In Disney’s latest animated delight, Wreck-It Ralph, we are introduced to a common arcade through a whole new aspect. What if all the games in the arcade, classic to modern, were connected through the electrical circuits? Each arcade game’s characters have access to the giant “Game Central Station” where they have the opportunity to meet and enjoy the company of other game characters. The station is modeled after New York’s Grand Central Station, and come opening time of the arcade, each character takes their designated train back to their individual games. There is an entire community through these electrical circuits, including a moral support group for the “bad guys” in the game.
We see classic characters in the meeting, such as the ghosts from Pac-Man, and Bowser from Nintendo, familiar characters that we’ve known as evil-doers, who we now are introduced to as normal guys after work. We come across a character in the meeting named Ralph, who is the villain in the game Fix-It Felix, Jr. (created specifically for the movie). Ralph knows his role is to be the bad guy, and without him and his enormous wrecking hands, there would be no game. Ralph is tired of his role, and the way he is treated for it. He knows the role he was made for in the game does not reflect the person he is inside, but keeps wrecking buildings for Felix, the hero, to fix, just so the game can live on. Ralph receives no recognition for his work, and is tired of watching Felix win medal after medal, day after day. Ralph decides to one night leave his game, to win a medal of his own, in another game. His journey eventually lands him a medal from another fictional game, “Hero’s Duty” and eventually he finds himself in the feminine game “Sugar Rush” which consists of little girls racing candy themed cars through a sugar themed world. One of the girls, a “glitch” who, like Ralph, is an outcast in her game because she’s different from the rest, teams up with Ralph, to win back the medal he’s now lost and gain themselves the “wreck-ognition” they both deserve.
Disney’s animated films have always been great fun for all ages to watch, but here comes a brand new classic film that gamers of all generations can relate to. The film is not from Disney’s acclaimed company Pixar, but rather Walt Disney Animation Studios, the same company that produced films like “Bolt” and “Tangled.” Wreck-It Ralph is directed by Rich Moore and has perfect voice casting, featuring the talents of John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, and Jane Lynch.
The film explores such a variety of settings and scenes that keep the audience engaged throughout, and morals audiences of all ages can follow. At points, the film can get a little too in depth with the story, whereas Pixar’s films creatively explore one main idea going on, this film does have several stories that some kids may have trouble following, but by the end of the film they all come together to realize that even the bad guys should receive the recognition they deserve.