Wreck-It Ralph (2012)

A video game villain wants to be a hero and sets out to fulfill his dream, but his quest brings havoc to the whole arcade where he lives.

Director:

Rich Moore

Writers:

Rich Moore (story by), Phil Johnston (story by)

Stars:

John C. Reilly, Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 33 wins & 41 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John C. Reilly	...	Ralph (voice)
Sarah Silverman	...	Vanellope (voice)
Jack McBrayer	...	Felix (voice)
Jane Lynch	...	Calhoun (voice)
Alan Tudyk	...	King Candy (voice)
Mindy Kaling	...	Taffyta Muttonfudge (voice)
Joe Lo Truglio	...	Markowski (voice)
Ed O'Neill	...	Mr. Litwak (voice)
Dennis Haysbert	...	General Hologram (voice)
Edie McClurg	...	Mary (voice)
Raymond S. Persi	...	Gene / Zombie (voice)
Jess Harnell	...	Don (voice)
Rachael Harris	...	Deanna (voice)
Skylar Astin	...	Roy (voice)
Adam Carolla	...	Wynnchel (voice)

Storyline

Wreck-It Ralph longs to be as beloved as his game's perfect Good Guy, Fix-It Felix. Problem is, nobody loves a Bad Guy. But they do love heroes... so when a modern, first-person shooter game arrives featuring tough-as-nails Sergeant Calhoun, Ralph sees it as his ticket to heroism and happiness. He sneaks into the game with a simple plan -- win a medal -- but soon wrecks everything, and accidentally unleashes a deadly enemy that threatens every game in the arcade. Ralph's only hope? Vanellope von Schweetz, a young troublemaking "glitch" from a candy-coated cart racing game who might just be the one to teach Ralph what it means to be a Good Guy. But will he realize he is good enough to become a hero before it's "Game Over" for the entire arcade?

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Plot Keywords:

villain | arcade | jealousy | medal | party | 

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Taglines:

This November, he's exploring new worlds, he's meeting new friends... he's got ONE chance to play the hero.

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some rude humor and mild action/violence

Did You Know?

Trivia

Wreck-It Ralph is believed to be Toy Story (1995) but set in the video arcade as the movie has a similar premise.

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Goofs

The double-striped candy branches vanish at different time intervals after being touched: 3 seconds (after Ralph first touches one), 1 second (twice, as Ralph and Vanellope race for the medal), 35 seconds (before Ralph falls into taffy), and 11 seconds (before Calhoun and Felix fall into quicksand). Evidently, this time interval is variable, rather than constant. Makes sense too - less predictable behavior makes the game more interesting.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Wreck-It Ralph: My name's Ralph, and I'm a bad guy. Uh, let's see... I'm nine feet tall, I weigh six hundred and forty-three pounds. Got a bit of a temper on me. My passion bubbles very near the surface, I guess, not gonna lie. Anyhoo, what else? Uh... I'm a wrecker. I wreck things, professionally. I mean, I'm very good at what I do. Probably the best I know. Thing is, fixing's the name of the game. Literally. "Fix-It Felix, Jr." So yeah, naturally, the guy with the name Fix-It Felix is the good ...

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Crazy Credits

After the credits finish rolling there is a final shot where the Disney title card has an arcade "Kill Screen" with 8-bit versions of Ralph, Calhoun, and others walking around broken game stages.

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Alternate Versions

In the UK version, Dr. Brad Scott (Calhoun's deceased fiancé) is played by Nick "Grimy" Grimshaw, however this version didn't end up in the UK home release

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Connections

Featured in The Know's Top 10s: Top 10 Ruthless Kings (2017)

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Soundtracks

Celebration
Written by Ronald Bell, Claydes Smith, George Funky Brown (as George Brown), J.T. Taylor (as James Taylor), Robert Spike Mickens (as Robert Mickens), Earl Toon, Dennis D.T. Thomas (as Dennis Thomas), Robert Kool Bell (as Robert Bell), Eumir Deodato
Performed by Kool & The Gang
Courtesy of The Island Def Jam Music Group
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Even better than I'd hoped

Let me start by saying this: I am the ideal demographic for this movie. I am in my early/mid 30s, I grew up with videos games starting with the ColecoVision 30 years ago, which is, in the movie, when Wreck-It Ralph was released. I still play games. I have a four-year-old son who plays games. He knows who Pac-Man, Zangief and Sonic are, and you can bet that on top of that I know who Sheng Long, Tapper, Q*Bert and Burger Time are.

That's what makes me nervous about blanketly recommending this movie to everyone...not just that I'm obviously going to catch more references, in-jokes and cameos than the average movie goer, but that I'm going to recognize the archetypes they're playing off of and the mechanics they're referencing as the stories progresses.

It feels a bit like Mallrats, in that I'm so ideally in the target demographic for the movie's release that I'm not sure I can accurately gauge how it will be received by people outside of that demographic.

That said, I don't think you need to be a video game fan to enjoy this movie. It's a very well crafted movie with characters that are more Pixar than Disney. I was concerned that this was a "Disney" movie as I haven't seen a 3D CG "Disney" movie that can hold a candle to the Pixar and Dreamworks hits that I'm a huge fan of. And yet, for me, this movie was better than recent Pixar movies and better than Dreamworks movies, with characters and a story that felt worthy of of the Pixar name.

I even greatly enjoyed the animated short at the beginning. Again, something I would expect more from a Pixar film than a Disney film. The whole theater experience for this film was a delight, all the way through to the very, very brief bonus scene at the end of a credits, which is something you really, really need to be a gaming nerd to get. (Gamers who have seen The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters will definitely get it.) I went into this film with high hopes and expectations, and I was blown away. My wife, who is not a gamer at all, enjoyed the film, and when my four-year-old son was asked by her what his favorite part was, he replied, "Um... Every part! I liked the whole movie!" That he was able to talk to her and I in great detail about the plot and characters while I was able to appreciate the whole film to the level I did as an adult speaks volumes to me about how well this story was told.

If you played in arcades in the 1980s, if the games Q*Bert, Burgertime, Pac-Man, Street Fighter II and Sonic all mean something to you: You're enough of a gamer to appreciate all the references. If you have a youngster who's played video games, they're enough of a gamer to get the movie. And even if you aren't, while you may not relate to the subject matter the way I did, you're still in for an enjoyable story, with great characters, masterfully told.

Highly recommended, and a 10 out of 10 for me, as I expect this will be on both my son's and my short list of favorite movies for years to come.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 November 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

Wreck-It Ralph

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$165,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$49,038,712, 4 November 2012

Gross USA:

$189,422,889

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$471,222,889

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Datasat Dolby Digital SDDS Dolby Atmos Dolby Surround 7.1

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1