Walt Disney Pictures Presents: Wreck it Ralph
In Brief
Wreck it Ralph is the villain in an arcade game called "Fix-It Felix Jr." Every time someone plays the game, Felix is the hero and rallies the neighbors in their apartment building to push Wreck it Ralph off the edge of the high rise. After years of playing this part, Ralph wants to be the good guy for a change. He leaves his world and tries to find his place in other video games. This upsets the lives of the game he leaves behind and the worlds he tries to join. When trouble comes to the arcade, everyone must use their unique talents to stop a takeover. Can Ralph help save the day?
This great animated film is voiced by John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jane Lynch and Stefanie Scott. It's precluded by the short "Paperman."
See the trailer below:
Our Review
Disney's "Wreck it Ralph" Pushes All The Right Buttons!
by Derek J. Samms
A lot of hype has surrounded Disney's Wreck-It Ralph, a computer-animated adventure set in a video game world. Such an original concept is always a risk for filmmakers, but mile-a-minute jokes, spunky characters, and a dash of nostalgia make this an endearing romp through a digital universe.
As the villain of the game "Fix-It Felix Jr." (whose title character is voiced by 30 Rock's Jack McBrayer), Wreck-It Ralph (John C. Reilly) spends each day destroying the Niceland apartment complex. Each time, Felix repairs the building, earns a shiny medal, and leads the inhabitants in throwing Ralph over the edge. After thirty years of repeating these same actions and being the brunt of dislike, Ralph wishes for something more. Despite affirmations from his support group-which includes Bowser and Doctor Robotnik-that "you're bad, but that's good," Ralph sets off on a quest to earn a medal like Felix's, in hopes that it will win him a spot on the roof among friends. Before long, Ralph starts releasing trouble throughout the arcade and unwittingly leaves his own game in danger of being unplugged, leaving all of its characters homeless. In order to save the inhabitants of multiple worlds, including his unlikely friend Vanellope (Sarah Sliverman), Ralph must learn that being good or bad goes beyond labels and instead depends upon the choices we make.
Elements of Wreck-It Ralph bear similarities to other films. The nostalgic yet slightly irreverent approach to beloved childhood icons is reminiscent of Toy Story, and the relationship between Ralph and Vanellope calls to mind a certain ogre and donkey, but in the end the concept is so fresh and the characters so fun that Wreck-It Ralph manages to carve its own niche. The filmmakers managed to have a fresh take on conventions that work, and the result is more than satisfying.
Another nod goes to writers Jennifer Lee and Phil Johnston for their deft handling of exposition. When a story is set in an entirely new universe like this one containing worlds that each have their own rules, it would be easy to bore an audience when explaining how all those rules work. Each time we enter a new game, however, we are caught up to speed quickly in an entertaining way, learning along with Ralph what it takes to survive in this new world.
Adults will enjoy the cameos of classic video game characters like Sonic, Qbert, and Pac-Man (even Pong makes a brief appearance), and kids will have fun with the characters and settings. Audiences of all ages should appreciate the jokes, which range from visual gags and heavy puns to subtle winks at those who remember NES and Atari. A number of gags require the viewer to sit up and listen in order to catch them, which will make this a movie worthy of re-watching.
In the end, Wreck-It Ralph is everything it promises to be and more. Disney once again creates offbeat and endearing characters that adults and children can relate to, and leads us on an entertaining journey through an enchanting world. The film revels in its concept enough to realize its potential without going over the top. It has just the right combination of comedy and tenderness to make it a new Disney classic. When the credits roll to Owl City's new "When Can I See You Again?" you just might be asking the same question.
Here's a sneak peak at the movie:
Another clip from the movie:
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Meet Stefanie Scott
"A.N.T. Farm's" Stefanie Scott Voices Pivotal Role in "Wreck in Ralph"
Working with Disney has been a life-long dream for actress, Stefanie Scott. The young talent is fulfilling that dreams twice over by not only starring on the Disney Channel series, "A.N.T. Farm," she can also be heard as "Moppet Girl" in the feature film "Wreck it Ralph."
The fifteen year old who turns sixteen next month, recently gave us a call to talk about the movie, the series, and the "childish" way she spends some Saturday nights. Here's what we learned from Stefanie.
Our first topic is the animated feature "Wreck it Ralph." "The movie takes place around what happens at the arcade when it goes to sleep at night," Stefanie begins when asked to describe the movie. "All these characters have their own lives, which I think it really cool, when you get to see when they come to life. Well, 'Wreck it Ralph,' he doesn't want to be the bad guy anymore! He's always setting it up for 'Fix it Felix' to win his gold medals. He wants to win his own gold medal and that's when he starts game-jumping and kind of finding how he's going to succeed, which is very dangerous."
"'The Moppet Girl,' she's the girl gamer, the wallflower. She's so cute. She's the one who recognizes that 'Wreck It Ralph' is missing in the film. She realizes that the game might be broken. That's a big deal for 'Wreck it Ralph' and 'Fix it Felix,' knowing their game might be out of order which means it could be unplugged. That's a big deal in the movie. That's her role in the film, is figuring out what happened to 'Wreck it Ralph.' She's pretty cool. She's playing all the old video games and I think that's pretty hard cool for a 12-year old girl."
Stefanie wasn't able to create her character in the usual way, because she wasn't exactly sure what role she had been hired to play! "First off, I was so excited because I always wanted to be in a Disney animated feature," she says about getting the call that she had gotten a part. "I loved them all! When I got the call that I got to be in it, I actually didn't even know much about the role or the film yet. All I knew was my character and I saw a picture of her. I didn't even really know what the film was or what it was about. It was pretty secret."
"So when I figured out that it was 'Wreck it Ralph' and it was going to be this big of a film, I was so ecstatic!" she continues. "I was so happy! I've always played video games growing up with my older brothers. So I kind of already knew how that went down. I don't know if I prepared for it in a super awesome cool way, that a lot of people can say they did, because I wasn't even really aware of what kind of movie it was. When I found what this film was forming into being, I can't tell you how happy I was!"
What games does Stefanie like to play in real life? "I love 'Mario Cart' and 'Pac-Man!' she gushes. "The older ones, those are so fun! They really get your heart racing though. Every time I play, they're so intense! They're so nerve wracking."
Stefanie had seen the movie twice and couldn't say enough good things about it. "My favorite place in the movie is 'Sugar Rush,' the Candyland racecar game. That's probably my favorite one. The whole universe is just full of candy racecars. It was so awesome. There were peppermint trees and there were chocolate rivers. When I left the movie, all I wanted were some M&M's! I was craving chocolate!"
We joke that it would have been fun if the movie was live-action and how that would have made for a cool set to visit. This prompts Stefanie to recall an interesting tidbit. "I heard that the filmmakers, they went to Germany, trying out all of these chocolate and all of these candies just for the movie. I'm like 'I wish I was a part of that trip!'" Seriously! Where do you sign up for that job?
With her day job being the series, "A.N.T. Farm," we asked the actress how voice over work is different than being on-camera? "Camera and voice over are just totally different," she explains. "In voice over, you can go in your pajamas, hair in a ponytail. All you care about is getting the voice. In the show, you're more worried about your character and what she looks like and kind of what her body would be doing. It's the way the physical matters and [as opposed to] then how it comes out in your voice. It's completely different. Both experiences are so awesome. I love 'Lexi' because I love more of the physical comedy. [It] is really fun and I love doing that on camera. The voice over, that's really cool because you can just go crazy and nobody cares what you look like, they just care about what your voice sounds like. That's probably the difference between the two different ways of filming."
What's her favorite part of being on the series? "My favorite things about being on 'A.N.T. Farm...' I love getting new scripts every week and seeing what the characters are up to. The physical comedy of it, I think, is the best is when I get to do some crazy scenes! It always reminds me of Lucille Ball and her show 'I Love Lucy.' That's what I love about 'A.N.T. Farm.' Pies are being thrown at you and yogurt's being squirted everywhere... those are the most fun! So that's probably some of my favorite parts... all the physical comedy and also just the wardrobe and seeing what our characters get to dress up as.
The wardrobe certainly helps Stefanie bring a character that she has little in common with to life. "I honestly don't find too many similarities between me and 'Lexie' because I know that she has her sassy side. She is an overachiever and even though we kind of have the same goals, the fact that I love film and I want to do Broadway someday, we kind of have those same goals, we just go a different way about achieving them. She's not afraid to step on anybody's toes or say whatever's on her mind to get there. Me on the other hand, I want to do it the right way. I think that's how we're different and the same."
There's voice over work, and a TV series, and she's also a singer, but Stefanie promises that she plays hard too! "I love to bake! I love baking chocolate chip cookies. I've always done it, growing up with my brothers all the time, when they came home from soccer practice. So that's probably one of my favorite things to do," she says about how she fills her downtime.
"I also love to paint! I don't know if this sounds childish, but sometimes me and my friends on a Saturday night, where everybody else goes to a party, we go to 'Color Me Mine' and we paint coffee cups! It's so fun and it's so calming. I tell people that and they say 'Oh, you sound like you're 12!' And I'm like, 'But it's so much fun!' I'm a big fan of movies, as well. I just love anything chill, of that nature, that makes me very happy."
She doesn't have much time to bake and paint though. She'll be back at work soon. "'A.N.T. Farm' season three!" she says excitedly about what's next on her schedule. "We just got picked up for our third season! I'm so excited to get back to work on that in actually, I think, like a month. We have the new twist coming into third season so I can't wait to see what my character is up to!"
No matter what the future holds (and it promises to be bright for the actress who is already off to such a great start), Stefanie can already cross one item off her "To Do List." "To be a part of the Disney family, it's really, I hope this doesn't sound corny, but it's a total dream come true!" she says sincerely. "Since I was six years old, I wanted to be on a Disney show. Since I watched 'Lizzie Mcguire,' that was my life-long goal. I guess now I have other goals, now that's I've reached this one. Just to be able to go to work everyday and see these scripts and be able to make a TV show, be in 'Wreck it Ralph,' you have to pinch yourself everyday knowing that you're going to work doing something that you've dreamed of for so long! You're actually doing it! It's pretty intense. Sometimes you just have to take a moment and be like 'Okay, this is awesome!'"
Her parting words to fans are filled with excitement for a project that she is very enthusiastic to promote! "Go see Wreck it Ralph!" she exclaims! "I'm so excited! Go watch it and wear 'Wreck it Ralph T-Shirts!' Just tell everybody, 'You're gonna wreck it!'" she laughs.
She has every right to be excited. The film is fun for the whole family. Be sure to listen for Stefanie in this animated adventure and tune in to "A.N.T. Farm" on the Disney Channel to laugh at the crazy situations her character winds up surviving. Working with Disney might be her lifelong dream, but the audiences are enjoying every step of the way with her.
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A.N.T. Farm Images provided by The Disney Channel
Check out these commercials from the Litwak Arcade:
Print Out Some "Wreck it Ralph" Coloring Pages! Click here!
Here's More to Color! Just a click away!
But Wait!!! There's Still More to Color! Click here!
How good are you at mazes? Click here to print a Wreck it Ralph one!
Here's a fun commercial from the movie: