CTV NEWSCHANNEL: CLARK SPENCER ON “RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET.”
Richard interviews “Ralph Breaks the Internet” producer Clark Spencer on why it took six years to make the sequel, the design of the animation and much more.
Watch the whole thing HERE!
Posts Tagged ‘Wreck-It Ralph’
RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET: 3 ½ STARS. “heartfelt examination of friendship.”
Given the movie’s subtext “Ralph Breaks the Internet” could have been called “Ralph Wants You to Think About the Ramifications of Internet Usage.” Not as catchy, I’ll admit, but amid the fun and games the sequel to “Wreck-It Ralph” is a strong message about the dangers of Internet culture.
It’s been six years since we met Wreck-It Ralph (voice of John C. Reilly), a disgruntled video game character who demanded respect. This time around the action begins when the steering wheel controller on the Sugar Rush game console breaks. “It might be time to sell Sugar Rush for parts,” says Stan Litwak (Ed O’Neill), owner of Litwak’s Family Fun Center & Arcade.
Before Litwak unplugs the machine Ralph and the game’s racer Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman) rescue Sugar Rush’s characters by moving them to other games.
To get the game up and running Ralph and Vanellope hit the Internet, using the Arcade’s wifi to explore the net in search of a replacement steering wheel. They find the wheel at eBay, trouble is, they don’t have any money. “I left my wallet at home,” Ralph tells the eBay cashier. “In the wallet room and the door is locked!”
When they befriend Shank (Gal Gadot), a racer in Slaughter Race, their problems seem to be over. The violent racing game overs a source of money but as Shank’s influence on Vanellope grows Ralph worries that his friend is drifting away.
“Ralph Breaks the Internet” is at its best when it’s subversive. The colourful animation, coupled with an imaginative take on what it would be like to be inside the internet—eBay is an actual auction house, and “likes” are sucked up by a vacuum cleaner—will make eyeballs dance but it’s the messaging that is memorable. Woven into the story are clever lessons on toxic friendship, how insecurity can infect a relationship like a virus on the computer and the dangers of obsessing about getting likes on social media posts.
Even better is a scene where Vanellope, while visiting OhMyDisney.com, stumbles into the Disney Princess break room. Here the film makes fun of Disney’s bread-and-butter, the stereotype of the princess. “Do people assume all your problems get solved because a strong man came along?” Fans of the first film know that Vanellope is a reluctant princess, preferring the title president. Her, among her spiritual sisters, she helps them shed some of their stuffy weays and they help her along the way to figuring out her path in life. “I stare at the important water and all of a sudden I start singing about my problems? I don’t think so,” Vanellope says, bursting one of Disney’s most familiar princess tropes.
The princess scene is a highlight in a film that has laughs but isn’t exactly a comedy. It’s more a heartfelt examination of friendship—“It’s not right to hold a friend back from her dreams.”—with some wild cartoon action and satire.
“Ralph Breaks the Internet” is a very specific story about two animated characters that illuminates universal themes from the real world.
FAN EXPO: RICHARD HOSTS “RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET” Q&A!
Producer, CLARK SPENCER (Zootopia, Wreck-It Ralph, Lilo and Stitch), will join Fan Expo to give an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at Ralph Breaks the Internet with some never-before-seen footage from the film. During the subsequent Q&A with “Pop Life” host Richard Crouse, Spencer will provide a deeper look at how his team is bringing the internet to life with favourite characters from the original and a new cast who help Ralph and Vanellope to navigate this vast, unfamiliar world.
Attendance is on a first-come, first-served basis for anyone attending Fan Expo.
Fans will also be able to experience the Ralph Breaks the Internet photo-ops, open to the public all weekend at Fan Expo.
WHEN:
Friday, August 31, 2018
4:00 PM
WHERE:
Constitution Hall 106
Fan Expo Canada
Metro Toronto Convention Centre
222 Bremner Blvd.
ABOUT RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET:
“Ralph Breaks the Internet” leaves Litwak’s video arcade behind, venturing into the uncharted, expansive and thrilling world of the internet—which may or may not survive Ralph’s wrecking. Video game bad guy Ralph (voice of John C. Reilly) and fellow misfit Vanellope von Schweetz (voice of Sarah Silverman) must risk it all by traveling to the world wide web in search of a replacement part to save Vanellope’s video game, Sugar Rush. In way over their heads, Ralph and Vanellope rely on the citizens of the internet—the netizens—to help navigate their way, including a website entrepreneur named Yesss (voice of Taraji P. Henson), who is the head algorithm and the heart and soul of the trend-making site “BuzzzTube.” Directed by Rich Moore (“Zootopia,” “Wreck-It Ralph”) and Phil Johnston (co-writer “Wreck-It Ralph,” “Zootopia,” writer, “Cedar Rapids”), and produced by Clark Spencer (“Zootopia,” “Wreck-It Ralph,” “Bolt,” “Lilo & Stitch”).
WRECK-IT RALPH: 3 ½ STARS
Everyone knows what “going postal” means but how about “going video”? It’s the idea behind a new Disney movie called “Wreck-It Ralph,” about a disgruntled video game character who demands respect.
Wreck-It Ralph (John C. Reilly) knows a thirty-year gig as an arcade character is a good run, but he needs a change. He’s tired of being the bad guy, the bully who destroys things to make game’s hero and namesake Fix-It Felix (Jack McBrayer), look good. “Are there medals for wrecking stuff really well?” he wonders. The answer, of course, is no.
To prove he’s more than just a clumsy oaf who breaks things, that he can be a hero, he game jumps from Fix-It Felix to Hero’s Duty, a violent game with a gold medal as a prize. But things have changed in thirty years. “When did video games get so violent and scary?,” he says.
Unfortunately the game also has evil Cy-Bugs that Ralph inadvertently brings over to another game, the saccharine Sugar Rush. Game jumping once again Ralph discovers a kindred soul, Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman), battles the bugs and learns that sometimes being bad is good.
The first twenty minutes of “Wreck-It Ralph” are a blast. Spectacular animation, great storytelling and loads of inventive humour set the stage. Unfortunately once Ralph jumps from one game to the next the movie becomes much more standard.
It’s still eye candy, but the cleverness of the beginning disappears, replaced by video game style action adventure. True, it is populated by some fun characters—Jane Lynch is hilarious as the tough talking commando character while Alan Tudyk mixes a hint of the Great Gazoo with Wally Cox to come up with King Candy—and the action is broken up by some inventive animation but the spark of the opening just isn’t there.
Arcade purists, however, will find much to get their joysticks in a knot over. Anyone who grew up playing the first generation of arcade video games will get a nostalgic twinge at the jittery animation of the older characters, and it is a hoot to see the 8-bit bartender from Tapper, Street Fighter’s Zangief and Doctor Eggman all come to glorious digital life.
“Wreck-It Ralph” is better than average, with strong messages about friendship and accepting who you are, and despite being state-of-the-art, has a nice nostalgic glow. Just like the glow of an arcade gaming console.
