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As opposed to many of the live-action films that we see today from Walt Disney Pictures, animated feature films within the organization have been on a roll following The Princess And The Frog, Tangled and Winnie The Pooh. At this moment in time, faith in Disney animation has been restored and in 2012, we have their latest feature hoping to continue the run - Wreck-It Ralph. Just by judging the still images and trailers it aroused excitement and, therefore, a geeky approach to it as it takes audiences into the imaginative world of video games. With this in mind, Wreck-It Ralph fulfills the video gamer ambitions as it certainly does take you on a breath-taking visual and imaginative adventure but is also a genuinely creative and original film.
In terms of storytelling and narrative structure, Wreck-It Ralph is evidently one of Disney’s most original animated films which in many ways, goes down a relatively identical route to Pixar Animation Studios. In their stories, they charm audiences, they emotionally engage them, they make them laugh and behind their films, there is always a sense of sophistication and signs of knowledge within the specific themes. In that sense, Wreck-It Ralph fulfills all of those categories and becomes distinctly close to feeling like a Pixar film. In addition, as opposed to many animated features Wreck-It Ralph is an immensely colourful film that is not selective with target audience. It becomes a magical adventure for kids that expand their imagination, like video games in general, but also an enchanting film for adults too. Sure, it involves very child-friendly characters but along with its wacky humour, Wreck-It Ralph gives the slightly older viewers, arguably those who grew up with older video game characters within the film, an experience to remember.
It is important to note that Wreck-It Ralph is a 3D-animation feature, a style that has been on-and-off with Disney in recent years. Amazingly, it works as a breath-taking visual journey but the humour along with it makes it such a delight. The majority of laughs in Wreck-It Ralph came from slapstick humour, especially from the leading character Ralph as he gets into situations and witty one-liners. Following in similar footsteps to Pixar’s past films, Wreck-It Ralph has the charm between characters and emotional connection to the audience that Pixar themselves are slowly drifting from as of late.
Although audiences see iconic video game figures that merely make cameos, we see some warm, delightful, original characters. Without being too much of a fanboy about it, Ralph is a superb leading protagonist that is literally a smash hit on the film’s target audience. He is hilarious and he’s clumsy which is what kids want to see but at the same time, he’s emotionally engaging and has a strong personality. Ralph’s fascination to go into other video game worlds is the equivalence of the audience being dragged into this exciting world. Therefore, in a sense he becomes part of the audience.
Each supporting character comes from different backgrounds in the world of video games. First, there is Fix-It Felix, who is truthfully the “good guy” in the entire film who Ralph has been inspired by to become good. On a similar note, the little girl Vanellope von Schweetz becomes the key to opening Ralph’s warm-hearted side. Similarly to Boo from Monsters Inc, Vanellope is an adorable additional character that kids will feel emotionally related too and adults will be humbled by. Meanwhile, other supporting entries Sergeant Tamora Jean Calhoun and King Candy are worth noting as they expand the audience’s imagination even further.
Similar to Toy Story 3 in 2010, Wreck-It Ralph gives the audience a film of pure entertainment but manages to provide emotional warmth as it pays homage to classic video games and, therefore, seals satisfaction among viewers following prior expectations. Wreck-It Ralph is almost everything that an animated Disney film has been before and should always be. It’s charming, it’s funny, it’s imaginative and it embarks the audience into a world that they will never forget. Wreck-It Ralph is the type of wake-up call that Pixar really need now!
9/10
