Wreck-It Ralph (franchise)

Wreck-It Ralph is an American media franchise primarily consisting of an animated comedy film series produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The series tells the story of the eponymous arcade game villain named Wreck-It Ralph, who rebels against his "bad guy" role and dreams of becoming a hero. The series has grossed $1 billion worldwide.

Wreck-It Ralph
Created by	Walt Disney Animation Studios
Original work	Wreck-It Ralph (2012)
Films and television
Film(s)	Wreck-It Ralph (2012) Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)
Games
Video game(s)	Wreck-It Ralph (2012) Wreck-It Ralph: Ralph Breaks VR (2018)

The series is notable for featuring cameos of characters from licensed properties including video games and various Disney franchises.[1][2]

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. 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)

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, 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 but 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 sparring 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)

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 being defunct years ago, Mr. Litwak plans to take the game away for spare parts. Ralph and Vanellope learn of a replacement wheel from eBay, 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 virus to shut down the game and save Vanellope, only for the virus 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 and Phil Johnston said that a Ralph Breaks the Internet spin-off film focusing on the Disney Princesses could be made depending on the audience's response and "if there's a good story to be told".[3] 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".[4]

Video games

Wreck-It Ralph (2012)

A 2012 video game of the same name was also released, featuring the title character Wreck-It Ralph, voiced by actor Brian T. Delaney.

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.[5]

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed

Wreck-It Ralph appears as a playable character in the 2012 video game Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, voiced by actor Brian T. Delaney in English and Kōichi Yamadera in Japanese.

Disney Infinity series

Wreck-It Ralph and Vanellope feature in the 2013 toys-to-life video game Disney Infinity. 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: Marvel Super Heroes and 2015's Disney Infinity 3.0. Sarah Silverman returns to voice Vanellope, while Ralph is voiced by Brian T. Delaney.

Kingdom Hearts series

Wreck-It Ralph appears in the 2019 video game Kingdom Hearts III as a Link. When summoned, he will place explosive blocks and destroy them, causing damage to nearby enemies.[6] 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.[7]

Cast

Characters	Films
	Wreck-It Ralph	Ralph Breaks the Internet
	2012	2018
Wreck-It Ralph	John C. Reilly
Vanellope von Schweetz	Sarah Silverman
Fix-It Felix Jr.	Jack McBrayer
Sergeant Tamora Calhoun	Jane Lynch
Mr. Litwak	Ed O'Neill
Sour Bill	Rich Moore
Taffyta Muttonfudge	Mindy Kaling	Melissa Villaseñor
Duncan	Horatio Sanz
Winchell	Adam Carolla	Uncredited actor
Turbo / King Candy	Alan Tudyk
Moppet Girl	Stefanie Scott
Markowski	Joe Lo Truglio
Shank		Gal Gadot
Yesss		Taraji P. Henson
J.P. Spamley		Bill Hader (uncredited)
KnowsMore		Alan Tudyk
Arthur		John DiMaggio
		John C. Reilly (Ralphzilla form)
Double Dan		Alfred Molina
Cinderella		Jennifer Hale
Princess Anna		Kristen Bell
Queen Elsa		Idina Menzel
Moana		Auliʻi Cravalho
Snow White		Pamela Ribon
Tiana		Anika Noni Rose
Merida		Kelly Macdonald
Fa Mulan		Ming-Na Wen
Princess Ariel		Jodi Benson
Aurora		Kate Higgins
Pocahontas		Irene Bedard
Belle		Paige O'Hara
Princess Jasmine		Linda Larkin
Rapunzel		Mandy Moore

Note: A dark grey cell indicates that the character does not appear in the film.

Crew

Year	Film(s)	Director(s)	Producer	Screenwriter(s)	Story	Executive Producer(s)	Composer	Editor	Cinematographer(s)
2012	Wreck-It Ralph	Rich Moore	Clark Spencer	Phil Johnston Jennifer Lee	Rich Moore Phil Johnston Jim Reardon	John Lasseter	Henry Jackman	Tim Mertens	Rob Dressel
2018	Ralph Breaks the Internet	Rich Moore Phil Johnston		Phil Johnston Pamela Ribon	Rich Moore Phil Johnston Jim Reardon Pamela Ribon Josie Trinidad	John Lasseter Jennifer Lee Chris Williams		Jeremy Milton	Nathan Warner (Layout) Brian Leach (Lighting)

Reception

Box office

Film	Release date	Box office gross			Box office ranking		Budget	Ref(s)
		North America	Other territories	Worldwide	All time North America	All time worldwide
Wreck-It Ralph	November 2, 2012	$189,422,889	$281,800,000	$471,222,889	#216	#216	$165 million	[8]
Ralph Breaks the Internet	November 21, 2018	$201,091,711	$328,109,742	$529,201,453	#201	#189	$175 million	[9]
Total		$390,514,600	$609,909,742	$1,000,424,342			$340,000,000
List indicator(s) A dark grey cell indicates the information is not available for the film. ^(A) indicates the adjusted totals based on current ticket prices (calculated by Box Office Mojo).

Critical and public response

Film	Rotten Tomatoes	Metacritic	CinemaScore
Wreck-It Ralph	87% (186 reviews)[10]	72 (38 reviews)[11]	A[12]
Ralph Breaks the Internet	88% (265 reviews)[13]	71 (43 reviews)[14]	A-[12]

Accolades

Both films were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, but the first film lost to Brave, while the second film lost to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.[15] [16]

In other media

Wreck-It Ralph and Vanellope von Schweetz make background cameo appearances in the Butch Hartman The Fairly Odd Parents episode "Dumbbell Curve", in the foreground of a crowd shot depicting a city cheering.[17] Wreck-It Ralph also makes a brief appearance in the Futurama episode "Murder on the Planet Express", on a passing truck and arcade machine, while Vanellope von Schweetz is briefly featured in the El Goonish Shive arc "End of an Era", where character Susan uses their appearance as a digital avatar.[18]

References

1. Anderton, Ethan (July 14, 2017). "'Wreck-It Ralph 2' Brings Disney Princesses Together with Marvel & Star Wars (D23 Expo 2017)". /Film. Archived from the original on July 16, 2017. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
2. Johnson, Zach (June 4, 2018). "Disney Princesses Meet Vanellope von Schweetz in Wreck It Ralph 2 Trailer". E! News. Archived from the original on July 10, 2018. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
3. Eisenberg, Eric (November 5, 2018). "Could The Disney Princesses Carry Their Own Film Together? Ralph Breaks The Internet's Directors Weigh In". CinemaBlend. Archived from the original on November 12, 2018. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
4. Daniell, Mark (November 20, 2018). "John C. Reilly On 'Wreck-It Ralph 3': Ralph and Vanellope Should Go Into Space". Torontosun. Archived from the original on November 21, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2018.
5. "Ralph Breaks VR". The VOID. Archived from the original on December 26, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
6. McWhertor, Michael (18 May 2018). "Kingdom Hearts 3 is a whimsical spectacle full of Disney cheer". Polygon. Archived from the original on 18 May 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2019-04-15. Retrieved 2019-04-15.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
8. "Wreck-It Ralph (2012)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on November 22, 2018. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
9. "Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on November 5, 2018. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
10. "Wreck-It Ralph (2012)". Rotten Tomatoes. November 16, 2018. Archived from the original on November 21, 2018. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
11. "Wreck-It Ralph". Metacritic. November 16, 2018. Archived from the original on November 25, 2018. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
12. "Cinemascore". CinemaScore. November 16, 2018. Archived from the original on July 22, 2018. Retrieved January 28, 2019.
13. "Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. November 20, 2018. Archived from the original on November 15, 2018. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
14. "Ralph Breaks the Internet". Metacritic. November 20, 2018. Archived from the original on November 20, 2018. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
15. "2013 Oscar Nominees". January 10, 2013. Archived from the original on February 6, 2019. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
16. "The 91st Academy Awards | 2019". February 26, 2019. Archived from the original on December 1, 2015. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
17. @realhartman (February 28, 2018). "Did anyone ever notice that Wreck-It Ralph was in The Fairly OddParents? #RalphBreakstheInternet" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
18. Shive, Dan. "EGS Story for Friday, March 22, 2013". El Goonish Shive. Hiveworks.