In 2012, Simpsons and
Futurama director, Rich Moore, directed Disney’s
52nd animated feature, written by Jennifer Lee and Phil Johnston. Wreck-It Ralph, starring John C. Reilly,
Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer, and Jane Lynch grossed $471.2 million. It also
won the Annie Award and IGN award for best Animated Feature, but it lost the
Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
Wreck-It Ralph (Reilly) is the villain in the world of an
eight-bit video game called Fix-It Felix Jr (McBrayer) in an arcade. But Ralph
is fed up with being disrespected as a bad guy for 30 years and sets off to
find a medal.
Wreck-It Ralph is
what happens when Disney gets the right mix of references and original plot,
with a great story and so many nods to classic and contemporary video games. It
brings Q*bert back to what its creator intended the exclamation to be: actual
speech instead of swearing, but using him to advance the plot. Having Sonic
appear, and making the appearance be a PSA to inform the audience. There’s also
some hidden gems, such as graffiti that reads “Aeris Lives” and the password to
the Sugar Rush code is the Konami Code.
The characters also wildly subvert audience expectations.
Ralph may be the villain, but he’s a genuinely nice guy. The nicelanders may be
the townsfolk in need of rescuing and are generally likeable in-game, but they
don’t live up to their namesake. There’s also great character development, with
Ralph going from hating how he’s seen by everyone to embracing it and the Bad
Guy Anonymous creed and understanding what it truly means. It also helps that
he’s found adoration in the unlikeliest of characters, which leads him to
pulling off the act that saves the day, causing him to be loved by all. It’s
when he finally embraced who he was that people started liking him.
Ralph’s character arc also coincides with how the
Nicelanders understand how essential the character is to the game. Without him,
there’s no game. With no game, they’re basically homeless. So not only does
Ralph understand he should embrace who he is, they embraced what Ralph means to
them. It’s a double whammy that seamlessly weaves itself together like strands
of DNA.
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