Wreck-It Ralph (Movie)
Directed by: Rich Moore
Director Biography:
Moore studied animation at California Institute of the Arts. During his college years at CalArts, he narrated his friend Jim Reardon's student film Bring Me the Head of Charlie Brown. His animation directing credits include the television series The Simpsons, Futurama, The Critic, Drawn Together and Baby Blues, and the segment "Spy vs. Spy" for MADtv. He was also sequence director on The Simpsons Movie, and served as a supervising director on the Fox television series Sit Down, Shut Up, which debuted in 2009. In Futurama, he served as supervising director for the entire original series, though the post was shared by Gregg Vanzo in the first production season and with Bret Haaland for the second production season. Moore directed the theatrical feature Wreck-It Ralph for the Walt Disney Animation Studios, released on November 2, 2012. He also supplied the voices for the characters Sour Bill and Zangief of Street Fighter. Information retrieved from Wikipedia.
Genre: Comedy
Viewing Level: PG
Distributed by: Walt Disney Pictures
Reader’s Annotation:
Wreck-It Ralph, villain of the Fix-It Felix Jr. arcade game, is sick of being the bad guy. While Felix enjoys the adoration of the in-game populace, Ralph is relegated to a life of loneliness and poor living arrangements. Determined to prove he can be every bit as much of a hero as Felix can be, Ralph escapes his game and breaks into surrounding video games, wholly intent on earning a medal and joining Felix and the populace in their fun and comfortable lives. Ralph’s departure has serious consequences however, endangering not only the world of his game, but those of others as well.
Plot Summary:
As the bad guy of the Fix-It Felix Jr. video game, Wreck-It Ralph’s life is depressingly by-the-numbers. Wake up, destroy a building, drop bricks on Felix, watch as Felix fixes the building, be defeated by Felix, and watch Felix earn a medal. At the end of the day, Felix retires to a high rise apartment with groups of adoring fans, while Ralph sleeps in a pile of bricks. At the 30th anniversary of the game, the apartment is having a huge party – sans Ralph. Furious, Ralph crashes the party claiming he has every right to be there, but is told off by the residents and mocked for not having a medal.
Sick of his life, Ralph vows to win a medal and, much to the horror of the villains of the other games, flees the Fix-It Felix Jr. game and begins jumping into the surrounding arcade cabinets intent on earning his prize. Ralph soon finds he’s overmatched in many of those games, ranging from super-cute go-kart game Sugar Rush (similar to Mario Kart) to dark and violent games like Hero’s Duty (much like real-life Halo and Call of Duty). Ralph’s meddling in the other games releases a vicious monster that corrupts the Sugar Rush, and his absence from the Fix-It Felix Jr. game leads the arcade owner to believe the machine is broken. If Ralph is unable to defeat the monsters infecting the kart game and return to his own world, both games and its residents will never see the light of day.
Critical Evaluation:
Wreck-It Ralph is an amusing comedic flick likely to attract teenagers that love Disney’s movies or are deep into gaming culture. The film is jam packed with gaming culture references, to cameo appearances from characters such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Q-Bert, Zangief from Street Fighter, and many more. The music is upbeat and cheery, some of it with an 8-bit vibe, while Ralph is a funny and genuinely sympathetic character. The movie drags somewhat when it reaches the Sugar Rush portion and it would have been nice to see more of the other arcade game worlds, but otherwise is a fun romp.
Curriculum Ties:
Challenge Issues:
None
Defensive Maneuvers:
n/a
Book Talk Ideas:
n/a
Why This Film?
With its numerous references to gaming pop culture, slick visuals, and light hearted comedy, Wreck-It Ralph is sure to become a Disney classic and will likely be frequently checked out alongside many other Disney favorites.
Director Biography:
Moore studied animation at California Institute of the Arts. During his college years at CalArts, he narrated his friend Jim Reardon's student film Bring Me the Head of Charlie Brown. His animation directing credits include the television series The Simpsons, Futurama, The Critic, Drawn Together and Baby Blues, and the segment "Spy vs. Spy" for MADtv. He was also sequence director on The Simpsons Movie, and served as a supervising director on the Fox television series Sit Down, Shut Up, which debuted in 2009. In Futurama, he served as supervising director for the entire original series, though the post was shared by Gregg Vanzo in the first production season and with Bret Haaland for the second production season. Moore directed the theatrical feature Wreck-It Ralph for the Walt Disney Animation Studios, released on November 2, 2012. He also supplied the voices for the characters Sour Bill and Zangief of Street Fighter. Information retrieved from Wikipedia.
Genre: Comedy
Viewing Level: PG
Distributed by: Walt Disney Pictures
Reader’s Annotation:
Wreck-It Ralph, villain of the Fix-It Felix Jr. arcade game, is sick of being the bad guy. While Felix enjoys the adoration of the in-game populace, Ralph is relegated to a life of loneliness and poor living arrangements. Determined to prove he can be every bit as much of a hero as Felix can be, Ralph escapes his game and breaks into surrounding video games, wholly intent on earning a medal and joining Felix and the populace in their fun and comfortable lives. Ralph’s departure has serious consequences however, endangering not only the world of his game, but those of others as well.
Plot Summary:
As the bad guy of the Fix-It Felix Jr. video game, Wreck-It Ralph’s life is depressingly by-the-numbers. Wake up, destroy a building, drop bricks on Felix, watch as Felix fixes the building, be defeated by Felix, and watch Felix earn a medal. At the end of the day, Felix retires to a high rise apartment with groups of adoring fans, while Ralph sleeps in a pile of bricks. At the 30th anniversary of the game, the apartment is having a huge party – sans Ralph. Furious, Ralph crashes the party claiming he has every right to be there, but is told off by the residents and mocked for not having a medal.
Sick of his life, Ralph vows to win a medal and, much to the horror of the villains of the other games, flees the Fix-It Felix Jr. game and begins jumping into the surrounding arcade cabinets intent on earning his prize. Ralph soon finds he’s overmatched in many of those games, ranging from super-cute go-kart game Sugar Rush (similar to Mario Kart) to dark and violent games like Hero’s Duty (much like real-life Halo and Call of Duty). Ralph’s meddling in the other games releases a vicious monster that corrupts the Sugar Rush, and his absence from the Fix-It Felix Jr. game leads the arcade owner to believe the machine is broken. If Ralph is unable to defeat the monsters infecting the kart game and return to his own world, both games and its residents will never see the light of day.
Critical Evaluation:
Wreck-It Ralph is an amusing comedic flick likely to attract teenagers that love Disney’s movies or are deep into gaming culture. The film is jam packed with gaming culture references, to cameo appearances from characters such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Q-Bert, Zangief from Street Fighter, and many more. The music is upbeat and cheery, some of it with an 8-bit vibe, while Ralph is a funny and genuinely sympathetic character. The movie drags somewhat when it reaches the Sugar Rush portion and it would have been nice to see more of the other arcade game worlds, but otherwise is a fun romp.
Curriculum Ties:
- Video game design
- Stereotyping
Challenge Issues:
None
Defensive Maneuvers:
n/a
Book Talk Ideas:
n/a
Why This Film?
With its numerous references to gaming pop culture, slick visuals, and light hearted comedy, Wreck-It Ralph is sure to become a Disney classic and will likely be frequently checked out alongside many other Disney favorites.