''Wreck-It Ralph'' is a Disney
media franchise
A media franchise, also known as a multimedia franchise, is a collection of related media in which several derivative works have been produced from an original creative work of fiction, such as a film, a work of literature, a television program or ...
primarily consisting of an animated comedy film series produced by
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that creates animated features and short films for The Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a scene fro ...
and released by
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. The studio is the flagship producer of live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Studios uni ...
. The series tells the story of the eponymous
arcade game
An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade v ...
villain
A villain (also known as a "black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character a ...
named Wreck-It Ralph, who rebels against his "bad guy" role and dreams of becoming a hero. The series has grossed $1 billion worldwide.
The series is notable for featuring cameos of characters from licensed properties including video games and various Disney franchises.
Premise
''Wreck-It Ralph'' takes places within the
arcade machines at Litwak's Arcade. After hours, the various characters in the games are able to socialize in their shared
power strip
A power strip is a block of electrical sockets that attaches to the end of a flexible cable (typically with a mains plug on the other end), allowing multiple electrical devices to be powered from a single electrical socket. Power strips are often ...
. However, these characters know they cannot stray far from their games when the arcade reopens, or else the game will be considered broken and sent off for disposal by Mr. Litwak. This had happened to racing game character Turbo years earlier, affecting both his game and the one he sabotaged. The titular character is Wreck-It Ralph, from a game called ''Fix-It Felix, Jr.''. In his game, Ralph is the antagonist of the game and aims to wreck an apartment skyscraper, but is always stopped by the game's protagonist, Fix-It Felix, Jr.. Through events in the first film, Ralph makes friends with Vanellope von Schweetz, a character from the game ''Sugar Rush'', while Felix becomes romantically attached to Sergeant Tamora Jean Calhoun, from the game ''Hero's Duty''.
Films
''Wreck-It Ralph'' (2012)
The
52nd Disney animated feature film. Ralph, desiring to be the hero, sneaks into ''Hero's Duty'' to steal the hero medal there, but inadvertently fires himself off in an escape ship when attacked by a Cy-Bug, one of the game's enemies, through the power strip, and into ''Sugar Rush'', where he meets Vanellope for the first time. Vanellope is a
glitch within the game who wants to become a playable character, and Ralph helps her along, forming a bond between them. Felix and Calhoun team up to find Ralph before ''Fix-It Felix, Jr.'' is to be unplugged, and before the Cy-Bug can reproduce in ''Sugar Rush'' and destroy the game. Ralph discovers that the population of ''
Sugar Rush'' has been suppressed by King Candy, who is really Turbo; not only had he managed to escape into ''
Sugar Rush'', but also rewrote part of Vanellope's code, displacing her as the game's main character. Ralph, Vanellope, Felix, and Calhoun work together and defeat Turbo and the Cy-Bugs, saving both ''Sugar Rush'' and the arcade and later sparing ''Fix-It Felix, Jr.'' from being unplugged. Ralph is finally recognized as a hero, and happily returns to his duties in his game, while Vanellope enjoys her new popularity among the arcade players.
''Ralph Breaks the Internet'' (2018)
The
57th animated film produced by the studio, and the
sequel to the 2012 film ''
Wreck-It Ralph
''Wreck-It Ralph'' is a 2012 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 52nd Disney animated feature film, it was directed by Rich Moore (in his feature director ...
''. Six years after the events of the first film, ''Sugar Rush''s racing wheel is damaged, and due to the company that produced ''Sugar Rush'' going defunct years earlier, Mr. Litwak plans to take the game away for spare parts. Ralph and Vanellope learn of a replacement wheel from
eBay
eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became a ...
, and use a new Internet router in the arcade to travel to the Internet to get it, while the recently married Felix and Calhoun stay to make sure the ''Sugar Rush'' characters have a temporary home. Ralph and Vanellope successfully win the auction but do not have the funds to get it, and look for job opportunities. When Ralph finds a way to earn all the funds by becoming a viral video star with the help of Yesss, he discovers that Vanellope may want to stay in the gritty racing game ''Slaughter Race'' and not return to the arcade thanks to Shank, a character from that game. This prompts Ralph to use a
deep web
The deep web, invisible web, or hidden web are parts of the World Wide Web whose contents are not indexed by standard web search-engine programs. This is in contrast to the " surface web", which is accessible to anyone using the Internet. Co ...
virus to shut down the game and save Vanellope, only for the
virus
A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea.
Since Dmitri Ivanovsky's 1 ...
to turn on Ralph's own insecure feelings and start propagating through the Internet and destroying it. Ralph, Vanellope, and their newfound allies are able to stop the virus in time after Ralph accepts the fact that Vanellope wants to move on. The two say their goodbyes and Ralph returns to the arcade just as ''Sugar Rush'' is plugged back in. The two keep in contact, however, and Vanellope promises that she will eventually return to live in the arcade once Shank has taught her every trick she can use in ''Sugar Rush''.
Future
Directors
Rich Moore
Rich Moore is an American film and television animation director, screenwriter and voice actor. He has directed the films ''Wreck-It Ralph'' (2012) and co-directed ''Zootopia'' (2016) and '' Ralph Breaks the Internet'' (2018) for Walt Disney ...
and
Phil Johnston said that a ''
Ralph Breaks the Internet
''Ralph Breaks the Internet'' is a 2018 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The 57th animated film produced by the studio and the sequel to ...
'' spin-off film focusing on the
Disney Princess
''Disney Princess'', also called the ''Princess Line'', is a media franchise and toy line owned by the Walt Disney Company. Created by Disney Consumer Products chairman Andy Mooney, the franchise features a lineup of female protagonists who ha ...
es could be made depending on the audience's response and "if there's a good story to be told". Also, John C. Reilly says that he has an idea for a second sequel, which would see Ralph and Vanellope "beaming themselves right out into space".
Video games
''Wreck-It Ralph'' (2012)
In 2012, a video game of the same name was released alongside the first film for the
DS,
Wii
The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...
, and
3DS
The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo. It was announced in March 2010 and unveiled at E3 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS. The system features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS video games. As an eighth-generatio ...
. Most of the principal cast from the film reprised their roles with the exception of
John C. Reily as Wreck-it-Ralph who was replaced by
Brian T. Delaney
Brian T. Delaney is an American actor, who provides the voice of the male Sole Survivor in ''Fallout 4'' and Master Mantis in the ''Kung Fu Panda (franchise)#Video games, Kung Fu Panda'' games.
Filmography Voice acting Film
Television
V ...
.
Taking place after the events of the film, the game follows Ralph and Felix as they traverse through Fix-It Felix Jr., Hero's Duty, and Sugar Rush in an attempt to stop a new army of Cy-Bugs that hatched during one of Vanellope's races.
''Wreck-It Ralph: Ralph Breaks VR'' (2018)
A VR arcade experience called ''Wreck-It Ralph: Ralph Breaks VR'' opened at
The Void locations in 2018, along with
the second film.
Other titles
''Disney Universe''
The travellers can acquire a costume based on Wreck-It Ralph.
''Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed''
Wreck-It Ralph appears as a playable character in the 2012 video game ''
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed
is a Kart racing game, kart racing video game developed by Sumo Digital and published by Sega. It was released for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii U in November 2012, for PlayStation Vita in December 2012, for Windows in January 2013, for ...
''.
''Disney Infinity'' series
Wreck-It Ralph and Vanellope feature in the 2013
toys-to-life video game ''
Disney Infinity
''Disney Infinity'' is an action-adventure sandbox toys-to-life video game series developed by Avalanche Software. The setting of the series is a giant customizable universe of imagination, known as the Toy Box, populated with toy versions of i ...
''. The characters are playable via toys available in both single packs and a "Toy Box" pack that adds locations and elements from the original film to the game's "Toy Box" mode. The toys are also compatible with the game's sequels, 2014's ''
Disney Infinity 2.0
''Disney Infinity 2.0'' (also known as ''Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes'') is an action-adventure game, action-adventure Nonlinear gameplay#Sandbox mode, sandbox toys-to-life video game developed by Avalanche Software and Heavy Iron Studios ...
'' and 2015's ''
Disney Infinity 3.0
''Disney Infinity 3.0'' (also known as ''Disney Infinity: Star Wars'') is an action-adventure sandbox video game published by Disney Interactive Studios (the last game to be published by the company before their closure) for Microsoft Windows, Pl ...
''.
''Disney Magic Kingdoms''
Content of ''Wreck-It Ralph'' was included in the
world builder
World Builder is a game creation system for point-and-click adventure games. It was released in 1986 by Silicon Beach Software and had already been used for creating Enchanted Scepters in 1984. On August 7, 1995, developer William C. Appleton ...
video game ''
Disney Magic Kingdoms
''Disney Magic Kingdoms'' is a 2016 city building game developed and published by Gameloft for iOS, Android, and Windows. It is themed off the Walt Disney Parks & Resorts. The game was officially launched on March 17, 2016.
Storyline
The game ...
'', in a limited time Event focused on ''Ralph Breaks the Internet'', with Ralph, Vanellope, Felix, Caulhoun, Yesss, Shank and Spamley as playable characters, along with some attractions based on locations of the film. KnowsMore also appears a non-player character within The Internet attraction. Gord was also included as a playable character in a later update of the game. The game also includes costumes for the
Disney Princesses
''Disney Princess'', also called the ''Princess Line'', is a media franchise and toy line owned by the Walt Disney Company. Created by Disney Consumer Products chairman Andy Mooney, the franchise features a lineup of female protagonists who hav ...
based on their comfy clothes from ''Ralph Breaks the Internet''. In the game the characters are involved in new storylines that serve as a continuation of the events of ''Ralph Breaks the Internet''.
''Kingdom Hearts'' series
Wreck-It Ralph appears in the 2019 video game ''
Kingdom Hearts III
is a 2019 action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows and Nintendo Switch. It is the twelfth installment in the ''Kingdom Hearts'' series, and serves as a conclusion of the ...
'' as a Link. When summoned, he will place explosive blocks and destroy them, causing damage to nearby enemies. A world based on ''Wreck-It Ralph'' was added to the 2017 mobile game ''
Kingdom Hearts Union χ'' as part of an update in April 2019. The world adapts the events of the original film.
Cast
Crew
Reception
Box office
Critical and public response
Accolades
Both films were nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Animated Feature
The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature is given each year for animated films. An animated feature is defined by the Academy as a film with a running time of more than 40 minutes in which characters' performances are created using a frame-by- ...
, but the first film lost to ''
Brave'', while the second film lost to ''
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse''. The first film won the
Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Animated Feature
The Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Animated Feature is an award given to people working in the motion picture industry by the Broadcast Film Critics Association. The award was presented annually from 1998 to 2019. ''Toy Story'' is the only f ...
, and the second film was nominated.
Both films were nominated for the
Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film.
In other media
Ralph and Vanellope make background
cameo appearance
A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly eit ...
s in ''
The Fairly OddParents'' episode "Dumbbell Curve", in the foreground of a crowd shot depicting a city cheering. Ralph also makes a brief appearance in the ''
Futurama
''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of the professional slacker Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1000 years a ...
'' episode "
Murder on the Planet Express
"Murder on the Planet Express" is the twenty-fourth episode of the seventh season of the animated sitcom '' Futurama''. It originally aired on Comedy Central on August 21, 2013. The episode was written by Lewis Morton and directed by Frank Marin ...
", on a passing truck and
arcade machine, while Vanellope is briefly featured in the ''El Goonish Shive'' arc "End of an Era", where character Susan uses their appearance as a
digital avatar
In computing, an avatar is a graphical representation of a user or the user's character or persona. Avatars can be two-dimensional icons in Internet forums and other online communities, where they are also known as profile pictures, userpics, ...
.
Ralph also makes a cameo appearance in ''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...
'' short film ''
Plusaversary
''The Simpsons in Plusaversary'', or simply ''Plusaversary'', is an American animated short film based on the television series ''The Simpsons'' produced by Gracie Films and 20th Television Animation, debuting on streaming service Disney+'s 2nd ...
'', like a bodyguard along with
Maui
The island of Maui (; Hawaiian: ) is the second-largest of the islands of the state of Hawaii at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is the largest of Maui County's four islands, which ...
from ''
Moana''.
Music
The soundtrack to ''
Wreck-It Ralph
''Wreck-It Ralph'' is a 2012 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 52nd Disney animated feature film, it was directed by Rich Moore (in his feature director ...
'' was released on October 30, 2012.
The soundtrack to ''
Ralph Breaks the Internet
''Ralph Breaks the Internet'' is a 2018 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The 57th animated film produced by the studio and the sequel to ...
'' was released on November 16, 2018.
Notes
References
{{Portal bar, Cartoon, Animation, Film, United States, Comedy
Wreck-It Ralph
Film series introduced in 2012
English-language films
Animated film series
Walt Disney Studios (division) franchises
Comedy film franchises
Works set in computers
Children's film series
American children's animated adventure films