Starring: Voices of John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer and Jane Lynch
Director: Rich Moore
Genre: 3D animation
Running time: 93 minutes
Now showing at Cineplex Cinema
Some action is coming to animation in the name of Wreck it Ralph, the 52nd animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. Director Rich Moore, who did The Simpsons Futurama is behind this one.
The animation follows the story of the titular arcade game villain Ralph, who rebels against his role and dreams of becoming a hero. He travels between games in the arcade, and ultimately must eliminate a dire threat that could affect the entire arcade, and one that he may have inadvertently started.
At a support group for video game antagonists, Ralph expresses his desire to stop being the bad guy. Back at home, Ralph finds the other characters celebrating their game’s 30th anniversary without inviting him. Felix reluctantly invites Ralph to join them for a slice of cake, but the others ostracise him, saying he would have to win a medal to earn their respect, causing Ralph to crush the cake in anger.
At Tapper’s, Ralph meets a soldier from the first-person shooter Hero’s Duty, who tells him the game’s winner receives a medal. Ralph enters the game and encounters Sergeant Calhoun, its no-nonsense leader.
So far this animation has been received with commercial success and has already gotten a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Animated Feature Film and Academy Award nod for Best Animated Feature, as well as the Annie Award for Best Animated Feature.
The concept of Wreck It Ralph was first developed at Disney in the late 1980s, under the working title High Score. Since then, it was redeveloped and reconsidered several times. In the late 1990s, it took on the working title Joe Jump, then in the mid-2000s as Reboot Ralph.
