Plenty of imagination went into the creation of Disney’s latest animated feature Wreck-It Ralph as the world of video games is brought to life in more ways than one. Digital warriors, racing games and winged alien robots exist not only in their own respective games, but as part of an entire community of digital characters. From Q-Bert to Sonic the Hedgehog, familiar game characters travel between their respective titles whether it’s to get a drink at the bar tending game “Tapper” or to just relax in the digital world’s interpretation of Grand Central Station, the appropriately named Game Central, a surge protector serving as the hub that ties the arcade together.
Written by Jennifer Lee and Phil Johnston with director Rich Moore (“The Simpsons”, “Futurama”) at the helm, Wreck-It Ralph resembles the plot of a “Super Mario” game by way of “Donkey Kong”.
Similar to the classic simian arcade game, Wreck-It Ralph revolves around a video game called “Fix-It Felix Jr.” in which the game’s title character (voiced by Jack McBrayer) saves an apartment building from the evil Wreck-It Ralph (voiced by John C. Reilly) by repairing the destruction Ralph causes, gathering the residents and throwing him off the roof at the end of each level.
Day after day this goes on. Gamers navigate Felix from one level to the next and Ralph is continually thrown from the roof. Well, Ralph has had enough. He’s tired of being the bad guy, especially since he’s not a bad guy and he means to prove it by earning a medal in one of the other games in the arcade, showing he too can be a hero. First stop, obviously, “Hero’s Duty”.
“Hero’s Duty” is a mixture of games such as “Halo” and “Gears of War” and this film is filled with similarly themed games. Another stop is “Sugar Rush”, a “Mario Kart”-esque game where Ralph meets Vanellope Von Schweetz (voiced by Sarah Silverman), a character looked down upon in her game as a “glitch” and someone Ralph quickly befriends.
The action of the story soon revolves around Vanellope’s attempts to win a time trial in “Sugar Rush” with Ralph’s help, which will also earn him the medal he so desperately desires. The problem, however, is the rest of “Sugar Rush” isn’t so keen on the idea of a “glitch” getting in on the race, particularly the overlord of the game, King Candy who not only looks like the Mad Hatter from Disney’s animated Alice in Wonderland, but Alan Tudyk has the voice nailed in a respectful nod to the late Ed Wynn.
King Candy is just the start of a myriad of fun characters including his two pastry inspired bodyguards Wynnchel (voiced by Adam Carolla) and Duncan (voiced by Horatio Sanz) and his sidekick stooge, Sour Bill (voiced by Moore). Jane Lynch voices the “Hero’s Duty” squadron leader Calhoun and additional voices to keep an ear open for include Mindy Kaling, Dennis Haysbert and Ed O’Neill.
In all, this is quite simply a fun animated film, and I have to imagine a sequel is already in the works as it brings a new twist to a long line of Disney princesses and taps into the massive and continually growing video game audience out there with nods to games both old and new.
The story is strong enough for all to enjoy and is, without hesitation, I film I would watch again. Wreck-It Ralph doesn’t rewrite the book and tell an all-out original story, but they’ve managed to dress up familiar storytelling tropes in new clothes and they fit quite well. This is the imagination Pixar used to bring to the table every time and now with Tangled and Wreck-It Ralph, Disney Animation is showing they still have some juice in the tank.
