I’m a movie lover and I watch a lot of movies. When people learn that 9 out of 10 ask me, “so do you have a favorite movie?” Before 2012, I would give answers that made me sound sophisticated and deep (when you’re young you try so hard to be old)… but after 2012, the answer had always been,” Wreck-It Ralph.” And I genuinely meant it.
In 2012, Wreck-It Ralph came out. Within just one week, the movie reached an astonishing 50 million box office, highest in Disney history. That year, it received Best Animated Film nomination at both Oscar and the Golden Globe.
It was phenomenal.
I can’t talk about the movie’s success without mentioning its unconventional set-up: its protagonist is a villain!
Ralph, a villain in an arcade game, is tired of being a villain, and wandered around in other people’s games to find meanings for himself. But wherever he went, he couldn’t help to be destructive. His self-esteem grew increasingly low, until he met the little girl Vanellope in Sugar Rush, who was alienated by her peers for her “glitch.”
As an antihero type of work, the movie was refreshing to Disney audience. It was a challenge to make it good but they executed it perfectly.
It might be over a year ago that its sequel–Ralph Breaks the Internet, released its trailer. And the feeling of knowing this movie is already made but I can’t immediately go watch it was torture for me. Withstanding the torture for a year, and meanwhile torturing my boyfriend for it by bringing it up every two weeks (a lot more frequent during the past 2 months), I finally went to see it this Thanksgiving!!
Now I have a new favorite movie.
Please please, if you haven’t yet, go watch it.
One of the biggest surprises in Ralph Breaks the Internet is its easter eggs–those hidden messages, characters, or inside jokes. Disney owns too many copyrights to not do things like that.
A quick review of Disney’s acquisition history: in 2006, Disney bought Pixar for 4.7 billion. In 2009, it bought Marvel for 4 billion. In 2012, it bought Lucasfilm for 4 billion. Disney has all the freedom to put any of their characters into its movie, and it did. Just think about it, the stormtroopers, Iron Man, Disney princesses and Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh all gather in the same place. How exciting is that?
Not long ago, the movie Ready Player One promoted itself for its abundance of easter eggs. They’ve been proud of it, until Ralph Breaks the Internet showed up. It’s like Disney saying, “suck it, Warner Bros.”
Except for the beloved characters, Ralph Breaks the Internet is also packed with our favorite brands.
From Facebook, Google, Amazon, to “Chinese Twitter” Weibo, and e-commerce site Tianmao, no matter where you are from, there will always be a logo that you point to and say “omg they have that on there!” And Disney did all these name-mentioning FOR FREE.
I thought at least eBay should have paid Disney a ton of money, because it’s featured as a major part of the film. Like, half of the story happens in eBay, and when they are out of eBay, there’s an “eBoy” constantly reminding them to go back to eBay. To my surprise, eBay didn’t even know it’s in the movie. (?!!) After the movie launched, they made a call to Disney just to thank them.
The absolutely best part of Ralph Breaks the Internet is Vanellope’s interactions with all the Disney princesses. The way Disney handles self-deprecating here is jaw-droppingly funny (was that a word? You get my point).
Vanellope tried to fit in by claiming she is a princess too. To verify that, the princesses asked her a series of questions:
“Have you been poisoned?”
“Cursed?”
“Abducted or enslaved?”
“Do people assume all your problems got solved because a big strong man showed up?”
When Vanellope finally answered “yes” to the last question, which she meant Ralph obviously, the princesses gladly accepted her as a part of the princess gang.
Of course, a successful movie can’t just be a copyright show-off, or be content to a quick laugh. As its set-up suggests, Ralph Breaks the Internet discusses the online world and how it has influenced our lives. In order to afford the steering wheel for Vanellope’s racing game, Ralph was instructed to make money by filming short videos on BuzzTube (like YouTube). He did the kinds that were most likely to go viral: hip-hop dancing, makeup tutorial, all kinds of fails, and those stupid self-abuse ones (think cinnamon/pepper challenge). Sure enough, he became famous in hours. Immersed in the fame and love, Ralph stumbled into the comments room, and found some unexpected hate comments. It was such a sad scene. Seeing this, the BuzzTube director lady Yess told Ralph, “the first rule of becoming Internet-famous: never look at the comments.”
Yea, it’s so easy to hate online. Anonymous comments don’t bear responsibilities. I’m happy to see an animated film exploring the dark truths of the web and telling them to the kids.
A movie full of surprises, please go see if you haven’t yet. Hope to see you in the theatre cuz I’m watching it one more time.
Talk Spoilers 