Wreck-It Ralph (film)

Wreck-It Ralph is a 2012 3D computer-animated action comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the 52nd animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. The film was directed by Rich Moore, who is known for directing many episodes of The Simpsons and Futurama, and the script was written by Jennifer Lee and Phil Johnston. Disney Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter served as the executive producer. The film features the voices of John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer, and Jane Lynch.

The film tells the story of the titular arcade game villain who rebels against his role as a villain and dreams of becoming a hero. He befriends Vanellope von Schweetz and ultimately must eliminate a dire threat that could affect the entire arcade, and one that Ralph may have inadvertently started. Wreck-It Ralph had its world premiere on October 29, 2012, and was released on November 2, 2012 in the United States and Canada.

The theatrical release was accompanied by Disney's animated short film Paperman.

Synopsis
At night, when Litwak's Arcade closes, the various video game characters congregate in Game Central Station through the power cables. At the game Fix-It Felix, Jr., the characters celebrate the game's titular hero but shun its villain, Wreck-It Ralph. At a support group for video game villains, Ralph reveals he doesn't want to be a bad guy anymore. Returning to his own game, Ralph finds the other characters celebrating their game's anniversary and that he was not invited. Felix reluctantly invites Ralph to join them, but the others shun him, saying he'd have to win a medal, just as Felix does.

While visiting Tapper's, Ralph meets a soldier from the first-person shooter Hero's Duty who tells him the game's winner receives a medal. Ralph enters the game and encounters Sergeant Calhoun, its no-nonsense leader. Between games, Ralph climbs the game's central beacon, which happened to be filled with Cy-Bugs (Bug-like enemies) eggs, and collects the medal. However, he accidentally hatches a Cy-Bug that clings to him. During his panic to get the Cy-Bug larva off, he stumbles into a nearby escape pod that launches him out of the game. Meanwhile, Ralph's absence has not gone unnoticed, as a girl outside the game tells Litwak that Fix-It Felix, Jr.. is malfunctioning. Q*Bert travels to Fix-It Felix Jr., and tells him about the dark turn of events. This ies alarm for Felix, because if a game becomes broken, Litwak will have to unplug the game, leaving any characters in the game homeless. So, Felix sets out to find Ralph.

Ralph crash-lands in Sugar Rush, a kart-racing game. As he searches for his medal, he meets Vanellope von Schweetz, a glitchy character who makes off with the medal, planning to use it to buy entry into an after-hours race. However, King Candy and the other racers refuse to let Vanellope participate, saying she's not really part of the game. The other racers pay her a visit while she is building her own cart and destroy it, disabling her from racing. Ralph witnesses this and scares the racers off. Ralph then berates her, but she insults him right back. This angers him to the point that he smashes a jaw-breaker in half. Because of his amazing strength, Vanellope gets an idea. She explains to Ralph that the medal can be won back if she gets first place in a race. She then offers to make a pact that if he can help her win, she'll give Ralph the medal back. Ralph reluctantly accepts her offer. After making said pact, they head off to the cart bakery, where the racers make their carts, and they build a cart together. However, a security guard notices the unauthorized activity, and the authorities are sent out, along with King Candy. After a long chase, they give King Candy's party the slip by hiding in Diet Cola Mountain, an incomplete extra race track. It is discovered that this is Vanellope's home. From there, Ralph teaches Vanellope how to drive her new cart.

Back in Hero's Duty, Felix meets Sergeant Calhoun, who explains that the Cy-Bugs can control any game, and can then destroy everything in said game. As the two search for Ralph and the Cy-Bug in Sugar Rush, Felix explains that he is searching for Ralph, who had probably "gone Turbo". When Calhoun asked Felix about this term, he then explains that long time ago, there was an old racing game called "Turbo Time" starring a self-obsessed character named Turbo. One day, a RoadBlasters arcade cabinet entered the arcade and gained more popularity than Turbo Time. Out of jealousy, Turbo interrupted the game. He traveled to the other game and crashed into the main player of the new racing game. He crashed both games, which led to both of them being unplugged. As the Felix and Calhoun progress, they fix the pod Ralph was in and fly off to search for the lone Cy-Bug. Felix later falls in love with Calhoun. However, Calhoun's past comes back to haunt her when Felix refers to her as a 'dynamite gal', something that her fiancé, who was murdered by a Cy-Bug on their wedding day, would call her. Distraught, she forces Felix to leave her ship. A heartbroken Felix walks to King Candy's castle and meets Sour Bill, King Candy's assistant. He locks up Felix after he realizes he should have locked up Ralph. After a long search, Calhoun soon discovers the Cy-Bug has laid hundreds of eggs underground.

Before the race, King Candy finds Ralph in the absence of Vanellope and offers Ralph his medal, which King Candy has dug into the game's code to retrieve. The only condition was that Vanellope couldn't race. When Ralph asks why King Candy and the other racers hate her so much, he explains he really doesn't. Vanellope is a glitch, and so, this would cause her to act abnormally (such as teleporting and jumping around, sometimes through objects). If she won the race, she would become an official part of the racing roster. He goes on to explain that her glitching would give gamers the impression that the game was broken, and the game would be unplugged. While everyone else could be evacuated from the game, Vanellope could not leave, as she is a glitch. As a result, she would die along with the program. So, King Candy leaves Ralph with that, and exits. When Vanellope returns and give Ralph a medal that say "You're my hero", he explains to Vanellope that she can not race for her own good. She doesn't believe him, and she threatens to race on her own. Ralph stops her and hangs her by her jacket on a nearby candy-cane tree. He then reluctantly proceeds to destroy her cart into pieces. Vanellope tries to stop Ralph but it was no use. She falls and runs away, sobbing.

Ralph goes back to Fix-It Felix Jr., and sees that the entire game is deserted, save for one lone citizen, Gene. Gene explains that the game was set to be unplugged in the morning, and that everyone has evacuated. He then gives Ralph the keys to Felix's old penthouse after Ralph explains that he didn't want to live in the garbage dump that he lived in before. Alone, Ralph goes to the balcony and throws his medal at the screen that sits above the game. This causes the poster that previously covered the screen to un-stick and start to fall off, revealing the side of the Sugar Rush arcade cabinet in front of Ralph's game. He discovers that Vanellope is on the cabinet and wonders why she is on the machine's art work if she is a glitch. Ralph suspects something foul at play and returns to Sugar Rush.

He comes across Sour Bill and places him in his mouth as a form of torture until he confesses. Sour Bill explains that King Candy changed Vanellope's code on purpose. When Ralph asks about his motives, Sour Bill says he doesn't know why, and in fact, no one knows why. He explains it is like this because King Candy locked up all the characters' memories. Upon locating Felix, Ralph begs Felix to fix the wrecked kart so Vanellope can race. He agrees to do so after discovering how hard of a life Ralph has had. After also freeing and making amends with Vanellope, they start the race, and as the race proceeds, the hatched Cy-Bugs attack Sugar Rush. Felix, Calhoun, and Ralph then battle them. When Vanellope catches up to King Candy mid-race, Vanellope's glitching interferes with King Candy's code, and reveals that King Candy is actually Turbo! Turbo rams his car into Vanellope's, causing her to be dragged in front of the car while approaching a walled fork in the road. Vanellope finally takes control of her glitching to escape from Turbo, who is afterwards consumed by a Cy-Bug. The group attempts to flee the doomed game, but Vanellope cannot pass through the exit due to her status as a glitch. Calhoun says the game can't be saved because there is no beacon in the game; the beacon in Hero's Duty attracts and kills the Cy-Bugs.

Ralph, in a last-ditch effort, heads to Diet Cola Mountain, where he plans on collapsing its Mentos stalactites into the cola at the bottom, causing an eruption that would attract the bugs. While on top of the mountain, he pounds the mentos into the diet cola below from the top. Before he can finish, however, a fusion of Turbo and a Cy-Bug attacks him and carries him above the mountain. Ralph breaks free and dives toward the mountain, hoping his impact will start the eruption. Seeing Ralph dive towards the mountain, Vanellope in turn uses her glitching abilities with the goal of catching Ralph. Ralph breaks through the roof of the mountain, but before he is killed in the eruption, Vanellope catches him in her cart. The eruption shines a bright light, which in turn draws all of the Cy-Bugs, including the one that ate Turbo, to their destruction. Because characters who die outside their own game are unable to regenerate, this means that all the Cy-Bugs and Turbo die permanently.

After the Cy-Bugs are drawn to the beacon, Felix restores the finish line, and Vanellope crosses it, restoring her memory as the game's lead character, and restoring the ruins of Sugar Rush. The gamers favor her as a character, despite her glitches (it's likely her ability to teleport short distances is perceived by gamers as a special power, rather than a glitch). Felix is very happy and excited that he kisses Calhoun in her cheek, much to her delight, and Calhoun kisses Felix in the mouth. Felix and Ralph return to Fix-It Felix, Jr. in time to show Litwak the game works, and they also give Q*Bert and Co. a new opportunity to work with Ralph and crew in a "bonus level", sparing it and also giving its characters a new respect for Ralph's work as the villain. Felix later marries Calhoun, with Ralph being the Best Man and Vannelope as the Maid of Honor. To all of their relief, there were no Cy-Bugs.

Original characters

 * John C. Reilly as Wreck-It Ralph, the villain of Fix-It Felix, Jr.
 * Sarah Silverman as Vanellope von Schweetz, a 9-year-old racer and glitch in Sugar Rush.
 * Jack McBrayer as Fix-It Felix, Jr., the hero of Fix-It Felix, Jr.
 * Jane Lynch as Sergeant Tamora Jean Calhoun, the lead character of Hero's Duty.
 * Alan Tudyk as King Candy/Turbo, the fake "ruler" of Sugar Rush who were originally from Turbo Time.
 * Mindy Kaling as Taffyta Muttonfudge, an accomplished racer in Sugar Rush and Vanellope's nemesis.
 * Joe Lo Truglio as Markowski, a Soldier in Hero's Duty whom Ralph impersonates.
 * Ed O'Neill as Mr. Litwak, owner of Litwak's Family Fun Center & Arcade.
 * Dennis Haysbert as General Hologram, a general in Hero's Duty.
 * Edie McClurg as Mary, a Nicelander who lives within the game Fix-It Felix, Jr.
 * Raymond Persi as Mayor Gene, a Nicelander who lives within the game Fix-It Felix, Jr., and a Zombie (based on Cyril from House of the Dead) who attends the Bad-Anon support group.
 * Jess Harnell as Don, a Nicelander who lives within the game Fix-It Felix, Jr.
 * Rachael Harris as Deanna, a Nicelander who lives within the game Fix-It Felix, Jr.
 * Skylar Astin as Roy, a Nicelander who lives within the game Fix-It Felix, Jr.
 * Adam Carolla as Wynnchel, a doughnut that is a member of the Sugar Rush police station.
 * Horatio Sanz as Duncan, a doughnut that is a member of the Sugar Rush police station.
 * Stefanie Scott as Moppet Girl, a young arcade enthusiast.
 * John DiMaggio as Beard Papa, Sugar Rush security.
 * Rich Moore as Sour Bill, King Candy's henchman, and Zangief from Street Fighter.
 * Katie Lowes as Candlehead, a racer in Sugar Rush who works closely with Taffyta and Rancis.
 * Jamie Elman as Rancis Fluggerbutter, a racer in Sugar Rush who works closely with Taffyta and Candlehead.
 * Josie Trinidad as Jubileena Bing-Bing, a racer in Sugar Rush.
 * Cymbre Walk as Crumbelina DiCaramello, a racer in Sugar Rush.
 * Brandon Scott as Kohut, a soldier in Hero's Duty.
 * Tim Mertens as Dr. Brad Scott, a scientist and Sgt. Calhoun's fiancé in Hero's Duty, who was eaten by Cy-Bugs.
 * Phil Johnston as Surge Protector, Game Central Station security.
 * Martin Jarvis as Satan (he prefers "Satine",) a demon who attends the Bad-Anon support group.
 * Kyle Hebert as Ryu from Street Fighter.
 * Maurice LaMarche as Root Beer Tapper, the bartender from Tapper.
 * Reuben Langdon as Ken Masters from Street Fighter.
 * Jamie Sparer Roberts as Yuni Verse from Dance Dance Revolution.
 * Kevin Deters as Clyde from Pac-Man.
 * Gerald C. Rivers as M. Bison from Street Fighter.
 * Brian Kesinger as a Cyborg (based on Kano from Mortal Kombat) who attends the Bad-Anon support group.
 * Roger Craig Smith as Sonic from Sonic the Hedgehog.

Cameos
The first and second trailers of Wreck-It Ralph revealed cameo appearances from a number of video game characters. Non-speaking cameos exhibited thus far include:
 * Bowser and a Super Mushroom from Super Mario Bros.
 * Tails (picture on a wall in the Tapper bar), Eggman, and Sonic the Hedgehog from Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Q*bert, Coily, Slick, Sam, and Ugg from Q*bert
 * Chun-Li, Ken (Reuben Langdon), Zangief (Rich Moore), M. Bison (Gerald C. Rivers), Cammy, and Blanka (in the credits) from Street Fighter
 * Neff from Altered Beast
 * Knight and Ostrich from Joust
 * Kano and Noob from Mortal Kombat
 * A Bartender from Tapper
 * Neff from Altered Beast
 * Frogger from Frogger
 * Zombie (Raymond S. Persi; based on Cyril from The House of the Dead)
 * Dig Dug, a Pooka, Taizo Hori, and Fygar from Dig Dug
 * Pac-Man, Clyde Ghost Monster (Kevin Deters), Inky Ghost Monster, Blinky Ghost Monster, and Pinky Ghost Monster from Pac-Man
 * Paddle 1 and Paddle 2 from Pong
 * Peter Pepper from BurgerTime
 * Yuni from Dance Dance Revolution
 * The Qix from Qix
 * AiAi from Super Monkey Ball
 * A racer from RoadBlasters
 * An alien from Space Invaders (picture on a wall in the Tapper bar)
 * An Exclamation mark from Metal Gear
 * An alien from Space Invaders
 * Ms. Pac-Man from Ms. Pac-Man
 * Skrillex also makes a non-speaking cameo as a DJ in Fix-It Felix Jr. Also Additional references are based on sight gags. King Candy uses the Konami code to access the programming of Sugar Rush.

Production
The film, under the working title of High Score, has been in development at Disney in various forms since the late 1980s. It was put back into active development in the late 1990s under the name Joe Jump, and then later in the mid 2000s as Reboot Ralph.

John Lasseter, the head of Walt Disney Animation Studios and executive producer of the film, describes Wreck-It Ralph as "an 8-bit video game bad guy who travels the length of the arcade to prove that he’s a good guy". In a manner similar to Disney's 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit and all 3 Toy Story films, Wreck-It Ralph will feature cameo appearances by a number of licensed video game characters. For example, one scene from the film's first theatrical trailer shows Ralph attending a support group for the arcade's various villain characters, including Clyde the orange ghost from Pac-Man, Doctor Eggman from Sonic the Hedgehog and Bowser from Super Mario Bros. Rich Moore, the film's director, had determined that for a film about a video game world to feel authentic, "it had to have real characters from real games in it". Before production, characters were added to the story either in places they would make sense to appear, or as cameos from a list of characters suggested by the film's creative team, without consideration if they would legally be able to use the characters. The company then sought out the copyright holders' permissions to use the characters, as well as working with these companies to assure their characters were being represented authentically.The producers could not devise a reason to incorporate the popular character Mario into the film, with director Rich Moore debunking a rumor that Mario and his brother character Luigi were not included due to Nintendo requesting too high a licensing fee, stating that the rumor grew out of a joke John C. Reilly made at Comic-Con. The film was originally scheduled for release on March 22, 2013, but it was later changed to November 2, 2012 due to it being ahead of schedule, even though in Europe, it's still to be released in 2013. Dr. Wily from Mega Man was going to appear, but was cut from the final version of the film. Overall, there are about 188 individual character models in the movie as a result of these cameo inclusions.

The film introduced Disney's new bidirectional reflection distribution functions, a lighting system distinct from previous technology, with more realistic reflections on surfaces. To research the Sugar Rush segment of the film, the visual development group traveled to trade fair ISM Cologne, a See's Candy factory, and other manufacturing facilities. The group also brought in food photographers, to demonstrate techniques to make food appear appealing. Special effects, including from "smoke or dust", looks distinct in each of the segments.

Official Press Release
Walt Disney Animation Studios and Emmy®-winning director Rich Moore (TV’s “The Simpsons,” “Futurama”) take moviegoers on a hilarious, arcade-game-hopping journey in “Wreck-It Ralph.” Ralph (voice of John C. Reilly, “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby,” “Step Brothers”) is tired of being overshadowed by Fix-It Felix (voice of Jack McBrayer, “30 Rock”), the “good guy” star of their game who always gets to save the day. Butafter decades doing the same thing and seeing all the glory go to Felix, Ralph decides he’s tired of playing the role of a bad guy. He takes matters into his own massive hands and sets off on a game-hopping journey across the arcade through every generation of video games to prove he’s got what it takes to be a hero.

On his quest, he meets the tough-as-nails Sergeant Calhoun (voice of Jane Lynch, TV’s “Glee”) from the first-person action game Hero’s Duty. But it’s the feisty misfit Vanellope von Schweetz (voice of Sarah Silverman, “The Sarah Silverman Program”) from the candy-coated cart racing game, Sugar Rush, whose world is threatened when Ralph accidentally unleashes a deadly enemy that threatens the entire arcade. Will Ralph realize his dream and save the day before it’s too late? “Wreck-It Ralph” crashes onto the big screen on November 2, 2012, in Disney Digital 3D™ in select theaters.

Release
Wreck-It Ralph ' s theatrical release is accompanied by Disney's short film Paperman. The first trailer for Wreck-It Ralph was released on June 6, 2012, debuting with Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted and Rock of Ages. This was also coincident with the 2012 Electronic Entertainment Expo, a major video game industry event; Disney had constructed a mock aged arcade cabinet for the fictional Fix-It Felix Jr. game on display on the show floor. Disney also released a browser-based Flash-based version of the Fix-It Felix Jr. game as well as an iOS version, with plans for online versions of Sugar Rush and Hero's Duty to follow. A second trailer for the film was released on September 12, 2012, coinciding with the 3D re-release of Finding Nemo. It then had Its World Premiere on October 29, 2012 and was released on November 2, 2012.

Reception
The film has received generally favorable reviews from critics. As of November 26, 2012, it has 87% positive reviews on the review-aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, based on 121 reviews. The site's consensus reads: "Equally entertaining for both kids and parents old enough to catch the references, Wreck-It Ralph is a clever, colorful adventure built on familiar themes and joyful nostalgia." The film was liked by 91% of the audience from 70,434 people, with an average rating of 4.3/5 users. On Metacritic, based on 33 reviews, the film has an average of 73/100. On IMDB, the film has a 8.2 rating with 19,507 users. The film earned an "A" from audiences polled by CinemaScore.

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3 out of 4 stars and wrote, "More than in most animated films, the art design and color palette of Wreck-It Ralph permit unlimited sets, costumes and rules, giving the movie tireless originality and different behavior in every different cyber world." A.O. Scott of the The New York Times gave the film 5 out of 5 stars and wrote, "The movie invites a measure of cynicism - which it proceeds to obliterate with a 93-minute blast of color, noise, ingenuity and fun."

Peter Debruge of Variety acclaimed the film, stating, "With plenty to appeal to boys and girls, old and young, Walt Disney Animation Studios has a high-scoring hit on its hands in this brilliantly conceived, gorgeously executed toon, earning bonus points for backing nostalgia with genuine emotion." Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times said, "The movie's subversive sensibility and old-school/new-school feel are a total kick," while Justin Lowe of The Hollywood Reporter writing "With a mix of retro eye-candy for grown-ups and a thrilling, approachable storyline for the tykes, the film casts a wide and beguiling net." Conversely, Christopher Orr of The Atlantic found it "overplotted and underdeveloped."

Box Office
As of Deember 14, 2012, Wreck-It Ralph has grossed $165,505,549 in North America, and $51,100,000 in other countries, for a worldwide total of $216,605,549.

In North America, the film made $13.4 million on its opening day, topping most other early November animated releases such as Megamind ($12.5 million) and Bee Movie ($10.2 million), and other Disney Animation films such as Tangled ($11.9 million on Wed.), Chicken Little ($10.6 million), and Bolt ($7 million). During its opening weekend, the film topped the box office with $49.04 million, marking the largest debut for Walt Disney Animation Studios, ahead of both Flight and The Man with the Iron Fists, making it the highest-grossing debut for a Walt Disney Animation Studios production, nipping past Tangled ' s opening ($48.8 million).

Video games
In addition to the browser-based Flash-based version of the Fix-It Felix Jr. game, Disney announced a tie-in game based on the film to be released on the Wii, Nintendo 3DS, and Nintendo DS. The arcade style side-scrolling game will be produced in collaboration between Disney Interactive and Activision and will serve as a "story extension" to the film. Players may play as Wreck-It Ralph or Fix-It Felix, causing damage as well as repairing where necessary. Game levels will be based on the locations in the film, like the Fix-It Felix Jr., Hero's Duty and Sugar Rush games. It will be released in conjunction with the film's release, in November 2012. In October 2012, Disney released fully playable browser-based versions of the Hero's Duty and Sugar Rush games on the new official film site. It was also announced that Ralph will be playable in Sega's upcoming game Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed as a guest character. A game was also released as an app for the iPhone, iPod and iPad as well as for Android systems.

Fix-It Felix Jr.
The arcade game Fix-It Felix Jr. is based off popular video games from the arcade golden age of the 1980s, most notably the Nintendo platformer Donkey Kong, where the roles of Mario and Donkey Kong parallel that of Felix and Ralph, respectively. On June 7, 2012, Disney released the actual game online accessed through the official Wreck-It Ralph website and 2 days later, is seen on the main games page. An app was later released.

Cameos
The concept of the film reveals that various video game characters, most notably villains from famous franchises, will appear in the film or at least are currently being considered. The villains in particular will appear to try to persuade Wreck-It Ralph to stay bad. Some notably worthy villains include Bowser (Super Mario Bros.), Clyde (Pac-Man), and Dr. Eggman (Sonic the Hedgehog).

Sequel
In a GamerHubVideos interview posted onto YouTube on October 25, 2012, director Rich Moore says that he and Disney have ideas about a sequel that would bring the characters up to date and explore online gaming and home gaming. In an interview with Moviehole, Sarah Silverman confirmed the sequel, although John C.Reilly was less definite, saying they had talks about the sequel and that he "bets" they will be doing one. Moore also plans to return as a director, and intends to include Mario in the sequel: "We'll really come up with something good for Mario to do."

Links

 * Facebook Page
 * IMDb page
 * Wreck-It Ralph Wiki