to the drawing board and tried to think of other characters that had disgraced themselves in the public eye. And Sonic was just enough in the rearview mirror that it worked out perfectly. He couldn’t be happier.”

Watch the full interview below:

The Naked Gun is now in theaters, and Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers is available on Disney+.