Disney Animation lives in the shadow of its much bigger brother Pixar. Yes I’m aware both are owned by Disney, but their homegrown movies (Bolt, Meet the Robinsons) have taken a back seat to Pixar’s finest (Toy Story, WallE). Well, hopefully this is the year they are on equal footing. While Brave was decent for Pixar this year, Wreck-It-Ralph is one of those wonderful animated films that gives something to every person in attendance. Much like the Muppets last year, Wreck-It-Ralph keeps in mind that parents in attendance want to laugh as much as their kids (something Brave forgot) and that every great animated movie gives the story some heart. By combining laughter, heart, and a new world for audiences to explore, Wreck-It-Ralph gives Disney’s Animators a seat at the big boys table with Pixar and Dreamworks.
Poor, forgotten Ralph (John C. Reilly). On his game’s 30th anniversary, as the bad guy to Fix-It-Felix’s (Jack McBrayer) good guy, Ralph spends his day in a self-help session coming to terms with his “bad guy”ness. After his felllow game members throw a party for Felix and not for Ralph, Ralph decides to go rogue to become a good guy and get his medal (the prize in his game). At first, he tries one of those first person fighters led by no-nonsense Calhoun (Jane Lynch), but things get complicated there, and soon he ends up in a racing game called Sugar Rush where his medal gets taken by Venellope (Sara Silverman) who needs it to compete in the big race so she can be featured on the game in the morning.
The highlight of Wreck-It-Ralph was the highlight of Toy Story: the unique world the characters find themselves in. Once the lights go out, characters can travel to other games using the surge protector as central station. This leads to some amusing views of Ralph in the first person shooter, in a bar game, or visiting Pac Man. The audience gets lots of delight viewing the endless candy puns (movie is saturated with them, but they are usually pretty inventive) or how a player is viewed from the inside or what happens when characters inhabit other games. The freedom to set the rules allows the writers imaginations to run wild and set the stakes for the characters as the story goes on.
The visuals (I saw this in 2D) will be great for kids but work on a 2nd level for older gamers. For kids, each character is very colorful and the games themselves look like a crayola explosion. For older people there is another level: aside from the great dessert jokes (the best involves Oreos) the writers assembled most of the great characters in all video game history. Pac Man, Bowser, Kano, and Sonic all make little appearances. The Nintendo Cheats unlock secret rooms, and 8 bit characters only walk in grid patterns. These little pieces are icing in the cake for older viewers.
The reason those pieces are the icing is because of the characters. While the story is trying nothing new, it is never boring, and keeps changing directions when you think Wreck-It-Ralph hits its sweet spot. Obviously the pair of Ralph and Venellope will be the cute kid and the tough ogre, but the relationship develops within the context of their characters. The writers, Reilly, and Silverman get credit for bringing honesty and believeability to their characters while abandoning the grating parts of their personalities (this is directed primarliy at Silverman). Ralph and Venellope’s bond manifests itself in the final act, where I witnessed tears of elation and depression from other audience members. The unexpected side of the story is the cute little love story between Felix and Calhoun. In other stories, this would be shoehorned in to give the characters something to do, but their joint motivation and mutual resiliency earns their cute little relationship. Those two, while helping Ralph with his little quest, develop personalities of their own, making the audience want them to end up together.
Sometimes the world can seem like a jaded, terrible place where any honest emotion can only be taken at face value. That’s where movies like Wreck-It-Ralph are necessary. Disney Animators weave through the BS right to the audience’s heart and let you channel your inner gamer. When I need a pick-me-up, I’ll be sure to put a quarter into the machine and let myself be put back together by Fix-It-Felix.
PS: I recommend getting there early, because there is a short before the movie called Paperman, which carries all the charm that the Star Short before Pixar’s Brave carried.