I can’t believe it has been six years since Wreck-It Ralph was released. I love this film; the storyline is so creative and unlike anything Disney has done in the past.
Premiered on: October 29, 1012 at the El Capitan Theatre, Hollywood
Directed by: Rich Moore
Produced by: Clark Spencer
Based on: Original Story
Sequels: Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)
Cast:
John C. Reilly – Ralph
Sarah Silverman – Vanellope von Schweetz
Jack McBrayer – Fix-It Felix, Jr.
Jane Lynch – Tamara Jean Calhoun
Alan Tudyk – King Candy
Mindy Kaling – Taffyta Muttonfudge
Ed O’Neill – Stan Litwak
Edie McClurg – Mary
Rich Moore – Sour Bill
Raymond Persi – Mayor Gene
John DiMaggio – Beard Papa
Maurice LaMarche – Root Beer Tapper
Supervising Animators:
Doug Bennett
Mark Mitchell
Marlon Nowe
Zach Parrish
Tony Smeed
Music by: Henry Jackman
Songs:
“When Will I See You Again?”
“Wreck-It, Wreck-It Ralph”
“Celebration”
“Sugar Rush”
“Shut Up and Drive”
Academy Awards: Best Animated Feature (nomination)
The Story:
Wreck-It Ralph begins by showing the Fix-It Felix Jr. arcade game. Ralph is narrating and says that he is a bad guy. He is nine feet tall, 643 pounds, has a bit of a temper, and he wrecks things professionally. Ralph wrecks the Nicelanders’ building, but since the name of the game is to fix-it, Felix is the good guy with his magic hammer than can fix anything. Felix gets a medal for fixing things, but there is no medal for wrecking things. At the end of the game, the Nicelanders throw Ralph off of the building. A caption reads ’30 Years Ago’ and kids are very impressed with the technology of the Fix-It Felix Jr. game. The years pass and other arcade games come and go, but Fix-It Felix remains. Ralph thinks that a steady game is nothing to be upset about, but he still wants more.
The arcade closes and all of the characters do their own thing after work. Ralph is still narrating and says that it is the same after work. The Nicelanders and Felix hang out without Ralph and Ralph goes home to his dump. He sleeps against a stump and under a blanket of bricks. Every day, Felix is celebrated and is gifted pie.
Ralph is at Bad-Anon and is sharing his story with the other bad guys. This is Ralph’s first meeting because that day is the 30th anniversary of his game and he doesn’t want to be the bad guy anymore. Everyone starts to freak out and says to Ralph that he cannot mess with the program. He is asked if he is going Turbo and Ralph assures everyone that he is not. Ralph is told that he needs to accept that bad guys cannot change who they are and they close out the meeting with the bad guy affirmation. The title card appears.
The bad guys all leave the Pac-Man game and Ralph steals some cherries on the way out. They head to Game Central Station and travel through power cords and outlets. The station is very busy and Ralph gets a random security check on his way in. Ralph complains that he is always being stopped. The security guy asks Ralph if he has anything to declare and Ralph responses with ‘I hate you.’ Ralph continues to walk through Game Central Station and everyone is very scared of him and they run away. Sonic is on different screens giving warnings about dying outside their own games because then they will not regenerate. Ralph finds Q*bert asking for food because their game got unplugged and gives them a cherry. Then Ralph goes through the Fix-It Felix outlet and is stopped for a random security check again.
The Nicelanders are having an anniversary celebration. The song “Celebration” plays as Ralph arrives just in time to see the fireworks. He is very annoyed that they are having a party without him so he rings the doorbell to the penthouse and everyone screams in terror. The Nicelanders want Felix to get rid of Ralph and so Felix goes out into the hall to walk to him. Ralph says that he just wanted to check on them because there was big explosion and Felix has to admit that it was just fireworks. The two have an awkward conversation about their anniversary and Ralph hints that he has always wanted to try cake so Felix feels pressured to invite him in. Ralph bursts into the penthouse and wrecks everything by accident. None of the Nicelanders are happy that he is there. The cake looks like their building and there are figures of everyone celebrating on the roof, except for a scary-looking Ralph on the ground. Ralph picks up the figure of him and puts it on the roof with the others. Mayor Gene says that there is no room and puts the Ralph figure back on the ground. Ralph says that then they can make room and puts the figure of Felix on the ground. Gene is very upset about this because Felix was about to get a medal and so he needs to be on the roof. Ralph thinks that he should get the medal for once and they argue about whether or not Ralph could ever win one. Gene promises that if Ralph ever did, he could live up in the penthouse, but Gene says that could never happen because Ralph is just the bad guy and Ralph insists that he isn’t! He slams his fists down and wrecks the cake. Ralph leaves, declaring that he is going to win a medal.
Ralph arrives at Root Beer Tapper and asks if there is a game where he could win a medal. Tapper doesn’t know that one exists but tells Ralph that he is welcome to dig through the lost and found to see if a medal is there.
There is no medal in the lost and found but a dazed soldier walks by and Ralph asks him if he is okay. The soldier starts to freak out and says that they have only been plugged in for a week, but every day he has to climb a building fight bugs all for a medal. Ralph wants to go with him to win a medal, but the soldier says that only the bravest and best serve there. He then sees a small bug on Ralph’s soldier and freaks out, knocking himself out against a wall. Ralph locks the soldier in a closet and steals his uniform. Ralph heads to Hero’s Duty through Game Central Station, despite the warning that they arcade is about to open in five minutes.
A player is starting to play Hero’s Duty. Ralph lines up with the other soldiers and Sergeant Calhoun heads up the operation. The mission is to destroy all cy-bugs. The game begins and Ralph is trying to fight, but a cy-bug eats his gun. He completely freaks out and Calhoun yells at him to get back in formation. But Ralph takes off ahead and the player is very confused at the game characters panicking and thinks the game is busted. The game is over and the cy-bugs go back to the homing beacon. An announcement says to return to start positions. Calhoun yells at Ralph for interfering with the first person shooter.
The player then goes over to Sugar Rush and claims next game, but the two boys there say that they are going to play all nice of the racers. The player then goes to Fix-It Felix Jr. Ralph is missing from the game, only his speech bubbles appear. The Nicelanders are wondering where he is and Felix goes to find Ralph, but he is not in his dump. The player gets Mr. Litwak and shows him that the game is broken. Mr. Litwak puts an Out of Order sign on the game and the Nicelanders panic. They think that their plug is going to be pulled. The train pulls in and it is Q*bert saying that Ralph has gone Turbo.
At Hero’s Duty, Ralph is climbing up to the top of the building. He sees the medal. Meanwhile, Calhoun is getting ready for another cy-bug attack, but the sound coming towards her turns out to be Felix. Felix is very impressed with her HD. He asks if she has seen Ralph, but Calhoun has not and she tells Felix that nothing gets past her. Then they hear the sound of Ralph breaking into the building.
Ralph is careful not to step on the cy-bug eggs on the ground and he is successful at grabbing the medal. Ralph imagines himself being welcomed by the Nicelanders with his medal. He then starts to leave but steps on a cy-bug egg. The cy-bug attacks him and he ends up cracking open all of the eggs. Ralph lands in an escape pod with a cy-bug and he is launched out of the game. Felix and Calhoun witness this as Ralph goes through the cord and into Game Central Station. Ralph then flies into Sugar Rush and both he and the cy-bug are ejected out of the pod. The cy-bug sinks into a swamp. The song “Sugar Rush” plays.
Ralph lands in a candy cane tree and sees that his medal has landed in another one nearby. He climbs up the tree and is surprised by Vanellope. She asks what he is doing and Ralph tells her that he is just doing some routine candy cane tree trimming. Vanellope asks him a lot of questions and thinks he is a hobo. Ralph is very annoyed with her and ignores her warning not to grab a certain branch. Ralph insists he knows what he is doing, but then the branch disappears and Ralph falls. Vanellope says that the double stripped branches break. She then notices the medal Ralph is going after and is very excited that it is a gold coin. They race to get it and Vanellope ends up with it. She starts to leave when Ralph admits that he is not from the candy cane tree department, but that is his medal and he needs it back. Vanellope just skips away as Ralph falls into the icing below.
The security guard at Game Central Station tells Calhoun and Felix what happened to Ralph. Calhoun explains what cy-bugs are and that they are like a virus. The only way to stop them is with a homing beacon; else they will consume Sugar Rush. Then they will invade every other game in the arcade. Felix asks another soldier if Calhoun is always that intense and the soldier tells him about Calhouns tragic backstory. Her fiancé was eaten by a cy-bug on their wedding day. Felix insists that he is going with her to Sugar Rush to fix what Ralph has wrecked.
At the race, Vanellope is sneaking through the crowd. Sour Bill announces King Candy and King Candy announces that now that the arcade is closed, it is time to wipe the slate clean and race to see who will be in tomorrow’s roster. There is only space for nine racers. Each contestant must pay a fee of one gold coin. All of the racers throw in their coin as they are announced. Vanellope is announced at the very end and everyone is very surprised that she is in the race. King Candy calls for a security guard to grab her. Ralph arrives at the race and is covered in candy. Everyone thinks that he is a monster and Vanellope runs away. Ralph destroyers the crowd stands before getting stuck in a cupcake. The donut police go to capture him.
Since the stands need to be cleaned up before they have the race, it is posted. Vanellope is very excited that she will be in it and pedals off in her kart. Taffyta tells her friends that there is no way that the glitch will be racing. King Candy also tells Sour Bill that the glitch cannot race and to also bring the monster to his castle.
At the castle, Sour Bill rips the hardened candy off of Ralph’s face and King Candy is surprised who it is. Ralph does not know who King Candy is and says to just let him go. He promises to just get his medal and leave the game. King Candy comments that bad guys do not win medals and Ralph tells him that he got it in Hero’s Duty. King Candy warns him against going Turbo and game jumping. The king then realizes that the coin Vanellope used to enter the race was Ralph’s medal. King Candy says that the medal is now code and he won’t be able to get it back until someone wins the race. Before taking off in his race car, King Candy tells the donut police to put Ralph on the next train out of there. Ralph then runs away, jumps out of the castle, and smashes the cupcake. He runs away with the police chasing him.
Ralph loses the police and sees the racers drive by. He wants to talk to them about getting his medal back, but they don’t stop so Ralph follows. He sees them gang up on Vanellope and they tell her that glitches cannot race. They destroy her homemade car. Ralph steps in and scares the racers away. Vanellope looks at her damaged car and Ralph calls her a thief. She says that she was only burrowing it and was going to give it back after she won. Vanellope tells Ralph to just go back and win another. Ralph tells her that he didn’t win it in his own game and he is very angry. He smashes a jawbreaker and Vanellope gets an idea. She says that if Ralph helps her get a real kart, she will win his medal back.
Calhoun and Felix follow Ralph’s trail. They find the escape pod, but neither Ralph nor the cy-bug are inside. They look for the cy-bug and Calhoun asks about Ralph. Felix says that he does not know what got into Ralph; he never thought that Ralph would go Turbo. Calhoun does not know what that means and Felix explains. He says that when the arcade first opened, Turbo Time was the most popular game. When Roadblasters got plugged in, Turbo was jealous and abandoned his own game. He tried to take over the new game but ended up destroying both games. Felix says that he has to get Ralph home or the same thing will happen to his game. They are standing on a double strip bridge and suddenly fall into Nesquik sand when it breaks. They draw the attention of Laffy Taffy when Calhoun hits Felix on the head to make the Laffy Taffy laugh. The Laffy Taffy then pulls them up. As they leave, the cy-bug is seen underground.
At the kart bakery, Ralph and Vanellope sneak in. A sign on the door says no glitches and Vanellope tells Ralph to break through it. Inside, Vanellope explains that this is a minigame where racers bake a kart. First they mix ingredients into a bowl and throw the garbage into the trash. They are terrible at it. Then they must hold the perfect temperature to bake the kart, but they are also terrible at it. Last is decorating and Ralph ends up destroying the entire assembly line and so when the kart is finished, it ends up looking awful. But Vanellope loves it!
Beard Papa is sleeping in the guardhouse. He wakes up and sees that Vanellope is on the security cameras inside and radios for King Candy.
Vanellope and Ralph sign the kart with frosting as King Candy and the donut police come in. Ralph shoots frosting at King Candy as a distraction and tells Vanellope to drive away. She admits she does not know how to. So Ralph pushes them away as the police and King Candy chase them. Vanellope says to head to Diet Cola Mountain and to go straight between two lollypops. Ralph thinks she is crazy but trusts her. They burst through a secret entrance and lose King Candy, who tells the police to find Vanellope and destroy the kart because she cannot race.
Inside the mountain, Ralph is upset because Vanellope cannot actually drive. She insists that she will learn how because she knows that she is supposed to be a racer. Ralph explains that this medal was going to change his whole life and that he would not be alone anymore. Vanellope says that she gets it because racing would do that for her. There are falling Mentos into Diet Cola Hot Springs which cause small explosions. Ralph sees a broken racetrack around the springs and Vanellope says that it is some unfinished bonus level. She says that she lives here and shows Ralph the candy wrappers she uses as a blanket. Vanellope explains that everyone thinks that she is a mistake and is not even supposed to exist. Ralph wants to know why she does not leave and she explains that glitches cannot leave their games.
Ralph pounds into the ground around the springs and finishes the track. Together they learn how to drive and Vanellope is soon racing around the track as the song “Shut Up and Drive” plays.
The police go back to King Candy’s castle but could not find Vanellope. King Candy then goes into his secret code room and Sour Bill keeps him tethered. King Candy finds the Winner Cup code and puts the medal into his own code. It appears around his neck. He then tells Sour Bill that he is going out and leaves the code room. Vanellope’s code is shown to be detached from the rest of the game.
Calhoun and Felix are flying in the pod. Calhoun tells him that his face is still red and he should hit it again with the hammer. Felix says that it is just the honey glow in his cheeks and he calls her a dynamite gal. Calhoun remembers her fiancé calling her that and screams at Felix. She lands the pod and kicks him out near the castle.
Felix walks up to the castle and knocks on the door. Sour Bill answers and Felix asks if he has seen Ralph. Sour Bill says that they should have locked Ralph up when they had the chance and that he is not going to make that mistake again. A trap door opens and Felix falls through it.
Vanellope and Ralph are getting ready to head out to the race. Vanellope is very nervous and ralph reassures her that she will be great. Vanellope then remembers something she forgot and heads back into Diet Cola Mountain.
King Candy appears and Ralph is not happy to see him. King Candy says that he just wants to talk and Ralph says that he is not interested. King Candy asks if he is interested in the medal and hands it over to Ralph. All he wants is for Ralph to hear him out. He explains why Vanellope cannot race because when she glitches out, the players will think that there is something wrong with the game and the plug will be pulled. Vanellope won’t be able to leave the game. Ralph agrees to talk some sense into her and King Candy leaves.
Vanellope reappears and gives Ralph a medal that she made for him. It says ‘To Stinkbrain. You’re my hero.’ Ralph tries to talk to her about no racing and Vanellope sees that he has gotten his medal back. Ralph smashes her kart and thinks that it was for her own good. Vanellope cries and calls him a bad guy.
Ralph arrives back home with his medal. The penthouse is all dark and quiet. Mayor Gene is the only one there and explains that everyone else panicked and left the game after Felix couldn’t find him. He says that the plug is going to be pulled in the morning. Gene gives Ralph the key to the penthouse and leaves. Ralph sadly looks out at the Out of Order sign. He rips off his medal and throws it at the screen. This knocks the sign partly off and he sees Sugar Rush. He also notices that Vanellope is on the side of the game.
Ralph confronts Sour Bill. He asks if Vanellope was not supposed to exist, why is her picture on the side of the game? Sour Bill tries to run, but Ralph catches him and demands answers. To make him take, Ralph licks Sour Bill and tosses the candy into his mouth. Sour Bill explains that Vanellope was a racer until King Candy tried to delete her code. He says that he does not know anything else because King Candy literally locked up their memories. If Vanellope ever crosses the finish line, the game will reset. He also says that both Vanellope and Felix are locked up in the castle.
Calhoun is still tracking the cy-bug. She falls underground and finds thousands of cy-bug eggs.
Felix is in the dungeon. He tries to break the bars on the window, but this only enforces them. Felix is upset that he fixes everything he touches. Ralph breaks in and tosses the pieces of the broken kart at Felix and asks him to fix it. Felix is very angry with all that has happened. He was thrown in jail and rejected by Calhoun. Felix tells Ralph that he doesn’t know what it is like to be rejected and treated like a criminal, but Ralph says that he does because that is every day of his life. That is why he ran off to try to be a good guy. Ralph says that he couldn’t do it and now he needs Felix’s help. Felix fixes the kart.
They then find Vanellope locked up and bring her the kart.
The race is beginning. Vanellope’s name on the screen has a no show next to it. The race begins before Ralph, Felix, and Vanellope arrive. Ralph reminds her that she does not need to win, she just needs to cross the finish line and then she will be a real racer. At the start line, Felix and Ralph get off the kart and Vanellope takes off. She is determined to win. She catches up with the other racers, though the team up against her. Vanellope doesn’t let anything stop her and she ends up right behind King Candy.
Calhoun arrives at the finish line and tells Ralph that the game is going down and it is all his fault. The cy-bug has multiplied. The cy-bugs the attack and the Sugar Land candies start to head for Game Central Station.
King Candy and Vanellope are still racing. Vanellope pulls ahead and King Candy attacks her with his kart. Ralph is keeping the cy-bugs away from destroying the finish line. He sees King Candy attacking Vanellope on a screen and he and Felix realize that King Candy is actually Turbo. King Candy is going to ram Vanellope, but she uses her glitch to escape him and takes off again. King Candy is eaten by a cy-bug. Vanellope is heading straight to the finish line, but the cy-bugs are attacking. She crashes before she can make it. Ralph and Felix run to help her, but the finish line is soon destroyed. They run towards Game Central Station, but Vanellope cannot leave. Calhoun is going to blow up the exit after everyone is gone. She says that without a beacon, there is no way to stop the cy-bugs. Ralph gets an idea.
He jumps on Calhoun’s board and takes off towards Diet Cola Mountain. He slams down on top so that the Mentos fall into the hot springs. Turbo appears as a cy-bug and attacks Ralph. He flies up carrying Ralph, but Ralph is able to break free and falls down straight towards the mountain. He says the bad guy affirmation as he does. The impact causes enough Mentos to fall to create a huge explosion. This works as a beacon which destroys the cy-bugs, including King Candy. Vanellope is able to glitch past the cy-bugs and rescues Ralph with her kart. Felix kisses Calhoun in celebration and she kisses him back.
Felix fixes the finish line and Vanellope crosses it. She turns into a princess as memory is restored in Sugar Rush. Everyone remembers that Vanellope is the rightful ruler of Sugar Rush. She says that she is really a racer and not a princess so she turns Sugar Rush into a democracy and makes herself president. The arcade is about to open so Calhoun, Ralph, and Felix need to leave. Vanellope and Ralph hug goodbye and Vanellope invites him to live in the castle. Ralph says that he has a job to do and is already happy because he has the coolest friend in the world.
Fix-It Felix Jr. is fixed with Ralph back. He is at Bad-Anon and says that he is taking life one game at a time and that the Nicelanders are actually being nice to him. The characters without games help him out on bonus levels and their game is very popular again. Calhoun and Felix got married. Ralph says that the best part of his day is getting thrown off the roof of the building because then he can see Sugar Rush and see Vanellope racing. The players love her. Ralph says that he doesn’t need a medal to be a good buy because if that kid likes him, then how bad can he be?
The end credits play to the songs “When Will I See You Again?” “Sugar Rush,” and “Wreck-It, Wreck-It Ralph” as different characters and games appear as 8-bit.
Trivia:
- The working titles for the film were High Score, Jump Joe, and Reboot Ralph.
- The passcode King Candy uses to enter his secret passage is the Konami Code.
- Niceland’s population is 224 x 256, which is the common resolution of an 8-bit game.
- Wreck-It Ralph was released theatrically with the short Paperman. The paper airplanes from that short then make an appearance during the Bad-Anon meeting.
- There is a billboard outside of the arcade that reads “Double U Dee’s.” This is a reference to W.D. or Walt Disney.
- The high score of Fix-It Felix Jr. is 120501. This refers to Walt Disney’s birthday December 5th, 1901.
- The arcade games on either side of Fix-It Felix Jr. are Pac-Man and Space Invaders.
- Wreck-It Ralph was the first Disney animated film to be released on digital platforms such as iTunes, YouTube, and Google Play.
- The recoding artists for the various songs in the soundtrack include” Owl City, Buckner & Garcia, Kool & the Gang, AKB48, Skrillex, and Rhianna.
- The film opens with an 8-bit Steamboat Willie.
- The Bad-Anon bad guy affirmation is “I am bad and that is good. I will never be good and that’s not bad. There is no one I would rather be than me.”
Representation in the Disney Parks:
Ralph and Vanellope make an appearance in the Magic Kingdom Christmas parade. They can also sometimes be found as meet and greet characters. Ralph Breaks VR is one of the experiences to choose from at The Void at both Disney Springs and Downtown Disney.
Check out the other films of Disney’s Revival Era:
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