Wreck-It Ralph: A Rush of Sweetness

Wreck-It Ralph is yet another nostalgia-driven Disney film for all ages. Instead of Disney making dads laugh at references to 2001: A Space Odyssey or CGI re-animating Flynn, now arcade gamers get to squee over Clyde the orange ghost revealing his true colours, as well as other subtleties gamers will understand. The joystick savvy will be glad to know Wreck-It Ralph’s characters are modeled off of a variety of games, from Halo to Donkey Kong.

One of many reasons to love this film is for pumping new life into the hero vs. villain mythos. Wreck-It Ralph urges kids and adults to empathize with people that perform jobs and roles that do not provide the entire picture of who they really are. Like the animated toys and cars that came before, Ralph–the titular villain–establishes that he is an oaf with a heart of gold fairly early in the movie. Awww! Although, another character stole my attention.

The attention-grabbing honour belongs to Vanellope Von Schweetz, a smarty pants living on the margins of a Candy Land-type monarchy. She looks like a chibi chipmunk and talks like a dirty-mouthed comedian (hey now, that’s Sarah Silverman). In her off-time, Vanellope is the kind of girl that probably hangs out with the murderous pomeranian from Tokyo Jungle and, if she can warp universes, Rainbow Dash.

In other words, Von Schweetz for President 2016!

Along with Mabel Pines, Vanellope is one my favourite new animated characters.

Some people harp on Disney for pumping out cookie-cutter princesses but Wreck-It Ralph finishes off stereotypes like Yoshi eats apples. The male characters in Wreck-It Ralph experience sweetness, compassion, and failure without questioning their manliness. For example, Ralph’s in-game antidote, Fix-It Felix, is a full-tilt sweetie pie with the yokel stylings of 30 Rock’s Jack McBrayer. On the flip side, the main female characters kick ass, crack jokes, and lead their respective crews. Jane Lynch in particular voices a toughened variant of Mass Effect’s Commander Shepherd, pointing audiences in a direction that seems to be a part of Disney’s mandate to break away from the princess genre.

One of Wreck-It Ralph‘s few disappointments is the under-development of King Candy, the story’s actual villain. His motivation for creating hell in candy paradise is surprising, but not fleshed out. Perhaps hardcore Whedon fans will forgive the lack of dimensionality because… reasons (Alan Tudyk).

I can guess what you’re wondering: Is the 3D experience worth it? I think so. At one moment my eyes were filled with talking eclairs and the next they were spilling puppy dog tears over Ralph and Vanellope’s enduring friendship. Post-feels, I came out of the theatre singing along to “Sugar Rush” like a pageant kid hopped up on pixy stix.

Whether Disney is delivering a story about a sweetheart loner robot or about arcade games with heart, Disney is on its game. Before you except Disney World Domination into your heart, be sure to load up on gummi bears.