Disney's Wreck-It Ralph

[Dr. Homem]

For those who recently saw the movie

Were you surprised by that King Candy was really Turbo, or did you see it coming?

I didn't expect it, and thought it was pretty well implemented. Many movie twists either fall in the category of "painfully obvious" or "zero foreshadowing". This one I found to be fully unexpected, yet when you look back on it, it made complete sense to the previous events. I liked it.

[Phos]

Sonic got more cameos than any other video game character that had no plot relevance or interaction with the main cast. I'm surprised some people think he didn't get enough screentime.

 

This film is basically Roger Rabbit with game characters; it's not entirely a crossover. They're there to sell the movie, but don't expect them to have any real relevance. And when they do, it's an exception to the rule.

I din't think the Roger Rabbit comparison is the best, Roger Rabbit's toon involvement was prevalent throughout and the nature of cartoons was a major part of the plot, and the cameos basically never stopped happening until the climax.  The actual cartoon characters weren't players in the plot but it was always important that Roger was a Cartoon, and I think more importantly, all the cartoon characters they made up really came off as cartoon characters.  

[Mogtaki]

I've no idea why nick Grimshaw was in it, seemed really pointless, it's not even like he was a big enough name to add any draw to the film.....

 

I guess it was just to add a little bit of that British appeal...or the actor in the original couldn't get his voice licensed for the UK or something stupid.

 

Pixar did it with Cars when they had Jeremy Clarkson as whatever-the-red-car-is-called-again-idk's agent, so I guess Disney wanted to do something for their own animated film.

 

Oh well, I'll probably stick with the American version's sexy and seductive few lines over Grimshaw.

[Doctor MK]

Saw the film on Friday evening and absolutely loved it. Despite an extreme amount of hype thanks to all of the critical praise from the US release, it managed to meet - and even exceed - my expectations. I went in knowing that the game cameos were only going to be there as a  cool backdrop rather than the main draw of the movie, and I'd even go as far as to say that they didn't even necessarily need to be there. Of course, the film would lack the same appeal and authenticity if Sonic and the motley crew of real-life game characters didn't show their faces (as brief as it may be at times), but the worlds of Fix-It Felix Jr., Hero's Duty, and Sugar Rush were really well done and stood nicely on their own. Once Ralph gets to Sugar Rush and the story really starts to kick in, the references start to fade away and we're left with a wholly original tale that's full of heart. Yes, it may be typically Disney fare in a few places, but there's a decent amount of twists and turns and ultimately that's what makes the film a good one. As thrilling as it was to see familiar faces popping up here, there, and everywhere, they were just the very delicious cherry on top of the already tasty cake - the film at its core is solid, and it's decorated with plenty of sprinkles in the form of the cameos and references.

 

And I for one loved the twist that King Candy was Turbo. Didn't see it coming but it didn't come out of nowhere, either - there were enough subtle hints for those who were paying attention, but it wasn't overly foreshadowed that it was too obvious. Storytelling done well!

 

So, in short - Wreck-It Ralph is a wreck-cellent film, and one that I highly wreck-ommend you go to see if you haven't already!

 

(Apologies for the extended cake metaphor there, by the way. Blame Sugar Rush and its so-good-you-could-eat-it design. )

[Sean]

I din't think the Roger Rabbit comparison is the best, Roger Rabbit's toon involvement was prevalent throughout and the nature of cartoons was a major part of the plot, and the cameos basically never stopped happening until the climax.  The actual cartoon characters weren't players in the plot but it was always important that Roger was a Cartoon, and I think more importantly, all the cartoon characters they made up really came off as cartoon characters.  

 

I'm referring to how both films use the cameos as we see them and not how the medium they reside in is used. The game characters had very minimal bearing on the plot's progression, much in the same way that none of the Disney, Warner Bros., and MGM characters in Roger Rabbit had any. Their purposes in marketing the movie are the same: to establish the fact that this is a cartoon/video game world to the audience.

[MugiMikey]

Not gonna lie, I was pretty disappointed, to say the least.

I had not looked at any spoilers or anything, but had heard Sonic was to be included, along with Eggman. And was like Ooh, this is gonna be good! and of course, all the advertisements had Sonic included. If you ask me, it's completely misleading. I went in expecting to see video game characters I recognised, albeit even though I knew they weren't going to be the main focus, and, I was most disappointed.

Sonic was only shown for like what, 10 seconds at the beginning and a couple of seconds later on. That's it. So why include him in every advertisement around? It's a con to make people go see it.

Now onto the film itself, it was pretty good... found it rather Childish, but I guess that's to be expected in a Disney movie, but it seems more-so Childish than a lot of them. Vanellope was a decent character and the story pulled at my heartstrings on several occasions. Although is it me, or after Ralph entered Sugar Rush did it feel like I was watching a completely different movie, completely not video game based? It felt like I was watching something along the lines of some girly fairytale story. And, it felt a lot like a wasted opportunity of a gaming related movie.

So yeah all in all it was a good film, definitely not one of Disney's best, very much on the Childish side and if you're expecting a film with loads of recognisable video game characters such as Sonic, you will be disappointed

I actually like how the movie was able to progress without the aide of other franchises. It's about the titular character, Ralph. Not Sonic or any other video game cameo characters. I do kind of agree that other franchises were kinda over-saturated in the advertising department, but, hey, at least all of those characters do appear in the movie (in fun ways, too).

 

Besides, I believe Sonic was one of the cameo characters with the most screen time in movie (Q*Bert probably had the most). You might have to go back and keep an eye out for him because of so much going on, though. He's also one of the few cameo characters that was privileged with a speaking role recorded by his actual voice actor, unlike most of the others.

Edited February 10, 2013 by MugiMikey

[SilentDoom]

Finally got the chance to see this.  Stupid England getting animated films months later.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed this film.  It was a very fun, vivid, exciting adventure with very likeable characters.  My favourite had to be Fix-It Felix.  Honestly what I really liked about him was that he established himself straight away as a nice guy.  When Ralph was excluded from the party, he (albeit very awkwardly) invites him in anyway.  Also loved how eccentric and rather "fabulous" he was.  He's not a perfect character, but he's a very likeable one.  Jack McBrayer did a great job voice acting him.  Actually speaking of which, the voice talent in this film was generally excellent.  I must say I enjoyed pretty much everyone's performance.  

 

The character that surprised me the most was Vanellope.  I didn't think I'd like her at all before entering the film.  She ended up being my second favourite character.  The whole deal with her glitch and being really upbeat and cheeky a lot of the time despite living alone in isolation made her a sympathetic character in my honest opinion.  I ended up really liking her, and was always really happy when something went well for her.  

 

As for the plot, it was a pretty solid one driven by well crafted characters and an interesting plot twist.  I had my suspicions about King Candy.  I thought there was something off about him not long after he was shown.  But I honestly did not expect him to be Turbo.  Speaking of which, I felt Turbo as a villain was one of the weak links of the film.  I didn't find him to be all that good of a villain to be honest.  Everything he did literally boils down to him being an attention whore.  Mind you, Ralph was meant to be the likeable villain so I guess they felt the need to try and force a completely unlike-able one in as well?  Still, I feel his character could've been better executed.  

 

Other things I liked.  The animation is top notch.  Mainly because of one just how vivid everything is.  It was really pleasing to look at.  And two (more important to me personally) how everything was so well characterised.  The way each character moved really helped sculpt there personalities beautifully.  It reminded me very much of the Toy Story films.  The universe itself was also really cool.  Of course, it was one of the main selling points of the film, but no other video game film has quite crafted a universe like this one.  Cameos galore but none feel too intrusive and I'm sure there are cameos everywhere that everyone can appreciate.  It was charming and constantly made me smile.

Overall, I definitely plan on seeing this again.  Extremely enjoyable film.

[Kevin]

I didn't expect it, and thought it was pretty well implemented. Many movie twists either fall in the category of "painfully obvious" or "zero foreshadowing". This one I found to be fully unexpected, yet when you look back on it, it made complete sense to the previous events. I liked it.

I agree and I thought it was one of the best scenes in the entire movie due to how well done it was and how much sense it made as to why he was the villain.

I just found out why Wreck-It Ralph came out so late in the UK.

 

Nick, a radio DJ in the UK voiced Dr. Brad Scott & Sergeant Calhoun's fiancee in the movie, replacing Tim Mertens, the original voice actor for these characters in America.

 

So there was a little redubbing.

 

i don't understand, why did they need to redub some characters for the UK release?

Edited February 13, 2013 by Kevin

[DSP001]

If that's really the reason then fuck it all, I hardly noticed the voice except for the fact it was a british accent. Sure it's a really important line for one of the characters but overall it was just not worth it.

 

I saw the film already before the UK release (yayforpoorqualitycamrips) so I already knew what to expect but when I saw it again I was just giddy and happy, this is such a good film I don't even understand, the game cameos are nicely crafted and it built a world I'd really love to see explored more and aside from that the Ralph and co are just the best, that scene when

Ralph busts up Vanellope's car was so gut wrenchingly sad, a perfect blend of voice acting, music and visuals, I did also like the slight change in lighting during the build up to that scene adding to the already dramatic mood.

 

 

It was so sad, my friend even cried during it.

 

The only problems I had with the film are that I feel like sugar rush wasn't as game feeling as the other locales. It just felt like a straight up candy world, not much game aspects to fully immerse that it's an actual gaming world like for instance the massive screen in Ralph's game or the First person bot in the shooter.

 

Also this other problem is more a personal thing, but I really want more of the inmovie universe, like how does Sonic the Hedgehog a console character for the most part end up in a world full of Arcade characters. My friends came up with one cool idea that the electric cable transport method extends past the arcade itself and connects to all other devices such as consoles. 

Edited February 11, 2013 by Quacku

[-Mark-]

So, has anyone dubbed over Sonic's cameo with the Sonic Sez segment on sexual harassment yet?

Edited February 11, 2013 by -Mark-

[Autosaver]

 

Deleted Scene.

[JezMM]

AT LAST I HAVE SEEN IT YAY

(Excuse the formatting of this post, I copy-pasted from Tumblr and really can't be bothered to fix it).

 

It was really really great!  I don’t really understand all the
criticisms of it mostly taking place in Sugar Rush because… well that’s
where the story was.  If he had game-hopped for ages first just for the
sake of covering more genres there’d have been less time for the real
story, which is what I enjoyed most.

I admit one thing I didn’t care much for was the humour.  Most of it
was pretty, bleh generic stuff, and too many of the better jokes were in
the trailer as well.  The video game reference jokes were funny but
somehow I don’t feel they “count” because they were funny just by…
existing lol (like the mushroom/metal gear “!” in the lost and found
box).

I have to say I ADORED the visual design of the various locations. 
They really felt like something out of a game (even if it kinda made no
sense for a racing game to have all these platforming tropes in the side
scenery but shhhhh they had to cover a lot with just two games lol).

The plot twist was great too, I love movies where everything comes
together and is important to the plot like that.  At first I thought
that Venelope was kicked out by the (now) Candy King because she was so
blue-mouthed and therefore inappropriate as a queen for the game, but
I’m glad the actual reason was tied in with the whole game universe
rather than being self-contained to this game Ralph just happened to end
up in etc.  I also thought at first her glitchiness would be fixed by
Felix in order to escape, but that woulda been kinda cheap - though I
kinda wish they had at least addressed the possibility and given a
reason why it wouldn’t work.  Mollfie even added to that thought of mine
by saying it would have been nice to bring Felix down another peg.

Finally I adored the soundtrack as well.  Already bought it on iTunes lol.

So in short, great movie, little bit ehhh on the humour, not fussed
about the fact that there weren’t many cameos of real video game things
other than the posters being deliberately misleading in that regard (I
never thought they would have important roles but it’s unfair to those
who might have hoped they would), but story was awesome.  Actually I
confess though, most of the bits that did make me laugh were the
numerous fantastically awful punsome names for things in Sugar Rush lol.

Assss for Paperman it was super cute and so nicely stylised, really
great stuff, and made me chuckle quite a few times.  I also adored the
music for this too but no soundtrack in sight!  If anyone knows if it’s
obtainable anyway do let me know.

 

 

EDIT: Oh just to amend my thoughts as well, I'm seeing a lot of people moaning about the emphasis on Sugar Rush not because of lack of game representation beforehand (as early criticisms from american peoples seemed to imply) but because the world didn't feel "video-gamey" enough.

 

I disagree, I totally invested in the world, and it woulda been cliché to put in as many video game "things" as possible because... that's not what games are like these days!  I'm glad they didn't go the cliché route and have every game have retro game tropes.  That's what Ralph's game is like.  Sugar Rush is a racing game and it looked like a racing game, and even then (as I said) the various platforming elements in the scenery almost make no sense.  Was the whole "create-a-car" segment, passable wall into the diet coke volcano, big screen showing a video game style view with on-screen displays etc not enough?  It felt like a video game to me - one from this century too which makes a refreshing change for video game representation in other forms of media.

 

 

EDIT 2: FINAL THING

 

I feel like I've somehow become WAY more sensitive as an adult watching films - especially at the cinema - and not sure why, but all the same I did find pretty much all the sad scenes with Venellope really tearjerking which was nice (I love tearjerkers lol).  Especially when she was being bullied early on, when she and Ralph finished the car, the fantasy flashforward of her being deleted with the game and in particular when Ralph wrecked her car.  That was a real punch to the gut.

Edited February 13, 2013 by JezMM

[Carbo]

If there is one detail I absolutely loved about the movie,

It's how well they set up Turbo as being the antagonist. It honestly kind of caught me off guard. I loved how they turned a reference into an actual plot point.

The entire theater I was in were incredibly perceptive and probably as nerdy as me. The irony of Bison being the first to actually mention "going Turbo" was hilarious (what with Akuma being introduced in Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo and usurping villain popularity), and the entire theater collectively laughed at him saying such. Q-Bert then saying such felt like an equally funny callback, but by the time it's mentioned the third time, it's perfect how they manage to actually make it so that "Turbo" is an actual entity within the games.

I honestly didn't see it coming.

[JezMM]

^ Likewise.  Actually in fact at first...

 

I kept being really bothered by this constant "going turbo" reference because I figured it was that old trope of intentionally just using any old video game term as a synonym for "going crazy" as if these video game characters talk the exact same way as real people EXCEPT THESE FEW WORDS BECAUSE LOL VIDEOGAMES - then it turned out to actually mean something - THEN it turned out to actually mean something important!  Brilliant.

[Sean]

I didn't think Sugar Rush felt entirely out of place since it does sport some traditional game elements. It's just a really uncommon theme in video games and the candy advertisements pulled me out of the immersion in that sense. Had there been not so much product placement, I probably could have accepted it better when I watched the movie. I wouldn't call it a major complaint of mine, though.

[JezMM]

To be honest I was too busy laughing at the oreo/nesquicksand bit to even care it was product placement lol.  I do love my puns I do.

[MykonosFan]

If that's really the reason then fuck it all, I hardly noticed the voice except for the fact it was a british accent. Sure it's a really important line for one of the characters but overall it was just not worth it.

 

 

Also this other problem is more a personal thing, but I really want more of the inmovie universe, like how does Sonic the Hedgehog a console character for the most part end up in a world full of Arcade characters. My friends came up with one cool idea that the electric cable transport method extends past the arcade itself and connects to all other devices such as consoles. 

 

No need to theorize; a Sonic the Fighters arcade cabinet is seen in the arcade. So, of course, theoretically Tails, Knuckles, and other Sonic characters chill around there too.

[Swiss]

Seen the movie twice now, loved it on both occasions!

 

Am I the only one who thought Cy-bug Turbo/Candy was the creepiest thing to come out of a Disney movie in years? The neck and body  movements were just... D:

 

Such a great villain and twist though!

[batson]

About the opinion that the Sugar Rush universe felt a little of the mark in a video game themed movie... yeah, i kinda agree. In a movie that provided such an amazing set up for video game oriented jokes and references, it did feel like a bit of a waste to spend so much time making jokes and references to candy instead. But hey, it was still charming and fun, so its not like im really pissed about it or anything.

[Mogtaki]

I'm glad they went for Sugar Rush over their other idea, it seemed too weird and didn't fulfil Felix's character at all (he was very military-like) and Ralph was convinced over a cheat code for some paradise video game.

 

Although, it's not hard to see the reason why the film is called Sugar Rush in Japan...there's just too much bloody Sugar Rush.

 

 

I didn't think Sugar Rush felt entirely out of place since it does sport some traditional game elements. It's just a really uncommon theme in video games and the candy advertisements pulled me out of the immersion in that sense. Had there been not so much product placement, I probably could have accepted it better when I watched the movie. I wouldn't call it a major complaint of mine, though.

 

Most of the film was already product placement with the arcade and the famous names; hell, the only reason Sonic was in the film more than frickin' Calhoun's flashbacks was Sega's way of going "SONIC FRANCHISE NOT DEAD, LOOK HE'S RIGHT THERE LALALALA"

 

The film would make you want to go to the arcade, it'd make you want to play the game types represented, it'd make you want to eat sweets and it'd probably make you want root beer from Tapper's.

[Sean]

I wasn't bothered by the product placement in regards to the movie itself, so much that PP is an uncommon phenomenon in actual games so seeing so much of it in Sugar Rush felt like it was downplaying its status as a video game.

[JezMM]

I was gonna say that the video games were already product placement myself until I remembered it's a movie about video games.

 

 

Though I did realise earlier actually that a lot of the candy related jokes depended on punsome product names anyway.  So considering how much I inanely chuckled at the oreo marching bit I forgive it all.

[Kuzu]

Seen the movie twice now, loved it on both occasions!

 

Am I the only one who thought Cy-bug Turbo/Candy was the creepiest thing to come out of a Disney movie in years? The neck and body  movements were just... D:

 

Such a great villain and twist though!

 

 

Tell me about it, seeing that for the first time was really unsettling.

[Mogtaki]

I wasn't bothered by the product placement in regards to the movie itself, so much that PP is an uncommon phenomenon in actual games so seeing so much of it in Sugar Rush felt like it was downplaying its status as a video game.

 

It's more common in games than you might think, even Sonic Adventure 2 had the Soap Shoes product placements all over the place with Sonic and Shadow wearing some while throwing out what they do with the rail grinding all the time...in fact, the intro of the game starts off with Shadow rail grinding in the first few seconds.

 

Games will often try and hide PP under false names, but you know what it really is behind the not-so-clever puns.

[iDEATH]

So is it just me or have Disney missed a trick with the merch side of this film.

I was in the disney store today and there was hardly anything, there was a ralph action figure, felix plush and action figures of the sugar rush cast.....that's it....

 

I know it would have probably been a nightmare to make toys of the licensed characters but surely they'd have sold well enough to justify the hassle. We'd all have gone apeshit over a wreck-it  ralph branded sonic figure, wouldn't zangeif, bowser and q8bert etc figures also have done well?

 

just think it's fitting that a lot of people are complaining there's too much sugar rush stuff in the movie and that's all they seem to be selling..